Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, the weekly column in which I go over everything not otherwise covered in separate articles. This week we have a Kameda brother, our usual Olympians, Floyd Mayweather Jr’s 50-0 record technically being challenged in a minimumweight title fight, and more.
Saturday, May 5th
Tomoki Kameda (35-2, 20 KOs) UD10 Daniel Norriega (30-12-1, 15 KOs), featherweights – Tokyo, Japan
Former bantamweight titleholder and member of the famed Kameda boxing family Tomoki Kameda returned at home in Japan for a tune up. Kameda has been moderately inactive since losing his title in a pair of extremely close contests with British contender Jamie McDonnell stateside on PBC cards in 2015. He only fought once in 2016 and while he did fight twice in 2017, the last of those was in August. This fight broke a ten month layoff. It was also his first fight at featherweight after fighting his previous three after losing his title at super bantamweight. 122 is assuredly the better weight so I assume he will return there. He definitely still has time to win another belt as the youngest Kameda at only 26.
John Ryder (26-4, 14 KOs) KO2 Jamie Cox (25-2, 14 KOs), super middleweights & James Tennyson (22-2, 18 KOs) TKO5 Martin Joseph Ward (19-1-2, 5 KOs), junior lightweights & Luke Campbell (18-2, 15 KOs) TKO5 Troy James (20-6-1, 5 KOs), lightweights – London, England
This was the high domestic level action on the undercard of Tony Bellew’s triumphant performance over David Haye. John Ryder’s quick stoppage of Jamie Cox was a minor upset given that Cox looked decent against George Groves last time out even though he was stopped early there too. Cox just has no defense to speak of. As was James Tennyson’s European title snatching stoppage of Martin Joseph Ward. He valiantly rose off the deck in the second to get the job done and then charged his way to victory from behind in the fifth. Tennyson is a really limited power puncher who almost certainly found his ceiling here with a European title, but his power is real at minimum. Luke Campbell is, of course, a world level lightweight who stayed busy here against a man weighing in at welterweight. Class trumps weight when the difference is this big, however. He is now waiting on a potential rematch with the man who first upset him in French contender Yvan Mendy in what would be a title eliminator.
Joe Joyce (4-0, 4 KOs) TKO2 Lenroy Thomas (22-5-1, 10 KOs), heavyweights & Joshua Buatsi (6-0, 4 KOs) TKO5 Stephane Cuevas (8-2-3, 4 KOs), light heavyweights & Money Powell (7-0, 4 KOs) TKO4 Mark Krammerstodter (3-3-1, 2 KOs), junior middleweights – London, England
Should have been 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Joe Joyce returned on the same undercard to pick up his fourth win, all by stoppage. This one was finished with a short, crunching left hook. Joyce is beating really solid competition for this early in his career, but I definitely have some concerns about his reckless, pressuring high volume style. It fit the Mexican trunks he was wearing in honor of Mexican-American holiday Cinco de Mayo, but he is just so open and wild with it. 2016 bronze medalist Joshua Buatsi is more of a sure thing in my view. He may have the opposite problem of being too measured, but I’d rather see that than wildness. A pair of right hands finished a staggered Cuevas on his feet. Finally, world traveling Richard Schaefer prospect Money Powell IV also picked up a win here. He is a talented 20 year old, but maybe a level below the two Olympians ahead of him on the card.
Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs) UD8 Breidis Prescott (31-13, 22 KOs), junior welterweights – Carson, California
Sort of K2 Promotions prospect Ryan Martin got some work in against faded former Amir Khan conqueror Breidis Prescott on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin’s defense against Vanes Martirosyan. I say sort of because Martin isn’t technically signed with Tom Loeffler, but he’s been fighting under his banners ever since his fallout with rapper 50 Cent’s failed promotional outfit SMS Promotions. As a prospect Martin has some advantages with his size and length, but he has never really wowed me. Plus, if he is going to be fighting at 140 like he has in his last two fights, the advantages he does have are diminished. Still, they were enough to take down the shell of Breidis Prescott who has now lost five of six and is 10-13 since the summer of 2009. Martin will likely be in the next World Boxing Super Series at junior welterweight.
Azizbek Abdugofurov (11-0, 4 KOs) UD12 Dmitrii Chudinov (21-3-2, 16 KOs), super middleweights & Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (15-0, 9 KOs) UD8 Twaha Kiduku (12-3-1, 7 KOs), welterweights – Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Azizbek Abdugofurov was favored to win the 2013 amateur world championships going into the contest, but he suffered a cut early in the tournament and had to bow out. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov was also a top amateur for the always strong Uzbek team. Neither stuck around for the Olympics like they would have a generation ago though with both turning pro instead. Dmitrii Chudinov represents that high Euro-level test that Azizbek needed to pass and he did so comfortably here. Kudratillo had more of a stay busy type contest than a real test. Both of these young men, 26 and 24 respectively, have potentially bright futures in the sport.
Friday, May 4th
David Toussaint (13-0, 8 KOs) UD10 Gunnar Jackson (27-11-4, 12 KOs), middleweights – Canberra, Australia
26 year old Australian prospect David Toussaint picked up a workmanlike win over durable veteran journeyman Gunnar Jackson. Jackson has gone the distance in all his losses including against the likes of Anthony Mundine and Ryota Murata so getting him out of there would have been a nice feather in Toussaint’s cap, but it is hardly a blemish on the Aussie’s record not to. If you think the name is familiar but can’t place him, Toussaint is the man who beat up Shane Mosley Jr on the Top Rank on ESPN debut card featuring Jeff Horn’s controversial win over Manny Pacquiao in front of nearly 60,000 fans down under. Toussaint isn’t a can’t miss, blue chip type prospect, but he does basically everything well and has some potential.
Leosdan Nunez (7-0, 4 KOs) DQ3 Ricardo Nunez (29-7, 23 KOs), bantamweights & Liborio Solis (26-5-1, 12 KOs) KO1 Jose Ramos (6-1, 6 KOs), bantamweights – Panama City, Panama
This was a strange one. There always has to be one in boxing and this was it. Cuban prospect Leosdan Nunez got a career best win here and was winning the fight in my view, but I don’t really get the ending. In the third a bad clash of heads opened a cut on him and he could not continue. It didn’t look intentional, but the ref must have disagreed. First he took two points from Ricardo Nunez. When he realized the fight was over, he disqualified the Panamanian two time title challenger. Last time Ricardo Nunez met an unbeaten prospect was in 2016 and he was robbed in public in on FS1 against Leduan Barthelemy. Now this. His career has taken a strange turn in its twilight. Former titleholder Liborio Solis, another bad luck fighter following his robbery loss to Jamie McDonnell and then no contest in the rematch, also picked up a stay busy win at home in Panama City.
Marvin Cabrera (8-0, 6 KOs) KO3 Wilfrido Buelvas (18-9, 12 KOs), junior middleweights – Carson, California
Former Mexican amateur standout Marvin Cabrera continued to build his career on Ryan Garcia’s undercard on Friday night. While he disappointing didn’t qualify for the Olympics after competing and winning a fight in two separate World Championships, Cabrera remains a solid if unspectacular professional prospect for Golden Boy. The Mexican prospect does well to put his weight behind his shots while still remaining at least reasonably conscious of his defense. He has some growing to do, but Marvin Cabrera is definitely a name to keep in the back of your mind.
Wednesday, May 2nd
Wanheng Menayothin (50-0, 18 KOs) TKO5 Leroy Estrada (16-3, 6 KOs), WBC minimumweight title & Kittipong Jaigrajang (68-1-1, 28 KOs) UD6 Thanawat Yancharoen (3-3, 1 KO), super bantamweights – Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
32 year old Thai titleholder Wanheng Menayothin, given name Chayaphon Moonsri, moved into Floyd Mayweather Jr territory with his 50th win without a loss on Wednesday at home in Thailand. There is a lot of empty record building in Thailand though and Menayothin hasn’t ever left the beautiful nation so it is hard to really celebrate the accomplishment. Plus, it has been done at minimumweight where there is rarely real competition. Good for him and all though. Speaking of record building, Kittipong Jaigrajang helps drive home my point by picking up his 68th win against a single defeat on the same card. His opponent? A 3-3 fighter. Now that probably isn’t entirely accurate or representative as boxrec has a notoriously difficult time getting complete records out of Thailand and so many of these guys have muay thai experience on top of their boxing records, but still. The one time Jaigrajang stepped up was a one sided knockout loss to Kazuto Ioka in 2011.
