Welcome to Under the Radar Fight Results, the weekly column in which I go over all other results not covered by separate articles. This week we have a ShoBox, Jack Culcay, a 47 year old, a mystery opponent, and many more fights from all around the world.
Saturday, September 22nd
Miguel Gonzalez (29-1, 6 KOs) UD11 Yader Cardoza (23-14-1, 7 KOs), super flyweights & Jose Velasquez (22-6-2, 15 KOs) KO3 Luis Singo (20-15-2, 9 KOs), super bantamweights – San Francisco de Mostazal, Chile
We open this week in South America with Chilean fringe contenders Miguel Gonzalez and Jose Velasquez. I don’t think either of these men are actually world level contenders, but they are doing everything right to get the opportunity to prove me wrong. Gonzalez has won 12 straight since losing to Paul Butler in 2013. Even more impressively, Velasquez has won 14 straight and 18 of 19 since late 2015 after starting his career 4-5-2. They aren’t fighting contenders, but what they are doing now is fighting for and defending regional belts from the major sanctioning bodies. An eliminator at minimum for both men is inevitable if they just stay the course. That’s why the minor titles exist after all.
Jack Culcay (25-3, 13 KOs) TKO10 Rafael Bejaran (25-3-1, 11 KOs), middleweights & Tyron Zeuge (23-1-1, 13 KOs) TKO8 Cheikh Dioum (11-3-1, 8 KOs), super middleweights & Artem Harutyunyan (5-0, 4 KOs) TKO8 Merab Turkadze (5-3, 2 KOs), junior lightweights & Robert Harutyunyan (5-0, 3 KOs) UD10 Giovanny Martinez (8-6-1, 4 KOs)- Potsdam, Germany
Underrated middleweight contender Jack Culcay returned to stay busy with a regional level win at home this weekend. He’s never going to be likely to get a win over the current batch of top middleweights, but the 32 year old has been competitive with the likes of Maciej Sulecki and Demetrius Andrade. He can fight for sure. Bejaran is the type of opponent he should be able to control and he did. Recent former secondary titleholder Tyron Zeuge was in even softer, but that makes sense. Last time out he was surprisingly wrecked in five by Rocky Fielding. After a devastating first loss like that, a soft touch is the usual prescription and that is what he got here. Also in action were the Armenian-German brothers, Artem and Robert Harutyunyan. They are older prospects at 28 and 29 and are limited due to that reality, but Artem did win bronze in Rio so he does carry a bit of hype with him.
Jonathan Taconing (28-3-1, 22 KOs) UD12 Vince Paras (13-2, 11 KOs), light flyweights – Paranaque City, Philippines
This was an important fight both in Filipino boxing and for the 108 lb world stage. Vince Paras, still only 19 for a few more days, came into this fight on the heels of a reasonably competitive but clear loss to minimumweight titleholder Hiroto Kyoguchi in Japan. Again, he didn’t really come close to winning the fight, but he was also a teenager on the road fighting for a world title. All things considered, I thought he put on a good performance. Taconing is a two time former title challenger looking for one last go at that belt, but he’s also 31. In the vast majority of the divisions in the sport a 31 year old would have a tremendous advantage over a 19 year old, and generally that is probably still the case even at 108, but 31 is notably old for the division. There was some thought here that Paras could rise to the occasion and score a career best win. That didn’t happen though. While the teenager was game got good work in here and there, Taconing’s experience showed in how he just had more choices in the ring. He outboxed the younger man for clear decision that should put him in position to get another crack at a belt next year.
Jayson Velez (27-5-1, 19 KOs) KO2 Orlando Cruz (25-7-2, 13 KOs), junior lightweights – Juncos, Puerto Rico
This was a must win fight for these two Puerto Ricans in absolute terms and the result was emphatic. Jayson Velez and Orlando Cruz were both fringe contenders pretty recently, but both had seen their stocks drop. Yet, there has also been signs of hope. While Velez did lose a wide decision to rising Golden Boy star Ryan Garcia last time out, he did come into that fight on a three bout winning streak that included beating an unbeaten prospect and former star Juan Manuel Lopez. Cruz hadn’t won a fight since October of 2016, but he did score a draw against unbeaten Golden Boy prospect Lamont Roach Jr last time out. I should note that I don’t think he deserved that decision necessarily, but it did do wonders for a failing career anyway. That was wiped away in a big way on Saturday though. It was a classic left hook to the liver that did the job in the second round. Cruz has been an inspirational figure in the sport given his brave decision to come out as gay in a very traditional and macho environment, but we can’t figure there is much left in the ring for the 37 year old after this. He was never truly a top fighter anyway.
Firat Arslan (44-8-2, 29 KOs) KO2 Pascal Ndomba (23-9-2, 21 KOs), cruiserweights – Istanbul, Turkey
The Firat Arslan show is one of my favorite ongoing sublots of UTR. This was the third fight since May for the 47 year old and the longest he has made it into a bout this year before finishing his foe. He’s not fighting top competition by any means, but the man made his pro debut in 1997. The fact that he’s knocking out normal age fighters with positive records 21 years into his career is notable in itself. A body shot ended this one. Arslan briefly had a belt a decade ago and almost won a second one in four years ago at 43, narrowly losing a split decision to the talented but physically failing Yoan Pablo Hernandez in which turned out to be the Cuban’s last fight. He’s now 10-0 since then. Firat’s stated goal is to become the oldest cruiserweight champion in the history of the division. That’s an impossible order for now, but I am assuming that after Usyk-Bellew all four belts are going to end up vacant and scattered across the world after Usyk wins and moves to heavyweight. That means eight men will get the opportunity to fight for a title in all likelihood. Firat Arslan just may end up getting his wish next year.
Cameron Krael (14-13-3, 3 KOs) MD10 Jose Miguel Borrego (14-2, 13 KOs), welterweights & Lionell Thompson (20-5, 11 KOs) UD10 Derrick Findley (28-24-1, 18 KOs), light heavyweights & Xavier Martinez (12-0, 8 KOs) TKO6 Oscar Bravo (22-9, 10 KOs), lightweights – Las Vegas, Nevada
Mayweather Promotions couldn’t have been too happy with the result here in the main event of their Facebook streamed card. Jose Borrego looked like a potential star when he thrashed Kevin Watts on FS1 last summer, but he followed it up with what I saw as an upset loss against fellow unbeaten Juan Heraldez just two months later despite dropping Heraldez late. This quickly put a damper on the momentum gained from the Watts fight. Still, I thought the young Mexican had some promise and a loss at 19 to another good young fighter is not a real problem long term. This loss, however, is not the Heraldez loss. I don’t want to undersell Cameron Krael though. The Las Vegas native is a really stiff journeyman test. He nearly upset Erick Bone a couple months ago and has been competitive with the likes of Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Levan Ghvamichava. Krael is a gritty, aggressive fighter with some ability. Yet, he’s also a .500 guy for a reason. There’s no shame for most fighters on the planet in losing to him, but someone with world class aspirations has to win a fight against him, even at 20. There is plenty of time for Jose Miguel Borrego to recover here after this narrow defeat, but it feels like a real longshot at this point. Also in action was heavyweight fringe contender Lionell Thompson and rising prospect Xavier Martinez. Thompson is a really solid guy on the American domestic scene who will be competitive at everything below world title level, but the real interest in here is Martinez. After a few early PBC on FS1 fights, the 20 year old has been taken out of the spotlight for the most part. When I could watch him though the Arizona native did look quite promising. He’s a sharp, technical puncher who flows well in combinations. I hope with PBC’s larger amount of dates in 2019 that Xavier gets back on my TV screen soon.
Alantez Fox (24-1-1, 11 KOs) UD8 Elvin Ayala (29-11-1, 13 KOs), middleweights – Bowie, Maryland
Then unbeaten Maryland native Alantez Fox received a huge opportunity about a year ago on HBO against Demetrius Andrade. He promptly shit the bed with it, though it turns out that the performance wasn’t fully his fault. Apparently injured very early in the first round of the bout, Fox had little choice but to run and run the rest of the way. The shoulder injury felt like an excuse at the time, but it was real. The Maryland native has been out due to surgery on a torn rotator cuff. Back for the first time since, here the lanky middleweight shut out well marked journeyman Elvin Alaya over eight rounds at home under Holyfield Promotions banners. Alantez has some serious advantages at 160 lbs. He’s 6’4″ and has an almost unheard of for the weight 79″ reach. I wasn’t sad to not be able to find any video of this one as it is hard to be excited to see Fox again after the Andrade fight even knowing he was limited, but we will have to give him another chance the next time he steps up. The HBO debacle cannot fairly be held against him. He was legitimately fighting with one arm after the first round.
Friday, September 21st
Damian Jonak (41-0-1, 21 KOs) UD8 Sherzod Khusanov (21-1-1, 9 KOs), super middleweights – Poland
Take a look at that record. It’s confusing, actually. Google is not helping either. I’ve learned that the 35 year old had over a 150 amateur fights too, which only makes my head spin more. How is he 42 fights into a career at 35 without a loss in a good boxing country without ever really stepping up past domestic level? It looks like did Jonak miss about three years before coming back this May due to promotional issues. Even before that absence his lack of a career arc makes little sense though. Jonak had by far his career best win in 2011 against world traveled Alex Bunema in a fight in which the Pole picked up a minor titles from two of the sanctioning bodies. Then… nothing. Just back to fighting regional guys in Poland. Maybe he just knows his limitations. In 2014 Damian nearly lost a decision at home to a badly faded former British domestic level fighter Bradley Pryce, winning only thanks to a knockdown point. It could be that Jonak has just balanced the risk versus pay scale where it is safe for him. If so, good on him. It’s just odd. The whole thing. Polish fighters don’t just spend their life fighting on local cards to go unbeaten and retire. I was thinking maybe there would be a criminal issue that precluded him from fighting abroad, but by all accounts he seems to be a stand up guy. I turn to you, readers. Does anyone have any insight on the strangely flat career of Damian Jonak?
Ismail Iliev (11-0-1, 3 KOs) UD10 Siarhei Rabchanka (29-4-2, 22 KOs), middleweights & Aram Avagyan (8-0-1, 4 KOs) SD10 Evgeny Smirnov (13-0-2, 3 KOs), featherweights & Gor Yeritsyan (8-0, 7 KOs) RTD5 Jose Luis Prieto (26-6, 17 KOs), welterweights – Moscow, Russia
The rapidly emerging Russian scene had an interesting card on Friday night in Moscow. Former fringe contender Siarhei Rabchanka, previously stylized Sergey Rabchenko, had a really nice run on the European level for several years. Cedric Vitu, Bradley Pryce, and Ryan Rhodes were real players in that scene when he beat them in 2012 and 2013 and he held the European belt twice. In fact, Rabchanka was pretty great on his big step up too. He went to Australia to meet local star and fringe world level operator Anthony Mundine in 2013, winning the fight on basically every card filled out except for from two of the three official judges. Unfortunately that controversial loss would be his peak. Waiting for the rematch that never came, Rabchanka was pretty inactive over the next couple years until he was matched with exciting American fringe contender Tony Harrison in the summer of 2016. Despite being trained by Ricky Hatton, the Belorussian was outboxed and finished for the first time. In March Sergey stepped in to be Kell Brook’s comeback opponent and was promptly flattened in two. Still, those losses were to top guys. This one was not. Despite going down in the first round, Ismail Iliev, an entirely new fighter to me, had a pretty easy time outboxing his more experienced foe the rest of the way. This fight was the nail in the coffin for the younger than you’d guess 32 year old. On the undercard, Armenian Rio Olympian Aram Avagyan fought to a draw with fellow unbeaten Evgeny Smirnov while 23 year old Gor Yeritsan beat Jose Luis Prieto and his typically inflated Colombian record. While Prieto was a soft touch, last time out Yeritsan beat journeyman Ali Funeka which is a real solid win for a seventh fight.
Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0, 33 KOs) TKO1… someone, maybe super bantamweights – Thailand, of course
Yup. Thailand. 24 year old Petch Sor Chitpattana, given name Thasana Saraphath and also one of many sponsored fighters sometimes called CP Freshmart, got a win against a local guy the identify of whom no one seems to be able to figure out for sure. There’s video though if you’re curious to google a true farce. This is normal though, or at least close to it. Usually the opponent gets a name. Regardless, Thai boxers fighting massive mismatches many times a year until they get a bigger opportunity is par for the course. It’s just how the very unique boxing economy works in the beautiful but economically uneven Southeast Asian nation. The fighters make next to or sometimes even literally nothing for the fights themselves. Their sponsors pay them each time out for the exposure though and all the sponsors really care about is that they win for the sake of the brand. The local fighters get multiple names to go by over the course of their career based on which sponsor they are fighting for at the time. Then they get in the ring against guys who have little, if any pro boxing experience as often as they can to cash in. The opponents will be given a fake record for their ring introduction and then the non-fight happens. Even Thai fighters who rise up to win world titles still often do this in between defenses. The opponents’ records are often not actually as bad as they look on boxrec as so many fights are undocumented in the difficult to follow scene though, it should be noted. Plus, many of these guys have extensive muay thai experience even if they are making their boxing debut, but they are still huge mismatches on purpose anyway. Its just how it works in Thailand. Ignore the records. Records are always misleading, but in Thailand they are downright meaningless altogether.
O’Shaquie Foster (14-2, 8 KOs) UD10 Jon Fernandez (16-1, 14 KOs), junior lightweights & Irvin Gonzalez (11-0, 9 KOs) UD8 Carlos Ramos (9-1, 6 KOs), featherweights & Steven Ortiz (9-0, 3 KOs) MD8 Wesley Ferrer (12-1-1, 7 KOs), lightweights & Misael Lopez (9-0, 4 KOs) UD8 James Wilkins (5-1, 5 KOs), junior lightweights & George Arias (12-0, 7 KOs) TKO2 Byron Polley (30-24-1, 13 KOs), heavyweights – Shawnee, Oklahoma
ShoBox did not go well for former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez’s fledgling Maravilla Promotions. In the main event, promising power puncher Jon Fernandez was soundly outboxed by O’Shaquie Foster and his 1-2 (now 2-2) record on the series. I wrote on the fight schedule that we’d learn about Fernandez as he was exposed to a movement based style for the first time, but I didn’t figure we’d learn that he’s probably not a real prospect to watch at all. Foster had fallen prey to stopping his quality movement and trading to his own detriment in previous ShoBox appearances, but he stayed disciplined and dominated all the way through here, mostly anyway. He got caught and wobbled at the end of round six, but there wasn’t enough time left in the round for it to matter. Fernandez was clearly frustrated and out of his depth in there most of the way. Spanish based Colombian Carlos Ramos lost his unbeaten record too in the co-main event. It was more his own doing though, or at least that’s how I saw it. Irvin Garcia put on pretty basic pressure that Ramos was able to counter in flashy ways. The problem is that he just didn’t do it enough. Most rounds saw Ramos landing the best shot or two, but not doing anything else while Gonzalez put in his steady work over the three minutes to clearly take the round. The less said about Ortiz-Ferrer, the better. That was an awful, ugly fight which I am just going to happily gloss on by. Opening the show was “Cradle of Champions” amateur boxing documentary star James Wilkins, but his exposure proved to be a detriment as the five fight pro was put on ShoBox far too early as a result. He was largely dominated by fellow series debutante Misael Lopez. Finally, DiBella signed Dominican heavyweight prospect George Arias picked up his twelfth win over longtime journeyman Byron Polley before the Showtime broadcast. Arias got him out quickly like basically every potential heavyweight contender has since the early 2000s.
