Welcome to UTR, the weekly column in which we deep dive into the sport beyond the big shows.
Saturday, October 13th
Erik Bazinyan (21-0, 16 KOs) TKO6 Francy Ntetu (17-3, 14 KOs), super middleweights & Mathieu Germain (16-0, 8 KOs) SD10 Carlos Jimenez (14-9-1, 8 KOs), junior welterweights & Sadriddin Akhmedov (4-0, 4 KOs) v Jesus Javier Mendoza (7-6-1, 6 KOs), junior middleweights – Montreal, Canada
Eye of the Tiger Management worked on advancing a handful of their prospects on this show in Montreal. 23 year old Armenian-Canadian super middleweight Erik Bazinyan did the work he was supposed to in the main event. Francy Ntetu isn’t a major challenger, but the prospect did join the nice group of David Benavidez and Marcus Browne in finishing him. It was a stiff right hand in the sixth that started it. A follow up flurry put Ntetu down. He rose, but he shouldn’t have. A particular vicious attack with him pinned on the ropes finished the fight shortly later. Conversely Montreal native Mathieu Germain looks like he didn’t do the work he was supposed to do in the co-main event given the card against him, but I’m not sure what the judge given the card to Jimenez was doing. The Mexican was more competitive than maybe he should have been and came forward, I guess. He didn’t win six rounds though. 20 year old former junior amateur star Sadriddin Akhmedov of Kazakhstan also picked up his fourth win. He’s got worlds of potential, but he’ll also likely be brought on slowly due to never having even competed on the full amateur circuit.
Eduardo Hernandez (27-0, 24 KOs) TKO2 Luis Diaz Pestana (23-4-1, 14 KOs), junior lightweights – Iztacalco, Mexico
There is a very specific kind of serious power in the hand’s of Zanfer promoted 20 year old Mexican prospect Eduardo Hernandez. He lands thudding, accumulative shots that really beat his opponents down. Yet, he doesn’t do it like say an Antonio Margarito did over the length of a fight, but instead Hernandez can bash someone into defeat inside a single combination. His opponent will collapse in distress, but not from an individual blow. This happens time and time ago. That’s twenty one straight finishes inside four rounds or less for Hernandez despite the fact that he’s been in ten round fights against grown men with good records for some time now. Eduardo was 17 the last time someone could get past four rounds with him. Its only a matter of time before he ends up on Top Rank shows stateside given Zanfer’s positive relationship with the American powerhouse. There are tons of questions to be asked of him, of course, but sign me up to watch while we figure out the answers. This stoppage was maybe a little quick, but it was happening soon anyway.
Andrey Fedosov (31-3, 25 KOs) UD10 Joey Dawejko (19-6-4, 11 KOs), heavyweights & Magomed Kurbanov (16-0, 11 KOs) UD10 Juan Rodriguez (15-1, 14 KOs), junior middleweights & Nikolai Potapov (19-1-1, 10 KOs) KO4 Khumoyun Rustamov (6-4, 4 KOs), featherweights & Evgeny Tishchenko (2-1, 1 KO) UD6 Artush Sarkisyan (4-7, 2 KOs), heavyweights – Ekaterinberg, Russia
The Russian high regional scene took full advantage of the World Boxing Super Series show in Ekaterinberg. Chief among them was former ESPN “Boxcino” tournament winner and heavyweight fringe contender Andrey Fedosov shutting out Joey Dawejko. That’s a solid win given his inactivity and the fact that Dawejko found some decent success against Bryant Jennings not too long ago. Hopefully Andrey becomes more active going forward. Also picking up wins were rising prospect Magomed Kurbanov, bantamweight fringe contender Nikolai Potapov, and most interestingly Evgeny Tishchenko. Tishchenko won gold at heavyweight in Rio and is a serious prospect. Heavyweight in the amateurs is more like cruiserweight in the pros, however, thanks to the existence of super heavyweight. This makes the Russian small for the weight in terms of pounds, but he’s 6’5″ so he should be able to grow into heavyweight rather than need to drop to cruiserweight. To be honest, however, I’m not super high on him. There just doesn’t seem to be much on his shots. Plus, his gold medal decision win was fortunate to say the least.
Joshua Buatsi (8-0, 6 KOs) KO1 Tony Averlant (26-11-2, 5 KOs), light heavyweights & Anthony Fowler (8-0, 7 KOs) TKO5 Gabor Gorbics (26-13, 16 KOs), middleweights & Thomas Patrick Ward (25-0, 4 KOs) TKO1 Tom Tran (6-2, 1 KO), super bantamweights – Newcastle, England
Who I am very high on is Rio bronze medalist Joshua Buatsi of the UK. He’s a real solid talent that made quick work of Frenchman Tony Averlant here. Body work ended this one emphatically. Of course Buatsi had the advantage of seeing fellow British 175 lb prospect Anthony Yarde get him to the body too, but it took the Warren prospect much longer to get the work done and he ate some shots along the way. Buatsi did not struggle in any way and that is a statement comparatively between the two. Middleweight prospect Anthony Fowler, also a Rio Olympian, and British titleholder at super bantamweight Thomas Patrick Ward also picked up wins. Fowler is a good, but not blue chip prospect while Ward will probably have things end poorly for him when he gets his world title shot soon. DAZN picked up the broadcast after their fights, however, so I haven’t gotten to see them and can’t comment much further.
Michael Hunter (15-1, 10 KOs) TKO10 Martin Bakole (11-1, 10 KOs), heavyweights & Lee McGregor (5-0, 5 KOs) KO12 Thomas Essomba (8-5, 3 KOs), bantamweights – London, England
This was some horrible matchmaking by Barry McGuigan and company at Cyclone Boxing. I know they thought they had something in their big, powerful heavyweight, but this was just too big of a jump. Sure, Michael Hunter is borderline fat at heavyweight, but he’s a former Olympian and skilled fighter. It took Oleksandr Usyk, one of the best fighters in the world, about three full rounds to figure him out. They expected a crude, inexperienced heavyweight prospect to do it in time to win? To be fair Bakole did seem to hurt Hunter in the seventh before hurting his shoulder, but this was a step too far even if he did manage to KO him on size advantage alone in the late rounds. The injured shoulder limited Bakole offensively and defensively. Factor in fatigue and the tenth round finish was hardly surprising from there. From a fan perspective, however, this was a fun heavyweight fight for sure. Watch it if you haven’t. Also, highly touted Scottish prospect Lee McGregor picked up a win in a late stoppage to grab a regional belt notably early in his career.
Carlos Adames (15-0, 12 KOs) TKO2 Joshua Conley (14-3-1, 9 KOs), junior middleweights & Mike Alvarado (40-4, 28 KOs) TKO2 Robbie Cannon (16-14-3, 7 KOs), junior welterweights & Steven Nelson (12-0, 10 KOs) TKO4 Oscar Riojas (17-11-1, 6 KOs), light heavyweights – Omaha, Nebraska
This was the ESPN+ preliminary action on the Crawford-Benavidez show this weekend. “Mile High” Mike Alvarado went on last here and proclaimed he’s back after the fight. I guess he looked better here, but Cannon was a particularly weak opponent. He hasn’t beaten a fighter with a winning record since 2014. Regardless, the 38 year old Alvarado didn’t take damage here and ended the fight early with a highlight reel right hand KO. I’ve not been kind to Alvarado in recent years, but this shot was a thing of beauty. Mike boiled down to 142 for this one so the plan might be to sacrifice the former titleholder to in house junior welterweight titlist Jose Ramirez. I guess we will just have to accept that. Alvarado is shot and that won’t end well, but all parties involved seem to want some fight like that to happen and it will. Highly regarded Dominican prospect Carlos Adames also picked up a two round blow out win, in his case a better one over a decent regional guy in Joshua Conley. Conley didn’t look like the fighter he used to be, however, and his laying on the ropes got him blown up sooner than later. Terence Crawford camp mate and middling light heavyweight prospect Steve Nelson also scored a stoppage win.
Angel Acosta (19-1, 19 KOs) KO2 Abraham Rodriguez (23-2, 11 KOs), WBO light flyweight title & Bakhram Murtazaliev (14-0, 11 KOs) UD10 Norberto Gonzalez (23-12, 13 KOs), junior middleweights & Rashidi Ellis (21-0, 14 KOs) KO7 Saul Corral (28-13, 19 KOs), welterweights & Meiirim Nursultanov (9-0, 7 KOs) UD8 Jamar Freeman (15-7-2, 8 KOs), middleweights – Las Vegas, Nevada
Golden Boy and Main Events got together for this Facebook Watch card Saturday that pretty much flew completely under the radar. With a light flyweight title fight anchoring it, that is hardly a surprise. That’s a shame too given how much fun Angel Acosta can be. The Puerto Rican titleholder isn’t great technically, nor is he a particularly dynamic athlete. What he is though is a monster puncher. The left hook that ended this one briefly sent Abraham Rodriguez to another dimension. Between this one and Mike Alvarado’s KO, we’ll have two KOTY contenders from the same day this year. Also in action were Main Events prospects Bakhram Murtazaliev of Russia and Meiirum Nursultanov of Kazakhstan alongside American Golden Boy prospect Rashidi Ellis. None of the three did anything sensational, though the big mismatch Ellis was in allowed him to look flashy at times and get the finish. I think the two international prospects probably have a steadier upside than “Speedy” Ellis given how much he struggled with John Karl Sosa not too long ago, but maybe the 25 year old has improved. It’s hard to tell when the talent mismatch is this wide.
Ruben Villa (14-0, 5 KOs) UD8 Miguel Carrizoza (10-4, 2 KOs), junior lightweights – Salinas, California
Former top US amateur and Olympic alternate Ruben Villa picked up another win in California. I don’t have much to say about this one given that I don’t seem to have video of it, but I remain surprised that he is not involved with a larger promotional company. With promoters scrambling recently to sign up anyone and everyone with talent, it is just strange to see a former elite amateur with an unbeaten record headlining Thompson Boxing cards.
Friday, October 12th
Ferdinand Kerobyan (11-0, 6 KOs) KO1 Rolando Mendivil (10-6, 3 KOs), welterweights & Azat Hovhannisyan (15-3, 12 KOs) KO4 Jesus Martinez (24-5, 12 KOs), super bantamweights – Los Angeles, California
Golden Boy’s LA Fight Club series returned with Armenian-American prospect and former national level amateur Ferdinand Kerobyan picking up typically easy work in the series’ main event. LA Fight Club on EstellaTV and the RingTV website is not known for it competitive matchmaking to say the least. It’s hard to get a read on Kerobyan from this brief of a non-contest, but he has a solid if unspectacular amateur pedigree. He finished fourth in Olympic qualifying, for example. I’ll need to see more of him still though. Who I have seen plenty if fun, if limited bantamweight contender Azat Hovhannisyan. Azat, also Armenian, is an undersized but vicious little fighter who puts his heart into everything. He did much better than I expected against Rey Vargas in May, largely on guts alone. This slot was just meant to get him a low key win and it did that just fine.
Thursday, October 11th
Christian Mbilli (12-0, 12 KOs) KO2 Luis Fernando Pina (20-2, 15 KOs), middleweights – Orleans, France
Cameroonian born French Olympian Christian M’Billi is my favorite prospect and he should be yours too. The kid is ridiculous. His technique is all over the place. One might he’ll be jabbing his way in and employing some early Tyson style beautiful bobbing and weaving. The next he’ll just square up and wing away until he can get as close to murdering another human being as legally possible. The right to the body, right uppercut combination that ended this was just absurd. It was visual pugilistic poetry. Nevermind that M’Billi briefly got buzzed in the first round by recklessly pulling straight back or that his squared up non-defense in the second round was just as likely to get him KO’d as it was to deliver the finish that is. Just tell me when and where the 23rd year old is fighting so I can find my way there.
Ali Akhmedov (13-0, 10 KOs) KO1 Jovany Javier Gomez (17-15, 11 KOs), light heavyweights – Costa Mesa, California
Speaking of top prospects people are sleeping on, start paying attention to Ali Akhmedov. He dismissed his overmatched opponent quickly here on a body shot barely over a minute into the fight, but that isn’t what was interesting about it. What I find odd is that this was the second straight fight the 23 year old Kazakh had where he weighed in at light heavyweight to face an opponent who weighed in well up in cruiserweight numbers. The talent disparity has been such that it hardly matters, but it is just a strange thing to do twice in a row. Regardless, Akhmedov was a true top amateur held back from international tournaments due to politics in his weight class. As a pro he’s trained by Abel Sanchez and gets great sparring with Gennady Golovkin and company. He’s almost a shoe in to at least work his way up to an opportunity at world level.
