We have Sullivan Barrera, a world title fight, a Tom Loeffler show, and more this week on UTR.
Saturday, October 3rd
Jose Velasquez (23-6-2, 16 KOs) TKO6 Abel Leandro Silva (5-2, 3 KOs), bantamweights – Quellon, Chile
Chilean bantamweight fringe contender Jose Velasquez keeps chugging along at home in South America. The competition isn’t great, but he has now won fifteen straight fights after starting his career 8-6-2. Velasquez will struggle against the top of the division and I don’t recommend you invest a lot of time in learning about him, but I include him time after time here because it is clear that he will get his shot at some point. Not only does he have the winning streak in a relatively shallow division, but he has also held minor WBA and WBO titles to boost his rankings with them. Activity hasn’t been a problem either as this was the Chilean’s seventh fight of 2018.
Zach Parker (17-0, 11 KOs) SD12 Darryll Williams (17-1, 7 KOs), super middleweights & Viktor Postol (30-2-1, 12 KOs) PTS10 Siar Ozgul (14-2, 3 KOs), junior welterweights & Paul Butler (27-2, 14 KOs) PTS10 Yoan Boyeaux (41-6, 26 KOs), bantamweights – Glasgow, Scotland
A solid on paper all British clash headlined the World Boxing Super Series prelims this week. Though Williams was unbeaten and known for a pair of outstanding fights for and in defense of the British belt against Jahmaine Smyle, it was Zach Parker who was the big favorite here. While he got the win and the British belt along with it, there is some question on whether or not he deserved it. This isn’t to say he is the worse fighter here though. The 24 year suffered an obvious and debiliating shoulder injury pretty early in the fight and never really got going until late when he figured how to box effectively with one arm. The fact that Parker was able to do that at all over Williamson probably marks him as the better talent still, but he didn’t win seven rounds here to earn the decision that was gifted to him. Also in action were Viktor Postol and Paul Butler, former titleholders and tournament alternates at junior welterweight and bantamweight respectively. Both cruised to easy decisions over lesser opposition.
Saul Rodriguez (22-0-1, 19 KOs) TKO2 Claudio Rosendo Tapia (28-19-4, 13 KOs), lightweights & Robson Conceicao (10-0, 5 KOs) UD8 Joey Laviolette (9-2, 5 KOs), junior lightweights & Janibek Alimkhanuly (4-0, 1 KO) SD8 Vaughn Alexander (12-2, 8 KOs), super middleweights – El Paso, Texas
The undercard for Miguel Berchelt’s dramatic title defense over Micky Roman featured a trio of notable fights. 25 year old Saul Rodriguez was at least a minor prospect of note bring raised by Top Rank through 2015. He left for greener promises at Mayweather Promotions, however, and then only received one fight a year in 2016 and 2017. He returned to Top Rank here with an easy mismatch of a win. Rio gold medalist Robson Conceicao continued to show his athleticism by outclassing Canadian Joey Laviolette. Conceicao still has some technical limitations given his wide open style, but the 30 year old clearly needs to be stepped way up in 2019. He’s just bored in there and it is making his fights a little tedious to get through. Finally, Kazakh Olympian and former world amateur champion Janibek Alimkhanuly picked up a really impressive win over Vaughn Alexander given that it was only his fourth pro fight. Vaughn, brother to Devon Alexander, is a solid pro who was once a blue chip prospect in his own right before losing over a decade to jail time. Alimkhanuly lit him up consistently in this fight though. The split decision was bogus.
Sullivan Barrera (22-2, 14 KOs) UD10 Sean Monaghan (29-2, 17 KOs), light heavyweights & Denis Douglin (22-6, 14 KOs) KO6 Saul Roman (43-13, 25 KOs), super middleweights & Cassius Chaney (14-0, 8 KOs) KO4 Santino Turnbow (4-3, 3 KOs), heavyweights – Brooklyn, New York
This Main Events promoted Facebook Watch card posed a main event that looked like quite the mismatch on paper that produced a near shut out across the cards as expected. Between the ropes, however, things were a little different than that though. I’m not arguing that Sullivan Barrera didn’t deserve a wide decision win. He did. Seanie Monaghan was far more competitive in this fight though than anyone would have expected going in or would gather from the scores. He was there landing in about every round while taking what came back pretty well. This loss confirms he isn’t a top light heavyweight, but it also shows that he isn’t necessarily going to be instantly murdered by them like he was by Marcus Browne either. The Cuban favorite looked a bit like his 36 years would suggest too. I don’t think Sullivan Barrera has a ton left for the new generation of talent that has risen at 175. Also on the card, super middleweight fringe contender/high level journeyman Denis Douglin picked up a win in his first fight with Main Events following his upset of then unbeaten Vaughn Alexander and okay heavyweight prospect Cassius Chaney kept his unbeaten record alive as well.
Sonny Fredrickson (20-1, 13 KOs) UD10 Manuel Mendez (16-3-3, 11 KOs), junior welterweights
Sonny Frederickson was a respected prospect who had already picked up a minor title and seemed on his way to junior welterweight contention when he met Shohjahon Ergashev for a ShoBox main event back in January. That all came crashing down in a hurry. Ergashev may just be a truly elite talent and he demolished Sonny inside of three rounds. This was the Ohio fighter’s second fight back from that disaster and really his first of any note given that the previous one took place hidden in Mexico against a fighter with three times as many losses as wins. I don’t have video, but reports suggest this wasn’t a difficult night for the favorite.
Tuesday, October 30th
Serhii Bohachuk (11-0, 11 KOs) TKO1 Ronald Montes (18-11, 16 KOs), middleweights
Tom Loeffler is trying to get lightning to strike twice here with Serhii Bohachuk. The head of 360 Promotions has run the promotional agency of the Klitschkos (K2) for years, but he didn’t own it. Earlier this year he launched his own outfit in 360 Promotions and is putting on close to monthly cards in California under the series name of “Hollywood Fight Nights.” On these shows with Bohachuk, Loeffler is trying to promote a power punching, Abel Sanchez trained Ukrainian middleweight to a Mexican audience. Sound familiar? The promoter has also been running GGG promotions and the success of its titular fighter is a recipe Tom is keen on remaking for obvious reasons. Serhii doesn’t have Golovkin’s amateur background, however, and is coming up the ranks slowly but surely. As evidence of the slow progression, there wasn’t much competition in this Facebook broadcast main event. Montes got clipped with one solid left hook along the ropes and basically quit there. Post-fight Bohachuk and his Spanish nickname “El Flaco” thanked the crowd in Spanish too. Loeffler’s marketing is on point here.
Monday, October 29th
Felix Alvarado (34-2, 30 KOs) TKO7 Randy Petalcorin (29-3-1, 22 KOs), IBF light flyweight title – Pasay City, Philippines
While I appreciated it, the ESPN+ pickup of this light flyweight title fight in the Philippines in the early hours of the morning was probably little watched. Those who did tune in, however, were treated to a pretty good scrap in which power punching Nicaraguan Felix Alvarado finally got his world title on his third attempt. Previously he had lost to Kazuto Ioka and Juan Carlos Reveco. Since the second loss in 2014, Alvarado has been on a tear. He has now won sixteen straight, fifteen of which were by stoppage. Granted, the competition was a step down, but Felix has at least been rolling over the competition quickly like a top fighter should. Randy Petalcorin fighting at home here is somewhere in between that Ioka level and the one the new titleholder had been fighting at at home, so it took a little longer to get the job done. In the end he fell just the same though. Petalcorin tried in there, but Alvarado’s overwhelming activity and power basically neutralized anything positive he could get done himself. Alvarado finished the fight in seven with three knockdowns in the final round. Much of the finishing damage was body work.
