Friday, November 30, 2018

Boxing Challenge

The month of December starts with an interesting heavyweight title fight that few may see along with some other bouts over the weekend.

The biggest fight literally and figuratively comes from Los Angeles as WBC heavyweight kingpin Deontay Wilder faces the lineal champion that never lost his titles in the ring in Britain's Tyson Fury.
The heavy-hitting Wilder's most impressive win came in his last fight in January with a exciting knockout of Luis Ortiz that saw Wilder badly hurt in the seventh round, but rebounding to stop Ortiz in the tenth.
The victory over the division's most avoided fighter earned Wilder more credibility in one night than he gained in his first six defenses combined.
Wilder hits as hard as anyone in the game, but there are still chin questions and for as much power as he brings, his wild and freelancing style leaves him wide open for counters.
Fury won three of the four world titles (lacking only the WBC title at stake in this fight) and the lineal title in a 2015 decision over Wladimir Klitschko that was clearly won by Fury, but was one of the duller title events in recent history, but issues out of the ring caused him to relinquish the titles before two fights earlier this year against limited competition.
I still remember cruiserweight Steve Cunningham knocking Fury down and almost out years ago and I think part of his chin holding up against Klitschko was the reluctance of the former champion to throw any punches at all.
It'll be an interesting fight and I could see it going either way as Wilder is the harder puncher, but Fury is the bigger man.

The undercard is nothing special with WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd defending against Great Britain's Jason Welborn in Hurd's first fight back from shoulder surgery.
Welborn is a journeyman type, who isn't deserving of a title fight really, but under the circumstances, fits the bill for Hurd's return to the ring.

Luis Ortiz, who will have an excellent chance of facing the Wilder-Fury winner next, faces journeyman Travis Kauffman, who has fought just three times in three years and was once stopped by Tony Grano.
This one is designed to make Ortiz look good and could end early.

Showtime is showing an excellent "free view" on its channel, YouTube and Facebook before the card from Los Angeles starts as WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson defends against mandatory contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Quebec City, Canada.
This is interesting on several fronts as Stevenson rarely defends against anyone with a chance to defeat him ( He ducked mandatory contender Elieder Alvarez for years), will be defending against a fighter that isn't controlled by the PBC (Gvozdyk is promoted by Top Rank, who lost the purse bid), against a fighter that is a natural light heavyweight (Stevenson drew with former 168 pound champ Badou Jack last time out) and Stevenson is now 41 years old.
I would have picked Gvozdyk easily had he not fought just once in the last 16 months and looked ordinary in that fight against Mehdi Amar, but hopefully "The Nail" will rise to the occasion.

The first fight in the challenge is the Australian grudge match on ESPN+  around 6;30 AM Friday morning as former WBA super middleweight champ Anthony Mundine faces former WBO welterweight titlist Jeff Horn in a catchweight fight.
I normally hate these, but without a title on the line and Mundine being far larger, this is one of those rare occasions where it is a good fit.

I lead Ramon Malpica in the boxing challenge 194-174.

Middleweights. 12 Rds
Jeff Horn vs Anthony Mundine
R.L: Horn Split Decision
TRS: Horn Unanimous Decision

WBC Lt.Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds
Adonis Stevenson vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk
R.L: Stevenson KO 10
TRS: Gvozdyk Unanimous Decision

WBC Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds
Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury
R.L: Fury Unanimous Decision
TRS: Wilder Unanimous Decision

WBA/IBF Junior Middleweight Titles. 12 Rds
Jarrett Hurd vs Jason Welborn
R.L: Hurd KO 7
TRS: Hurd KO 6

Heavyweights 12 Rds
Luis Ortiz vs Travis Kauffman
R.L: Ortiz KO 5
TRS: Ortiz KO 3




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