Sunday, June 12, 2022

Boxing Challenge: DuBois crushes Bryan, Munguia, Berlanga win

   The chalk held firm for the three fights in this weekend's boxing main events but some victors proved to be more impressive than others.

In the afternoon in Miami, Daniel DuBois punctured the laughing stock that was Trevor Bryan "champion" and may have finally sent Don King into retirement for good with a left hook that dropped Bryan face-first to the mat in the fourth round and knocked him out.

The win won DuBois the minor title that Bryan held but more importantly moved into the mandatory challenger slot for the WBA that will eventually earn him a championship opportunity against whoever is the champion.

DuBois shook the portly Bryan with every punch and it seemed to be only a matter of time from the start on when the final punch would land to conclude a strange evening that felt like it was Don King promoting a fight card in the 80s at your local Moose club.

I half-expected to see Tony Tubbs or Pinklon Thomas come out of the few hundred fans and challenge DuBois for his newly-won belt, which would have been the icing on the cake for this strange afternoon but at least Trevor Bryan will go away to the obscurity that he came from.

As for DuBois, the questions still exist- we know he can punch and we know he has an excellent offensive game but the only time he faced a quality puncher, he was knocked out so there are remaining questions.

Fortunately for DuBois, those answers will have to wait until he enters the ring for his inevitable title chance.

In Anaheim, California, for four rounds prohibitive underdog Jimmy Kelly appeared to be surprising Jaime Munguia as Munguia appeared slow and underprepared for a fight that few were happy to see occur, and even fewer than that thought Kelly had even a slim chance of winning.

Kelly boxed and gave Munguia just enough movement to keep him off balance and looking very slow which was enough to hold a lead on my scorecard (39-37) after four rounds.

That lasted as long as it took for Munguia to land a left hook that dropped Kelly but didn't seem to hurt him that badly.

The right uppercut that scored another knockdown shortly thereafter was a different story and when Munguia jumped on Kelly with several combinations that caused Kelly to collapse in a corner, the referee called a stop to the fight and gave Munguia the expected win but with a little more trouble than expected.

Munguia's finishing effort might have been impressive but the remainder was not, and Munguia's lack of speed chasing Kelly made me think that Munguia and promoter Oscar De La Hoya may have the right idea in avoiding Demetrius Andrade like the plague when a chance at Andrade's WBO title was available for the asking.

Munguia can punch with the best of the middleweight division but it seems like anyone in the top ten that can move is going to give him major problems and perhaps Team Munguia knew more than we thought all along.

The main event on ESPN saw another disappointing outing from prospect Edgar Berlanga, who won a wider than most thought unanimous decision over veteran Roamer Alexis Angulo in New York City.

The judges gave Berlanga the edge by scores of 99-91 x2 and 98-92, and while I thought Berlanga won the fight, I had it a closer 96-94 score.

Berlanga, who stopped each of his first sixteen opponents in the first round, went the distance for the fourth fight in a row, and never seriously hurt Angulo, who pressed the attack and kept Berlanga off his back foot and made him a jab and move fighter.

There's nothing wrong with Berlanga's style change as he is facing much tougher competition and not everyone is going to fall in the first round but at times he seems almost timid and far from the banger that his early reputation built him as.

Berlanga actually bit Angulo on the shoulder in the seventh round and should have lost a point or even two for that infraction.

In addition to not being penalized, Berlanga was very classless in the post-fight interview as he laughed about it when asked about the chomp.

Top Rank is usually the best company when it comes to knowing when the right time is to move a young prospect and how to make sure that he is ready for better opponents as they mature but it appears that they have errored badly with Edgar Berlanga, who might be best suited to take a half step back in opposition for his next fight or two in order to restore some shine to a prospect that despite an unbeaten record is becoming more suspect than prospect.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 107 Pts (6)
Ramon Malpica:92 Pts (6)
Vince Samano: 86 Pts (4)


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