Boxing Challenge: Lomachenko crunches Crolla

This will be part of a two-post boxing challenge as I type from the bumpy road home from West Virginia and I have yet to see the FS1 fights from Saturday, so I'll try to give an update on those tonight or tomorrow.

Friday saw the return of Vasyl Lomachenko as he destroyed former WBA champion Anthony Crolla in stopping him with one right hand in the fourth round in Los Angeles to retain his WBA and WBO lightweight titles.
Lomachenko looked to be completely healed from his shoulder injury in 2018 and at peak form after dominating but not quite as sharp against Jose Pedraza in his last fight following the surgery.
Lomachenko dominated every round and almost halted Crolla in the third when Crolla was called for a technical knockdown when his bottom rested on a rope which kept him from falling to the floor.
Lomachenko celebrated and members of the California commission entered the ring as well thinking the bout was concluded before being told of the knockdown call by referee Jack Reiss and being chased from the ring.
With seconds remaining, Crolla made it to the bell but was living on borrowed time and that time was only fifty-eight seconds when Lomachenko smashed Crolla with a right that sent him face down on the canvas, where Jack Reiss may have counted to one before waving the fight off.
Lomachenko broke a knuckle on his right hand with the punch that ended the fight but is still expected to defend his titles as expected in September, possibly in a unification event against IBF champion Richard Commey although Commey may decide for another bout due to his own hand issues and the unification could wait until December.
The fight most would want to see for Lomachenko would be unifying against the other lightweight champion Mikey Garcia, but that continues to be unlikely until 2020 at the earliest.

The ESPN card also would see the light heavyweight debut of WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez against journeyman Tommy Karpency and Ramirez looked more impressive than he has in recent fights at 168 pounds.
Ramirez won every round in dominant fashion and a body shot that broke the ribs of Karpency caused the veteran to not come out of his corner after the fourth round.
Ramirez could return to super middle for a rumored title unification fight against WBA champion Callum Smith or go after one of the three champions that Top Rank promotes at light heavyweight.

Meanwhile, in Monterrey, Mexico on DAZN, the Hamburglar made an appearance as heavily favored Jaime Munguia kept his WBO junior middleweight belt by a controversial majority decision over lightly regarded Irishman Dennis Hogan, who fights out of Australia.
Hogan started quickly, banked some early rounds and surprisingly considering the reputation of Munguia as a puncher, landed the harder shots throughout the bout.
Munguia did rally late in the fight and the final three rounds were filled with toe to toe action, so Munguia did manage to make the fight close and I could maybe see a draw if you gave Munguia a close round or two someplace, but I had Hogan a 7-5 winner (115-113) and that may have been mildly generous to the champion, who certainly was given the benefit of the doubt in his home country.
Munguia should give Hogan a rematch, should he stay at 154, but weight problems may have to send him to 160, where his struggles in his last two fights make me think that he may be caught between a rock and a hard place- Stay at 154 and allow that problems making the weight are causing problems with fighters that he should outclass, move to 160, where the weight should be easier on him physically, but a talented class could take advantage of his still being green against top competition.

In the boxing challenge, I added six points (three from Ramirez, two from Lomachenko, and one from Munguia) to Ramon Malpica's four (two from Ramirez, one each from Lomachenko and Munguia) to move my lead to 78-69.

Back tomorrow with a look at the PBC on FS1 card, which I haven't watched yet 

Boxing Challenge: Usyk finishes Bellew

Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

In a DAZN centered weekend, the star was the expected one as the only man to hold all four championships in his division,Oleksandr Usyk ended a close fight (on some cards) with a left hand that not only ended his fight with former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, but likely ended the Briton's career in the eighth round.
The fight was interesting and competitive entering round eight, but I had Usyk well ahead (5-2) and wearing Bellew down, but apparently, the on-site judges were seeing something that I was not as Bellew led on two cards and was even on the third.
Bellew had his moments early, but I cannot fathom him being even in any way, let alone ahead, but Usyk took the scorecards out of play with one shot.
Usyk is likely to vacate his titles (too bad, I really like having one champion) for a move to the heavyweight division, where Eddie Hearn, who co-promotes Usyk and fully promotes WBA/IBF/WBO champion Anthony Joshua, was quoted after the fight that the plan was for Usyk to fight his next fight at heavyweight and then challenge Joshua.
The win for Usyk added Bellew to Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev to Usyk's victims for 2018 and considering that all three wins were in his opponent's home countries and the World Boxing Super Series victory, Oleksandr Usyk will more than likely be my choice for fighter of the year.

The co-feature saw former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla hammer out a workmanlike unanimous decision over Daud Yordan to become the mandatory contender for the WBA and their lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko.
Lomachenko, who will attempt to add the WBO belt of Jose Pedraza in a few weeks, might be likely to travel to London to spread his reputation (and show he can sell tickets) in Europe to fight Crolla, but Eddie Hearn may not be in a hurry to force his man to fight Lomachenko and may be content to bide his time and hope for a Lomachenko voluntary vacating of that title, should that situation arise.
I scored Crolla a 117-111  (9-3) winner.

The evening card had the World Boxing Super Series finishing their quarter-final round by completing their cruiserweight semi-final bracket from Chicago.
The first fight featured the tournament's top seed and the man that gave Oleksandr Usyk his most difficult bout earlier this year with former WBC champion Mairis Briedis against little known Noel Mikaelian of Germany.
This fight displayed two surprises- the first came when Mikaelian controlled the fight with his jab against an either underprepared or overconfident (perhaps both) Briedis and won handily on my card 115-111 (8-4) with both fighters being penalized one point for fouls (Mikaelian in the 4th, Briedis in the 10th) in the fight.
The second surprise rose when the scorecards were announced to the surprise of everyone, including Briedis it seemed, that Briedis was the winner and even worse by margins that were simply incredible (2,4 and an unbelievable 6 points).
I feel bad for Mikaelian, who stepped up with a solid effort against the toughest test of his career and should have been rewarded with a winning, if not glittering victory.
If I made the decision for the WBSS, I'd immediately place Mikaelian as the "Stand-by Alternate" for each of the next two rounds to be used in case of an injury or a competitor misses weight.
Briedis will face the winner of the other bout in Krzysztof Glowacki.

Glowacki, who won a WBO minor title that I usually wouldn't mention, but if Oleksandr Usyk does vacate his titles. Glowacki will likely be elevated to full champion in that organization, defeated Maksim Vlasov via a unanimous decision in a fight that was more entertaining than the other quarter-final, but still was far from a classic.
Glowacki was credited with a third-round knockdown that appeared to be more along the lines of a trip but was scored a knockdown on his way to a 118-109 (10-2 with a bonus point for the knockdown) triumph on my scorecard.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica outscored me six to five on the weekend with the difference being Ramon earning two points for the Mairis Briedis win, whereas I scored just one for the Briedis "win".
I lead the season 186-164.

Boxing Challenge: Joshua slogs past Parker

There were 80,000 fans in Cardiff, Wales that left happy as Anthony Joshua added the WBO heavyweight title to his previously owned WBA and IBF championships as Joshua won a unanimous decision over Joseph Parker.

Happy is different than entertained, however, as the action was stunted at best and glacial at worst as Joshua swept the later rounds to pull away on most cards, although the judges predictably had Joshua ahead more than most observers, although to be fair, most of the first six rounds were close (also known as boring and dull with little to choose from) enough to not argue with which fighter that you saw winning.
I watched it one and a half times (I watched the first six rounds over) and I scored Joshua 116-112 live and 118-110 on a second watching.
It was just plain dull and there is plenty to be said for winning this one and look good the next one, but still, this slow bout combined with Deontay Wilder's victory over Luis Ortiz suddenly has some people thinking Wilder has a chance against Joshua that would not have thought so before this fight.
I still think Wilder's chin isn't great and I think he'll fight Joshua off his back foot more than as an attacker, but off this performance by Joshua, I can at least understand that belief, if not agree with it.
I suppose the part of the match that surprised me was Deontay Wilder's reaction and screaming after the fight that Parker was robbed.
Delusion is not always able to be understood...

I'm not sure if Joshua-Wilder happens next unless some things are worked out with their respective management and the sanctioning bodies, but one idea that would allow Joshua to debut in America, Wilder to perhaps draw a crowd, knock out some mandatories and even regain some excitement lost from today's fight would be a doubleheader in the summer with Joshua defending against Povetkin and Wilder against Dillian Whyte.
It seems to check all the boxes and makes a lot of sense, which likely why I'm doubtful it would be a finished deal.
In boxing, no sense makes sense.

In the semi-main, a predictable result occurred when Alexander Povetkin delivered a spectacular knockout of David Price in the fifth round.
Povetkin dropped Price in the third, but Price rallied back to drive Povetkin back into the corner in what was ruled a knockdown as the corner held Povetkin up.
Povetkin is the number one contender for both the WBA and WBO, so Eddie Hearn (promoter of Anthony Joshua) is going to have to either deal with Povetkin physically in a title defense or financially to pay step-aside dollars for Joshua to face Wilder (or anyone else) next time out.
Povetkin can crack with the best of the division and is a dangerous fight, but also one with danger for any promoter with his PED history that makes you nervous about the status of the fight all the way until the fighters enter the ring.
As for David Price, it's too bad that his chin is made of melted cheese because he otherwise looks the part of a contender.
Tall, rangy, punches pretty well, Price reminds you of what a British heavyweight used to be (Frank Bruno, Richard Dunn, Brian London etc) with his lack of punch resistance.
David Price either needs to step aside or be matched as a special attraction against fighters that aren't a big threat (think of how Butterbean Esch was scheduled or for you wrestling historians- Giant Baba of All Japan in his later years) to his health, because continuing to place David Price against any of type of contender is going to wind up hurting Price badly.

I didn't see the other two fights on the card and in the boxing challenge
Ryan Burnett retained his WBA bantamweight belt with a unanimous decision over Yonfrez Parejao and Anthony Crolla won a unanimous decision over Edson Ramirez in a lightweight fight.

In the boxing challenge, I scored eight points to Ramon Malpica's six on the day to boost my lead to  56-43.
I scored two points each in all four fights with Ramon scoring two points each for wins by Ryan Burnett and Anthony Crolla with one each for the heavyweight wins of Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin.

Boxing Challenge-Eubank dusts Yildrim

Chris Eubank Jr. moved into the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series in the super middleweight bracket with a highlight film third-round knockout of Avni Yildrim of Turkey in Stuttgart, Germany.

Eubank dropped Yildrim in the first round to a knee with a flash knockdown before the crunching left hook that ended the fight.
I'm not sure that Yildrim would have been able to continue, but the referee immediately waved the bout off.
I have noticed that European referees seem a bit quicker on the gun to stop fights than their American counterparts, particularly after a spectacular knockdown like the one scored by Eubank in this bout and sooner or later, one of these knockdowns are going to be scored and the fighter is going to jump up unhurt to controversy.
Yildrim did have his moments and even though Eubank was fully in control, he showed that his recent vows to be more aggressive might cause him problems as he moves up in the 168-pound division.
Eubank will be part of an all-Britain semi-final as he will fight the winner of next weeks all-UK quarter-final between top seed George Groves and Jamie Cox.
Ramon Malpica picked Eubank to earn one boxing challenge point to my none as I picked Yildrim in an upset.

In the other challenge bout, Anthony Crolla won a unanimous decision over Ricky Burns.
I haven't seen the bout yet so no scoring available from me.
Ramon and I each added two challenge points for Crolla's win.
The challenge is now 137-126.

Linares outclasses Crolla-Boxing Challenge

Their first fight might have been close and exciting,but the rematch in Manchester,England between Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla was a lopsided affair that saw Linares retain the WBA lightweight title via unanimous decision.

Linares chose to use his speed and threw beautiful combinations to not allow Crolla to get any type of offense going and looked as good as one can look in a championship fight,especially in the challengers backyard.
Give Crolla lots of credit for hanging in there all evening and taking quite a pounding.
Crolla could have easily packed it in after being felled by a Linares uppercut in the seventh round,but rose and even had a few moments after that,but never threatened Linares in any fashion.
All three judges scored the bout as I did 118-109 (10-2 in rounds plus the knockdown) for the champion.

The Linares victory looks to have cemented a summer showdown with WBC champion Mikey Garcia in what should be an excellent fight between two of the best offensive fighters in the sport that have both won titles in three different divisions.
Both fighters would enter such a bout with questions.
Linares has been stopped in all three of his losses and has shown a tendency to cut while Garcia has steamrolled through his competition,but despite dominating,he was dropped by Roman Martinez and staggered badly by Juan Carlos Burgos.
I've also wondered about Garcia's desire in the sport and have questions about how he may respond when he is challenged by a fighter that can approach his skill level.

There are some promotional issues as Linares fights for Golden Boy with Garcia being represented by Golden Boy's sworn enemy in former GBP chairman Richard Schaefer and his new Ringstar Promotions,so this fight won't be easy to make,but with the WBC mandating Garcia to defend against Linares next (Linares was the WBC champ before becoming the "champion in recess" due to injuries)
that should help the fight get signed.
It's one of the best matchups in the game and the winner will clearly be the best at 135 pounds.

Ramon Malpica each picked Linares by unanimous decision,so we each added two points to move the total to 31-29 in my favor.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge features just one fight this weekend as an exciting rematch in the UK not only will provide action,but no matter the winner,the winner has some excellent prospects for their next fight or two.

The WBA lightweight title that Jorge Linares won from Anthony Crolla is on the line as the main bauble,but the winner will be the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Mikey Garcia in what would not only be a unification fight,but a victory would send the winner up the charts in both the mythical pound for pound ratings and recognition as the best lightweight in the world.

Jorge Linares was the WBC champion before injuries forced him to become the WBC's "Champion in Recess",which in basic terms,allows the WBC to crown a new champion,but gives Linares the right to fight for the WBC belt when he wishes.
Anthony Crolla would be obligated to fight Garcia with a victory over Linares,but has a bigger fight (in local stature,if not worldwide) on tap in the UK against WBO beltholder Terry Flanagan (should Flanagan retain his title in two weeks against Petr Petrov) for a sizable paycheck.
Both fighters have a come forward action style and both tend to bust up facially,so this fight should be a good one at 6;30 Saturday night on Showtime...

Ramon Malpica and I both like Linares to repeat his close,but unanimous decision win in the boxing challenge,which I lead 29-27 to date.
Linares just is a little more versatile in his skill set and that little difference will give him the edge.