Boxing Challenge; Stevenson overwhelms Guevara

It was a busy boxing weekend- so busy in fact that I haven't had time to watch them all with several competing cards.
Therefore, I'll be writing two posts with this one covering what I have seen of this writing and one perhaps tomorrow with the remainder of the bouts.

On ESPN from Newark, New Jersey, former Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson overwhelmed another overmatched opponent in Alberto Guevara as Stevenson knocked down Guevara twice in the second round before ending the sad mismatch in the third.
I know the narrative is that no one wanted this fight (Guevara was the third fighter to accept the fight) and that may have been the case, but what I've noticed is that the recent increase in power shown by Stevenson has correlated with the leveling off of his opposition and pitting him against fighters with questionable chins.
Now, I think Shakur Stevenson is extremely talented, looks to be a possible major star (although his number one contender status in the WBO is premature) and power does often develop as young fighters age (I remember many fighters that developed punching power as their career moved on after early questions), but this appears to me to be another Top Rank promotional kudo as they moved Stevenson up the rankings against few that would challenge him and just as he arrives for his world shot against a champion that Top Rank promotes (Oscar Valdez), that champion looks ready to move up weight, leaving Stevenson with what will likely be another squash match for the vacant title.
Don't take any of that as a knock on Stevenson, he's doing exactly what you would hope to see against enhancement talents and against those fighters he has fought in a much more fan-friendly style, but if he's ready to fight for a title- I'd like to see him face a stern test.

The co-feature saw a borderline Hamburglar alert as bantamweight contender Joshua Greer won a majority decision over Nikolai Potapov.
Greer, who ESPN ran features on and made the fight all about with a sad back story from Greer growing up in Chicago, was walked down and outworked by Potapov for most of the fight, yet was given the majority duke.
I scored Potopov a 115-113 winner and I may have been generous to Greer.
The ESPN commentating, which I'll be looking at soon in a boxing broadcasting post, was its typical self with Andre Ward in one round discussing how he "told Potopov how he quit in his only loss, although I (Ward) tried to do it nicely and he seems to be doing it again", being admonished by Mark Kriegel (who is being far better used in his current role than doing color analysis) that he didn't see Potopov quitting at all as the fighters came out for the next round.
Ward's response was "I didn't say he was getting ready to quit".
Priceless.

Earlier in the day, ESPN Plus offered two interesting heavyweight fights between heavyweights that are just approaching contender status.
In the main event, Daniel DuBois knocked out Nathan Gorman in the fifth round in a pairing of unbeaten's for the British heavyweight title.
DuBois, who reminds me physically of a young Frank Bruno, controlled the fight after an even round one and knocked Gorman down in the third, cutting him above the left eye.
DuBois put Gorman down in the fifth and Gorman showed bravery in getting up to attempt to continue, but the referee wisely saw no point in allowing this to continue.
I would think DuBois might be headed for a fight against Joe Joyce with both being promoted by Frank Warren and the history of British boxing that will see their best fighters eventually fight each other in front of a big crowd with the winner of that fight moving up in the rankings for a potential title fight, but after the fight, Warren was quoted as saying he might place Gorman against Joyce next in what would appear to be a tactic of keeping his two prospects apart for a bit longer.

As for Joe Joyce, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist was forced to fight to the full distance for the first time in winning a unanimous decision over former contender Bryant Jennings.
Jennings had his moments, but simply didn't throw enough punches against Joyce to win on the scorecards and was hurt by officiating with Joyce throwing shoulder blocks the entire fight without a penalty, but Jennings lost a point late in the fight for a low blow.
For Jennings, this could be the passing of the baton as he enters the role of gatekeeper after his second loss in a row, while Joyce just seems so limited in his skills.
Joyce's punching power appears to be good, not great (Jennings was never shaken), he throws a fair amount of punches but doesn't always commit to them and I wonder how he will deal with a quality fighter that he doesn't have a size advantage over.

The final fight of this portion of the recap saw the Olympic conqueror of Joe Joyce as 2016 gold medalist Tony Yoka returned in France from a one-year drug suspension from the French Anti-Doping Agency for missing three tests between 2016-2017.
No judgment of this as Yoka missed those tests, not failed them (although why would you skip something that you would pass, is another question), but the return was a successful as Yoka stopped former fringe contender Alexander Dimitrenko in the third round.
Yoka won the first two rounds with little action before knocking Dimitrenko down in the third with a right uppercut.
As the fight continued, Yoka landed several rights that ended with Dimitrenko sprawled chest-first on the top rope as the referee stepped in.
I'm not sure what the future holds for Yoka, although I suppose some money could be made with a Joe Joyce rematch with the always easy to sell France vs England angle, as for Dimitrenko, who has lost his last three fights and all by stoppage (Yoka, Bryant Jennings and Andy Ruiz) in the last year, it might be time to walk away or at least be carefully matched from here on out.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 10-9 for this portion.
I earned three points each (Win, Result, and Bonus for Round) from Shakur Stevenson and Daniel Dubois, two from Tony Yoka and one each from Joe Joyce and Joshua Greer.
Ramon gained three points from Tony Yoka, two from Shakur Stevenson and Daniel DuBois and one each from Joe Joyce and Joshua Greer.
The challenge now stands at 175-157

Boxing Challenge: Two Networks, Two Shockers!

Friday night was looked at as a mere appetizer for the Manny Pacquiao- Adrien Broner PPV slate on Saturday, but instead, each network involved promoted what turned out to be a major upset that will shake up future fights in their division.

Let's start with Matchroom Boxing on DAZN, where in the main event,
Demetrius Andrade retained his WBO middleweight title for the first time with a final round stoppage of Artur Akakov in the Madison Garden Theatre (formerly known as the Felt Forum).
Andrade issued his typical performance, using his jab that kept Akakov puzzled all evening and entered the final round up nine rounds to two on my card before Andrade mildly buzzed Akakov with a right hand with 45 seconds remaining.
Surprisingly, referee Arthur Mercante Jr stopped the fight over the severe protests of Akakov and the stoppage seemed very premature in my opinion.
Andrade called out Gennady Golovkin after the fight, but I'd be surprised that would be next, even if Golovkin selected DAZN as his television home, Andrade is high risk, little reward and wouldn't make very much sense, if the end game is a third fight with Canelo Alvarez.
I would guess that Andrade would next face another contender of Akakov's level, which is in the top 15 range depending on the organization, although the eventual big fight might be former WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who was stripped of the title last fall for failing an illegal substance test before a title defense vs Andrade.

Former three division champion Jorge Linares was expected to take another step towards a junior welterweight title fight against WBC champion Jose Ramirez and all Linares had to do earn that shot would be to defeat veteran fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano in the co-feature.
Less than one round and three knockdowns later, the title fight possibilities and possibly the career of Linares was finished with Cano pulling the upset of his career.
For all the talent and offensively tremendous skills that Linares has always possessed, Linares has always had a less than sturdy chin and when this fight started, Cano looked like a fighter far larger and Linares didn't have a chance as the first punch Cano landed sent Linares to the mat.
Linares never seemed to regain his equilibrium and despite landing some shots against the charging Cano, was unable to repel his aggression in being knocked down two more times with the fight being called after a woozy Linares rose to his feet on unsteady legs.
This might be all she wrote for Linares, who Steve Kim has called arguably the most brilliant and flawed fighter of his time.
Linares clearly isn't strong enough to hold off 140 pounders and dropping back to lightweight either may not an option in making weight or after this loss, a Vasyl Lomachenko rematch or a talked about fight for years against Mikey Garcia would be highly unlikely.
As for Cano, he'll receive the chance to face Jose Ramirez for his WBC title and attempt to add another surprise victory to his record.

IBF junior featherweight champion T.J. Doheny defended his championship for the first time against overmatched late substitute Ryohei Takahashi by an eleventh round knockout.
The stoppage seemed a little soon to me (Not nearly as bad as the Andrade-Akakov ending later in the evening), but Doheny had won every round and even though Takahashi never stopped moving forward, one could argue enough was enough.
I liked what I saw from the technically strong Doheny and I think the possible All-DAZN unification fight with WBA beltholder Daniel Roman could prove to be a very even fight.

Meanwhile, on the other end of New York state in Verona, Heavyweight Bryant Jennings looked to cement himself as a possible challenger to champion Anthony Joshua with a win over Oscar Rivas.
Jennings entered the fight as the number two contender in the WBO and assuming he continued winning over the average competition he had been facing since his loss to Luis Ortiz, he would eventually receive a title shot.
The undefeated Rivas had fought every fight of his career in Canada and against no one of note and no one knew what he would bring in his first fight against a contender.
I had Jennings narrowly ahead entering the final round (6-5 in rounds) and the ESPN+ broadcast flashed a graphic that stated Rivas did not land more than nine punches in any of the previous eleven closely contested, but not visually thrilling rounds.
The Rivas corner screamed at their man that the fight was on the line and he needed a big twelfth round and how many times in boxing do we hear that and watch the fighter shuffle along to take his chances on the cards?
Rivas listened and roared from his corner with a rage unseen and pounded Jennings with a series of rights that sent Jennings to the canvas.
Jennings barely beat the count and couldn't hold off Rivas, who drove Jennings into the ropes with a volley of bombs that forced the referee to end the fight.
Rivas will likely zoom to near the top of at least the WBO rankings, if not other organizations as well and we could see more of him in a top loaded heavyweight division.
For Jennings, he'll have to start over, which might be a daunting task and he'll likely have to face tougher competition to speed that process along.

Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson looked sensational in winning the first three rounds and then stopping Jessie Rosales with one straight left.
Stevenson is beginning to throw and land more power punches than he did in his initial bouts and as a result, is not only improving as a fighter, he has become much more fun to watch,
Stevenson is ready for a jump in competition.

In the boxing challenge, I earned six points to Ramon Malpica's three to lead the boxing challenge 7-4.
I added three points from Shakur Stevenson (win, knockout and bonus point for the round), two points from T.J. Doheny and one from Demetrius Andrade.
Ramon picked up one point from each of those wins.