Boxing Challenge: James, Morrell win minor titles

The Saturday night card on Fox that returned PBC to the boxing game,post-pandemic, was disappointing on a few levels.
I'll write about the most disappointing detail from outside the ring later, but inside the ring, the action was acceptable, if not awesome.

In the main event, Welterweight Jamal James earned a unanimous decision over Thomas Dulorme for one of the seemingly endless WBA minor belts in Los Angeles.
Dulorme was his typical attacking self, but the 6'2 James managed to take control midway through the bout to pull away to the deserved decision by outboxing Dulorme from the outside.
James managed to be more effective with the change in tactics, but it did make the bout less exciting with fewer exchanges.
I scored James the winner 116-112.
The victory was the biggest of his career for James and did give him a minor belt, which is worthless other than to give him a certain status in the WBA and might (emphasis on might) give him an eventual chance at a bigger fight in the organization.
James is a solid fighter and is a lower end of the top ten that would be acceptable for a title shot when a champion needs a good opponent, but not a great one.
Still, something about James makes me that this is his ceiling and he won't be able to take the next step from top ten/twelve level to championship timber.
As for Dulorme, he will always be able to land these types of fights because he is an excellent gatekeeper in the division, and he'll always give his best effort, but he is a step below the contenders in the division.

David Morrell won another WBA minor belt with a unanimous decision win over Lennox Allen in the co-main event.
The win for Morrell was his third in as many pro bouts as the Cuban handled the twelve round distance well and showed different dimensions as a boxer that has some power as well.
I'm not sure why Morrell, who is far younger than most Cuban defectors at 22, is being pushed so quickly unless the aim is to develop someone to feed to the David Benavidez-Caleb Plant winner that PBC is apparently building towards.
Morrell's plenty talented and being a southpaw could be a fighter that few will want to take a risk against for a low reward.
As with Jamal James, Morrell adds another one of those WBA worthless belts to defend against soft opposition for the time being.

In the boxing challenge, I scored four points (2 for each win above) to Ramon Malpica's two (from David Morrell) to extend my lead to ten points at 81-71.

PBC announced their upcoming cards on Fox during the card and being kind, they look very weak in their main events.

Two title eliminators at welterweight on different shows look less than strong but could have ended with an anticipated match.
Former WBC and IBF champion Shawn Porter will face undefeated and thoroughly untested Sebastian Formella on August 22nd on one show while Yordenis Ugas battles Abel Ramos for another of the 12 WBA belts in September,
Porter defended his title in 2019 via a split decision over Ugas that many scored for Ugas (I scored it even at 114) and a rematch would be a fight that I could get behind.
Instead, we get Porter against Formella, who has fought no one that anyone could remotely call a contender) and Ugas against Abel Ramos, who is 0-2-1 against the best fighters he has fought in Maurice Hooker, Jamal James, and Ivan Baranchyk.
Ramos-Formella would be fine as a co-main event or an eliminator main event on FS1, but neither of the fights scheduled is appetizing.
Some of the blame for this goes to the sanctioning bodies involved, but don't tell me if PBC wanted to make Porter-Ugas instead that the alphabet boys involved wouldn't have re-evaluated.

However, neither of those two main events is as awful as the other card with Erislandy Lara defending one of the 12 WBA titles at junior middleweight Greg Vendetti.
Lara, who has become more fan-friendly as an action fighter as he ages, is saddled with Vendetti, a Massachusetts clubfighter that has two names that stick out on his record- a unanimous decision over Yoshihiro "Mr.Action" Kamegai that saw Kamegai retire after the loss and being blown out in two rounds by fringe contender Michel Soro.
This looks like a colossal mismatch and isn't worthy of the main event on national television.
PBC needs to do better.

Boxing Challenge

Due to time constraints, I didn't have a lot of time for a preview of tonight's PBC card with two minor WBA titles at risk and a pairing of top fifteen welterweights in Jamal James and Thomas Dulorme as their main event.

Welterweights.  12 Rds
Jamal James vs Thomas Dulorme
R.L: Dulorme Split Decision
TRS: James Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds
David Morrell vs Lennox Allen
Both: Morrell Unanimous Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

Time for a few tributes to be given before the inbox becomes too full.

Goodbye to Mike Gale at the age of  70.
Gale played for five teams in the ABA and NBA after being signed by the Kentucky Colonels in 1971.
Gale made two All-ABA defensive teams as a point guard but missed playing for two ABA champions by a year as he was traded from Kentucky to New York before the Colonels title and New York to San Antonio before the Nets won the league's final championship in 1976.
Gale spent most of his career with the Spurs and was a very popular player in San Antonio as part of the Spurs two division-winning title teams in the first three years following the ABA-NBA merger.

Goodbye to Lou Henson at the age of 88.
Henson took both New Mexico State and Illinois to the Final Four and coached the Aggies to the NCAA's in both of his stints in Las Cruces.
Henson finished his career with 779 victories, which places him sixteenth all-time on the coaches wins list, but his Illinois teams always seemed to lose in the NCAA tournament when his teams seemed to be ready to bust through.
His best Illinois team in 1988-89, won 31 games but lost in the Final Four to Michigan on an offensive rebound putback by the Wolverines after crushing them in each of their two meetings earlier in the season.
The courts at both New Mexico State and Illinois carry Henson's name in tribute.

Goodbye to Rickey Dixon at the age of 53.
Dixon had been suffering from ALS  that had left him bed-ridden for several years after a football career that saw him win a Jim Thorpe Award, win a national championship, and eventually would be named to the college football hall of fame from his seasons at Oklahoma as both a cornerback and safety.
Dixon is second all-time on the Oklahoma career interception list and his nine picks in 1987 remain the record for interceptions in a season.
Dixon would be the first-round selection of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1988 as the fifth overall pick and would play five seasons for the Bengals and would retire after the following season that Dixon played for the then-Los Angeles Raiders.

Goodbye to Horace Clarke at the age of 81.
Clarke has been named the "face" of the mediocre era of New York Yankee baseball from 1965 through 1974 when the Yankees tumbled from the elite of the American League to a firm position at the bottom of the standings and parallel the span of the career of Clarke.
Known for his speed and fielding, Clarke's career is remembered for a few different reasons.
Clarke was criticized by Yankee fans for his refusal to hang in at second base and complete double plays as Clarke would hold onto the baseball rather than take the contact of the sliding runner into second base.
Clarke was also mentioned by former Yankee Jim Bouton in Ball Four as the namesake of the "Horace Clarke Memorial Lounge" for the music that Clarke preferred for the training room and would be turned off by Mickey Mantle in favor of Mantle's choice of country music.
Clarke is also one of two players in baseball history ( with Minnesota's Joe Mauer) to break three no-hitters in the ninth inning.

Whiling away the hours

Do you ever feel like the world is crumbling around you, and yet you have shifting priorities?

That's somewhat the feeling for me as the sports world returns, and I'm surprised a bit.
Perhaps it's because I don't have a team to root for in the NBA and NHL postseason or that baseball seems about as thrilling as watching violence redacted Rambo film, but I'm surprised at how little I've watched thus far.
I have been watching the Vancouver-Minnesota and the Nashville-Arizona series as the results of those will affect the Devils in the upcoming draft as far as positioning with their draft picks, but otherwise not very much at all.

Hockey without fans seems a little more enjoyable than baseball or basketball, but I'm not really watching a lot else for now, although that could change when the NBA hits the actual playoffs and I'm sure it will should football actually start.
I'm not convinced that is going to happen, but I'm sure I'll be ready to go in the event that they do kick off the season, but for now- blah.
I never thought I'd feel blah about sports and it may have taken a pandemic for me to feel that way, but I've always said that when things are taken away, people don't always return as they find other things to occupy their time.
I'm not saying I'm at that stage, but it could take more normalcy to return to my regular programming already in progress.

So what have I been up to?

Lots of player pictures for the various games, watching television, and waiting for a few things to be decided.

The games have been fun to work on with finding pictures for the 2019 minor leagues and straightening out the mess that was the release of the 1984 USFL season and I did take the metal detector out once-resulting in a major pain for me.
I wound up getting into some sort of plant that must have a dislike for me as the results were blisters and sores all over my hands and legs that are only now going away a bit.
As far as television, Cherie and I have been watching shows on Netflix, finishing Once Upon A Time since the last update, and now are working on Longmire.
I really like Longmire, although I find many of the supporting cast annoying and I'm sure I'll find something new to watch when that is concluded.

What I have missed are the trips that I would have taken had baseball been on time.
I haven't missed the grind of the local autographing circuit, which makes me wonder how much I'll be involved even if the Frederick Keys manage to stay in minor league baseball.
The Keys were listed in the original list of teams to be cut, but I think with their attendance and support, the Keys will survive.
They'd better because the Hagerstown Suns avoiding the cut is a lost cause and a loss that I came to terms with years ago.
Should Frederick lose their team, the nearest teams to me will be Harrisburg and Altoona, and going to those towns all the time is simply impractical.

I've been trying to slack off politics because sometimes I just can't take much more of the same routine.
I've followed enough to stay current, but watching too much can change my mood quickly.

I have no idea who the choice for Joe Biden's V.P. will be for sure, but if the rumored choice of Kamala Harris is the pick, I'm not thrilled.
Women candidates don't bother me and I have no problem voting for a woman as long as she's a good candidate- no different from a male candidate.
I'll still be voting for Biden anyway, but Harris comes off very disingenuous to me and there are other possibilities for the ticket that I prefer.

Other than those topics and tossing a drunk off my back porch, there hasn't been a lot going on and the blog has suffered a little.
Sometimes, I just don't have things to say without the different sports on hold and after thirteen years of the blog, the low-hanging fruit as far memories go have been picked quite a while ago.
However, dry times have occurred before at the world headquarters and things always get refreshed.

I think that catches things up with me, so next time will be an inbox cleaning, or maybe something else will catch my eye for a topic.

Boxing Challenge: Leo outpoints Williams

Showtime's return to boxing with their version of the "Bubble" from Uncasville, Connecticut saw a solid three-fight card without any dull matches with a new champion crowned at 122 pounds and a Hail Mary shot that shows that a fight is never over until the final bell rings.

In the main event, Angelo Leo gave away a few early rounds against late replacement Tramaine Williams, but through sheer accumulation, wore down the southpaw to win a wide unanimous decision to grab the WBO junior featherweight belt vacated by Emanuel Navarrete.
Williams boxed well early in winning three of the first four rounds on my scorecard (Leo a 117-111 winner there) before Leo's number of punches grabbed control of the fight and never allowed Williams to get back into contention.
Leo is a volume puncher that doesn't have a ton of power, but enough to gain a little respect from his opponent and the New Mexico native reminded me of another New Mexico product that was a staple of the original Top Rank Boxing series in Tommy Cordova.
Cordova was another fighter that plowed forward constantly, throwing tons of punches while doing so, and created great fights as well.
Cordova didn't fight in the era of four titles, so he never rose to that level, but Leo brings him to my mind.
Leo will likely face Stephen Fulton in his first defense as Fulton was the original fighter scheduled for the main event before testing positive for Covid-19 earlier in the week.

The middle fight was the least exciting as Ra'eese Aleem stopped Marcus Banks in the tenth round with Banks suffering a wrist or hand injury that forced an end to the fight.
Banks was a late replacement when Tramaine Williams was moved into the main event and faced Aleem for the second time after losing a lopsided decision in 2018.
This fight was just as wide as I gave Banks only one round of the completed nine and the ending of the fight saved Banks from punishment.
The fight was a WBA eliminator for one of their sixteen titles, so Aleem placed himself into a position to fight for one of those in the future with his dominant win.

The opener was a rematch of Joe George's controversial split decision win over Marcus Escudero on ShoBox last November that was a tremendous action battle.
Escudero deserved the first fight and he dominated the rematch for eight rounds with an impressive attack that overwhelmed George, leaving him unable to land effectively against Escudero's aggression.
And then. And then. (Note to country parody singer Ray Stevens) George caught a lunging Escudero with one left uppercut that sent Escudero crashing to the canvas on his back and when Escudero's head rebounded off the mat with a sickening thud, the fight was over despite a very game effort by the concussed Escudero to rise.
George isn't known as a puncher (his six knockouts entering this fight had been scored over fighters with losing records), so this could literally be the perfect punch at this optimum time, but it may have been a career-saving punch for the Houston native.
It'll be interesting to see what's next for George, who entered the fight without promotional ties to any of the top promoters.

Two other boxing notes.

I hadn't heard that Showtime had released Paulie Malignaggi as a color commentator a few days before this card.
Malignaggi had stated some controversial opinions in April on race relations in boxing and refused to apologize when Showtime asked him to do so.
From the fan perspective, Malignaggi will be missed.
I thought he was a very boring fighter during his days in the ring, but his commentary was insightful and paired with Al Bernstein, gave Showtime's broadcast the best two color commentators in the game.
Abner Mares replaced Malignaggi on short notice and didn't seem very comfortable in the role, although all things considered that's understandable.
Showtime will likely shop around for a replacement but in a game that has trouble finding strong commentators already, it'll take a lot of luck finding someone in the same league as Malignaggi.

Matchroom returned to the ring with a card from Eddie Hearn's estate in the U.K. and though I didn't place their main event in the boxing challenge, I should have done so as junior middleweights Sam Eggington and Ted Cheeseman ( I know Egg and Cheese) put on a tremendous battle that saw Cheeseman squeak out a deserved unanimous decision.
Filled with back and forth swings of momentum and each fighter hurt at various points in the fight, the fight screams for a second battle between the two.

In the boxing challenge, I scored four points to Ramon Malpica's two to move my lead to 77-69.
I took two points each from the wins by Angelo Leo and Ra'eese Aleem, while Ramon's two came from the win by Joe George.

Boxing Challenge; Rusty Rungvisai Rally Rips Ruenroeng

On an early morning (4:15 EST) start, former WBC junior bantamweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai rallied from a slow first half of the scheduled ten rounds to win a unanimous decision over former IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng in Thailand.

Ruenroeng boxed well early against a less than smooth Rungvisai and when the two smashed noggins in the third round to open a cut on an eyelid that forced the ringside physician to take a long look, it looked very possible that the fight could be stopped and with a possible lead on the scorecards, an upset looked conceivable.

At the end of five, I had Ruenroeng up 48-47 (3-2 in rounds)  with one round that I scored for Rungvisai was very close and could have easily been placed in Ruenroeng's corner.
However, that was as good as the fight would get for the 40-year-old Ruenroeng as he began to slow his pace and he couldn't sustain his success against the relentless pressure that Rungvisai placed upon him.
I thought before the fight that Ruenroeng was going to have to prove that he could outbox Rungvisai for ten rounds because Rungvisai was the naturally bigger man and stronger puncher and that's how the fight would play out with Rungvisai sweeping the final five rounds of the fight to win 97-93 on my card.
Neither fighter was knocked down or even hurt, but it was easily Rungvisai that was doing the majority of the work to earn the decision.

Rungvisai will likely face either WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada or WBA beltholder Roman Gonzalez next as part of arguably the most evenly matched three fighter triangle in boxing.
Rungvisai is 2-0 vs Gonzalez and 1-1 vs Estrada, while Gonzalez holds a close decision win over Estrada to complete the triangle to date.
I'm not sure if Rungvisai will fight one of the other two first or the winner of a unification fight between the two champions, but he would be wise to stay busy after a fifteen month layoff between his loss to Estrada and his win over Ruenroeng as he wasn't at his best in this win and may not have pulled this win out against a top fighter of similar size on this night.
As for the aging Ruenroeng, he proved that he still has something left in the tank, especially if he could make 112 pounds again, despite losing his third fight in his six recent bouts.

Ramon Malpica and myself each gained one point for the Rungvisai win to move the boxing challenge to  74-68.

I'll be back later with the results of the Showtime tripleheader as the premium cable leader begins the second half of their schedule for 2020.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing weekend will start early Saturday morning and finish Saturday night with the return of Showtime to the airwaves.

The most intriguing match of proven fighters pits two former world champions in Bang Phun, Thailand as former WBC junior bantamweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai faces former IBF flyweight titlist Amnat Ruenreong in a junior featherweight ten rounder.
Rungvisai returns for the first time since dropping his title to Juan Francisco Estrada last April in the second of their two excellent battles and with his two earlier wins over Roman Gonzalez (one by controversial decision and the rematch by spectacular KO), Rungvisai looks to be in great shape for a third fight against either Estrada or Gonzalez by spring 2021.
Ruenreong has been off since last March and since losing his IBF title to Johnriel Casimero in 2016 has lost two of his five fights, but holds wins over three champions (Kazuto Ioka, Casimero in their first fight and Zou Shiming) as well as a win over perennial contender McWilliams Arroyo.
Rungvisai is the bigger man and the bigger puncher, so Ruenreong will have to outbox Rungvisai, and with the size difference, I'm not sure he is capable of doing that for the ten-round distance.

Showtime returns to boxing with three fights from Uncasville, Connecticut.
The main event has already been changed as Stephen Fulton tested positive for Covid-19 and was forced out of his fight with Angelo Leo for the WBO junior featherweight title recently vacated by Emanuel Navarrete.
The title will be filled as Tramaine Williams was promoted from the co-feature and will take Fulton's place for the vacant title.
Both fighters are undefeated and coming off their biggest wins, Leo's eleventh round KO of Cesar Juarez and Williams's unanimous decision victory over Yenifel Vicente, but unless the victor looks extremely impressive, the new WBO champion will be unlikely to be ranked in the top five of a very competitive division.

The co-feature that Tramaine Williams was promoted from is a title eliminator in the same division, so it was easy to install Williams in the main event and find a replacement in the eliminator.
Ra'esse Aleem was the original opponent for Williams and Aleem will face Marcus Bates in a rematch of their April 2018 match that saw Aleem hand Bates his only defeat.
The 16-0 Aleem looked very impressive in stopping Adam Lopez in four rounds on ShoBox in his last outing and is the strong favorite between his win in their first fight combined with Bates coming into the fight on a few days notice.

The opener is a rematch of light heavyweights Joe George and Marcus Escudero from their ShoBox war last November.
George took the split decision nod to give Escudero his first loss and I thought Escudero deserved the decision, although that was the only quibble that you could find with the action in the ring.
I think Escudero will get his revenge, but the fight could be another slugfest.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 73-67.

Junior Featherweights. 10 Rds
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Amnat Ruenroeng
R.L: Rungvisai KO 7
TRS: Rungvisai KO 6

Vacant WBO Junior Featherweight Title. 12 Rds
Angelo Leo vs Tramaine Williams
R.L: Williams Unanimous Decision
TRS: Leo Unanimous Decision

Junior Featherweights. 12 Rds
Ra'eese Aleem vs Marcus Bates
R.L: Bates Unanimous Decision
TRS: Aleem Unanimous Decision

Light Heavyweights. 10 Rds
Joe George vs Marcus Escudero
R.L: George KO 6
TRS: Escudero Unanimous Decision