Prospect Watch Weekend Starting 13/1/12 - Review

This week's Prospect Watch was a ESPN FNF special and although I didn't watch the bill, it turned out to be a decent night, but another prospect shock in 2012 was seen on the card.

Ugas showed all his amateur class Friday night

Yordenis Ugas is someone I'm tipping to really make it big in the next 12-18 months and he boxed very nicely to a comfortable UD win over eight rounds against Esteban Almaraz, two judges scoring it 79-72 and another a shutout for the Cuban 80-71. That was a solid enough performance from the welterweight, and the big question over this guy like many Cuban's, is can he turn that amateur form into the pro game, so far so good!


Jesse Magdaleno is another guy I rate highly, I think he's better than his more experienced brother, Diego, and he moved to 8-0 (5 KO's) with a comfortable shutout win over Shawn Nicol, who'd been stopped just once before. After two straight one round wins, going the full six round distance will have been very important for his progression, certainly a talent to watch!


The disappointment however came from Gabino Saenz, as he drew with Gil Garcia, a guy Jesse Magdaleno had stopped in a round in his previous fight. All three judges scored it completely different, and it was clearly a very close fight. The disappointment is I expect a bit more from Saenz and no doubt this is a setback in his career.


Now I move onto the finds of the weekend, it was a quiet weekend and clearly Boxing is only just starting to get going, but some very interesting bills are coming up, so stay on here for all the best fight previews and opinion.


Two prospects firstly who came out of the York Hall bill on Friday night quite well, the first being pro debutant Charlie Hoy, who moved to 1-0 (0 KO's) with a comfortable 40-36 win over the tough and experienced Delroy Spencer. The flyweight division is starting to see some talent coming through over here with also the talented Scot Iain Butcher looking good in some pro action, and Hoy boxed nicely in his debut at Bethnall Green. He was an ABA finalist last year and has won plenty of amateur titles, is the kind of fighter who will improve massively under the tutelage of Mark Tibbs.

Skeete looks a great addition to the domestic welterweight division

Tall welterweight Bradley Skeete, moved to 6-0 (2 KO's) with a very comfortable decision over the dangerous, if negative on the night, Michael Frontin. Skeete was incredibly dangerous early on and put Frontin down in the first, and also landed some big shots in the second. Considering Frontin had given unbeaten fighters at the time, Dean Byrne and Patrick Liam Walsh tough fights in the last few months of 2011, shows how impressive this performance was from Skeete. To move into eight round distance in just his sixth pro fight says there's a lot of belief around this kid from his promoters.

Bobadilla is a bantamweight on the rise

Over in Gudalajara, Mexico, there was a good bit of matchmaking for the vacant IBF Youth bantamweight title, as the 7-2 (5 KO's) improving Aaron Bobadilla, secured the biggest win over his career, stopping the experienced and big punching Rodolfo Hernandez 23-2-1 (21 KO's) in five rounds. Bobadilla was twice outpointed in successive fights in September and November 2010, but has since rattled off five straight wins, showcasing some serious power in his last two fights. The kid is now ranked #36 in the world and will get a good ranking with the IBF after this.


As I said it was a quiet weekend, but the action will improve from next week onwards, so remember to keep checking the Twitter feed and the blog.