It was also a pretty successful week for the Prospects I featured in my first post, although I've become less of a fan of one of them having watched him box on Friday night.
Starting off at Bowler's in Manchester on Friday night, Rick Godding (now 15-0, 2 KO's) secured just his second career stoppage with an impressive looking 4th round TKO of Dee Mitchell. The Bolton man came in at biggest weight of his career, but probably needed to put some pounds on to deal with his light middleweight opponent. Mitchell had only been stopped once before this, which was way back in July 2007, and it was due to an injury, not any sustained punishment. The ambition has gone out of Mitchell, but the likes of Tom Doran, Erick Ochieng, Kris Carslaw and a very good German called Jack Culcay have all had to go the distance with him. Godding seems to be coming on very well at the moment, and this is a really impressive win on his record.
Another North West fighter on this bill was Ronnie Heffron (now 9-0, 5 KO's) who stopped tough Romanian Ionut Ilie in five rounds, this with a cracking body shot, displaying his improving power. What I like about Heffron is that he's such a good fighter to watch, he does ship some punishment, but doesn't half dish it out. When it comes to fighting over 10 and 12 rounds he could be vulnerable, but I think Arnie Farnell is really bringing him on well. The Oldham fighter is still only 21 and has years left in him, but this looked like a tricky test and a step up from what he's been facing, and to Ronnie's credit he made it look like a very easy win and the finish was an absolutely perfect note to end on.
I tipped up a Russian heavyweight called Magomed Abdusalamov (now 13-0, 13 KO's) and he had a decent looking win over an unbeaten Cuban called Pedro Rodriguez, beating him up badly in the second round to get the stoppage win. However I watched this fight and was not very impressed with the Russian, who did come in at a career lightest weight of 227lbs, but here he was up against an out of shape, blown up, cruiserweight. Abdusalamov looked slow and I think I would lose the point of this blog if I continued to follow him. I can't see this guy winning world titles, he looks the type of guy who will run out of ideas after a few rounds, and being 6ft3, I'd have big worries about him if he faced one of our big heavies. Yes he's a puncher, but I'm not a big enough fan to be honest.
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| Askin needs to be steeped up |
Onto Saturday night at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, where I had a couple of Prospects who I'm a really big fan of in action. The first was cruiserweight Matty Askin (now 13-0, 9 KO's) who destroyed Hungarian opponent Attila Palko in two rounds, which as much as anything screams out that this guy needs to be stepped up to title level right now. Everyone Boxing knows that the cruiserweight division is weak at the moment, and the British division is especially poor, with a very weak champion in Shane McPhilbin. I said before this fight that he needs to be stepped up now, and this fight showed that. Boxing is a hard sport because of all the politics, but the board or Hatton Promotions need to step in now and start moving talented kids like Askin forward. He's got a trainer in Bob Shannon, who will improve him with each camp, and people like Askin need challenges to keep them hungry and determined, fighting people like Palko wont help him.
Super bantamweight James "Jazza" Dickens (now 8-0, 2 KO's) continued his excellent form as a pro, taking every round on the referee's scorecard against Barrington Brown over six. Dickens showed great Boxing ability in the fight, moving in and out, throwing some lovely combinations, and most importantly keeping out of trouble against his opponent. The 20 year old southpaw still needs some learning fights, but he's getting plenty of rounds in, and has already been in with some solid journeymen like James Ancliff, Chris Riley and Dougie Curran. Dickens is a very dedicated young fighter, and could have a future at this weight, or one above at featherweight, which is the weight he's mostly fought at.
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| Graf went the distance for the first time |
Finally in Germany, cruiserweight David Graf (now 6-0, 5 KO's) was taken the distance for the first time, as he took a six round UD over Preston's Paul Morris, two judges giving all the rounds to Graf and one scoring it 59-55, which will give Morris some confidence. Considering he was fighting a guy who was nearly 7lbs bigger than him, this was a good showing from Graf, who I think had to got the point where he needed some rounds after some very easy wins. He's clearly got ability as he's promoted by Sauerland and this will have been a pretty pleasing result for all parties involved.
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| Gonzalez is one of many talented Puerto Rican Prospects |
The first one that took my eye came in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on Friday night, this being super flyweight Jonathan "Bomba" Gonzalez (now 8-0, 7 KO's). This kid is being hyped up in Puerto Rico and it's important to track these Puerto Rican kids early as the best ones tend to find their way onto the big US bills. He's already had some big bill experience, which was last time out at MSG on the Donaire v Narvaez undercard, and he was taken the distance for the first time. This weekend however he returned to his old ways and stopped Samuel Gutierrez of Mexico in five. The Caguas man looks like a serious puncher and is definitely worth tracking, especially as he continues to breach over into the States.
At Bowler's there was an interesting debutant in Polish born Manchester based fighter Daniel Szynkiewicz (now 1-0, 0 KO's) who secured a 40-37 points victory over Birmingham's tough Andrew Patterson. I don't know much about this kid, but he's being given a good chance by Steve Wood's VIP Promotions, and he didn't lose a round on his debut, which suggests he's got ability. I've seen some photos from the fight and he looks like a really strong kid, very similar looking to Matthew Hall in fact. Sometimes it's worth tracking these kids who are long term prospects, and could build up a decent following in Manchester.
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| Barthelemy beat fellow unbeaten lightweight Willams |
At the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas on Friday night, there was a very intriguing co-feature between two unbeaten lightweights in Hylon Williams Jr (now 15-1, 3 KO's) and Cuban Rances Barthelemy (now 15-0, 11 KO's), with Barthelemy having way too much class for Williams, taking it 79-73 on two judges scorecards and 80-72 on the other judge's scorecard. People might have though Barthelemy was a bit of a one trick pony, a big hitter, but with not a great deal of technical ability. However he was way too good for this kid, he looked on the inside and outside, but the big problem for Williams was that he just didn't have the power to keep him off. Barthelemy keeps improving and could be in for more TV coverage after this.
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| Acevedo looks a serious puncher |
Again in Vegas on Friday night, there was a really exciting Puerto Rican (again) on show, this being 6ft2 super middleweight Roberto Acevedo (now 3-0, 2 KO's), who looks like a serious puncher. A really intriguing fighter who was 50-1 (20 KO's) as an amateur and was on course for the 2008 Olympics, but resigned from the squad as he wanted to turn pro, so that's why there's not a great deal of hype about him. So far his three opponents in the pro's have a combined record 0-5, but he looks like a fan-friendly fighter and stopped opponent Velvet Malone in the final round of their 4 round contest.
I do try and push talented Welsh fighters on this blog as well, and Saturday night there was a good few Prospects on a show in Aberdare, which was promoted by Steve Sims of Inner Core Promotions. There was a couple of unbeaten local fighters headlining in heavyweight Dorian Darch and lightweight Lance Sheehan, but the fighter that interested me the most was 20 year old debutant Tom McAllister (now 1-0, 0 KO's), who's a welterweight. The Cardiff man trains at former world champion Steve Robinson's gym, and started off with a 40-36 points win over Duncan Cottier, who according to Boxrec came in at 20lbs heavier. If this was true, then credit has to be given to McAllister for the way he performed and won every round.
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| Rios looked much better on Saturday night |
In Anaheim, California on Saturday night, Golden Boy promotions had a bill and headlining was super featherweight prospect Ronny Rios (now 17-0, 8 KO's). The 22 year old came into this on the back of a really hard and controversial fight with the very experienced Roger Gonzalez, which was a tough match for him, but he seems to have learnt from that. This weekend he looked good in stopping Jeremy McLaurin in four rounds, he was calm, picked his shots nicely, and was always too strong for the Minnesota based fighter.
Sahib Usarov (now 18-0, 6 KO's) fought in the US for the first time this weekend, and claimed a UD over 10 rounds against former Olympic Cuban Gold medallist, Yan Barthelemy, in a real fast paced fight in Albany, New York. From what I heard it wasn't an all action fight, with both fighters light hitters, but Tajikstan born Usarov boxed incredibly well. The 28 year old southpaw has a decent ranking with the WBO and is hoping for a progression in his career by fighting in the US now.
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| Najera outclassed Castillo |
Finally on the big bill in San Antonio, two young local fighters Ivan Najera (now 6-0, 5 KO's) and Adam Lopez (now 1-0, 1 KO) impressed with stoppage victories. Light welterweight Najera battered 2-3 David Castillo in two rounds, while even more impressive wad debutant Lopez, a six time national championship winning amateur, who was way too good for 0-1 Richard Hernandez in a fight in the super flyweight division, knocking him down twice in a first round beating.
Very busy weekend and plenty of fighters for you to keep an eye on!
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