Sweet Home Ala…. BAM
Deontay Wilder ( 38-0 37 KO) stopped Gerald Washington (18-1-1 12 KO ) in the fifth round with a big right hand to successfully defend his WBC title. Wilder didn’t look great prior to the knockout and a little amateurish at times. He is still a bit raw but as long as he has the one-punch KO power he’ll continue to refine the other areas through on the job training. In his defense, this was his first fight after an almost eight month lay off due to bicep and hand injuries sustained in the Chris Arreola fight.
In the Bermane Stiverne fight when he won the title, Wilder looked like he had figured it all out. He boxed beautifully and landed his power in spots. He showed that he didn’t need to rely on only his power to be successful; however, in every fight since, there have only been glimpses of that Bronze Bomber.
After the fight, the talk was a matchup with WBO titlest Joseph Parker (22-0 18 KO); however breaking news is a rumoured WBC mandated rematch with Stiverne.
The wish here is a matchup with Luis Ortiz (27-0 23 KO) and/or the Anthony Joshua Wladimir Klitschko winner.
Unsustained Effort
Back in 2015, Tony Harrison, rising undefeated prospect, was handily out-pointing Willie Nelson through eight rounds but got caught and stopped in the ninth round. Going into Saturday’s fight with Jarrett Hurd, Harrison had won three straight, two by stoppage, including an impressive victory over hard punching Fernando Guerrero.
Through the first eight rounds, Harrison (24-2 20 KO) exhibited a nice skill set on Saturday night. Early on, Harrison was doing all of the things that you’d want him to do, good lateral movement, an active jab, and combination punching; however, it would again be his defense that would be his demise.
Harrison was controlling most of the first eight rounds but Hurd (20-0 14 KO) slowly started to impose his will. If was almost as if Hurd conceded the rounds to Harrison and chose to look for one perfect counter, which he found in round nine.
As he had done in 2015, Harrison failed to sustain his effort throughout the fight.
Hurd captured the vacant IBF World Super Welterweight belt with the victory.
Lobby Rumble
Later after the fight, Wilder goes after Heavyweight Dominic Breazeale because Breazeale had an altercation with Wilder’s brother. Wilder and his camp were alleged by the Breazeale camp to have “sucker punched” Breazeale and his coach in front of his wife and kids.
Both Wilder and Breazeale took to social media with their version of the events regarding the ordeal.
Breazeale Link-
Check out @TroubleBoxing’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/TroubleBoxing/status/835843249529049090?s=09
Wilder Link-
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRAXThmgVfr/?taken-by=bronzebomber
Breazeale was on the Wilder undercard stopping heavyweight prospect Izu Ugonoh in the fifth after coming off the canvas in the fourth.
Save it for the ring gents.
Hold Off Judgement, It May Be Good
It has been announced that Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2 38 KO) and Amir Khan (31-4 19 KO) will knuckleup in April. There was a lot of grumbling after the announcement but this is actually an intriguing matchup.
Sweet Hands
Caleb Plant (15-0 10 KO) a top prospect in the Supper Middles dominated veteran/journeyman/gatekeeper Thomas Awinbono. Plant dropped Awinbono in the first and cruised the rest of the way. We’ve been following Plant and he seems to improve each fight. Smart matchmaking by his team, they are bringing him along at a great pace. His competition gets a bit tougher while he tightens up his game. From Tennessee, Planr recently relocated to Las Vegas to focus on his craft.
Fight Week
Danny Garcia v. Keith Thurman- Sneak Peak coming soon.
David Haye (28-2 26 KO) v. Tony Bellew (28-2 18 KO) Does the natural cruiser stand a chance here? Does Haye have memories of being dropped to a knee by him in traning years ago as sparring partners? Is it the power of Haye that will end things in brutal fashion or is it the boxing and speed of Bellew that can make things interesting?
Bellew was in a Rocky movie….maybe life imitates art??
We’ll find out on Saturday at the O2.
Standing-8 