Category: Weekly Snippets

Sweet Science Snippets

It’s been awhile, April of 2018 to be exact, since I last posted Sweet Science Snippets, formerly known as…Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week.

I’m looking to get back to posting this feature regularly. For those that do read it, thank you and enjoy!

Check out some past Weekly Snippets and then scroll down for this week’s edition…..

Past Snippets…..

https://standing-8.com/2018/04/30/sweet-science-snippets-2/

https://standing-8.com/2018/03/07/sweet-science-snippets/

https://standing-8.com/2017/03/13/snippets-on-arguably-the-hottest-topics-in-the-sweet-science-this-week-20/

This week’s Snippets….

Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite……

Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer Jr. (20-1-1, 12 KOs) brings a pillow to press conferences and in the ring that reads, “ZZZ  Night Night”. The pillow is a prop to signify what he will do to his opponents….put them to sleep.

On Friday night, his past pillow actions almost went the way of a cautionary tale. He was dropped by challenger Giovanni Escaner (19-4, 12 KOs) at the end of the third round. It was a shot right on the nose that was more of a surprise and wake up call than anything else.

Greer went on to recover and stop Escaner by a wicked body shot in the eighth to extended his knockout streak to seven.

Vote Mikaela For Mayer!!!…Of The Ring

Mikaela Mayer (10-0 4 KO) did what she does best on Friday night….box beautifully and win. In a workmanlike effort, she took a unanimous decision over Yareli Larios,79-73, 78-74, and 80-72. 

Larios was scrappy and just skilled enough to get under Mayer’s length early looking to land counter shots. Mayer is too skilled though and adjusted her approach after a few rounds and then began to impose her will en route to the win.  

You know what you will get with Mayer, an excellent active jab which sets up everything, a powerful left hook, a disciplined body attack, overhand and straight rights, and a killer instinct. Ya, pretty much the whole package. Very well schooled.

If there was one area that she could benefit from, it would be to use her size and fight tall. There were many times in this fight where she fought small, allowing her shorter opponent to have some success.  

One things for sure….can’t wait to see her again.  

Look for her soon in Standing-8’s sequel to March 2017’s  article- Million Dollar Ladies, The Resurgence of Women’s Boxing. https://standing-8.com/2017/03/27/million-dollar-ladies-the-resurgence-of-womens-boxing/

How’s The Weather Up There? En Fuego….

At 6’7, Sebastian “Towering Inferno” Fundora (12-0 8 KO) is not your typical super welterweight. In watching him Saturday night, I observed qualities rarely seen by a tall fighter. He covers his midsection well. The belly would be an area for a shorter fighter to exploit but Fundora uses his elbows well in protecting his core. As soon as he throws his punches, his arms move back defensively. No doubt, instinct that was ingrained in him early.  

On Saturday night, he dusted Donnie Marshall (10-1 6 KO) in less than three rounds. He dropped Marshall with an uppercut and then unloaded a barrage of punches to force the stoppage after Marshall returned to his feet. 

Does Fundora have things to work on? yes, but again he’s young and he can learn the things that will make him better. The positive here is that he already knows the things that are hard to learn. So, in that sense, he is well ahead at this point in his career. 

A few more observations that jumped out at me. 

  1. His ability to take a punch. Because of his height, most fighters will have to punch upwards which will take a bit of sting off of their assault as opposed to a fighter throwing shots at parallel or just above parallel rage.
  2. Bad intentions. He appears to have a mean streak and knows what to do with a hurt opponent.  

Byrd Box

Channeling their inner Byrd scoring system, the judges for Omar Figueroa (28-0-1, 19 KOs) v. John Molina Jr. (30-8, 24 KOs) must have been told this before the fight….. “Under no circumstance are you allowed to take off your blindfold. If I find that you have, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”

Molina Jr. fought his ass off. His body of work clearly won the majority of the rounds. Figueroa did well in spots but it was clear that his layoff and ring rust were his demise.

Standing-8 had it 2-2 after 4, 3-3 after 6 and 6-4 Molina at the end. Yes, you can make a case for a draw if you gave the swing/close rounds to Figueroa or even a one or two point edge for him; however, the fact that the three judges gave Molina only 1, 2 and 3 rounds respectively is an outrage.

Molina clearly won more than 1-3 rounds. It took forever for the cards to be tallied and read and we all know what that means…. and they didn’t disappoint.

“If you hear something in the ring, you tell me. But you never ever take off your blindfold. If you look, you will die. Do you understand?”

It’s clear they did. 

Leo The Lion

Featherweight champ Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1 19 KO) did what he was supposed to do to a three week late replacement for the injured Miguel Flores, he dominated. 

With his trademark body punching, Santa Cruz softened his game, tough opponent, Rafael Rivera (26-3-2 17 KO), early and often. He popped his straight right solidly and his defense was a bit sharper than I remember seeing from him in the past. 

His trademark uppercuts were on full display and he backed up Rivera constantly, who clearly has an inability to work off his back foot. He was tailor-made for the champ. 

Standing-8 scored the fight 119-109. Official cards, 119-109 X3. 

Nuff said…

Back To the Gypsy That I Was….

Tyson Fury (27-0-1 19 KO) signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank/ESPN on Monday under the watchful eye of promoter Frank Warren, Queensberry Promotions. Deal is contingent upon two fights a year. 

Unclear now is the rematch with Deontay Wilder (40-0-1 39 KO). Wilder advisory, Al Haymon, the guy everyone wants to thank but is about as common a sighting as a Yeti, is a servant leader who would flourish in any business. He prefers to leave the spotlight to those that he leads. 

It has been said that Haymon and other promotional companies have reportedly not played nice in the sandbox. Hopefully not another cold war….just when boxing, more specifically the heavies were heating up….say it isn’t so…

Playing the Dozens….AJ Dislikes Oxymorons

Anthony Joshua (22-0 21 KO) and Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (23-0-1 20 KO) will face each other on June 1 at Madison Square Garden. If the build up and the fight match today’s opening news conference, we are in for a wild ride. 

Joshua and Miller did their best of “playing the dozens”. 

You had “the push”, “your mama jokes”, bitch references, drug references, knockout threats, etc… 

Good times…Keep is Classy San Die….uh, New York….

 

Sweet Science Snippets

GGG Sleeping Well, Not Having Nightmares

Inside the wrapper of a recently purchased chocolate bar, Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1 21 KO) found a golden ticket. The ticket represents the opportunity of a lifetime for Martirosyan as this Saturday night he faces Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1 33 KO). Filling in on less than a month’s notice for the recently suspended Canelo Alvarez, Martirosyan is considered to be the sacrificial lamb that ensures the coveted Cinco De Mayo date was filled. Most do not believe that the Armenian born California-based Martirosyan has a chance and for good reason.

For starters, although Martirosyan has decent pop, he’s not a huge puncher and you had better be able to keep Golovkin honest or at least give him something to think about. Secondly, he is trained by Edmond Tarverdyan of Rhonda Rousey/MMA fame and when Rousey fought Holly Holm, a highly skilled former boxing champion, it was Holm’s boxing that set the tone for the KO of Rousey. Tarverdyan’s tutelage of Rousey in the sweet science for the Holm fight was not good. The same for Rousey’s fight with Amanda Nunes. It was said that Tarverdyan had trained with her to box more in the Nunes fight but Rousey was stopped in the first and had no answer for Nunes’ boxing.

Lastly, it will be a few weeks short of two years since Martirosyan last fought. He is a professional and a gym rat so no doubt he will be ready to go but we should expect a certain amount of ring rust. In the past, Martirosyan has shown fatigue during the second half of fights which may not bode well for him here.

Martirosyan has never been stopped and has only been down a few times during fights, coming back to win both. Kassim Ouma was one of the Martirosyan opponents who dropped him, the same Ouma who gave Golovkin pockets of difficulty before he was stopped.

If there is a silver lining here it is that Martirosyan can box. He is one of the most complete boxers in the game and very underrated , layoff notwithstanding. He had competitive distance fights with Erislandy Lara one loss, one draw, Jermell Charlo UD loss which some thought was much closer, and a Demetrius Andrade SD loss. The kid can flat-out box and gives his opponents trouble at random times throughout the fight.

Again, it is his lack of firepower that will be the difference. Martirosyan has a warrior’s mentality and will engage but unless he catches Golovkin with something significant, he will be in deep. Golovkin is adept at cutting off the ring and uses his jab well which should at least negate some of the boxing that the challenger will utilize. Once Golovkin figures out the timing of the slick Martirosyan, he will begin to land his power to the body and head and begin to systematically break down the underdog.

One thing’s for sure, Saturday nights venue, The StubHub Center never disappoints. That said, it should be good while it lasts. Golovkin by 7th Round TKO.
Gender Equality-This First Lady Is P4P Royalty, Gender Be Damned

Undefeated Unified Welterweight Champion Cecilia Braekhus (32-0 9 KO) has made twenty-two consecutive title defenses since capturing her first title in 2009. Kind of Mayweather like in her approach, Braekhus uses her jab extremely well to set up straight rights and her movement is some of the best I’ve seen. Her opponent this Saturday night is Providence Rhode Island’s Kali Reis (13-6-1 4 KO). Reis, a former campion enters having won six of seven, her only loss to highly touted champion Christina Hammer by UD.

Braekhus, the Columbian born Norwegian has longed for a defining fight in the US, as all but one of her fights have been abroad. Although the fight against Reis is not career defining, we know we are very excited to see her on HBO as part of the Golovkin-Martirosyan card.

Kudos to HBO for following Showtime’s recent move to make an effort to air coverage of women’s boxing. Understood that both have done so in the past but let’s hope it is sustainable this time around.

Speaking of women’s boxing, here is a link to Standing-8’s featured piece from last year on the topic- https://standing-8.com/2017/03/27/million-dollar-ladies-the-resurgence-of-womens-boxing/

Gender Equality-Gender Be Damned P4P Part 2-

Ireland’s Katie Taylor (9-0) achieved her goal of being a unified champion with a UD (99-91 98-92 and 99-91) over Victoria Burgos (18-5). She now holds both the WBA and IBF lightweight world titles.

Taylor used excellent movement and combination punching to bank rounds early but changed directions and began to exchange more in the later rounds.

Taylor is highly skilled and it is beautiful to watch her work her craft. Arguably the fastest hands with a killer left hook. We have not seen the best Taylor yet and as her opposition increases we will be in for a show.

HBO and Showtime- get Taylor on a card soon. Thank you.
Brownsville In The Hous….Brooklyn In The House

Danny Jacobs (34-2 29 KO) defeated Maciej Sulecki (26-1 10 KO) by UD (117-110, 116-111 and 115-112) in a tough, tough fight. Sulecki had some moments but Jacobs was more effective throughout culminating with his knockdown of Sulecki in the final round.

Jacobs is a throwback fighter in his approach and style. Every time I watch him, I want to put the broadcast in black and white, don a “Press” derby, light a cigar and start banging away on a Smith Corona.

After the fight, Jacobs stated, ”If Brooklyn wants Charlo, then Charlo it will be”, more specifically Jermall of the #LionsOnly twin siblings.

That would make for one hell of a fight.
For The Love Of The Game

On Saturday night, WBO World Junior Featherweight champion Jesse Magdelano, (25-1 18KO, and mandatory/interim WBO champion Isaac Dogboe, (19-0 13 KO) showed us again why we love this game.

A tough fight with both warriors showing incredible heart throughout. Although Dogboe stopped Magdelano in the eleventh and we saw the title change hands, there were no losers.

True warriors giving it all for the love of the game.
Bye-Bye A-Side, Bye Bye B-Side

Bryant Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) has had opportunities in his career only to underachieve when the lights are the brightest, most notably the Klitschko and Ortiz fights. If he ever wants to reach that level again, he has to dispatch lower tier opponents. Even though he beat Joey Dawejko (19-5-4, 11 KOs), by UD 98-92 X3, he was unspectacular in doing so considering the opponent. I know Dawejko is a tough dude, but I need to see heavies making statements.

Anwser..An Oxymoron Or Paradox Nickname??

Question- What is Big Baby?

Jarrell Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs) beat Johann Duhaupas (37-5, 24 KOs) by UD in a WBA world heavyweight title eliminator on Saturday night. Duhaupas is a gatekeeper nobody likes to face but they do it because they have to. After doing so, you’ll know you were in a fight. That said, I won’t go all Jennings on Miller but he should have gotten Duhaupas out of there.

For all the big man skills Miller has, he is technically flawed and when the quality of his opponents increase, the likelihood of them being exposed does as well. I can’t help but think he would be tailor-made for the tall heavies with the long reach. A stiff jab followed by power would be trouble for him.
Yo Riverside….I Did It…

Josesito Lopez (36-7, 19 KOs) turned back the clock and had one of his best wins in sometime beating Miguel Cruz’ (17-1, 11 KOs) by UD.

Fighting for the first time a few weeks over a year with new trainer Robert Garcia, Lopez used a relentless attack with excellent combination punching and committed body work.

Lopez is always in exciting fights and this performance should garner some attention.

Sweet Science Snippets

Bronze Bombed And King Konged

Deontay Wilder answered a lot of questions on Saturday night, some good, some bad, completely depending on how you process the answer.

The Champ showed he can take a shot or two from a big puncher and survive. This had been kind of the elephant in the ring. (See what I did there?). He was hit flush by Ortiz and was almost out in the 7th but if his jaw was as advertised, he would not have survived.

He showed that he had heart. This had never really been questioned to this point in his career; however, what we did not know is how he would handle true adversity, or insert the overused boxing idiom here, “deep waters”. We found out that he would go out on his shield if that’s what it took.

Now the bad. I’ve never been a fan of Wilder’s footwork, but you know what, it works for him. His boxing skills are not as polished as some of the other bigs, but again, you know what, it works for him. He was a relatively late starter to the fight game and that said, this dude continues to learn many things from every fight and gets better.

When you have the type of punching power that the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native has, you can do what works for you, critics be damned. Will it catch up with you against the right opponent? Sure, but so will your skills even if they are polished. It’s about facing the wrong opponent with the right style to make you pay. Forty times in a row he has not met that opponent.

Current Status……..Can Krusher

Will Sergey Kovalev ever be relevant again? Why Mikhalkin? Why Shabranskyy? We know Kovalev can dominate the lower tier fighters and it’s understood that a tune up fight was needed after the two Ward losses; however, when you’re considered one of the best, you need to fight the best.

Let’s take a deeper look here as we may have witnessed signs of Mr. Kovalev’s decline for years but were afraid to admit it.

Back in 2014, he rocks Bernard Hopkins in the first round but can’t stop his 49-year-old opponent. Ok, I know, I know, Hopkins is a legend but at 49 he went the distance with then, arguable a top 5-7 P4P fighter in Kovalev landing counter right after counter right keeping Kovalev honest to the distance.

Rewatch his first fight with Jean Pascal in 2015, he was touched repeatedly and cleanly. Had Pascal packed a wallop, Kovalev would have been in deep trouble that night. Granted, Kovelev stops him in the rematch but as a P4P fighter, he should have taken care of business the first time. What about his fight with Isaac Chilemba a year later? That was the best damn Chilemba we’ve ever seen, or was it due to his opponent?

Now the Andre Ward debacles. Yes, he put Ward down early in the first fight but he lost the fight. For several months afterwards, he took to social media with posts/tweets about how he would do this and that to Ward in the rematch. Not only did he not back it up but rather, he was dominated and stopped.

The signs have been there all along, we just have not been receptive to them?
Go Vegetarian, All The Cool Kids Are Doing It…

Not exactly what we need going into one of the most highly anticipated rematches. A few days ago, it was reported that Canelo Alvarez had failed a voluntary drug test. Confirmed by Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarez tested positive for trace levels of Clenbuterol, a product of contaminated meat. It is alleged that the meat is from mexican cows. VADA will continue to re-test and test Alvarez leading up to his May 5 rematch against Genady Golovkin.

This will lose its effect as the days and weeks lead into the fight; however, should Alvarez win, or worse, win in dominating fashion, this will rear its ugly head as soon as the fight ends, mooooooo.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

Late Snippets-

Too Swift For His Own Good

Danny Garcia (31-1 19 KO) had his moments but it was not enough. Keith Thurman (28-0 22 KO) was just better. Thurman was masterful early using excellent movement while landing jabs, powerful combinations, and doing just enough body work to keep Garcia honest. The Garcia beard was as good as advertised. I still don’t know how he stayed on his feet with the early shot he took right off the chin that spun him around. As was stated, Thurman was masterful early. Thurman’s activity level greatly reduced in the second half of the fight. It appeared to me that he had hurt his right hand because he wasnt throwing it late as he was early, but that was not the case. Thurman simply stayed away and gave a few rounds away believing he had done enough to win. He was partly right but only because Garcia failed to cut off the ring with any regularity and while Garcia won rounds late, it wasnt enough.

Trojan Warrior 

Standing ovation for Tony Bellew (29-2-1 19 KO) for his mammoth victory over David Haye (28-3 26 KO). Granted, Haye fought injured from about the sixth round until the stoppage in the eleventh but such is sports. As we all know now, Haye tore his Achilles but really, before that happened Bellew was giving as good as he was getting. This was a good old-fashioned donnybrook with two warriors giving their all. While we praise Bellew for the victory, Mr. Haye deserves just as much credit if not more in defeat. When you tear an Achilles, you basically lose the use of the leg that sustained the injury. For Haye to have lasted almost five more rounds in a street brawl with that type of injury is nothing short of extraordinary.

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program…..

Girl Power

The resurgence of women’s boxing is amazing and will continue to grow. On Friday night, two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields (2-0 1 KO) stopped a game Szilvia Szabados (15-9 6 KO) in the fourth in front of her hometown fans of Flint/Detroit Michigan. This fight was entertaining in that Shields was throwing bombs on an opponent with a granite chin, while also showing a good chin of her own. I know Shields was hyped up at home for the knockout but she will benefit from working behind the jab to set up her power. Shields made this fight much harder than it needed to be but we’ll chalk that up to her excitement in that she was headlining the first ever women’s main event on a premium network.

Hot Shots-Part Lemieux

David Lemieux (37-3 33 KO) landed a left hook on Curtis Stevens (29-6 21 KO) that is still sending shock waves through the middleweight division. We knew the Canadian can bang but that short hook was a thing of beauty. To be fair, there was a right hand that landed before the KO shot but the short distance + the textbook hook on the chin sweet spot was lethal. The bout was entertaining until the stoppage with both men landing huge power shots. Lemieux did some great body work in the first which was the difference in the round. The second a bit closer, then the KO of the Year shot that ended things in the third. It was a blessing that Stevens was ok.

Meet Me In The Trap, It’s Going Down, Meet Me In The Mall, It’s Going Down, Meet Me In The Club, It’s Going Down, Anywhere Ya Meet Me Guaranteed To Go Down

Ok, it’s really like…Meet Me In The T-Mobile Arena It’s Going Down, such is the carousel of the Floyd Mayweather v. Coner McGregor rumored fight. The latest rumour is a June 10 matchup. A quick check of the hotels showed a 5X increase on June 9 and 10 at most Strip hotels. See the State of The Game article for Standing-8’s thoughts on this money-making circus act.

Boxing’s March Madness, Well, Sort Of

Super stoked for the World Boxing Super Series. The brainchild of former GBP CEO Richard Schaefer, now heading Ringstar Sports, and prominent UK promoter Kalle Sauerland, this bracketed tournament by weight class has us intrigued. The winner of each tournament (weight class) will win the Muhammad Ali trophy. A newly designed award approved by the Ali family. For more information, see World Boxing Super Series press releases on main page.

Miracle on 33rd Street

 This Saturday night, Danny Jacobs (32-1 29 KO) will get his shot at the title. Problem is, the titles are guarded by Gennady Golovkin (36-0 33 KO). Jacobs has a well chronicled story, a champion in the ring of life against one of the most feared assassins, cancer. He was told he would never fight again but here he is in with GGG for the right to wear the middleweight straps. Standing-8 has always thought that a stiff jab gives GGG problems, thing is, his opponents are so worried about what will be coming in return they deviate from the game plan. Jacobs is not known to have a great jab so there may be trouble already; however, another Standing-8 observation is that GGG can be exploited up through the middle. Throw a shot from the floor to the bottom of his chin and you will hit pay dirt. In Standing-8’s preview of the Kell Brook v. GGG bout, The Case For Kell Brook, we speculated that if Brook, who throws a great uppercut could land that punch, it may impact the fight. Brook did land the punch and we saw GGG truly rocked for a moment but again, worried about the return artillery, Brook was unable to sustain his plan. Jacobs throws a decent uppercut so again, there may be opportunities. That said, we have seen Jacobs rocked a few times in his career against lesser punchers which is not good. Jacobs has already defeated a foe more formidable than any opponent he will see in a ring, why not a miracle on 33rd street?