RE:Tanks Beats Cruz, Haney Beats JoJo
Plus Everything Else.
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Tank Beats Isaac Cruz
On a Sunday night Gervonta “Tank” Davis defended some form of the WBA lightweight world title against Isaac Cruz, as he edged out a narrow decision over the game Mexican fighter. My biggest fears for this fight came true, when Cruz’s height, being smaller than Davis, seemed to throw Davis off, as Davis is almost always the smaller fighter, and prefers fighting, at least to me, bigger people.
According to punch stats, the two threw nearly the same amount of punches, and landed roughly the same, the difference in the fight was more than likely that more people are familiar with Davis, so he might have gotten a swing round based on familiarity.
Davis who hurt his hand in this fight, looked uncomfortable by the fact that Cruz was unwilling to back down from him. I scored the fight a draw.
undercard
Sebastian Fundora got a rather sleepy and uninspired win over Sergio Garcia, that I felt Garcia could’ve pulled off. Fundora has a bad habit of giving up his physical advantage of his size, early and often, and loves to pull straight back. Fundora is an exciting prospect, but he needs time and some more work before faces the elite of the division.
Carlos Adames got the biggest win of his career over Sergiy Dervyanchenko, and Bob Santos played a huge role in this fight as Adames, notorious for gassing late, was able to win the early rounds, and one or two rounds in the back end to edge the very good Dervyanchenko. Now, Adames is the WBC mandatory for Jaime Munguia.
Eduardo Ramirez outlasted Miguel Marriaga, as this felt like the young eating the old, as Ramirez seemingly does everything Marriaga does, but is just younger, and been through less wars.
Haney Beats JoJo
Devin Haney got the marquee win of his young career defeating Joseph Diaz Jr., a former world champion in a hard-fought bout. Haney had to deal with non-stop pressure in order to win the bout, but it was his boxing, and size that proved the difference as his 7-inch reach advantage allowed for a straight right hand to land at will to Diaz’s body.
Now, Haney is in a position to face George Kambosos Jnr., for all the belts at the lightweight division, and I think most people will favor Haney in that bout. That being said, Haney still needs to tighten some aspects of his defense, mainly his hand position as at times he seems to like to keep his right hand low, and Diaz was exploiting that.
Haney is one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport, and despite not appearing to be a power puncher per say, he is a proven winner, and now we look forward to future bouts with Gervonta Davis, George Kambosos Jnr, Teofimo Lopez, and many others.
For Diaz, who according to BoxRec Grey, has faced opponents with a record of 479-52-22 since 2015, the loss is bittersweet, as though it is a set back, he performed well against a fighter, who might only have one-or-two fights left at lightweight.
undercard
Montana Love missed weight by four pounds, came out in Mexican outfit in an ode to Floyd Mayweather, and got an early stoppage over Carlos Diaz. Love is a character, and a tad bit cringey.
Undisputed women’s welterweight champion, Jessica McCaskill ran through her late-replacement opponent, Kandi Wyatt stopping her in seven. McCaskill is an aggressive brawler, who has tremendous conditioning and just beat down her opponent. This was McCaskill’s first fight on her new contract with Matchroom Boxing.
Hrgovic is still looking very robotic, but can really crack. I am not a fan of how tall, and unorthodox his shot are, but he is effective. I am curious to see how he does against the next level of foe, as his Olympic pedigree makes him a proven winner.
Marc Castro continues to look the part of a future star as the Fresno standout amateur is not just knocking people out, but putting forth highlight-reel KO’s once he has the man hurt. On the downside, Marc missed weight by six pounds for this fight, which is something that needs to get fixed.
Pressure breaks pipes, but also creates diamond, and it looks like with 5-0 pro prospect Amari Jones, we might just have a diamond on our hands.
Amari Jones continues to look the part of a star, as he defeated a 4-1 opponent by the name of Timothy Lee, via a sixth-round KO. With bright lights, and big stages comes harder fights, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission is not one to allow lopsided bouts, so on less than week's notice Jones moved up in weight to middleweight, and fought the toughest opponent of his career.
Jones is motivated by the challenge, as an amateur he jumped into the deep-end of the pool, competing in national tournaments, as soon as he could qualify, and getting wins over the likes of Vito Mielnicki Jr. and Kasir Goldston. Jones has never shied away from a challenge and despite many not liking the opponent for the young fighter, Jones stepped up, and silenced any doubt.
Jones is a junior middleweight, who at some point in his career, I wouldn't be surprised if he fights at light heavyweight, who is sound defensively, but looks to hurt his opponents, and more than that is a ticket-seller. In Sacramento, when he fought the bout prior, he nearly single-handedly sold-out the facility, and on fight night for Haney vs. Diaz Jr., a large crowd was in the arena cheering for him.
Jones, who is only 19-years-old, looks to be the top of talent, who could fight for a world title at age 22 or 23, and not have to be brought up too much, and his willingness to fight any-and-all, is a welcomed change.
Toscano Boxing Promotions
Junior middleweight Damian Sosa got the biggest win of his career beating 2020 boxing sweetheart, Clay Collard in an eight-round decision. Collard dropped Sosa in the second round, which wasn’t called, but beyond that, Collard didn’t look focused, and Sosa wanted it more. Sosa still has some flaws he needs to improve upon, such as his love for sitting on the ropes.
Lightweight Manuel Jaimes made quick work of Moises “Chucky” Flores, as he stopped the former world title contender in two rounds. Flores missed weight by a lot, and I feel that was very unfair Jaimes as this was the biggest fight of the young fighters career, and to have murky means overshadow it isn’t right. Jaimes did what he was supposed to and should be inching toward the top-20 of his division.
Wade Jones got off the deck to knockout Edgar Ramirez in the first-round, as it was one round of pure chaos. Jones, who lost his last fight via knockout refused to get stopped in this bout, as after getting dropped, he stayed composed and stopped Ramirez.
Vincent Avina of Manteca, Ca, who recently moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, was rocked with a left hook in the first round, but then stopped Alexis Salido in the fourth round. Avina started out too emotional coming off a long layoff, and Salido was a dirty fighter, punching off the break, but once Avina got settled he did what was needed.
Announcements
Golovkin vs. Murata Postponed
Gennady Golovkin versus Ryota Murata is no longer happening at the end of the month as Japan has put forth a travel-ban due to the new COVID-19 variant. Golovkin will make an insane amount of money from this fight, so I am sure they’ll wait until the bout can happen in Japan.
Katie Taylor Next Bout
Firuza Sharipova who faces Undisputed World Lightweight Champion Katie Taylor at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Saturday December 11, live worldwide on DAZN, is sparring Taylor’s greatest amateur rival, Sofya Ochigava.
"Sofya has been in my camp from the very beginning, has passed on all her knowledge to me and has done her best to help me defeat Katie Taylor. I watched their fight in the final of the Olympic Games and I’m sure that the judges helped Taylor. Sofya knocked her down, which wasn't counted. Sofya was better in the fight, she won it. Taylor is usually not afraid of anyone, but in that final fight, Sophia saw fear in her eyes. Even now, Taylor refuses to fight Sofya."
Club Shows
Luis Alberto Lopez stopped Isaac Lowe in seven rounds, after dropping him in the first-and-second-round. Lopez, who holds wins over Andy Vences, and Gabe Flores Jr., will now be the mandatory for the IBF featherweight title held by Kiko Martinez, but he will have to wait as Martinez will rematch the man he just beat, Kid Galahad next year.
Kerman Lejarraga mauled his opponent on Friday, en route to a brutal KO below. Lejarraga seems like a guy who will have good regional fights in the U.K., future opponents, I see are, Troy Williamson, and Ted Cheeseman.
Anthony Yarde avenged his loss to Lyndon Arthur by getting a fourth-round KO in a light heavyweight rematch. Yarde will be a world title challenger next year, and is known for his mitt routines, and big muscles.
Michael Hunter fought to a draw with Jerry Forrest in a rematch of their 2014 bout. Hunter looked uninspired. Forrest who is coming off a draw to Zhilei Zhang fought just as inspired, and seemingly edged the fight on many people’s cards. The highly cautionary aspect to this bout was Hunter seemed to throw up in the corner in roughly the sixth round, and just didn’t look like the same fighter from bouts prior. This was an ascension for Forrest, and a cautionary moment for Hunter - in a compelling main event.
In a rather uneventful fight, George Arias defeated Cassius Chaney, a heavyweight who is trained by Stephen Edwards, known by his nickname “Breadman”, as he is a popular blogger, who coaches pro boxers. This year has been a rough one for Edwards as his fighters Zachary Ochoa, Kyrone Davis, Cassius Chaney, and Julian Williams all lost this year.
Arias did a good job at taking advantage of Chaney’s flaws. I think both fighters will get big fights in the future. I think all of the guys at the top of the card could be future opponents for Jared Anderson or Filip Hrgovic, the two guys I see breaking out this year.
The son of Tommy Morrison, Trey Lippe Morrison, was knocked out by Mike “The Silverback” Balogun in the first-round. A tough result for a fighter, that was being brought up slowly, Balogun, now becomes an interesting American heavyweight to follow, who in 2010 was in the NFL, and played for the San Francisco 49ers. Lippe just got caught with his head on the line early in the fight, and never recovered. A wide hook that was countered by Balogun, did Lippe in.
MMA in 500 Words Or Less
It is crazy how Jose Aldo is still relevant as the man who once struck fear over the division, then lost to Conor McGregor, defeated Rob Font this weekend. We’re looking at a man who has been in the top tier of his division for three decades, that is something special, and though he might not be the one-punch highlight reel guy anymore, it is sure hard to beat him.
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