Well, that was awkward.
Rey Vargas is now a two-division world champion, as he defeated Mark Magsayo en route to a 12-round decision to win the WBC featherweight world title. The fight was a Vargas special.
Despite throwing more power punches than usual, Rey Vargas has a way of detracting from action, which he uses as a skill to win fights, but often tests the patience of fight fans. With Vargas’ frame of five-feet, ten-inches, he is a massive featherweight, as he uses his height and reach to their extremes forcing opponents to have to overcommit on punches are use an active jab that can be timed when trying to get in. The result, a lot of time in which both fighters are waiting.
The most meaningful exchange saw Magsayo drop Vargas in round nine, but was unable to finish the fight, as Vargas now is a world champion at featherweight, and will be a tough awkward champion, looking to spoil future contenders hopes. Vargas feels like a new era, Miguel Vasquez or Carlos Molina in that he justs makes fights tough.
Where he goes I don’t know? A fight against Brandon Figueroa would be fun, but Figueroa’s flaws might be tough to overcome to beat Vargas who fights so composed.
Two Mexican warriors did battle as Brandon Figueroa’s featherweight debut was a success against Carlos Castro, who had a new coach in Robert Alcazar in his corner, as Figueroa recorded a sixth-round knockout. That being said, Figueroa dropped Castro in the third round, but that seemed to only anger Castro who fought back galliantly as we saw many flurries of action of the two trading at close proximities that merited loud cheers from the crowd.
The end would see Castro unloading on Figueroa who was on the ropes only for him to turn the tides and stop Figueroa on the ropes after turning Castro and placing him on the ropes. Some thought it was too soon, but others didn’t. In the end, the guy who was winning the fight won the fight, so regardless of how much you love the stoppage, at least it didn’t change the perception of the perceived outcome.
That being said on the Showtime card, and one of the judge’s scorecards had Carlos Castro up at the time of the stoppage by two points, meaning my perception of the fight was not what some saw, hence the outrage. I saw a great fight from Castro with Figueroa imposing himself on him and getting the better of many rounds with a knockdown thrown in for good measure, whereas some saw Castro outboxing Figueroa.
I think it safe to say Brandon Figueroa is one of the most exciting featherweights along with Emanuel Navaratte and Leigh Wood, as he looks to bring a ton of exposure to this division. A fight against Leo Santa Cruz, or the winner of the main event would be something to watch. Figueroa is nearing the point of being a headliner and a star on his own.
Lightweight Frank Martin stopped Jackson Marinez in the tenth and final round of their scheduled ten rounder as he dropped him in the ninth round. The bout was mostly ugly. Some of Martin’s flaws came to light, as Martin who is still relatively new to boxing at only nine years into the sport, at times he was getting hit too clean with a right hand, which needs to improve. Martin reminds me of Gary Russell Jr., just without the elite handspeed, movement or combination punching of Russell Jr.
I say all that to say, Martin is like a triple-A baseball player, who is extremely good, an all-star at that level, and as he merges into the MLB, it will take time for us to find out where he fits in, and how he adjusts. The transition will not be as seamless as fighters with deeper amateur backgrounds. His coach, Derrick James set a solid timeline of late 2023 as when Martin could fight for a world title and I am on-board with that timeline.
A dominant showing for Michell Banquez seemingly didn’t matter as a ten-round decision to local favorite, and San Antonio, Texas’ own, Ramon Cardenas was awarded. Going into the bout Ramon Cardenas was #5 in the WBA bantamweight world rankings, and now Cardenas should continue towards the top of the division.
When looking at bantamweight post-Naoya Inoue who is clearly the best guy in the division, and seemingly at some point might move on to yet another division, because of his sheer domiance, we have Jason Moloney, Eros Correa, Lee McGregor, Jason Moloney, Saul Sanchez and Gary Antonio Russell as the potential next wave of names, and tonight Banquez made a case that you could be in the mix with any of them. With the win, Cardenas as well now by defeault will be in the conversations.
Going into the bout, both fighters had the same record of 20-1. A fight Ramon Cardenas and Gary Antonio Russell would be a solid TV fight that I feel would create a true world title contender as well. Though it was a good fight, I just saw the bout as a 98-92 or 97-93 type win for Banquez, who now will have to regroup after fighting the fight of his life. Boxing can make you so burnt out.
Rashadi “Speedy” Ellis made his PBC and Showtime debut by stopping game club show journeyman Jose Maruffo in one round. Maruffo’s upset wins have come between 137-140 lbs, this fight was contested at 147 lbs, with Maruffo taking the fight on essentially a day’s notice. Hopefully, Ellis gets an exciting world-class opponent soon.
This performance should get him back in the world rankings of multiple sanctioning bodies as well.
Off-television, Samuel Arnold III won his fight by KO.
Chisora Is Way Too Much Fun!
Derek Chisora upset Kubrat Pulvev in a fight that might sneak into some year-end award lists for a fight of the year contender.
The end result was seemingly an after thought as Derek Chisora and Kubrat Pulev beat the hell out of each other, as both past-prime heavyweight made an agreement to punch each other as much as possible, and not being able to move as much as years prior probably helped with that too.
Chisora has mastered the art of putting on good fights, so much so that the result of his bouts have become arbitrary. Even if Chisora had have lost this bout, to many he would have won in their eyes, and was wronged by the system. Instead, the judges got it right, and awarded Chisora the bout, which seemed the fair verdict.
The bout itself was a 1/3 boxing, a 1/3 wrestling and 1/3 a tough guy contest.
As the men got tired, the punches landed cleaner as the two heavyweight contenders, who probably lose to the very best contenders or emerging fighters in the division gave us a great fight in and of itself though it is void of any roadmap or context for excitement beyond they gave it their all in the ring on this night.
One of the unsung heroes, Rudy Hernandez, the cut man of Pulev, who also served as Mike Alvarado’s coach in the second fight against Brandon Rios in which he won. Hernandez stopped the cuts on Pulev’s face to allow him to continue.
In the end, we saw a split decision go to Chisora, as the first fight was a split decision for Pulev, with the cards reading 116–112 for Pulev and the other two being 116-112 and 116-114 for Chisora.
After the bout, Chisora made reference to Deontay Wilder as Chisora is clearly in a category of being a fan-favorite looking to maximize his profits from here on out. As boxing sees more and more stars retire, we have to admit - Chisora is more than likely one of the top fifteen stars the sport of boxing has for better and for worse. Chisora limited skillset and accelerated age means quite simply he has to fight big money fighters only, as at this point it is possible for him to lose to a contender, and not even someone at the top of the sport.
For Pulev, this furthers his shame in the sport, after some misconduct charges in America, fighting on a bizarre bout on a Triller card, Pulev seemingly now will be a guy brought in to lose to emerging talent, as this was his chance to propel himself into a Jospeh Parker or Joe Joyce-type fight, and he didn’t do it. This one will hurt for Pulev and Pulev fans.
I highly doubt after this fight either guy retires, as the world saw it as two older fighters last stand, but both of them probably saw it as a way to prove they still had more left in the tank. As most aging heavyweights only retire after a brutal knockout loss.
The DAZN undercard card was a test of patience more than anything.
154 lbs contender Israil Madrimov, whom a lot of pundits are very high on for his pro debut win over Vladimir Hernandez and his World Series of Boxing win over two-time Cuban gold medalist Arlen Lopez, fought to a technical draw against Michel Soro, in what would’ve been a final eliminator for the WBA 154 lbs world champion, meaning the winner would have been mandated to fight Jermell Charlo.
Madrimov looked as good as ever, not moving as much as past fights, and throwing punches judiciously. That being said, at 27-years-old, Madrimov quite possibly could have his best performances against Soro in a fight no one really wanted, besides the sanctioning bodies.
It is important to note that Madrimov’s ninth-round KO win over Soro was one of the most egregious errors ever, as Madrimov knocked out Soro well after the bell, and the bout has still yet to be overturned. It almost felt like Soro getting cut over his eye from a head clash in the third round was the boxing gods’ way of getting retribution for one of the worst decisions of the year. That being said, Madrimov has the hallmarks of being a top-5 fighter in the division, he is worthy of praise and excitement, but his 2022 will be remembered for his three fights with Michel Soro.
Though Soro, who is 34-years-old, is far from old, Soro is also not someone I consider in his prime either. Meaning a year of Madrimov’s potential prime was spent on a trilogy most fans were not all that invested in, but fluke injuries and liberal usages of time brought us to this point.
Ramla Ali got a win, as Ali is a pure boxer, who is skilled, but now we have to see where she evitably goes, as her style would tell you she was an elite amateur, but she would hit a ceiling with certain fighters internationally like Skye Nicolson, as Ali’s first-round exit from the 2020 Olympics against Claudia Nechita was shocking. Though the two are at different weight classes, Ali at 122 lbs, and Nicolson at 126 lbs., that could inevitably be a marquee bout in the future, as they have very similar styles.
That being said, Ali is improving from fight to fight. Ali also has a compelling life story that if, and seemingly when she wins a world title, would make for a great feel-good story for streaming platforms as well.
Caoimhin Agyarko defeated Lukasz Maciec via a 10-round decision for the vacant WBA super welterweight international title. What does that mean for the division? Guys like James Metcalf, Troy Williamson, Kerman Lejarraga all hold rankings in that division in the top-15 and the co-main event just fought for the #1 contender spot for that belt. So one of those fighters will probably face Agyarko in the future
The YouTube portion of the Matchroom card, which are often fun. Fabio Wardley stopped a guy in two rounds, in a weird fight, that appeared to show Wardley is a fun puncher, but his best assets are based around his age and athleticism as opposed to his intellect in the ring. Essentially meaning he has a ceiling, one of which might be nearing any fight now.
ProBox TV
Cesar Francis outpointed a seasoned veteran in Ray Beltran to get a ten-round decision, as Francis proved he could defeat a former world champion.
In the co-main event, Curtis Harper best known for giving Chris Arreola a hard fight, and leaving the ring in a PBC televised card on national TV after the bell rang, got a majority decision win over Christian Thun, a heavyweight being developed under the ProBox banner. Harper dropped Thun, and Thun lost a point as well in the fight. Final scores were 75-75, 78-72, and 76-73 with two of the three going to Harper.
Marques Valle got a third-round KO.
Cruiserweight contender Brandon “Bulletproof” Glanton picked up a KO win on this card. Glanton should be nearing a world title shot in the future.
Club Shows
Devany Cuevas Torres defeated powerlifter Stefi Cohen. A part of me wants to still see the novelty fight between Stefi Cohen and Avril Mathie on some type of card that could pay them for their social media influence as well as their time spent in athletics.
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The nightmare continues for former world champion Patrick Teixeira as Magomed Kurbanov dropped him in the first round en route to a one-sided decision win. Patrick Teixeira was a world champion prior to losing the belt to Brian Castano, and essentially a year later is riding a disqualification loss followed by the type of loss that damages your earning potential on foreign TV.
Gleb Bakshi, a talented 2020 Olympian, got a first-round TKO in his pro debut. The middleweight is a brute of a man, and could be an interesting and at times frustrating prospect to keep an eye on.
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Czarina "The Black Rose" McCoy won a fight in Mexico.
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Sharif "C3" Rahman got a first-round KO in Kansas, Sharif Rahman is the brother of Hasim Rahman Jr., who fights Jake Paul in a month.
MMA in 500 Words Or Less
The young ate the old as Rafael Fiziev stopped Rafael dos Anjos in the fourth round of a fight that only a true MMA fan would watch or love.