The Undisputed sends it heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Marvelous Marvin Hagler the former undisputed middleweight champion of the world who sadly passed away in New Hampshire, USA yesterday at aged 66.
Marvin’s life and contribution to the sport of boxing will never be forgotten and will be commemorated and celebrated in due course.
Rest in peace the King of Middleweights.
For the casual fight fan the lens of the sport is naturally focused on the big men, generally from middleweight (11st 6lbs/160lbs) up to heavyweight (no limit). The big guys usually attract the attention, and with it, the big bucks.
However, for the aficionado the greater fighters, and frequently fights, are shared across the weight classes and invariably the most momentous battles are fought in those lighter divisions dominated by Hispanic and Far Eastern fighters.
Over recent decades legendary names in the categories from flyweight (8st/112lbs) to featherweight (9st/126lbs) pepper the sport – Sot Chitalada, Carlos Zarate, Ruben Olivares, Alexis Arguello, Azumah Nelson, Manny Pacquiao, and Marco Antonio Barrera to name but a few.
Tonight in the early hours (UK time) two ‘little’ guys will enter the ring in Dallas, Texas in a genuine ‘Superfight’. Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada will defend his WBC and Ring magazine super-flyweight (8st 3lbs/115lbs) title against Nicaraguan four weight and current WBA world champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. It is a unification contest that promises to be an epic.
What adds intrigue and quality is it’s not the first time they’ve met. This is a rematch of their November 2012 standout junior flyweight contest which Gonzalez won by a hard fought unanimous decision. Many experts thought the contest should have been much closer than scores suggested. Estrada understandably was aggrieved in what was an all out slugfest.
Since then, a rematch has been inevitable as both fighters have moved through the divisions with outstanding success. Estrada brings a 41-3-0 (28 KO) record into the ring, Gonzalez 50-2-0 (41 KO).
‘Chocolatito’ at one point was The Ring pound for pound #1 (the recognised highest honour in the sport) having won titles in three weight divisions and only first tasting defeat in his 47th pro fight. Now 33 years old the man from Managua is entering the twilight of his career and this could be his ‘last hurrah’. However, on achievement to date he is a first ballot entrant to the International Boxing Hall of Fame and a win tonight would be the zenith of his accomplishments.
‘Gallo’ Estrada at 30 years old is a two weight world champion and has a winning record of 8-2 (5 KO’s) in world title fights. Two of his only three losses have been avenged, with the current exception of Gonzalez. His motivation for winning this fight is unquestioned and in defeating Gonzalez he would elevate himself to similar iconic status.
Billed appropriately ‘Repeat or Revenge’ by promoters Matchroom Boxing and streaming platform DAZN who will transmit the bout , it is a must-see contest and well worth setting your alarm clock for a likely 3.00 GMT start and paying the £1.99 subscription fee. The undercard is also excellent with eleven ‘world’ titles on the line during the evening, including an eagerly awaited female undisputed world welterweight rematch between USA’s Jessica McCaskill and Colombia-born Norwegian Cecilia Braekhus. This is an elite grudge match that promises much.
The Undisputed expects the Estrada-Gonzalez main event to complement their first encounter and live up to the eager anticipation for their rematch. For a prediction, look for the younger Estrada to outwork Gonzalez and emerge victorious on the night probably by unanimous decision. Expect knockdowns and lots of drama on the way though !
Exactly 50 years ago tonight, roughly around 3:00 GMT, the first bell sounded for an event that’s gone down in the long annals of sporting history as one, if not the, greatest of all time. Certainly one that comfortably competes as the greatest of the twentieth century.
On Monday 8th March 1971 in Madison Square Garden, New York City for the first time in boxing history two undefeated champions contested the undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World.
Muhammad Ali (aka Cassius Clay), the so called ‘Louisville Lip’ and soon to be a cultural icon, had only recently returned from three and half years of enforced exile due to his stance against US military involvement in Vietnam. Despite this inactivity he still held a flawless 31-0 (25 KO’s) record and to many was still regarded as the true lineal champion.
His challenge was to 1964 Olympic champion and recently Ring recognised champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier 26-0 (23 KO’s) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The whole world was watching.
The Ring had only ten months earlier finally given up on Ali due to his inactivity and recognised Frazier as their champion by virtue of him beating Jimmy Ellis in a heavyweight elimination tournament.
Despite admittedly showing years of patience with Ali their position was concluded in their May 1970 edition by stating “Elimination of Clay will clear up a heavyweight muddle which hurt boxing throughout the world”. Looking back, how damning that was, and oh for the days of the 1970’s and only two world sanctioning bodies !
Both fighters had goaded each other in the lead up to the fight promoting a rightful claim to be called the Heavyweight Champion. Ali, more forceably and personal than his adversary, and Smokin’ Joe having secretly helped Ali financially whilst he was in exile, tranquil and serene. The history of the time is resplendent with images of Ali telephoning Joe in training camp and turning up at gym sessions to goad and disarm his opponent.
It was, the hype of all hype and grudge match of all grudge matches. Deep down Joe knew that until he beat Ali he would never be universally accepted as the champ.
What conspired was truly an event and fight for the ages.
On that famous early spring night each boxer had secured $2.5 million on entering the ring, a staggering and unheard of amount at the time for two prizefighters, and fought before a live crowd of close to 20,000 and worldwide audience on the basic technology of the time.
Anyone who was anyone was in the arena that night. Legendary tales of Frank Sinatra masquerading as a LIFE magazine photographer and Diana Ross being ejected from the press corp for not having a credential are examples of the draw of the event. To say it was the hottest ticket in town would be a gross understatement.
Around the world people tuned in however they could, from the early hour close circuit showings in cinemas in the UK, to the kinfolk huddled around flickering TV’s in townships of South Africa, and onto the Asian continent and the pampas of South America. This was the fight everyone had to see, or as a minimum, know the result of.
History would record that in a spectacular fight Smokin’ Joe would ‘smoke‘ all night, rocking Ali in the eleventh and dropping him with a devastating left hook in the 15th round to gain a unanimous 8-6-1, 9-6 and 11-4 rounds decision on the judges cards. With it, he would win the now undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World.
Joe would go on to lose the title to George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica by devastating second round KO in January 1973 and ultimately never regain it. He would meet Ali two more times. Once in ‘The Garden’ again in January 1974 with Ali exacting his revenge by unanimous decision, and then more famously, in the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ in September 1975, with Ali victorious again in a contest the winner would refer to as “The closest to death” he had come.
But, ‘The Fight’ witnessed in New York City in 1971 became the benchmark to which all Superfights are now judged and nothing has ever come close in terms of expectation and delivery. Tonight before your head hits the pillow spare a thought and prayer for two of the greatest fighters of all time who gave us such joy fifty years ago. God bless them both.
The biggest name in boxing returns this weekend when Mexico’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defends his recently gained WBA and WBC world super-middleweight (12st/168lbs) straps in Florida, USA.
After being out of the ring for only two months since defeating Britain’s Callum Smith, the 30 year old Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KO’s) will make a swift first defence of his titles against Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12 KO’s).
Such a rapid return to the ring is unheard of in recent times, certainly in the pandemic era, and Alvarez should be applauded for this. However, in so doing he has ‘cherry picked’ an opponent who on recent form and activity doesn’t deserve the opportunity.
Yildirim from Istanbul lost his last outing a mere two years ago to Anthony Dirrell and has not fought since. Yet, was installed and retained the WBC’s mandatory contender status due to the fight being lost on technical split decision from an accidental head clash and bad cut ending it prematurely. Yildirim now faces a champion who is at the top of his game, has won three times over that period and, is on his relentless path to greatness.
All of the signs point to a convincing Alvarez win, probably by knockout, but this is the boxing business and recent months have shown the impact of no fans and unusual conditions. The odds though are heavily stacked in the Mexican’s favour.
It would be the upset of the year, and probably millennium so far, if Yildirim were to win. This is a man who was KO’d in three rounds by Chris Eubank Jr in 2017 and four years down the line meets the best in the business. Yildirim is rugged and comes to fight and for as long as it lasts will make the fight interesting, benefiting from having sparred with the Mexican in the past, but will soon face his ‘El Dorado’. Look for a spectacular Alvarez victory within five rounds.
The event is promoted by Matchroom and main bouts will be televised on the DAZN streaming platform in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK time).
The British 9st 4lb (130lbs) title will be contested on Saturday in London on a Queensberry Promotions show. Northern Ireland’s Anthony Cacace will make his first defence against Leicester’s Lyon Woodstock.
Cacace with an excellent 18-1 record will meet a man five years younger who has a 12-2 record. It should be an excellent contest and in many ways is a crossroads fight. The victor will push onto European and fringe world ranking, and loser have to pick up the pieces. This will be much easier for Woodstock given his age and look for the hard punching Cacace to prevail. For the Irishman it’s now or never and that should be the difference.
The card will be televised live on BT Sport on Saturday.
The much anticipated Jamel Herring v Carl Frampton fight has been re-scheduled for April 3 in Dubai. The ex-US Marine Herring (22-2, 10 KO’s) will defend his WBO world super-featherweight title for the third time against Northern Ireland’s Frampton (28-2, 16 KO’s).
The Ulsterman will be attempting to win a ‘world’ title in a third weight class having previously held super-bantamweight and featherweight titles. If successful, this would secure his legacy as the most decorated Irish boxer in modern history, having also been The Ring magazine 2016 fighter of the year. Watch for further updates on this and have a great fight weekend.
In true ‘Mexican style’ Californian-based Oscar Valdez bombed out compatriot Miguel Berchelt to emphatically win the WBC world super-featherweight (130lb, 9st 4lb) title in the MGM Bubble, Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The nature and manner of the victory was devastating with heavy favorite Berchelt flattened face-first on the canvas after a left hook detonated on his head seconds from the end of the tenth round. Going in; a poll of twenty experts conducted by The Ring magazine had Berchelt taking eighteen of the votes. Berchelt (37-2, 33 KO’s) was making the seventh defence of his title and considered one of the more dominant champions in the sport.
The youthful, 30 year old Valdez (29-0, 23 KO’s), showed slick and effective boxing skills to take the early rounds as Berchelt seemed noticeably slower and stiff legged. About two minutes into the fourth Valdez landed a perfect left hook high on the champion that would set the scene for the fight.
Berchelt was troubled again seconds later, taking a standing count, and never fully recovered from thereon. Had it not been a world title with an elite champion in trouble and, between two Mexican warriors, the referee Russell Mora could have easily stopped the fight there and then. Berchelt barely survived the round staggering to his corner like a bar room drunk.
The ex-champion managed to just about gather himself for the fifth, but despite having some good moments, was shaken every time Valdez landed a solid blow, in particular with the left hand. The inevitable conclusion would come from this punch after 2:59 of the tenth.
On the stoppage it took some time before Berchelt had partially recovered and was taken to the safety of his corner and then further observation in hospital.
Valdez succeeded in winning his second ‘world’ title having been former WBO champ at featherweight. In the post fight interview he made reference to the doubters going in. “(There’s) nothing better in life than proving people wrong”.
This was yet another night in the current pandemic era when the bookmakers odds were turned upside down and, Valdez on this occasion, turned in an Oscar winning performance. He will now look to unification opportunities in the 130lb division.
For over two years Josh Kelly and his team had been confident of the result should he finally face David Avenesyan for the latter’s European welterweight (147lb, 10st 7lb) title. After repeated failures to hold the fight the answer was finally provided at the SSE Wembley Arena, London on Saturday.
On an excellent Matchroom promotion televised live on Sky Sports, the experienced Avenesyan took the fight to the younger challenger and effectively showed him what championship level in the pros was all about. The champion, a former WBA world ‘interim’ title holder, showed at 32 years old, the value of experience in the paid ranks. The Russian, of Armenian descent, and currently based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England stopped Kelly after 2:15 of the sixth round.
The 26 year old Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KO’s), a 2016 Olympian and considered one of the brightest talents in British boxing, looked the part for the opening rounds showing slick boxing ability and buzzing his opponent in the second round from a big left hook. However, Avenesyan’s pressure was almost suffocating as he kept forcing the pace and landing vicious hooks high on Kelly’s head and continually roughing him up.
Kelly from Sunderland, NE England was troubled by a cut on the back of his head from the second round and blood oozed out for the duration of the fight. An unintentional clash of heads in the fourth resulted in further damage with a cut opening over his right eye.
As the fight progressed the Russian was gaining more success applying relentless pressure. After catching Kelly high on the head in the sixth the challenger was forced to touch down and, never fully recovering, the towel was thrown in by his corner. Referee Victor Loughran accepted the retirement instantly.
Kelly is now left to re-assess his career moving forwards. This will be a valuable lesson, and his corner led by Adam Booth, did him excellent service pulling him out when they did. His talent is unmistakable and he just needs to add that professional experience and grit to come again.
The likeable Avenesyan (27-3-1, 15 KO’s) was ecstatic post-fight. In heavily accented English coupled with Russian/Armenian he said “I wait(ed) a long time for this fight…I’m very happy”, continuing “Today (was) a good day, today (was) my night”. He went on to dedicate his win to the struggle for independence in Armenia and now goes for potentially bigger fights in this stacked weight division.
Finally, Matchroom released news that the eagerly anticipated rematch between world ranked heavyweights Alexander Povekin and Dillian Whyte will now take place on Saturday 27th March in Gibraltar, a UK territory off southern Spain. This will be televised live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK. Further updates and previews to follow.
After a further COVID enforced sabbatical big-time boxing returned to the UK on Saturday (13th) with a televised Matchroom promotion.
Headlining at the SSE Wembley Arena in London former IBF world featherweight champion Josh Warrington, recently having relinquished his title to avoid a repeat routine mandatory obligation, faced unknown Mexican Mauricio Lara. Leading into the fight it was considered a marking-time contest for the ex-champion from Leeds as he looked towards marquee fights. Little did we realize what was about to unfold.
Over the eight completed rounds Warrington was bludgeoned by the less experienced but heavy handed Mexican. Josh was dropped heavily in the fourth and despite rising at nine looked very unsteady on his feet. Referee Howard Foster almost reluctantly allowed the home fighter to continue. More punishment was to come over the following five rounds until the inevitable stoppage at 0:54 of round nine.
The end came after a heavy body shot was followed by an explosive left hook which forced the referee to stop the contest immediately as Warrington lay prostrate on the canvas. It took some minutes for Josh to gather his senses resulting in collective relief from the few officials, support teams and television crew in attendance.
Warrington (30-1, 7 KO’s) had been out of the ring for sixteen months during which time the Mexican had won five fights. The enforced layoff and lack of fanatical support from his usual home town fans were likely major contributing factors to such a hard and potentially career damaging defeat. The morning after the fight reports of him suffering from a fractured jaw and perforated eardrum started to emerge.
Lara’s performance on the night was exceptional and his victory transformational for his family. Facing his first world ranked fighter, an undefeated ex-champion in that, he can now look forward to more lucrative contests. His record now stands at 22-2 (15 KO’s) and at twenty two years old, with a heavy handed combative style looks set for an exciting career. The thirty year old Warrington must now re-group after what looks like a further extended layoff to allow his wounds to heal and confidence return.
Post-fight the Head of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn summed it up; “He (Warrington) got beat by a hungry, hungry Mexican fighter who changed his life tonight”. Referring to Warrington he said “He will come again”. We hope his words come true as the Leeds man deserves his opportunity to rest and then continue what up to this point has been an excellent career.
Chief support on the Sky Sports televised card was a highly controversial twelve round IBF intercontinental super-featherweight fight between Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett and Spanish road warrior Kiko Martinez. The man from Alicante forced the pace from the onset and appeared to dominate the first two thirds of the fight. Barrett finally set himself to withstand the relentless pressure from Martinez in the last four rounds, but the thirty four year old Spaniard looked to clearly win the fight.
When scores of 118-111, 118-111 and 116-113 were announced in favor of Barrett, the majority of pundits and ‘experts’ were staggered. There was a very slim argument for a draw but that would’ve been very harsh on the Spaniard. The scores returned were quite simply an outrage.
Eddie Hearn to his credit was similarly shocked and disappointed. “118-111 doesn’t do anyone any favours…it wasn’t even worth him (Martinez) bothering”. Cut short by the Sky Sports interviewer despite having more to add, they switched to Martinez who was asked to comment. Speaking through an interpreter he added “I don’t think the judges have been fair to me”. That was the understatement of the night.
Martinez record now reads 41-10-2 (29 KO’s) and the twenty seven year old Barrett rises to 25-1 (15 KO’s).
The stacked card also featured Nottingham’s Leigh Wood (24-2, 14 KO’s) winning the vacant British featherweight title with a stoppage of Doncaster’s Reece Mould (13-1, 6 KO’s) in the ninth round. The official time at 1:03 and by technical knockout. The thirty two year old Wood said it had “Been a long time coming” and now looks to a rematch with old foe Jazza Dickens.
The evening was an excellent restart to a series of Matchroom promotions over the coming month. This will be augmented by a number of interesting Queensberry Promotions as boxing attempts to recover from the enforced suspension of combat.
It is with great sadness that we report and join the heartfelt condolences for the passing of former lineal Heavyweight Champion of the World Leon Spinks at age 67.
The St. Louis, Missouri man famously outpointed legendary Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas in February 1978, stunning the world at the time, only to subsequently lose his title seven months later in the New Orleans Superdome in a multi-million dollar rematch.
That he was able to defeat the iconic two time world champion in only his eighth paid fight, having also captured Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976, was testament to his fighting ability and bravery.
As a teenager I vividly recall the shock of the victory at the time and the emotional manner in which it was achieved, by split decision. The photograph above (courtesy of Getty Images) is one of the most iconic of its time, and indeed in heavyweight history. I recall Ali being interviewed post-fight, emphasizing those famous words “I shall return !” and biting into his bottom lip with clenched fist. Ali’s victory in the rematch should never take away the achievement of Leon on that famous February night.
‘Neon’ Leon as he was widely known, for his colourful lifestyle and magnetic gap toothed smile, was a box office heavyweight of the late seventies/early eighties.
He would later try to regain his world title in a failed attempt in 1981 against future legend Larry Holmes, and then drop down to cruiserweight where he was unsuccessful in wresting the WBA world title from Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1986.
Leon was at his best campaigning as a heavyweight and had stellar wins against Alfredo Evangalista and big punching Bernado Mercado in 1980. His final record reads 26-17-3 (14 KO’s). Many of his losses would come late in his career as his skills and mobility reduced.
Leon was the type of guy who brought that neon light to everyone he met, even in the most difficult of circumstances of his post boxing life – suffering financial hardship and lengthy ill health. He would always light up a room or dais with that famous smile.
With his younger brother Michael, former undisputed world light-heavyweight champion and lineal heavyweight champion, the Spinks Brothers would be major players in boxing through much of the eighties, always at each others side in press conferences and ring corners. They came together as package.
I had the pleasure of meeting both in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota in 2014, and they were in fine form. They were regular attendees to the annual induction weekend and Leon will be sadly missed when normal service is resumed.
Leon finally succumbed to prostate cancer and associated complications. His boxing legacy will remain through former world champion and son Cory Spinks, and most notably by his own fistic accomplishments.
The Undisputed’s thoughts and best wishes go out the Spinks family at this sad time. Leon’s contribution to heavyweight history and for brightening our lives with his presence will never be forgotten.
Rest in Peace Champ.
Social media sensation Ryan ‘KingRy’ Garcia scored a devastating seventh round stoppage of 2012 Olympic gold medalist and double world title challenger Luke Campbell in Dallas, Texas on Saturday.
Arriving in the ring on a throne carried by his entourage with a mock crown (ala ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed) the Golden Boy Promotions backed 22 year old entered the contest as the next ‘big thing’. He certainly needed to back up such an extravagant entrance, and that he did, with aplomb.
Garcia (21-0, 18 KO’s) showed all the class and his ‘cojones’ to rise from a second round knockdown to take the fight to his British opponent. Walking his man down he won most of the completed rounds as Campbell tried to pick his man off out of a southpaw stance. The Brit from Hull, NE England worked well off the ropes with lateral movement, scoring heavy body shots and counter overhand hooks, but apart from the knockdown never really dented the young Californian’s confidence.
Much had been questioned and expected about Garcia’s first step up to championship level with the ‘interim’ WBC lightweight belt on the line. In turning a fight around, that for moments in the second he was in serious trouble of losing, showed the young pup has substance as well as style.
After the initial shock of the knockdown he quickly rose and gathered his composure to largely dominate the fight. In the mid-seventh round he landed a beautiful left hook to Campbell’s ribcage, robbing his opponent completely of oxygen and although the Brit tried to gather himself before the ten count, was rendered unable. The stoppage was officially recorded at 1:58 seconds.
In the DAZN post-fight interview Garcia was ecstatic with his performance and to come through his first real test. “I think I showed a lot of people who I really am”. Responding to being knocked down in the second he said “It was a good shot, I was cold…I’ve never been dropped before”. And continued “I was a little dizzy, I ain’t gonna lie”.
Much of the interview focused on the stacked lightweight (135lb/9st 9lb) division and future opponents. Despite continuous prompting towards meeting WBC ‘world’ champion Devin Haney, who was ringside and jovially stood face to face with the Californian, it was clear that Garcia’s attention is on undefeated Baltimore fighter Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. “I wanna be a man of my word, I wanna fight Tank” he declared.
That would be a massive test for Garcia after only twenty one pro fights and, as Davis is a strong polished fighter coming off a good recent KO win against Leo Santa Cruz, but on this performance is a fight the young star should go into with some confidence.
Current Ring magazine lightweight champion and recognized divisional king is Teofimo Lopez by virtue of his outstanding victory over elite ex-champ Vasiliy Lomachenko last October.
Our view is it’s about time the lightweight division started to clean up its act with interim and fringe champions. Only a four fighter box-off will truly establish who is the best of these young guns but the prospects are mouthwatering. Promotional ties and sanctioning obligations will make this difficult, but hopefully 2021 will deliver something that clears the fog.
Garcia is now well placed in the mix and due to his high social media following has the steepest trajectory to stardom. The little matter of training in the same gym and being mentored by current pound-for-pound king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez bodes well for his elevation.
The 33 year old Campbell drops to 20-4, 16 KO’s and must now focus on domestic dominance if he wants to rebuild. He’s accomplished a lot, both amateur and pro, and now is the time to re-assess whether and how he continues in the sport.
In the co-main event Venezuela’s Roger Gutierrez gained revenge over Nicaraguan Rene Alvarado to win the WBA world super-featherweight (130lb/9st 4lb) title. This was a rematch and after dropping his opponent twice in the third and once in the final round Gutierrez won by identical scores 113-112 on a unanimous decision. It was a very competitive fight and Alvarado had good moments making it a good watch.
The victory was particularly sweet for the new champion as his mother sadly died from cancer in November 2020. A fitting tribute to her life as her son reached this pinnacle of achievement.
News yesterday from London is that due to the latest spike in COVID infections in the UK that all boxing has been suspended for the month of January. There will be no promotions held and this will deal a further, but ultimately necessary, temporary blow to the sport. We must all hope that February will see brighter times ahead.
A Happy 2021 to all our readers.
What a brilliant fistic end in Tokyo, Thursday (31st) to a forgettable 2020 around the world.
We saw a superb contest between Japan’s four-weight ‘world’ champion Kazuto Ioka and compatriot Kosei Tanaka. The latter attempting to match the achievements of his more experienced opponent. It was billed in Japan as their 2020 ‘superfight’ and definitely didn’t disappoint.
Broadcast live in the UK on subscription channel Boxnation it was riveting and highly competitive from the opening bell. Tanaka forced the pace immediately with the older Ioka slipping and countering beautifully. Ioka, the WBO ‘world’ super-flyweight (115lb/8st,3lb) champion having felt his opponent’s power, worked out his range and gradually proceeded to push the younger Tanaka back, meeting him toe-to-toe in ring centre.
After very bruising and close early rounds, Ioka then flipped the whole dynamic of the fight by scoring brilliant knockdowns from explosive left hooks late in rounds five and six. The landed like exocets on the challenger’s chin, sending him to the canvas, but short of their incendiary content to close the show.
After rising from both, in the seventh, Tanaka clearly sensing he was way behind on points, tried to continue backing up his opponent, but this led to his inevitable and devastating downfall.
Ioka, carrying the moniker ‘One for all, All for one’ on his apparel and pressing like a ‘Far Eastern musketeer’, responded to Tanaka’s relentless pace early in the eighth, and mid-round, nailed his opponent for a final time with a textbook left hook, shaking him to his foundations. The referee stepped in as soon as the punch detonated on Tanaka’s chin and held the crumbling challenger up to halt proceedings, thus avoiding his seismic crash to the canvas.
Ioka (26-2, 15 KO’s) was sensational and can look forward to potentially lucrative paydays against other sanctioning beltholders Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada or elite contender Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The 115lb division is red hot.
Tanaka drops to 15-1, 9 KO’s but is young and brave enough at 25 to come again.
In the chief support, former WBC flyweight champion Daigo Higa (17-1-1, 17 KO’s) dominated from the opening bell and, after 25 seconds of the fifth round poleaxed compatriot Yuki Strong Kobayashi to capture the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title.
This was the second ballistic finish to the night and Kobayashi finished on his knees but then lay prostrate on the canvas for some minutes after the stoppage. Attended by medics he eventually recovered and his record drops to 16-9, 9 KO’s. It’s unlikely he’ll compete at such an elite level again.
Higa, in his spectacular victory, confirmed he’s not washed up and has a bright future ahead in the highly competitive bantamweight (118lb/8st,6lb) division. A fight against compatriot and Ring magazine pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue (20-0, 16 KO’s) would be mouthwatering and a blockbuster in the Far East.
All in all the Tokyo bill from the Ota City Central Gymnasium was a brilliant end to 2020 hostilities and a much added bonus to Christmas TV scheduling. Hopefully this year will lead to greater TV exposure of Japanese fighters on these shores.
First big fight of the New Year takes place in Dallas, Texas tonight (Saturday) with the much anticipated contest between England’s experienced Luke Campbell and Californian prospect Ryan Garcia in the lightweight (135lb/9st,9lb) division. Up for grabs is the ‘interim’ WBC ‘world’ lightweight title.
Campbell (20-3, 16 KO’s) is a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and two time world title challenger. After coming up short against future boxing hall of famer’s Jorge Linares and Vasiliy Lomachenko the 33 year old Brit will be looking to capitalize on the inexperience of the Golden Boy Promotions backed Garcia.
The 22 year old Garcia (20-0, 17 KO’s) is considered by many to be the next ‘big thing’ and with his Mexican heritage, KO percentage and style many liken him to a young Oscar De La Hoya. He’s also something of a social media darling and approaches this contest supremely confident of victory.
For Campbell this is likely to be his final opportunity to nail a ‘world’ title and although it’s widely accepted that Teofimo Lopez is the supreme 135lb champion, as recognised by The Ring, a victory would be some accomplishment for the man from Hull, NE England.
Garcia comes into the fight a 3-1 odds on favorite by virtue of his youth, explosiveness and potential. However, look for the superior boxing skills of Campbell to make this extremely competitive whilst it lasts. If, and it’s a big if, the Brit can manage to keep the fight at range and gain Garcia’s respect by landing solid shots ‘early doors’ then we could see an excellent contest. Garcia may win by stoppage early, although we think unlikely, but anything beyond eight rounds and Campbell should be crowned the new champion. He may though have to drop Garcia to seal victory.
The contest will be shown live at 23:00 GMT Saturday on streaming site DAZN.
The Undisputed 