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Put Some Respect On Vergil Ortiz’s Name

Vergil Ortiz needs more respect put on his name, and in two years, a bout between himself versus Jaron “Boots” Ennis, would be a mega-bout between two contrasting styles.

Ortiz stopped Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the eighth round in an impressive showing, as Ortiz withstood, an early storm from Kavaliauskas, as he systematically broke down the former world title challenger, who dropped Terence Crawford, in his last fight.

“I feel good. The fight started off slow in my opinion and I just had to adjust. After the second round, I had to adjust and try to find a way to wear him down,” said Ortiz after the fight. “I started using my jab more and fought more intelligently. After the third round, I felt more confident because I knew that I could control the fight moving forward. But he is a tough guy, a very strong fighter, and I respect that he came to fight.” 

Important insights to this bout were that Vergil Ortiz Sr. was with his son, Vergil Jr., as Robert Garcia was with Joshua Franco in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ortiz, has now beaten a world-champion, Maurice Hooker, and a top-ten fighter in Kavaliauskas, and imposed his will in both fights. It is time people stopping talking about what Ortiz isn’t, and start talking about what he is.

Ortiz has the chance to be a generational-type pressure fighter, who seemingly wants to fight the best fighters in the world, and this should be applauded. Ortiz should fight for a world title fight in his next bout.

The big thing most people are missing is how Ortiz used his jab to set up the brutal knockout, which was quite amazing.

Ortiz’s next opponent, in my head, should be Michael McKinson, who won on DAZN this weekend or David Avanesyian

Gutierrez-Alvarado Happneed

The WBA super featherweight world title fight between current champion, Roger Gutierrez defending his belt against Rene Alvarado in their trilogy was a lot less than what was expected. A decent affair in which both guys are at a similar level, but struggled to separate, in a bout that didn’t truly feel like a world-title level bout, that saw Gutierrez edge it in a closely contested 12-round bout.

Light flyweight Felix Alvarado picked up a first-round knockout over Israel Vazquez.

“I did feel a little unstable with the change of opponents and of course I would love to fight Eric Lopez, but unfortunately that didn’t happen due to the visa issues,” said Alvarado about his opponent. “Fortunately, we had a good training camp and we were prepared for Israel. Luckily the fight ended early enough where he wasn’t injured and I wasn’t injured.”

Both, Alex and George Rincon, the fighting Rincon brothers, won their undercard bouts.

Several interesting bouts fell out, including Zorilla versus Pablo Cesar Cano, as well as a lower weight world title fight.

Joshua Franco’s Legacy Is Safe.

Joshua Franco heard heavy criticism after his last bout against Andrew Moloney, and responded as a man on a mission.

After a legendary first bout, and a second bout that seemingly saw Moloney in complete control, the third bout, looked to come down to the unforeseen “x-factor” of sparring. As it looked like Franco was able to impose the fight he wished to fight, as opposed to Moloney who had to fight on the inside quite often.

Another thing was that, Franco had Robert Garcia in his corner, despite Vergil Ortiz fighting in Texas, which was a strong show of confidence in the young world champion.

(Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images)

“I had to switch it up on him. He thought I was going to put pressure on him the whole time. That wasn’t working, so I had to switch it up and go to my boxing skills,” said Franco. “I had fun with my rhythm, with my jab, my feet. I’m comfortable in there, and that’s what I did.

The only two losses of Andrew Moloney’s career have come to Joshua Franco.

Undercard

Far from a finished product, Nico Ali Walsh won, but it will hard to not view his television time, as entitlement due to his family name, as Ali Walsh will have to greatly improve to be seen as force on the world level. Ali Walsh, who won via knockout, makes a several technical mistakes that need to be improved for the next level of competition, but makes a compelling story for TV.
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Super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr. got a decision win over Antonio Moran picking up a defense of his WBO International junior welterweight title.

Barboza, ranked No. 3 by the WBO, seemingly should be in line for a title shot, but with Josh Taylor holding all four of the major belts at super lightweight, Barboza Jr. is waiting on what will happen next at his division.

“Moran is a true Mexican warrior. I thought I’d get the knockout, but he ate a lot of punches,” said Barboza Jr. “My goal is to get that world title shot, but I am going to keep going until I make that a reality. I want any of the big names at 140 pounds.”

It was a better evening for the brother of Andrew Moloney, as Jason Moloney picked up a ten-round decision of Joshua Greer Jr. This was Moloney’s first bout since his loss to Naoya Inoue, Moloney outworked the big puncher, Greer.

Trey Lippe Morrison, the son of Tommy Morrison, got an uneventful six-round decision over Don Haynesworth, in the heavyweight division.

Karlos Balderas had a great debut with Top Rank Inc, picking up a second-round technical knockout of Fidel Cervantes. Balderas, the 2016 U.S. Olympian, had been fighting infrequently, and recently signed with the promotional powerhouse after leaving Ringstar, and now looks to get his career back on track.

“I’m back and better than ever. Even with this victory, I have things to work on. I’m going straight back to the gym to get ready for the next one,” said Balderas. “Thanks to Top Rank for the opportunity and my manager, Sam Katkovski, for making this happen. I’m only getting started.”

Andres Cortes picked up a first-round KO of former world title challenger Genesis Servania. The result was very impressive, as this was seen as a step-up for Cortes. Cortes will now look to face one of the emerging fighters at 130 lbs.

Albert Bell outboxed Julio Cortez as this was a vintage bell performance keeping the fight on the outside.

“I knew he was a tough, aggressive fighter who was going to come forward all night,” said Bell. “I’m happy with my performance, and I look forward to fighting my way to a title shot.” 

Abraham Nova moved down to featherweight and got a eight-round decision over Richard Pumicpic. Nova was rocked in the first round, and battled back to win the decision.

Casimero “Beats” Rigondeaux In Worst Fight Of Year

WBO Bantamweight World Champion John Riel Casimero defeated two-division champion, and two-time Olympic Gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux to retain his title in what surely could be the worst main event fight of the year.

I thought Rigondeaux won, but the fact that the fight broke a record in terms of the lowest punches, says a lot, as Rigondeaux moved a lot, and then some, and Casimero, pressed forward, but didn’t land much.

It was the type of fight, that seemingly got Rigondeaux thrown off HBO, and had fight fans in Carson, Ca, booing him.

The co-main event saw for the Interim WBA Bantamweight Title decide fairly shortly before fight night, this bout wouldn’t be for a world title as  Gary Antonio Russell and former world champion Emmanuel Rodriguez fought to a no-decision with just 16 seconds elapsed into the first round of their 118-pound matchup, after an accidental headbutt injured Rodriguez and ended the fight.

The first action of the bout saw the fight stopped, as literally nothing happened in this fight.

“I was actually in camp for about four months,” said Russell. “I prepared great for this fight. I was really looking to broadcast my talents and show everyone what’s in my arsenal. Unfortunately, the headbutt happened.”

In the opening bout, former world champion, and three-time Olympian Rau’shee Warren stopped Damien Vazquez via a second round knockout. This was Warren’s best fight of his career.

“I was trying to show them something different this time around,” said Warren. “I have always had the power, but this training camp was very different. I was sitting on my punches and working on something different. It worked in the ring.

On the undercard, Brandun Lee picked up a first-round KO over Ezequiel Fernandez, as Lee is edging near a true test, a good fight would be Abram Martinez.

“My performance was good,” said Lee. “It could have been better. There’s always room for improvement. At the end of the day, we got the job done. I’m definitely ready for the next level. It’s only right for me to step up the competition. I’ll take on anybody who’s ready.”

Former world title challenger Jonas Sultan, won by knockout on the untelevised undercard.

Joshua Buatsi Withstands Adversity

The star of 2016 Great Brittan Rio Olympic team, Joshua Buatsi, passed one of his early tests of his career, against Ricards Bolotniks, but not without a lot of adversity. Bautsi picked up a late-round stoppage, but the tough part, is Buatsi hasn’t fully looked like the guy in the Olympics, five years after his amazing run. That being said, Buatsi’s slow build could make sense if when he gets to the top of division, he stays there.

Welterweight Michael McKinson got a 10-round decision over Przemyslaw Runowski, I didn’t see anything noteworthy in this bout. American featherweight Raymond Ford got a third-round stoppage of Reece Bellotti, bantamweight Ukashir Farooq got an ordinary win over Luis Gerardo Castillo, lightweight Joe Cordina got a first-round KO win, super featherweight Zelfa Barrett got a stoppage win, and Hopey Price got a competitive decision win to stay undefeated.

Upset Of The Week

Super bantamweight Joseph Ambo defeated DHP’s Darren Cunningham III for the NABF title. Cunningham was knocked down four times in this bout.

Club Shows

Austin Trout, who is now managed by Naji Al Harbi and promoted by Dubai-based, Karim Akkar and Flavio Oleaga Mirabal made his debut in Dubai, which appears to be a place in which he will be fighting often.Black Wolf @jwilladathrillaGive no wiggle room for fuckery in the sport of boxing it could save not jus a career but a life as well August 13th 20211 Retweet12 Likes

Former Matchroom USA fighter, Anthony Sims Jr. returned with a win on this card as well. A bit of a shocker, Ramiro Cesena defeated Kazakhstan prospect Bekman Soylybayev in Dubai yesterday at super-featherweight. Both were undefeated prior. Reports from those who were there said Cesena just walked down Soylybayev.

Thompson Boxing Returns, YouTube – Saturday, August 14th

In the 8-round main event, super lightweight prospect, Ruben “Ace” Torres  scored a fifth-round knockout against Richard “Diamante” Zamora, as Torres is inching towards getting a big fight. 

“I felt good going into this fight because I put in the hard work during training camp,” said Torres, who is from nearby South Central, CA,” said Torres. “I hit Zamora with a nice shot in the first round and I knew I had him hurt, so I slowly broke him down and got the stoppage. I feel with a few more fights, I’ll be ready to step up to higher competition, but I’m still young and I’m constantly learning. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to stay busy, my promoter Thompson Boxing is doing a great job building me. I’m hoping to fight two more times before the end of the year.” 

undercard

welterweight Louie Lopez defeated Demarcus Layton by way of unanimous decision, and featherweight Katsuma Akitsugi defeated Dihul Olguin to remain unbeaten. 

DHP Promotions’ fighter Amari Jones picked up another knockout victory, as the Oakland-based fighter is 3-0, 3 KOs, as well Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson, defeated Manny Woods as well on this same card.

MMA in 500 Words Or Less

PFL Playoffs 1 Results

Ray Cooper III defeated former MMA superstar Rory MacDonald MacDonald was one of the youngest fighters to ever fight in the UFC, and was seemingly the next out of the Tri-Star Gym, with coach Firas Zahabi, but only won world title in major orgs, a Bellator welterweight title. MacDonald was shockingly let go, last year, and started in the PFL.

Cooper outwrestled MacDonald, this semi-finals bout. Cooper will face Magomed Magomedkerimov, in the welterweight final with a million dollars on the line.

The other event, saw Raush Manfio got a heavily debated decision over Clay Collard. Manfio will go on to face Loik Radzhabov in the finals for a million dollars.

Bellator

MMA legend Gegard Mousasi, made his first defense of his Bellator middleweight world title beating John Salter, as he stopped Salter in the third round.