Kell Brook, Jaime Munguia Win The Weekend
Photo: Lawrence Lustig / BOXXER
Kell Brook Gets His Win
Former welterweight world champion Kell Brook waited his whole career for this moment, and he got it – as he stopped Amir Khan in front of a sold-out arena, and Khan’s new trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre as well.
To sum the fight up, Khan just didn’t have any punch resistance and after Brook landed in the first round it appeared that it was simply a matter of time.
Brook was always regarded as the better fighter if it were prime-for-prime, but even well-past his prime Brook, was able to hurt, and stop Khan.
After the fight, Brook called Chris Eubank Jr., another puzzling move in Brook’s career, as Eubank Jr. fights in the middleweight division, and this was at welterweight.
undercard
Natasha Jonas won her first world title, the WBO super welterweight world title with a second-round stoppage of Chris Namus
Middleweight Bradley Rea needed only one round to stop Craig McCarthy, as a left uppercut that landed had McCarthy’s corner throw in the towel.
2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist Frazer Clarke got a first-round KO in his pro debut as well. Clarke will be a fan favorite.
Jaime Munguia Stops Ballard, Big Fight Needs To Be Next
Jaime Munguia needed only three rounds to stop D’Mitrius Ballard in his homecoming fight in Tijuana, Mexico. Munguia struggled a bit with Ballard’s movement but caught him in between punches with a left hook that Ballard never recovered from.
The big question moving forward now is – when do we see Munguia in a meaningful fight? As Sergio Mora pointed out in the broadcast, Munguia lacks basic defense fundamentals that he needs at the sport, but at middleweight, Munguia is treading water, and needs to move up in his level of competition, soon. I am not sure, who would be a suitable oppoenent, but it feels like it is time for the former 154 lbs world champion to try to test himself as a two-division world champion at the 160 lbs middleweight division.
Another notable is that Munguia seemingly was greatly impacted by the weight cut, and showed signs of distress after the weigh-in needing to lay down while talking to reporters. Munguia has had weight issues in the past as well.
undercard
Lightweight contender William Zepeda defeated Luis Angel Viedas, a journeyman who did his best to make Zepeda look bad. Viedas is awkward in every sense of the word, and Zepeda saw a round two nightmare. Zepeda dropped Viedas then was dropped himself, as well as Zepeda lost a point in the round. Zepeda would go on to stop Viedas in three rounds, but would hit him on the ground, as well.
I still want to see Zepeda in a fight against a world-ranked top-ten opponent, but this fight was just weird, and honestly, rather useless for his career at this point.
Central California’s Evan Sanchez got a decision win on the undercard, it is nice to see him active.
Women’s flyweight Arely Mucino got a third-round KO, and now has recorded two exciting performances in back-to-back outings. I could see Mucino fighting Marlen Esparza, Sulem Urbina, or Seniesa Estrada in the future.
Jamaine Ortiz Shines
Live from the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Fla, we saw lightweight Jamaine Ortiz turn into a turn contender beating Nahir “Woo” Albright via a ten-round decision. Most impressive was the fact that Ortiz spotted Albright two rounds to start the bout, but then would win seemingly every round after as his speed, was his power in this fight.
The judges saw the bout as 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93 all for Jamaine Ortiz, as the east coast fighter who recently spent time in Vasyl Lomachenko now has a career-defining win against an emerging top-tier fighter. For Ortiz, this should get him in the mix to compete for fights at the top of his division.
The opener a good one on paper, but not in the ring. Undefeated welterweight Paul Kroll, kept his unbeaten record alive, fighting to a split-draw against Marquis Taylor, but the fight was anything, but a barnburner. Taylor seemed to outwork Kroll, who seemed to get tired in the mid-rounds. The judges felt the fight was close, and Taylor a hard-luck fighter with one losses, and a lot of wins coming from the wrong corner, missed out on a big moment in his career, on a huge platform.
Off-TV notables
Heavyweight Norman Neely was taken six-rounds by Rodney Moore, as this should be a learning experience for Neely that power doesn’t always work early in fights. Moore has an unsexy record, but could be one of the biggest learning lessons of the young heavyweights career.
The Adorno brothers are no longer with Top Rank it seems, and Jeremy Adorno, the younger of the two, fought and stopped Trayvion Butts in the first round.
A super middelweight bout between Joseph George and Sean Hemphill was called off fight week, as first reported by The Ring. Hemphill withdrew from the fight with an undisclosed injury that occured on his final day of sparring, last Friday – a week ago.
Abdullaev KOs Linares, Now Mandatory For Haney
In a WBC lightweight eliminator, Zaur Abdullaev scored a twelfth round TKO over former three-division world champion Jorge Linares in Russia, that more than likely will be Linares’ last bout as pro. Linares was winning the fight early, but seemingly ran out of gas, and couldn’t get to the finish line.
With George Kambosos Jnr. fighting more than likely Vasyl Lomachenko next in Australia, Zaur Abdullaev who was knocked out by Devin Haney is now Haney’s mandatory, as realistically – Haney could be looking at an Abdullaev rematch or a Javier Fortuna bout, if he can’t get Kambosos Jnr.
Ruben Torres Wins Regional Title
Lightweight contender Ruben Torres, who is being promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions, is getting closer to his big bout that should happen this year, as he stopped Cristian Ruben Mino in six rounds to win the WBC US lightweight title.
News
MMA in 500 Words Or Less
In a dude of a weekend for MMA fans, light heavyweight Jamahal Hill stopped Johnny Walker in the first-round in the first true MMA KO of the Year. The KO all, but does away with Walker as a true top-tier fighter, and now gives Hill a marquee win, that hopefully, he can hit the ground running with.
On the undercard, lightweight legend Jim Miller got a TKO win, and Stephanie Egger submitted Jessica Rose-Clark.
On Showtime, Bellator MMA made history by having the first non-title five-round fight as Logan Storley used all five rounds to decision Neiman Gracie.
Half Moon Bay’s Adam Piccolotti, who served as a sparring partner for Khabib Nurmagomedov during the great lightweights UFC run, outwrestled Georgi Karakhanyan. Piccolotti hopefully can get a Bellator title fight before it is all said and done.
Andrey Koreshkov stopped Chance Rencountre with a spinning round kick.
In bare-knuckle boxing news, wild man Mike Perry defeated former Ultimate Fighter Julian Lane, who went viral before viral was a thing, also on the card former UFC contender Chad Mendes won, and Christine Ferea knocked out Brittan Hart to win the flyweight women’s title
