Cesar Seda vs. Yan Barthelemy

Fascinating bantamweight 10-rounder this Friday.

The disappointing black sheep/slacker of Ahmet Öner's Class of 2006 (having defected along with fellow amateur stars Yuriorkis Gamboa and Odlanier Solis to sign with the German) is moving down to 118lbs for the first time in over two years. Meeting him in the middle is the massive Puerto Rican of the flyweight divisions, who might now be competing at an appropriate and comfortable weight for the very first time in his career.

This will not be televised. :verysad



Momentum:

Barthelemy is coming off a string of low-level victories, rebuilding from his knockout loss to Jorge Diaz (then undefeated, and later notorious for stealing the show on the Yuri Gamboa vs. Jorge Solis undercard in a rock'em sock'em robot reenactment with Teon Kennedy). Though he had been upset once before, this stunning turn caused most of those who'd followed his progress to lose all faith in Barthelemy as a potentially elite talent. He was supposed to meet Chris Avalos earlier this year, and is probably fortunate he didn't. While the blueprint has been laid out for a slick boxer to toy with Avalos by one Christopher Martin, Avalos still hits like a miniature truck. Barthelemy is nowhere near as durable as Martin (or as good a mover, or boxer period - contraindicative of his successes while still under the Commie regime). Technically, he is riding four wins while Seda is coming off a defeat so there is theoretically some psychological edge there.

Seda's defeat - his first ever - came at the hands of one of the best super flyweights in the world in Omar Narvaez (if not the best, although we'll probably never find out due to his unwillingness to travel or seek out unification). While the two wider scorecards of 117-110 matched mine exactly, make no mistake - this was the toughest defense of El Huracan's current reign and probably the most difficult night in his impressively long unbeaten streak in world title bouts (now standing at twenty one). Seda jumped to an early lead with his unrestrained aggression, winning the first two rounds and making a strong case in the third. Then the gears began spinning and Narvaez was able to figure him out, but never seemed completely out of the woods until the bell rang to signal the end of a somewhat precarious twelfth where Seda rallied hard and lit up the champion. The Argentinian and his followers breathed a big sigh of relief upon hearing it. There was some fuss made by overzealous boricuas backing Seda, going as far as to cry "robbery" and inciting minor riots. Teeth were sucked, feet were stamped, and painted-on eyebrows rose several inches in scandalized shock. The rest of the world ignored them, and those who saw the action just chuckled. Seda put up a very game effort, but still came up well short in his first world title try.



Common opponents:

Barthelemy had his cherry popped by Ernie Marquez, a fairly average slugger who's only slightly better than his record would suggest. Seda beat him in the first round, when a shoulder injury hampered Marquez from defending himself against the artilllery of the Puerto Rican. Even without that, the willing to trade and often too-brave-for-his-own-good Marquez was very likely en route to a real knockout loss.

Both Barthelemy and Seda beat Antonio Maria Cochero Diaz by decision in 6-rounders. The difference is that Diaz won a round from Barthelemy on all three cards, while Seda shut him out and dropped him a couple of times.

Barthelemy won another 6-round decision against Jose Garcia Bernal, knocking him down once. Seda stopped him in the seventh after scoring multiple knockdowns.


Size:

Barthelemy is an inch taller, and keeps himself in reasonably good shape for an aging boxer (especially as compared to his old companion Odlanier). The biggest thing about him is his noggin, which he doesn't move all that much.

Seda is a genetic freak, with a broad back and steel girder arms as menacing for their girth as for their length. He doesn't look like a body-builder (who at these weights does?) but his raw strength is readily apparent.



Style:

Both are southpaws. Barthelemy favors his right jab, although he tends to paw weakly with it. He prefers to throw the left hand as a hatchet or an uppercut rather than a proper straight cross or even a short overhand. If he had his way, everyone would circle him nice and slow and let him initiate at his leisure. When allowed to, he can box quite nicely.

The strong and gangly Seda likes to catapult left hand leads at ranged targets, and pound away with right hooks to the body if they seek shelter on the inside. He has debilitating power in both hands and finishes well, but can get a bit wild when he thinks he has a foothold (or even during calmer moments). His game is intimidation and pressure, much like a Segura or Margarito.



Outcome:

If it goes to a decision (and I tend to think it won't) the fact that it is in Puerto Rico has to be taken into account. It isn't as though Barthelemy is so much higher class a boxer that a dominant, homecooking-proof performance should be expected. His amateur pedigree and Olympic gold medal will not aid him against someone with more professional experience against MUCH better opposition (Narvaez and Carita would both likely outpoint Barthelemy if they didn't stop him first). The deck is stacked against the 31-year-old - and a loss here would effectively spell the end of him as a remotely serious prospect for contention. It would be worth seeing whether he can pull off any magic with his back against the wall. Unfortunately, those of us not in attendance in Ponce won't get to.

I'm going to say Seda by mid-rounds nocaut, with the Cuban going down for the count.

 

Another bullet dodged. Between Avalos and now Seda just a few months later, the guy must be down to seven lives by now.