Cruiserweight and Heavyweight thread.

That's Dawejko? He looks great! I mean, for Joey Dawejko.

 

He was 261 lbs for the fight. Pretty sure that's a "career high".

I read a recent interview with Dawejko. He had more or less retired after he got stopped by Stephan Shaw and had started his own roofing company (he's worked as a roofer for more than a decade). But he said he got lured back into boxing by promoter Nelson Peltz (who is a regional player in the mid-atlantic USA for boxing promotino). More likely: he picked a really bad time to start a roofing business given the slowdown in housing, the labor shortages, the supply chain issues, etc. - and needed the money.

Whatever the case - this win for Joey would seem to scream for a matchup with Sonny Conto. Both are Philly fighters. Both have fought Mike Marshall. Conto is seen as a fighter on the rise - but didn't stop Marshall. Dawejko is perceived at the end of his career - and did stop Marshall. So it would seeem honor must be served and Conto must now fight Dawejko. A very sellable fight, IMO, and a good fight for Sonny's development - which seems to have stalled.

BTW: Marshall was very unhappy with the ref. waving off the fight. He's a fighter who's kind of known to take a knee to get a breather if he's hit hard. It's a tactic that can cause all sorts of misunderstandings...

 

I spent a few moments on Boxrec looking at their list of Aussie Cruiserweights and there are definitely quite a few decent ones there who are operating under the radar.

I've been getting the impression that - unless a fighter happens to live in some parts of Europe or Eurasia - he would make a more comfortable living as the #220 Heavyweight in the world than as the #20 Cruiserweight.

 

There's a pretty fair chance that the winner (and loser) of the Fury-Usyk fight (or fights) will retire. So it makes a bit of sense in this strange case.

 

An 8 round fight between Charles Martin (28-3-1) and Devin Vargas (22-7-0) has been added to the September 4th Ruiz Jr. v. Ortiz card. The fight is buried in the middle of the preliminary card of the event.

Martin, now 36 years-old, is a bit more skillful now than when he fought Joshua - but still fights a bit like a man in a fog. Vargas (now 40 years old) was last seen in the ring in November, 2020 - when he was flattened by Zhilei Zhang.

Vargas can box a bit, and Martin is no virtuoso - but odds seem good for a quick stoppage win for Martin. That would probably be enough to remind everyone that Charles is still looking for a big fight but - aside from a small possibility of being Jared Anderson's next opponent - it's not obvious to me what this will do to get him one.

 

As expected, 6 foot 9, USA prospect Antonio Mireles moved to 5-0 (5 KOs) on August 20th with a 2nd round stoppage win over Kaleel Carter.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Mireles, though, as Carter dropped him in the 1st round. There's a nice little recap of the fight here (and mention of Pero moving to 8-0)

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36 year-old Charles Martin moved to 29-3-1 (26 KOs) with a 4th round stoppage victory over 40 year-old Devin Vargas, who now slips to 22-8.

Vargas weighed in at a career-high 243 lbs. - just 7 less than his considerably-taller opponent. Martin seemed to take control early and landed the greater share of power punches (some flush, some less so), but Vargas exhibited suprising slickness (he was a 2004 Olympian after all) and - contrary to my own expectations - wasn't in a mood to give up early.

In the 2nd round, a clearly gassed Vargas employed a bit of journeymen tactics by "taking a slip" to earn himself a breather. The 2nd round again belonged to Martin - but there was little sign of the power on his shots that dropped Ortiz to the canvas twice when the two met in January. He seemed to have his jab working reasonably well, though, as he landed several sharp, crisp ones to Vargas's face. Vargas seemed to be trying to mix up his shots to both Martin's head and body.

The third round had a suprise in store, as Vargas caught a bit of wind and banged several hard-looking hooks off Martin. Confirmation that these shots had hurt Charles a bit came swiftly, when Martin responded with a low blow. It was quesitonable as to whether Martin or the by-now-exhausted Vargas benefitted more from the break in the action that followed.

Martin finally took control in the 4th round by backing up Vargas to the corner ropes and unloading a couple heavy shots to the head. By the end of that salvo, Vargas was bleeding quite badly and the ropes were holding him up. So the ref (reasonably) waved the fight off.

A boxing fan who did not watch the fight might be tempted to point out that Martin finished Vargas more quckly than Zhang Zhilei did last year (4 round vs 5), but Charles was not impressive here. He didn't seem to have the power he had in January and Vargas had suprising success moving Charles around the ring on occasion. And Vargas' combination shots in the 3rd round could have done Martin considerable harm had they been launched by a more athletic opponent.

All-in-all, Martin did not make the best case for himself here as far as earning opportunities for bigger fights.

 

Which is why he will get another opportunity

 

I suppose I wouldn't be too suprised to learn he'll soon be on the shopping list for Jared Anderson. He might take an opportunity to be fed to Makhmudov if the money is there, too.

 

He's PBC affiliated, so maybe but I would think he would get matched with one of their guys.

 

USA prospect Roney Hines advanced to 12-0 (8 KOs) with a 5rh round disqualification victory over Craig Lewis (14-6-1, 8 KOs) in Toledo, OH on September 3rd

The fight was said to be memorably-awful with the only action coming by way of Lewis' increasing inability to keep his mouthguard between his teeth as he grew tired. After losing it for the fifth time, the referee decided he had seen enough and waved off the fight.

 

I thought Martin was promoted by Warrior Boxing Promotions (Mike Borao's outfit). WBP usually co-promotes their fighters with other groups (like Di Bella/PBC) because they don't have direct PPV/TV ties.

 

Andy Ruiz Jr (35-2-0) won a close, UD victory over Luis Ortiz (33-3-0) in their 12 round, main event heavyweight fight. Scores were 113-112, 114-111, 114-111

Contrary to expectations - the fight went the full 12 round distance. The fight featured an explosive 2nd round that saw Ruiz Jr score two knockdowns on his opponent for a 10-7 round. Thereafter, the fight mostly settled back into a more sedate pace wtih Ortiz skilfully boxing Ruiz Jr from the outside. Some rounds featured Ruiz Jr scarecely throwing any punches at all. Ruiz Jr, however, did add a 3rd knockdown to his tally in the 7th round.

The consensus was that Ortiz won the majority of the rounds where he remained upright. Some observers felt that Ortiz had won as many as 8 of those 10 rounds...which would be enough to earn him the victory...though this writer would not go quite so far as that.

After the fight, it seemed reasonable to conclude that Ortiz's frontline career as a contender is well and truly over. His legs are gone and he can no longer get off his best shots (which still carry consierable power) like he once did. Still, one has to marvel at his undoubted skill at being able to use his range and accuracy to bank rounds using merely his jab. If he is merely a gatekepper now, he might be a useful one for at least a little bit longer.

At the same time, one can only feel disappointment at Ruiz Jr's performance. It seemed unforgivable that he couldn't dispose of Ortiz after hurting him repeatedly in the second round. Andy's lack of output could initially be attributed to advisable caution, but as the fight unfolded it became painfully evident that Ruiz Jr was simply taking rounds off due to his poor conditioning. He would not be a satisfactory choice as a title challenger or even for a title eliminator - though it now appears he's on some sort of collision course with Deontay Wilder...should the former WBC champion win his upcoming bout with Robert Helenius.

 

USA Cruiserweight Brandon Glanton (16-0-0, 13 KOs) will be fighting Mexican journeyman Mario Aguilar in a schedule 12 round bout on September 9th in that hallowed Mecca of boxing - Plant City, Florida. This fight appears to have materialized very quickly from out of nowhere.

The perceptive among you will note that this is a 12 round bout. This is because the much-coveted WBO Global Cruiserweight Title is at stake. Not the "Super" title, nor the 'Regular" title, nor the "International" title, nor the "Americas" title - we're talking the "Global" title. This will be Glanton's 3rd fight since early May of this year. From what I can tell about the 31 year-old Aguilar, he is much like the opponents Glanton fought in May and July. That's to say that he probably can give Glanton some useful work for a handful of rounds but proably won't ever pose a threat and will be stopped inside the distance.

Glanton has been treading water career-wise since he bested Apochi in that thriller in June, 2021. The good news is that he apparently is four years younger than has been previously reported - only 30 years old. Whether this is actually the case or he is employing Cuban numerology to compute his date of birth is unknown.

Glanton currently holds the #15 WBO ranking. It's plainly-obvious that - if he's victorious on September 9th - he will be given a generous jump in the rankings. Why else concoct yet another ridiculous belt except to justify it? But having bested Apochi - who was probably the most dangerous cruiserweight in the Western hemisphere in the past several years at the time the two fought - it does seem like he should have a shot at appearing in big fights.

 

Sonny Conto has tweeted that he expects to be fighting again on October 29 at (where else?) the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

No potential opponent named. I had hoped he might fight Dawejko next, but it seems unlikely Joey would take a fight with less than 2 months turnaround time at this stage of his career - even if his last opponent didn't exactly wear him out.