Cruiserweight and Heavyweight thread.

Sad. He could have been somebody.

 

Zhan Kossobutskiy notched his 18th KO in 19 fights with a 3rd round stoppage of fellow-prospect Hussein Muhamed (16-1-0).

Muhamed was down a couple of times from hard body shots before Kossobutskiy unloaded a big left-right combo upstairs to end the fight. Kossobutskiy's power in going to the body is well-known - just ask Joey Dawejko.

While Muhamed's record looked superfiically good heading into this fight - it was clearly a padded one. The only two recognizable names I could find on it were Denis Bahktov and Yakup Saglam - both a bit limited and many miles past their best. A somewhat more significant win over Senad Gashi was stricken from Muhamed's record after he was found doping. Muhamed was given a 6 month ban for the infraction.

In recent days, Justis Huni has been calling out Kossobutskiy in the press and that promises to be a meaningful fight if it can get made.

 

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Danny Williams is facing Nelson Hysa this week

 

Although it wasn't top-of-mind for most of us - the Norman Neeley vs. Jason Bergman fight scheduled for November 5th was cancelled.

 

Former elite amateur HW Peter Kadiru (14-1-0, 7 KOs) became the latest amtaeur boxer to discover that the pro game is a different animal when he suffered a 1st round stoppage against unheralded Argentinian journeyman Marcos Antonio Aumada (24-11-0, 19 KOs) in Hamburg, Germany on November 5th.

This is a devastating result for Kadiru as Aumada's only fights outside of his native Argentina were quick stoppage losses to Evgeny Tischenko, Jose Larduet and Lenroy Thomas. Doubtless he was brought in to repeat the feat - but he turned the tables.

It isn't clear what Kadiru will do from here. Perhaps he can ring up former amateur rival Darmani Rock (who still hasn't returned to the ring after his early-2021 loss to Michael Polite-Coffie) to compare notes.

Here's the finish:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ClFua4Pce5c

 

It appears that Stephan Shaw's opponent for the November 22nd "Broadway Boxing" card will be Rydell Booker. The fight is scheduled for 8 rounds.

I supposed I had hoped for better, but "Broadway Boxing" isn't a big-gate event. Booker's a clever, durable fighter but he's 41 years-old now and he's been carrying some extra weight. With only two weeks to prepare for the fight, he may not be in the best shape, either.

 

He sure got his ass beat.

 

He got up and then (to use the hockey expression) "turtled up".

 

6' 9" USA prospect Antonio Mireles (5-0-0, 5 KOs) returns to the ring in a 6 round fight against Eric Perry (5-0-1) on the undercard of the Alimkhanuly vs. Bentley on November 12th.

Mireles has caught a lot of people's attention with his huge frame and seeming-athleticism. While he's quickly amassed a 5-0 record with all stoppage victories, he got a bit of a scare in his last outing when he was knocked down by a big, well-timed counterpunch from his unheralded opponent, Kaleel Carter

His opponent's record looks respectale-enough at first glance but it's blemished by its draw against the competent but immensely-overweight Marquis Valentine. And I should probably mention the 11 inch height disparity between the two combatants!

This should add up to an easy-ish stoppage win for Mireles, but he's going to want to develop better instincts regarding when to let his hands go.

 

It appears that there is no imminent fight between Justis Huni and Zhan Kossobutskiy.

But don't be too upset.

The reason is that the WBC has ordered Arslanbek Makhmudov to fight Zhan Kossobutskiy next - assuming Makhmudov beats Akpejiori when the two fight on December 16th. I think it's a reasonably-safe bet that Makhmudvo will win.

Obviously, something could go wrong here (it's the WBC, after all) - but Makhmudov v. Kossobutskiy has serious "FOTY" possibilities.

 

Frazier Clarke emerged with a solid (60-54 x3) UD win over Kamil Sokolowski tonight on the Ricky Hatton v. Marco Antonio Barrera card.

Clarke was in control, but had to put in lots of work. He doled out plenty of punishment to Sokolowski, but not quite enough to ever really look like getting the stoppage. Calrke's output fell off as the fight continued. Doing too much too soon against Sokolowski doesn't often pay dividends.

But it's a good win and Clarke is now 4-0 while the game Sokolowski drops to 11-27-3 and puts some more mileage on his clock.

 

With no great surprise, I can report that Antonio Mireles (6-0, 6 KOs) secured a 1st round stoppage KO victory (2:26) over Eric Perry (5-1-1). Mireles unloaded a barrage on Perry that ended with him lying face down on the canvas.

Here are the highlights. Note the *slight* discrepancy in heights. Also note the rabbit punch at 0:29.

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Go Zhan!

 

Is it just me or does he look a bit like Yoka?

I mean physically...not style-wise.