Sonny Conto (12-0, 9 KOs) fought his usual sole annual fight last week at (where else?) the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA. In doing so, he scored a UD victory by sweeping the cards in a 6 round bout against Detrailous Webster (6-3). Webster had recently prevailed over Terrell Jamal Woods by Split Decision - which is likely code for "Terrell Jamal Woods was robbed". Conto was in clear control and hurt Webster a couple times but never had him off his feet and Webster survived to hear the final bell. So Conto's career continues to go nowhere fast and it's been that way since before the start of the Pandemic. Nothing whatsoever to show for the past 4 years.
Speaking of Brandon Moore (who exorcised Elijah McCalls ghost in June)... On November 4th, he moved to 14-0 with a dominant 8 Rd UD win over Robert Simms Jr (12-4-1). Moore knocked down Simms in the 4th and had him hurt several times. It all added up to a commanding 80-71 x3 performance on the cards. Simms Jr had most recently given Kenzie Morrison a boxing lesson last year, emerging with a clear UD win. So, an OK performance by Moore. But while I respect Simms Jr, I feel a truly special prospect could have him out of there - and he's no Spring Chicken. Moreover, Simms was able to take care of a couple defensive lapses by Moore to land some quality shots (Moore tends to carry his hands far too low for too long). Moore is clearly a work in progress. Here's the full fight video where Simms Jr (who weighed nearly 20 lbs less than when he fought Morrison) shows off his newly-chiseled physique.
Can't see the point of having Anderson face Conto. Jared hasn't fought anybody elite yet, but guys like Martin, Forrest, Rudenko...heck, even Arias...are well above Conto given Sonny's current resume. Come to think of it...maybe TopRank isn't still promoting Sonny, after all. This content is protected He's still listed on TopRank's website - but you'll notice there's no content for him after Fall, 2019. In fact, his posted record of 10-0 is 18 months out of date. If TopRank is still affiliated w/ Sonny, he's clearly not a priority. Maybe Richard Torrez Jr v. Sonny Conto makes more sense?
December 9th, Mark Petrovsky faces Lucas Browne in a 10 rounder. Tischenko fights for some WBA Bridgerweight title, not sure what’s happened to the supposed Egorov fight… Muslim Gadzhimagomedov in a 10 rounder against Arthur Mann. Will he take a punt in the pros or is he happy to continue in these showcase fights?
Are you sure it's a *WBA* Bridgerweight title? AFAIK, the WBA hasn't recognized BW and they do not presently provide Bridgerweight rankings: This content is protected In fact, I think the WBC is the only federation that provides Bridgerweight rankings...even if they are nothing other than a source of our amusement: This content is protected Teslenko has not fought anybody in two years...and Vaclav Pesjar is a ranked fighter!
It's worth mentioning that Sonny Conto weighed in at 222 lbs for this fight. I think Torrez has been mid-220s-low 230s for his fights, so it would seem that this fight could somehow be pitched as (at the very least) a "Bridgerweight Eliminator". For proof of that - I offer up the latest WBC Bridgerweight rankings. This content is protected Is there any doubt that the WBC wouldn't immediately pop these two guys in/near the top of the list if TopRank was in on promoting an actual Bridgerweight fight?
I'm not too familiar with Mark Petrovski, but seeing that he failed to finish Abraham Tabul I am somewhat hopeful that Browne can end the evening with his head still attached to his shoulders. Even so, this is reinforcement that Big Daddy should have spent more time between his recent fights learning a skilled trade of some sort.
6 '9" TopRank-supported HW Antonio Mireles (8-0-1) provided us with yet another data point to confirm that he will not be the salvation of USA Heavyweight boxing in the post-Wilder era by earning a draw with 6' 7" (7-0-1) fellow-US prospect Skylar Lacy in a 6 round fight on November 4th supporting the Ajagba v. Goodall card. Lacy started out fast with a nice-looking jab, good movement, and the occasional hurtful body punch while Mireles more or less did nothing other than look confused. Alas, Lacy started out too fast and was already slowing by the halfway mark of the fight. Mireles was in control for the final two frames but didn't do enough to prevent Lacy from simply holding his way to the final bell. We saw a glimmer of something from Lacy, I suppose, but the pint-size gas tank he displayed will need to be addressed. I've suggested that a good gas tank is Mireles' sole good trait (other than his ability to rescue kittens from tall trees without a ladder) - but he was so inactive during most of this fight that I'm scarcely giving him credit for that here. Fight footage (while it lasts): Safe to say that Lacy is all but immune to eye injuries, I think? Looks more than a bit like Boris Karloff...
6' 7" Jackson Murray (6-0-0) made a nice entrance as a promising Australian heavyweight prospect by handing USA heavyweight prospect Steven Torres (6-1-1) his first defeat in a 6 round fight on the Stevenson v. De los Santos fight undercard. From the outset, there was a huge disparity in defense, overall skill, and output evident. Aside from one clean shot that appeared to hurt Murray for a few seconds in the third round - Torres was never in the fight. The end result was a whitewashing of the cards in Murray's favor. Murray was also credited for a knockdown of Torres, though the replay showed that his punch clearly landed to the back of Torres' head. Before one works up too much sympathy for Torres, I can tell you that his conduct during the fight was atrocious and...bizarre. I'll leave you to your own research. Torres had most recently stopped fellow-USA prospect James Evans last June in the third round of their fight. As I said at the time on this thread, Evans was steadily asserting his control of the fight until Torres landed a big shot upstairs that had Evans close to out on his feet. So, ultimately, I'm not really surprised Torres was exposed by a more well-rounded fighter.
I doubt Makhmudov will fight a meaningful on that Feb 17th card. He's fighting Kabayel on Dec 23rd. Kabayel hasn't had a really meaningful fight in more than four years - so we don't really know what form he'll have. But if Makh has to put in some significant work, then I don't think he'd face anything other than a tomato can (if he faces anybody at all) with just 7 weeks of turnaround.
