**** Kirk's ESB Championships 2011 ****

You can do that too, you're good with numbers after all! :yep

 

10/01 - Steve Cunningham vs. Yoan Pablo Hernandez -Hernandez UD
10/01 - Sebastian Sylvester vs. Grzegorz Proksa - Sylvester UD
10/01 - Karo Murat vs. Gabriel Campillo - Murat UD
10/01 - Jonathan Oquendo vs. Sod Kokietgym - Oquendo TKO
10/01 - Roman Martinez vs. Ramon Maas - Martinez TKO
10/01 - Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Mike Oliver - Lopez TKO
10/01 - Gavin Rees vs. Derry Mathews - Rees TKO
10/01 - Sergio Gabriel Martinez vs. Darren Barker - Martinez TKO
10/01 - Andy Lee vs. Brian Vera II - Lee UD
10/01 - Isaac Chilemba vs. Jameson Bostic - Chilemba UD
10/01 - Roman Gonzalez vs. Omar Soto - Gonzalez TKO
10/01 - Toshiaki Nishioka vs. Rafael Marquez - Nishioka TKO
10/01 - Jesus Soto Karass vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai - Kamegai UD
10/02 - Ryo Miyazaki vs. Jerson Mancio - Miyazaki UD

 

10/01 - Steve Cunningham vs. Yoan Pablo Hernandez - IBF Cruiserweight title
10/01 - Sebastian Sylvester vs. Grzegorz Proksa - EBU Middleweight title
10/01 - Karo Murat vs. Gabriel Campillo - IBF Light Heavyweight eliminator
10/01 - Jonathan Oquendo vs. Sod Kokietgym - WBO Super Bantamweight eliminator
10/01 - Roman Martinez vs. Ramon Maas
10/01 - Gavin Rees vs. Derry Mathews - EBU Lightweight title
10/01 - Sergio Gabriel Martinez vs. Darren Barker - Lineal Middleweight title
10/01 - Andy Lee vs. Brian Vera II
10/01 - Isaac Chilemba vs. Jameson Bostic
10/01 - Roman Gonzalez vs. Omar Soto - WBO Light Flyweight title
10/01 - Toshiaki Nishioka vs. Rafael Marquez - WBC Super Bantamweight title
10/01 - Jesus Soto Karass vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai
10/02 - Ryo Miyazaki vs. Jerson Mancio - OPBF Light Flyweight title



CUNNINGHAM UD
PROKSA TKO
MURAT UD
OQUENDO TKO
MARTINEZ TKO
REES UD
MARTINEZ UD
LEE UD
CHILEMBA SD
GONZALEZ TKO
MARQUEZ TKO
RYO UD


JUANMA TKO IF IT COUNTS

 

Olesegun UD
Cunningham UD
Sylvester SD
Murat UD
Martinez TKO
Oguendo TKO
Juanma TKO
Rees TKO
Sexy Sergio TKO
Lee SD
Chilemba UD
Gonzalez TKO
Nishioka TKO
Kamegai KO(If it still counts)
10/02 - Ryo Miyazaki vs. Jerson Mancio - Miyazaki UD (if it counts)

 

SOOOO....where's the official list

 

Dzinziruk TKO
Olesegun UD
Cunningham UD
Murat SD
Oquendo UD
Martinez TKO
Lopez TKO
Rees TKO
S.Martinez TKO
Lee SD
Chilemba TKO
Gonzalez TKO
Marquez TKO
Kamegai KO

 

Olusegun UD
Guzman TKO
Cunningham UD
Proksa UD
Campillo UD
Gutierrez TKO
Oquendo UD
Lopez TKO
Roman Martinez TKO
Rees UD
Sergio Martinez TKO
Lee TKO
Chilemba UD
Gonzalez TKO
Nishioka UD
Kamegai UD
Miyazaki UD


Kirk these are my revised picks

 

Dzinziruk fight is off. And he is probably getting stripped too.

 

Olusegun UD

 

Steve Cunningham TKO
Sebastian Sylvester TKO
Karo Murat vs. Gabriel Campillo
Jonathan Oquendo TKO
Roman Martinez UD
Gavin Rees TKO
Sergio Gabriel Martinez TKO
Andy Lee UD
Isaac Chilemba UD
Roman Gonzalez KO
Rafael Marquez TKO
Yoshihiro Kamegai TKO
Ryo Miyazaki UD

 

Olusegun SD

 

Olusegun UD Chebah
Proksa TKO Sylvester
Campillo UD Murat
Oquendo KO Araiza
Martinez KO Maas
Rees TKO Matthews
Martinez KO Barker
Lee UD Vera
Chilemba UD Bostic
Gonzalez KO Soto
Nishioka KO Marquez cry
Kamegai KO Munoz
Miyazaki UD Mancio

 

Ugh, I hate change of opponents.

All right, Guzman is not fighting this weekend.
Roman Martinez is fighting Daniel Attah.
Johnathan Oquendo is fighting Jose Luis Araiza.
Boxrec doesn't have the Soto Karass-Kamegai fight anymore. No news about it being canceled though.

Those should be the only changes for the weekend.

 

Ajose Olusegun vs. Ali Chebah- Ajose Olusegun by UD
Steve Cunningham vs. Yoan Pablo Hernandez - Yoan Pablo Hernandez by UD
Sebastian Sylvester vs. Grzegorz Proksa - Sebastian Sylvester by SD
Karo Murat vs. Gabriel Campillo II- Karo Murat by UD
Sammy Gutierrez vs. Roilo Golez - Sammy Gutierrez by KO
Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Mike Oliver- Juan Manuel Lopez by KO
Roman Martinez vs. Daniel Attah- Roman Martinez by KO
Jonathan Oquendo vs. Jose Luis Arazia- Jonathan Oquendo by KO
Gavin Rees vs. Derry Mathews - Gavin Rees by KO
Sergio Martinez vs. Darren Barker- Sergio Martinez by KO
Andy Lee vs. Brian Vera II- Andy Lee by UD
Isaac Chilemba vs. Jameson Bostic- Isaac Chilemba by UD
Roman Gonzalez vs. Omar Soto - Roman Gonzalez by KO
Toshiaki Nishioka vs. Rafael Marquez - Rafael Marquez by KO

Last week was a very poor effort in the boxing world following the Mayweather-Ortiz fight. This week though, we are getting the big bang. Just a massive boxing week and boxing shows just how global it is this week. Three great fights in Germany, Puerto Rico is showcasing a tripleheader, a quick stop by Mexico, a South African, a Brit, and a couple of Japanese fellows are coming to the States. It very much is a massive global sport and this week really proves it. Big week and let’s dive right in.

Starting off on Friday’s ShoBox The New Generation Ajose Olusegun and Ali Chebah are going at it. Olusegun is one of two best kept secrets in boxing (I’ll get into the other one here in a second) Olusegun is very talented, but just hasn’t gotten his shot yet. Chebah, same thing, to an extent. He has lost already though to journeyman Reyes Sanchez. Sanchez who is a bit crude, and doesn’t have much pop was able to stop Chebah. And beat him up pretty good. Olusegun is very tricky, very crafty, nice, fast, and decent pop. Olusegun may not be pleasing to the eye at times, but he gets the job done. Chebah nice, tight, boxing skills, but does have that shaky beard. I think this is a good close fight. One that goes to the cards and in favor for Ajose Olusegun.

On Saturday, in Germany Sebastian Sylvester weighs a bit less now. He lost his world title belt to very skilled Australian Daniel Geale. Sylvester is looking to bounce back and it isn’t against a soft touch. Grzegorz Proksa “Super G.” Floyd might be a G, but Proksa the Pollock is a Super G. He is a very confident, young, undefeated fighter, but he hasn’t really fought anyone of note. This is a very big jump in class. He only has one real notable name and that is Pablo Navascues and won the EBU 160 title, and not only did he do that, but he traveled to Spain and knocked him out. That definitely raises eyebrows. You might say, well, that is just one fight and he might have a bit of a padded record, which is true, but he does have the skills of an undefeated fighter. At this moment, Super G Grzegorz Proska is the best kept secret in boxing. Nobody talks about him, but after Saturday night that will not be the case. Proska just has loads and loads of talent. This kid is confident and that is exactly his fighting style. No defense, he just has his gloves down and moves his head. Very fast, and lots of power in that left hand, his favorite punch. He throws it quite a bit, and leans forward and gets off balance. That’s just his confidence he knows he can and will get out of the way and can afford to do that. He is a very talented fighter and I can’t wait for the whole world to see him. The only question marks are his chin and heart. Very much unknown if he can take a shot yet, but in this fight he doesn’t have to worry about Sylvester’s power, he has average power. This fight is very much like the Geale-Sylvester fight. The much better fighter is obvious, it’s just whether or not can he get a decision. This is the case as well. Proska can do so many more things than Sylvester. Proska will be popping that left hand jab, moving in and out hands down firing shots, while Sylvester will land the odd jab every now and again. If this were any where else Proska wins this fight hands down, but in Germany, this fight is a toss up 50/50 fight. And after last week, robberies are in full force. Unfortunately, I think this fight is a big robbery and Sylvester gets the undeserved split decision victory. I may change it though and just end up going with the better fighter, but win or lose, Proska will get the recognition he deserves at 160.

Also, on the card is a rematch of about 3 years back. Karo Murat and Gabriel Campillo are going at it again, and to start things off he looks like Arthur Abraham and Marco Huck. I don’t know, but I think if Arthur Abraham and Marco Huck had a love child it would look like Karo Murat. Anyway, last year Murat suffered his first loss to Nathan Cleverly. He was stopped in the 10th round of a very good fight. Murat is one of those typical Germany fighters, they all have that style of gloves up, come forward, and flick out punches. Gabriel Campillo has that shell defense as well, boxes a bit more, he is a very good boxer. His last “loss” on his record was to Beibut Shumenov. A fight, in which, he blooded up and battered Shumenov and he didn’t get the decision. That was one of the biggest robberies of last year. He’s won a couple of tune up fights since then and is now getting a shot at redemption, a shot of avenging one of his losses. Now, if you haven’t seen the first fight, it was close, and I didn’t have a problem with the judges’ scorecards. Every round was close with both fighters’ hitting gloves quite often. Very very few real clean shots, and that’s probably the way this fight will go. Murat will come forward, guard up and Campillo will be on the outside firing off shots that hit off Murat’s gloves. Murat comes forward and fires off shots that hit off Campillo’s gloves as well. This fight is pretty much a grantee to go the distance. Both fighters are strong and both have good defense. I’ll go with Murat winning this fight again, this time by unanimous decision.


Steve Cunningham vs. Joan Pablo Hernandez is a very good fight and one that is pitting 2 of the top 5 Cruiserweights in the world. Steve Cunningham you would have to rate number 1 just because he has traveled and has a very good resume beating the likes of Guillermo Jones, Marco Huck, avenging a loss to Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, and last year beating Troy Ross. Against Troy Ross though, Cunningham didn’t look 100% sharp. He was dropped in the 4th, and wasn’t at his best against the mobile southpaw. And quite frankly, he was a bit lucky that in the same round Cunningham thumbed Ross in the eye and Ross suffered a cut in a very bad spot, and the fight was stopped. Thus, Cunningham winning via 5th round TKO. His most recent fight against Enad Licina he again won this time by UD, but again, he didn’t look like the same Cunningham. After the fight he looked quite tired and not much going on. Hernandez meanwhile is on the up and up, he’s only 26 years old, and heading into his prime. His last fight was against really his first real notable opponent, Robert Herelius, since his loss to Wayne Braithwaite back in 2008. Hernandez looked pretty good defeating Herelius. Used his big frame, stayed on the outside and used a terrific right hook and straight left hand to breakdown and knockout Herelius. My main gripe is that he doesn’t use his jab often enough. For a man of his size, he doesn’t use that jab often enough. He has a pretty good one when he does use it though. So, in this fight, I’m expecting Hernandez to come out stand in front, move a little bit, with that guard up and pop out the straight left, right hook at times. Cunningham will try and jab his way, use a lot of movement and throw out wild left hooks and right hands to break through Hernandez’ guard. Both fighters have shaky chins. If they get caught with a good shot, they will be hurt. Also, one interesting note is, I wonder who the judges will favor in a close fight? Hernandez, like most Cuban fighters when they defect, signed over to fight in Germany and has fought all his fights in Germany. Cunningham, just signed with Sauerland, and has recently fought over in Germany. It is quite interesting that is, just something to keep in mind. Anyway, prediction time, I have Yoan Pablo Hernandez winning this fight. Early in the fight I think they go back and forth both fighters have their share of rounds. But towards the end, I expect Hernandez’ youth, to overcome Cunningham’s age. Late in the fight I’m expecting Hernandez to start to open up and may’be hurt Cunningham and with that squeaking out a very close unanimous decision victory.

 

In the U.K. Gavin Rees is back after his good battle between Andy Murray. He looked fantastic for the first 6 rounds of that fight, but stamina problems creeped up on him once again. He was dog tired and barely hanging on for the last 3 rounds struggling to stay on his feet. Rees is a fantastic 4-6 round fighter. Very skilled, very fast, and very powerful. He only has the one lost at world level and that was losing to Andriy Kotelnik. He got caught with a shot and was done. If he ever fixed his stamina problems he could definitely be a world class fighter at 135. As it is, I’d probably just have him outside the top 10, may’be even in the 9-10 area. Derry Mathews, is a very good fighter himself. He has good boxing skills and uses his size nicely. The problem is that he has horrible punch resistance. Once, he’s hurt, he’s pretty much gone. So, what Mathews needs to do is stay on the outside for the first 4 rounds and just avoid Rees at all costs. Ress needs to pressure the hell out of Mathews. Mathews doesn’t like PP, pressure and power. He can’t fight on the inside, he starts freaking out, gets tagged, gets hurt, and he’s done. Going up against Rees he will have to be on his A game and really need to outbox Rees. It is possible, Mathews is a good fighter, he’s got nice skills, and if he can stay on his feet for the first 4-6 rounds, he has a great chance at pulling off the upset. After round 6 Rees is very ragged and is definitely not the same. Then Mathews can easily outbox and really bring the pain on Rees and pull off the upset. It is a very likely possibility Mathews wins on points or knocks out Rees late. It very much is a toss up fight, but I’m going with Rees. He is so explosive for those first rounds, he is so dangerous, and Mathews is so vulnerable that I’m going with Rees stopping Mathews in the early rounds of this fight.

Quick stop by Mexico, Sammy Gutierrez, solid fighter is taking on a Philippine fighter by the name of Rolio Golez a 12-6 fighter. Don’t know who he is, but it seems that he’s a professional traveling punching bag. Gutierrez should win that fight by KO.


Just before we head on over to the States, let’s stop by Puerto Rico and look in on the tripleheader. Jonathan Oquendo is a pretty decent contender. Decent 122 fighter that is a solid contender. He is taking on Jose Luis Araiza, a fighter who is on a 3 fight losing streak and is coming in on short notice. Have to go with the home fighter, Oquendo winning via stoppage. Roman Martinez is making coming back to Puerto Rico and it is his first fight since getting up ended by Ricky Burns. He is taking on a nice soft touch in Daniel Attah, who is also a fighter coming in on short notice and has been beaten by the likes of Nate Campbell, Urbano Antillon, and Antonio DeMarco. Martinez maybe getting his name on their as well, I think he stops Attah late in this fight. The main event of the Puerto Rico card is Juan Manuel Lopez. JuanMa is back and looking to get back on track against Mike Oliver. Mike Oliver is a good fighter, he just can’t take a punch and he has no pop in his punches. He is a slick southpaw, very slick, and has good boxing ability so it is a bit of a soft touch in terms of how the opponent fights, but the opponent isn’t just some can. Oliver is a solid contender, but he is getting knocked out in this fight. JuanMa will get his confidence back stopping Oliver in the early to mid rounds of this fight.



Okay, that was a bit of a detour, but let’s get back to the competitive fights. Isaac Chilemba is one of those talented South African fighters coming out of South Africa at the moment. Chilemba is very patient has a nice jab when he uses it, nice speed, and decent power. Very good boxing skills Chilemba has. Not only is he skilled, but he has a very good resume. He has one lost, but quickly avenged it in his next fight. When he finally got up to 12 round fights he took on very stiff competition. He clearly outpointed Charles Adamu, David Basajjamivule, and Michael Bolling. All very impressive wins. Then after the impressive Bolling performance he took on Thomas Oosthuizen and fought him to a draw. Another top notch South African fighter. Then earlier this year he made his U.S. debut taking on another great prospect in Maxim Vlasov on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. Then a month later went back to South Africa and won a fight. Now, he’s coming back to the U.S. to really establish his name. He is a great talent and it’s great that he is getting this opportunity. He is taking on a stiff test in Jameson Bostic who is very tall and rangy, and if he can establish his jab he could upend and surprised Isaac Chilemba. Being tall and rangy is really the key point because against Oosthuizen, Oosthuizen was able to his his jab and really nullify Chilemba’s attacks at times. So, if Bostic comes in shape and tries to just stick that jab out there and stay behind it, I could definitely see an upset. Chilemba is on the road, traveling over seas and right away you have to think, he may get robbed if it is close. And you may look at Bostic’s record and quickly dimiss him, but 3 of his 5 losses came within his first 5 fights. In his last 23 fights he is 22-1. Just something to keep in mind, I wish this was broadcasted on HBO because this good be a very intriguing fight. Even with all the praising I’ve been giving Chilemba this is a tough fight and he may lose this fight, but that doesn’t change my thinking that he is a very good fighter. I think this is a close contest, with Chilemba pulling it off via close UD. A UD with all three judges in the 96-94 range.


The second rematch of the night is Brian Vera and Andy Lee. If this fight is anything like the first fight, we are in for a treat then. Andy Lee is a tall, rangy, southpaw that is a basic stand up 1-2 type fighter. Doesn’t really impress with any one skill, but he is all around good in everything. Good speed, good power, decent footwork, good jab, etc. What he does have is a big heart. He has a very big heart and he showed this past March when he was getting beat up and looked like he was going to get knocked out at any time against Craig McEwan. Something clicked, he made a couple of adjustments and McEwan started slowing down and in the second half of the fight and Lee started pouring it on dropping McEwan in the 9th round and stopping him in the 10th round. It was a great comeback victory for Lee. And a couple of months later he shut out Alex Bunema, who was a good fringe contender, but that was his first fight in almost two years. So, that win doesn’t say a whole lot, but it is a nice name on his resume. Lee has an impressive record of 26-1-0 19 KO’s. That one loss was to the man he lost too, Brian Vera. Vera is a very good 160 contender, and has some solid wins on his resume. He has beaten Andy Lee, Sebastian Demers, and Sergio Mora. And has lost to James Kirkland, and Craig McEwan. Vera is very much battle tested and is a very aggressive, come forward, brawler. This fight is not hard to predict how both fighters will win. Lee needs to stay on the outside and use his boxing ability, use that right hook off the jab, and the straight left. Lee was able to do this in the first fight and Vera showed his big heart and was able to eat shots and throw straight rights and Lee was unable to take them. He was hurt a couple of times in the fight and was stopped in the 7th round. If you haven’t watched the fight, Lee was clearly winning the fight. He won every round, except for may’be 1 or 2 rounds, other than that he was winning, plus, he had a knockdown in his back pocket as well. He was clearly winning, but the pressure, power, and right hands of Vera broke him down. The ref stoppage was very premature though, Lee wasn’t really given that chance to continue to fight. So, who knows if he could have stood up for the next 3 rounds to get the win. Either way, this is a toss up fight, and I’m taking Andy Lee in this fight. He’s been hurt a couple of times since this fight and now he knows how to dig deep and fight out of it. Lee has the skills to dominate and win this fight, the question is whether or not he can keep Vera on the outside. I think it looks like the first fight, without the premature stoppage, Lee wins the first 6 or 7 rounds, Vera comes on and wins the last couple, but Lee banks in enough rounds and wins the fight by UD.