September 10th - Quality Night Of Fights

Just looking through the boxing schedule over the coming weeks, I've been left bewildered by the fact I didn't even realise how many good fights we have on September 10th. We've got a spate of top fights, be it two fighters near the pinnacle of their division colliding(some may classify them as forgone conclusions though), prospects stepping up to the next - or in certain cases a few extra - levels or two squaring off in a winner takes all-type contest where the victor moves on to surely bigger things with the loser left in the wilderness.

It's a Saturday night/Sunday morning that takes us all over the place, from Poland, to the Philippines, to Northen Ireland, to Mexico and to the United States. It's a weekend that really provides you with a lot to be intrigued about certainly, a series of different stylistic bouts, with varying degrees of talent and youth, with a broad spectrum of aspirations trying to be reached, where certain fighters will be attempting to enhance their legacy, others trying to solidify their case for being a top-level fighter and others wishing to climb to the dizzying heights they once reached.

I'll do it in order of BoxRec's schedule, so let's go to Mexico first to salivate over the prospect of what is probably my favourite fight of the night:

Juan Carlos Salgado Vs Argenis Mendez

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A fight that has really slipped under the radar this, including my own(credit to SportsLeader for making me aware of this a few weeks ago), this is is a fight that demands interest, and could give us a forcast as to who has the potential to be leader of the pack at super-feather.

The case of Salgado is a curious one. Coming out of complete obscurity, he was installed as challenger for then-WBA Champion Jorge Linares. With plans to build the Venezuelan champion up in America, this was almost seen as a ''going away present'' to Japanese fans as Golden Boy saw stardom(and $$$) in Linares' future. A fighter with a pretty record but no wins of note, JC was meant to be cannon fodder for a future P4P star. Looking past Salgado and complacent Linares may have been, what he was however was caught by a left hook in the opening round that dropped him, and pelted in the corner from a follow up assault that forced the referee to terminate proceedings. After the initial sense of shock died down, Salgado took on his first defence, and lost his title himself against then-unheralded opposition in the 13-0 Takashi Uchiyama. A slow-paced fight where Salgado stayed at range before rushing in with big shots early, he was being handled rather easily by the smarter man with better technique. Dropping the vast majority of rounds, he became more reckless and desperate over the course of the fight, which was to his detriment, as he was stopped in the 12th round.

Mendez is almost the polar opposite to Salgado style-wise, the 25 year old Dominican, not rough and unpolished like his soon-to-be adversary, Mendez is a quick and slick operator, who counters and places his punches with great speed and accuracy. Possessing a wide arsenal of punches, his single, lead hooks to the body in particular have impressed, he looks one of the better up and comers at 130lbs, certainly owning a lot more substance to add to his style than a certain ''Problem Child'', which he's proven since stepping up, taking victories against Martin Honorio and Cassius Baloyi. In reality, Salgado is his toughest opponent, and it's yet to be seen whether or not the reverse can be said yet, but those two victories clearly give us an indication of his capabilities at the highest level, he's certainly not an unknown quantity anyways. Salgado will try to pick his moments to penetrate Argenis' defense, while Mendez will try to make him pay when that does happen, coming with uppercuts from the Mexicans' blindside and battering the body to slow him down in similar fashion to Uchiyama.

Milan Melindo Vs Francisco Rosas

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A fight with fascinating potential if Rosas has anything left, where the unbeaten flyweight Melindo tries to continue his rise up the rankings. Much like the aforementioned Mendez, he to holds wins against two good, albeit past best fighters in Muhammad Rachman and Carlos Tamara. His knockout record of eight wins inside the distance from twenty four is somewhat deceiving, while not having supersonic knockout power, he does yield a mind and body numbing left hook which often stops opponents in their tracks. A solid boxer who likes to stick to his jab, he's easy to close down, but you'll be made to pay with painful digs to the body.

Quite where Rosas is at is difficult to gauge. After giving both Roman Gonzalez and Juan Carlos Reveco all they could handle, dropping majority and split decisions respectively, he beat, erm, somebodyoops, in the interim before being well and truely decapitated by Chocolatito in two rounds in their return. Being pelted by the Nicaraguan with a series of combinations high and low, he succumbed after being caught in a torrent of blows, concluding with a trademark perfectly placed a left uppercut. After almost a year out he returned last month with a TKO win against a relative no-hoper after rising to flyweight. I suppose the quality of this fight hinges on how much Rosas has retained, that Gonzalez obliteration is the only time he's been stopped in 8 defeats, and at the very least he should be able to provide some discomfort for the Filipino on the inside.

Vitali Klitschko Vs Tomasz Adamek




Maybe not a fight that has everyone in anticipation, but still one of the best fights that can be made in the limitless division nonetheless. At the very least Adamek should be able to provide the brand of mobility that the older brother doesn't care for, which should make up for his rather poor footwork.

Vitali will of course look to make the large size disparity in his favour count, keeping the Pole on the end of his long jabs and murderous(for a former 175 pounder I would imagine) right hands. Quite how Adamek will be able to effectively negate that strategy is difficult to envisage, as it seems the general consenus that he can't be aggressive to win, but doesn't possess the necessary range/footwork/timing/countering to make a fight where he attempts to box on the outside beneficial to him. An encouraging aspect for Goral however is his apparent recuperative abilities, he can be hurt, but putting him away seems an entirely different feat. That said, he is fighting Vitali Klitschko here, and he is not Chris Arreola or Michael Grant.

McCloskey/Prescott & Frampton/Martinez




A card with these two fights and the frustrating Cuban Mike Perez, it provides two different types of fights as the main attractions.

Two men who are clearly trying to make everyone forget the fact that they've both squared off against Amir Khan at one point or another, Paul McCloskey and Breidis Prescott clash in a fight that keeps interest afloat after the sure-fire great fight it follows. McCloskey, a non-mover who relies on head-movement to make his opponent miss, while picking him off with jabs, right uppercuts and right hands to the body faces a man lacking any great power who relies on his power in Prescott, who has shown a modicum of skills before against the likes of Humberto Toledo, using his lanky frame to dictate with his jab, but tends to ditch them when he's fighting a superior boxer to him(Vazquez, Mitchell), this occasion will probably be no exception.

The near-novice Frampton taking on a former European champion in Martinez warr@nts excitement. There's a certain nervous energy regarding whether The Jackal is quite ready for a challenge of this magnitute, his balls can certainly not be doubted however, nor can his obvious potential. Martinez has shown an attempt to refine himself in recent conquests, but is ultimitely what he always has been, a compact fighter who starts fast, fades quick and punches hard. Whether Frampton chooses to, or more to the point, is allowed to box is key, as trading with the muscle-bound La Sensación is without questionan event that will likely evoke memories of the Spaniard's most famous trek to the island.

 

Part 2:

Yuriorkis Gamboa Vs Daniel Ponce de Leon

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Coming from an indiginous tribe that's never spawned a professional sportsman, much less a world champion, I've always had a soft spot for Ponce, which has turned into a real admiration since the application he has shown in refining himself as a boxer to a substantial degree. After being blown away in a round by Juanma Lopez with his previous method of going about his work, which was solely based around his explosive power, he set about improving almost every aspect of his game, from his balance, to his selection of punches, to simply being more patient and looking for holes to utilising a jab and more of an outside game, in recent times he has displayed the most well-rounded performances of his entire career. Thanks to a loss which should have been a win against the comparably huge(and supposedly future star) Adrien Broner, where he out-fought and at times out-boxed his foe, he has been rewarded with a likely pummeling at the hands of the cyclone-like Cuban.



Gamboa's meteoric rise is quckly gathering velocity with a frankly magnificent blowout of Jorge Solis and a commanding decision win against a man from the ''unappealing record, appealing fighter'' brigade in Orlando Salido. It's more than arguable that Ponce is the best fighter Gamboa will have gotten his hands on so far in what will be 21 fights, but it's still almost, unfairly, being seen as a further stepping stone to bigger things for the Guantanamo exile. Stylistically, that may look like it has come to fruition, as the painfully slow Mexican tries to find the rapid Gamboa only to have his underrated chin pulverised by a plethora of venomous salvo's for as long as it lasts. I'd like to try to convince myself otherwise, but it is pretty unfathomable, which is frustrating because, despite me vehemently disputing to the contrary, all of his hard work in improving himself will ultimately fail to be acknowledged. Alright, it's not a Barrera-like change, but he has, essentially, gone from being a terrible boxer to an alright/decent one, and you simply must give him credit for that.



Anyways, as always your thoughts on any fight/fighter will be greatly appreciated by myself.


EDIT: (Luis Cruz is also fighting, but you can do one if you think I'm typing any more)

 

If not for your help it would be slightly less long.

Shout out!

 

Oh **** you guys.

Mendez-Salgado is at super-feather, you lot could have a bit of a whinge about Ricky Burns?