On The Watch “It’s All About Erislandy Lara vs Greg Vendetti”

WBA “Regular” Junior Middleweight Challenge

Last night’s main event at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles between WBA “Regular” Junior Middleweight Champion Erislandy Lara (27-3-3, 15 Kos) and contender Greg Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 Kos) was an impressive showing by the one they call “The American Dream”.

The much older but seasoned veteran Lara, showed us fans and the rest of the 154-Pound Division that he’s not to be slept on just yet. Your Boy Lara still got the goods to mix it up with the other champions in the Division, hands down.

Vendetti, a tough and durable contender did his best to disrupt Lara but simply lacks the Boxing IQ to beat a seasoned well-schooled veteran like Lara. No disrespect to Vendetti. He’s no slouch inside that squared circle and he did go 12 full rounds with “The American Dream” but painfully got out-boxed by a world class fighter.

Vendetti and his team clearly underestimated Lara’s abilities inside that squared circle considering Lara is getting up there in age. At 37 years old Lara may look ripe for the taking but not by your average fighter. Real Talk!

That being said, Lara is still top 3 in the 154-Pound Division and he’s out there looking for all the smoke. Lara is determined to reclaim the No. 1 Spot that he once held at the Junior Middleweight Division. To accomplish that, Lara will be looking to challenge the winner of the upcoming Junior Middleweight Unification bout between WBC Champion Jermell Charlo and IBF/WBA Super Champion Jeison Rosario.

The Junior Middleweight Division is “Blazing” right now and Erislandy Lara is still in the mix of it all.

Until then, stay locked in Lara you just might be next.

Blaze

DJ Blaze’s Top 15 August 30, 2020

1-Pharrell Williams & Jay-Z-Entrepreneur
2-Beyoncé f/Shatta Wale & Major Lazer-Already
3-Ty Dolla $ign f/Nicki Minaj-Expensive
4-French Montana f/Tory Lanez-Cold
5-Dave East f/Trey Songz-The City
6-DJ Khaled f/Drake-Popstar
7-Chris Brown & Young Thug-Go Crazy
8-The LOX f/Jeremih-Do To Me
9-Murda Beatz f/Ty Dolla $ign & Polo G-Doors Unlocked
10-Nas f/The Firm, AZ, Foxy Brown & Cormega-Full Circle
11-Pop Smoke f/50 Cent & Roddy Ricch-The Woo
12-Jack Harlow f/Lil Wayne, DaBaby & Tory Lanez-What’s Poppin (rmx)
13-DJDS f/Tory Lanez and Rema-Simple Things
14-Thrust f/Whitey Don-Skylarkin
15-Omarion f/T-Pain-Can You Hear Me

DJ Blaze’s Top 15 August 23, 2020

1-Pharrell Williams & Jay-Z-Entrepreneur
2-Beyoncé f/Shatta Wale & Major Lazer-Already
3-French Montana f/Tory Lanez-Cold
4-Dave East f/Trey Songz-The City
5-DJ Khaled f/Drake-Popstar
6-Chris Brown & Young Thug-Go Crazy
7-Tory Lanez-Staccato
8-Murda Beatz f/Ty Dolla $ign & Polo G-Doors Unlocked
9-Nas f/The Firm, AZ, Foxy Brown & Cormega-Full Circle
10-Pop Smoke f/50 Cent & Roddy Ricch-The Woo
11-Jack Harlow f/Lil Wayne, DaBaby & Tory Lanez-What’s Poppin (rmx)
12-DJDS f/Tory Lanez and Rema-Simple Things
13-Thrust f/Whitey Don-Skylarkin
14-Tory Lanez-Who Needs Love
15-Omarion f/T-Pain-Can You Hear Me

On The Watch “It’s All About Eleider Alvarez vs Joe Smith Jr.”

WBO Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Last night’s Top Rank main event between Eleider Alvarez (25-2, 13 Kos) and Joe Smith Jr. (26-3, 21 Kos) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, was well worth the wait. Real Talk!

This bout was non-stop action straight from the jump. Joe Smith who’s well known for having heavy hands held no punches throughout the night and displayed some great boxing improvement to go along with a flawless “game plan” that highlighted his strengths round by round.

Alvarez who was the more polished boxer of the two, played right into Joe Smith’s “game plan” and fell victim to his traps. The last thing you want to do when facing Jo Smith is to sit there and go toe to toe “phone booth” style with him. That is just what Alvarez did and he paid the price for it.

Personally, I was confused by Alvarez’s approach from the jump. Alvarez being the superior boxer of the two looked to bang it out with the wrong Dude on that night when he should have been boxing in and out, disrupting Smith’s come forward aggressive style.

Alvarez, not being able to do the proper adjustments inside that squared circle, caused him to get caught up in Joe’s physical roughness tactics. It was evident that Smith’s power was just too much for Alvarez to handle.

Joe’s pressure eventually overwhelmed Alvarez in the ninth round when Eleider succumbed to a hard right-left combination that dropped him down through the ropes for the count that prompted the referee to wave off the bout.

It was a very competitive bout and an impressive performance by Smith, who clearly showed vast improvement in his skill. With this strong win Joe advances to fight the winner of another WBO Light Heavyweight Elimination bout between contenders Umar Salamov (25-1, 19 Kos) and Maksim Vlasov (45-3, 26 Kos) for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Title.

Until then, congratulations on your amazing win Joe- job well done.

Blaze

On the Watch “It’s All About Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin”

WBC Diamond and Interim Heavyweight Challenge

In a surprising turn of events, the Heavyweight Division standing took another hit in tonight’s Heavyweight main event in the Matchroom Boxing Camp in Brentwood, Essex, UK, between Interim WBC Champion Dillian Whyte (27-2, 18 Kos) and Alexander Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 Kos).

What started out has a sure shot win for the “Body Snatcher” Dillian ended up in a possible knockout of the year for Povetkin. Dillian came out of the gate controlling the rounds and even dropping Povetkin twice in the fourth round for a standing eight count. Dillian got a little too comfortable by the fifth round and got caught with a mean left uppercut from Povetkin that created a crime scene type knockout that left us fans watching with our mouths wide open when the referee stopped the fight after Dillian was unresponsive on the floor. Real Talk! (my girl Ang called it when she said in the previous rounds to watch out for that uppercut from Povetkin).

The way the fight was going Povetkin was looking tired and slow in the previous rounds and Dillian was looking like he was getting ready to stop the older warrior in Povetkin but truth be told Povetkin still had an ace up his sleeves in the form of a well-timed destructive well-placed uppercut that secured the win in the fifth round. Real Talk!

This bout was a perfect example of what can happen on any given night in the Heavyweight Division. Most of them Boys in the Division carry power and can never be counted out regardless of their age. Dillian talked a good game and performed well throughout the contested bout but clearly underestimated the power the older veteran Povetkin still possessed and paid dearly for it.

Povetkin’s resilience and pedigree showed up tonight and silenced all the naysayers who counted him out. What was supposed to be a walk-in park for Dillian turned out to be a nightmare of a night in the form of a devastating loss that will haunt him for quite some time.

That being said, congratulations are in order for the New WBC Diamond and Interim Heavyweight Champion Alexander Povetkin.

Job well done Alexander; you defied all odds and came out an Interim Champion. I’m not sure how much juice you got left in you but tonight you were the conqueror who dethroned the Interim Champ. Enjoy your winnings, you deserve it.

Blaze