On The Watch “It’s All About Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin”

WBC Junior Lightweight Eliminator

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event between Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 Kos) and Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 Kos) at Madison Square Garden, New York wasn’t quite the “TAKEOVER” by Teofimo that the fans in attendance expected.

Teofimo was inside that squared circle with a slick defensive southpaw in Sandor who was able to defuse and frustrate Lopez all night long. What Teofimo had in mind did not unfold as planned. The “game plan” constructed by Teofimo’s corner never really got a chance to see the light of day.

Sandor hadn’t come to New York just to lay down for Teofimo, as a matter of fact it was Sandor who actually dropped Teofimo for a quick 8 count in the second round forcing Lopez to step his game up from that point on.

Lopez tried round by round but it was painfully obvious that frustration was getting the best of him as Sandor boxed and moved disabling Lopez from ever catching a proper flow throughout the bout.

Although Teofimo was the aggressor of the two combatants inside that squared circle, Lopez’s body language showed me he was the defeated fighter, irritated that he wasn’t able to get Sandor out of there.

After 10 fully completed rounds, the Judges at hand scored it 97-92 and 96-93 for Lopez and the third Judge 95-94 for Martin, giving the split decision to Teofimo Lopez.

Although Teofimo won the bout, the lack of focus and confidence displayed by Lopez last night lets me know that he’s going to have to step his game up in a major way if he still has aspirations of ever being a full fledged Champion in the Junior Lightweight Division because them “Boys” at the top of the food chain do not play with their food and this version of Teofimo is looking like food ready to be taken.

Just my thoughts.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Regis Prograis vs Jose Zepeda”

Vacant WBC Junior Welterweight Challenge

Last night’s MarvNation Promotions Main Event Between Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 Kos) and Jose Zepeda (36-3, 28 Kos) at the Dignity Health Sport Park, was a strategic bout displayed by both combatants that heated up in the championship rounds and had the fans in attendance on edge but definitely entertained.

Both combatants came out the gate sizing each other up and feeling out each other’s power but it was Prograis who picked up the pace and the action as the rounds progressed. Regis showed improvement with his patience round by round staying on point with the “game plan” at hand. He looked focussed and determined to stay one step ahead of Zepeda round by round.

Zepeda, who carries power of his own seemed a little too tentative at letting his hands go at times making it easier for Prograis to keep up his work rate round by round. Although Zepeda did manage at times to touch Prograis with some heavy shots, his low work rate wasn’t enough to edge the rounds in my eyes.

As the rounds progressed it was clear to me that Zepeda was in survivor mode. A very tough competitor inside that squared circle but clearly outgunned when facing Prograis.

That said, Zepeda actually picked up the pace in the championship rounds and even buzzed Prograis in the 10th round but Regis was clearly the stronger and determined warrior of the two inside that squared circle. In the 11th round Prograis proceeded to end the show in a convincing manner when he blitzed Zepeda and unloaded some vicious powerful shots from head to body that dropped him and prompted the referee to step in and stop the bout.

It was a beautiful display of skills by Prograis who broke his opponent down round by round to now becoming a two time 140-Pound Champion and the new WBC Junior Welterweight Champion of the World.

It was a hard road back to the top for Prograis and his hard work and self-belief kept him on path back where he belongs, calling the shots. Who wants next?

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Chantelle Cameron vs Jessica McCaskill”

Undisputed Junior Welterweight Championship

A new Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion was crowned tonight at the Matchroom/DAZN Co-Main Event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates between WBC/IBF
Junior Welterweight Champion Chantelle Cameron (17-0 8 Kos) and Undisputed Welterweight Champion Jessica McCaskill (12-3 5 Kos) who moved down in weight to accept the challenge.

The move down in weight wasn’t as eventful as Jessica expected as she was met with a formidable Champion in Chantelle who boxed and moved circles around Jessica while still maintaining a level of discipline and patience inside that squared circle.

Jessica did not make it easy with her rough house tactics but Chantelle’s superior boxing IQ soundly carried her round by round. I’m not sure what type of “game plan” Jessica’s corner constructed for this bout but truth be told, Jessica looked amateurish the way she was swinging wildly left and right with no real destination at hand. Jessica did not look like an Undisputed Welterweight Champion but rather like a fighter getting caught up in a street fight. Real Talk!

This version of Jessica made it really easy for Chantelle to collect the vacant WBA and WBO titles missing to complete the puzzle of Undisputed. Chantelle literally schooled the aggression out of Jessica and made it embarrassingly easy while doing so. After 10 rounds of action the Judges at hand called it 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94 all in favor of Chantelle Cameron.

With this convincing win over a Pound-for-Pound combatant in Jessica McCaskill, Chantelle retained her WBC/IBF Championship titles and collected the vacant WBA and WBO Titles, crowning her Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion of the world.

Congratulations Chantelle on becoming the 5th female Boxer to presently claim Undisputed Champion in the 4 Belt era. Well done!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Teofimo Lopez vs Pedro Campa”

Junior Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event between former Unified Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez (17-1, 13 Kos) and Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 Kos) at the Resorts World Las Vegas, was the perfect bounce-back bout needed to introduce Teofimo into the Junior Welterweight Division.

Campa thought he could bully his opponent by standing his ground and going toe to toe in the pocket with Lopez and it looked good in the first few rounds but soon found out that Teofimo just needed a few feeling out rounds of his own to get his action going.

Teofimo fought at a slower pace than usual but was very effective with his output and punch selection while visibly administering damages to his opponent. Campa fought a good fight and kept it competitive but was clearly showing effect from the power shots Lopez was hitting him with.

As the rounds progressed Teofimo was clearly breaking Campa down. The inevitable occurred in round seven when Lopez connected with a strong right hand and left hook that dropped Campa for a quick 8 count that saw him bounce back up but clearly looked hurt by that time. Once action renewed Teofimo wasted no time and proceeded to administer a series of power punches from all angles with absolutely no resistance coming his way, forcing the referee to stop the bout.

Teofimo looked good last night inside that squared circle and fought a good fight by taking his opponent out. That being said I personally think he should still ease his way into the 140-Pound Division before calling out the “top dogs” in the Division. Them Dudes at the top will be a hell of a tougher obstacle then what you just conquered last night, no disrespect to Pedro Campa.

Until then congratulations Teofimo on your win. I can’t wait to see who’s next in line.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Ryan Garcia vs Javier Fortuna”

Junior Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Golden Boy/DAZN Main Event between Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 Kos) and Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 Kos) was a showcase type of an event by Ryan that satisfied all his home fans who came out and represented in his honor at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

This bout was supposed to be a proper test to gauge where Ryan was at this point in his career considering Fortuna was a well-seasoned opponent who had the experience and the skills to give Ryan that much needed work.

That being said, Ryan came out the gate with a hard stiff jab that couldn’t miss. Ryan controlled every round with ease and absolutely no resistance coming from Fortuna. Ryan handled the vet like a sparring match rather than a legit bout.

Fortuna looked unprepared and out of place inside that squared circle. Ryan’s power was too much for Fortuna to handle and surprising to watch considering Fortuna had already been in there with some very good talent with exceptional power of their own in the past and prevailed.

Simply, Ryan was too big, too strong and agile for Fortuna to deter inside that square circle. The way Ryan was having his way inside that squared circle it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. In the fourth round a well-placed left body shot dropped Fortuna for a quick 8 count that saw him survive the round only to get dropped again in the fifth round by another left hand to the dome for another 8 count.

Fortuna was getting dismantled piece by piece and round by round. By the sixth round another head shot to the dome and down goes Fortuna and out comes the mouth guard. The referee had seen enough and stopped the bout by knockout.

Ryan talked a lot of sh*t all the way to the bout but backed every single word inside that squared circle. I tip my “B” hat to Ryan for an exceptional performance because he made Fortuna looked average knowing that Javier is a respectable Dude in the Boxing Game and never an easy out.

With two back-to-back wins and his focus back on boxing, Ryan is feeling like targeting Gervonta Davis (27-0, 25 Kos) as his next opponent. Now that’s a very interesting bout I would enjoy watching from the build-up to the night of but calling out “Tank” could be a risky move.

Can’t wait to see if this future bout can actually come to fruition.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall”

IBF/WBC/WBA/WBO Undisputed Junior Welterweight Challenge

Tonight’s Undisputed Junior Welterweight Title defense between IBF/WBC/WBA/WBO and Ring Magazine Champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 Kos) and mandatory challenger Jack Catterall (26-1, 13 Kos) at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland was a straight up ROBBERY to the challenger hands down.

No disrespect to the Champion Josh Taylor who brought it tonight and fought a tough bout but truth be told, Jack came in and defeated the Champion convincingly after 12 full rounds of action but unfortunately got robbed by the Judges on his biggest night inside that squared circle.

Jack came out the gate with confidence and the right “game plan” which was executed perfectly. Standing his ground round after round boxing beautifully while asserting himself as the better man throughout the entire bout and dropping Josh in the 8th round clearly putting Josh in the deficit by then.

Personally, I thought Josh looked weight drained and struggled to assert himself throughout the bout and looked desperate as the rounds progressed. Although the referee deducted a point in round 10 from Catterall, Jack was still comfortably in the lead in my eyes with the higher work rate and punch connection going his way.

That being said, this bout was very entertaining and clearly surpassed the expectation that most people anticipated considering everybody thought this was going to be a cake walk for Taylor. After 12 full rounds of non-stop action the Judges scored it 113-112 for Catterall, 114-111 for Taylor, and 113-112 for Taylor giving him the spit decision win. Unbelievable!

I’m sorry, I’m a big fan of Josh Taylor but tonight homeboy clearly lost this bout hands down.
Jack put his paws all over him and fought a great fight and clearly deserved the win. This was another case of a straight up ROBBERY!! Real talk!

Jack did everything right and fought his heart out to secure the win but, in the end, got ROBBED by the Judges at hand. These three Judges should be barred from ever judging a sanction bout again. Real Talk!

Tonight, we should be celebrating the coronation of a new Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion in Jack Catterall but instead the home grown Champion Josh Taylor reaped the benefits and retained his controversial Undisputed Crown.

These are the types of outcomes that gives Boxing a bad reputation.

Just my thoughts.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Gervonta Davis vs Mario Barrios”

WBA Super Lightweight Championship

Last night’s PPV PBC/Showtime Main Event matchup between Gervonta Davis (25-0, 24 Kos) and WBA “Regular” Super Lightweight Champion Mario Barrios (26-1, 17 Kos) at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, definitely lived up to the hype. Real talk!

Davis, who last fought in the 130-pound Division, moved up two weight Divisions to challenge tough and powerful Barrios for his WBA “Regular” Super Lightweight Title. As expected, this bout wasn’t no cakewalk for Davis. Barrios the much taller and rangier fighter of the two, kept things quite interesting and competitive for as long as he could inside that squared circle.

Barrios came to fight and stood his ground like the Champion that he was. Barrios boxed and moved and made things challenging for the shorter Davis. Although Barrios stayed disciplined throughout the rounds you could sense Davis getting comfortable and adjusting his “game plan” as the rounds progressed.

Once Davis’ range and power punches started connecting, you could visibly see Barrios feel the power “Tank” was landing from head to body. It was only a matter of time before Barrios slipped and in the 8th round, a two-piece combo from “Tank” straight to Barrios’ dome dropped him for a quick 8 count.

Impressively, Barrios survived the round and continued to stand his ground in a competitive fashion all the way to the 10th round like a warrior on a mission to live. That being said, by the 11th round the “End Game” was inevitable. Davis’ pressure and heavy onslaught was too much for Barrios to endure. A well-placed vicious uppercut to the solar plexus dropped Barrios hard to the ground but still Barrios rose up after the 8 count only to be dropped again by a series of heavy unanswered punches which then prompted the referee to stop the fight at the 2:13 mark of the 11th round.

I gotta tip my “B” hat to Barrios, Dude came in a Champion and fought like a Champion. This was by far Davis’ biggest test to date which he passed with flying colors. The naysayers will try to discredit Gervonta’s latest accomplishment but this was not an easy task. “Tank” showed up last night and proved to be levels above his competition. With this convincing win “Tank” becomes the new WBA “Regular” Super Lightweight Champion of the world and a three-Division World Champion.

Peeps need to stop hating on the young man and appreciate the talent this Kat brings inside that squared circle time and time again. Real talk!

Congratulations “Tank” on another impressive victory, now on to the next.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Regis Prograis vs Josh Taylor”

World Boxing Super Series Super-Lightweight Ali Trophy Final

Tonight’s World Boxing Super Series Super-Lightweight Ali Trophy Finals at the O2 Arena in London between WBA Super-Lightweight World Champion & WBC Diamond Champion Regis Prograis (24-1, 20 Kos) and IBF Super-Lightweight World Champion Josh Taylor (16-0, 13 Kos), came down to the wire.

This bout was a back and forth tussle from the jump with both fighters trying to assert themselves round by round while working their respective “game plan” and each looking for that advantage.

Taylor came to fight tonight and he wasn’t about to let this big opportunity pass him by. Regis, on the other hand, started a little slower and in doing so, to me, kept the fight a lot closer than it should have been. The visiting fighter Regis, should have kept his foot on the peddle and kept that pressure coming by being busier round by round.

That being said, this bout was a strategic chess match with both fighters performing at a very high level of boxing IQ with neither fighter backing down.

As damn close as this bout was, to the Judges’ eyes they scored it 115-113, 117-112 and 114-114 in favor of Taylor. Josh backed his trash talking by keeping his IBF Super-Lightweight Title and picking up the WBA Super-Lightweight World Championship Belt, the vacant Super-Lightweight Ring Magazine Belt and the prestigious Ali Trophy.

By defeating the No. 1 seeded Regis Prograis and collecting all that hardware, Josh has officially captured the No. 1 Spot in the Super-Lightweight Division. Next on the hit list is a unification bout with WBC/WBO Super-Lightweight Champion Jose Ramirez (25-0, 17 Kos) to decide the Undisputed Champion in the 140-pound Division.

Until then Josh, congratulations on your latest accomplishments. The road to undisputed is on the horizon .

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Regis Prograis vs Josh Taylor”

World Boxing Super Series Super-Lightweight Ali Trophy Final

It has officially been announced that the World Boxing Super Series Super-Lightweight Ali Trophy Final between WBA Super-Lightweight World Champion & WBC Diamond Champion Regis Prograis (24-0, 20 Kos) and IBF Super-Lightweight World Champion & WBC Silver Champion Josh Taylor (15-0, 13 Kos), will be taking place on Saturday night October 26, 2019 at the O2 Arena in London.

Depending on who you’re asking, these two right here might just be the two best Super-Lightweights in the Division today. Real Talk! Regis entered the WBSS Tournament as the No. 1 seed while Josh entered as the No. 2 seed. Both undefeated with no shortage of confidence from either combatant.

This showdown is a sure shot banger with major fireworks on the horizon when these two Dudes touch gloves inside that squared circle. There is a lot at stake here: a unification bout, undefeated records, the vacant Ring Magazine Super-Lightweight Championship and above all the prestigious Ali Trophy.

The winner of this World Boxing Super Series Super-Lightweight Tournament will stand to be the clear-cut No.1 in the 140-pound Division and one step closer at Undisputed. Both warriors can clearly see the benefits ahead and are determined and driven to come out on top but there can only be one true victor.

Both have talked the talk but all the slick and greasy trash talking doesn’t win fights, however, gloving them up inside that squared circle does. Now let’s see who can back it up under the bright lights. Tune in live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US. Saturday October 26, 2019, at the O2 Arena.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Terence Crawford”

The New Undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion

Listen, I have to tip my “B” hat to your Boy Terence “Bud” Crawford for the hell of an exceptional performance in that squared circle Saturday night August 19, 2017, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Crawford (32-0, 23Kos) shattered previously undefeated WBA and IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Julius Indongo (22-1, 11Kos) in just three amazing rounds. He was cool collective, and powerful in dismantling his worthy opponent. He showed no sign of fear at any time. To be honest I expected Julius to put up a more competitive and challenging fight but when your opponent is as determent as Terence was that night the unavoidable was bound to happen.

His greatness can no longer be denied. “Bud” ran through the 140-pound Division like a “Man” on a mission to now becoming the New Undisputed WBO, WBC, WBA and IBF Junior Welterweight Champion of the world. REAL TALK!

His stock has risen now and his name will forever be in the “History Books” as one of the very few to complete this accomplishment of being “Undisputed” in this day and age. Congratulation Terence you showed the Boxing World and every naysayer out there just how great of a Champion you truly are. You ducked know won on your way up to “Supremacy” status of this Division.

You are unquestionably in “The Pound-for-Pound” conversation after this astonishing win! Your thoughts on this one?

Blaze