On The Watch “It’s All About Bakhram Murtazaliev vs Josh Kelly”

IBF Junior Middleweight Challenge

Tonight’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event at the Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, England, between the boogeyman of the Division, IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-1, 17 Kos) and challenger Josh Kelly (18-1, 9 Kos) was an interesting bout that drew a surprising outcome when the final bell rang.

Josh came in this bout quite confident knowing he was entering that squared circle with one of the most avoided Champions in the Division. Josh stayed true to himself and executed a near perfect “game plan” that had Bakhram frustrated for most of the duration of the bout.

Josh’s speed, footwork and precise punch selection kept Bakhram unsettled and unable to administer his own usual destructive punches due to Josh being so elusive round by round.

Surprisingly, it was Bakhram who suffered his first knock down of the night when he got caught by Josh with a strong jab that cost him a standing 8 count but quickly got back up to his feet showing no signs of being hurt.

Bakhram tried desperately to press the action but lacked the speed or the right “game plan” to cut off the ring and trap Josh when the opportunity presented itself.

Josh did his best to stay disciplined and kept his feet moving at all time but eventually got caught with a short but powerful left hand that dropped him to a standing 8 count in the ninth round. From this point on Josh survived the round and played keep away for the remainder of the bout doing his best to avoid any further slip ups.

After 12 rounds of actions, the Judges at hand scored it 115-111, 114-113 and 113-113, giving the majority decision to Josh Kelly.

Josh impressed me with this one. I didn’t think he could stand 12 rounds with Bakhram but tonight he definitely proved me wrong and for that I tip my “B” hat to you.

With this convincing win Josh you have now added your name to the United Kingdom active male Champions by claiming the IBF Junior Middleweight Title. Well done!

Blaze

DJ Blaze/Rick Ross Takeover!

Rick Ross f/Bryson Tiller-Future Bright
Rick Ross f/Elijah Blake & The Game-Sing For Me
Rick Ross f/Chris Brown & Tyga-Ayo (rmx)
Rick Ross f/Chinx-On Your Body (rmx)
Rick Ross f/Monica & Lil Kim-Anything (To Find You)
Rick Ross f/Puff Daddy & The Notorious B.I.G.-Bad Boy Watcha Gon’ Do Dre Day
Rick Ross f/Red Cafe and Ryan Leslie-Fly Together
Rick Ross f/Kris Kelli-Me And U
Rick Ross f/Nicole Bus-You (rmx)

On The Watch “It’s All About Raymond Muratalla vs Andy Cruz”

IBF Lightweight Challenge

Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event between IBF Lightweight Champion Raymond Muratalla (24-0, 17 Kos) and Olympic Gold medalist, undefeated Challenger Andy Cruz (6-1, 3 Kos) was a competitive bout that had the fans in attendance at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, quite entertained.

Raymond knew exactly what he was up against and wasted no time executing his “game plan” from the fist bell. Raymond pressed the action with calculated pressure throwing punches from head to body at a higher clip rate than expected but definitely efficient enough to keep Andy from settling down into his own groove.

Andy did his part to match Raymond punch for punch but it was clear as the rounds progressed that Raymond was the one outworking Andy when push came to shove. Andy had his moments in between rounds but never quite capitalized on them enough in my eyes.

Raymond showed up last night and brought his “A” game inside that squared circle and silenced all the naysayers who discredited him as a Champion.

That being said, this was a highly competitive and technical bout where both combatants had to be on point to outduel one and other. After 12 full rounds of action the Judges at hand scored it 114-114, 116-112 and 118-110 giving the majority decision to Raymond Muratalla.

Although the score of 118-110 is suspect in my eyes, the right man definitely won this bout hands down.

Congratulations Raymond on retaining your IBF Lightweight Championship.

Well done, Champ!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About The NBA-Who’s On Top?

The NBA Who’s On Top?

We have officially passed the midpoint mark for the NBA Season with 42 plus games played to date and the Defending Champions Oklahoma City Thunder (36-8) have yet to relinquish their No. 1 Spot. They continue to oversee the entire league looking as focused as ever and determined to hold on to their crown by any means necessary.  Breathing closely down their necks are the San Antonio Spurs (30-13) steady pacing themselves and proving to be live contenders ready for the challenge when push comes to shove. The Denver Nuggets (29-14) are already a proven squad, so they are always in the mix regardless of their standing. The intriguing question in the Western Conference right now is who’s next on the come up between the Minnesota Timberwolves (27-16), the Houston Rockets (25-15), the Los Angeles Lakers (25-16), the Phoenix Suns (26-17) and the Golden State Warriors (25-19)?

On the Eastern Conference side, the Detroit Pistons (31-10) are passing the eye test by holding down their No. 1 Spot while still looking like the old school Pistons and steadily improving game by game. The Boston Celtics (26-16) have picked up some steam and put some games together to move up the standings while the New York Knicks (25-18) have had a harder time holding down their spot after winning the Emirates NBA Cup. Our own Canadian team the Toronto Raptors (25-19) have been impressively competitive night in and night out and could easily move up the standings if they could get a good run going. Vying to stay in the mix are the Philadelphia 76ers (23-18), the Orlando Magic (23-19), the Cleveland Cavaliers (24-20) and the Miami Heat (22-21) but things could look different as the season progresses.

That being said, stay locked in for a competitive second half of the season.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Subriel Matias vs Dalton Smith”

WBC Junior Welterweight Challenge

Last night’s Fresh Productions Main Event at the Barclays Center between the so-called boogeyman WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Subriel Matias (23-3, 22 Kos) and undefeated challenger Dalton Smith (19-0, 14 Kos) surpassed my expectations by the way Dalton announced himself to the Junior Welterweight Division. Real Talk!

Dalton, in his first world title opportunity, came in from the United Kingdom with a driven challenger’s mentality determined to get the job done by any means necessary. Dalton who is primely known as a boxer puncher, asserted himself from the jump and pressed the action with a very efficient jab showing Subriel that he carried power as well.

That approach prompted Subriel, who is usually a slow starter to press the action with his own seek and destroy tactics that made this bout that much more intriguing and crowd pleasing as it unfolded.

Personally, I thought this approach by Dalton to fight toe-to-toe with Subriel was the wrong way to go considering that style of fighting suited Subriel better but to my surprise Dalton stood his ground and dished out just as much abuse as he was taking in. Visibly, Subriel’s punches looked more damaging but his lack of defense cost him to take some heat as Dalton was able to land with power as well.

In round five, both combatants continued their toe-to-toe slugfest landing heavy shots after heavy shots but it was Dalton who pierced Subriel’s armour first with a deadly well-placed overhand right that dropped him for the count. Subriel quickly got up on weak legs looking badly hurt

which prompted the referee to stop the bout.

This was a very impressive showing by Dalton who walked in this bout as the underdog and is now crowned the new WBC Junior Welterweight Champion of the World. As of today, the United Kingdom now has five active male Champions.

Fabio Wardley -WBO Heavyweight Champion

Lewis Crocker -IBF Welterweight Champion

Dalton Smith -WBC Junior Welterweight Champion

Jazza Dickens -Junior Lightweight Champion

Nick Ball WBA -Featherweight Champion

Congratulations Dalton!  As Champion you are now the new kid on the block so make your presence felt.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Amanda Serrano vs Reina Tellez”

WBA/WBO Featherweight Title Defence

Last night’s MVP Promotions/DAZN Main Event at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, between WBA/WBO/Ring Magazine Featherweight Champion Amanda Serrano (48-4-1, 31 Kos) and late replacement, undefeated challenger Reina Tellez (13-1-1, 5 Kos), gave the Puerto Rican fans in attendance a very entertaining bout on Saturday night. Real Talk!

Reina knew exactly who she was up against inside that squared circle so she made sure she brought her “A” game and that “HEAT” straight to Amanda. Reina was impressive, tough, strong and proved to be very durable warrior.

That being said, Serrano is a living legend and “The Real Deal” inside that squared circle and being back at her natural weight Division meant she was back to her old self. Amanda handled Reina’s pressure like she did all her previous foes. Amanda pressed the action with her high-volume punch output going from head to body with a very accurate jab that was backed with power and definitely made her presence felt in every round of this bout.  

Reina stood her ground and fought toe-to-toe with the Champ and landed some pretty good shots and definitely had some moments, but the pace and the experience that Amanda has was quite visible as the rounds progressed.  Amanda showed levels above Reina in the later rounds by being the aggressor and landing the more telling punches and combinations.

It was a very competitive bout for both combatants but after 10 full three-minute rounds of nonstop action, the Judges at hand scored it 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 unanimously for Amanda Serrano.

With this win, Amanda retained her WBA/WBO/Ring Magazine Featherweight Titles and secured a successful defense in her home town of Puerto Rico.

Well done, Champ!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About The NBA-Who’s On Top?

The NBA Who’s On Top?

We are officially at the Quarter mark of this year’s NBA Season and with the flourishing completion of the third edition of the NBA In-Season Tournament dubbed the Emirates NBA Cup, the changing of the guards is looking quite interesting within the early standings keeping the viewership locked in.

The NBA In-Season Tournament has been successful in keeping the players engaged, competitive and absolutely motivated to reach the final destination in Las Vegas. This year, the two unexpected teams to represent their respective coasts for this In-Season Tournament were none other than the No. 2 Seed the New York Knicks (18-7) and the No. 4 Seed the San Antonio Spurs (18-7). Staged on a neutral floor, both teams balled out furiously like it was the NBA Finals bringing life to the game from start to finish. Both teams were hot from the jump and competed at both ends of the floor for every minute of the first three quarters of the games, but it’s in the fourth quarter where the Knicks separated themselves by closing out the quarter strongly with a balanced effort from the entire team and from their leader Jalen Brunson who dropped 25 points, 8 dimes and 4 boards to help defeat a tough squad in the Spurs and claimed his first NBA Cup MVP Award.

All the players and coaches on the New York Knicks will receive $530,933 each and as the runners-up, the San Antonio Spurs will receive $212,373 each. Well done!

In-Season Tournament aside, the championship game will not count for either team’s regular season record, unlike every other game played in the event.

That being said, the true team holding down the No. 1 Spot are the Defending Champions the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-2). Them Boys are still riding high off their championship run and are balling on a different level.  They are looking stronger game by game and conducting themselves like true champions looking to go back-to-back.

The Denver Nuggets (19-6) are steadily pacing themselves in the competitive Western Conference proving to be worthy even with injuries to key players. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, they will be always be the game. That said, between the Los Angeles Lakers (18-7), the San Antonio Spurs (18-7) the Houston Rockets (16-7), the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-9), all are all playing musical chairs in the early stages of the season with the Phoenix Suns (14-12), the Golden State Warriors vying desperately to stay in the race.

The Detroit Pistons (21-5) are out the gate with their best start in the last 20 years. Their defense is looking tight like the old school Pistons and their young balance squad are balling on a contender level. Game by game these Boys are looking like the truth. The New York Knicks (18-7), fresh off winning the Emirates NBA Cup are looking dangerously improved and well balanced for the long haul and ready to keep the momentum going. As for the Toronto Raptors (16-11), the Boston Celtics (15-11), the Orlando Magic (15-11), the Philadelphia 76ers (14-11), the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-12), the Atlanta Hawks (15-12) and the Miami Heat (14-12), all are a few games apart from each other and all have been competitive with one another as well.  That being said, we are still in the early stages of the season and positioning is crucial where every game is meaningful so stay locked in as the season progresses.

Blaze