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 Dmitry Bivol vs Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez”

WBA Light Heavyweight Challenge

A very intriguing matchup in the Light Heavyweight Division has officially been announced. WBA Light-Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 Kos) has now been ordered to defend his Championship Belt against undefeated Mandatory Challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-0, 30 Kos) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates on Saturday November 5, 2022.

This is a bout Ramirez has been looking forward to ever since he moved up to the Light Heavyweight Division in 2019. “Zurdo” is quite big for the Division and packs a mean punch in both hands whenever they detonate on one of his opponents. That said “Zurdo” has never faced such a cerebral opponent of the likes of Bivol with a high boxing IQ inside that squared circle. Dmitry is fresh off a win over the previous Pound-for Pound King Canelo Alvarez. On that night Dmitry showed the world and Canelo just how dominant he can be when faced with the best of the best of adversaries.

Looking at both combatants face to face, the size difference is quite noticeable. “Zurdo” looks like a full-blown Cruiserweight campaigning in the Light Heavyweight Division. Real Talk! Nevertheless, Bivol relishes his odds and can’t wait to go toe to toe with Ramirez, who also feels very confident that he has what it takes to finally dethrone the Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol. Gilberto is adamant that his physical attributes, his experience and his own boxing IQ will be enough to do the job on Bivol come Saturday night November 5, 2022, inside that squared circle at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates.

The date is set, and the talking is done. It’s time to show up and put out and see who can back it up inside that squared circle.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II”

IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Rematch Challenge

Tonight’s Heavyweight Championship rematch between Undefeated Unified IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 Kos) and former Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 Kos) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, definitely lived up to the hype.

This highly anticipated bout was a continuation from their last meeting but this time Joshua, with a new trainer by his side, performed exceptionally better then his last outing. This time around AJ had a much better “game plan” and proceeded to execute it well but Usyk with his country of Ukraine at war on his mind, fought with all his people on the back of his shoulders and performed remarkably well with the added pressure.

That being said, AJ’s “game plan” was the right way to go about it in this bout but as the rounds progressed AJ seemed to divert from the plan at hand at times as Usyk proved to be just as elusive with his boxing skill on full display figuring AJ out as the rounds advanced.

AJ had some moments where he had the upper hand but neglected to capitalize and finish the job as the bigger and stronger man inside that squared circle and those critical times were key to him having that window of success.

Usyk weathered the storm and fought through the adversity and like the great technical combatant that he is managed to turn things around while never losing focus or confidence inside that squared circle.

This bout was a much closer outing then their last encounter but the deciding factors to me were the championship rounds where Usyk separated himself from AJ by being the much busier combatant in the most important rounds.

Both combatants showed fatigue in the later rounds but Usyk closed it out with pure will and effort in my eyes. After 12 full rounds of none stop action, the Judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 for Usyk and 115-113 for Joshua giving the split decision win to Oleksandr Usyk.

With this second win over AJ under his belt, Usyk retained his IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Championship belts and picked up the prestigious Ring Magazine belt for good measure.

Had Anthony stuck to the original “game plan” and not gassed out, we definitely could have seen a different outcome but the superior warrior in Oleksandr Usyk prevailed and completed the task at hand.

Congratulations Oleksandr on your latest accomplishment, well done.

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 Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua”

IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Rematch Challenge

It has officially been announced, the highly anticipated Heavyweight rematch between newly crowned undefeated unified IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 Kos) and former Heavyweight Champion and challenger Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 Kos), has now been set for August 20th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

This bout is a very important bout for both combatants but more so for the Heavyweight Division in general as the winner of this bout will most likely be looking to unify the Division with WBC/Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 Kos).

That said, looking ahead is irrelevant at this point without first seeing the outcome of this rematch. Usyk has proven to all the naysayers that he is a legit Heavyweight worthy of the Heavyweight Crown by the way he systematically broke down Anthony round by round in their previous outing. Usyk is a very skillful combatant with the attributes to adapt to any scenario. A focussed Usyk is a difficult man to beat inside that squared circle.

That said, AJ will need to produce the right “game plan” in order to beat this version of the “War Machine” dedicated to representing his country by all means necessary. With a new trainer, Robert Garcia now running the camp, I anticipate a more aggressive, active, focussed and better prepared AJ to be ready to do whatever it takes to be victorious on August 20th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

We already know what Usyk will be bringing into that squared circle and judging by the odds makers favoring Usyk, they too are assuming a second victory over Anthony is inevitable. It will be up to AJ to defy all odds and execute the right plan at hand to avenge his loss and recapture the missing belts from his previous conqueror.

So much at stake and so many questions, tune in on DAZN Saturday August 20th from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to see who will reign supreme when the “Rage of the Red Sea” settles.

Blaze