On The Watch “It’s All About Gilberto Ramirez vs Sullivan Barrera”

Light Heavyweight Showdown

Last night’s Golden Boy/DAZN Main Event between Gilberto Ramirez (42-0, 28 Kos) and Sullivan Barrera (22-3, 14 Kos) at the Banc of California Stadium, in Los Angeles, California, was nothing more than some light sparring work for the one they call “Zurdo”. Real Talk!

I was expecting some serious leather to be thrown back and forth from these two combatants considering Barrera was a strong durable opponent who usually poses a threat when inside that squared circle but, what I actually witnessed was a quick one-sided thrashing coming from the hands of Ramirez.

Ramirez’s “game plan” was straight and simple to follow and didn’t take time to assess as he found the holes in Barrera’s defense and made him pay dearly with some serious body shots that dropped Barrera three times, including twice in the fourth round which then prompted the referee to stop the bout. Unbelievable.

I’ve watch many of Barrera’s bouts to date and never seen the man succumb to submission as easily as that. Gilberto Ramirez is a serious problem inside that squared circle. In only his third bout at the 175-Pound Division, Ramirez has definitely put the Champions on notice and directly called out WBA Super Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol (18-0, 11 Kos).

Now if Dmitry answers that call and accepts the challenge, them two inside that squared circle would unquestionably be a very intriguing matchup.

Let’s see if this bout can be made but, until then congratulations “Zurdo” on your latest win.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Jojo Diaz Jr. vs Javier Fortuna”

Vacant WBC Interim Lightweight Title

Jojo Diaz Jr. (32-1-1, 15 Kos) came up a division last night to the 135-Pound Division to challenge Javier Fortuna (36-3-1, 25 Kos) for the WBC Interim Lightweight Title on the Golden Boy/DAZN co Main Event at the Banc of California Stadium, in Los Angeles, California, and did not disappoint.

Jojo stayed true to himself and came in tip top shape made weight comfortably and looked like a legit Lightweight inside that squared circle.

Jojo understood what this important bout meant to him and his future and wasted no time asserting himself inside that squared circle. Jojo needed a great performance last night and he made sure to deliver.

Both combatants threw some serious hands at each other going back and forth keeping things exciting but as the rounds were piling up you could clearly see Diaz getting a slight edge over Fortuna.

I don’t think Javier anticipated Diaz being so aggressive and active with his hands but them two combatants made it tough on each other with Diaz probably getting the better body work of the two. The phone booth style they had going at times was very impressive.

That being said, this was certainly a close bout and after 12 rounds of non-stop action the Judges scored it 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 unanimously in favor of Jojo Diaz Jr. Personally, I thought the bout was a lot closer than that but the right warrior definitely won this fight.

With this great win Jojo picked up the Vacant WBC Interim Lightweight Title and is now looking to compete amongst the top of the 135-Pound Division of the likes of Ring Magazine and Unified “King Pin” Teofimo Lopez, WBC Champion Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Ryan Garcia.

However, the two main combatants on his list as of today are Ryan Garcia or WBC Champion Devin Haney.

Let’s see who answers the call, until then congratulations Jojo you earned that one.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Jaime Munguia vs Kamil Szeremeta”

WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title Defense

Last night’s Golden Boy/DAZN Main Event between WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Champion Jaime Munguia (37-0, 29 Kos) and Kamil Szeremeta (21-2, 5 Kos) at the Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, was another showcase type of event for the Champion.

No disrespect to Szeremeta but he did not belong inside that squared circle with this young Lion Munguia. I personally think this bout was a step down from his previous outing. This bout was simply an open night to some light sparing session for Munguia.

Munguia may not be quite ready for the belt holders in the Division but the kid needs to be fed with better competition. You can clearly see he’s eager to test his skills with the best of them.

Szeremeta had absolutely nothing to offer him. Munguia was having his way with him with little to no resistance coming back Munguia’s body and head attacks were simply too strong for Szeremeta to withstand. It was like watching Munguia hit the heavy bag at will. It didn’t take long for Szeremeta’s corner to pull the plug at the end of the 6th round. The onslaught was just too painful to watch. Real Talk!

The kid needs to be unleashed and properly tested. Hopefully his next bout will do just that.

Just my thoughts.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Bektemir Melikuziev vs Gabe Rosado”

Vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Title

Veteran Gabe Rosado (26-13-1, 15 Kos) proved to still be a formidable opponent on any given night when he dropped and stopped the young and previously undefeated Bektemir Melikuziev (7-1, 6 Kos) in dramatic fashion at the Don Haskins Center, EL Paso, Texas, last night.

The matchmakers for Melikuziev saw Rosado as a name they could use to keep busy and by the way, Melikuziev started the first round with some heavy punches going from head to the body and eventually dropping Rosado for a quick 8 count. Many thought it would be another quick night of action for Melikuziev.

That being said, Rosado stood his ground and weathered the early onslaught from the young warrior but in doing so also capitalized on the Bully’s mistakes and bad habits when he connected with a strong right hand to the dome in the third round that knocked out the bigger and stronger Bektemir for the count. Lights out!

This was by far Rosado’s most impressive win to date. They underestimated Gabe and treated him as a folder type opponent and found out it was simply too soon of a challenge for Melikuziev to take at this point in his early career.

With this emphatic win Gabe now picked up the Vacant WBO International Super Middleweight title. Well done.

Congratulations Gabe on your latest win. Keep working hard and proving your naysayers wrong.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Devin Haney vs Jorge Linares”

WBC Lightweight Title Defense

Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, between WBC Lightweight Champion Devin Haney (26-0, 15 Kos) and Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 Kos) was an intriguing bout that definitely lived up to the hype. Real Talk!

Straight from the jump Devin knew he had himself a real test inside that squared circle and did not wait for his opponent to warm up. Devin applied some serious pressure with a stiff jab that had Linares puzzled at first unable to counter Devin’s steady offence.

Devin surprisingly went blow for blow with the savvy veteran which was quite entertaining. As the rounds progressed Linares started to loosen up and performed exceptionally well, turning this bout into a serious scrap withstanding and administering heavy shots of his own. Linares looked good last night and showed that he still got the goods to go rounds with the best of them in the Division.

That being said, Devin got a little careless exchanging blows with the veteran and got caught with a heavy clean shot in the 10th round that had him on shaky legs near the end of the round.
Although Devin survived the round, Linares was picking up momentum in the 11th round but was unable to finish off Devin who was holding on for the most part of the round clearly still on shaky legs.

In the 12th and final round, Devin still looked a little shook from the two previous rounds but proceeded to box and move for the remainder of the round instead of staying in the pocket with the still fresh and aggressive looking Linares.

Devin needed a bout like this where he had to dig deep when adversity presented itself inside that squared circle. After 12 full rounds of action the Judges scored it unanimously 116-112, 116-112, 115-113 for Devin Haney who successfully retained his WBC Lightweight Title.

Great performance Champ now on to the next.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders”

WBA/WBC/WBO Super Middleweight Title Unification

Last night’s DAZN/Matchroom Main Event card at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, between Pound-for-Pound “Kingpin” Unified Super WBA/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 Kos) and WBO Super Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders (30-1, 14 Kos) definitely lived up to the hype in front of a record-breaking indoor crowd of 73,126 in attendance.

This bout was an intriguing-type fight, a high played chess match executed on the biggest stage that required both combatants to strategize every move countered by each other. Billy showed up big tonight and proved to be a worthy opponent with exceptional skills that made things quite tricky at times with his elusive ways. Billy fought well, boxed and moved with the right “game plan” at hand until Canelo started to set Billy up by applying calculated pressure with some heavy body punches that really troubled Billy as the rounds were piling up.

Canelo is a different “Beast” inside that squared circle and Billy found out just how tough of an opponent Canelo can be when pressed to go toe to toe. Canelo kept it cool round by round but never wavered when Billy had his moments in spurts building his own confidence up. However, it was only a matter of time before Canelo eventually caught up to Billy. That being said a devastating right uppercut to Billy’s right eye did just that in the 8th round and undeniably changed the momentum in Canelo’s favor. The “End Game” was inevitable.

That particular punch instantly swelled Billy’s eye shut. Due to the heavy damage sustained, Billy retired on his stool following the end of the 8th round, unable to continue.

With this stoppage Canelo was awarded the TKO victory and awarded the WBO Super Middleweight Belt to be added to his collection alongside his Super WBA/WBC and Ring Magazine Titles. Once again Canelo captures the “0” of another undefeated and worthy Champion in Billy Joe Saunders.

The road to Undisputed is still the task at hand. In order to attain the last remaining Title, Canelo will need to Unify the 168-Pound Division by Challenging the IBF Champion Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 Kos). Another captivating bout to look forward too.

History is on your horizon Canelo, until then, congratulations on another convincing win.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Demetrius Andrade vs Liam Williams”

WBO Middleweight Title Defence

Tonight’s DAZN/Matchroom Main Event between WBO Middleweight Champion Demetrius Andrade (30-0, 18 Kos) and mandatory challenger Liam Williams (23-3-1, 18 Kos) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, was tougher than expected for the Middleweight Champion.

I gotta tip my “B” hat to Liam who proved to be tough and competitive as expected on his first title opportunity. Liam stood his ground, got dropped early in the second round for a quick 8 count but bounced right back up and continued to apply non-stop pressure throughout the rest of the rounds.

That being said, Andrade defended off the pressure coming his way by boxing and administering some serious power punches that were visibly landing at will. Surprisingly Andrade stayed in the pocket a lot longer than expected but definitely got the better of Liam as the rounds were piling up.

Liam definitely stepped-up big time tonight and tried to go toe to toe with the Champ by roughing him up but Andrade proved to be too allusive at times and made it extremely hard for Liam to land anything significant to slow Andrade down.

Liam made the Champ work tonight but after 12 rounds of action all three Judges saw it 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111 all in favor of Demetrius Andrade. Hands Down!

With this win Andrade successfully defended his WBO Middleweight Title for the fourth time. There are levels to this boxing sh*t and Andrade clearly showed tonight that he still got plenty of levels to go when tested as the competition improves.

Congratulations Demetrius on another great win. Hopefully a Unification bout is on the horizon.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Juan Francisco Estrada vs Roman Gonzalez 2”

WBA/WBC Super Flyweight Unification

Last night’s highly anticipated rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada (42-3, 28 Kos) and Roman Gonzalez (50-3, 41 Kos) at the American Airlines Arena was well worth the “Hype”. Real Talk!

This DAZN/Matchroom Main Event was blazing from start to finish. These two warriors picked up right where they left off back in November 2012. Both threw non-stop leather with controlled aggression coming from both sides.

Neither warrior backed down, however, as the rounds wore on Roman, seemed to be landing the more telling punches. It was a tight bout to call with enough action that had the fans in attendance standing and screaming on their feet. The combination punches were coming in abundance from Roman while Juan attempted to control the distance and returning heat with similar aggression.

There was so much leather being thrown inside that squared circle from both combatants that they had a combined record of 2,529 total punches thrown in a Super Flyweight Division bout to date. The bar was seriously raised in this Super Flyweight bout last night.

That being said, two Judges on the night scored it 117-111, 115-113 for Juan Francisco while one Judge had it 115-113 for Roman. I’m perplexed by the 117-111 score of that particular Judge cause truth be told, neither one of the combatants deserved a ridiculous score like this. Real talk!!

Score card aside, this bout could have gone either way. Juan won his revenge match and in doing so retained his WBC Belt collected Roman’s WBA Super Belt and picked up the prestigious Ring Magazine Belt for good measure. Not bad for a revenge match.

Congratulations Juan on your great win, you worked extremely hard for this one. Enjoy the fruits of your labour, you deserve it.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Jessica McCaskill vs Cecilia Braekhus”

Undisputed Welterweight Championship

Last night’s DAZN/Matchroom co-Main Event Undisputed Welterweight Championship rematch showdown at the American Airlines Arena between Jessica McCaskill (10-2, 3 Kos) and Cecilia Braekhus (36-2, 9 Kos) was a dominant performance by the Champion. Real Talk!

Jessica, who was the first to dethrone the “First Lady” back in August 2020, in what many have called a controversy win, proved last night that her previous victory over Cecilia was justified when she convincingly sealed the deal the second time around.

Jessica asserted herself from round one and never took her foot off the gas pedal and stayed in attack mode dropping heavy leather from all angles. This surprising fast pace that had Cecilia confused, off balance and unable to settle into her own offence all night.

I’m not sure what the “game plan” was for Cecilia but it was very unexpected to see someone with such a high boxing IQ struggle the way she did inside that squared circle. Cecilia did manage to apply some pressure in the later rounds but the damage was already sealed.
The Judges had seen enough and scored it 100-89, 99-90, 98-91 in favor of Jessica.

With this unanimous decision Jessica silenced all the naysayers and retained her WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO and collected the prestigious Ring Magazine Championship Belt and still Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World.

Congratulations Jessica on such a great victory.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Avni Yildirim”

WBA/WBC Super Middleweight World Challenge

Last night’s DAZN/Matchroom Main Event between Pound-for-Pound “KingPin” Unified WBA Super/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 Kos) and Avni Yildirim (21-3, 12 Kos) at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, was a necessary mandated WBC title defense that could not be avoided.

That being said, it was clear from round one that Avni had absolutely no business inside that squared circle opposite of Canelo. For someone who had the privilege of being in camp with Canelo in the past and shared quite a few rounds with the “Champ” you would think that the fear factor would be nonexistent but that was not the case last night.

Avni, who was visibly the bigger fighter got bullied and abused straight from jump with little to no resistance which made it painful to watch. Avni stood there like a punching bag while Canelo battered him on all angles from the head to the body.

The onslaught by Canelo continued in the third round where Alvarez dropped Avni with a devastating right hand to the dome for an 8 count that saw him survive the round. However, Joel Diaz, Avni’s trainer had seen enough in his non-responsive fighter and pulled the plug before the 4th round even started.

With this successful defense of the WBA “Super”/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Championships, Canelo now has a clear path to a unification bout against WBO slick Champion Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 Kos) which has already been set for May 8, 2021 Cinco De Mayo weekend.

Billy Joe is no cakewalk when focussed inside that squared circle. I’m anticipating a calculated and exciting bout between them two come fight night.

Congratulations Canelo. The road to “Undisputed” is that much closer. Now on to the next.

Blaze