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 Daniel Jacobs”

Middleweight Unification Challenge

Last night’s Main Event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas did not disappoint. Once again, Middleweight WBA, WBC, Ring Magazine, Lineal Champion Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 Kos) proved to his peers and the World why he is the “Kingpin” of the Middleweight Division, hands down, by defeating with a unanimous decision IBF Middleweight Champion, Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 29 Kos).

There was no controversy here last night. Both came out with their respective “game plan” and executed it as best as they could. It was a chess match from start to finish, a well thought out bout.

Canelo, the shorter fighter of the two, pressed the action and kept his hands busy with a very good jab to go along with steady body punches and a higher percentage of power shots, while Jacobs started off slow and was having a harder time asserting himself throughout the bout.

It took Jacobs a few more rounds to eventually get things going but by that time, Canelo was ahead on the cards and had already affirmed himself and knew exactly how to disrupt Jacobs’ offence.

The Kid Canelo is a serious problem inside that squared circle. If you’re going to start slow against him, you’re doomed from the jump. You have to stay on point at all times against this Kat, one slip up and he has you.

Although Jacobs was the bigger, taller fighter, Canelo’s in ring experience and boxing IQ made up for any possible disadvantage. This was a true test in every way. Two well-schooled Champions going at it on the biggest stage.

Unlike Canelo’s last bout with Gennady Golovkin, this was not a war but a skillful display of boxing at its best.

All three Judges had Canelo winning by the scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112. (No complaints from me.) Listen, had Jacobs connected more with his power shots and started early, this bout could have easily been a draw. Real Talk!

That being said, with this win Canelo now captured his third Middleweight Title. He now possesses the IBF, WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine Belts. In order to completely unify the Middleweight Division, Alvarez needs to collect the last remaining WBO Belt from Champion Demetrius Andrade. Not an easy task but definitely one well worth the challenge.

Until then, congratulations on your latest great achievement. You truly are the “Kingpin” of the Middleweight Division.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Claressa Shields vs Christina Hammer”

Undisputed Middleweight Championship

Last night’s performance by Claressa Shields (9-0, 2 Kos) at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was a thing of beauty. Real Talk! Claressa talked that talk and backed up every word of it inside that squared circle and in doing so walked away the Undisputed Women’s Middleweight Champion of the World. Real Talk!

Shields, the younger Champion simply outclassed and outworked Hammer (24-1, 11 Kos) the more seasoned Champion round by round. Claressa fought with that hunger in her eyes while Christina showed fear with no real sense of urgency knowing, she was behind on the cards.

Personally, I expected Christina to put up a way better performance than what she came out with last night but truth be told Hammer had absolutely no way of disrupting Shields’s onslaught. Claressa’s speed, high work rate, counter punches combined with her power punches were just too much for Christina to settle in any type of offensive redeem.

This “Super Fight” was a one-sided schooling session by the younger but highly gifted Claressa Shields. All three Judges were in agreeance with the score of 98-92 for Claressa Shields. Nuff said!

Claressa came in with the IBF, WBA and WBC Middleweight Belts around her waist and picked up the WBO Championship Belt from Christina and the prestigious Ring Magazine Belt that was also up for grabs on this very special night. Dream achieved.

With all 5 Belts now safely in her possession, Claressa is willing to challenge herself one step further by moving one weight Division down to Welterweight and challenge the Undisputed Champion Cecilia Braekhus, the first women in any weight class to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine Titles concurrently.

Listen, if this “Super Fight” were ever to come to fruition, the winner of this bout could definitely lay claims to being crowned “The Greatest Female Boxer” of all time. Real Talk!

Until then congratulations on your Historical achievement.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Danny Jacobs”

Middleweight Unification Challenge

Another highly anticipated bout has officially been announced today between Middleweight “Kingpin” IBO, WBA, WBC, Lineal Champion Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 Kos) and IBF Middleweight Champion Danny “Miracle Man” Jacobs (35-2, 29 Kos).

A unification bout has been set for May 4, 2019 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, airing live and exclusively on DAZN and Sky Box Office.

I’m impressed with how Canelo is stepping up and taking on another real challenger in Danny, cause your “Boy” Jacobs is no walk in the park for anyone in the Middleweight Division. Real Talk! Canelo has been on a roll and showing steady improvement, with levels upon levels every time he walked into that squared circle. Canelo is one of the best pound-for-pound in the “Game“ today and a win against Jacobs could possibly move him up closer to that No. 1 spot on the pound-for-pound list in my eyes.

That being said, Jacobs is cut from a different cloth. He’s a thoroughbred who’s been down before but fought his way back to the top and re-established himself as a very worthy opponent who’s ready to shock the world come fight night. There is a lot riding on this fight for both combatants but for Jacobs, this is his second chance and possibly his last at unifying the Division, so coming short of accomplishing his goal is not in the plans.

Styles makes fights and with this in mind I can’t wait to see how this one plays out. This is a real 50/50 fight where both warriors are strong, agile, ring savvy with a very high boxing IQ. Aside from the height and reach difference between the two, the real denominator will be which one will have the better “Game Plan” come fight night.

There are levels to this Boxing sh*t, so tune in Saturday night May 4, 2019, exclusively on DAZN and Sky Box Office or better yet be there live at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to witness two of the best Middleweights battling it out for “supremacy” of the Division.

The time has come, who will triumph?

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Claressa Shields vs Christina Hammer”

Middleweight Unification Challenge

Women’s Boxing has been picking up some steam as of late and will continue in doing so with the first Undisputed Showdown in the women’s 160-Pound Division.

This unification bout on the horizon between Claressa Shields (8-0, 2 Kos) a Two-Division Champion who holds the IBF, WBA and WBC Belt, and Christina Hammer (24-0, 11 Kos) who possesses the WBO and WBC Champion in Recess Belt, will go down in history as one of the biggest women’s bout for the ages.

These two young Undefeated Champions, in their prime, are putting it all on the line Saturday April 13 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It’s clear off the jump that Christina has the edge base on the experience. Having been a Champion for over eight years she definitely “hammered” her way through the Women’s Middleweight Division with her gloves up.

That being said, Shields is not your typical girl on the come up. Claressa has entered the professional level iced up with back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016, then after four fights in she acquired two Super Middleweight World Titles. To further challenge herself Claressa then dropped down to the Middleweight Division and contested for two vacant Middleweight Titles that she proudly owns the rights to today.

Christina considers herself the best Middleweight in the “Game” and plans on putting the “Hammer” on Shields come fight night but truth be told, Claressa has her own agenda and will be looking to prove Christina wrong by becoming the Women’s Undisputed World Middleweight Champion.

Skills for skills these two female warriors match up pretty well inside that squared circle but there can only be one face, one name, one champion. Who will prevail under pressure and the bright lights?

Tune in Saturday night, April 13 live on SHOWTIME from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and be part of a historical night.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker”

Heavyweight Title Unification

Tonight, at the sold-out Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 Kos) unanimously decision Joseph Parker (24-1, 18 Kos) in their 12-round bout to become Super WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO Unified Heavyweight Champion of the world!!!

All three Judges had AJ winning by a large Margin. Hands Down! Truth be told this was not the most exiting AJ performance to date but my Boy showed character and patience tonight inside that squared circle and kept with the game plan at hand. AJ was the predator all night and Parker the pray with no real answer to AJ’s advancement towards him. I was seriously expecting Parker to be more aggressive and quicker of his feet but tonight his performance was very lackluster compared to what he usually brings to the squared circle. Styles make fights but that only works if both fighters are fully engaged and tonight that was not the case.

Tonight, AJ’s knockout streak may have ended but the job at hand was still delivered, he secured the win and collected Parker’s WBO Belt to become Unified Champion.

It’s clear that as the competition improves for AJ so does the challenge. Every time out is an opportunity to show improvement and tonight going the full 12-rounds unmarked by his opponent for the first time is a good way to gage where your are at this point in your career. Real Talk!

Congratulations on your win tonight AJ, you are one step closer to becoming Undisputed. Keep working and perfecting your craft but keep in mind there can only be one true “King” in the Heavyweight Division so be cautious of Deontay Wilder the man holding the last peace to the puzzle, the WBC Belt, cause he’s a BADDDD Man inside that squared circle.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin”

Middleweight World Supremacy Battle Take 2!

The Battle of the Middleweight World Supremacy between Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) is back on once again on May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

This highly anticipated sequel between these two badass Middleweights has taken a life of its own. Both fighters feel like they both did enough last September 16, 2017 to walk away with the win. The 12-round split draw has left them both with a sour taste in their mouth and the only way to get rid of it is to battle it out and take the Judges out of the equation one time!

As expected the trash talking has been quietly building up some steam as of late from both sides. Canelo is talking real greasy about guaranteeing a knockout while Golovkin is stating that he will put in some heavy bodywork to slow down the pit-bull from moving around all over the place. Golovkin will be aiming to breakdown Canelo systematically round by round.

They both have tasted each other’s best shots so hopefully the fear factor is out the window and these two combatants meet up in the center of the ring and go blow for blow. Both have very exceptional skills that will come into play. Canelo is very elusive with exceptional Boxing IQ.

Golovkin’s Boxing IQ is also exceptional but his style is that of a more aggressive fighter who doesn’t like to waste too much energy when he’s putting in that work inside that squared circle.

Neither fighter appeared badly hurt at any point during their initial clash but I’m thinking this go around someone is definitely going to feel some serious pain. What we the fans need and want from our fighters is the best to fight the best but that only comes second to what these two-determined combatants want to accomplish and that’s a clear-cut winner come Saturday night May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

All the Middleweight Belts WBC, IBO, WBA, IBF are at stake and there can only be one clear Champion.

Who you got on Take 2 of this Battle of the Middleweight World Supremacy?

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About James DeGale vs Caleb Truax”

IBF Super Middleweight Championship

Wow!!! When cherry picking goes wrong??? Tonight at the Copper Box Arena in London, England, a battered and bruised DeGale (23-2-1, 14Kos) got his butt handed to him in front of his home crowd. REAL TALK! What was supposed to be a tune-up fight in his first fight back in 11 months after shoulder surgery, turned out to be a hell of a dogfight for James DeGale.

I think that DeGale and his team dropped the ball when they chose #15 IBF Caleb Truax (29-3-2, 18 Kos) as an assumed easy mark for his comeback fight.

Caleb studied the game plan on how to beat DeGale and executed it to a “T” tonight. Caleb’s non-stop pressure and busy hands were troubling DeGale all night with no answer to his aggressive style. To me DaGale looked shaky and unsure in that squared circle. Caleb did a great job at cutting the ring off and controlling every round. I have to tip my “B” hat to Caleb for stepping up to the challenge at hand and outclassing James DeGale on his home soil by snatching the IBF Belt and becoming the New Super Middleweight Champion.

Tonight the odds were against you and you defied them all and came out on top.
Congratulations Champ on a win well deserved.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam”

IBF, IBO, WBA Heavyweight Championship

Due to Kubrat Pulev’s injury sustained two weeks or so before the fight a mandatory late replacement was found in the shape and form of # 3 IBF Carlos Takam (35-4-1, 27 Kos). The Frenchman stepped in to become Joshua’s worthy challenger at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Saturday night October 28, 2017.

Having seen how tough and durable Takam is, tonight he did not disappoint me despite the referee stopping the bout in the 10th round. Going toe-to-toe with AJ is not an easy task to do and Takam showed heart and courage tonight but just didn’t have enough in the form of power or proper game plan to put AJ out.

Tonight, AJ performed beautifully by winning every round and never losing control inside that squared circle. Although AJ scored a knockdown in the fourth round, the boxing fans at ringside booed the stoppage of round 10, as they felt that AJ should have been allowed to try and finish Takam, who was still on his feet at the time but in the referee’s opinion was taking too much punishment.

I personally think it was a great fight. AJ needs rounds like these to help him build and improve on his boxing skills as a fighter. With that being said AJ successfully defended his IBF, IBO and WBA Heavyweight Titles and kept his flawless knockout record intact (20-0, 20Kos).

Congratulations Champ now on to 2018!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Andre “S.O.G.” Ward”

Andre Ward Retiring From Boxing

Today we see another future Hall of Famer hang his Boxing Gloves up. Andre “S.O.G.” Ward is one of very few Professional Boxers who get to walk away while still being on the top of his Game. His accolades in this Boxing Game speak for himself. 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Two-Division World Champion, Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion, Reigning Pound-For Pound WBA, WBO, IBF and still undefeated (32-0 16Kos). Nuff said.

Haters are going to talk that shit about homey but REAL TALK, I’m happy to see Ward walk away from Boxing on his own terms. Andre is part of that exceptional breed of disciplined Boxers who took the Game seriously and stayed on path throughout his entire career and looking back at it now, all that hard work and dedication to the sport he loved paid off.

Even if his career ends earlier than anyone projected, “Hate him or love him” peeps can’t front on what Ward brought to the Boxing World. You will be missed. Thank you Andre “S.O.G.” Ward for blessing us with your greatness.

Blaze