On The Watch “It’s All About Erickson Lubin vs Jeison Rosario”

WBC Junior Middleweight Eliminator

Last night’s PPV PBC/Showtime Co Main Event between Erickson Lubin (24-1, 17 Kos) and Jeison Rosario (20-3-1, 14 Kos)  at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, was a statement type bout that was much needed in the Division.

It didn’t take much time for the two warriors to start exchanging leather back and forth, the only looming question was who would be able to withstand the onslaught.

Erickson looked more patient with his approach while Rosario pressed the action leaving quite a few holes open for Erickson to capitalize on. Although both combatants landed quite a few heavy shots on one another it was Rosario who seemed, to me, to have lost some serious punch resistance.

Once Erickson realized that Rosario’s punch resistance was shot it was only a matter of time before he connected on something significant. By the 6th round Erickson pressed the action and landed some serious head and body shots that sent Rosario down for a quick 8 count but then once up couldn’t sustain further body shots that sent him down for the second time and a full unanswered count.

With this win “The Hammer” may have scored his most impressive win to date over former unified World Champion Jeison Rosario. Now it’s about taking this WBC No. 1-Ranked contender position and push for that the rematch to avenge his only loss to WBC/WBA/IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Jermell Charlo.

Until then, keep killing your opposition.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Jermall Charlo vs Juan Macias Montiel”

WBC Middleweight Title Defense

Last night’s PBC/Showtime Main Event between WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 Kos) and Juan Macias Montiel (22-5-2, 22 Kos) turned out to be a better show than expected at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

The “Hit Man” was definitely in a fight last night and although he clearly won the bout, I gotta tip my “B” hat to Montiel for making it exciting. Montiel came to fight and made it quite interesting. If Charlo was looking for an easy fight last night Montiel made sure to make it tough for him at least as best he could. Montiel showed some serious durability in this bout. Dude refused to bow down to the “Hit Man”. Charlo hit this Dude with everything from head to body with some serious sting behind it and Montiel, although clearly buzzed out at times looking punch drunk, still fought back and held his own. Montiel definitely earned my respect with this one.

Montiel never stopped coming forward throughout the bout. After 12 rounds of non-stop action, the Judges scored it 120-108, 119-109, 118-109 unanimously in favor of Jermall Charlo. With this win Charlo retained his WBC Middleweight Title. Well done.

Montiel proved to be a hell of a tough competitor but Charlo demonstrated to be levels above inside that squared circle.

Congratulations Champ, can’t wait to see who’s next for the “Hit Man”.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Jarrett Hurd vs Luis Arias”

Middleweight Throwdown

Last night Luis Arias (19-2-1, 9 Kos) silenced a lot of naysayers when he entered that squared circle and upset Jarrett Hurd (24-2, 16 Kos) at the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Florida.

Arias, who was visibly the smaller fighter between the two surprisingly brought the fight to Hurd right from the jump. Exchanging leather for leather and going blow for blow making sure Hurd knew he was in for a hard long night of entertaining action.

Hurd, who usually likes to fight in the phone booth style, at times looked uncomfortable with the non-stop pressure that Arias was applying. Both were landing heavy shots on each other to the point that neither fighter could have easily been stopped during the bout. Real Talk!

Although this bout was quite entertaining to watch, I personally don’t think it’s the most effective way to preserve ones’ career. This type of fighting style is what cost Hurd his first loss to J-Rock. I’m not sure if this is due to the trainer change but your Boy Hurd looked like he’d regressed since his last ring appearance. Hurd’s defence was non-existent and if he plans on mixing it up with any of the top Dudes in the Junior Middleweight Division or the Middleweight Division with that style, the end result could be worse than this one. Real Talk!

That being said, I gotta tip my “B” hat to Arias for sticking to his “game plan” and never giving up or backing down from a tough challenge. You fought a good one with your head up high. You stood your ground and dished out more then you received.

After 10 hard rounds of action one Judge scored it 95-94 for Hurd while the other two Judges scored it 97-93 and 96-94 for Arias giving him the split decision.

Congratulations Luis, this was by far your best win to date, now keep this positive momentum going strong.

Blaze

On the Watch ” It’s All About Jaron Ennis vs Sergey Lipinets”

Welterweight Showdown

Jaron Ennis (27-0, 25 Kos) walked it like he talked when he completely destroyed tough and durable adversary Sergey Lipinets (16-2-1, 12 Kos) at last night’s Showtime Main Event card from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

It was business as usual for Jaron when he stepped inside that squared circle with absolutely no sign of fear. Once the bell rang in the first round Jaron established himself as the more physical combatant with his size and strength while boxing and moving effectively preventing Sergey from ever setting up his own offence.

Sergey usually gets around to imposing himself but last night he clearly lacked the proper “game plan” to counter Jaron’s steady calculated offence.

Jaron’s ring generalship and perfectly timed switch-hitting style was visibly confusing Sergey inside that squared circle.  The number of heavy shots that Sergey was absorbing was quite worrisome outside looking in. I personally expected Sergey to be more competitive with his work rate but the punishment that he was enduring by the sixth-round cost him heavily when he got caught cold with a right-left devastating combination that flatted him out to the canvas and prompted the referee to instantly call an end to the bout at 2:11 of the sixth-round.

This was a very impressive performance by Jaron considering Sergey had never been stopped before or punished in such a dominant fashion.

Jaron is making it be known that he’s coming for that Number 1 Spot in the Welterweight Division. My only question is who will volunteer to derail the young lion?

Congratulations Jaron on another great performance. Goodluck to the competition!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About David Benavidez vs Ronald Ellis”

WBC Super Middleweight Title Eliminator

It was another strong showing for David Benavidez (24-0, 21 Kos) at last night’s Showtime Boxing Main Event card at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut when he battled Ronald Ellis (18-2-2, 12 Kos) in a WBC Super Middleweight Title Eliminator.

Ellis made it fight for as long as he could but soon found out that Benavidez is a serious problem inside that squared circle. Outside looking in, many competitors think that Benavidez is nothing special with no real special effects to his style, but once that bell rings, they find out really quickly that the kid is strong and very effective with his non-stop offence. Benavidez won’t dazzle you with his footwork but he will cut the ring on you and apply that pressure from round one until the end of the fight.

That being said, Ellis fell victim to the same circumstances when it was painfully evident that the punishment Ellis was absorbing round after round would eventually wear him down. Ellis boxed and moved well and definitely made it interesting but the heavy combinations and deadly body and head shots that Benavidez was administering on Ellis forced the referee to ultimately jump in and stop the bout in the 11th round.

Benavidez is a top 168-Pounder who can no longer be avoided by any of the other top contenders in the Division. With this win Benavidez is one step closer at reclaiming his WBC Super Middleweight Title he lost on the scale by not making weight in the last fight.

Benavidez is now officially the new mandatory challenger to Canelo Alvarez’s WBC Super Middleweight Title. With that in mind Benavidez has no shortage of confidence and truly believes he’s the man who will dethrone Canelo from the No. 1 Spot.

This is an interesting bout between the two that needs to happen but with Canelo’s quest of unifying the Super Middleweight Division this year, we may have to wait to see this intriguing clash come into fruition.

Until then keep piling up the wins David.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Adrien Broner vs Jovanie Santiago”

Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Showtime Main Event between Adrien Broner (34-4-1, 24 Kos) and Jovanie Santiago (14-1-1, 10 Kos) from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut wasn’t as eventful as I expected. Real Talk!

Broner, who hadn’t graced the inside of a squared circle in more than two years, may have looked the part last night but definitely didn’t look like the AB that I grew to appreciate throughout his career. AB still got “problems” letting his hands go.

It’s clear that things haven’t been the same for AB since his loss to Marcos Maidana which to me was a respectable loss cause AB fought his heart out that night and simply got beaten by the better man. That’s the version of AB that could still be a “Problem” to anybody stepping inside that squared circle with him.

That being said, the AB who showed up last night was a shell of the Broner I grew accustomed to seeing. Real talk! Although AB was awarded the win last night, I personally think he failed to show us the work rate that would have sealed the deal convincingly.

Broner clearly landed the harder shots throughout the bout but Santiago was visibly the more consistent with his work rate round by round. The Judges clearly didn’t appreciate Jovanie’s activity and determined aggression when they scored it 117-110, 116-111, 115-112 all in favor of Broner.

Let’s keep it real, that’s some serious suspect scoring and I’m an AB fan from time. A draw in my eyes would have been more acceptable.

Activity is key for you AB so make it happen for yourself Money! You are way too skilled to be having questionable fights like this one.

Just my thoughts.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All about Sergey Lipinets & Custio Clayton”

Interim IBF Welterweight Challenge

Last night’s SHOWTIME Main Event presented by Premier Boxing Champions from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, between Sergey Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 Kos) and Custio Clayton (18-0-1, 12 Kos) was an entertaining chess match from start to finish. Real Talk!

Our own Canadian prospect Clayton, touched down on U.S. soil for the first time and asserted himself in a convincing manner in his first step up fight of his career. Clayton executed his “game plan” to a “T”, boxed and moved beautifully with a stiff jab that had Sergey’s attention all night. Clayton’s effective higher work rate kept the stalker, Sergey from ever getting into a comfortable flow but it did not stop him from working Clayton’s body attack.

Every punch thrown from Sergey was heavy with some serious bad intention when landed but due to Clayton’s tight defence and some very good movement, Sergey couldn’t connect with his usual output. Fatigue seemed to have settled down on him in the later rounds and may have cost him the outcome.

That being said, Clayton came in stronger in the later rounds and definitely stole the 12th round from Sergey in my eyes. One Judge scored it 115-113 for Clayton (as I did) but was overruled by the two Judges who scored the bout a 114-114 draw. Personally, I think that if Clayton would have pressed his offensive attack a little bit more, things could have been a lot clearer to the Judges.

Clayton showed Sergey and the 147-Pound Division that he is not to be taken lightly. Last night’s showing definitely earned him some respect to his name (Birdman voice).

This may not have been the outcome you were looking for Clayton, but one thing is for sure you did us Canadians proud last night.

Can’t wait to see what’s next for you, keep your head up Custio.

Blaze

On the Watch ” It’s All About Erickson Lubin vs Terrell Gausha”

WBC Junior Middleweight Title Eliminator

Last night’s main event on Premier Boxing Champions Showtime Boxing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut between Erickson Lubin (23-1, 16 Kos) and Terrell Gausha (21-2-1, 10 Kos) was a chess match that had caution written all over it from the first half of the bout but did pick up the pace in the later rounds.

Lubin was the far more active fighter inside that squared circle while Terrell fought too conservatively in the earlier rounds. Both showed discipline in their boxing but needed more action between rounds. Lubin clearly landed the more power punches while Terrell searched for more of a calculated approach.

As the rounds wore on, the action eventually started to pick up which made things a little more interesting, especially by the 10th round when Terrell rocked Lubin with some heavy shots that had him looking a little shaky by the end of the round.

That being said, Terrell wasn’t able to capitalize on his previous successful round leaving Lubin to recover and regroup well enough to continue boxing his way to a unanimous decision. The Judges scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110.

Personally, this wasn’t Lubin’s best performance but he did get the job done. With this win Lubin has now secured his WBC Mandatory position against the winner of the upcoming WBC Champion Jermell Charlo and IBF/WBA Super Champion Jeison Rosario Unification bout.

This will be Lubin’s second attempt at the WBC Belt. Whoever walks away with the WBC Championship Title between Jermell and Jeison will be Erickson stiffest competition. Therefore, Lubin will need to have his sh*t together and be properly prepared when his name is called to step up to the plate.

Until then, congratulations on your win Erickson.

Blaze

On the Watch ” It’s All About Jaron Ennis vs Juan Carlos Abreu”

Welterweight Showdown

The coming of age of the Welterweight contender Jaron “Boots” Ennis (26-0, 24 Kos) was on full display on last night Premier Boxing Champions Showtime Boxing card at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut when he stopped Juan Carlos Abreu (23-6-1, 21 Kos) in the sixth round.

Jaron, who was up against a tough and sturdy veteran in Juan made it look really easy. To me it felt like I was watching a glorified sparring session. Jaron controlled every round from the jump. Jaron showed good patience throughout the rounds and displayed some impressive power along with a crisp jab from both hands.

Overall, Juan was simply out gunned and out classed by a superior boxer that had his number from the time the bell rung. It was only a matter of time before Jaron pulled the plug and ended the show in the sixth round by dropping Juan twice in the round with some heavy combination shots to call it a night. Real Talk!

Jaron has been putting the Welterweight Division on notice for a minute now and his time is here. Jaron is the full package. The kid got the goods and deserves a shot at any one of the Champions in the 147-Pound Division.

The Welterweight Division is blazing as of late with some serious talent and your boy “Boots” Ennis wants next.

Who will be the first Champion to oblige the young hungry lion?

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Claressa Shields vs Ivana Habazin”

Vacant WBC/WBO Junior Middleweight Challenge

Last night’s SHOWTIME showdown Main Event from the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, between Claressa Shields (10-0, 2 Kos) and Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 Kos) was a beautiful display of boxing.

Shields, the self-proclaimed “GWOAT” of boxing, walked it like she talked it by administering a clear one-sided beatdown to Ivana. Claressa systematically broke down Ivana from top to bottom with a series of body shots that eventually dropped Habazin in the 6th round for a quick 8 count that eventually demoralized Ivana for the remainder of scheduled 10 rounds.

In short, Claressa simply outboxed and outclassed her opponent in every possible category. Ivana had absolutely no proper “game plan” or the required skills to stunt or slow down the onslaught that Claressa was dispensing towards her.

Truth be told, Claressa made it look easy – so easy that Judges scored it after 10 rounds of action; 99-89, 100-90 and 100-89 for Shields by unanimous decision. Ivana was a very worthy opponent that talked a good game but couldn’t back up one word inside that squared circle. Real Talk!

With this win, Claressa picked up the vacant WBC/WBO Belts and became the fastest fighter male or female in boxing history to win World Titles in three separate weight division: 168, 160 and now the 154 pounds.

By accomplishing this astonishing coup in just her 10th professional bout, Claressa has also beaten the previous record recognized by Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 Kos) and Kosei Tanaka (15-0, 9 Kos) who each became Three-Weight Division World Champions in their own 12th bouts in 2018.

The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” is the truth inside that squared circle. Taking the Queen off her Throne won’t be easy. Claressa is seriously creating that positive attention that’s been missing in woman’s boxing. That dedication and hard work that she’s been displaying night in and night out is paying off in every possible way.

Congratulations on your latest achievements Claressa – they are well-deserved.

Blaze