What We Learned This Weekend – 4-2-2012 Edition
By: José A. Maldonado, MFA
Well, you can scratch that July 7th Antonio DeMarco vs. Jorge Linares bout. A totally uninspired Linares was supposed to get past Sergio Thompson to make it happen, but Mexico’s Thompson had other plans. As I pointed out in this article last week, Thompson had said he would target Linares’ old cuts, and that he did, landing a huge amount of overhand rights that Linares simply could not avoid. After going down in the 2nd, Linares went to the fight doctor and the bout was stopped due to cuts, for which he needed 22 stitches, according to Golden Boy Promotions. Thompson, who usually fights at 130, will most likely not face DeMarco, but he could possibly get a pretty good fight down the line. For this bout, Linares not only travelled to his opponent’s hometown, but he was fighting a guy who had KO’d 6 of his last 7 before this fight. He came out rather passive and, in my opinion, he should have tried to take out Thompson as early as possible to keep the July fight alive. Humberto Soto, who has a similar “tune up” next week, should take notice.
Kelly Pavlik isn’t back, but he’s on his way. On Saturday, he made short work of his “opponent” (and I use the term loosely) Aaron Jaco in San Antonio, stopping him in the 2nd round. Though he fought less than 6 minutes, Pavlik looked pretty good. He was loose, threw good punches, and was systematic in his aggressive approach. One new facet he debuted was a good jab, which he used effectively. After Florida’s Jaco went down in the 2nd, referee Jon Schorly (the guy who robbed Carlos Molina of a win over James Kirkland) asked if he was okay, to which Jaco responded, “I’m done.” Schorly then asked, “Are you from California?” Maybe he asked this to explain Jaco’s horrible performance since Schorly is also from California.
Big win for Evgeny “The Mexican Russian” Gradovich as he punished Francisco “Little Soldier” Leal with a huge left hook that led to a 10th round stoppage on the Kelly Pavlik-Aaron Jaco undercard. It was an entertaining bout until Gradovich decided to end it, and in emphatic fashion. Leal, who put up an excellent fight in a huge upset over Roberto Marroquín last year, left the ring on a stretcher and was taken to a San Antonio hospital as a precaution. Luckily, he never lost consciousness and communicated with doctors the whole time. Gradovich improved to 13-0-7 KOs and looks to parlay this victory to bigger and better things.
In yet another fight for the Colombian boxing family, Daulis Prescott picked up his first victory of the year as he KO’d Walberto Zúñiga on Saturday in Colombia. Prescott, whose father and grandfather were also boxers, improved to 247-1-18 KOs. His older brother, Breidis, is best known for travelling to England and knocking out Amir Khan in the first round in 2008. Since then he has gone 5-4 and has fallen off of Khan’s radar. Daulis, meanwhile, seems content to stay at home and beat subpar fighters.
This may finally be the end for heavyweight Frans Botha (48-7-3-29 KOs) who, on Saturday, was stopped by France’s (via Cameroon) Carlos Takam. The 43-year old White Buffalo was in superb shape and looked very good in the early going, but as the fight advanced it was clear that his energy level was severely declining while Takam’s power was beginning to take over. With the victory, Takam (25-1-20 KOs) captures the WBF international title as well as the WBO African title. Botha, meanwhile, falls to 1-3-1 in his past 5 fights. All 7 of his defeats have come by stoppage and now he must seriously consider whether it’s worth it to continue what has been a rather productive career. . .
. . .But you never know since, the way boxing goes, maybe Botha will decide to take on Jameel McCline who, on Saturday, eeked out a split decision over Livin Castillo in a fight that spectators preferred not to have seen. For 8 rounds McCline slowly chased Castillo around the ring as a chorus of boos and epithets rained down from the New Jersey fans. Apparently McCline couldn’t stand the fight much either since he bolted from the ring upon hearing the verdict. At 41, McCline (41-11-3-24 KOs) was hoping to make one last run at a title but instead ran out of gas as he looked absolutely drained at fight’s end. Considering McCline’s age, as well as the fact that he struggled against a last minute replacement (McCline was originally supposed to fight Derek Webster) who came in with a record of 16-11-10 KOs, was outweighed by 56 pounds, and was 7 inches shorter, McCline should just join Botha and call it a day.
Arthur Abraham picked up a victory that looks a lot better on paper than in reality. He outpointed Piotr Wilczewski who, despite a record of 30-2-10 KOs going into the fight, has merely feasted on nobodies for most of his career. Abraham looked a lot better than he had in previous outings and did something we rarely see: throw punches. He now awaits Robert Stieglitz if he can get past the UK’s George Groves. Even if Stieglitz loses though, I have a feeling the two will still meet since it’ll do such huge business in Germany.
Former amateur standout Doyil Livingston was upset this weekend in Woodland Hills, CA by Elie Augustama in a split decision. The loss, which is Livingston’s first, is a serious setback since Livingston began fighting professionally so late and thus shortened his timetable to success. After an incredible amateur career that included numerous national titles and over 200 fights, Livingston never panned out as many had expected. He left Los Angeles and briefly relocated to Alabama before returning to California where he works as a security guard at Wal-Mart while training. The soon-to-be 28-year old said after the fight that the loss has inspired him to begin working with Virgil Hill, who trains Andre Ward.
José A. Maldonado is senior staff writer at punchrate.com and contributor to realcombatmedia.com
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