Rumble at Rama VIII

Last night I was ringside at Casino Rama officiating for the Rumble at Rama VIII. As usual it was very smoothly run and they really put on a great show up there. The venue is perfect for boxing and it looked like a sell out crowd again. There was 6 fights on the card showcasing some good Canadian talent.

First up was a women's super batamweight 4 rounder. French Canadian Nathalie Forget improved her record to 2-0 with a 4 round shut out of Amanda Ayotte. Forget looked very accurate and barely missed a sinlge punch. I felt she could have easily gotten a TKO if she pressed the action a little more but seemed to be content with going the distance. To Ayotte's credit she took all the shots and did survive to the end.

The second fight was the pro debut of super middleweight Pedro DeMelo from Milton. He took on Juan Sanchez from Nova Scotia. I have to say I was impressed with DeMelo....he looked very calm and in control for it being his first professional fight. He has a good style and pounded out an easy 4 round shut out. Sanchez was game but never really in the fight. Keep an eye on DeMelo.

Next up was Hamilton's Justin Fountain taking on Ivan Flores of Mexico in a 4 round junior middleweight contest. This one had some good action and good exchanges especially towards the end of the fight. Both fighters look exhausted by the midway point but Fountain was able to land enough clean shots to take the decision. Fountain's right uppercut being the best tool in the fight.

Canadian Heavyweight Champion Greg Kielsa fought an overmatched and overweight Byron Polley in the night's 4th fight. Kielsa kept his composure looking to box but Polley was a game fighter and did land some decent left hooks in the third round but was dropped by a body shot.
In the 4th round Kielsa was actually stunned when he moved in to finish Polley...he legs buckled momentarily before he was able to drop Polley again en route to the 4th round KO. Polley just barely made the count and the fight was waved off.

In a very interesting matchup, an undefeated junior middleweight prospect from the U.S., Austin Trout (17-0-13KO) took on Brampton's Shawn Garnett. Garnett started out well showing great defensive skills slipping most of Trout's shots. He had a very good second round which had me wondering about an upset in the fight. But as Garnett tired and slowed down by the 3rd round Trout picked up the pace and found his range landing more and more often. Garnett was never able to get back into the fight in the second half and Trout walked away still undefeated with an 8 round unanimous decision.

The main event saw the return of the "Canadian Kid" Steve Molitor. Molitor took on the tough mexican Heriberto Ruiz for the IBF #2 ranked super bantamweight eliminator over 12 rounds.
It was the clear that the Casino Rama crowd was there to cheer on their fighter. The fight though turned out to be more of a chess match with not alot of action. They started very slow over the first couple rounds trying to figure each other out which did draw some boo's from the fans who were hoping for a little more action. The rounds were close but I felt Molitor was stealing them with the cleaner shots. When they did exchange Molitor was the faster of the two and landed the better punches. Around the 5th round Ruiz caught Molitor with a right hand that appeared to shake him momentarily and Molitor played defensive clearing his head. Midway through the fight there was an accidental beadbutt that left Molitor with a decent cut high up on his head. The cut wasn't in a bad spot but they were never able to stop the bleeding so it looked much worse than it was. The last half of the fight was much like the first. Ruiz stole a few rounds here and there but Molitor controlled it for the most part with the cleaner shots. The fight was actually called a split decision but I had personally scored it 117-112 for Molitor. Two of the judges had it 116-112 for Molitor and one had it the reverse 116-112 for Ruiz. Ruiz was the aggressor for most of the fight but he was just not effective. Not a stellar performance for Molitor but still a victory and that's what counts. He will be returning to Rama on September 4th for his next fight. All credit to Allan Tremblay for a great show again.

Pascal Survives a Shark Attack and Wladimir Dominates Again!

Friday nights WBC Light Heavyweight championship fight between undefeated champion Adrian “The Shark” Diaconu (26-0-15KO) and challenger Jean Pascal (22-1-15KO) lived up to the hype and was a great action fight. I was really looking forward to watching this fight and it certainly did not disappoint. Both fighters are based in Montreal and since the fight took place in the Bell Centre in Montreal there was a great crowd on hand cheering their fighters. You didn’t have to worry about a hometown decision this time. I knew beforehand Pascal’s speed and movement was going to be the key factor in the fight and it was. Pascal was moving up from the super middleweight division and brought all of his speed with him. I have to say I was always impressed with Jean Pascal up until his fight with Omar Pittman. Pascal had a disappointing appearance and seemed to struggle and was hurt by the journeyman fighter with little power. I wasn’t sure where Pascal was going to go after that but then he redeemed himself with a great action fight with WBC Super Middleweight champ Carl Froch. Even in losing the decision I thought Pascal gave a very good performance and showed more toughness than I would have given him credit for. He also brought that toughness up into last nights fight. I knew Diaconu had the edge in power, being the natural light heavyweight, and if he were to win the fight it would probably have to be by knockout.
Pascal started out fast in round one showcasing his superior speed landing some hard right hands and moving right back out of Diaconu’s punching range. Pascal likes to stay back out of range then suddenly rush in with combinations, and then he is out again. He keeps his hands very low, which could be very dangerous against a faster opponent, but Diaconu was having trouble landing anything with any significance early on. The two of them traded very good shots in the third round as Diaconu seemed to have found his range and was starting to come on in the fight. The fifth round was highly entertaining as Pascal dropped the champion with a left hook. Diaconu didn’t appear too hurt but Pascal rushed him and landed a few more solid right hands which ended with Diaconu down on his knees but referee Marlon Wright didn’t call it a knockdown. It could have been argued either way. Then towards the end of the round Diaconu stunned Pascal with a right hand and I was worried Pascal was going to go down (I was pulling for Pascal to win as Diaconu usually bores me in his fights). Pascal survived the round and came right back with a strong sixth round. Throughout the next couple rounds the two fighters had great exchanges both landing hard shots. I am surprised that Pascal stood and fought a lot of the times with the stronger champion, but he did. Pascal was seeming to tire towards the championship rounds and Diaconu stunned him in the eleventh and was looking like he was on his way to a TKO. To Pascal’s credit each time he was hurt he came right back with intensity. In my gut I was worried that Pascal was not going to survive the twelfth but he did and looked every bit like the champion he was about to become. Pascal got the unanimous decision with scores of 115-112, 116-112, and 116-111.
It was a good win for Jean Pascal and shows that he can be a threat in the light heavyweight division.

On the undercard season 4 Contender champion Troy Ross took on journeyman Michael Simms in a ten round cruiserweight fight. Simms was coming into the fight with 10 losses but had never been stopped before. So even though Ross can pack a punch I knew he was going to have to win by decision. Ross did exactly what you have to do against Simms and did pound out a workmanlike decision victory. Ross’s right eye started closing early in the fight and he was later cut by an accidental headbutt, but neither seemed to deter him his gameplan of swarming Simms and landing power hooks and body shots on the inside. Simms was never able to assert himself or get himself into the fight and it was a near shutout for the Canadian cruiserweight. It was a good night of boxing for the Canadian fighters.


Yesterday in Germany IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko completely dominated Ruslan Chagaev on his way to a 10th round TKO victory. The fight was stopped between rounds just as the bell for the 10th rang. Chagaev had a nasty cut over his left eye and was never in the fight at all. The fight was every bit as dull as I had expected. Right from round one Klitschko mostly just used the left jab to dominate the fight, staying on the outside and fighting a typical "careful" Wladimir fight. Chagaev could not get inside and never found his range. Chagaev was dropped in the second round by a big Klitschko right hand. Most of the fight was just watching Klitschko's left hand at work, with the occasional right thrown in. By the 9th round he really started giving Chagaev a beating and to my joy Chagaev never came out for the 10th. He never looked in trouble of being knocked out but he was getting beaten up. Not a really satisfying result for me but it will have to do. Where does Klitschko go from here? Not sure I even care...aside from David Haye I can't even think of another heavyweight fighter I have any interest in watching well except for the great James Toney. I'd like Wladimir to fight Chris Arreola just so people would finally see how horrible Arreola is when Wlad KO's him and stop talking about him like he is the next great thing.

Wlad Defends on Saturday and Pascal is Swimming with a Shark!

This coming saturday the IBF/WBO Heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, defends his title in Germany. For so long I was anxiously awaiting this weekend, the first time in a very long time that I have been excited about a heavyweight championship fight. The division has been in a sad state for so long, lacking any decent action fights and fighters. But this saturday was supposed to have changed that when Wladimir was going to defend against Britain's David Haye. Haye is a hard punching cruiserweight champion who has recently moved up to the heavyweight division and has done all he could to get under the skin of the Klitschko brothers trying to get one of them to agree to fight him. They are giants compared to him but boxing is a business, and fighting either of them means more money than Haye has seen to date. I didn't like Haye's chances with Vitali Klitschko...the WBC champ and the bigger of the brothers...Vitali is alot tougher than Wladimir. But Haye against Wlad was interesting. Wlad is still much bigger and much stronger...6 foot 6, 250 lbs against 6 foot 3, 215 lbs...but Wlad's chin isn't so solid. My instincts told me Wlad was too big and probably would have KO'd the smaller Haye...but Haye had a punchers chance which would have added some drama to the fight. He definitely has the power to KO Wlad if he can catch him cleanly. But as it turned out Haye got injured in training camp and pulled out of the fight....and he was replaced by my oh so favourite fighter Ruslan Chagaev...(sarcasm). The exciting fight I was waiting for is now most likely going to be a snorefest. The only consolation here is that I believe I will get to see Chagaev finally beaten. Something I have been waiting for. I was upset in thinking that Chagaev was going to beat Valuev a few weeks ago and take the WBA title...but now at least I don't see him beating Wladimir. It's funny...I can usually say that any opponent of Wlad's has a punchers chance given his weak chin...but not this time. I really can't picture Chagaev knocking him out. I see Wlad boxing his way to a careful decision in an extremely dull fight. If I am really lucky he will KO Chagaev but I don't think he will. So the heavyweight division continues on with fights that inspire no excitement.....


At least friday night offers some interesting fights, and Canadian ones too! Montreal's super middleweight Jean Pascal is stepping up in weight to fight the WBC Light Heavyweight champ Adrian "The Shark" Diaconu who also fights out of Montreal. Now how Diaconu became WBC champ is beyond me, it was given to him?!? He didn't actually win it in the ring. He didn't beat anyone for it. It was handed to him for some reason. I've never been impressed by Diaconu...I find his fights boring aside from the time he destroyed a washed up Rico Hoye. I believe Pascal is going to prove too fast for him and outbox him to a decision victory. Pascal looked good even in losing his title fight to Carl Froch, he impressed me that night. The only edge Diaconu will have is power but I don't think it will be enough for him to win.
The undercard features Brampton's cruiserweight Troy Ross who I really feel is Canada's pound for pound best fighter. Troy is coming off his best accomplishment so far in winning the season 4 Contender tournament that was held in Singapore. He won all four of his fights impressively, three of them by KO. Friday night he will take on journeyman cruiserweight Michael Simms. Simms has 10 losses but has never been stopped before. Troy should have little trouble beating Simms but will have to look to win the decision, and not try so hard for the KO. A KO of Simms would be impressive, but not likely.

Cotto Survives a Close One and Mercer is my Hero!

Miguel Cotto hung onto his WBO Welterweight title saturday with a very close split decision over tough Joshua Clottey. The fight could have gone either way by a point or two or even a draw would have been ok...although two of the judges had Cotto further ahead than that. I really felt the 12th round was going to be the deciding round in a back and forth action fight and Cotto took the last round. But then to my surprise according to the judges Cotto didn't even need the 12th they already had him winning. Cotto jumped ahead early by scoring a knockdown off a jab in the very first round...Clotty just walked right into it. Then Cotto was badly cut over his left eye due to an accidental headbutt in the 3rd which was a nasty cut...and I didn't really think the fight was going to last 12 because of it. After the 4th round ended...because it was accidental, if the fight had to be stopped they would have went to the scorecards. A good strategy (although not crowd pleasing), would have been for Cotto to try to get the doctor to stop the fight on the cut since he was ahead early and he could have escaped with a technical decision. Thankfully that is not the kind of fighter Cotto is and he stuck in there til the very end even though it was clear that the cut was bothering him. Then in the 5th round while the two fighters were in the corner...it appeared Clottey was holding Cotto and Cotto slipped out of it causing Clottey to fall to the canvas hurting his leg. At first it didn't look like Clottey was even going to continue. Watching the replay I don't even see how he could have hurt his leg since it looked as if he landed head first. After that Clottey did seem to have trouble with his movement and Cotto had him trapped on the ropes taking a pounding. They were tradining rounds...Cotto wins one, the Clottey comes right back and wins the next. There was a few times during the fight it looked like Clottey was on his way to a TKO landing some great hard combos on Cotto getting him into trouble. I was not impressed by Cotto in this fight. It was a very good fight and entertaining but it was not an easy one for Cotto. He definitely struggled and barely escaped with the win. Based on what I saw saturday night I don't really feel Cotto has a long career left in front of him. I believe he would lose a rematch with Mosley, and I could not see him beating Floyd Mayweather, or Manny Pacquiao, or Paul Williams, or even Andre Berto. He is still a good fighter I just would not place him with the elite anymore...and alot of that most likely has to do with the terrible beating he took from Antonio Margarito. As for Clottey, he was impressive even in losing the decision, although he did complain alot in the fight which was a little annoying. I still expect him to be a threat in the welterweight division. Would like to see a Clottey/Berto fight next.

On an interesting note, former WBO Heavyweight champ and one of my fav heavies, Ray Mercer had a fight over the weekend. The 48 year old Mercer took on former UFC Heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia. Last week I had heard the fight was cancelled because the boxing commission had said the fight would be illegal, but it took place anyways. Even a 48 year old Mercer was too much for that horrible Sylvia...and Mercer knocked him out in 9 seconds! HA HA HA HA HA. Made my day. Every glorious second of the fight is on youtube, just use this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUDubnBmt5w

Cotto vs. Clottey

I am really looking forward to this weekend's fight between Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto and Ghana's Joshua Clottey for Cotto's WBO Welterweight title. It took me awhile to appreciate Miguel Cotto..I was not an instant fan like most. But he won me over with the massive beating he gave to Paula Malignaggi. Then again I am a fan of anyone who can beat Malignaggi (I think I even like John Ruiz more than him!!!). Cotto's aggressive style and punching power make him entertaining to watch but I think he still has holes in his defense that make him vulnerable to punchers. Cotto seems to use his offense as his defense. Clottey while not a huge puncher is a very strong guy. He is not particularly fast but will keep on coming. What the two fighters have in common is that they both have only really lost to Antonio Margarito. For Cotto that is his only loss, and for Clottey...he has one other loss by disqualification to Carlos Baldomir in a fight he was leading in...so Margarito is his only real loss. Those are pretty good records considering how tough Margarito is. Both fighters started out fast against Margarito winning the early rounds then faded as the fight went on. Cotto really took a beating by Margarito getting stopped in the 11th round...but now that win is under question since the "hand wrapping scandal" Margarito was involved with in the Shane Mosley fight. And Clottey was outboxing Margarito early in their fight but injured his right hand and was unable to use it effectively for the second half of the fight and he lost the decision. The big factor for me in this fight is how much was taken out of Cotto in the Margarito fight. Many times when a fighter takes a beating like that they are never the same afterwards. He did look like the old Cotto in winning his last fight against Michael Jennings for the vacant WBO title....but then Jennings didn't really put up any resistance. It was a good fight for Cotto to take after his loss. Clottey has been on a roll since losing that decision to Margarito winning his last 5 fights...one being a good win over the late Diego Corrales and his last one against Zab Judah. I can really see this fight going either way and that's what makes for a great fight...when you are not entirely sure who will take it. I believe Cotto should be able to take a decision...if he is the same Cotto as before the Margarito fight. But if that fight damaged him as it might have, then I could see Clottey getting a late round TKO. Either way it will be exciting to watch.
And for anyone who has never seen the great Cotto/Malignaggi fight...here is a photo that gives an example of Cotto's power.

Berto Shines, Cintron Upsets, The Giant Escapes...

Since I was in Brantford saturday night at the pro show I had missed watching the HBO After Dark card live but watched it first thing sunday morning. I did all I could to avoid knowing the results so I could still watch the fights with some excitement. WBC Welterweight Champ Andre Berto continued to shine with a good unanimous decision over Juan Urango. As I thought Berto was just too fast for Urango. Urango kept plodding forward winging those wild powerful hooks but they just couldn't find their mark. Berto showed great movement and speed but just fell into the clinch far too much. And I am not sure why. Maybe he was worried about Urango's power on the inside but he held alot more than he should have been. The 4th round was probably the best with some great exchanges and Berto had landed a fantastic right uppercut but some tangled feet sent Urango to his back and the referee didn't call it a knockdown. Berto controlled the entire fight and made it look easy. But even having two impressive wins now over Urango and Collazo I still wouldn't place Berto with the elite in the division just yet. I still don't think he is quite at the level of Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, even Paul Williams, but I would be interested in seeing him fight one of them in the near future.


Kermit Cintron surprised alot of boxing fans on the undercard by winning a 12 round decision over previously unbeaten rising super welterweight star Alfredo Angulo. I have never been impressed with Cintron much before but I was this time. Could have been his best performance to date. He boxed well and landed alot of great bombs in a very entertaining fight. He had Angulo in a little bit of trouble in the 4th round as well. Angulo persued him the entire fight but just couldn't be effective. Angulo's style reminds me so much of Antonio Margarito, just a notch below...he even looks like him. I wouldn't call it a huge setback for Angulo, the fight was still very good and competitive. He has to go back, work on a few things, and I can still see him winning a title at 154 lbs somewhere in the future. And based on this performance Cintron is a threat in the division. Would be interested in seeing him fight Vernon Forrest or a rematch with Sergio Martinez.

And on a final note the Russian Giant Nicolai Valuev escaped this weekend with his WBA Heavyweight title as the rematch with Ruslan Chagaev was cancelled the day before the fight. Apparently Chagaev had failed some Finnish medical tests and they would not allow the fight to proceed. So the boxing world was spared that fight for the time being. But then to my shock and horror I read that John Ruiz's team is petitioning for a third fight now between Ruiz and Valuev! Funny since I had mentioned in a previous post that the only fighter I hate watching more than Chagaev, is Ruiz!!! I was spared Chagaev to possibly having an even worse fight made!!! The only reason a fight promotor would want to put together a third fight between Nicolai Valuev and John Ruiz is that they must just simply be cruel natured and in some sadistic way want to torture the boxing world with this fight. The first two meetings between the two have to rank up there with the worst heavyweight fights I've ever had to sit through, and that is saying alot. Ruiz is simply just dreadful to watch. But my curse is that if the fight gets made...I will have to endure sitting through all 12 painful rounds to watch.