By Peter Silkov
Anthony Joshua knocks out Dominic Breazeale
In London, at the O2 Arena, IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17, 17koes) made the first defence of his title, with a one-sided 7th round knockout of a gutsy, but totally out-classed, Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15koes).
Despite arriving with an unbeaten record, few gave Breazeale as having much of a chance to derail the Joshua express train, and that’s really how the fight turned out, despite going past the halfway distance. Breazeale spent most of his time on the defensive throughout the contest, and what punches he did throw in retaliation were slow, and seeming devoid of any significant power. Breazeale was hurt badly in the 2nd, but managed to last the round, and from then on it looked as if Joshua could end the fight whenever he wanted.
Joshua kept the pressure on, through rounds 3 to 6, landing some heavy shots on his American challenger, but seemed content to wear down his opponent, rather than go all out for the finish. Finally in the 7th round Joshua seemed to have finally had enough of what at times resembled a sparring session. Breazeale was dropped twice by heavy two-handed attacks from Joshua, and ended the fight with right eye, which was almost closed. Once more it was an impressive display of punching power from Joshua, but despite Breazeale’s bravery, he had failed to provide any significant test for Joshua, and was, quite frankly, exposed as little more than a raw novice. As someone who is being billed as a ’world champion’ Joshua needs to be matched with genuine world class challengers, but unfortunately many of his fans seem satisfied to see win his fights with explosive knockouts, no matter what the limitations of his opponents.
George Groves beat Martin Murray By Unanimous Decision
Other fights on the O2 bill included the match up between George Groves (24-3, 18koes) and Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16koes) in a WBA world super-middleweight title eliminator fight. This was the fight of the night as the two men took part in some savage exchanges. It was Groves who forced the pace through most of the fight as Murray tended to fight mostly in spurts. When Murray did let his punches go he seemed to be the stronger fighter physically, but every time he seemed to get the upper hand in the action, Groves would up his own work-rate and score telling punches of his own. After Groves had out-boxed Murray from most of the first half of the match, the next 6 rounds became a much more physical fight, featuring some exciting toe to toe exchanges. Yet Groves belied his reputation in some quarters as lacking durability and stamina, by outlasting Murray in the final rounds. The fight ended with both men understandably exhausted, but with Groves in control, and scoring some heavy shots.
Groves won a unanimous points decision, by three scores of 118-110, which failed to show how hard fought and competitive the fight had been for much of the time.
George Groves will now most likely go on to fight Fedor Chudinov for the vacant WBA world super-middleweight title, after champion Felix Sturm looks likely to be stripped of his title after allegedly failing a drugs test.
Chris Eubank Jr. defeats Tom Doran
Chris Eubank Jr (23-1, 18koes) defended his British Middleweight title against Tom Doran (17-0, 7koes) and handed out a frightening beating on the game Doran. Eubank Jr. floored Doran once in round 3 and 4 times in round 4, before the match was belatedly stopped in the 4th round. This was a fight that fully exposed the gulf between British and World class, and there is little doubt that Eubank Jr. is one of the most dangerous fighters in the world now at 160 pounds. There is talk that Eubank Jr. may be next for Middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin, and while he would go in against the G man a clear underdog, he may well have the speed and offense, and the mental attitude, to pull off a huge upset.
Keith Thurman Defeats Shawn Porter
At the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, Keith Thurman (27, 22koes) and Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16koes) engaged in what is a sure candidate as ‘fight of the year for 2016’ as they clashed for Thurman’s WBA world welterweight championship. Both fighters are known to be good friends outside the ring, but neither allowed this to affect the fight as their clash developed into a to and fro slam bang showdown, with almost every round featuring some violent exchanges. This became a fight of two styles, with Thurman trying to box and fight at a distance, and scoring with some eye catching counters, while Porter constantly barreled forwards, throwing bunches of punches at the head and body, and constantly trying to drive Thurman onto the ropes.
While the cleaner shots seemed to be landed overall by Thurman, Porter seemed to be landing considerably more punches overall. The question is, how many of those punches were really scoring shots, and how many were blocked by the defending champion. Certainly when Porter bulled Thurman on the ropes and unleashed his two- fisted body attacks, he seemed to be getting the better of things. Thurman though, often replied to these bombardments with some precise punches of his own which while not matching the sheer volume of punches delivered by Porter, were eye catching to the judges.
At the end of 12 grueling rounds, Thurman retained his WBA world welterweight title with three scores of 115-113 from the three judges. The Boxing Glove scored the fight 115-113 for Porter. Unfortunately for Porter, his rawness seems to make boxing judges overlook much of his scoring punches. While this was a close fight, and certainly not a robbery of the type that Porter suffered against Kell Brook, when he lost his world title to Brook, he still seemed to have done enough last night to remove the WBA crown from Thurman's head, due to his aggression, better work rate. One thing which people wont be arguing about following this fight, is the need for a rematch. This is the type of fight boxing has needed this year, and a revisit before the end of the year would be most welcome.
Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com
While the cleaner shots seemed to be landed overall by Thurman, Porter seemed to be landing considerably more punches overall. The question is, how many of those punches were really scoring shots, and how many were blocked by the defending champion. Certainly when Porter bulled Thurman on the ropes and unleashed his two- fisted body attacks, he seemed to be getting the better of things. Thurman though, often replied to these bombardments with some precise punches of his own which while not matching the sheer volume of punches delivered by Porter, were eye catching to the judges.
At the end of 12 grueling rounds, Thurman retained his WBA world welterweight title with three scores of 115-113 from the three judges. The Boxing Glove scored the fight 115-113 for Porter. Unfortunately for Porter, his rawness seems to make boxing judges overlook much of his scoring punches. While this was a close fight, and certainly not a robbery of the type that Porter suffered against Kell Brook, when he lost his world title to Brook, he still seemed to have done enough last night to remove the WBA crown from Thurman's head, due to his aggression, better work rate. One thing which people wont be arguing about following this fight, is the need for a rematch. This is the type of fight boxing has needed this year, and a revisit before the end of the year would be most welcome.
Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com
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