By Derek Bonnett: After last week’s Sturm-Chudinov reversal of fortune, my mind was on rematches this week. With Ola Afolabi and Marco Huck squaring off for the fourth time, I was thinking Ola’s chances of winning had to be at their highest given Huck’s recent defeat. I pondered, but expected Huck to still win a decision. Instead, he got his most conclusive victory. Julio Ceja and Hugo Ruiz also rematched this week and, again, I was thinking the likeliness of Ruiz securing revenge was high given their back and forth first encounter. In the end, I went with Ceja to claim a similar victory. In reality, Ruiz blitzed the champion for revenge and his first world title. Third fight anyone?
Going forward with the boxing calendar, I am seeing some rematch that buck the conventional wisdom of rematch picking: the second time around, the previous victors wins more easily. It’s a good philosophy, but sometimes there are factors which cannot be underestimated. In April, Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley will do it again for a rubber match. The first bout saw Pacquiao winning ten or eleven rounds and still losing the decision. Pacquiao won by comfortable margins in the rematch, but the consensus was he should be 2-0 against Bradley. Yet, going into the third encounter, I can’t help but think Bradley’s chances are great to score the upset. Will Manny Pacquiao be a “complete” fighter or will his shoulder injury plaque him in this contest as well? Will Pacquiao’s immense purse from the Mayweather extravaganza impact his ability to train? Is Pacquiao already retired mentally? Factor in Bradley’s recent resurgence and you have an even more interesting match-up than perhaps anticipated.
Another likely rematch on the horizon is a second encounter between Adonis Stevenson and Andrej Fonfara. The last time out, Stevenson was forced to get off the canvas and hang on to a deserved victory. However, that bout was a wake-up call for the Polish boxer and Fonfara has clearly gone onto the best run of his career, scoring wins over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nathan Cleverly. Stevenson, on the other hand, has performed like a bored champion. If the Haitian world titleholder is not careful, he might see himself separated from his titles and his senses before a mega-fight with Sergey Kovalev can ever come to fruition.
I’ll go on the record today: Bradley and Fonfara get their revenge.
SecondsOut fighters On the Move:
On Saturday, February 27, at Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Marco Huck stopped Ola Afolabi in ten rounds of a cruiserweight bout. Afolabi retired in his corner between rounds with a badly swollen eye. The official time of the stoppage was 3:00. Huck won for the first time since being dethroned by Krzysztof Glowacki in August. He lifted his ledger to 39-3-1 (27). Afolabi fell to 22-5-4 (11).
Huck climbed from third to second in the SecondsOut cruiserweight rankings. Afolabi fell out of the top ten once again. Grigory Drozd fell from second to third. Mairis Briedis climbed into the rankings at number nine. Oleksandr Usyk fell from ninth to tenth.
At Cebu City Waterfront Hotel & Casino, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines, Albert Pagara won a unanimous decision over Yesner Talavera in a twelve round super bantamweight bout. Talavera was dropped once in round seven. Pagara earned scores of 120-107 twice and 119-108. Pagara improved to 26-0-0 (18). Talavera fell to 15-4-1 (4).
Pagara climbed from ninth to eighth in the SecondsOut super bantamweight rankings.
At Manchester Arena (formerly M.E.N Arena), Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom, Carl Frampton won a split decision over Scott Quigg to unify the WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles after twelve rounds. Frampton received scores of 116-112 twice while the third preferred Quigg 115-113. Frampton raised his dossier to 22-0-0 (14). Quigg fell to 31-1-2 (23).
Frampton became SecondsOut’s number one rated super bantamweight in the world with the victory. Guillermo Rigondeaux fell from first to second. Quigg held his number three ranking with his rally over the last six rounds.
At Honda Center, Anaheim, California, USA, Leo Santa Cruz defeated Kiko Martinez by fifth round KO in a WBA featherweight title bout. Santa Cruz dropped Martinez twice in round one. The bout came to an end at 2:09. Santa Cruz made his first defense of the title and lifted his numbers to 32-0-1 (18). Martinez crashed to 35-7-0 (26).
Santa Cruz climbed from third to second in the SecondsOut featherweight rankings.
Also on the card, Hugo Ruiz captured the WBC super bantamweight title with a first round stoppage of Julio Ceja. Ruiz avenged his defeat from last August. Ceja was dropped once in the opening round. Ruiz improved his record to 36-3-0 (32) and captured his first world title. Ceja crashed to 30-2-0 (27).
Ruiz jumped back into the SecondsOut rankings at number ten. Ceja fell out of the rankings for the time being.
Also on the card, Rey Vargas scored a third round TKO over Cristian Esquivel in a super bantamweight bout. Esquivel’s corner threw in the towel in round three. Vargas lifted his ledger to 26-0-0 (21). Esquivel fell to 28-9-0 (21).
Vargas remained SecondsOut number five rated super bantamweight in the world today.
At Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA, Terence Crawford stopped Hank Lundy in five rounds of a WBO super lightweight title bout. Crawford dropped Lundy in round five. The champion raised his record to 28-0-0 (20) and made the first defense of the title. Lundy fell to 26-6-1 (13).
Crawford remained SecondsOut’s number one rated 140 pounder in the world.
Also on the card, Felix Verdejo won a unanimous decision over William Silva in a lightweight bout. Verdejo received scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91. Verdejo improved to 20-0-0 (14). Silva dipped to 23-1-0 (14).
Verdejo climbed back into the SecondsOut lightweight rankings at number ten. Darleys Perez exited for the time being.
Also On the Move, Gary Russell Jr. fell from number two to number ten in the SecondsOut featherweight rankings. Russell has not fought in eleven months and will be dropped once he reaches a year of inactivity. The previously rated number three through ten contender each moved up one ranking.
SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, March 6, 2016:
Thursday 3 March 2016
Suranaree Army Camp Stadium, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
12 Minimumweight Wanheng Menayothin 40 0 0 (15) vs Go Odaira 12 4 3 (1) WBC minimumweight title
Friday 4 March 2016
Shimazu Arena, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
12 Bantamweight Shinsuke Yamanaka 24 0 2 (17) vs Liborio Solis 23 3 1 (10) WBC bantamweight title
12 Light Flyweight Yu Kimura 18 2 1 (3) vs Ganigan Lopez 26 6 0 (17) WBC light flyweight title
Colosseum Sport Hall, Grozny, Russia
television: USA AWE, Australia Main Event, Panama RPC Channel 4
12 Heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev 34 2 1 (21) vs Lucas Browne 23 0 0(20) WBA heavyweight title (Winner may enter SecondsOut top ten)
DC Armory, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
television: USA HBO, Panama RPC Channel 4
12 Heavyweight Luis Ortiz 24 0 0 (21) vs Tony Thompson 40 6 0 (27) interim WBA heavyweight title
12 Welterweight Jessie Vargas 26 1 0 (9) vs Sadam Ali 22 0 0 (13) vacant WBO welterweight title
12 Featherweight Robinson Castellanos 23 11 0 (13) vs Oscar Escandon 24 2 0 (16) interim WBC featherweight title (Winner may enter SecondsOut top ten)
Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
television: USA Showtime
12 Super Welterweight Julian Williams 21 0 1 (13) vs Marcello Matano 16 1 0 (5)
For a more in depth look at Derek Bonnett’s SecondsOut world rankings:
https://www.secondsout.com/rankstat/secondsout-rankings
