Boxing Results From Around the World – (July 17 – July 19)

By Jeremiah “Griffo’s Handkerchief” Preisser

In an unheralded 140-pound title fight, Argentina’s quick-hitting southpaw, Cesar “El Distinto” Cuenca, 48-0, 2 KO’s, out-classed Bob Arum’s second meal ticket into the Chinese market, Da Lian, China resident, Ik “Wild Man” Yang, 19-1, 14 KO’s. Cuenca displayed surprising ability to those who may have never seen him before. Everything Cuenca did was fast and Yang had almost no answer for it. The Chinese light-welterweight was circled, counter-punched, and strafed with lead power shots all night. Oddly, “El Distinto” seemed to land the harder punches, even felling ‘Wild Man” in the first with a nice combination of straight lefts and rights.

Yang did land occasionally, however, as Cuenca made a few tactical errors. One of them happened in the fifth, where Yang landed a good right hand which sent Cuenca down, though Cuenca didn’t seem hurt. It looked more to be a balance thing than anything.

Overall it was a big success for a man who was largely unknown outside of his native country. Cuenca is now the IBF world champion and bigger fights may be on the horizon. If you are in need of a post-weekend boxing clinic, this may be for you.

Former pound-for-pounder Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, 35-3, 23 KO’s, fought France’s Anthony Settoul, 20-4, 8 KO’s, in a scheduled 10-rounder. Only it didn’t go so far. Plainly stated, Donaire dominated.

The California resident looked like the quality boxer-puncher he always has been, though he was a bit more active with his hands, a problem he has had in the past. He jabbed more frequently than we are used to seeing him, as well. Most prominent of his tools was the power. Donaire unraveled Settoul with body shots, dropping him twice in the first round. In the second, Donaire caught the Frenchman with a well-timed overhand counter, prompting a towel tossing by the corner.

This victory helped put the four-division champion in a position to face the U.K.’s, Scott Quigg. Granted this comes off, it should prove an interesting watch.

English middleweight prospect, Adam “The Bomber” Etches, 19-1, 16 KO’s, got back to his winning ways after suffering a setback in the form of quality veteran, Sergey Khomitsky. His opponent was twenty-nine-year-old Argentine, Victor “El Chacal” Rosales, 11-1, 6 KO’s.

It was a less than stellar performance, but Etches got the job done. He jabbed consistently and stayed patient until finally finding the mark in round three with a right hand that put Rosales to his knees. The Argentinian beat the count and looked clear-eyed before resuming, but “The Bomber” kept on him and blasted him once more. Rosales once again beat the count, but he looked unfit to continue and the referee waived it off.

Etches may need a fight or two to regain his confidence, but assuming he does, fights with guys like Macklin, Heiland, Blackwell, and O’Sullivan would prove exciting.

Another prospect scored a stoppage over the weekend. That prospect was Deutschland’s power punching son and super-middleweight (see my earlier article), Vincent Feigenbutz, 20-1, 19 KO’s. The German took on Mauricio “El Sinchi” Reynoso, 15-2-1, 11 KO’s, a never-been-stopped Peruvian.

Feigenbutz started in his usual manner, boxing from a high guard and jabbing. The first round was slow paced, minus a few flurries from both men. The third round was different, however, with the pace heating up and the Teutonic fighter dropping the Peruvian with a combination that ended in a hard left hook landing to the body. Reynoso got up but it was clear that he was bothered by the authentic power of Feigenbutz. “El Sinchi” made it to his feet but hit the canvass not long after, as he attempted to land a right hand which was avoided and counted by the German’s own right. The ref reached the count of “eight” and discontinued the bout when Reynoso looked weary.

Feigenbutz is young at nineteen and needs a lot of work if he wishes to hit the big time, but his power is real. That alone may earn him a spot in title contention, though only time will tell.

“Djingis Khan”, or Denis Shafikov, 36-1-1, 20 KO’s, squared off against Indonesian, Roy “The Sniper” Mukhlis, 27-5-3, 21 KO’s. The Indonesian boxed and moved; the Russian pressed the action. In the second, Shafikov worked beautifully behind some of the best head movement you will see in the fight game. About one minute in, he started to hurt Mukhlis and knocked him down with a left. Mukhlis didn’t take kindly to the hurt and started to fold, piece by piece. This culminated when the Russian landed a number of telling blows and Mukhlis raised his hand in a sign of surrender.

Denis Shafikov is in line for a title shot, though it is unclear as to who will fight him for the mandatory IBF strap. No matter who it is, they better bring their A-game because the well-schooled Russian is no walk in the park for any lightweight.

“The Wonder Kid”, Rex Tso, 17-0, 10 KO’s won by fourth-round technical knockout over Thai fighter, Khunkhiri Wor Wisaruth, 21-12-1, 14 KO’s. Tso is another one of Bob Arum’s meal tickets into the Chinese market.

Tso dominated from start to finish. He landed power shots from the outside, the inside, to the head, and to the body. The kid looked especially good when he boxed. The end came when the Hong Kong born fighter landed a succession of poorly answered blows, largely along the ropes.

Tso looks to be the most well-equipped Chinese prospect Arum has signed. He is a 5’7” 115-pound southpaw who can box and seems to have respectable power.

Arif Magomedov, 16-0, 9 KO’s, recent conqueror of boxing best journeyman in Darnell Boone, overwhelmed 6’4” in undefeated American up-and-comer, Derrick “Take It to the Bank” Webster, 19-1, 10 KO’s. Magomedov established range from the get-go, walking in behind power shots and banging away and the extremely tall fighter’s body, hurting him on a number of occasions. The Russian caught up with Webster in the last round and gave put him on his trunks. Webster saw the final bell, but there was no question as to who won.

Also securing ‘W’s’ was Jeff Saunders (Bradley’s brother), Jose Carlos Ramirez, Noel Gevor, Artem Dalakian, and Vyacheslav Senchenko.

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