2011, The Year of the Mexican Fighter?

What a year 2011 has been for boxing so far, we are at the mid-way point and a trend has emerged from the countless entertaining fights fought already. Mexico is renowned for it's long pedigree of world class boxers and already this year boxers representing Mexico have shown us blood, guts, and glory. Below is a list of boxers who represent Mexico in one form or another.

Giovani Segura-In a rematch of their 2010 FOTY candidate, Segura blasted Ivan Calderon inside of 3 rounds and is now set to move up and make noise in the Flyweight division.

Fernando Montiel-Even though he got blasted by Nonito Donaire inside of 2 rounds I have to mention Montiel. Go back and watch that knockdown that should have ended the fight. Montiel showed the world what Mexican fighters are made of. I still find it difficult to comprehend how Montiel managed to beat the count after a horrific knockdown.

Cristobal Arreola-Arreola seems to have turned a corner in his career and is now working his way towards another title shot. I am certain that his fans love his new, hard work attitude, and the fact that he is fighting every other week now can't hurt either.

Brandon Rios-Rios made a lot of enemies last year when video surfaced of Rios and stablemate Margarito mocking Freddie Roach's Parkinson's Disease. This year Rios made a lot of fans in his stalk and stun victory over Miguel Acosta and has a guaranteed action packed fight coming up against Urbano Antillon.

Hernan Marquez-The last I saw Marquez, he was being used as an experiment by Nonito Donaire as to how Donaire would fare fighting as a southpaw. Marquez was in an absolute war earlier this year and finally toppled Luis Concepcion. Seriously, I couldn't find the link to the BLH video of this fight but do yourself a favor and find it on youtube.

Marco Antonio Rubio-On a Friday night Rubio shocked Montreal and pounded his way through David Lemieux forcing Lemieux's corner to step in and protect their young fighter.

Orlando Salido-In an Upset of the Year contender Salido marched into Puerto Rico and marched out with Juan Manuel Lopez's Featherweight title. Salido will be fighting in Mexico soon and serious discussions of a rematch with Lopez for the fall ensure that Salido will be in the spotlight for a good portion of 2011.

Pound for Pound Rankings

Here are my top 5 pound for pound fighters in the world of boxing as of April, 2011. I will probably get around to posting one of these every 6 months or so.

#5 Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez
52-5-1 (38 KO's)
Lightweight

Juan Manuel Marquez is one of those fighters who trainers dream about. His punches are always crisp and he knows how to get out of trouble. He was dropped four times in his two wars with Manny Pacquiao and still managed to pull out a draw and a one point loss. In the first fight with Juan Diaz he was rocked and stunned and managed to always land that hard stinging shot that back Diaz off long enough to regain his composure. Most recently, Katsidis dropped him in round 3 of their bout and Marquez fought back and eventually stopped Katsidis in round 9.

#4 Andre "S.O.G." Ward

23-0-0 (13 KO's)

Super Middleweight

Andre Ward is my favorite fighter at the moment. He really brings it in every fight. Ward is gaining a reputation of a fighter who takes the heart of his opponent. Ward is able to accomplish this by beating his opponents at their own game. Against Kessler he used superior boxing skills and landed hard straights and jabs. Against Allan Green he essentially fought 12 rounds on the inside and roughed Green up against the ropes, something Green claimed Ward would never do. Most recently he roughed up Sakio Bika in a very tough and dirty fight. Look for Ward to go for the KO against his next opponent, the hard hitting Arthur Abraham as Ward looks to solidify his position as the favorite to win the Super Six tournament.   

#3 Floyd "Money" Mayweather

41-0-0 (25 KO's)

Welterweight

For as much as I hate Floyd Mayweather Jr. the man, I have to admit, I love watching Floyd Mayweather Jr. the boxer. He is a master of his craft and until proven otherwise he is one of the top fighters on the planet.

Yikes!

Looks like I've got a lot of writing ahead of me due to my absence. I'll go ahead and cover a few fights that happened since I was gone. This isn't going to be my usual Fight Night! post but I will be posting two of those later for the Maidana-Morales fight as well as the Berto-Ortiz fight.


March 19th, 2011
Lucian Bute KO's Brian Magee
Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KO) defended his IBF title belt for the seventh time against the reigning European Super Middleweight Champion, Brian Magee. Bute employed a vicious body attack in the fight with Magee standing no chance against the more talented Bute. Bute dropped Magee in the sixth, seventh, and finally ending the bout in the tenth round. The big story of the night was Mikkel Kessler challenging Bute in what should be an electric fight no matter where it is fought.


March 26th, 2011
Yuriorkis Gamboa KO's Jorge Solis
Yuriorkis Gamboa (20-0, 16 KO) demolished Jorge Solis (40-3-2, 29 KO) with a performance that catapulted Gamboa to the top of the Featherweight division. Gamboa had looked rusty, or bored, or just plain off in his last two fights. That all changed against Solis who, after the fight stated that Gamboa punched harder than Pacquiao who Solis gamely fought for eight rounds in 2007. Gamboa blasted through the game Solis in four rounds. Gamboa's next opponent was thought to be Juan Manuel Lopez but we'll get to that in a few posts.


April 2nd, 2011
Just watch this Fight of The Year Candidate and enjoy...

Fight Night! Klitschko vs. Solis

In Heavyweight news (Hey! Remember them?) Vitali Klitschko took on Odlanier Solis in defense of his WBC Championship belt. What followed will be talked about for years to come. What an epic night of brutal exchanges and heart measured by the ton. 

Okay, in reality, Solis injured himself in the 1st round and was unable to continue. There have been claims that Solis was too fat and that's why he injured himself. I saw him go low, really low, for some unexplained reason and then watched as both of his legs went wacky. Solis came into the fight weighing about 240 (about 25 lbs lighter than his maw weight as a pro) and didn't look too bad as the fight started. 

It was a shame that the fight ended this way and hopefully Solis makes a strong return as he looked far better than anyone has against either of the Klitschko brothers in quite some time. I was not going to give him the round as I think that Vitali was much more comfortable inside the ring and was landing the cleaner shots. However, because he was doing so good I feel that at the very least Solis would have forced Vitali to fight an exciting fight in which anything could have happened. Next up for Klitschko is a fight with Tomasz Adamek, a highly regarded, former Cruiserweight Champion.

Fight Night! Bradley vs. Alexander

This past Saturday night a rarity in boxing that has not occurred in more than 25 years took place. Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, both undefeated jr. welterweight champions, fought in a title unification bout (even though The Ring championship is still collecting dust on the shelf). Both fighters are young, Bradley 27 and Alexander 23, both are willing to trade, both were undefeated, and both were champions. The hype surrounding this fight was at times hyperbolic and at times just what boxing needed. The fight as it turned out, was not what boxing needed.

This being the first big fight of 2011 I was actually looking forward to this bout with slight apprehension. I have seen at least 3 fights from each boxer and prior to Alexander's fight with Juan Urango I was able to sneak a peak into one of his training sessions. The first thing I noticed about Alexander was how hard he was ripping the heavy bag with tight looking uppercuts. At the time I had no idea what I was looking at but if you don't know what happened in that fight...well, just watch this. Bradley on the other hand is well known to be a pressure fighter with pillows on the end of his arms.  This isn't a knock against Bradley but his last KO of an opponent was back in 2007.  Nevertheless Bradley's skill and unreal work ethic have carried him to the top of a loaded division. To be considered the best in a division with Alexander, Khan, Judah and Maidana does not come easy.  Below are my scores and comments.

Monday Morning Hangover

The 2011 season of Friday Night Fights debuted on ESPN2 Friday night with a co-main event featuring two highly touted prospects pitted against two brothers.  In the first fight Demetrius Andrade earned a rather easy unanimous decision over Alberto Herrera with scores of 79-73 and 80-72 (x2).  Andrade was an Olympian in 2008 and all signs point to 2011 being his coming out party.  I would have liked to see Andrade polish off Herrera going into the 7th or 8th rounds but Herrera was a game challenger and I suppose the trend in boxing nowadays is to go the distance if it means not taking a huge risk.

Not so fast

 On May 7, 2011 Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao will put his WBO Welterweight title on the line at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  Pacquiao, fresh off the Beatdown of 2010, is the #1 pound for pound fighter, a future hall of famer, and arguably the greatest fighter to ever step in the ring.