Home Page

Previews

Underdog Perez has got there the hard way

PEREZ: winning the WBO North American belt was a start. / Photo: Golden Boy Promotions

His opponent, Adrien Broner, is the budding superstar, an explosive puncher with 12 opponents stopped in his last 13 bouts, but Eloy Perez is in a sense a throwback in that he has fought his way to the top the hard way, taking on any fights that were offered. Now Perez has the backing of Golden Boy Promotions although he is still something of an unknown quantity to all but the hard-core fans.

Perez knows he is a massive underdog but seems genuinely confident that he will upset the odds in the Feb. 25 junior lightweight fight on HBO.

YEAR OF THE UNDERDOG: There were surprises galore in 2011

SALIDO (left) outlasted Lopez / Photo: CHRIS FARINA, Top Rank

Upsets were the norm in 2011 but often only seemed shocking because the sportsbooks now offer such wide odds on boxers who are generally expected to win.

Odds of -1000 (10-1 on) once indicated a prohibitive favourite. Now, however, we are seeing boxers listed at -1400, -1800 and higher in fights that have a competitive look to them (such as Lamont Peterson on home ground in DC against Amir Khan).

ANDRE WARD vs CARL FROCH

FROCH, WARD: The long journey ends tonight. / Photo: TOM CASINO, Showtime

Ward -220; Froch +180

Over 11.5 -200; under 11.5 +160

The long, hard road comes to an end for 168-pound champions Andre Ward and Carl Froch tonight in Atlantic City, two years after starting their journey in the Showtime network’s innovative Super Six tournament.

Ward is the betting favourite but Froch, who looked in fantastic condition at Friday’s weigh-in, exudes confidence and will have his backers.

BRIAN VILORIA vs GIOVANI SEGURA

Viloria +140; Segura -180

Over 11.5 +140; under 11.5 -160

The little fighters just don’t get the respect they deserve. For instance there’s a tremendous fight in Manila today between Brian Viloria, the Hawaiian-born fighter of Filipino ancestry, and Mexico’s Giovani Segura but it has attracted little attention and most sportsbooks aren’t offering odds.

I just don’t understand this. The fight is a battle of champions: Viloria defending his flyweight title while Segura, a champion at junior flyweight, moves up four pounds in weight.

Featured Story

New faces, great fight: Joel Diaz Jr TKO7 Guy Robb

DIAZ (left) and ROBB waged war. / Photo: TOM CASINO, for Showtime

New faces Joel Diaz and Guy Robb provided the most exciting fight of the weekend in the U.S., a sizzling junior lightweight contest that swayed first one way, then the other, before Diaz’s superior punching power prevailed in a seventh-round stoppage victory.

Diaz is what the boxing trade calls a “fun” fighter. His bouts are highly entertaining and his hit-or-be-hit style has been compared to that of Brandon Rios, the lightweight champion who has produced some big-punching performances. I can see the similarity.

Member Login

New to Fightwriter.com?
Register your account today!

Registered Members Only!

Get the inside story and subscribe to Graham's Picks of the Week for only $20.00 per month. Register Your Account

Picks of the Week - NEW!

After publishing a free-access website for the past four years, I am now launching a new website with a subscription component aimed at those who like to wager on boxing matches. Each week I will give opinions on fights where wagering opportunities are offered, suggesting the best way to bet on a particular fight: straight bet, under/over, or “fight outcome” proposition.

View Sample Picks Read More

About Graham

I’ve been covering boxing for a very long time, since 1963, first writing for newspapers in London, then for the two specialist publications Boxing News and Boxing Monthly in the U.K. (I was editor of both) before crossing the pond, since when I have been American correspondent for each of these journals in turn. Read More

Reports

View All Reports

WEEKEND REVIEW: Martin D10 Kennedy and more

After the rather dull year-opener main event between Dyah Davis and Alfonso Lopez, Friday Night Fights served up a scorching 10-rounder in the junior featherweight division as Teon Kennedy battled to a spirited draw against Christopher Martin.

The two last-fight losers gave their all, and no one can ask for more. I love these fights of contrasting styles. Kennedy lived up to the gutsy, hard-fighting Philadelphia tradition. He was aggressive and he was the busier man. Martin, I thought, landed most of the really solid shots. The boxer from San Diego is what old-timers would have called a cutie. He is very good at slipping, blocking and rolling away from punches. Martin did some really classy scoring as he landed punches and then pulled out of range to have Kennedy missing. Kennedy wouldn’t be denied, though, and when he got Martin on the ropes his punch-volume had to be rewarded.

ANDRE WARD W12 CARL FROCH

Two surprisingly close scores in Andre Ward’s dominant win over Carl Froch last weekend showed yet again that you can never be sure how a judge is seeing a fight.

British judge John Keane seemed closest to reality with his score of 118-110 in favour of Ward, while judges John Stewart of New Jersey and Craig Metcalfe of Canada each had Ward winning by 115-113 — one round from a draw on each card.

LAMONT PETERSON W12 (split) AMIR KHAN

Lucky winner? Possibly — but while Lamont Peterson got the breaks in his upset win over Amir Khan on Saturday night in Washington DC he fought his heart out and put himself into a position to make the most of those breaks.

I had Khan winning the fight and I have never in many years covering this sport seen a boxer deducted points for pushing his opponent. Yet I have to say Khan had himself to blame for the loss of his 140-pound titles.

SELCUK AYDIN W12 JO JO DAN

Sometimes one punch can change the outcome of a fight, and it doesn’t have to be a knockout blow. Selcuk Aydin clinched victory over Jo Jo Dan in Saturday’s welterweight rematch when he floored his opponent with a right hand in the 11^th round.

At the end of 12 hard-fought rounds, Aydin got the unanimous decision to the delight of his hometown fans in Trabzon, Turkey.