Written by Eric Armit
POINTS from the previous work week
Lawrence Okolie won the WBC Bridgerweight title by destroying Lukasz Rozanski in the first round, while Fiodor Czerkaszyn and Ihosvany Garcia won again.
Jack Catterall got a unanimous decision over Josh Taylor to avenge his loss to Taylor in 2022. There were wins for Cheavon Clarke, Paddy Donovan and Gary Cully.
Christian Mbilli scored a first-round KO on Mark Heffron, and Arslanbek Makhmudov knocked out Miljan Rovcanin in the second round.
Batyrzhan Jukembayev stopped Ivan Redkach in the fifth round.
There was a distance win between Jermaine Franklin and Ali Akhmedov in Detroit.
Vlad Panin knocked out the controversial Devon Alexander in the second round.
Former European Championships gold medalist Balasz Bacskai won the vacant WBO European titles and now retires with an 18-0 record.
Alexei Papin stopped veteran Isaac Chilemba in three rounds.
Dana Thorsland chose Seran Cetin to defend his WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.
Commonwealth champion Tysie Gallagher retained her title as she defeated Stevi Levy to become the first female holder of the British super-bantamweight title.
Who won the week?
Most snot important: Jack Catterall’s win over Josh Taylor will hopefully lead to a title shot for Catterall.
Most eEntertainment: Not high profile, but Jonathan Cardoso vs. Adam Lopez was a fun clash of styles.
A fighter of the week: Jack Catterall, spoke highly of Christian “Solid” Mbilli, who produced another show of strength.
Boxing of the week: Mbilli’s left hook to the body that ended his fight with Mark Heffron was brutal, but so was Ihosvany Garcia’s that killed Lukasz Plawecki.
Upset of the week: Dane Mikkel Nielsen, 12-2, was not expected to defeat the home team, 20-1-2 Renato Egedi, but he dropped him in two rounds.
Expected watch: Cuban Ihosvany Garcia, 13-0 (10 by KO/TKO), now has wins over Ryno Liebenberg and 22-1 Patrick Rokhol.
Fight Card View
Rosette: The only big show Matchroom in town and four high quality competitive games. The Polish show featured a world title fight, but the undercard was underwhelming.
Red card: Bob Arum for his attack on the referees in the Catterall vs. Taylor. I thought the score was too wide, but I have it 115-113. If the judges scored one round differently the way I saw it, that would make it 116-112, and in three rounds, it would be 117-111, so a difference of three rounds out of twelve is not a big deal.
Lawrence Okolie won the WBC Bridgerweight title on Friday. The Bridgerweight class limit is 224lbs. Oleksandr Usyk weighed 223 ½ lbs when he won the WBC heavyweight title last week! Now, why was there a need for this division between cruiserweight and heavyweight? Certainly not yet another burden of penalty payments for a large number of titles in all weight classes.
May 25
Catteral gets sweet revenge on Taylor
Catterll avenged his split decision loss in 2022 by getting a unanimous decision this time around. The first round both boxers were practicing their right jabs. Catterall had a good right to the head and although Taylor took the fight to Catterall he was having trouble getting into the ring.
They collided head-on at the start of the second, and fortunately, no one was hurt, but as the two kept leaning forward, a collision was inevitable, and they collided again at the start of the third. Tayor had a more purposeful spin attack, and he used his right hook well to take Catteral’s stance.
The fourth saw Catteral working hard and accurately with his jab, punching Taylor’s guard as Taylor came forward, and landing a left to the head that forced Taylor to back off. At that time I got it 39-37 for Catterall with the three judges leading 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 for Catteral.
Catterll pushed the lead further in the fifth as he caught Taylor with multiple jabs, followed by a flurry of punches, including a hard left hook, and although the pace slowed in the sixth, again, it was Catterall who got the better of him. work. For me, Taylor was now four points behind, and the fight was slipping away from him.
He responded by taking the seventh and eighth. He put Catterall under more pressure, staying on top of him, giving Catterall no room to punch, and connected with good lefts as Catterall’s output dropped. My score at the time was 77-75 for Catteral, the judges’ scores were 79-73, 79-74, and 77-75 for Catteral.
The ninth saw Catterall go back, going big using his jab again, and he landed a light combination that forced Taylor to back down. Taylor came out strong at the end of the round, but it was Catterall’s round. It was Taylor’s turn to pick up the pace, and in the tenth, he found Catterall backing up under a series of body punches to take the round.
Leeds, UK: Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall, Super Lightweight Contest. 25 May 2024. Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing.
The eleventh was a great round for Catteral. As Taylor came forward, Catterall met him with a left hook that rocked Taylor and sent him reeling backwards. Catterll followed him across the ring to the ropes, firing punches with both hands.
Catterll then threw away a chance to force a finish as he was tangled up with Taylor. He wrapped his arm around Taylor’s neck, and as he leaned back, he knocked Taylor off balance and forced Taylor down, then fell on top of him.
Although Catterll was more successful in this round, Taylor had recovered by the time the tangle was cleared and was able to fight back. The latter saw Catterall put in a lot of pressure early in the round with Taylor taking over and finishing strongly to take the round, but it wasn’t enough.
I had it 115-113 for Catteral, but the judges had it 117-111 twice and 116-113 for Catteral. There was no title on the line, but who needs one?
May 25
Billi wipes out Heffron in Canada
Christian Mbilli eliminated Mark Heffron in 40 seconds. Heffron tried to use his long reach to score with jabs, but Mbilli forced him to the ropes. Billi fired a couple of uppercuts and a right to the head, Heffron sliding into the ropes. Billi followed and connected with a vicious left hook to the body that sent Heffron to the floor.
He was able to reach until he put his hands and knees on the canvas but he did not continue and crawled on the canvas when the referee counted. The Cameroonian, who is of French origin, made 23 runs over the course of the victory.
He was defending his WBC Continental and WBA International belts. Although he does not fill the No 1 position, he is rated in the top 3 by all four judging bodies and is a real threat to Saul Alvarez and David Benavidez. Englishman Heffron, who held the British and Commonwealth titles, has recently been blown away. Rumor has it that Mbilli will meet Sergey Derevyanchenko in August.
Makhmudov is coming back strong after Kabayel’s defeat
Arslanbek Makhmudov knocked out Miljan Rovcanin in two rounds. Rovcanin just made it out of the first round. A right hand finished him off the second time. It was a typical display of brute force with no real technical skills from Makhmudov.
He has won 18 fights by KO/TKO, but his mistakes were magnified in his fight with Agit Kabayel in December when he was knocked down three times and stopped in the fourth. Serb Rovcanin built his record on unquestionable opposition and quick losses against Kabayel and Jared Anderson showed his resilience.
Arslanbek Makhmudov (Vincent Ethier/Eye of the Tiger)
May 24
Okolie destroys Rozanski in one stop
Okolie knocked out Rozanski in the first round to win the WBC Bridgerweight title. Okolie scored with his jab and a left to the head that seemed to rock Rozanski. Okolie landed an overhand right that sent Rozanski crashing to the canvas on his back. He quickly climbed to his feet, and after an eight count, Rozanski tried to come forward but was forced back into the ropes, and another right, which curled behind Rozanski’s ear, put him down again.
Rozanski was slow to get up and complained that the punch landed on the back of his head, which was a matter of Rozanski turning his head forward as the punch was in the way of any intent from Okolie. After the count, Okolie drove Rozanski to the ropes and landed a crushing right cross and a brutal uppercut that dropped Rozanski to his hands and knees.
He went up in the seventh hour but he was still moving badly and the referee stopped the fight, making the former cruiserweight champion Okolie a two-division champion. This was his first fight since losing the WBO belt to Chris Billiam-Smith. For Rozanski, it has been a bittersweet case as he has defeated both Artur Szpilka and Alen Babic in the first round in his last two fights.
(Piotr Duszczyk/boxingphotos.pl)
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