American Heavyweight Dominic Breazeale (0-0) is just hours away from making his professional debut, so with that in mind it seemed a perfect time to look at yet another American Heavyweight.
The 27 year old Breazeale from California is, like Seth Mitchell, a boxer who came from an American Football background, having played for the University of Northern Colorado team. Despite his background however, Breazeale is arguably already better known for his boxing exploits than his football exploits due to the fact he quickly rose through the US rankings.
Despite not coming to the sport until relatively old for a fighter Breazeale made a quick impact and made the 2010 PAL Quarter finals in the Super Heavyweight division before losing to eventual runner up Roberto Morban. This was just the start for Breazeale who would quickly improve.
In 2011 Breazeale's talent really started to mature and although he failed somewhat in the Golden Gloves, he proved his skill at the US National Championships where he came 3rd beating the well regarded Brett Rather along the way. Sadly for Breazeale however he ran in to eventual winner Jonathan Hamm in the Semi final who had a little bit too for the likable Californian.
Having really started to find his groove in 2011 Breazeale climbed to the top of the mountain in 2012 as he got revenge over Jonathan Hamm and went on to claim the 2012 US National Championships. This championship victory was a major point in Breazeale's amateur career and helped him become the USA's #1 in the Super Heavyweight division. It had come as an excellent achievement just weeks after Breazeale had come the runner up in the American Olympic Qualifier to Ecuadorian Italo Perea.
Whilst Breazeale did fail to medal at the 2012 Olympics, coming unstuck against Russian Magomed Omarov his appearance at the Games did bring him some widespread attention and he'll look to ride that attention into his debut later tonight!
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Friday, 9 November 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
Deontay Wilder
Since this blog was started I've had to pick and choose which heavyweights to write about and I've also had to use some form of "editors discretion" over who to write about and who to "ignore", with unbeaten American heavyweight Deontay Wilder (20-0, 20) being one that I've chosen to ignore so far. Though it's now time to give "The Bronze Bomber" his dues and admit that he is slowly but surely heading in the right direction after 20 fights and over 3 years treading water as a professional.
Wilder burst on to the amateur scene back in 2007 when he won two national titles (the 2007 US Nationals and the 2007 Golden Gloves) after having only a handful of fights behind him. The following year he made a name for himself winning a bronze medal at the Olympic games losing to experienced Italian Clemente Russo. Wilder seemed like a natural and with his impressive size (6'7" and 84" wingspan) he seemed to be perfect for the growing trend of super tall athletic heavyweights (much like the Klitschko's and David Price).
Following his amateur success Wilder signed a professional deal with American promotional outfit Golden Boy Promotions and it seemed as if he would be the big USA heavyweight hopeful. Despite the high expectations many had for Wilder, he progressed slowly with his management team taking an ultra cautious approach to his career. After debuting with a 2nd round KO over Ethan Cox in November 2008 Wilder would run up 8 straight opening round victories over novices their for a pay day as opposed to winning real fights.
Through Wilder's first 10 fights his opponents combined records stood at a measly 30-37-10 (as they entered against him) averaging a little over 7.5 fights a piece (with opponent Charles Brown accounting for 22 of the 77 combined fights). Some boxing fans we're being incredibly patient with Wilder, though many had become tired of him, the over-protective matchmaking had annoyed many to the point of not caring about him and blanking him from their mind. Just a few fights later boxing fans then wrote Wilder off completely as he was decked and seemed out on his feet against Harold Sconiers before stopping Sconiers in the 4th round.
Sconiers had scared the living daylights out of Wilder's team and they decided to take their fighter back down a level as Wilder faced Cruiserweight journeyman Dan Sheehan (who had been stopped in 4 of his previous 5). Wilder stopped Sheehan impressively inside a round though doubts about Wilder's chin were still being asked following the Sconiers fight and he was now 14 fights into his career with out facing anyone expected to put up much of a fight.
Though a busy 2011 Wilder fought 6 times and took significant steps up in opponents facing the likes of former world title challenger Damon Reed (who Wilder stopped inside 2 rounds) and 39 year old David Long (who Wilder stopped inside a round). Though neither Reed or Long are great opponents they both represented a step up in class and now with a record of 20-0 (20) Wilder will be looking to build towards a world ranking come the end of 2012. To start the new year Wilder will be facing the hard punching Chris Koval (25-8, 18). Sadly Koval is another step backwards for Wilder and has been stopped in 5 of his last 8 contests, though if Wilder steps up through out the year he may well begin to live up to the promise his short but impressive amateur career suggested he had.
Wilder burst on to the amateur scene back in 2007 when he won two national titles (the 2007 US Nationals and the 2007 Golden Gloves) after having only a handful of fights behind him. The following year he made a name for himself winning a bronze medal at the Olympic games losing to experienced Italian Clemente Russo. Wilder seemed like a natural and with his impressive size (6'7" and 84" wingspan) he seemed to be perfect for the growing trend of super tall athletic heavyweights (much like the Klitschko's and David Price).
Following his amateur success Wilder signed a professional deal with American promotional outfit Golden Boy Promotions and it seemed as if he would be the big USA heavyweight hopeful. Despite the high expectations many had for Wilder, he progressed slowly with his management team taking an ultra cautious approach to his career. After debuting with a 2nd round KO over Ethan Cox in November 2008 Wilder would run up 8 straight opening round victories over novices their for a pay day as opposed to winning real fights.
Through Wilder's first 10 fights his opponents combined records stood at a measly 30-37-10 (as they entered against him) averaging a little over 7.5 fights a piece (with opponent Charles Brown accounting for 22 of the 77 combined fights). Some boxing fans we're being incredibly patient with Wilder, though many had become tired of him, the over-protective matchmaking had annoyed many to the point of not caring about him and blanking him from their mind. Just a few fights later boxing fans then wrote Wilder off completely as he was decked and seemed out on his feet against Harold Sconiers before stopping Sconiers in the 4th round.
Sconiers had scared the living daylights out of Wilder's team and they decided to take their fighter back down a level as Wilder faced Cruiserweight journeyman Dan Sheehan (who had been stopped in 4 of his previous 5). Wilder stopped Sheehan impressively inside a round though doubts about Wilder's chin were still being asked following the Sconiers fight and he was now 14 fights into his career with out facing anyone expected to put up much of a fight.
Though a busy 2011 Wilder fought 6 times and took significant steps up in opponents facing the likes of former world title challenger Damon Reed (who Wilder stopped inside 2 rounds) and 39 year old David Long (who Wilder stopped inside a round). Though neither Reed or Long are great opponents they both represented a step up in class and now with a record of 20-0 (20) Wilder will be looking to build towards a world ranking come the end of 2012. To start the new year Wilder will be facing the hard punching Chris Koval (25-8, 18). Sadly Koval is another step backwards for Wilder and has been stopped in 5 of his last 8 contests, though if Wilder steps up through out the year he may well begin to live up to the promise his short but impressive amateur career suggested he had.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Sergey Rozhnov
When I write about prospects I try to avoid debutant as we don't generally know how well they will do when they take off the headgear though I'm making an exception here by writing about Sergey Rozhnov who debuts later today against former world title challenger Owen "What the Heck" Beck (29-9, 20). Whilst Rozhnov's debut isn't an easy looking fight (despite the run of 6 straight losses by Beck) the former amateur standout is expect to win with relative ease mainly due to his amazing amateur experience.
Roznhov was born in Russia back in the early 1980's though really made his name competing for Bulgaria in major international competitions in the last decade or so. In fact in 2004 Rozhnov won a silver medal for Bulgaria at the European Championships, en route to that medal he beat Mariusz Wach before being able to compete in his semi final against Roberto Cammarelle.
Whilst Rozhnov never won gold at any major amateur tournament he did mix it with the best names of the era including a memorable clash with current WBA world heavyweight champion Alexsander Povetkin. He's been described as a powerful technician and a fighter who had a very professional looking style, sadly however he has been someone what missing in action since 2004. Having seen how fellow Bulgarian Olympian Kubrat Pulev is doing we could very easily have 2 Bulgarian amateurs charging through the ranks on collision course.
Hopefully we will have the result of Rozhnov's fight by the end of the day as the card is being shown on Russia TV 2 .
Roznhov was born in Russia back in the early 1980's though really made his name competing for Bulgaria in major international competitions in the last decade or so. In fact in 2004 Rozhnov won a silver medal for Bulgaria at the European Championships, en route to that medal he beat Mariusz Wach before being able to compete in his semi final against Roberto Cammarelle.
Whilst Rozhnov never won gold at any major amateur tournament he did mix it with the best names of the era including a memorable clash with current WBA world heavyweight champion Alexsander Povetkin. He's been described as a powerful technician and a fighter who had a very professional looking style, sadly however he has been someone what missing in action since 2004. Having seen how fellow Bulgarian Olympian Kubrat Pulev is doing we could very easily have 2 Bulgarian amateurs charging through the ranks on collision course.
Hopefully we will have the result of Rozhnov's fight by the end of the day as the card is being shown on Russia TV 2 .
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
David Price
Whilst many British boxing fans are excited about Tyson Fury I'll be honest and say the biggest Heavyweight hope in the UK is Liverpudlian David Price (11-0, 9). Stood at 6'8" the Olympic bronze medal winner is really one of the most promising heavyweights in the world and will almost certainly break into the top Heavyweight rankings in just another few fights.
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
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