Historically France has been a country with numerous memorable boxers such as Georges Carpentier, Marcel Thil, Ray Famechon and Marcel Cerdan. Sadly however in recent years the French boxing scene has all but died off with the likes of Jean Marc Mormeck and Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam only managing to give the sport a short shot in the arm.
With this in mind however it's fair to say that French boxing isn't dead, it's just not what is used to be. Earlier this year the talented Michel Soro (19-1, 12) showed that France does still have some talent to be unearthed and perhaps the most promising of the emerging French fighters is Heavyweight Newfel Ouatah (10-0, 6).
Ouatah first took to the sport as a child when the rest of France was celebrating the football team that went on to dominate European football at the turn of the millennium. With in just a few years Ouatah was starting to make an impact as a solid amateur fighter and in 2004 he claimed his first notable amateur title, the French National Championships in the Heavyweight division, stopping all 3 of his opponents on route to the title.
After his national success it was only a matter of time before Ouatah would appear on the international stage and that's exactly what he did just months later as he fought at the 2004 World Junior Championships. At this competition Ouatah lost to Cuban star Robert Alfonso, who himself went on to claim a Bronze medal.
Over the following few years Outah fought in various international tournaments. Whilst he generally didn't come out victorious in the biggest competitions he did often hold his own and picked up various titles such as the 2005 Copenhagen Cup, the 2006 French National Championship, the 2007 African Championship and numerous silver medals in things like the 2007 French National Championships and the 2007 All Africa Games (where he competed for Algeria, due to his families roots).
Despite the title wins and the various medals that Ouatah collected it's fair to suggest that the highlight of his days in the unpaid ranks was competing at the 2008 Olympic games. Whilst Ouatah failed to medal at the Beijing games, losing in the Quarter Finals to Vyacheslav Glazkov, he was still able to say that he competed with some of the best on the planet.
Following from his Olympic journey Ouatah turned professional and debuted in July 2009 by defeating Azar Layachi by TKO in the opening round. By the end of the year Ouatah had swiftly moved to 3-0 (2) having stopped Robert Gregor in a round before winning a 4 round decision over Alban Galonnier.
Having started his career well things went from strength to strength and the following year Outah would score 4 more wins, winning 3 by opening round T/KO before defeating Cyril Leonet by 10 round decision to claim the French Heavyweight title. Despite being inexperienced Ouatah had come of age and claimed his first belt in just his 7th professional bout.
Sadly just as it seemed like Ouatah would continue his rise he spent almost a year out of the ring before defeating again Cyril Leonet in the first defense of the French Heavyweight title. Since then Ouatah has fought just twice, though has defended his national title once more, defeating Mickael Vieira by TKO5 (after Vieira suffered an injury).
Whilst it's certainly far too early to say just how far Ouatah could go in the sport, he has the necessary amateur background and natural size (standing at around 6'6") as well as power to take a fighter places. Hopefully he can either reinvigorate the French boxing affair or move to either the UK or Germany and really get his career back under-way as he's a big, strong guy who could be very interesting if given the chance to shine.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Friday, 26 October 2012
Kyotaro Fujimoto
In Japan top youngsters are pushed hard and quick, they are basically told to sink or swim and unlike Americans, Brits and Germans they aren't molly coddled to a world title with their promoter protecting them. We've all seen Kazuto Ioka (10-0, 6) and his crazy rise to both the WBC and WBA Minimumweight titles in just 10 bouts (winning the WBC belt in just his seventh) and we've also seen the likes of Nobuo Nashiro (18-5-1, 12) winning world titles within their first 10 bouts.
With this knowledge of Japanese boxing, it should be no surprise that their top Heavyweight prospect Kyotaro Fujimoto (5-0, 3) is already being pushed hard, despite having only been a professional boxer for 10 months.
When it comes to many fighters in Japan who are pushed hard, such as Ioka and top prospect Rysuke Iwasa they've come to professional boxing with a lot of amateur credentials. Kyotaro however doesn't have the amateur background of a number of his compatriots, he does however have a background in combat sports, in fact his background is in high level kick boxing as one of the top fighters in the "K1" organisation.
As a Kick Boxer Kyotaro was a fierce competitor and from 2006-2011 he compiled an impressive record of 18-5 (9) and claimed the illustrious K1 Heavyweight title along the way. Amongst his high profile victims in K1 were the likes of Jérôme Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Gökhan Saki and Mighty Mo and amazingly he was never stopped despite facing these top tier fighters.
Following 2 losses in December 2010 Kyotaro seemed to turn his attention towards professional boxing and exactly a year after his final K1 bout (a loss to Gegard Mousasi) he made his professional boxing debut out pointing experienced Australian Michael O'Donnell on 31 December 2011.
After making his debut Kyotaro was quickly tested and in just his second contest he was put in against the then South Korean Heavyweight champion Jae-Chan Kim. Kim was no match for Kyotaro's fire power and was stopped in the second round. Over the following months Kyotaro would add 2 further victories stopping both Afa Tatupu (TKO2) and Clarence Tillman (KO3) as he swiftly gained valuable experience.
More recently Kyotaro scored his biggest win, by far, as he clearly out pointed highly ranked veteran Chauncy Welliver over 10 rounds. Despite being the professional novice, Kyotaro looked like the experienced fighter here and showed excellent movement and control to keep Welliver at range whilst landing and moving away before Welliver landed anything back. Although he was buzzed late in the bout, Kyotaro scored a very impressive and solid victory here.
Although Kyotaro only has 5 professional bouts under his belt and only 23 professional rounds, he's amazingly ranked #15 by the WBC which would allow the champion, Vitali Klitschko, to face him as a voluntary title defense. Surprisingly Kyotaro's ranking is ahead of both David Price and Ruslan Chagaev.
With this knowledge of Japanese boxing, it should be no surprise that their top Heavyweight prospect Kyotaro Fujimoto (5-0, 3) is already being pushed hard, despite having only been a professional boxer for 10 months.
When it comes to many fighters in Japan who are pushed hard, such as Ioka and top prospect Rysuke Iwasa they've come to professional boxing with a lot of amateur credentials. Kyotaro however doesn't have the amateur background of a number of his compatriots, he does however have a background in combat sports, in fact his background is in high level kick boxing as one of the top fighters in the "K1" organisation.
As a Kick Boxer Kyotaro was a fierce competitor and from 2006-2011 he compiled an impressive record of 18-5 (9) and claimed the illustrious K1 Heavyweight title along the way. Amongst his high profile victims in K1 were the likes of Jérôme Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Gökhan Saki and Mighty Mo and amazingly he was never stopped despite facing these top tier fighters.
Following 2 losses in December 2010 Kyotaro seemed to turn his attention towards professional boxing and exactly a year after his final K1 bout (a loss to Gegard Mousasi) he made his professional boxing debut out pointing experienced Australian Michael O'Donnell on 31 December 2011.
After making his debut Kyotaro was quickly tested and in just his second contest he was put in against the then South Korean Heavyweight champion Jae-Chan Kim. Kim was no match for Kyotaro's fire power and was stopped in the second round. Over the following months Kyotaro would add 2 further victories stopping both Afa Tatupu (TKO2) and Clarence Tillman (KO3) as he swiftly gained valuable experience.
More recently Kyotaro scored his biggest win, by far, as he clearly out pointed highly ranked veteran Chauncy Welliver over 10 rounds. Despite being the professional novice, Kyotaro looked like the experienced fighter here and showed excellent movement and control to keep Welliver at range whilst landing and moving away before Welliver landed anything back. Although he was buzzed late in the bout, Kyotaro scored a very impressive and solid victory here.
Although Kyotaro only has 5 professional bouts under his belt and only 23 professional rounds, he's amazingly ranked #15 by the WBC which would allow the champion, Vitali Klitschko, to face him as a voluntary title defense. Surprisingly Kyotaro's ranking is ahead of both David Price and Ruslan Chagaev.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Jordan Shimmell
There is a wide spread belief that American Heavyweight boxing is dead. I have to admit, that whilst it's not amazing, it's still a live and no, it's not on life support. A quick look at the emerging prospects America currently has should actually fill fight fans with a sense of relief, they have guys like Joe Hanks, Seth Mitchell, Deontay Wilder, Bryant Jennings and Alexander Flores, in all honesty not a bad pack.
Another fighter that perhaps also needs a mention is former amateur stand out Jordan Shimmell (4-0, 4) who has been over-looked so far despite having bucket loads of talent and a very solid amateur background both nationally and internationally.
At 24 years old, the 6'4" Shimmell has well over a decade of boxing experience having picked up the sport when he was just 8 years old. Despite the fact he's inexperienced as a professional with just 4 bouts, it needs to be noted just how much amateur experience he has, in fact going through his amateur achievements is a bit of a task it's self.
As a kid, Shimmell won numerous Michigan state titles including Silver Gloves and Junior Olympic titles. His talent was obvious from a very early age and as he grew, his talent become more telling as he claimed various medals at the national level as a junior.
Despite his junior success Shimmell is best known for what he did as a young senior, winning the 2009 Golden Gloves in the Heavyweight division. The same year that he won the Golden Gloves, he also won the National amateur title, affirming his position as the #1 guy in his division domestically. Sadly however Shimmell couldn't repeat the success the following year, falling at the final hurdle in the 2010 Golden Gloves to Steve Geffrard and the Quarter finals of the Nationals also to Geffrard.
In 2011 Shimmell fought internationally at both the Panamerican Games Qualifier in Panama and in Russia as he took part in the World Cup of Petroleum Countries. Despite failing to impress in either of those tournaments the international experience will have been invaluable. The year however wasn't a write off as he claimed a second national title.
Shimmell attempted to gain an Olympic birth for the London 2012 Games however he fell to eventual winner of the US Olympic Trials Michael Hunter. Instead of waiting for 2016 and trying again, Shimmell decided to turn professional and at the end of June made his professional debut, stopping Kolmarge Harris in 2 rounds.
Since stopping Harris in 2 rounds, Shimmell has continued his professional journey and scored 3 more stoppage wins taking out Mario Huffman in 2 rounds, Robert Feirick in just 51 seconds and the experienced Joe Stofle in 2 rounds. He is now looking for win #5 as he faces the hard hitting and much more experienced Travis Fulton (18-30, 18). As long as Shimmell is cautious over the first 2 rounds he should manage to remain unbeaten and stop Fulton as he continues his swift rise through the professional ranks.
If Shimmell continues on his current rise for a year or two, I wouldn't be shocked to see the television companies begging for him. He's a good looking kid, he's talented, he's got great amateur experience, he's young, he's tall and he's a solid hitter everything a fan wants to see in a Heavyweight prospect. At the moment though he is perhaps a year or two away from filling into his body and could probably still make Cruiserweight if he wished, he is still however a baby in terms of being a Heavyweight and will continue to develop his body for a while.
Another fighter that perhaps also needs a mention is former amateur stand out Jordan Shimmell (4-0, 4) who has been over-looked so far despite having bucket loads of talent and a very solid amateur background both nationally and internationally.
At 24 years old, the 6'4" Shimmell has well over a decade of boxing experience having picked up the sport when he was just 8 years old. Despite the fact he's inexperienced as a professional with just 4 bouts, it needs to be noted just how much amateur experience he has, in fact going through his amateur achievements is a bit of a task it's self.
As a kid, Shimmell won numerous Michigan state titles including Silver Gloves and Junior Olympic titles. His talent was obvious from a very early age and as he grew, his talent become more telling as he claimed various medals at the national level as a junior.
Despite his junior success Shimmell is best known for what he did as a young senior, winning the 2009 Golden Gloves in the Heavyweight division. The same year that he won the Golden Gloves, he also won the National amateur title, affirming his position as the #1 guy in his division domestically. Sadly however Shimmell couldn't repeat the success the following year, falling at the final hurdle in the 2010 Golden Gloves to Steve Geffrard and the Quarter finals of the Nationals also to Geffrard.
In 2011 Shimmell fought internationally at both the Panamerican Games Qualifier in Panama and in Russia as he took part in the World Cup of Petroleum Countries. Despite failing to impress in either of those tournaments the international experience will have been invaluable. The year however wasn't a write off as he claimed a second national title.
Shimmell attempted to gain an Olympic birth for the London 2012 Games however he fell to eventual winner of the US Olympic Trials Michael Hunter. Instead of waiting for 2016 and trying again, Shimmell decided to turn professional and at the end of June made his professional debut, stopping Kolmarge Harris in 2 rounds.
Since stopping Harris in 2 rounds, Shimmell has continued his professional journey and scored 3 more stoppage wins taking out Mario Huffman in 2 rounds, Robert Feirick in just 51 seconds and the experienced Joe Stofle in 2 rounds. He is now looking for win #5 as he faces the hard hitting and much more experienced Travis Fulton (18-30, 18). As long as Shimmell is cautious over the first 2 rounds he should manage to remain unbeaten and stop Fulton as he continues his swift rise through the professional ranks.
If Shimmell continues on his current rise for a year or two, I wouldn't be shocked to see the television companies begging for him. He's a good looking kid, he's talented, he's got great amateur experience, he's young, he's tall and he's a solid hitter everything a fan wants to see in a Heavyweight prospect. At the moment though he is perhaps a year or two away from filling into his body and could probably still make Cruiserweight if he wished, he is still however a baby in terms of being a Heavyweight and will continue to develop his body for a while.
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Robert Alfonso
When top Cuban amateurs turn professional it's often a time to get at least a little bit excited and that's exactly how I feel having found out that Robert Alfonso (0-0) will be making his professional debut (originally slated for a few weeks ago, it will now take place in November).
As we all know the Cuban amateur scene is legendary and probably the best in the world. Just amongst the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions we've had legendary names such as Teófilo Stevenson, Félix Savón, Odlanier Solís and Roberto Balado. Whilst no one will ever put Robert Alfonso on the same pedestal as those names he was a very credible amateur.
In the unpaid ranks Alfonso was an exceptional fighter though not the most successful, in fact in international competition his best achievement was probably a Gold medal at the 2007 Pan American games.
Despite his lack of medals, his record was very solid with victories over Newfel Ouatah (the 2007 All African Games Silver medal winner), Michel López Núñez (2004 Olympic Bronze medal winner), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the 2006 South American Games Gold medal winner who is better known for his MMA exploits), Óscar Rivas (Pan Am Silver medal winner) and American Michael Hunter Jr (a 2-time AAU champion).
Stood at 6'4" and weighing around 220lbs Alfonso is an excellently sized Heavyweight and aged just 25 he has a lot of time to adapt to the professional game before needing to make his move towards a Heavyweight title. Interestingly Cuba have never had a professional boxing Heavyweight champion, despite both Juan Carlos Gomez and and Odlanier Solis fighting for the WBC title in recent years, maybe Alfonso could be the man to change that.
As we all know the Cuban amateur scene is legendary and probably the best in the world. Just amongst the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions we've had legendary names such as Teófilo Stevenson, Félix Savón, Odlanier Solís and Roberto Balado. Whilst no one will ever put Robert Alfonso on the same pedestal as those names he was a very credible amateur.
In the unpaid ranks Alfonso was an exceptional fighter though not the most successful, in fact in international competition his best achievement was probably a Gold medal at the 2007 Pan American games.
Despite his lack of medals, his record was very solid with victories over Newfel Ouatah (the 2007 All African Games Silver medal winner), Michel López Núñez (2004 Olympic Bronze medal winner), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the 2006 South American Games Gold medal winner who is better known for his MMA exploits), Óscar Rivas (Pan Am Silver medal winner) and American Michael Hunter Jr (a 2-time AAU champion).
Stood at 6'4" and weighing around 220lbs Alfonso is an excellently sized Heavyweight and aged just 25 he has a lot of time to adapt to the professional game before needing to make his move towards a Heavyweight title. Interestingly Cuba have never had a professional boxing Heavyweight champion, despite both Juan Carlos Gomez and and Odlanier Solis fighting for the WBC title in recent years, maybe Alfonso could be the man to change that.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Bryant Jennings
We keep hearing time and time again that America has no Heavyweight hopefuls and that division has no interest at all in the US. I find this quite funny personally as the division does seem to have a lot of interest, especially stateside and especially this coming weekend.
Whilst in Russia we will see Vitali Klitschko defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Manuel in the USA we will see Tomasz Adamek v Travis Walker (hugely promising match between veterans), Steve Cunningham v Jason Gavern, Deontay Wilder v Damon McCreary and then we have Bryant Jennings v Chris Koval. With this in mind it seemed a perfect time to take a look at Jennings.
The unbeaten Jennings (14-0, 6) is a Philadelphia native who many are tipping to be the best amongst the current batch of US heavyweights (which also includes Tor Hamer, Alexander Flores, Seth Mitchell and Joe Hanks). At 27 years old he is starting to reach his physical prime though it's the combination of his opposition and his physical features that makes Jennings such a highly rated fighter.
Despite only having a short amateur career, consisting of 17 fights (13-4) Jennings was hugely impressive reaching two finals (2009 PAL Nationals and the 2009 National Golden Gloves) though sadly came up short to Lenroy Thompson both times. Despite only having a short time in the amateurs Jennings was a natural athlete who seemed to fit comfortably into any sport he tried his hand at.
In 2010 Jennings made his professional debut by defeating fellow Philadelphian by decision over 4 rounds Zeferino Albino. By the end of the year Jennings had moves his record to 5-0 (3) including stopping Albino in the opening round of a rematch. The following year saw Jennings adding 6 more victories to his ledger with 2 of those by T/KO as he moved to 11-0 (5).
Despite looking solid in his early bouts Jennings hadn't really been tested, he was beating low level competition and finding his feet in the sport without being pushed too hard too soon. It didn't take long however for Jennings to be stepped up as he faced the then unbeaten Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9) at the start of 2012. This bout, put together at a weeks notices, was aired on NBC Sports after Eddie Chambers suffered an injury and saw both fighters putting their records on the line. In a thoroughly competitive bout Jennings did just enough to take the unanimous decision over the 10 round distance.
The victory over Byarm not only gave Jennings his first major television exposure, but also his first 10 round bout and perhaps more importantly his first title as he won the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Title. It didn't take long for Jennings to prove he wasn't just a 1-hit wonder as he completely dominated former WBO Heavyweight Siarhei Liakhovich before forcing a 9th round stoppage again on NBC.
Most recently Jennings claimed his second professional title, the USBA Heavyweight, by dominating and out pointing Steve Collins over the 10 round distance. This bout, like the previous two for Jennings, was aired on NBC with Jennings almost becoming an "NBC Fighter". Despite coming in at a career heaviest 225lbs Jennings was in fantastic shape against Collins.
After scoring 3 impressive wins, Jennings will now face veteran Chris Koval (25-9, 18) in what should again be a notable victory for Jennings (if he wins, as expected). Whilst this is another solid move in the right direction Koval has only won 2 of his last 7 and has been stopped 5 times in his last 9 bouts, so isn't likely to be hugely testing or particularly confident going in to this bout.
Whilst a lot is made of Jennings' athleticism and record (having faced solid tests already) it's also worth noting his unusual physical features. Despite "only" being around 6'2" Jennings has freakishly long arms which has allowed him to be very effective at range and whilst he may not always use his reach properly he has also got excellent hand speed up close.
Sadly despite a number of appearances on NBC Jennings still seems to have been repeatedly overlooked by boxing fans who really should sit up and take notice of this talented youngster who is willing to take risks, something it seems compatriot Deontay Wilder refuses to do.
Video below is thanks to BERLINKERNEYSTUDIOS
Whilst in Russia we will see Vitali Klitschko defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Manuel in the USA we will see Tomasz Adamek v Travis Walker (hugely promising match between veterans), Steve Cunningham v Jason Gavern, Deontay Wilder v Damon McCreary and then we have Bryant Jennings v Chris Koval. With this in mind it seemed a perfect time to take a look at Jennings.
The unbeaten Jennings (14-0, 6) is a Philadelphia native who many are tipping to be the best amongst the current batch of US heavyweights (which also includes Tor Hamer, Alexander Flores, Seth Mitchell and Joe Hanks). At 27 years old he is starting to reach his physical prime though it's the combination of his opposition and his physical features that makes Jennings such a highly rated fighter.
Despite only having a short amateur career, consisting of 17 fights (13-4) Jennings was hugely impressive reaching two finals (2009 PAL Nationals and the 2009 National Golden Gloves) though sadly came up short to Lenroy Thompson both times. Despite only having a short time in the amateurs Jennings was a natural athlete who seemed to fit comfortably into any sport he tried his hand at.
In 2010 Jennings made his professional debut by defeating fellow Philadelphian by decision over 4 rounds Zeferino Albino. By the end of the year Jennings had moves his record to 5-0 (3) including stopping Albino in the opening round of a rematch. The following year saw Jennings adding 6 more victories to his ledger with 2 of those by T/KO as he moved to 11-0 (5).
Despite looking solid in his early bouts Jennings hadn't really been tested, he was beating low level competition and finding his feet in the sport without being pushed too hard too soon. It didn't take long however for Jennings to be stepped up as he faced the then unbeaten Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9) at the start of 2012. This bout, put together at a weeks notices, was aired on NBC Sports after Eddie Chambers suffered an injury and saw both fighters putting their records on the line. In a thoroughly competitive bout Jennings did just enough to take the unanimous decision over the 10 round distance.
The victory over Byarm not only gave Jennings his first major television exposure, but also his first 10 round bout and perhaps more importantly his first title as he won the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Title. It didn't take long for Jennings to prove he wasn't just a 1-hit wonder as he completely dominated former WBO Heavyweight Siarhei Liakhovich before forcing a 9th round stoppage again on NBC.
Most recently Jennings claimed his second professional title, the USBA Heavyweight, by dominating and out pointing Steve Collins over the 10 round distance. This bout, like the previous two for Jennings, was aired on NBC with Jennings almost becoming an "NBC Fighter". Despite coming in at a career heaviest 225lbs Jennings was in fantastic shape against Collins.
After scoring 3 impressive wins, Jennings will now face veteran Chris Koval (25-9, 18) in what should again be a notable victory for Jennings (if he wins, as expected). Whilst this is another solid move in the right direction Koval has only won 2 of his last 7 and has been stopped 5 times in his last 9 bouts, so isn't likely to be hugely testing or particularly confident going in to this bout.
Whilst a lot is made of Jennings' athleticism and record (having faced solid tests already) it's also worth noting his unusual physical features. Despite "only" being around 6'2" Jennings has freakishly long arms which has allowed him to be very effective at range and whilst he may not always use his reach properly he has also got excellent hand speed up close.
Sadly despite a number of appearances on NBC Jennings still seems to have been repeatedly overlooked by boxing fans who really should sit up and take notice of this talented youngster who is willing to take risks, something it seems compatriot Deontay Wilder refuses to do.
Video below is thanks to BERLINKERNEYSTUDIOS
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