Fighter of the Week 10/9-10/15: Erik Bazinyan
On a sneaky busy weekend of boxing, it was a mostly ignored mid-week card that produced this week's Fighter of the Week. The apple of the "Eye of the Tiger '' Promotions team, super middleweight Erik Bazinyan scored the most impressive win of his young and promising career. The 28-year-old, who now hails from Quebec, Canada, destroyed and blew away long-time US contender Ronald Ellis over six mostly one-sided rounds that ended in fairly brutal fashion. The Canadian moved his career record to 31-0 (22), retained his NABA and NABF Super middleweight titles, put himself in world title discussion in a division where all the straps are controlled by the biggest name in the sport, and took home this week's award.
Even among his fan base was a split was Ronald Ellis too big a step up for the undefeated Quebecker. However, Bazinyan settled that pretty early on. After Ellis scored with a few shots in the first half of the opening round, Bazinyan answered back with a big right hand that shook the American. The pace of the bout remained somewhat slow in the opening stanzas until Bazinyan rocked Ellis, this time with a short uppercut at the end of the second. Ellis simply got outworked over the next few rounds, fighting competitively but a step behind, the undefeated Bazinyan banked round after round. In a competitive fight that was becoming less competitive each round. In the fifth, Bazinyan threw a monkey wrench into the equation and flipped to a southpaw stance midway through the round confusing Ellis further, making him miss and then countering his shots. The American, nearing the point of no return to start the sixth picked up the pace and took more chances in the sixth which led to his final destruction. A right hand to the top of Ellis’ head put the American veteran on his back. Ellis showed determination and beat the count but the writing was on the wall, and he was in no shape to continue. Ellis was unable to respond to Refree Villeneuve’s direction, and Villeneuve called a halt to the fight. The official time of the stoppage was 1:44 of round number six.
Bazinyan is currently ranked in the top five at 168 pounds by all four major sanction bodies. He is ranked as high as three by the WBA and WBC. The impressive stoppage over Ellis could propel him into the top two. If that happens, he could find himself in a final eliminator with Christian Mbilli, who is ranked one and two by the WBC and the WBA. A win there would make him mandatory for Canelo, who currently holds all the belts. At that, it would be left to the sanctioning bodies to call the mandatory and then Canelo to decide if he wants to take the mandatory or vacate the belt. Either way, the Quebecer is likely only one win away from a world title shot. That could be him winning the Canelo sweepstakes or perhaps fighting for a vacant title if Canelo opts for that avenue. Whichever option plays out, Eye Of The Tiger promotions could have their first world champion by the end of 2024.
