Weekly Recap 3/20-3/26: Benavidez and Ramos Sine in 2023's Busiest Weekend
The busiest boxing weekend of the year, by far, kicked off in Milan, Italy on Friday evening. 27-year-old Italian prospect Ivan Zucco returned after a nearly year layoff and scored a dominant one-sided victory against Germain Brown. Zucco, a southpaw, moved his record to 17-0 (14) and successfully defended his WBC international super middleweight title. Zucco took care of business as expected. However, it was the undercard that captured attention as hyped-up junior middleweight prospect Francesco Russo was beaten down and stopped in the fourth round by journeyman Christian Mazzon of Lombardia, Italy. Mazzon improved his record to a less-than-sparking 10-4 (4) but showed plenty of pop despite his less-than-spectacular KO ratio. He was able to expose the touted prospect and back him up with hard, precise, power punches. Three and four-punch combinations had Russo on the back foot and uncomfortable. The end came in the fourth. Amid a violent slugfest, Mazzon scored with a double hook that put Russo down in spectacular fashion. The bout was immediately waived off.
On an extremely busy Saturday, the action was kicked off in Manchester, at the Manchester Arena as WBO cruiserweight champ Lawrence Okolie had his way and defended his strap in dominant but not entertaining fashion over David Light by scores of, 119-108, 117-110 and a much, much too close 116-112 by judge Micahel Alexander. Who in all fairness may have fallen asleep during this snoozefest. Okolie dominated the early rounds with his jab and was able to hurt Light several times late in the fight but was never able to drop him or get him in any serious trouble as he never slammed on the gas and pressed for a KO. The much longer and taller Okolie wisely used his length to his advantage in the dominant performance. Light tried valiantly to get on the inside but was unable to work his way onto the inside as Okolie was able to mix in the occasional right hand and cause Light to back up. A unification bout with IBF champ Jai Opetaia seems to have the interest of each fighter and could be next.
Saturday evening in US and Mexico was loaded beyond belief. Three cards, including the bout in Guadalajara, Mexico, that was headlined by a subpar lethargic performance, from one of the premier 140-pounders in the world. Jose Zepeda, the 33-year-old contender who just fought valiantly in a war with Regis Prograis, looked unmotivated and uninterested in a tougher-than-expected battle with the largely unknown Neeraj Goyat, who fell to 17-4-2. Goytat landed several power shots throughout the fight that caught the attention of his superior opponent. Despite the brief moments of success, Zepeda largely remained in control using his range and skills and rolled to a 100-90 decision on all cards. However, the fight seemed much closer than that.
On the evenings two major cards, Jose Carlos Ramirez, who opted to fight Richard Commey, instead of fighting Regis Prograis for the WBC strap, fought behind his hometown fans at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California. Ramirez scored a brutal 11th-round TKO of their WBC Title Eliminator. Ramirez was largely in control, backing Commey up and unloading on him while he had Commey against the ropes. However, the always entertaining and game Ghanian fired back and landed big right hands while he fought himself back into the fight. In round six, we had a round-of-the-year contender as Commey buckled the Californian with a right hand that scored perfectly on the chin, and by the end of the round behind chants of, "Jose, Jose, Jose..." Ramirez battled back and had Commey in a world of trouble. In the 11th, Ramirez dropped Commey with a left hook referee Jak Reiss administered an eight count as Commey got to his feet and fought back hard until a short body shot dropped the Ghanian warrior to one knee, and was unable to make it to his feet.
In the co-main, Seniesa "Super Bad" Estrada, made a good sales pitch for the number one pound-for-pound women's fighter in the world, given her dominant performance over Tina Rupprecht. Estrada was much more methodical and reserved in her approach, curbing her typical all-out assault and doing a bit more boxing from long range and landing with pinpoint accuracy while in the pocket. She won every round on every card 100-90x3 on her while unifying the WBA and WBC 105-pound titles.
On the big card, David Benavides executed his game plan to perfection. After losing rounds early, was able to break down his elusive opponent, the former champ, Caleb Plant. Plant built up an early lead and boxed well off the back foot. However, as easily predicted, he fatigued by the middle rounds, and by round six, Benavidez had worn his opponent down, and Plant did not win a single round on any card in the second half of the fight. By round eight it was a beat down! The only question left was could Plant could make it to the end. Plant, as tough as humanly possible, stood up and fought hard till the end. However, the poor game plan of fighting only off the back foot, lead to a unanimous decision loss by scores of 115-113. 116-112, and 117-111. The scores seemed to be on point.
In the co-main in an exciting bout between two undefeated blue chip prospects not yet in their physical prime, exactly what boxing needs, delivered as Jesus Ramos dominated the former two-time PBC prospect of the year, Joey Spencer. Ramos dropped spencer late in the first, and the writing was on the wall. Ramos handed a master-class performance in beating down Spencer, and it came to a brutal end in the sixth! Spencer's father and trainer, Jason Spencer, asked referee Tony Weeks to stop their 10-rounder in the sixth round after Ramos connected with a thudding three-piece that again rocked his son. Weeks obliged and gave Ramos the biggest win of his career and our front-runner for "Performance of the Year."
In what was a highly controversial decision on the undercard portion of the Plant-Benavidez card. "Prime Time " Chris Colbert eeked out a unanimous decision victory over Jose Valenzuela by scores of 95-94x3. In an incredibly close fight that was difficult to score. Colbert survived a first-round knockdown. He got up, and in what looked like it was going to be a replay of his loss to Hector Garcia last February, Colbert turned the tides sat down, and used lateral movement to box himself back in the fight. There was a constant theme that was persistent throughout the 10-round affair. Colbert would dominate the majority of the round with his movement and jab, and Valenzuela would land a thudding power shot and have short bursts and rallies. In what appeared to be an incredibly difficult and subjective fight to score ultimately all three judges agreed.
