Boxing Preview, 9th of July
Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images
After last week’s ‘quieter’ weekend turned out to be quite busy after all, we’re back with more action, with a world title, a couple of eliminators, and a big old heavyweight slugfest over in the UK. Let’s take a look.
Mark Magsayo vs Rey Vargas
The featherweight main event sees Magsayo defend the belt he took, unexpectedly (albeit with some help from injury), from Gary Russel Jr in February. It’s got to be said, turning around to fight a dangerous challenger within six months makes his reign an immediate improvement over that dreadful once-a-year grind against mostly overmatched opponents, so that’s a good start.
Vargas isn’t always the most exciting fighter, but because of the style matchup, this could turn out to be a war. Both are capable volume punchers- Magsayo more naturally so and a pressure fighter, Vargas more by preference a back-foot counterpuncher who does sometimes go for the bare minimum, but who’ll hold his ground and throw when he sees the opportunity. That style clash does probably favour Vargas some, in that even in his win over Russell, Magsayo did show a tendency to overreach a bit when chasing a backpedalling opponent. Russell didn’t punish him for that, partly because he had no lead hand for much of the fight and partly because he’s never been a big hitter, but if he commits similar mistakes in this one, he’ll eat some leather for it. He won’t capitulate quietly, but expect to see Vargas doing just that- dropping off a little, tagging Magsayo with uppercuts and other shots to punish that overreach, and occasionally stepping in to really rough up the body, probably en route to a win.
The chief support - a super-bantamweight contest- is also likely to be a firefight, as fights involving Brandon Figueroa usually are. Since Carlos Castro is also for the most part happy to throw down, we should be in for a treat. In basic matchup, this isn’t too dissimilar to the main event- Figueroa being the pressure fighter, and Castro being more on board with sliding back and letting his opponent come to him (although he will also happily step forward if he needs to). Their respective strengths and weaknesses probably line up the other way though - Figueroa, though almost comically aggressive at times, and certainly there to be hit, doesn’t leave his feet behind when chasing in the same way, whereas Castro, even when planted, does throw himself off balance. He also tends to let himself get backed up to the ropes a bit more easily than he should, and when he does go on the front foot, he tends to go for one big shot rather than setting things up with combinations- a lot of the problem in his loss against Luis Nery. He should have his moments, but if Figueroa is as good a fighter as he looked against Fulton he should push through and punish Castro for those mistakes before the end.
Also on the card, we see the return of Rashidi Ellis- at 29, not quite a prospect, but someone who’d been on the rise before a 2 year break and a promoter change from Golden Boy to the PBC stable. A skillful and speedy outboxing counterpuncher with a sharp pocket defence and a nice line in feints, baits, and lead-left hooks, he’d just started to build some real momentum, with a solid win over Alexis Rocham before that hiatus. He’ll be looking to get right back to eye-catching ways at welterweight, but unfortunately a last minute change of opponent (from the dangerous Alberto Palmetta to journeyman Jose Marrufo) means we probably won’t learn much except that he still exists. More interesting will be Frank Martin’s lightweight throwdown vs Jackson Marinez. Martin is also a slick outpuncher- a southpaw this time- and while Marinez is coming off two losses on the bounce, one was a totally ridiculous decision against Rolly Romero and the other was against Richard Commey, a far higher level of opponent than Martin has faced so far, so he’ll be a test. One negative from Martin’s fight against Romero Dunno earlier in the year was a tendency to grab and hold when the fight got close, and since Marinez, although not a stranger to making it ugly himself, is capable of a little bit of making space to punish an overreach, that will be one thing to look out for. Still, you’d expect it to go the other way if Martin can get his jab working and walk Marinez onto his own counters. Past that, there a number of other prospects on the card.
Derek Chisora vs Kubrat Pulev
This main event is… well, neither of the two men are the freshest of heavyweight daisies, but Chisora usually brings an entertaining slugfest, and Pulev getting old means we’re less likely to see the controlled win he scored in their first meeting back in 2016 - especially if Chisora’s pre-fight windups can get him mad enough to engage in a war. We won’t be watching this one for the subtle skills or hints on the future of the heavyweight division, but who doesn’t enjoy a sloppy throwdown once in a while? There’s not a lot more to say to this- take it for what it is, and hopefully we’ll have a good time.
The co-main is also a rematch, but not on so long a scale. Super-welterweights Israil Madrimov and Michel Soro faced off in December, in a fight that was reasonably competitive until a highly controversial end, where, after Madrimov hurt his opponent, neither he nor the referee heard the bell and he ended up landing a good ten punches after it. To his credit, the rising star agreed immediately to run it back, so here we are.
You’d expect Madrimov to win again though, cleanly this time. The first fight wasn’t plain sailing for him or anything, but he was winning. He mostly defused Soro’s jab, and when he got the fight inside he was dominant- most of his problem came, as has so far sometimes been a concern for him, in trying to close distance safely. It is also fair to say though that he had been working on solutions to that issue, so there’s a decent chance that he’s improved that aspect even more and this fight ends sooner, with Madrimov figuring routes inside more rapidly than the first one. It’s not out of the question that Soro could still catch him coming in and capitalise on that, but a this-time-legitimate repeat is the most likely outcome.
Also on the card, Felix Cash faces Vaughn Alexander at middleweight. Cash, who’s built a nice streak over the last few years, voiced his displeasure at the lack of opportunity he feels he’s getting from Eddie Hearn, and he’s probably not wrong on this basis- Alexander’s far from a walkover, but it’s a fight Cash should be winning, and it doesn’t really move the needle in terms of getting him any closer to the world title shot he’ll want, even if there is a WBA trinket involved, At 29, he can’t be treading water for too long, so he’ll be looking to take care of business safely in this one and move on fast. On top of that, Caoimhin Agyarko looks to continue his learning curve while also dropping down in weight to 154. In that respect, it’s a little odd that he’s chosen to test those waters against Lukasz Maciec, who previously appeared on British screens back in February welcoming Anthony Fowler to 160, but it should be a fight that tells us a few things, even if the Irishman will expect to win fairly comfortably in the end. Also featuring will be a couple of heavyweight prospects in Fabio Wardley and Solomon Dacres- not, of course, against each other.