Philip Bowes versus Akeem Ennis-Brown breakdown

This is a good competitive 12 round fight for both the Commonwealth and British titles at 140 pounds. Philip Bowes is the current owner of the Commonwealth while the British title is vacant.

Philip Bowes hasn’t fought for over a year and at the age of 36 we’ll see if that effects him. I don’t think he’s an old 36 and seems to have good stamina. Bowes throws really solid straight punches and has a nice jab. When he’s fighting on the back foot he’ll often throw wide hooks and after they land he’ll clinch quickly. He has no problem letting his hands go and is willing to get into exchanges at times where both fighters just swing and hope they land. His defence is nothing special though he does know when to clinch. I really think he lacks power and has no real killer instinct to finish his opponents.

Akeem Ennis-Brown hasn’t fought for over a year either though he is only 24. His stamina has looked fine so far though I have no idea what shape he’ll turn up in after a year out the ring. He’s also quite big for the weight so he may be weight drained though I would be slightly surprised as hes still young. Hes got a weird style as hes quite light on his feet but seems to load up on his shots a lot. I don’t think he has any power or a good jab honestly. He seems quite wild and very energetic which leaves him open to shots in my opinion. I really don’t like how he jumps about and throws huge shots which don’t seem to actually hurt his opponents. I think any opponent with half decent power and timing will drop him badly. I think fighters that are more calm and relaxed in the ring would beat him comfortably if i’m being honest.

I don’t really have a solid prediction for this fight but I do very slightly lean towards Philip Bowes because I think he has the better jab and his straight shots are nice. If Ennis-Brown wins I wouldn’t be surprised as his style is hard to beat for domestic fighters. I’m confident that this fight goes the distance.

First Boxing event in 2020 for Azerbaijan to take place Monday.

The first card in Azerbaijan to take place in 2020 will take place on the 31st of August. Azerbaijan is a country known for producing good amateurs though they have so far had no breakout stars in the pro’s.

On this card a few notable amateurs will turn pro with most of them facing decent amateurs on their pro debut which is certainly not the norm anywhere else. The good amateurs that are turning pro are Masud Yusifzada, Sarkhan Aliyev, Ruslan Rustamov and Ramazan Abdullayev. All four have taken part in international competitions and will be bringing a lot of experience with them to the pro’s. I expect Masud Yusifzada to do well as a pro as he’s had a good amateur career and because he’s campaigning down at Super Fly he should get to a title shot quickly because there aren’t as many fighters in that division compared to say Welterweight.

A few fighters to keep an eye on are Kanan Huseyinaliyev, Rauf Aghayev and Nijat Hasanov. All 3 have already started their pro careers and in the case of Rauf Aghayev he’s coming towards the end of it. Aghayev hasn’t been fighting good competition recently and when he has it’s been against prospects where he’s been quickly stopped. He may get a few more fights as the B-side in America so he’s worth watching out for. Both Huseyinaliyev and Hasanov are still undefeated and in the early stages of their careers. Hasanov has been a lot more active and at the age of 20 probably has more upside than Huseyinaliyev who has been inactive.

I’m glad boxing is finally returning to Azerbaijan and hopefully they start putting on regular cards as professional boxing is only just taking off there.

Jose Carlos Ramirez versus Viktor Postol breakdown

This should be a competitive fight and a good name on each other’s resume. Ramirez is coming off the best win of his career versus Maurice Hooker while Postol is coming off a good win versus Mohammed Mimoune.

Viktor Postol throws a lot of straight shots and not a huge amount of anything else. I think he has a good jab which is a scoring shot rather than one to just find the range. He has decent power but nothing special. His chin is ok but in recent years I think its starting to crumble a bit as he’s been dropped multiple times now. His stamina is very good and this shouldn’t be a problem unless he’s gotten old overnight. The biggest detriment to him is that hes now 36 and has had a few hard fights so may be past his prime at this point.

Jose Carlos Ramirez is very technically good just like Postol. He goes to the body well and throws more volume than Postol. He always throws back as soon as someone hits him so its very hard to outwork him. I think he has a good jab as well though his isn’t quite as hard as Postol’s in my opinion. His defence is decent though he is certainly hittable. I think he struggles with southpaws to an extent but that won’t be a problem in this match up. His stamina seems decent though I have a feeling he may slow down late if this fight gets there.

I think Jose Carlos Ramirez will win by decision or late stoppage due to him having the higher work rate and being the younger fresher fighter. I think a stoppage can happen if Viktor Postol has declined in the time he’s spent inactive which has been over a year so its certainly possible.

Sam Maxwell versus Joe Hughes breakdown

This is one of the most competitive fights on the Daniel Dubois card and should be a relative 50/50. Maxwell is on a good run of form right now and has picked up a few good wins versus domestic level fighters. Joe Hughes has fought a lot of top competition but has lost his last couple of fights by decision.

Sam Maxwell is a good boxer who is technically decent. He has some real power and this is his best asset. He has a questionable chin as he has been dropped a few times in his career. I also think hes not great defensively and doesn’t use much head movement.

Joe Hughes is a good boxer himself but doesn’t have the power of Sam Maxwell. He is quite active but his work isn’t often appreciated by the judges because it can be quite scrappy. His defence is decent but nothing special.

I think this fight should be very even and i’m going to call the draw on this one though I could see Maxwell getting the cards in a close competitive fight as the house fighter.

Sunny Edwards versus Thomas Essomba breakdown.

This should be a good test for Sunny Edwards as Thomas Essomba is a good fighter who fights anyone and mostly fights on the road in the away corner. Edwards is coming off a 12 round decision win over Marcel Braithwaite to win the British Super Fly title. Thomas Essomba is coming into this fight off the back of two upset wins over Sean McGoldrick and Iskander Khan. The fight will be 10 rounds for Edward’s IBF International Super Flyweight title.

Sunny Edwards is a good boxer who usually boxes off the back foot. He mostly moves around the ring and stays light on his feet. You don’t see him get into exchanges with fighters very often as he normally gets his shots off then gets out of range again. His defence is usually pretty solid and he does make people miss quite a lot. He has been dropped a few times when he’s lost focus and as he steps up the levels he’ll need to remain dialed in. I’ve noticed versus pressure fighters he does start to slow down a bit near the end of fights and sometimes takes the last round off.

Thomas Essomba is a good solid fighter who in my opinion isn’t quite as good as Edward’s is technically though hes still very good as he is a former Olympian himself. He has decent power and should be more powerful than Edwards who is notorious for being feather fisted. I think hes a good inside fighter and fights best on the front foot so if he can force Edwards to fight his fight then he could come out on top in exchanges. His defence is solid though I don’t think Edwards will struggle massively to hit him. His stamina seems good and he has a lot of pro experience as he’s fought a lot of good fighters.

I think Sunny Edwards will win by decision because he’ll be able to use his movement well and pick Essomba off for enough rounds to win. Essomba may have some success late on but I think it will be to little to late. If Essomba does win then I wouldn’t be hugely surprised as Edwards has shown he can be dropped and isn’t always dialed in when fighting.

Maciej Sulecki versus Sasha Yengoyan breakdown

This is a comeback fight for Sulecki after he lost a wide decision to Demetrius Andrade last year. He suffered with a few injuries afterwards but is now ready to start his comeback to the top. Sasha Yengoyan is coming off a wide decision loss himself but his was to Toni Kraft who is no where near as good as Andrade.

Sulecki has decent power and defence though has been dropped a few times in his career. He also has decent technical boxing skills and can fight well on the outside. His stamina normally seems pretty solid though he did fade a bit in the Rosado fight where he was dropped twice near the end and was also dropped late in his fight with Daniel Jacobs.

Sasha Yengoyan is a tough veteran who is coming to the latter stages of his career. He’s started to slow down a bit and has shown in recent times he can be out-boxed by good technical boxers. He has decent power though he may struggle to land with it now as he is slowing down. He’s very tough and has a great chin which has meant he has never been stopped which is incredible considering he has had more than 50 fights.

I think Sulecki will win this fight by decision as he’s the better technical boxer at this stage of both their careers. It’ll be nice too see Sulecki back in the middleweight mix as the division has had a loT of top talent leave it recently.

Esquiva Falcao and Robson Conceicao in fights in Brazil (29/8/2020)

Both Brazilian fighters are in 10 round fights in Brazil on Saturday night. They are both normally promoted by Top Rank in America but with the travel restrictions I presume Top Rank have arranged for them to fight in Brazil.

Esquiva Falcao is most likely only a few fights away from a title shot at this point as he is ranked quite highly in the IBF. He will be facing Morrama Dheisw de Araujo Santos who has a record of 5-4. He’s fought twice on the road in Germany and lost by KO both times. I expect Falcao to win by early KO here as he’s the better boxer and has a lot more experience than Santos. Falcao is 26-0 and once he wins this fight should be looking for big fights in America as he is more than ready at this point.

Robson Conceicao has had a weird pro career as he’s been moved very slowly even though he won gold at the 2016 Olympics. He will be fighting Eduardo Pereira Dos Reis who holds a record of 24-7. Reis has lost every time he’s fought outside of Brazil with most of those losses being by KO. I expect Conceicao to win by KO because he’s the much better boxer and Reis has shown he gets stopped whenever he really steps up in competition.

It’s good for both of them to get a fight in while the global pandemic is happening and hopefully after they can get bigger fights. I think Top Rank need to start moving them both a little faster as they have spent years barely upping their competition which is weird as Top Rank are normally very good at progressing fighters to a title shot.

Erislandy Lara versus Greg Vendetti breakdown.

For all intents and purposes this is a tune up bout for Erislandy Lara before he moves on to bigger fights. Lara is 37 now and is coming off an easy win over Ramon Alvarez who he stopped in two rounds. Greg Vendetti has had two wins over questionable competition since he was stopped in two rounds by Michel Soro.

Erislandy Lara is a highly schooled amateur from Cuba who has been fighting as a professional for 12 years now. He has good defence and does everything to a good standard. In the past he’s been excellent on the back foot and can draw guys well on to his left hand. As he’s got older his leg’s have started to slow down and hes no longer able to move around as well as he used too. This means he takes more shots than he used to and is also much more willing to exchange with his opponents. When hes facing top level guys this makes it hard for him to be as effective as he used to be but I don’t think this will matter in this fight. He also has a decent jab but he’s not hugely active with that or any punches.

Greg Vendetti isn’t a big super welterweight and will suffer both height and reach disadvantages to Erislandy Lara. He’s an active fighter and will be throwing a lot more punches than Lara will. He moves his head and upper body quite a lot especially when he’s trying to get onto the inside. He also uses a lot of feints from the outside from what i’ve seen. I think his inside game is actually quite good and he really outworks his opponents on the inside and positions himself so they struggle to get their punches off. He throws good hooks which go over his opponents guards because of how he loops them. I don’t think he’s a big puncher but he has enough to get his opponents respect. I think his chin and stamina are both fine and when he did get KO’d it was by a big puncher in Michel Soro who landed 5 or 6 massive punchers in a row before he put him away.

I think Erislandy Lara will still be able to win this fight at the age of 37 as hes so well schooled and his defence is still decent. I think hes more powerful than Vendetti as well and should be able to keep him at range for the majority of the fight. I think he’ll likely win a decision rather than a KO as Lara is out of his prime and Vendetti should be able to avoid enough shots to make it through 12 rounds. If Lara sets a trap and walks him on to a left hand or KO’s him with a good jab left hand then I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Abass Baraou robbed versus Jack Culcay after great fight.

After a great back and forth fight the judges scored the fight for Jack Culcay even though everyone else that was watching the fight scored it the opposite way.

Iko Berbic scored the fight 115-114 Jack Culcay which means he scored one round a 10-10 which in my opinion was likely a round that Baraou should have won. Rob Tebbut on twitter has said that people have informed him that Berbic scored the first 5 rounds to Culcay where Baraou was doing well and then gave Baraou two of the last 3 rounds where Culcay was coming on strong. This judging makes no sense and I can only think that this guy is incompetent and doesn’t take his job seriously.

Olivier Brian scored it 116-113 Abass Baraou which apart from the 10-10 round is a reasonable scorecard. I wouldn’t argue if you had it 115-113 to Baraou but to get 7 rounds for Culcay is a real stretch.

Peter Milord scored it 115-113 to Jack Culcay which in my opinion is a bad scorecard. You would have to really struggle to find 7 rounds for Culcay in this fight and again its either down to corruption or incompetence or likely a mixture of both.

I personally had the fight 116-112 to Abass Baraou and while there were a few close rounds I think its very hard if not impossible to find 7 rounds for Culcay. I will re-watch it in a few days and score it again. I’ll likely break it down in an article on here as well as the fight was very entertaining so I don’t mind watching it again.

Abass Baraou will learn a lot from this and can easily come again so at least theres a positive in that. Jack Culcay had nothing to do with the decision and should try and get a title shot as this has boosted his career to new heights. I think this is his best or second best official win and at the age of 34 he won’t likely be getting many more so i’m happy for him.

Jama Saidi versus Vincent Feigenbutz breakdown.

This is a good match up between two solid German fighters who haven’t quite made it at world level. Jama Saidi fought a close fight with Jack Culcay recently and has had one comeback win since. Vincent Feigenbutz recently came off a world title fight with Caleb Plant where he was stopped in the 9th round after taking a lot of damage.

Vincent Feigenbutz fights best off the front foot. He has good power and throws in combination. His foot work isn’t great and neither is his defence but he does seem to have a good chin. His defence like Saidi mostly consists of having a high guard. He has a decent jab and right hand which seems to have some real power behind it. I like how he chops down on his right hands and his uppercuts. He has a decent work rate and good stamina. He gets hit a lot and with his style gets into wars a lot. He’s moving down to middleweight for this fight so should be the bigger stronger man in the ring. He throws hurtful shots to the body which have put multiple opponents down.

Jama Saidi has a decent right hook which I’ve seen him counter Culcay with effectively. His defence mostly consists of him having his gloves high rather than using great foot work or head movement which I think he lacks. He doesn’t have a particularly effective jab and doesn’t throw in combination most of the time. He is a decent counter-puncher and can fight decently on the front foot as well. He’s not a great mover and won’t be hard to hit for Vincent Feigenbutz.

I think Vincent Feigenbutz will win this fight because he’s coming down from Super Middleweight while Jama Saidi is moving up from Super Welterweight. I think his advantage in power and him having a good chin will lead to him coming on strong late after a war in the early rounds. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stopped Saidi. Normally Feigenbutz getting hit so much would concern me but I don’t think Jama Saidi has the power to trouble him especially with him moving up a weight class while Feigenbutz is coming down one weight class.