Everything You Need to Know About the Weekend in Boxing

#USA Card by @MundoBoxing & @aandtevents22 with HW Tyrone Spong @Tyrone_spong 12-0 12KO KO'd Santander Silgado 28-5 in 1 Friday:https://t.co/zqELCBFAjl#boxe #boxeo #TTR #video #boxen #The13thRound #Boks #бокс #boxing #GGG #Canelo #Fury #Wilder pic.twitter.com/YZbfv4T6Y5

— the13thround.com (@the13thround) September 1, 2018

Garcia Continues Path to Stardom

When you have as much hype behind you as Ryan Garcia does, anything short of a spectacular knockout is going to bring out critics. That’s essentially what happened this weekend, despite winning a 98-92, 95-95 and 98-92 decision over a very game Carlos Morales, fans and haters alike were unsatisfied with Garcia’s performance. The fight was a boring one, with Garcia tiring and holding frequently despite being better than his opponent, and the scorecards should likely have been closer than they were although Garcia was the clear victor. But, seeing that their stream worked this time and their prized prospect won, “Golden Boy Promotions” must have been pleased with the event even if it was not the most exciting matchup of all time. As for Garcia, “Kingry” is 20 years old, 16-0 with 13 knockouts, and by all accounts a great kid so there’s not much for people to criticize about him right? Apparently not.

Garcia was criticized for the performance from virtually all sides ranging from boxing experts to the teenage girls who turned in to see their boxing BAE. Boxingnews24 said that Garcia “didn’t even look like a bottom feeder No. 15 ranked contender. He looked more like a 2nd tier journeymen level fighter,” the Sporting News’ Mark Ortega called for him to get a new trainer as soon as possible, and the good people of boxing Twitter simply said he was trash and whoever their preferred young prospect is would easily destroy him.

After the bout, Garcia said that if it were up to him, he would fight Gervonta Davis next which 100 percent will not happen. It’s too early to project how Garcia improves as a boxer, grows into an adult body, or matches up with the most elite competition, but with Golden Boy’s careful matchmaking combined with Garcia’s looks and charm, it’s a sure thing that he will become a superstar before he’s forced to face someone who could really challenge him inside of the ring. But, in a sport where according to everyone outside of the boxing world, the biggest news of the month concerned a Youtuber fighting a video game streamer, would it really be the worst thing in the world if a legitimate professional boxer who may not end up being the pound for pound best in the world, brought loads of mainstream attention to the sport?

‘The Rooster’ Makes His Critics Eat Crow

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong and I have to admit I was very wrong about this one. Despite Marvin Cabrera’s vastly superior amateur pedigree, more traditional boxing style, and overall tone of actually taking the sport seriously, he was never close to beating the wacky Californian, Neeco “The Rooster” Macias, whose relentless pressure forced Cabrera’s corner to throw in the towel at the end of the sixth round.

Macias’ style is reminiscent of a gamer using a minigun and an unlimited ammo code; he essentially sprays punches indiscriminately with little regard to whether they land or not; the problem for opponents is, these punches never stop coming. During the bout, Macias was on pace to set the all time Compubox record for punches thrown by about 600 punches.

Macias’ crazy fighting style and equally wild but not obnoxiously cocky personality will make him a fan favorite for as long as he can keep it up. Eventually, he’s going to run into a slick boxer whose counters will make him afraid to throw so many punches, or a hard puncher that can slow him down with good body work, and “The Rooster” will get his wake-up call. But, until then it’s going to be fun to see just how far him, his crazy hair, and his ridiculous cardio can go.

Spong Moves to 12-0 With 12 Kos

It’s time for the boxing world to start paying attention to former kickboxing champion Tyrone Spong. On Saturday, Spong easily dispatched Colombia’s Santander Silgado in the first round, knocking the Colombian out with a right hand that wrapped around the guard and put Silgado down face first ending the contest. While Silgado had been stopped in four of his last seven bouts, he did once hold a throwaway cruiserweight title, and knocking any heavyweight out with a partially blocked right hand is telling of Spong’s legitimate power.

Kickfighters moving into boxing may have the best combat sport crossover success rate outside of amateur wrestlers fighting in MMA. Many of the great Thai boxing champions started as muay Thai fighters, Chris Algieri began his career in kickboxing, Vitali Klitschko was famously knocked out while kickboxing before he switched to the rules of Queensbury, and recently Nieky Holzken proved a very adequate replacement opponent for the undefeated Callum Smith. While 6-foot-2 is very small for the modern era in heavyweight boxing, Spong claims he did well in sparring against Luis “King Kong” Ortiz, so maybe it won’t prove to be an issue. Either way, Spong is enough of a name that he will get to fight an elite opponent soon enough, and we will see if he’s ready or not. He sure looked ready this weekend.

Juarez Easily Beats Sanchez

Cesar Juarez easily dominated Jorge Sanchez, and though he seemed hit his Panamanian opponent with power shots quite few times, was never able to come especially close to earning a stoppage win. Ultimately, Juarez won a 99-91, 100-90 and 98-92 unanimous decision.

Before the fight, Juarez talked about wanting a rematch with Isaac Dogboe, as he felt their first bout was stopped prematurely. That is unlikely given Dogboe’s sudden two nation stardom, but with a few more wins like this one, Juarez may get that rematch.

Oosthuizen Takes Razor Thin Decision from Mchunu

In a bout to prove who is South Africa’s best cruiserweight (maybe), Tommy Oosthuizen narrowly beat Thabiso Mchunu via a 115-113, 115-113, 114-114 majority decision. Oosthuizen’s stamina was a factor in the fight, as he was in jail six months ago on drug charges and as a result hadn’t been in the ring since May 2017, but his boxing abilities were enough to make up for it despite Mchunu’s ability to walk him down in the later stages of the fight.

After the fight, talk moved to Oosthuizen facing another South African cruiserweight, Kevin “The KO Kid” Lerena in his next bout. Lerena is 21-1 with nine knockouts and is considered by many to be better than both Mchunu and Oosthuizen, although he has not faced the level of opposition they have. Oosthuizen was once considered a can’t miss prospect who was expected to give Eleider “Storm” Alvarez a fight, before Oosthuizen’s weight issues cancelled that event. While years ago he likely expected to be doing bigger things than contnually proving to be the best cruiserweight in South Africa at this point in his career, his personal life has yet to align with his boxing talent. We’ll see if it ever does.