SportsRatings: Boxing/MMA

Klitschko-Johnson live scoring, results

Results so far from Switzerland

• #59 Johnathon Banks TKO round 1 Marcel Zeller
  No major surprise here
• #45 Alexander Ustinov decision 12 #145 Monte Barrett
  Barrett fought a game fight against the bigger foe, beating him to the punch at times, while Ustinov tried to smother Monte.
  
  Monte aggressive. Ustinov frustrated, trying to wrestle Barrett and fling him around. Ustinov is very quick for his size (300 lbs), but is having a hard time wth Barrett's elusiveness. He's trying to crush Monte to the canvas every chance he gets, using his elbows and putting his weight on him. Barrett down several times from Ustinov pushes and elbows in final rounds, but no actual knockdowns.
  
  A very ugly fight, hard to score. Not a surprise that Ustinov gets the decision in Europe, but Monte fought a really courageous fight. This says something about Ustinov compared to Haye and Solis, perhaps?

Klitschko - Johnson round-by-round scoring

Wladimir is overseeing the taping of Johnson's gloves. Johnson entering the ring now. Klitschko entering to AC/DC, hilarious montage with testimonials from great heavyweights Foreman, Holyfield, Lennox Lewis patting his stomach "Are you still fighting? ...I'm only a few pounds away!" National anthems play. Introductions being made by Buffer. Johnson not popular with the crowd. Vitali is, not surprisingly. Referee giving instructions.

Fight begins:

1. Pawing going on a la Wlad and Ibragimov. Both staying at distance. Johnson not using sideways stance. Johnson against ropes, leans away. Johnson leaning back with his head like Ali vs. Foreman. Johnson using his hands well to block Vitali, who gets a few overhand shots in. Johnson not getting many jabs in. No big shots from Vitali, more pawing. Klitschko 10-9
2. Johnson  has unorthodox strategy, Vitali coming in stronger this round. Johnson's defense not bad but he can't get his jabs in. Vitali more agressive. Vitali two good shots, Johnson eggs him on! Johnson not returning much. Klitschko 10-9 (20-18)
3. Both fighters in center well before start of round. Johnson bobbing head to avoid Klitschko's hands. Vitali not connecting like he did against Arreola. Johnson still unable to return fire. Egging him on again, shaking his head, ducking and blocking with his hands. But he's losing the rounds. Vitali has all the time in the world to decide how to start his combinations, as Johnson is only counterpunching occasionally. Now they're mixing it up a bit as the round ends. Klitschko 10-9 (30-27)
4. Johnson is sort of confusing Vitali, not that it's going to win him any rounds. Vitali is pulling away from Johnson's jabs so they don't connect. In a way they're fighting the same fight, lots of head fakes and standing toe to toe. Johnson is actively talking to him, gets in a good jab. It's amusing to see his attitude at least. Klitschko 10-9 (40-36)
5. Klitschko looks like he's trying something a bit different to get to Johnson. Keeping his guard very low to confuse Johnson re: angle of attack. But it's not working as well as what he was doing before, as Johnson's gotten a few good jabs in while Vitali is missing a lot. Johnson got as many jabs as Klitschko punch attempts. 10-10 (Klitschko 50-46)
6. Klitschko upping the agressiveness again, perhaps frustrated by last round. Vitali getting in decent shots now, not afraid of anything Johnson has in return. But he is avoiding getting hit with the big shots. Klitschko 10-9 (60-55)
7. Klitschko taking some jabs as he tries to come in with hard shots. Hard to see how Johnson is planning to win at this point, or whether going the distance is his goal. Johnson jabbing more often. Not a dominant round by Klitschko, who has a small cut above his eye from some of those jabs. 10-10 (Klitschko 70-65)
8. Good right hands by Klitschko. Johnson not looking hurt. Johnson hanging on. Vitali still has small cut above eye. More of the same for most of the round. What will Johnson do in the last four rounds to turn the tide? Or is he just hanging on? Klitschko 10-9 (80-74)
9. Johnson jabbing more, using combinations. Showing more offense but still walked down by Vitali. Klitschko misses most of a big right hand. Johnson still taunting, ducking, slipping punches, ocassional jab in return, most miss. Klitschko 10-9 (90-83)
10. Three rounds left, how much does Vitali want the KO? Apparently not that much as there's been little action this round. Johnson is blocking everything, not returning jabs any more. So far Johnson looks a lot better after 9 1/2 than Arreola, Gomez, or Peter, certainly, as only Arreola made it this far. Johnson got tagged once and invited Vitali to keep punching. Good shots at very end of round by both, jab and right hand. Klitschko 10-9 (100-92)
11. It looks like the battle of wills comes down to Johnson surviving all 12 rounds. Vitali doesn't want that to happen. Johnson isn't trying to win at this point. Vitali pressing the action, puts Johnson against the ropes. Johnson's jab is far less active. Still blocking well with his hands. Unless Johnson has a master plan for the final round, this is a lopsided decision is Kingpin can hold on. Good exchange with less than a minute left, both fighters still have some pop. Jabs from Johnson, combos from Vitali. Johnson comes out at end swinging! Klitschko 10-9 (110-101)
12. Klitschko wants the KO. Johnson returning fire. Theatrics from both fighters. Johnson still isn't hurt. Klitschko can't get the hard shots in, but he's trying, getting a few in. Unloading and hitting, but not enough to knock Johnson down. Johnson makes it to the end. Wladimir and Johnson pushing at end of fight! Klitschko 10-9, overall: Klitschko 120-110.

Not sure what to make of this, but it went somewhat I figured: that Johnson had a good chance of making it the distance and without being badly hurt, but wouldn't do much offensively. Johnson gets a moral victory and people have to take him seriously at least as a fighter that's hard to KO. But he never threatened Vitali and there was no point in the fight where he looked dangerous.

Final scorecard results: 120-108 x 2, 119-109. No real surprise; I gave 2 even rounds, one judge gave some round to Johnson, probably the 5th.

Upset: Maskaev loses to Aguilera in first round TKO

Former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev was knocked out by unheralded Nagy Aguilera in the first round of what was supposed to be a tuneup match for the aging Russian. Aguilera dropped Maskaev twice in the round before the referee stopped the fight, giving Aguilera a TKO victory, his first over a name fighter.

At 40, Maskaev's age finally caught up with him, though he looked old even in losing to Sam Peter early in 2008. Since then he easily won two bouts against fighters more experienced than Aguilera, and while his chances against a real contender looked dim, most assumed he would win this fight easily.

But Aguilera—23 according to Boxrec.com and 25 according to some sources—had other plans than to be Maskaev's stepping stone to another title shot. Just 14-2 against questionable competition, the Dominican fighter overwhelmed his much older adversary.

Maskaev, ranked #16 in the latest SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100, will fall out of the top 50 in next month's rankings. With Aguilera's surprise win he will debut in the top 25, but due to his previous body of work it remains to be seen if he will continue to rise in the ranks, or whether he happened upon a fighter who was ripe to be exposed as over the hill.

The result complicates the WBC's top contenders list; Maskaev was to battle Ray Austin in an eliminator for a title shot against Vitali Klitschko. He had been boasting about having stopped Klitschko in the first round in an amateur fight nearly 20 years ago. Now, he has to consider retiring after such a one-sided loss to a relatively unknown fighter.

Klitschko/Johnson title fight; Maskaev, Ustinov, Banks, Guinn all in action this weekend

The second big weekend of heavyweight boxing this month arrives with a headlining WBC title fight between Vitali Klitschko and Kevin Johnson and several other fights featuring Top 100 fighters.

#2 Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KO) vs. #29 Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KO) (Berne, Switzerland)

This is obviously the big one, held in Switzerland and shown by HBO on tape delay Saturday night. Though undefeated, "Kingpin" Johnson is given little chance in this bout mainly due to lack of experience against top fighters. Klitschko is a +1800 favorite while Johnson is a +750 underdog; converted to percentages this gives Johnson about an 11% chance to pull off the upset.

In some ways it will be like a man used to dealing with housecats being thrown in with a lion, but Johnson has good skills and so far has proven to be sturdy. We don't give him much of a chance to win, either, but could see him being the second person to go the distance in a losing bout. His reach and jab could enable him to fight on the outside against Vitali, which is normally a terrible idea, but Johnson's sideways stance could protect him from taking damage during the fight, and this would enable him to stay in the fight past the 8 to 10 round mark where previous Klitschko opponents Peter, Gomez, and Arreola gave up or were stopped.

But Johnson's résumé as a fighter does little to indicate that he has the ability or power to win the contest. His best victory is probably a KO over Devin Vargas, a smaller heavyweight who was undefeated at 17-0 and currently ranks #89. Other than that none of his victims are currently in the top 100, though in only his 4th professional fight he drew with #44 Timur Ibragimov in 4 rounds; this was five years ago and Ibragimov was just 13-0 at the time but it showed Johnson had potential.

A few months after the Ibragimov draw Johnson beat Robert Wiggins, then ranked #105, in 8 rounds and jumped into the SportsRatings Heavyweight Top 100 for the first time at #58. It was over a year before he had another significant opponent in #143 Robert Hawkins in March, 2006, in another 8 round unanimous decision. He stayed busy after that and in December beat #178 Charles Davis for his 13th win, putting him in the top 50.

Johnson fought five times in 2007, beating #114 Ron Guerrero, #130 Damian Wills, and #372 Jermell Barnes to inch into the top 30. In 2008 he beat #205 Terry Smith as well as the aging Bruce Seldon who was no longer ranked at the time, and unheralded Matthew Greer. This year he's fought just once, the win over Vargas, who wasn't yet ranked despite being 17-0. As mentioned, Vargas is now #89, making him the highest ranked of Johnson's current victims, along with the Ibragimov draw. Johnson inched as high as #23 in the rankings before beginning to slide due to inactivity, which in his case means he hasn't fought a rated fighter in a year and a half (though this is perhaps unfair as Vargas is currently ranked).

Without having fought an opponent who was in the top 100 at the time, Johnson is going to face a very different situation when he gets in the ring with perhaps the best fighter of this era. Klitschko's last three post-comeback opponents were all much more experienced, even Arreola. He doesn't have the KO ability of Arreola or Peter (though he claims he was holding back on purpose in his early fights), his ability to take a punch seems sound but is untested, and his boxing skills perhaps aren't the equal of Gomez'. His main advantage is his reach, and the fact that he's somewhat of an unknown quantity. Know one is quite sure how good he is, but if he's really good, we'll find out on Saturday.

Other action: Ustinov/Barrett, Guinn/Davis, Banks, Maskaev

• #45 Alexander Ustinov (18-0 15KO) vs. #145 Monte Barrett (34-8) (in Berne, Switzerland)
  Up and coming fighter Alex Ustinov takes on gatekeeper/journeyman Monte Barrett on the Klitscko-Johnson undercard. Ustinov is 6' 7" and 300 lbs and is a former kickboxer. While not athletic like the Klitschkos he's much more mobile than the other Russian Giant, Valuev, and has an aggressive, pummeling style; a win would move him into the top 30. Barrett lost his last two bouts by KO, but both were to quality fighters, David Haye and Odlanier Solis. If he loses this one as expected it will be interesting to see how long he will continue to be a true "gatekeeper" for title hopefuls. A shock win by Barrett would put him back in the top 100 and keep him around a while longer but Ustinov shows little indication of being another Tye Fields.
• #91 Dominick Guinn (31-6-1) vs. #206 Charles Davis (19-17-2) (in Chicago, Illinois)
  Guinn is enjoying something of a career renaissance after suffering all six of his losses in an 11 fight span. He's won three straight, knocking out Jean Bergeron (only his 2nd loss) in two rounds, decisioning massive Gabe Brown, and most recently handing Johnnie White his first-ever loss in 22 fights with a first-round TKO. All of this has put Guinn back in the top 100 for the first time in years. His opponent, Davis, is on a comeback trail of sorts, too; after 9 straight losses knocked him out of the rating system completely, Davis drew with Bermane Stiverne, then defeated Arron Lyons and Elieser Castillo. It wasn't enough to put him back in the top 200 even, but it's better than 9 straight losses. Davis probably is out of his league against Guinn, who has lost mostly to current top 100 fighters.
• #59 Johnathon Banks (22-1 15 KO) vs. Marcel Zeller (22-5 21 KO) (Berne, Switzerland)
  Another heavyweight fight on the Klitschko undercard, Johnathan Banks takes on unrated Marcel Zeller. Banks has beaten two heavyweights (current #370 Paul Butlin and #170 Javier Mora) since moving up from cruiserweight where he lost to Tomasz Adamek (currently #56 HW). Banks shouldn't have much trouble with Zeller, who isn't great but always gives his all: in addition to winning 21 of 22 by stoppage, he's also lost 4 of 5 the same way.
• #16 Oleg Maskaev (36-6) vs. Nagy Aguilera (14-2) (Sacramento, CA, on December 11)
  Maskaev continues his comeback from the Sam Peter loss with another tuneup as he hope to get a title shot soon. Fights like this one aren't likely to convince anyone that the aging fighter deserves consideration, however.
• #64 Fres Oquendo vs. #146 Franklin Lawrence - cancelled
  This would have been a decent addition to an active weekend for heavyweights but the fight has apparently been cancelled.

Boxing results: Arreola-Minto, Thompson-Witherspoon, Povetkin, Pianeta, Platov, Kubrat

Germany

• #55 Kubrat Pulev (4-0) UD 6  #198 Zack Page (19-26-2)
   
  
• #11 Francesco Pianeta (20-0-1) UD 10 #246 Evgeny Orlov (10-6-1)
   
• #3 Alexander Povetkin (18-0) KO round 3 #207 Leo Nolan (27-2)
  Round One - Povetkin very cautious, wins first round.
  Round Two - Nolan more active/agressive, but Povetkin controls round again. Some big shots at end.
  Round Three - Povetkin starting to unload. Doesn't look good for Nolan...Nolan down...Down again, it's over. Povetkin by KO in Round Three.
   
• #10 Oleg Platov (28-1) vs. TBA - opponent available?
  It appears that there is no opponent for Platov.
   
• Marco Huck (27-1) UD 12 #70 Ola Afolabi (14-2-3)
  Huck controlled a sloppy fight which was very active in the mid-to-later rounds. Afolabi didn't make the case for taking away Huck's belt. 115-113, 115-113, 116-112

Atlantic City

• #20 Tony Thompson (32-2) TKO 9 #28 Chazz Witherspoon (26-1)
  Not a big suprise here, as Thompson was too big and strong for the lankier Witherspoon.
   
• #13 Chris Arreola (28-1) TKO 4 #27 Brian Minto (34-3)
  This fight went pretty much like everyone expected, down to the exact round when the stoppage occurred. Minto was dropped twice in the 4th round.

Arreola-Minto, Thompson-Witherspoon headline huge day of heavyweight boxing December 5th

October was a big month for heavyweight boxing, while November was pretty much dead other than the Valuev-Haye bout. December, however, is huge with the 5th one of the bigger days in years.

Nine fighters in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100 are in action Saturday. The weekend of the 12th is also big, with seven top boxers in action including Vitali Klitscho vs. Kevin Johnson. But while this weekend doesn't have a title bout it makes up for it in sheer volume of fights.

Atlantic City: Arreola-Minto and Thompson-Witherspoon feature all top-30 fighters

Four top-30 fighters are looking to get closer to or even enter the top 10 with wins on Saturday. Two are former top 10 fighters whose losses to Klitschko brothers dropped them into the second ten; two are fighters who are peaking again after earlier losses. Both fights are in Atlantic City, New Jersey Saturday night as part of the undercard of the Paul Williams/Sergio Gabriel Martinez welterweight contest, and the Arreola-Minto fight will be part of the HBO broadcast.

13th-ranked Chris Arreola (27-1), recently defeated by Vitali Klitscho, attempts a comeback of sorts as he takes on the equally-aggressive Brian Minto (34-2), ranked #27 by SportsRatings. Arreola is much larger than the 5' 11", 218 lb. Minto—perhaps a bit too large, as he weighed in at 263, easily his heaviest weight. 

Arreola's weight has often been an issue, and despite his trainer's assurances that he would come in at or just slightly over the 251 he carried for the Klitschko bout, he's put on 12 pounds in two months. Extra weight hasn't slowed him down in the past or reduces his considerable power, and against Minto it shouldn't matter, but it does add another question mark to his career potential.

Minto's biggest win came recently when he handed #112 Donnell Holmes his first loss in a controversial technical decision, and he has losses to Tony Tubbs and Luan Krasniqi. He's won seven in a row, three of those over ranked fighters. Minto has stopped 21 opponents out of 34 wins, and along with Arreola's 24 of 27 it suggests a short fight might be in order.

Neither fighter brings much defense to the table. Arreola has more offensive skill, more power, and a stronger chin—he took Vitali's best punches for 10 rounds and was never knocked down—so he should win, probably within four rounds. It will be a rough and tumble fight, though, and Arreola knocked down early like he was against Travis Walker, before finishing matters. Minto's hope is that Arreola overexerts himself and gasses out, which isn't much of a hope, but eventually there is a limit to how big Arreola can get and maintain his stamina. Minto is not likely the fighter to take advantage of Chris' poor conditioning, however.

Arreola's biggest win is over #28 Chazz Witherspoon (26-1), who is climbing the ratings again and takes on #20 Tony Thompson (32-2), who lost a title bout to Wladimir Klitschko a few years back. Both are very tall (6' 4" and 6' 5") and both started boxing in their 20s, but Thompson is 10 years Witherspoon's senior, as well as 15-20 lbs. heavier. The two are friends and have sparred together.

If Thompson's age is starting to catch up to him, Witherspoon could win. Thompson has been basically inactive since the July, 2008 Klitschko fight, which he lost in an 11th round stoppage. He's had one fight since then, a 5th round TKO of Adnan Serin (who recently lost to John Ruiz by TKO also for his 11th loss). Witherspoon, on the other hand, has fought three times since losing to Arreola around the same time, and notched up his best victory when he beat Adam Richards (currently #38) by 8th round TKO. It was Richards' 2nd loss, and he dropped to cruiserweight after that bout.

But Thompson has faced far better opposition than Witherspoon, including decisions over #91 Dominic Guinn and #44 Timur Ibragamov. Thompson lasted 11 rounds with the best boxer in the world while Witherspoon couldn't go four rounds with Arreola; unless Witherspoon has made a quantum leap of improvement, Thompson's advantage in power and experience should make the difference in a technical bout, which will probably go to the later rounds or result in a unanimous decision for Thompson.

Germany: Other fights include Povetkin, Platov, Pianeta, and Pulev

The P's have it: Three fighters at or near the top ten are in action: #3 Alex Povetkin, #10 Oleg Platov, and #11 Francesco Pianeta all take on foes ranked outside the top 100.

Originally three of these fights were better contests, but Owen Beck, Lamon Brewster, and Cengic Koc dropped out, so Povetkin faces #207 Leo Nolan and Pianeta takes on #246 Evgeny Orlov. Platov goes up against the dreaded TBA. Yet another "P" fighter, #55 Kubrat Pulev, battles #198 Zack Page. All of these bouts are in Germany on the undercard of the cruiserweight championship bout where #70 Ola Afolabi takes on Marco Huck.

• Alexander Povetkin (17-0) vs. Leo Nolan (27-1) - As he waits for his turn at Wlad Klitschko, Povetkin should have little trouble with Nolan, who has just three wins over ranked fighters in the last five years and just one fight since losing to #245 Hector Ferreyro in January, 2007.
• Francesco Pianeta (19-0-1) vs. Evgeny Orlov (10-5-1) - Pianeta is fresh off a TKO over #129 Matt Skelton, and he also holds victories over #118 Michael Marrone, #135 Johann Duhaupas, and #148 Colin Wilson. His one blemish is the draw against #22 Albert Sosnowski, which suggests he may not have title-contending potential just yet, though he's still young (only 25). He shouldn't have any difficulty with Orlov, who became registered by beating Humberto Evora (now 3-7-1) and has since lost three fights.
• Oleg Platov (28-1) vs. TBA - Another young heavyweight, Platov has been rising steadily and made the top 10 last month, with six wins over ranked boxers and no losses since very early in his career (in 2002 at age 19). He's beaten #117 Henry Akinwande and #148 Colin Wilson, but his biggest fight (against Danny Williams) was ruled a no contest due to a cut.
• Kubrat Pulev (3-0) vs. Zack Page (19-25-2) - Bulgarian Pulev is just 3-0 but has extensive amateur experience. He jumped into the top 100 after beating former #105 Gbenga Oloukun. Page is a journeyman with tons of pro experience, so Pulev will get a lot out of this fight whether it's competitive or not. In fact, Page just beat Ferreyro, who handed Povetkin's opponent Nolan his only loss, so this fight should be a lot more evenly matched than that one.
• Ola Afolabi (14-1-3) vs. Marco Huck (26-1) - Afolabi is ranked as a heavyweight due to his wins over Willie Chapman and rated cruiserweights Orlin Norris and Eric Fields. Huck hasn't fought any ranked heavies or cruiserweights, so if Afolabi wins, he gains nothing; if he loses, however, he'll be credited with a loss to an unrated fighter and fall from the top 100. As it is, he's losing points from attrition due to inactivity in the heavyweight division. Huck won't be ranked if he wins, either, as both are fighting as cruiserweights.

By Sunday I'll recap the bouts and revise the Heavyweight Boxing Top 100 accordingly; then next weekend I'll preview Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin Johnson, as well as bouts with top 100 fighters Oleg Maskaev, Alexander Ustinov, Johnathan Banks, Fres Oquendo, and Dominick Guinn.