Tuesday, September 7, 2010
UFC vs. Boxing Review - JULY
Updated Monthly
By Joe Harrison
8-02-09
HIS NAME IS BROCK LESNAR
 On the evening of July 11th, UFC fans everywhere were treated to a quality fight card in UFC 100.
The event included the victory of welterweight Georges St. Pierre over Thiago Alves by a unanimous decision. Also, Dan Henderson scored a knockout over Michael Bisping in the second round. Then, in the main event, Brock Lesnar scored a stoppage over Frank Mir in the second round, gaining revenge in their highly publicized rematch.
Like him or not, Lesnar’s name was heard around the world for many days after UFC 100 had taken place. Not only did his victory make the news, but mostly his actions and words after the fight caught the attention of media outlets everywhere. Sources who had never reported on MMA in the past were talking about Brock Lesnar after UFC 100.
Brock Lesnar isn’t just big in size, 6’4 and 260 pounds, he is big in popularity. He is the UFC’s money hog and his post-fight antics at UFC 100 may have been frowned upon, but let’s face it, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. This could be the one time that an MMA champ is bigger than a boxing champ. If that’s not the case now, it may be in due time.
Without a doubt, the month of July belonged to the UFC.
Of course, there was not as much attention on the Showtime boxing card the same evening as UFC 100. In the main event, bantamweight champ Joseph Agbeko gave a boxing lesson to super flyweight champ Vic Darchinyan, winning by a unanimous decision. As a result of the loss, Darchinyan will return to super flyweight to defend his titles. That same day, cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek stopped Bobby Gunn after four rounds. Also, featherweight champ Cristobal Cruz won by a unanimous decision over Jorge Solis as Felix Sturm retained his middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Khoren Gevor.
In other boxing action, on July 4th, heavyweight Eddie Chambers defeated Alexander Dimitrenko by a majority decision to become a mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitschko. On July 18th, Amir Khan won by a unanimous decision against Andreas Kotelnik to become the new WBA jr. welterweight champion.
Overall, it was a relatively slow month for boxing. There were no HBO fights, the Mayweather-Marquez bout was pushed back to September, the Pavlik-Mora fight was cancelled, and Top Ranks Latin Fury PPV card lost top stars in Yuriorkis Gamboa and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
The month of August will definitely contain excitement for both the UFC and the sport of boxing.
On August 8th, UFC 101 will feature lightweight champion BJ Penn facing Kenny Florian on PPV. Also, top pound-for-pounder Anderson Silva will face light heavyweight Forrest Griffin. Then, on August 29th, UFC 102 will take place with Randy Couture taking on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the main event on PPV.
In other MMA action, on August 9th, WEC 42 will feature bantamweight king Miguel Torres against undefeated Brian Bowles on Versus. Then, on August 15th, Strikeforce will feature women mixed martial artists Gina Carano against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on Showtime.
In the world of boxing, the month started out with a double header on August 1st featuring WBO jr. welterweight champ Timothy Bradley against Nate Campbell on Showtime. The co-main event featured undefeated Devon Alexander against former champ Junior Witter for the vacant WBC jr. welterweight belt.
On August 15th two boxing cards will be featured on separate pay-per-views. On one card, Roy Jones Jr. will face Jeff Lacy. On the other card, Nonito Donaire is slated to face Rafael Concepcion.
Then, on August 22nd, HBO boxing returns with a triple-header. In one bout, middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs will go against Ishe Smith. Also, super featherweight title-holder Malcolm Klassen defends against Robert Guerrero. In the main event, former jr. welterweight champ Paul Malignaggi faces former lightweight champ Juan Diaz.
Finally, for the ESPN Friday Night Fights season finale on August 28th, two championship bouts will take place. In a jr. welterweight bout, IBF champ Juan Urango will defend his belt against Randall Bailey. In other action, Tavoris Cloud will go against Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF light heavyweight strap. |
Frankfurt/Main/Germany (September 6, 2010) – Wladimir Klitschko (57-3, 48 KOs), and Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KOs), participated today in a press conference. 
Right now there are some UFC fans looking at the title and screaming “No, No, No!!!” Hopefully those fans will still consider reading this piece and look over the examples being provided.
Some fight fans do not like to hear anything about a rivalry between the sports of MMA and boxing or even the UFC and boxing. These fans will say that you can be a fan of both or neither, and that they are totally different, hence making either comparison illogical.
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields will make his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 121 on October 23rd. 
This Saturday, WBC junior flyweight champion Omar Nino Romero will defend his title against Ronald Barrera (27-7-2, 17 KOs). 
Bernard Hopkins has confirmed through a variety of sources that he will challenge WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal on December 18 in Montreal, Canada. 
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight championship fight between undefeated titlist Juan Manuel “JuanMa” Lopez, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Rafael Marquez, of México City has been rescheduled for Saturday, Nov. 6, 
In the main event of UFC 118, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defeated former champion BJ Penn for a second time by a unanimous decision. 
On Saturday night, at the Coliseo Mario “Quijote” Morales in Guaynabo, Puerto RicoIn, WBA jr. flyweight champion Giovanni Segura knocked out WBO champion Ivan Calderon to become the unified world champion. 
Bellator Fighting Championships officially announced that the promotion will bring the first Nationally televised, sanctioned MMA event to Wisconsin with Bellator 29, taking place in Milwaukee from the historic Rave-Eagles Ballroom on Sept. 26th. 
This Saturday, one of the most popular fighters in UFC history, Randy Couture, will face former boxing champion, James Toney, who will be making his MMA debut. 
Kimbo Slice (
At UFC on Versus 2, Jon Jones stopped Vladimir Matyushenko just 1:52 into the first round. 
This Saturday, former lightweight champion Juan Diaz will take on world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs). 
Bob Arum of Top Rank revealed on Saturday night that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will fight Antonio Margarito in a junior middleweight bout on November 13th. 
At the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA on Friday night, WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov defeated Vyacheslav Uzelkov by a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision. 
For the first-time ever, Indianapolis will get a taste of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. Former UFC® heavyweight champion Frank Mir and former interim UFC heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts legend Minotauro Nogueira will mix it up for an encore performance on Saturday, September 25 at UFC 119: MIR VS. NOGUEIRA 2, 
On Saturday night, WBO jr welterweight champion Timothy Bradley moved up to welterweight and defeated Luis Carlos Abregu by a twelve-round unaimous decision at the Agua Caliente Resort Rancho Mirage, California. 
Fernando Guerrero furthered his pursuit of middleweight stardom with a hard fought unanimous decision over veteran Ishe Smith in Friday’s ShoBox main event. Shawn Porter and Mike Dallas Jr. also took home unanimous decision victories at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss. to remain unbeaten. 
