Tag Archives: duhaupas

Posted on 04/29/2018

By: William Holmes

Eddie Hearn promoted Daniel Jacobs at the Barclays Center in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York tonight on the HBO network.

Three major fight cards were shown on US Television tonight, with the HBO show being broadcast last.

Photo Credit: HBO Boxing Twitter Account

Attendance looked sparse at the beginning of the telecast as Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (20-0-1) took in Johan Duhaupas (37-4) in a WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator.

Miller weighed in at 304 pounds and was able to easily walk Duhaupas down in the opening rounds. He connected with two good overhand rights in the first that forced Duhaupas to cover up.
Miller continued to walk Duhaupas down in the second round and was able to land some heavy uppercuts on Duhaupas by the ropes. Miller was warned to keep his punches up when he landed a shot below the belt in the second round.

Duhaupas was able to land some short combinations in the middle of the ring in the third round but Miller took those shots well and landed several good short shots.

Miller had Duhaupas stunned in the fifth round when he momentarily switched to a southpaw stance. Miller’s controlled the pace and distance in the sixth and seventh rounds, but Duhaupas was able to show enough offense in the eighth round to maybe steal it form Miller.

Miller looked like he was slowing down a little bit in the ninth and tenth rounds but tagged Duhaupas several times in the eleventh round and looked close to knocking him down.

Duhaupas was a little hesitant to come out for the final round but did so at his corner’s urging. He was far too behind to win by decision in the final round and looked like he was trying to survive rather than trying to win as the fight came to an end.

Jarrell Miller wins by unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 119-109, and 117-111.

The main event of the night was between Daniel Jacobs (33-2) and Maciej Sulecki (26-0) in a WBA Middleweight Eliminator.

The crowd was very vocal throughout this fight and Jacobs looked like the bigger fighter in the ring as Sulecki has spent a lot of his career fighting in the junior middleweight division.
Sulecki showed good upper body movement early on and was able to land a solid straight right hand on Jacobs when he switched to a southpaw stance in the second round.

Jacobs connected with a good hook/uppercut combination in the third round and was getting his timing down better. His shoulder roll defense was working for him and Jacobs ended the third round strong.

Jacobs landed a strong left hook at the end of the fourth round and his cross arm defense was giving Sulecki fits in the fifth round.

Sulecki however remained slick throughout and may have stolen the seventh or eighth rounds, but he wasn’t throwing combinations and seemed ok with landing one to two punches at a time while Jacobs was more likely to throw combinations.

Jacobs hand speed was more apparent in the later rounds though he was getting hit by Sulecki. Jacobs focused more on the body in the tenth and eleventh rounds.

There were a lot of swing rounds in the middle rounds, but Jacobs saved his best round for last when he connected with a combination ending right hand that sent Sulecki to the mat. Sulecki was able to beat the count and end the fight swinging, but Jacobs appeared to have done enough to win the fight.

The judges scored it 116-111, 117-110 and 115-112 for Daniel Jacobs.

Posted on 04/27/2018

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will showcase two fights to be broadcast on HBO’s World Championship Boxing Series. Daniel Jacobs, who took Gennady Golovkin the distance and is considered by many to be one of the top middleweights of the country, will take on Maciej Sulecki in a WBA Middleweight Eliminator in the main event of the evening.

The co-main event will feature another WBA Eliminator, but this time in the heavyweight division, as rising Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller will take on Johan Duhaupas.

The undercard will also feature a WBA/IBF Women’s Lightweight Title unification between Katie Taylor and Victoria Bustos which may get some mention on the HBO broadcast

The following is a preview of the two planned telelvised fights.

Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (20-0-1) vs. Johan Duhaupas (37-4); WBA Heavyweight Eliminator

Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is one of the top talents in the heavyweight division. He previously competed in both boxing and MMA and was very successful in it. In fact he was undefeated for three years in kickboxing before turning pro as a boxer. He was also a finalist in the NY Golden Gloves Championship as an amateur.

Miller is in the midst of his prime and approximately eight years younger than Johan Duhaupas. Both boxers have been fairly active recently. Miller fought twice in 2017 and three times in 2016. Duhaupas has also been very active, which is surprising for a man his age. He fought three times in 2017 and three times in 2016.

Miller usually towers over his opponents, but he will be giving up one inch in height and about four and half inches in reach to Duhaupas. Both boxers have experienced recent success. Nine of the last ten opponents that Miller has fought were defeated by stoppage. Four of the past five fights that Duhaupas has fought resulted in a stoppage victory.

Miller has defeated the likes of Mariusz Wach, Gerald Washington, Fred Kassi, Donovan Dennis, and Joey Dawejko. Miller has never been defeated.

Duhaupas has defeated the likes of Jarno Rosberg, Robert Helenius, and Manuel Charr. His losses were to Alexander Povetkin, Deontay Wilder, Erkan Teper, Francesci Ouabeti.

When you compare Miller’s age, strength, and willingness to test himself against good competition in both boxing and MMA to Duhaupas; it becomes clear that Miller should be the heavy favorite in this fight. He could prove a tough challenge for either Joshua or Wilder in the near future.

Daniel Jacobs (33-2) vs. Maciej Sulecki (26-0); WBA Middleweight Eliminator

When Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol, even though he claimed tainted meat as the culprit, many boxing writers placed Daniel Jacobs as the #2 guy in the middleweight division mainly based on his extremely close match with Gennady Golovkin.

His opponent, Maciej Sulecki, is relatively unknown to the American audience but has never tasted defeat.

Jacobs has the better amateur career of the two. He won the National Golden Gloves Tournament as a middleweight and was a US National Champion as an amateur.

Sulecki will have about an inch and a half height advantage on Jacobs on Saturday night, but Jacobs will have a rather large five inch reach advantage. Jacobs will also have a large power advantage. He has stopped twenty nine of his opponents while Sulecki has only stopped ten.

Jacobs two losses were a shocking upset to Dmitry Pirog and a close defeat to current middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin. He has defeated the likes of Luis Arias, Sergio Mora, Peter Quillin, Caleb Truax, Jarrod Fletcher, and Ishe Smith. Sulecki has never tasted defeat and has defeated the likes of Jack Culcay, Damian Bonelli, Hugo Centeno Jr., and Grzegorz Proksa.

This fight looks like a mismatch. Jacobs is fighting an opponent who has never faced the level of opposition of him in his hometown who doesn’t have knockout power.

Posted on 12/20/2016

Povetkin Hits a New Low in Moscow; In L.A., Hopkins Couldn’t Stay Away
By: Eric Lunger

It was a weekend of regret, as two bouts on different continents made a mockery of professional boxing. Karl Marx once observed that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. In Russia, Alexander Povetkin, by failing PED screening for a second time in less than a year, made a farce of whatever governing body sanctioned his heavyweight bout. And at the Forum in Los Angeles, veteran Bernard Hopkins was literally knocked out of the ring for the second time is his career, in what was supposed to be some sort of triumphant farewell/ retirement fight.

The Povetkin debacle was hard to fathom from the moment stories broke that he had failed another drug test. Seven months ago Povetkin was caught with meldonium in his veins, a now well-known PED employed systematically, it seems, by Russian athletes. There is something particularly vile about drug cheating in boxing: its one thing if the Russian bobsled team gets a faster start, and quite another thing when a heavyweight boxer has an unfair advantage. Boxing is dangerous enough as it is. Bermane Stiverne, Povetkin’s opponent, had worked very hard to position himself back in line for a WBC title shot, having lost a tough twelve rounder to Deontay Wilder in January of 2015. It also takes guts to enter the lion’s den by traveling to Moscow to face Povetkin in front of a home crowd, so imagine Bermane’s frustration and disgust when he awoke, on fight day no less, to the news that the WBC had withdrawn its sanction for the bout, which, by the way, is the only ray of light in this dark hole.

It appears that the WBC did the right thing immediately by withdrawing their sanction for the bout. Povetkin was on a voluntary random testing regime, a result of his previous violation under the WBC, which is trying to implement a rigorous anti-doping regime by partnering with VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Bizarrely, Povetkin was immediately provided with a replacement opponent, Johann Duhaupas of France, though no one knows why he was in Russia and available. It takes no giant leap of imagination to suppose that World of Boxing, the Russian promotion company that represents Povetkin, was holding Duhaupas in reserve for just such an eventuality. And to end the whole sordid story, Povetkin knocked out Duhaupas in the sixth round, with a vicious and presumably steroid enhanced left hook. Congratulations to a drug cheat.

The Hopkins vs. Smith fight was farce of a different nature, less malevolent but just sad. Sad to see a legend of the ring end his career on such an unnecessarily low note. After being dismantled and slightly embarrassed by Sergey Kovalev in November of 2014, Hopkins just couldn’t stay away. He had something to prove to himself, I suppose, because I can’t imagine anyone in the entire boxing world would have begrudged him his retirement at that point. So Saturday night, after needlessly disrespecting Joe Smith, Jr. at the prefight press conference, we were treated to the ridiculous executioner show, the silly hoods and fake axes, etc. I guess I’m just not a fan of the elaborate ring walk and masks and costumes. And the fight itself was hardly a fight, rather a boxing exhibition – and a bad one at that. Hopkins’s footwork was slow and ponderous, and the head butt in round two looked to me to be intentional, a dirty and unbecoming foul that was depressing to see from such a great champion. I don’t want to bash Hopkins, and I think I can understand how hard it must be for a proud, professional athlete to finally give up a sport that has defined his identity for so long, but when Smith bludgeoned him through the ropes and out of the ring, it felt as though boxing itself had ejected Hopkins from the sport. Only a man as competitive as Bernard Hopkins would argue that Smith pushed him through the ropes. But then, only a man as competitive as Bernard Hopkins would be prize fighting at age 51.

There were several good fights this weekend, and congratulations to Oleksandr Usyk, Joseph Diaz, Jr., and Sullivan Barrera, all of whom put on excellent shows and won technically fine bouts. But shame on Povetkin, and a sad farewell to Hopkins.