Tag Archives: HBO Boxing After Dark Preview

Posted on 10/04/2017

By: Sean Crose

Middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs recently announced that he had teamed up with British super promoter Eddie Hearn. Not only that, Jacobs also made it clear that he had teamed up with HBO. It was obviously a fresh start for the man who gave middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin a run for his money when they met in New York’s Madison Square Garden last winter. Now it’s been announced that Jacobs, the skilled 30 year old with a record of 32-2, will be facing the undefeated 18-0 Luis Arias at New York’s Nassau Coliseum on November 11th.

Photos Courtesy Matchroom Boxing/Ed Mulholland

The bout will headline an HBO card that will also showcase heavyweight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, as the 19-0 knockout artist (all but two of his fights haven’t made it to the final bell) battles Mariusz Wach, 33-2, in a 12 rounder. Miller recently defeated contender Gerald Washington in impressive fashion last July. This time around, he’ll be facing a man who once fought Wladimir Klitschko for the heavyweight championship (he lost by unambitious decision). Wach has won six out of seven since his 2012 title loss, however, and will clearly see this as a chance to make a mark of a very large stage.

As for Milwaukee’s Arias, the chance to face the fighter known as “The Miracle Man” is the opportunity of a lifetime. The 27 year old has never fought anyone near the level of Jacobs before. What’s more, Jacobs is a native of Brooklyn. That means Arias will be facing a New Yorker in New York. Wach, a native of Poland, will be finding himself in the same situation as Arias that night, for Miller is a Brooklyn native, like Jacobs. For his own part, though, Arias is eager for the 12 round opportunity that’s presented itself. “I’ve been hungry for a fight of this magnitude,” he says, “and I’m going to shock the world.”

If that were to be the case, it would prove disastrous for promoter Hearn, who clearly has big plans for Jacobs. “We believe that Danny is the number one middleweight in the world,” he claims, “and the aim is to collect every belt in the division.” England’s Hearn is clearly aware of something American promoters haven’t been – the fact that Jacobs is marketable. A pleasant personality and cancer survivor with a high ring IQ and thunderous power, Jacobs remains a man to watch at middleweight, despite the fact that he dropped a decision to Golovkin in a very close fight. Indeed, Jacobs remains a serious threat to Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin and any other big name in the middleweight division And his alliance with Hearn – along with HBO – only serves to make the threat he presents more formidable.

Provided, of course, that he gets past Arias this November.

Posted on 09/08/2017

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night the super flyweight/junior bantamweight division will take center stage on HBO as three fights in the division, which includes two world title fights and a WBC junior bantamweight title eliminator will take place.

Photo Credit: USA Today

The Stub Hub Center in Carson, California will be the host site for Saturday’s HBO Boxing After Dark Card. This card is stacked in the super flyweight division. Additionally, former UFC fighter Nam Phan will compete on the undercard as well as former world title holder Brian Viloria.

The following is a preview of the three planned televised fights on Saturday night.

Carlos Cuadras (36-1-1) vs. Juan Francisco Estrada (35-2); WBC Junior Bantamweight Eliminator

The opening bout of the broadcast will be between Carlos Cuadras and Juan Francisco Estrada, two boxers in the junior bantamweight division that previously faced, and lost to Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

Both boxers stand at 5’4” and have a reach of 66”. Cuadras is twenty nine years old and two years older than Estrada. Both boxers have considerable power. Estrada has twenty five stoppage victories on his record while Cuadras has stopped twenty seven of his opponents. Estrada appears to have the edge in power in recent fights however, he has stopped three of his past four opponents while Cuadras only has two stoppage victories in the past five fights.

Cuadras appears to have the slight edge in amateur experience. Estrada claims an amateur record of 94-4, while Cuadras won a gold medal in the International Junior Olympics and won a gold medal in the Pan American Games in 2003.

Estrada only fought once in 2016 and once in 2017, but that can be partly explained by a surgery he had to his right hand. Cuadras fought once in 2017 and twice in 2016.

Cuadras has defeated the likes of David Carmona, Richie Mepranum, Luis Concepcion, and Wisaksil Wangek. Estrada has a slightly better resume as a professional and has defeated the likes of Hernan Marquez, Giovani Segura, Milan Melindo, and Brian Viloria.

This should be an entertaining bout and could go either way, but Estrada is considered by many to be the second best super bantamweight behind Chocolatito and they appear destined to rematch in the near future.

Naoya Inoue (13-0) vs. Antonio Nieves (17-1-2); WBO Junior Bantamweight Title

Naoya Inoue is a world titlist form Japan that is starting to generate a lot of buzz in the boxing community.

He’s a world champion at only twenty four years old and has spent his entire career fighting in Japan. He’ll be six years younger than Nieves on fight night and will also have about a half an inch height advantage. However, he is giving up about an inch in reach.

Inoue also appears to have the power advantage. In thirteen fights he already has evel stoppage victories, including three of his past four fights. Nieves only has nine stoppage wins in twenty professional fights and is coming off of a loss.

Both boxers experienced moderate success as an amateur. Inoue won the gold medal in the 2011 President’s Cup and Nieves was a silver medalist in the 2011 National Golden Gloves.

Inoue has faced good opposition ever since his professional debut. His list of notable wins include Kohei Hono, David Carmona, Omar Narvaez, and Adrian Hernandez. Nieves is coming off of a loss to Nikolai Potapov. His only notable wins were against Oscar Mojica and Stephon Young.

Many expect Inoue to wow the crowd on Saturday night with a dominating victory against Nieves. A win may set up a possible big money fight with Roman Gonzalez, provided Gonzalez also wins his bout on Saturday.

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1) vs. Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-1); WBC Junior Bantamweight Title

This bout is a rematch of their barn burner fight which saw Rungvisai pull off the stunning upset victory over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. Many fans in attendance, and many members of the media, thought Gonzalez did enough to win the fight despite the fact he was knocked down in the first round.

In fact, CompuBox stats showed that Gonzalez had outlanded Rungvisai in ten of the twelve rounds, but still wound up losing the fight.

Gonzalez and Rungvisai are both thirty years old and stand at 5’3”. Gonzalez will have a slight half and inch reach advantage on Rungvisai. Gonzalez has thirty eight stoppage wins on his record, but has only stopped one opponent in his past four fights. Rungvisai has thirty nine stoppage wins to his resume and has stopped nine of his past ten opponents.

However, Rungvisai lacks amateur experience and Gonzalez won the gold medal in the 2004 Central American Championships.

Gonzalez fought once in 2017 and twice in 2016. He has defeated the likes of Carlos Cuadras, Brian Viloria, Edgar Sosa, Akira Yaegashi, and Juan Francisco Estrada.

Rungvisai fought once in 2017 and five times in 2016. However, three of those fights in 2016 were against debuting fighters and most of his wins came against suspect competition. His biggest wins to date were against Jose Salgado and Roman Gonzalez. He has a loss to Carlos Cuadras on his resume, and his other three losses came within the first five fights of his career.

Many felt Gonzalez won their first encounter and many expect him to emerge victorious in their rematch. However, you can not discount the heart that Rungvisai showed in their first fight and he appears to be a boxer with legitimate power in his hands that can end the fight quickly.

This should be another entertaining scrap, but it’s a scrap that Gonzalez is expected to win in a way that will take it out of the hands of the judges.