Boxing Results and Analysis for April 20-26 feat. Kiko Martinez vs Hasegawa, Zhakiyanov vs Guerfi, and more

Week of April 20-26

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MC = my card OC = official card(s)

Yes, I watched all the fights listed here, so questions about specific fights are welcomed.

Didn't get a chance to watch too many fights this week, I've been overloaded with final projects and papers.

Standout fights

Kiko Martinez TKO7 Hozumi Hasegawa

Martinez, making the second defense of his IBF title, made another strong statement with this solid win over the faded but still highly skilled Hasegawa. Hasegawa started strong in round one, using his jab and superior reach to do enough to take the round. However, Martinez's constant pressure paid dividends in round two, as he was able to bully Hasegawa against the ropes and drop him hard. Martinez did enough to take the third on my card, but Hasegawa regained some control in the fourth and fifth, boxing well. Martinez turned up the heat in round six, bullying Hasegawa around the ring, but also lost a point for hitting on the break. Going into the decisive seventh round, the fight was even on my card, as well as two of the official cards, while Hasegawa had a two point lead on the third. It didn't matter, though. Martinez was relentless, and just did not stop punching. Hasegawa went out on his shield, but was dropped twice more before the fight was waved off.

Martinez improves to 31-4, 23 KO, while Hasegawa drops to 33-5, 15 KO.

Igor Ivanov SplitDraw8 Oleg Korobko

A battle of youngsters in Russia turned into a nonstop, eight round war. There were no punch stats for this fight, but if there was a round where either guy threw less than one hundred punches, I missed it. I really don't even have much to say about this fight, other than if you want a really fun way to kill a half hour, go watch it. And they even got the decision right, as I had a draw on my card. Ivanov moves to 8-0-1, 2 KO, and Korobko is now 4-1-2, 1 KO.

Zhanat Zhakiyanov TKO5 Karim Guerfi

Guerfi, the defending European champ, was coming in off a big upset win over Stephane Jamoye in his last fight. Zhakiyanov had won his last sixteen fights, but against relatively poor competition, and this was a huge step up in class. The first round was pretty even, as it tested Guerfi's range and jab against Zhakiyanov's pressure. Zhakiyanov had a lot more success in round two, as he was able to push Guerfi back consistently. A change took place in round three, however, as Guerfi was able to make Zhakiyanov miss more often. He took even more control in round four, and it looked like he was starting to run away with the fight a little bit. Apparently not. All it took was one huge overhand right in round five, and Guerfi was just completely gone, hanging onto the bottom rope for dear life. This was a pretty knockout. Zhakiyanov improves to 22-1, 15 KO, and Guerfi falls to 20-3, 5 KO.

4/20 Belgium
Hakim Ben Ali UD6 Vango Tsirimokos - OC 60-54, 59-55 x2 Ali *I missed round 1*
Yves Ngabu KO3 Fabrice Clement

4/23 Japan
Kiko Martinez TKO7 Hozumi Hasegawa - discussed above
Shinsuke Yamanaka TKO9 Stephane Jamoye

4/23 South Africa
Martin Murray TKO6 Ishmael Tetteh

4/25 Russia
Aleksander Podolsky UD4 Ravil Mukhamadiyarov - MC 40-36 Podolsky OC 40-36 x3 Podolsky
Igor Ivanov SplitDraw8 Oleg Korobko - MC 76-76 OC 78-76 Korobko, 77-76 Ivanov, 76-76 - discussed above
Maxim Maslov UD10 Arturs Kulikauskis - MC 98-92 Maslov OC 99-94, 99-91, 99-92 Maslov
Nikolay Potapov UD10 Martin Casillas - MC 95-95 OC 99-95, 99-91, 99-92 Potapov

4/24 ESPN2
Thomas Williams, Jr. TKO3 Enrique Ornelas
Immanuel Aleem TKO2 Michael Noriega
Josesito Lopez TKO5 Aron Martinez

4/25 Argentina
Demian Daniel Fernandez KO2 Luis Chanampa

4/26 Poland
Roman Bugaj UD4 Patryk Kowoll - MC 39-37 Bugaj OC 39-37, 40-36 x2 Bugaj

4/26 Mexico
Juan Francisco Estrada TKOendof9 Richie Mepranum

4/26 Germany
Joseph Parker TKO7 Carlos Luiz Nascimento
Oleksandr Usyk TKO3 Ben Nsafoah
Roman Belaev UD6 Fouad El Massoudi - MC 59-55 Belaev OC 59-55, 59-56 x2 Belaev
Sebastian Tlatlik UD3 Sergej Vib - MC 30-26 Tlatlik OC 30-26 x3 Tlatlik
Wladimir Klitschko TKO5 Alex Leapai

4/26 Showtime and Showtime Extreme
Terrell Gausha UD8 Charles Whittaker - MC 80-71 Gausha OC 80-71 x3 Gausha
Jermall Charlo TKOendof4 Hector Munoz
Joseph Diaz, Jr. UD6 Luis Maldonado - MC 60-54 Diaz OC 60-54 x3 Diaz
Omar Figueroa, Jr. SD12 Jerry Belmontes - MC 115-113 Belmontes OC 115-113 Belmontes, 116-112 & 118-110 Figueroa
Lucas Matthysse TKO11 John Molina - my fight of the year so far
Keith Thurman TKOendof3 Julio Diaz

4/26 UniMas
Saul Rodriguez TKO4 Miguel Zamudio
Shane Mosley, Jr. KO1 Mark Cordova
Jose Zepeda UD8 Rob Frankel - MC 80-71 Zepeda OC 80-71 x3 Zepeda

4/26 BoxNation
Zhanat Zhakiyanov TKO5 Karim Guerfi - discussed above
Scott Jenkins TKO5 David Martin Campillo
Lucas Browne KO5 Eric Martel Bahoeli