April 2023 Week 2
Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino
WBC Lightweight Eliminator Fight
ESPN+ - New Jersey- Start Time: 9pm; Main Event: 10pm
Shakur Stevenson 25 from New Jersey . Unranked at Lightweight
Shakur Stevenson is one of the top American stars in boxing today. He’s 19-0, only 25 and has already won belts at two weight classes; Featherweight and Super Featherweight. This fight represents his first since moving up to Lightweight and that transition didn’t go exactly as one would draw it up. Before his last fight, he held the WBO and WBC belts at Super Featherweight. As the beltholder, he was in the position to force a title fight if he moved up in weight to Lightweight. The only problem is that he missed weight in his last fight in September and was stripped of his belts. His path to a Lightweight belt now requires him to make a title eliminating fight here. If he wins, he will be the mandatory challenger of the WBC Lightweight belt.
As far as this fight goes, Shakur is going to be utilizing his speed and effective jabbing to get ahead on the scorecards quickly and not look back. He hasn’t really had knockout power in the past and I wouldn’t expect that to change now that he’s moving up a weight class again. However, if Yoshino gets frustrated with Shakur’s defense, I can see him forcing the action leaving him open to a KO via opportunistic counters. Either way, this should be easy work for Shakur.
Shuichiro Yoshino 31 from Japan. #7 Lightweight per Boxrec.
Yoshino taking this fight is the result of an extensive search by Shakur Stevenson’s team. They asked George Kambosos Jr, Issac Cruz, William Zepeda and they all declined (ducked) a fight. In short they were afraid to risk a loss for a chance at a title fight. Yoshino was the first guy that took up the challenge. He’s held the Asia Pacific Region WBO belt since 2019 and is clearly the top Japanese Lightweight in the world. This will be his first fight outside Japan and it will be interesting to see how he fares, He’s known as a hard puncher with a strong chin. The question becomes, can he square up Stevenson enough to utilize his power?
Prediction
Shakur Stevenson is going to be too quick and too technically sound for Yoshino to handle in this fight. I don’t think Yoshino is going to be able to hit Stevenson let alone hurt him. I’m confident in a Steveson win and leaning towards a Unanimous Decision. I could see a stoppage if Yoshino gets too aggressive.
Other Fights on this Card to Watch
Big Baby is the most highly touted American Heavyweight in quite some time. It’s understandable when you see his 14-0 record, all knockouts. Plus he hasn’t even let a guy out of the 2nd round in his last 5 fights. Arias is unbeaten himself and is the greatest test for Anderson to date. With a statement win here, he’ll be ready to start taking on the big names in the division.
Keyshawn a Olympic Silver Medalist is the rising star of the Lightweight division. Some people are divided on how far he’ll go, but he’s outmatched everyone he’s fought so far. This was initially supposed to be against Emmanuel Tagoe, a former fringe contender in the division. That would been a huge step up and great test in my opinion. He dropped out though, so we get a matchup with Yegit. He’s a decent regional talent from Sweden with a 26-2 record but has lost recently when stepping up to high level competition. I’m expecting Keyshawn to win this one.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Christian Gonzalez Hernandez
Vacant WBO Flyweight Title
DAZN - Texas - Start Time: 6pm; Main Event: 9pm
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez 23 from Texas . Unranked at Flyweight
Bam Rodriguez is coming off of a Fighter of the Year type of performance in 2022. He came out nowhere to take a Super Flyweight championship fight on six days notice against a former longtime champ Carlos Cuadras. He followed that up with a dominating KO against legend Sor Rungvisai and a 2nd defense by the end of the year. Since then he vacated the belt and dropped down to Flyweight to win a second belt. This is Rodriguez’s more natural weight and he can take even more advantage of the power that got him his first belt. For this fight, he matches up with a guy that is 15-1 but has some very questionable names on his resume so this fight is taylor made for Rodriguez to dominate.
Christian Gonzalez Hernandez 32 from Mexico. Unranked due to 1 year inactivity.
Christian Hernandez is a bit of an unknown quantity. His only loss in 16 fights was a split decision, but look at the fights he has won and you won’t see a lot of high level competition. This is also the very first time he’s fought outside of Mexico. I’m not sure how he was picked to challenge for a title as nothing in his resume really suggests it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was a set up for a virtual guarantee of a Bam Rodriguez title.
Prediction
I’m very confident that Bam is going to win this one. It’ll be by KO in the 6th. I wouldn’t put any money on it because the return on a Bam win is going to be very low unless you pick a KO in a specific round.
Other Fights on this Card to Watch
Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs. Marlon Tapales - Unified IBF, WBA Super Bantamweight Title
Here we have a unified title fight relegated to a co-main event. But that’s what happens when Bam Rodriguez is on the card. Murodjon was fast tracked to a title winning his first 2 belts in his 8th fight. This is his 4th defense of those titles and one that he should win. Tapales is a former Bantamweight titleholder himself and is still seeking a belt at Super Bantamweight. I don’t know much about him, but I’m siding with Murodjon because he has proven himself with a number of high quality wins leading up to this fight.
Israel Madrimov vs. Raphael Igbokwe - Middleweight
Raymond Ford vs. Jessie Magdaleno - Featherweight
Kahlil Coe vs. Aaron Casper - Light Heavyweight
Sebastian Fundora vs. Brian Mendoza
WBC Interim Super Welterweight Title
Showtime - California - Start Time: 9pm; Main Event: 10pm
Sebastian Fundora 25 from the US. #2 Super Welterweight per Boxrec.
Fundora finds himself making another defense of his interim WBC Super Welterweight belt. This fight against Mendoza is more about keeping busy than a step up or a statement. Fundora’s goal is a shot at the unified Super Welterweight champ Jermell Charlo, but Charlo isn’t known for wanting to take any big risks. So even though Fundora is the interim champ, who knows when that will happen unless the WBC forces it. Regarding this fight, Fundora is known as the Towering Inferno, standing at 6’6 when most others in the weight class are 5’7 to 5’10. It gives him a crazy reach advantage in most fights that lets him keep distance and avoid damage. Power isn’t something that Fundora has a ton of, so I’d expect him to win by points.
Brian Mendoza 29 from the US. #19 Super Welterweight per Boxrec.
Mendoza being the 19th ranked Super Welterweight is coming into this fight as the spoiler for the Fundora hypetrain. While he’s 21-2, he hasn’t really tested himself against too many noteworthy names. His best win was against a top 50 guy in Jeison Rosario, so he’s going to need to have the fight of his life to outbox someone with a 10 inch reach advantage. I’d imagine he’s going to want to fight inside to close the distance like Fundora’s last opponent Ocampo tried to do. Not sure if that will be enough.
Prediction
Fundora is just too big for Mendoza here. I don’t see Mendoza having the skills to overcome, but I do think he can probably last until the cards. Fundora by Unanimous Decision.
Other Fights on this Card to Watch
Brandun Lee is a guy that has been pushed pretty hard by his promoter, PCB. The problem is that he hasn’t been living up to expectations as far as I can tell. In his recent fights, he’s been knocked down and barely survived on decisions. For a guy that is 27-0, he hasn’t really fought anyone of consequence. For example his last opponent was 0-5-1 in his previous 6 fights! Pedro Campa is the step up that his career needed. Campa was KO’d in his last fight vs Teofimo Lopez, but should be the toughest test of Lee’s career. If I bet this one, I’d take a Campa KO.
Luis Nunez vs. Christian Olivo - Featherweight
I’ve never heard of these guys before, but this looks like an interesting matchup at first glance. Nunez a 23 year old Dominican against Olivo a 24 year old Mexican square off in a battle of undefeated prospects. Seeing two guys under 25 with 18+ wins and in the top 50 facing each other is pretty rare in today’s boxing landscape. The winner sets themselves up nicely for a shot to get into the top 15-20 of the Featherweight rankings.