Joe Smith Jr. Shocks Andrezj Fonfara in Upset of the Summer
Joe Smith Jr. Shocks Andrezj Fonfara in Upset of the Summer
By Jonathan SnowdenThis weekend’s PBC card featured a fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Andrezj Fonfara in which one man was clearly supposed to win and anoth
By Jonathan Snowden
This weekend’s PBC card featured a fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Andrezj Fonfara in which one man was clearly supposed to win and another lose.
It didn't happen that way.
A back pedalling Smith caught Fonfara coming in to score a truly shocking first round knockout. Congratulations are due, and perhaps even a mea culpa of sorts. I didn't think he had it in him. He, at least on this night, proved critics wrong.
That it didn't go as planned doesn't prove that this fight was a good piece of matchmaking all along, or even that it's impossible to judge fights before they happen. It proved only that upsets are possible and even the lamb can occasionally engage in some slaughter of his own.
Smith’s shocking 1 round blowout win puts him in position challenge the likes of Adonis Stevenson in the PBC Light Heavyweight universe. In fact, since he's had no other significant moments as a fighter, I expect to see him in title contention shortly. This is a fighter a smart promoter cashes out quickly in the highest profile fight possible.
Fonfara’s loss takes him out of the discussion completely—he’ll need to rebuild. Luckily for him, given the vast collection of B class light heavyweights, that's not out of the question. And chances are Fonfara's reclamation will be good for us, as many of his possible opponents are exciting punchers or brawlers.
-The rest of the NBC-aired card went largely as expected. Rau’Shee Warren got his first world title in a tight decision win over Juan Carlos Payano. This was a rematch of a closely contested bout last year which saw point deductions playing a key role in the final decision. An ex-Olympian, Warren takes his place near the top a wide open bantamweight division that’s primarily controlled by fighters 30 and over.
-Also featured on the broadcast was Erickson Lubin’s third round stoppage of Mexican puncher Daniel Sandoval. Sandoval was simply stumped by Lubin’s combination of punching and footwork, and eventually battered against the ropes until referee Mark Nelson jumped in to stop the carnage.
-Jhonny Gonzalez returned to action and won by 10th round KO over Chris Martin down in Mexico. Gonzalez (61-10) isn't an elite featherweight or super featherweight. But he still has enough left to provide lots of glorious entertainment. Too bad for American fans that most of it will be unseen by Western fight fans, as he'll likely follow Jorge Arce’s career arc with long stints selling tickets and staying active south of the border.
-Venezuela held an all female boxing card featuring a record 4 world title fights on a single women’s bill. The card featured some of the world’s finest women boxers, including Argentine star Yesica Bopp and Costa Rican Hanna Gabriels. Curiously, while selling women’s boxing seems possible in South and Central America, US television has no significant women’s fights lined up through the rest of the calendar year.
This weekend’s PBC card featured a fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Andrezj Fonfara in which one man was clearly supposed to win and another lose.
It didn't happen that way.
A back pedalling Smith caught Fonfara coming in to score a truly shocking first round knockout. Congratulations are due, and perhaps even a mea culpa of sorts. I didn't think he had it in him. He, at least on this night, proved critics wrong.
That it didn't go as planned doesn't prove that this fight was a good piece of matchmaking all along, or even that it's impossible to judge fights before they happen. It proved only that upsets are possible and even the lamb can occasionally engage in some slaughter of his own.
Smith’s shocking 1 round blowout win puts him in position challenge the likes of Adonis Stevenson in the PBC Light Heavyweight universe. In fact, since he's had no other significant moments as a fighter, I expect to see him in title contention shortly. This is a fighter a smart promoter cashes out quickly in the highest profile fight possible.
Fonfara’s loss takes him out of the discussion completely—he’ll need to rebuild. Luckily for him, given the vast collection of B class light heavyweights, that's not out of the question. And chances are Fonfara's reclamation will be good for us, as many of his possible opponents are exciting punchers or brawlers.
Notes
-The rest of the NBC-aired card went largely as expected. Rau’Shee Warren got his first world title in a tight decision win over Juan Carlos Payano. This was a rematch of a closely contested bout last year which saw point deductions playing a key role in the final decision. An ex-Olympian, Warren takes his place near the top a wide open bantamweight division that’s primarily controlled by fighters 30 and over.
-Also featured on the broadcast was Erickson Lubin’s third round stoppage of Mexican puncher Daniel Sandoval. Sandoval was simply stumped by Lubin’s combination of punching and footwork, and eventually battered against the ropes until referee Mark Nelson jumped in to stop the carnage.
-Jhonny Gonzalez returned to action and won by 10th round KO over Chris Martin down in Mexico. Gonzalez (61-10) isn't an elite featherweight or super featherweight. But he still has enough left to provide lots of glorious entertainment. Too bad for American fans that most of it will be unseen by Western fight fans, as he'll likely follow Jorge Arce’s career arc with long stints selling tickets and staying active south of the border.
-Venezuela held an all female boxing card featuring a record 4 world title fights on a single women’s bill. The card featured some of the world’s finest women boxers, including Argentine star Yesica Bopp and Costa Rican Hanna Gabriels. Curiously, while selling women’s boxing seems possible in South and Central America, US television has no significant women’s fights lined up through the rest of the calendar year.