FloBoxing Weekend Round-up: DeGale/Jack Battle to Draw, Lara Dominates
FloBoxing Weekend Round-up: DeGale/Jack Battle to Draw, Lara Dominates
FloBoxing provides a look back at an action-packed weekend that included Badou Jack vs. James DeGale.
By Shawn Smith
The first weekend of high-level boxing in 2017 has come and gone and we still don’t know who the best super-middleweight fighter in the world is.
With Andre Ward moving up to light heavyweight, IBF champion James DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack fought on Saturday to determine who would be the unified super middleweight champion of the world.
And while the fight was spectacular from start to finish, a winner could not be decided and the two were forced to settle for a majority draw.
DeGale started quick, using his unorthodox angles and speed advantage to keep Jack at bay, even knocking him down late in the first round. He went on to dominate the early portion of the fight, using quick footwork and combination punching to stifle Jack’s offense.
Jack found his way back into the fight in the middle rounds, using steady pressure to wear away on DeGale. The fight was close heading into the final round, and a 12th round knockdown from Jack seemed to sway some to think he had pulled ahead.
The scorecards read 114-112 DeGale, 113-113 and 113-113, forcing both fighters to settle for a draw. DeGale instantly asked for a rematch, but Jack was non-committal as he plans a move to light heavyweight.
Jack’s promoter, Floyd Mayweather, entered the ring to say that Jack had won the fight, going as far as to say that the highly-enjoyable fight was bad for boxing due to his disappointment in the scorecards.
The co-main event saw 22-year- old Gervonta Davis knock out Jose Pedraza, claiming the IBF super featherweight title in a highly-entertaining bout. With the win, Davis becomes the youngest current world champion.
Davis took some big shots early in what was a close fight in the early rounds, but his speed, power and unorthodox punching eventually wore Pedraza down ahead of a seventh-round stoppage.
Friday night on Spike TV saw Premier Boxing Championship (PBC) kick off their year with a pair of mismatches.
WBA and IBO super-welterweight champion Erislandy Lara dominated former WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman in a one-sided beating to headline the event in Hialeah, Florida. Foreman was finished in the fourth round with a clever jab-uppercut combination that left the 36-year- old in search of his equilibrium.
The fight was only Foreman’s third bout since November of 2013, and likely marked his last bout on a significant stage.
The 154-pound division is filled with intriguing bouts for Lara in 2017, not the least of which would be a unification bout against either WBC super-welterweight champion Jermell Charlo or IBF super-welterweight champion Jermall Charlo. Lara has also not stopped his campaign for a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, but considering Alvarez already has a fight lined up with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and a potential mega-fight against Gennady Golovkin later this year, that doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon.
The co-main event saw Anthony Dirrell make fairly easy work of an overmatched Norbert Nemesapati. While Nemesapati started quick, he faded as the fight went on and Dirrell’s combination punching and power shots were too much, leading to a sixth round stoppage.
Dirrell is still on the comeback trail after losing his WBC super middleweight title to Badou Jack in April of 2015. The win over Nemesapati marks three in a row for the Flint, Michigan native.
The first weekend of high-level boxing in 2017 has come and gone and we still don’t know who the best super-middleweight fighter in the world is.
With Andre Ward moving up to light heavyweight, IBF champion James DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack fought on Saturday to determine who would be the unified super middleweight champion of the world.
And while the fight was spectacular from start to finish, a winner could not be decided and the two were forced to settle for a majority draw.
DeGale started quick, using his unorthodox angles and speed advantage to keep Jack at bay, even knocking him down late in the first round. He went on to dominate the early portion of the fight, using quick footwork and combination punching to stifle Jack’s offense.
Jack found his way back into the fight in the middle rounds, using steady pressure to wear away on DeGale. The fight was close heading into the final round, and a 12th round knockdown from Jack seemed to sway some to think he had pulled ahead.
The scorecards read 114-112 DeGale, 113-113 and 113-113, forcing both fighters to settle for a draw. DeGale instantly asked for a rematch, but Jack was non-committal as he plans a move to light heavyweight.
Jack’s promoter, Floyd Mayweather, entered the ring to say that Jack had won the fight, going as far as to say that the highly-enjoyable fight was bad for boxing due to his disappointment in the scorecards.
The co-main event saw 22-year- old Gervonta Davis knock out Jose Pedraza, claiming the IBF super featherweight title in a highly-entertaining bout. With the win, Davis becomes the youngest current world champion.
Davis took some big shots early in what was a close fight in the early rounds, but his speed, power and unorthodox punching eventually wore Pedraza down ahead of a seventh-round stoppage.
Lara, Dirrell dominate overmatched opponents
Friday night on Spike TV saw Premier Boxing Championship (PBC) kick off their year with a pair of mismatches.
WBA and IBO super-welterweight champion Erislandy Lara dominated former WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman in a one-sided beating to headline the event in Hialeah, Florida. Foreman was finished in the fourth round with a clever jab-uppercut combination that left the 36-year- old in search of his equilibrium.
The fight was only Foreman’s third bout since November of 2013, and likely marked his last bout on a significant stage.
The 154-pound division is filled with intriguing bouts for Lara in 2017, not the least of which would be a unification bout against either WBC super-welterweight champion Jermell Charlo or IBF super-welterweight champion Jermall Charlo. Lara has also not stopped his campaign for a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, but considering Alvarez already has a fight lined up with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and a potential mega-fight against Gennady Golovkin later this year, that doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon.
The co-main event saw Anthony Dirrell make fairly easy work of an overmatched Norbert Nemesapati. While Nemesapati started quick, he faded as the fight went on and Dirrell’s combination punching and power shots were too much, leading to a sixth round stoppage.
Dirrell is still on the comeback trail after losing his WBC super middleweight title to Badou Jack in April of 2015. The win over Nemesapati marks three in a row for the Flint, Michigan native.