May 17, 2013: the highs and lows of last night’s fights
Bout of the Night: 6’2” Alexander Povetkin of Kursk, Russia (25-0-0, 17 KOs) taking on the 6’5” Andrzej Wawrzyk of Krakow, Poland for the WBA heavyweight belt.
Fight of the night: 6’2” Alexander Povetkin of Kursk, Russia (25-0-0, 17 KOs) eradicated the 6’5” Andrzej Wawrzyk of Krakow, Poland (27-0-0, 13 KOs).
Alexander Povetkin of Kursk, Russia (26-0-0, 18 KOs) is the WBA World Heavyweight Champion.
Povetkin retained his WBA heavyweight belt Friday night by stopping the Polish challenger in the third round for his fourth successful title defense.
The 33-year-old Russian improved to 26-0 with his 18th knockout, flooring Wawrzyk in the second round and again in the third with a big overhand right to the head. The referee gave Wawrzyk every opportunity to continue before finally stopping the match with 31 seconds left in the round.
If everything goes as planned, Povetkin, who outpointed Ruslan Chagaev in August, 2011 for the then-vacant title, will now face the WBA “super champion” Wladimir Klitschko on Oct. 5 in Moscow.
If you recall Povetkin won the super heavyweight gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, while Klitschko did the same at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Mismatch of the night
Earlier today, SportofBoxing.com received a last minute presser from Banner Promotions, Philadelphia, PA, dated May 17, 2013:
TONIGHT at The Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, undefeated Jr. Middleweight prospect Taras Shelestyuk (of Sumy, Ukraine) will look to make it three for three when he takes on Mario Angeles (of San Diego, CA) in a scheduled four round light middleweight bout. The show is being promoted by Thompson Boxing.
Shelestyuk, who is promoted by Banner Promotions, is 2-0 with both wins coming by knockout. The Ukrainian, who captured (the Gold Medal in the 2011 AIBA National Championships) plus the Bronze Medal in the 2012 Olympic Games, has been impressive in his first two outings.
“We have liked what we have seen so far in Taras,” said Arthur Pelullo, CEO of Banner Promotions. “We are keeping him active and we know he will continue to improve. We see a big future in Taras. I also want to thank our partners Ken Thompson and Alex Camponovo for having Taras on their show tonight.”
Shelestyuk’s manager Vadim Kornilov added, “Taras has had great preparation for this fight. He will show the same results as in his first two outings.”
Shelestyuk was coming off a fourth round stoppage over Brandon Adams on May 2, 2013 in Corona, California.
(left to right) junior middleweights Taras Shelestyuk of Sumy, Ukraine and Mario Angeles of San Diego, CA.
Now, the real scoop. Standing side by side at their weigh-in, the 33 year-old Mario Angeles looked as if he could be Shelestyuk’s dad. Angeles, who began his professional career back on February 12, 2009 against Erin Beach, a Mixed Martial Artist from the Black House Team Nogueira Gym in San Diego, had only one win in five attempts and hadn’t fought in almost four years. Even in his prime, Angeles was never more than a club fighter.
On Friday, this journeyman fighter became a last minute replacement to fight the Olympian who had over 210 Amateur bouts. To draw a comparison, it’s likely Angeles hasn’t even been in a boxing gym 210 times.
As expected the match didn’t get very far before Shelestyuk (3-0, 3 KOs) scored a second round knockout of Angeles (1-4-1). All the former Olympian had to do was wait for Angeles to gain a smidgen of confidence and come close enough for one or two blasts, blasts that sat Angles down in the second round. Shortly after, Shelestyuk finished Angeles off with a right followed by a left to drop him a second time to motivate referee Raul Caiz Sr. to stop the carnage at 2:04 of the round.
Taras Shelestyuk (Debut) vs Kamal Muhammad (Debut) KO
Post fight after Shelestyuk’s May 2nd win over Brandon Adams
Shelestyuk’s 2011 World Championship win
For Angeles, we have no highlight reels to show you. Back in early April, a San Diego matchmaker tried unsuccessfully to put together a boxing card with Angeles on it, but he couldn’t get the necessary approval from the California Boxing Commission. For whatever reason, the Angeles versus Shelestyuk match made more sense to whom?
(l to r) Giovanni Santillan and Jesus Mendez pose for a photo after their weigh-in.
The match with the most relevance for San Diego fans? In the co-main event at the Doubletree, a six-round junior welterweight bout, Giovanni “El Gallo de Oro” Santillan of San Diego’s Undisputed Downtown Gym (7-0, 5 KOs) was facing Jesus Mendez (3-3, 2 KOs) of Houston.
The all business southpaw was the aggressor from the outset and soon had Mendez back peddling, using the ropes for balance till his head went through the ropes and a glove touched the canvas for a ruled knockdown.
In rounds two and three, Santillan showed his patience and kept using his jab to set up the straight lefts that kept hammering Medina.
By round five, the Texan was bleeding from his nose which made breathing difficult. To catch his breathe, he began to breath through his mouth, which had him lose his mouthpiece. After a solid left, out came Medina’s mouthpiece for a second time.
To get a much needed breather in the sixth round, Medina actually spit out the mouthpiece. All three judges scored the bout the same, 60-53 for Santillan which means he won every round for a shutout. With the win Santillan goes to 8-0.
Bout between Richard Contreras (l) and Victor Sanchez (r) turned out to be a brutal one.
In the main event, Riverside’s Richard “El Terminador” Contreras (10-1-1, 9 KOs) took on Victor Sanchez (4-6-1, 1 KO) of Houston in a scheduled eight round featherweight bout.
Sanchez, the underdog, wasted little time and soon had Contreras taking a seat on the canvas. After trading blows on the inside in round two, Sanchez again rocked Contreras backing him up against the ropes. Soon Contreras’ nose was bleeding.
They kept pounding each other in close while Contreras’ nose continued to bleed. After a brutal sixth round, referee David Mendoza stepped in to stop the beating at the request of Contreras’ corner.
With the win, Sanchez improves to 5-6-1, 2 KOs while Contreras’ career appears to be in a tail spin after going 1-2-1 in his last four contests. Take note: the combined record of his last four, less than stellar opponents (29-45-3)
