2009 Cruiserweight Report

by Dafs117

Let’s get real. The 200 pound division is a bitch of a division. A tease. Whenever the division finds a talented titleholder, he bottles it to heavyweight. That’s been the case for years. Recently, newly crowned Cruiserweight king Tomasz Adamek made the move up to heavyweight, leaving the division in desperate need for a new champion.

Bernard Hopkins has hinted many times of jumping up to cruiser and fight Adamek. It would’ve energized the division, and brought much needed attention to a competitive division. Nothing came in the end. The boxing public cried out for a rematch between Adamek and Steve Cunningham, but they thought different. When good match-ups are thrown out by the media and fans alike, the Cruisers ride the wave of good karma and let the cry die out.

The thing that grips most followers of the division, all 36 of them, is that anybody in the Top 50 could beat each other. This makes the division almost unpredictable. Also, the tailend of any top 10 Cruiserweight ratings can be made up of thousands of different combinations, and still be regarded as credible. You can make a case for any 200 pounder to be in the Top 10, seriously.

Who could succeed Adamek as the Cruiserweight King? At the head of the class is Philadelphian Steve Cunningham, one of few cruiserweights who have boxing ability not just power. He took Adamek the full twelve and may have won it if there was another set of judges involved.

Your Ad Here

Read more »

The Best of the Rest: A Recap of Saturday's Action

The big stories yesterday were Andre Ward's dominant win over defending champ Mikkel Kessler and Edgar Sosa's shocking loss to Rodel Mayol, but there was plenty of championship-level action all over the globe. Here's the recap:

Maidana Crushes Gonzalez in 3

Despite a brave attempt at a quick start against a hometown champ, Gonzalez (22-6-1, 7 KOs) was outgunned by defending WBA interim champ, Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs). The end came via thudding left to the liver in the third round.

Up next for Argentina's Maidana is the winner of the Amir Khan-Dimitry Salita contest.

Erdei Gets the Nod in Germany

Unbeaten Zsolt Erdei outthought once-beaten Giacobbe Fragomeni in their title fight in Germany tonight to win the Italian’s WBC Cruiserweight crown via majority decision.

In a slow start, Erdei struggled to adapt to Fragomeni’s 17 pound weight advantage, and the relentless pressure brought by the 40 year old won him most of the opening half of the fight.

But Erdei, the former WBO Light-Heavyweight titlist threw more punches in the second half of the fight, which saw both fighters go toe-to-toe from round 9 on.

As they exchanged heavy hooks in the middle of the ring, Fragomeni tired and Erdei fully capitalized by wobbling him in the 11^th. The fight went to the scorecards, and Erdei was the winner 115-113, 115-113, 114-114. The BTBC had it 115-113 to Erdei.

On the undercard, recently crowned WBC Super Featherweight champion Humberto Guttierez defended and dropped his belt to Vitali Tajbert by unanimous decision.

Segura Blows Jaro Away

In defense of his WBA Mini-Flyweight title, Giovanni Segura (22-1, 18 KOs) even surprised himself by blowing away the Philippines' Sonny Boy Jaro (30-7-5, 19 KOs) in just 88 seconds.

It was a big body shot in the first that did the trick.

Sonsona Loses With a Draw/ Molitor Stays Afloat

The Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada was not friendly to Marvin Sonsona (14-0-1, 12 KOs) yesterday as he lost his WBO Super Flyweight belt on the scales earlier in the day and then, later on, was fought to a draw by tough-as-nails Alejandro Hernandez (22-7, 11 KOs). Scores were: 115-113, 113-115, 114-114.

On the same card, Canada's own, Steve Molitor (31-1, 12 KOs) survived a fifth round flash knockdown to win a unanimous eight round decision over rugged, but crude, Jose Saez (17-9-4, 8 KOs). Scores were: 78-73, 79-73, 78-74...all in favor of the former IBF Super Bantamweight world champ.

Jorge Barrios stops Michael Lozado

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, former world champ, Jorge Barrios (49-4-1, 35 KOs) stopped former world title challenger, Michael Lozado (33-6-1, 26 KOs) in the fifth.

Your Ad Here

Fragomeni Holds 17 pound weight advantage

WBC cruiserweight champion Giacobbe Fragomeni and challenger Zsolt Erdei have officially weighed-in. Italy's Fragomeni tipped in at 195.8-pounds, while long-reigning WBO light-heavyweight champion Erdei of Hungary weighed-in at the significantly lower weight of just 178.8-pounds.

Fragomeni will hold a significant advantage in weight over the talented Erdei, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Italian will bully the challenger around. Erdei is the younger of the two and has more ability than the champion.

The Italian is as tough as fighters get, coming off the canvas to draw with Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. With Erdei weighing in so low, possibly as he’ll go back to light-heavyweight after this fight, it makes a compelling contest for us fight fans tonight. The fight is on at 4:15 Central US Time.

Your Ad Here