Opinions and Observations: Sheeraz, Shakur

After Shakur Stevenson's victory over William Zepeda on Saturday, Chris Mannix asked Stevenson if he was pleased with his performance. And Stephenson was emphatic that he was not. He said that he took more punishment than he should have. He also credited Zepeda for making him reach into his bag of tricks to pull out the win. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, he said he needed to go back to the drawing board and put on more muscle. 

Now you wouldn't understand Stevenson's point of view if you happened to agree with the judges' wide scorecards in the fight, which had Shakur winning 118-108 x 2 and 119-109 to retain his lightweight title. I certainly didn't have the margin that wide, and I'm betting that in Shakur's internal calculus, he didn't either. 

Shakur celebrates after his victory
Photo courtesy of Sela

I scored the fight for Shakur 116-112, or eight rounds to four, but I had him down big after the fifth round. Through the first five rounds, most of the fight had been contested on Zepeda's terms, with Stevenson pinned on the ropes and Zepeda launching multi-punch combinations. Sure, Stevenson was avoiding many of the shots, but he also wasn't throwing a lot either. In rounds where both fighters landed similar number of punches and there were no defining blows, I think that Zepeda should have been rewarded as the effective aggressor and for exhibiting superior ring generalship. 

And let's be clear: the fighter who was hurt the most at any time in the fight was Stevenson, who was visibly dazed by a jab to the body/jab to the head combo in the third round, where Shakur's legs temporarily gave out. 

Stevenson got his tactics wrong during the first five rounds. It reminded me of Mayweather-Maidana 1, where Floyd thought that he could effectively counter Maidana from the ropes. Eventually, he realized that he was employing a losing strategy and adjusted. Once Floyd and Shakur got off the ropes it was much smoother sailing. 

In the sixth round, Shakur planted himself in the center of the ring and had a lot of success. At that point I thought that he had figured Zepeda out. I didn't have Zepeda winning another round in the fight. 

Stevenson's most impressive punch of the fight was his counter right hook, which he landed repeatedly while Zepeda was coming forward. He also showed impressive punch variation and sequencing: going to the body with both hands, flashing uppercuts, and unspooling memorable combinations where he would pop Zepeda's head from side to side. 

In a strange way, this 24th bout of Stevenson's career, where he was defending a title in his third weight class, was his best learning fight as a professional. He now knows that as talented as he is, he's not one of the blessed few fighters who can consistently excel with his back to the ropes. He should also have much more confidence in his ability to take shots to the body. Stevenson has been overly evasive in certain fights, moving too much and shying away from contact, but after withstanding Zepeda's best hooks downstairs, Stevenson should have more belief in his ability to trade. 

Overall, it was a strong performance from Stevenson. He tested some things out and made adjustments when they didn't work. He was determined to fight his way to victory and he realized where he was at his best in the ring. Mission accomplished. 

***

The fourth round of the Hamzah Sheeraz-Edgar Berlanga fight featured thrilling combat. Both fighters decided that they were going to open up and trade. They were at mid-range, which in theory should have favored the more compact, shorter-armed puncher, Berlanga, but it was Sheeraz who landed the devastating punches during exchanges. In a sequence in the second half of the round, he battered Berlanga with hooks from both hands, dropping him to the canvas. And after Berlanga made it to his feet, Sheeraz splattered him again, this time face-first on the canvas. 

Now, many fighters would have stayed down at that point and perhaps ref David Fields or Berlanga's corner should have stopped the fight, but Berlanga, to his credit, rose to his feet and wanted to continue. The fight was stopped early in the fifth as soon as Sheeraz landed his first combination of the round. 

Sheeraz after his knockout win
Photo courtesy of Sela

There's very little that surprised me in the fight, but that's also because I've watched enough of Sheeraz to know that he can be a devastating puncher when he's right. However, many were first exposed to the Englishman Sheeraz during his last fight, a high-profile middleweight title shot against Carlos Adames. 

If you believed Sheeraz's side of the story for what transpired that night, that he injured his hand during the bout and he also had been experiencing problems making weight, then his flat performance in the fight (which was ruled a draw) made sense. If you didn't believe in what Sheeraz was selling, then those "fraud" warnings started ringing in your head. Well, Sheeraz answered those doubters on Saturday. 

Even moving up a division, Sheeraz is still physically huge for 168 lbs. He packs a punch. He can beat an opponent with half-a-dozen weapons. I do have concerns about his chin in a division filled with big hitters, but that's a question to be answered another day. 

There's no one who improved his stock more on Saturday's Ring III card than Sheeraz did. He's a real threat. 

***

The vagaries of boxing judging: How can one make any overarching conclusions regarding the scorecards in the fights between David Morrell-Imam Khataev (Morrell via split decision) and Alberto Puello-Subriel Matias (Matias via majority decision)? In the first fight, the aggressor dazzled with hooks, scored a knockdown, but lost to a counterpuncher who had impressive 15-20 second flurries here and there. In the second fight, the judges rewarded the aggressor, Matias, despite a significant fade in the second half where he was eating a steady diet of power shots.

All I can say to fighters and their teams is not to leave it close. In a given panel of judges, you can have individuals who are drawn to clean work and others who tend to favor the aggressor. I wouldn't say that either decision on Saturday was a robbery, but I had the losers (Khataev and Puello) winning, and they had almost exact opposite styles. 

In fights as close as these, an outcome can swing on a fine margin. Khataev started the 10th round excellently: coming forward, landing power hooks, and backing Morrell up. However, there's no mistaking that Morrell had him badly hurt during the last 20 seconds of the round (this bout was a 10-rounder). Had Khataev been able to avoid those final shots, he wins the 10th, and would have swung the fight on Allen Nace's 95-94 scorecard for Morrell, giving Khataev a split decision victory.

I'll close with a couple of additional points about David Morrell and Alberto Puello. Morrell was considered by many in the PBC orbit to be a boxing prodigy, and maybe he was. He was fast-tracked and given a shot at David Benavidez in just his 12th pro fight. Despite Morrell's athletic and technical gifts, his lack of professional experience especially as it related to his decision-making in the ring was evident during the fight. Morrell had his share of moments during the bout and he fought hard, but he was comprehensively beaten. 

Against Khataev, a power puncher who was also a successful amateur, Morrell again displayed massive holes in his defense and didn't seem to understand where and when he was having success in the fight. He wanted to be a crafty counterpuncher, but he got hit a lot and dropped. Yet whenever he did lead, he was infinitely more successful.    

It's not a question of Morrell being caught between styles; it's more that he has yet to understand his ring identity. He doesn't grasp what he does best against top competition. And it's a shame that he has to learn on the job in his tougher fights because he lacked seasoning prior to Benevidez. Yes, he did skate by with a split decision win on Saturday, but his performance was far from convincing. Facing a fighter a step down from Benavidez's caliber, Morrell didn't display improvement. His athleticism and hand speed are still there, but he is still way off the mark in terms of understanding the finer details of how he can succeed as a professional boxer. 

And finally, although I do feel that Alberto Puello was hard done by the judges on Saturday, especially in a fight where he entered as the champion, part of his problem on Saturday was his own doing. Puello fights in a style that will turn off specific judges. He is the anti-aggressor. He backs up incessantly. He likes to maneuver with his back on the ropes. There are three problems with his approach: 

1. He lacks power
2. His shots aren't always easy to see land
3. Effective aggression is a scoring criterion that will always work against him. 

If Puello had fight-changing power, then it would be much easier to evaluate his work in real time. But he doesn't, and familiar patterns emerge in his fights: He's backed into a corner or along the ropes. He lands some shots but also is taking some. Neither guy really looks hurt after an exchange. Furthermore, in these scenarios where close rounds exist (and Puello fights always have numerous swing rounds) judges will reward effective aggression to the come-forward boxer, which isn't Puello.

Prior to Saturday, Puello had three split decisions victories in his biggest fights. Those results were coin flips, with some that he could have lost. It's not that his defeat to Matias on Saturday was some type of cosmic payback for the rest of the junior welterweight division, but it illustrated a problem that Puello has: separation, both figuratively and literally. Puello's fights are almost always close. And in 7-5, 6-6 type of fights, judges can go any which way. He lacks the defining power and sequences of punches that lead to definitive rounds. 

Furthermore, Puello, as good as he is in retreat, couldn't keep the hyper-aggressive Matias off him. Again, this is a structural problem with Puello as a fighter. He doesn't believe in or rely on his jab enough. He lets opponents in too easily without making them pay a price. Yes, Puello likes his short hooks to the body and flashy uppercuts, but these happen during exchanges where his opponents are already right on top of him throwing their own punches. He doesn't get enough distance on a consistent basis.  

Puello's making things too difficult for himself. He must learn to utilize his jab more effectively and circle the ring instead of operating against the ropes or in corners. Otherwise, he will continue to be reliant on the generosity of a given judging panel, which as we've seen, could go this way or that. 

Puello needs to take more initiative in his own fights and in his career because his fight style leaves himself twisting in the wind after 12 hard rounds. In a sport that defers to the proclivities of a random judging panel, there's no uniformity on what defines doing just enough to win. Puello has been leaving it too close for comfort and he finally paid the price on Saturday. It's a tough way to sustain a career, always hoping for mercy from three random individuals.

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook  

Opinions and Observations: Benavidez-Morrell

For all of David Morrell's amateur success, knockouts in the pros, and athletic talent, it was clear as early as the first round that he wasn't prepared for what David Benavidez had to offer on Saturday night. The first significant blows that Benavidez landed were lead right hooks that looped around Morrell's high guard and hit him squarely on the side of the head. Now those aren't traditional punches for an orthodox fighter to throw; still, there's a lot of tape on Benavidez and the right hooks weren't exactly a surprise. Yet, Morrell's defense was lacking. 

As the rounds continued, Benavidez landed repeatedly with two-punch combinations where the first shot of the sequence was a throwaway punch only for the second one to land with maximum force. He executed this often with the left hook/right hook to the body and the straight right/left hook to the body. Here again, Morrell didn't have the ability to defend himself properly. 

Benavidez (right) lands an uppercut
Photo courtesy of Esther Lin

But it wasn't all one-way traffic for Benavidez in the fight. On multiple occasions, Morrell caught Benavidez with a short right hook as Benavidez was coming in. He stunned Benavidez with the punch in the 4th and dropped him in the 11th with it. Morrell also found moments to explode off the ropes with quick combinations that were able to temporarily quell Benavidez's momentum. 

However, most of the fight consisted of Benavidez pressing forward and causing damage with his wide array of punches. His weapons were manifold: jab, left hook, right hook, straight right, left uppercut, right uppercut, body punches, and combinations. He had every punch available at his disposal. 

To Morrell's credit, he took a lot of punishment in the fight yet never stopped trying. He fought well in the championship rounds and put forth a spirited effort. There were multiple times in the fight where he was being battered, yet he summoned the fortitude to fire off massive power shots at Benavidez. Morrell was being beaten, but he refused to act like a beaten fighter. 

Benavidez won the fight by a unanimous decision, 115-111, 115-111 and 118-108. The funky scores could be explained by Morrell losing a point in the 11th for hitting Benavidez well after the final bell had rung in the round. I had it 116-110. 

Although this fight was not for a major light heavyweight title, it turned out to be a coming out party for Benavidez. In a raucous T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Benavidez put on a star-making performance. Although facing an undefeated fighter with considerable hype, Benavidez established his supremacy quickly. The crowd ate it up. They loved his power punching, his spite, his come-forward aggression, his showmanship, and his willingness to mix it up. 

It's been an incremental build for Benavidez, but now at the age of 28 and with a pristine 30-0 record with 24 knockouts, it's clear that he has become a significant draw in the sport. And although two long-time elite fighters, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, also reside in the 175-lb. division, Benavidez and his supporters will like their chances against anyone. 

What's often been forgotten about Benavidez is his considerable boxing education. Many will comment on his size, his pressure and his offensive output, but there is much more to him in the ring. Turning pro well before his 18th birthday, sparring the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin, Bivol and Gilberto Ramirez, coming from a fighting family, Benavidez has amassed a collection of unusual skills and talents that make him formidable in the ring. 

As a big man, he is just as comfortable fighting on the inside as he is at range. Often, he prefers to dish out damage in close quarters. Although he's known as an aggressor in the ring, he can spring traps if he is being pursued. 

Despite what may appear to some as sloppy footwork, he routinely cuts off the ring on supposedly superior athletes, like Morrell, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade. Saturday's fight against Morrell also showed how successful he is at keeping an opponent in his wheelhouse. He'll use his arms to push an opponent back into place. He'll hold an opponent's head and hit (an illegal maneuver, but he gets away with it). He'll also use his body to close off exit routes, which he did multiple times against Morrell. Benavidez used his left shoulder to block Morrell from exiting to his own right side (his preferred route), which allowed Benavidez to continue to do damage at close range. 

Benavidez has punches from every range. After throwing long right hooks from distance on Saturday, he then shortened up his right to land straight down the middle. In close he threw sickening body shots and left uppercuts. At mid-range, he landed consistently with his jab and short right hands. 

Another aspect of Benavidez that is often overlooked is his defense. Along with Canelo, Benavidez may be the best in boxing at blocking shots with his arms while pressing forward. He doesn't lose his aggression, positioning or intent when facing incoming fire. In that he likes exchanges, he will get hit at times, but he was the one with the far superior defense on Saturday. 

Benavidez with his team
Photo courtesy of Esther Lin

As for Morrell, there was a lot to like about his intangibles during the fight. Facing by far the best opponent of his career, he refused to wilt. And despite almost all his pro fights consisting of quick stoppages, Morrell displayed a spirited effort in the closing rounds. The fight had not been beaten out of him. 

However, Morrell's defense just wasn't good enough on Saturday. Benavidez landed 40% of his shots in the fight and most of those weren't love taps. Morrell was getting hit by thunder. Although Morrell's starting hand positioning was usually sound, his defensive reflexes weren't quick enough to block Benavidez's attacks. Furthermore, he didn't have the intuitive understanding in how to make defensive adjustments during the fight. Yes, Benavidez can throw a kitchen sick at an opponent, but there was never a point in the fight where Morrell was successful at taking away a weapon or two; more often Benavidez behaved in the ring like he could throw and land anything that he wanted. 

On offense Morrell needs to broaden his skillset. He's perfectly fine coming forward or exploding with a quick combination. However, Morrell ignored Benavidez's body throughout the fight, which demonstrated either a lack of skills or confidence with this part of his game. Morrell's jab was also a non-factor in the fight. And perhaps most importantly, Morrell needs to understand how to win slower rounds. He prefers to fight in a frenetic style, but as Saturday showed, against world-class opponents, more is needed. He wasn't setting up shots. He was not clinching to buy time. He was not using his legs like he could have. He wasn't cagey. He wanted to win firefight exchanges, but he was clearly second best in that category. 

In a perfect world, Morrell would have had better development fights prior to Benavidez. But to Morrell's credit, he took the challenge, and now his team can make a real assessment about what they have and what they need to improve upon going forward. This experience was infinitely more important in Morrell's long-term development than additional early-round knockouts against substandard opposition. 

As for Benavidez, I believe that he's reached another echelon in the sport. Yes, there are threats out there and he could certainly lose, but he has the fight style, talent and charisma to take boxing fans on a wonderful journey. His fights guarantee action, power punching, high degrees of skill and the type of fearlessness that reminds fans why they love the sport. If he can stay focused out-of-the ring, he could have a spectacular run over the next five years. 

With the dearth of American boxing stars at the moment, Benavidez will be asked to carry a lot of water for the sport. But I think this is exactly where he wants to be. He sees himself as a star. He believes that he is among boxing's best. He knows that now is his time. And it could be quite a time for all of us.  

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a contributing writer for Ring Magazine, a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook  

Punch 2 the Face Radio

In this week's Punch 2 the Face podcast, Brandon and I recapped a jam-packed boxing weekend including Beterbiev-Browne and Parker-Chisora II. We looked ahead to the Christmas boxing action. We also discussed our favorite moments and key boxing themes from 2021. To listen to the podcast, click on the links below:

Apple podcast link:

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Stitcher link:

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook.