The light heavyweight division is loaded with talent

[The Hammer]

Tonight, Yunieski Gonzalez has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove he's a real light heavyweight contender.

[The Hammer]

Yunieski Gonzalez has definitely proven himself to be a top light heavyweight contender.

Jean Pascal's stock has fallen.

Sergey Kovalev showed consistency with his demolition of his IBF mandatory.

Now we have Adonis Stevenson fighting Tommy Karpency in September, and Kovalev vs. Artur Beterbiev possible for November in Russia.

[The Hammer]

ESPN: Light Heavyweight Division Heating Up

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...ion-heating-up

While it would be going too far to suggest that a new golden age is dawning for the light heavyweight division, it sure looks like a reasonable facsimile is at hand.

Admittedly, the Kovalev-Mohammedi match was a foregone conclusion, more a showcase for the Krusher than a serious fight. But if you tuned in to HBO early enough to watch last Saturday's co-feature, you would have seen a highly competitive shootout between two world-class fighters.

Granted, Kovalev provided the star power, but it was Jean Pascal and Yunieski Gonzalez that delivered the sort of bristling action that attracts new fans and reassures the cognoscenti.

Gonzalez, another of boxing's seemingly endless supply of Cuban expatriates plying their trade in the U.S., was a minor revelation. His aggressive, heavy-handed approach went over well with the fans, and many felt he was robbed when all three judges decided in favor of Pascal with identical scores of 96-94.

My own scorecard had the same score but in favor of Gonzalez, who, regardless of the questionable verdict, established himself as a player in the revitalized 175-pound class. Even Kovalev gave him a shout-out, telling HBO's Max Kellerman, "What I saw of the fight, Gonzalez was much better" and "I want to fight this guy, too, Gonzalez."

Most fighters will tell you they will fight anybody, but fighters lie all the time, mostly to themselves. Kovalev really means it. It's part of his charm.

Regardless of the discontent his victory caused, the 32-year-old Pascal showed that despite a TKO loss to Kovalev in March, he still had something to offer. There were several times when it looked like the ex-champ might be overwhelmed by Gonzalez's persistent assault, but he always fired back, rattling the Cuban on more than one occasion.

If neither Pascal nor Gonzalez get the next crack at Kovalev, a rematch wouldn't be the worst idea. More than one pundit deemed their first encounter worthy of consideration for fight of the year.


The only piece of the splintered light heavyweight crown that Kovalev doesn't own is the most important part: the lineal title, which is held by Adonis "Superman" Stevenson, an ex-pimp who once spent 20 months in prison on charges of managing prostitutes, assault and making threats.

Although Stevenson's nefarious past is more than enough to cause some people to dislike him in perpetuity, it has been approximately 16 years since he paid his debt to society, and there has been little to contradict his claim that he has turned his life around.

Besides, the willingness to overlook fighters' past transgressions has been part of boxing from the start. But just as Stevenson was beginning to gain traction beyond the borders of Quebec, he welshed on a commitment to face Kovalev and instead threw his lot in with adviser Al Haymon.

It was like snatching a juicy steak away from a salivating dog, and the fans turned on Stevenson with renewed intensity. What might have been his salvation turned into another strike against him.

But even the haters were stunned when Stevenson announced on Monday that his next fight, in September, would be against Tommy Karpency. The mismatch was greeted with almost universal derision, accompanied by a fresh social media attack on his integrity.

The thing is, Stevenson's pariah status doesn't diminish his lights-out punching power or the fact that he's the man who beat the man -- in other words, the true champion. The WBC belt Adonis wears is inconsequential. That he knocked out Chad Dawson, the boxer who had taken the legitimate championship away from Bernard Hopkins, is not.

Has Stevenson been a good champion? Hell no, but he's still the champion, and a formidable fighter at that. But he'll be 38 this September, and he runs the risk of squandering what's left of his prime in pursuit of an easy buck.

Tommy Karpency? Really? What a waste.

While Stevenson continues to weaken his brand fighting no-hope opponents, relative newcomer Artur Beterbiev is rapidly building a following. A Russian of Chechen descent, he grew up in Khasavyurt, a city in the Republic of Dagestan where a volatile brew of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism have made it one of the most dangerous places in the world.

[The Hammer]

[The Hammer]

Umar Salamov will be fighting Doudou Ngumbu on Saturday.

[The Hammer]

Age 18 light heavyweight David Benavidez was very impressive last night on ShoBox.

[The Hammer]

Very good fight.

Gonzalez was stunned several times and Shabranskyy once, but neither went down.

[soul_survivor]

Outside of Kovalev, Stevenson, possibly Ward, Pascal and maybe Beterbiev, I don't think there's a heck of a lot of top talent in the division. You can't just name every challenger and prospect in the division and say they are all talented just because. Most of them are limited, some have decent pop, some have good chins but none of them are good, all round fighters that can challenge the current status quo.

When someone starts listing guys like Bika as a talented guy at LHW, you know you just gotta SMH.

[The Hammer]

Gvozdyk, Eskimov, Gonzalez, Kovalev and Chilemba are all scheduled to fight this month.

[SouthPawHitman]

I'm so glad freedom is back