6/20/09 ESPN Classic LIVE Fight

CHAGAEV HAS NO ANSWER FOR KLITSCHKO'S RIGHT HAND, QUITS ON STOOL BEFORE ROUND 10

Wladimir Klitschko continues his dominance in the heavyweight division by forcing Ruslan Chagaev to quit on his stool before the bell to start round 10. Klitschko used his long jab and followed it up with hard, accurate right hands to Chagaev's head the entire fight. Throughout the bout, Chagaev was not able to get inside to land body shots and was circling in the wrong direction. Instead of circling to the right to move away from Klitschko's right hand, Chagaev was circling to the left in the direction Klitschko was unleashing his powerful straight right. This proved costly for the southpaw challenger.

What was Chagaev's cornermen telling him to do? If you are a southpaw fighting Klitschko (left handed stance - right hand front, left hand back), you need to keep your lead foot (right foot) outside of Klitschko's left foot (his lead foot) to land an accurate straight left. Chagaev never got into position to land his straight left. As a result, Chagaev was dropped in the 2nd round with a hard right from Klitschko. However, Chagaev can take a good punch and was able to continue.

At times, Chagaev looked as if he was trying to back Klitschko up, but Klitschko's left jab-right combination was deadly accurate tonight. Chagaev fought hard, but just the wrong type of fight. Chagaev should have jabbed more using a lot of head movement to work his way inside and land body shots. It is not an easy task to accomplish because Chagaev had a significant disadvantage with his reach. Klitschko found his range and was never in any real danger of losing this fight.

Klitschko boxed very well tonight. Who is out there that can possibly beat him? At the moment, there does not appear to be any heavyweight challenger out there that can deal with Klitschko's jab. His left jab is such a heavy punch that it just freezes his opponents in their tracks and then enables Klitschko to nail his opponents with the straight right.

Klitschko is much improved since his last defeat and looks very comfortable each time he steps into the ring. Klitschko has won his last 11 fights. Until someone is able to rattle him during his fights, expect this dominance to continue. Wladimir Klitschko improves his record to 53-3, 47 KO's, while handing Chagaev his first professional defeat. Ruslan Chagaev's record now stands at 25-1-1, 17 KO's.

The crowd that gathered to watch this fight in Germany was the largest since Max Schmeling knocked out Adolf Heuser in the 1st round July 2, 1939.

6/19/09 Friday Night Fights

Fernando Beltran Jr. Wins 12 Round Unanimous Decision Over Monty Meza-Clay

Round 1: Good action to start the round. Meza-Clay pressed forward without taking a backward step. The southpaw Beltran circled to his right throwing his jab and putting combinations together.

Round 2: Beltran tries to keep Meza-Clay off him. Beltran is having trouble finding his range because Meza-Clay keeps shortening the distance by throwing wild punches and getting inside. Both fighters exchange and land many punches at a fast pace.

Round 3: Meza-Clay continues to make Beltran fight at a high pace. Meza-Clay is throwing wide punches and Beltran is trying to time him coming inside. Another close round, but Beltran is landing some clean shots.

Round 4: Beltran trying to place his punches more carefully than Meza-Clay. Toe-to-toe action with Meza-Clay trying to impose his will. Both fighters landed good punches; Meza-Clay landed some hard ones.

Round 5: Meza-Clay continued pressing forward, but at a slower pace. He tried to box a little. Beltran landed the cleaner and more effective shots this round and his jab was bothering Meza-Clay.

Round 6: Meza-Clay landed many punches in the first minute. Beltran tried to keep him off with the jab. Beltran controls the 2nd half of the round. Beltran slowed him down by landing multiple shots.

Round 7: Beltran is utilizing his jab more and it is enabling him to land more punches than Meza-Clay. Meza-Clay is throwing his punches wide and out of range.

Round 8: Meza-Clay continues to walk in throwing his shots. Beltran keeps boxing and tries to land his combinations when Meza-Clay is in range.

Rounds 9-12: Beltran's punches are wearing down Meza-Clay. Beltran is landing clean shots and Meza-Clay looks sluggish. The 12th round displayed fast paced action as the early rounds did. Beltran weathered the storm of Meza-Clay's finale of shots. Meza-Clay was trying real hard, but Beltran possessed more energy in these later rounds and finished strong.

Overall Summary: The work rate of Fernando Beltran Jr. proved to be too much for Monty Meza-Clay in this featherweight fight. Beltran threw more than 100 punches per round en route to his 12 round unanimous decision victory. Beltran scored with mostly his right jab and straight lefts. Meza-Clay landed some good shots in the fight, but never seriously hurt Beltran.

Fernando Beltran Jr. improves his record to 33-3-1, 18 KO's. He has won 6 of his last 7 fights. Monty Meza-Clay's record falls to 28-3, 19 KO's. He has lost his last 2 fights after winning 8 straight.

6/19/09 Friday Night Fights

Demetrius Andrade Wins 4 Round Unanimous Decision Against Tony Hirsch

Demetrius Andrade is a 21 year old from Providence, Rhode Island fighting in just his 5th professional fight. He has some work to do to improve, but the skill set is there. In the future, Andrade needs to fight better opposition because he can handle it with his stellar amateur background and cannot learn from fighting inferior opposition.

Tony Hirsch was no match for him. Hirsch had no answer for Andrade's straight left. Andrade throws good body punches and landed a hard right uppercut to Hirsch's head in the 2nd round. Andrade throws fast right hooks and straight lefts. In the 4th round, Hirsch landed a counter left hook. Andrade countered him by swarming Hirsch with a barrage of punches.

Demetrius Andrade improved his record to 5-0, 4 KO's. At the current time, Andrade relies too heavily on his hand speed. He can overwhelm opposition by sitting back and waiting to counter opponents. What happens when he fights better opposition? Andrade needs to box more, enter fights with a plan and not rely so heavily on his great hand speed. He can counter punch well, but will need much more as he tries to rise up the ranks. Tony Hirsch's record falls to 8-2-1, 4 KO's.

6/19/09 Friday Night Fights

Joe Greene Dominates Delray Raines, Wins 8 Round Unanimous Decision

Joe Greene is a rising middleweight contender and came off a 10 month layoff to take this fight against Delray Raines. Greene looked very impressive from the beginning of the fight at the Laredo Entertainment Center in Laredo, Texas.

Joe Greene imposed his will on Delray Raines throughout the fight. Raines was tough opposition, but is not nearly as skilled as the southpaw from Jamaica Queens, New York. Raines did not use his height and reach advantage. He did not throw many jabs and Greene took full advantage as he walked inside landing vicious combinations to the body and head.

Raines also had a disadvantage in hand speed. As early as round 2, Raines had swelling under his right eye from Greene landing his straight left continually. In round 3, Greene attacked Raines' body. Raines countered with a combination, but it was blocked by Greene.

Most of the action in this fight took place in close quarters. Greene landed the more effective punches inside, but Raines was throwing back too. As the fight went on, Greene was landing the harder, cleaner punches. Greene threw and landed terrific combinations to Raines' body.

In the 5th round, Greene landed some sharp lefts to the head. Raines did not possess the power to hurt Greene when he countered him. Greene was controlling the pace of the fight. There were some good exchanges in round 7. Raines landed some clean punches, but Greene would counter quickly after getting hit. Raines fought hard, but just doesn not possess the skill set of Greene, who has fought over 250 amateur fights.

Joe Greene is moving up the rankings in the Middleweight Division. He has yet to fight that big name opponent. Greene possesses a lot skills, but this fight was a bit of mismatch. Greene throws good body punches when he gets inside a fighter's range. A possible opponent in the near future for Greene could be the undefeated Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Greene holds a victory over Quillin in the amateurs, but "Kid Chocolate" is a much improved fighter now. Peter Qullin has devastating punching power with both hands and his professional record is 20-0, 15 KO's.

Joe Greene's record improves to 21-0, 14 KO's while Delray Raines falls to 15-6, 10 KO's.