number1contender.net

Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

 

August 2, 2008

Emerald Queen Casino-Tacoma, Washington

 

In the News and Notes Section of this recap will be a secret people attending the Beijing Olympics should know about the Cuban baseball team. Also, please send feedback on what subscribers would like to see covered at the EA Studio Showcase on August 14. Right now the plans are for articles on both FaceBreaker and Fight Night Round 4 to be previewed on this website.

 

1. Super Middleweight (168 pounds) 10-Round Match:

Andre Dirrell (15-0, 10 KO's, 168 pounds) vs. Mike Paschall (17-0-1, 4 KO's, 166.5 pounds)

Dirrell was an outstanding amateur boxer. He took home the bronze medal for the United States in boxing at 165 pounds at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympiad.

The Olympic bronze medalist's first high profile match was a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Curtis Stevens on June 16, 2007 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. There were plans for HBO to push him as a top prospect, however his performance in this match was so brutal that he did not appear on the network, again. Larry Merchant, who was doing color commentary of the match for HBO, in round 5 described the match as "the track and field version of boxing." By round 9, Merchant suggested that Dirrell was practicing to head back to the Olympics and compete in the 5000 meter run. At this point Merchant said out of the thousands of boxing matches he had seen, this was the worst. That might have been a bit extreme, but not much. This match was receiving Tim Sylvia heat by the end for its lack of action. Through the first 5 rounds, Curtis landed 18 total punches or slightly more then 3 per round. However, Dirrell who was 7" taller only landed 63 punches through the first 6 rounds, despite no punches coming at him. This abomination of a match concluded with Stevens landing 43 total punches and Dirrell landing 98. That made for an average of 14 total connects per round for the boxers combined. The original recap of that disgrace can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/5/preview-of-andre-dirrell-vs-mike-paschall.html

The Flint, Michigan resident's last match was a technical knockout victory over the talented prospect Anthony Hanshaw 1:13 into round 5 on May 2, 2008 at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California. Hanshaw was a much better boxer then Dirrell had faced, so far entering the match with a record of 21-1-1, and an established boxer on the Showtime ShoBox series.

Dirrell is unranked by The Ring magazine, but the number 17 ranked boxer at 168 pounds by boxrec.com.

Paschall is a step down in opponent for Dirrell from Hanshaw. The Baltimore, Maryland resident is here to do what Curtis was supposed to do last year, lose in spectacular fashion.

Paschall has an impressive record on paper. However, he has never been in a match that was scheduled to go more then 8 rounds, and has absolutely no power that should threaten Dirrell into a repeat of last June's performance. This Paschall's first match outside of Maryland, and got the call to be Dirrell's opponent for this match less then 3 weeks ago.

The Baltimore, Maryland resident's last match was an 8-round unanimous decision victory over Larry Marks on May 29, 2008 at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Paschall is unranked by The Ring, but the number 51 ranked boxer at 168 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 25-years-old, Dirrell is 3 years younger then the 28-year-old Paschall. Dirrell has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Paschall stands 5' 10.5" tall. The 2004 Olympian has the reach advantage with a 74" wingspan, compared to Paschall's 70" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Dirrell appears to be the much heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event.

Paschall came to the ring in a pink jacket and pink trunks. Dirrell came to the ring with his Olympic medal, advantage Dirrell.

All of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Washington. The referee is Bobby Howard.

Very little happens in round 1, but Dirrell does enough to take it, 10-9. Dirrell switched stances a few times in round 1, which he likes to do. It did not accomplish anything this time. Dirrell seemed more effective from the southpaw stance then the orthodox stance in the round. The Flint, Michigan resident wins a deliberate round 2, 10-9. Paschall landed 1 good right hand in round 3 that appeared to have Dirrell hurt in round 3. That may have been the only punch Paschall landed that round, and it was the only meaningful punch landed that round. Therefore, Paschall wins round 3, 10-9. This match is not quite awful, but there are stints of 15 seconds without punches being thrown. After 3 rounds, Dirrell leads on my scorecard, 29-28.

A straight left hand out of nowhere floors Paschall with 1:43 to go in round 4. The punch appears to have shattered Paschall's nose. Blood from Paschall has gone flying everywhere. There is a line of crimson running from the hairline on Paschall's forehead all the way down to his chest. Paschall successfully answers the referee's 8-count with 1:28 to go in the round. Before action can resume, the referee calls time to have the doctor check on Paschall's nose. It appears the laceration may be a deep inch long cut on Paschall's forehead that has the boxer spitting blood, from the amount of fluid it is draining down his face into his mouth. The boxer is begging the doctor not to stop it, and the doctor is taking a very close look at this cut. The doctor is stopping it, despite the pleas of Paschall. It is a vertical cut and that type of cut is very unusual to have been caused by a punch in a boxing match. Those type of cuts are usually caused by elbows, headbutts or blading. Paschall has a history of street fights. That is probably the re-opening of an old cut, because that type of new cut seems almost impossible to cause by a single punch with a boxing glove.

The official outcome for the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that: at 1:32 of round 4 the referee stops the contest on the advice of the ringside physician, making the winner by technical, and still undefeated, "The Matrix" Andre Dirrell. The win moves Dirrell to 16-0 with 11 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Dirrell in his post interview that he wants a top 10 opponent in his next match. Then he wants a title shot.

The official judges all had Dirrell ahead in the match by the same score of 29-28 at the time of the stoppage. Against a mediocre opponent, this is not the type of showing that merits a match against a top 10 boxer. Dirrell started slow, and except for the knockout punch was never impressive in this match. In addition, the knockdown was more of a flash knockdown. It would have been interesting to see how Dirrell would have followed up on the knockdown, and if he would have been able to finish Paschall in round 4. This match, probably opened up more questions then it answered. Dirrell was facing another opponent who was not punching and responded by not punching. Performances like this on television hurt a boxer's appeal. Dirrell might be best suited to continue knocking out boxers in the 50-100 range of the 168 pound division on ShoBox, until he develops a style that would not have a doctor recommend his matches as a sleep aid.

Paschall did the best he could. He took the match on 3 weeks notice and was there to be an easy knockout for Dirrell. Paschall ended up giving Dirrell problems. Paschall would have been fine to continue following the knockdown, if not for the cut. He wants a rematch, but will never get it. The cut will put him on medical suspension for months. However, his strong showing here has the chance to earn him a spot in some swing bouts on ESPN cards.

 

2. IBF Junior Bantamweight (115 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Dimitri Kirilov (29-3-1, 9 KO's, 114.5 pounds) (c) vs. Vic Darchinyan (29-1-1, 23 KO's, 114 pounds)

Kirilov won this championship when it was vacant via 12-round unanimous decision over Jose Navarro on October 13, 2007 at Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia. The previous champion was Luis Alberto Perez who vacated the title to move up to 118 pounds. Kirilov is making his second defense of this championship

Kirilov is a Russian who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, when it was Leningrad, USSR. He continues to live there, but is too young to be a true product of the famed Soviet boxing system. Kirilov is currently working with Freddie Roach in Los Angeles, California.

However, all of the blemishes on Kirilov's record have come outside of Russia. Kirilov is 20-0 in his native Russia. Kirilov is a respectable 9-3-1 outside of Russia. However, he is 0-3-1 in his last 4 matches outside of Russia. Kirilov has not won a match outside of Russia, since he defeated Redha Jean Abbas via 6 round decision on February 24, 2001 at York Hall in London, England. Despite training in Los Angeles, Kirilov has never won a match in the United States.

The champion's last match was against Cecilio Santos on February 28, 2008 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, New York. Kirilov escaped the match with his title via champion's advantage when the match ended in a 12-round majority draw.

Kirilov is The Ring's number 6 contender to their vacant championship at 115 pounds.

Darchinyan had a great amateur boxing career representing the former Soviet Republic of Armenia at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympiad.

Despite beginning his boxing career in the Soviet boxing system, Darchinyan has a very unorthodox style, that is uncharacteristic of Eastern European boxers. He holds his hands very low. His unorthodox style can best be described as a technical nightmare that makes him very hittable, and would be destructive for any other boxer to try to imitate. It is somewhat similar to what the UFC's Chris Leben does striking.

This is Darchinyan's first match in the United States since he lost his IBF and IBO championships at 112 pounds to Nonito Donaire via technical knockout at 1:38 of round 5 on July 7, 2007 at Harbour Yard Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Darchinyan's night was ended by a perfect left hook counter punch from Donaire. That punch earned Donaire The Ring's 2007 Knockout of the Year and 2007 Upset of the Year. Darchinyan entered the match as The Ring's number 2 ranked contender to their vacant championship at 112 pounds, while Donaire entered the match unranked by The Ring and without a quality win on his record. Showtime said before the match that Donaire was there to lose in spectacular fashion and set up a big money match between Darchinyan and Cristian Mijares or Jorge Arce. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/8/5/recap-of-darchinyan-vs-nonito-donaire.html

Darchinyan's last match was a controversial 12-round draw against Z Gorres on February 2, 2008 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines. After the decision was read the scene in the ring resembled an episode of Nitro as water bottles and debris flew at the ring from the crowd. That match was to determine the next mandatory challenger to this title and despite the fact the match was a draw, Darchinyan is getting the title shot.

Darchinyan is The Ring's number 9 contender at 115 pounds.

At 29-years-old, Kirilov is 3 years younger then the 32-year-old Darchinyan. Darchinyan has the height advantage standing 5' 5.5" tall, while Kirilov stands 5' 4" tall. Both boxers have a 64.5" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, the IBF requires boxers to weigh-in within 10 pounds of their official weigh-in weights the day of the match to ensure the boxers are relatively the same size when they enter the ring. The champion will employ the orthodox stance, and the challenger will employ the southpaw stance.

Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Washington, while the other is from California. The referee is Earl Brown.

Darchinyan's powerful left hand dominates round 1, 10-9. Kirilov is considered a polished technical boxer, however his technique in round 1 is a mess. The champion is standing in the pocket and circling towards Darchinyan's left hand, with his (Kirilov's) lead left hand down. This is giving Darchinyan an opportunity to land free power shots to Kirilov's unprotected face.  Landing free power shots, Darchinyan appears to have hurt Kirilov already in round 1. Kirilov will need to make immediate defensive adjustments or Darchinyan will put him to sleep in a few rounds. Darchinyan has used the time away from American television to get a lot better. He is jabbing potentially better then he ever has in this match. In round 2, Darchinyan who has historically neglected body punching, devastated Kirilov with the best body punches the Armenian may have ever thrown. Darchinyan controls round 2 from bell to bell to win it, 10-9. To start round 3, Kirilov's left eye is beginning to show severe swelling from a Darchinyan left hand he took in round 1. Darchinyan wins round 3 by continuing to land power punches, 10-9. Kirilov will not be able to take much more of this. Darchinyan is getting even more technically sloppy, though. The challenger's confidence has him lunging in recklessly trying to land the straight left. That is how Donaire caught him with the counter punch to score the knockout of the year. Darchinyan easily wins round 4, 10-9. After 4 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 40-36. All 3 members of the press keep unofficial score of this match from ringside for Showtime have Darchinyan ahead after 4 rounds, 40-36.

With 2:32 to go in round 5, a left hand has Kirilov staggering against the ropes, and finally going down to his backside on the canvas. Kirilov successfully answers the referee's count to continue with 2:22 to go in the round. A wild left hand that Kirilov never saw sends the Russian to the mat for the second time in the round with 2:07 to go in the round. The 3 knockdown rule is not in effect. Kirilov made it to a knee at the count of 3. However, he was a little shaky when he took his hand off the canvas to try and stand. Therefore, with discretion being the better part of valor, Kirilov decided to stay down on his knee for the referee to finish the 10-count. That makes Darchinyan the winner and new champion via knockout.

The final outcome for the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that: at 1:05 of round 5 the winner by way of knockout and new IBF Junior Bantamweight Champion of the World, "The Raging Bull" Vic Darchinyan. The win moves Darchinyan to 30-1-1 with 24 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Kirilov said in his post match interview that he is okay. The former champion then explained how he ignored everything his corner had told him and boxed the absolute wrong match, which is why he lost.

Darchinyan said in his post match interview that he, too never saw the punch that knocked out Kirilov. The new champion was throwing punches wildly with his head down and one caught Kirilov solidly to end the match. Darchinyan said he would like a title unification match with Cristian Mijares. He would also like a rematch with Donaire.

Gary Shaw is now going to give a post match interview. Apparently, that interview was canceled while Jim Gray was talking to Darchinyan and seconds from going to Shaw. Have to wonder if the falling out between Shaw and EliteXC had anything to do with that last second change.

Darchinyan looked better then ever in this win. Following this victory The Ring has moved him up to being their number 4 contender, to their still vacant championship at 115 pounds. Darchinyan still has numerous technical flaws. His next match appears to be a title unification match with Mijares, because of some promotional issues that will keep him away from Donaire for a while. That match will headline a Showtime Championship Boxing card and be very entertaining.

Kirilov was bad in this match. The Ring dropped Kirilov to the rank of the number 9 contender at 115 pounds. Kirilov had never been knocked out before this match. Kirilov had been known for a strong chin, throwing combinations, and solid fundamentals. The Russian showed very little of that here. His next move obviously is to return to piling up wins in Russia. Once Kirilov has run off a string of consecutive victories in Russia, and potentially picked up a title along the way, he may be ready to try boxing on foreign soil, again.

 

This event is a pretty easy skip. The first match was boring. The second match was completely one-sided. Darchinyan was impressive, but the lack of resistance Kirilov offered made for an average match.

 

News and Notes: The secret about the Cuban Olympic baseball team, is that for money they will autograph baseballs during their games. This is the final year of Olympic baseball, and the money is very helpful to the players who have difficulty providing for their family under communism. If you are going to give them money please pay them in American dollars or something else that can be easily fenced in Cuba. Chinese currency will be useless in Cuba. In 1996, the going rate was $10 or $20 for an autographed ball from the players in the bullpen. If a person dropped $50 or $100 to the players in the bullpen they got a ball autographed by the entire Cuban baseball team. The proper procedure is to drop the money to the players in the Cuban bullpen. The players in the Cuban bullpen collect the foul balls and autograph them throughout the game. If you drop enough money, they send the ball back to the dugout to have the whole team sign it, before they send it up to you. It is helpful if you bring a good pen for the players. The ball does not just make for a great piece of memorabilia, but the money helps people who really need the money.

There will be no recaps of the Olympic boxing, because the format is not recap friendly. However, for people around the world looking to track it download the Microsoft Silverlight add-on in their internet explore browser. All of the matches for every country are going to be available for free on-demand online, and they can only be viewed using Microsoft Silverlight. For people from the United States, our country's best chance for a gold medal comes from the only returning member from the 2004 Athens Olympic boxing team, Rau'shee Warren. He will be competing at 112 pounds. Another boxer to watch that can bring home a gold for the USA is Demetrius Andrade at 152 pounds.

A deal is being finalized for Nonito Donaire to defend his titles at 112 pounds against Moruti Mthalane on the first major boxing card from Macao, China. The event on October 11 will be broadcast live in the early morning in the United States.

Following Saturday's match between Zab Judah and Joshua Clottey, The Ring has changed both boxers' rankings among their list of 147-pound boxers. Clottey has moved up from being the number 7 contender to the vacant championship in the weight class, to be the number 5 contender. Judah dropped 1 spot from being the 6 contender to now being the number 7 contender at 147 pounds.

In a correction to something in yesterday's recap. Zab Judah vs. Joshua Clottey was not Judah's return to television following his loss to Miguel Cotto. Judah's match following the loss to Cotto was carried on ESPN 2. It was however, a very forgettable performance.

The announcement on whether the Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya match will happen is expected tomorrow (Wednesday) evening.

 

The next writing from me on f4wonline.com should be coverage of the boxing games from the EA Studio Showcase on August 14. number1contender.net's Corresponding Editor, Derek Burgan, is traveling to TNA Hard Justice this weekend for the media launch of TNA iMPACT! the video game. Everyone should keep an eye out for his coverage of that event, which will arrive on number1contender.net first. He already has a great review of SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 for the PS2 up on the website at: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/7/29/snk-arcade-classics-vol-1-review.html That website is going to be announcing the acquisition of some high profile writing talent in the next few days, and tomorrow should come out with an article on the top publisher from E3. The next boxing recap will come out on September 7 covering the HBO show from the night before headlined by Juan Diaz vs. Michael Katsidis, which should be great.