Boxing Results: Arsen Goulamirian destroys Kane Watts

By Boxing News - 11/16/2019 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: The powerful World Boxing Association Super World cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian (25-0, 17 KOs) defended his title successfully for the first time in defeating #11 WBA Kane Watts (21-4, 13 KOs) by a 4th round KO last Friday night at the Accor Hotel Arena, in Paris, France.

The 32-year-old U.S based Goulamirian flattened Watts with a powerful left to the body in round 4. That shot put the 37-year-old Watts down on a delayed reaction. Watt took a knee, and was unable to get up from the punch.

Goulamirian was too powerful for Watts

The fight was then stopped by referee Gustavo Padilla. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:08 of round 4.

The contest was never remotely competitive unfortunately, as Watts didn’t have anything to keep Goulamirian off of him. It was basically target practice for the Abel Sanchez trained Goulamirian from round one until the bitter end in 4th.

Goulamirian followed Watts around the ring, hitting him with powerful hooks to the head and to the body. It’s likely that Goulamirian would have stopped Watts a lot earlier if he’d gone to the body the way he did in the 4th.

Once Goulamirian stopped head-hunting, he took him out quickly in the 4th. Goulamirian’s trainer Sanchez told him after the third round to “get him out of there.”

It was easy for Goulamirian to carry out Sanchez’s instructions, because he wasn’t getting hit back by Watts. This was all one-way traffic for Goulamirian. Had Watts been throwing shots back at him, it might have been a different story. 

Goulamirian excellent option for Canelo Alvarez

Goulamirian captured the interim WBA cruiserweight title last year in March 2018 in stopping the previously unbeaten Ryad Merhy (29-1, 24 KOs) in the 11th round. A year later, the WBA upgraded Goulamirian to their Super World cruiserweight champion last May without him needing to fight anyone.

That’s the title that is considered the main WBA champion. The WBA has made a mess of their rankings by having THREE champions at cruiserweight instead of just one.

Goulamirian stands out among the three as the better talent, but he still hasn’t proven himself against anyone solid yet. We won’t know how good Goulamarian is until he takes on a proven cruiserweight like Mairis Briedis or Yuniel Dorticos

The WBA also has the following champions at cruiserweight:

  • Beibut Shumenov – WBA ‘regular’ champion
  • Alexey Egorov – WBA ‘Gold’ champion

If Saul Canelo Alvarez chooses to move up to cruiserweight in 2020, he would have a good chance of beating Goulamirian if he chooses to fight him for his cruiserweight title. Canelo wants to capture a fifth division world title.

Canelo moved up to 175 and dethroned WBO champion Sergey Kovalev by an 11th round knockout on November 2. Before the fight, Canelo said that he’d like to win a 5th division title at cruiserweight.

Fighting Goulamirian gives Canelo an excellent chance of winning a 5th division world title. Canelo matches up well against Goulamirian, who is basic. It would be a lot harder for Canelo to defeat Mairis Briedis or IBF champion Dorticos.