By Kenneth Friedman: Former WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding (27-2, 15 KOs) will be fighting Abdallah Paziwapazi (26-6-1, 23 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight this Friday, November 15 at the Olympian in Liverpool, England.
This is the 32-year-old Fielding’s first contest since he was dethroned by Saul Canelo Alvarez last year on December 15, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Canelo knocked Fielding down four times en route to stopping in round three. Fielding looked over-matched against Canelo, and he didn’t seem to know what to do inside the ring.
Fielding coming off long layoff
Most would agree that the 6’3″ Fielding did a poor job of using his height and reach against the shorter 5’8″ Canelo. The way Fielding fought, he made it easy for Canelo to land his power shots by backing up against the ropes, and not using his jab or movement to keep him off.
Fielding’s opponent Paziwapazi, 26, is from Tanzania, and he’s failed when he’s stepped it up against better opposition. Paziwapazi has a 67.65% KO percentage, but those wins have come against poor opposition and not world class fighters. Nevertheless, with Fielding’s history of chin problems and his 11 months out of the ring, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Paziwapazi knocks him out on Friday.
Paziwapazis defeats have come against these fighters:
- Umar Salamov
- Leon Bauer
- Roberto Bassi
- Toni Kraft
- Ibrahim Tamba
- Thomas Mashali
The good news is Paziwapazis hasn’t lost a fight in two years since his defeat to Leon Bauer in July 2017. Paziwapazis has won his last seven fights, albeit against weak opposition.
Fielding vs. Paziwapazi undercard
Martin Murray vs. ladan Janjanin
Terry Flanagan vs. Jayro Duran
Former four time world title challenger Murray (38-5-1, 17 KOs) will be facing Janjanin (27-4, 21 KOs) in an eight round fight. The 37-year-old Murray has had a lot of chances in fighting for world titles in four occasions, but he’s failed to take advantage of it.
Murray has won five out of his last six fights, but against lesser opposition. The sanctioning have failed to respond by pushing Murray to the top of their rankings like they used to do in the past after he would beat no names.
The closest that Murray came to winning a world title was against former WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm in December 2011 when the two fought to a 12 round draw.
A lot of boxing fans thought Murray deserved a victory in that fight based on his pressure, and clean landing shots.In Murray’s other failed attempts at winning titles, he lost to the following champions:
- WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez
- IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin
- WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham
Murray should win this fight on Friday against ladan Janjanin, but it’s unlikely to result in him getting moved up the rankings. He needs to fight better quality fighters for him to get moved to the top 15.
Flanagan faces Duran
Former WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (35-2, 14 KOs) will be looking to win his third straight fight in an eight round bout against against Jayro Duran (14-6, 13 KOs). Flanagan vacated his World Boxing Organization lightweight title in 2017.
Since then, he’s lost to Maurice Hooker by a 12 round decision in a failed attempt to capture the vacant WBO light welterweight title in June 2018. In his next fight, Flanagan lost to Regis Prograis by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in October in the World Boxing Super Series tournament.
Flanagan has come back from those two losses to win his last two fights against Jonas Segu and Michael Ansah. With Flanagan’s lack of power, he’s not able to dominate at 140 like he had at 135 in holding down the WBO lightweight title from 2015 to 2017.