Aussies on the rise in 2017--Part two: Welterweight to featherweight
By Anthony Cocks
Everybody loves a list and there’s no better time to create one than at the end of the calendar year. So while most of you were sipping champagne and celebrating in the streets while fireworks lit up the night sky overhead, I was locked away in the lab with a pen and a pad putting together my list of Australian boxers to watch in 2017. In part two of this three part series we look at the Aussie boxers, male or female, between 147-126lbs who we expect to make the biggest impact on the world stage in their respective weight divisions in the next twelve months.
WELTERWEIGHT: Jeff “The Hornet” Horn 16-0-1 (11)
While the world was focused on Kiwi and Samoan idol Joseph Parker’s tilt at the vacant WBO heavyweight title against Mexican-American Andy Ruiz in Auckland, New Zealand on December 10th, Jeff “The Hornet” Horn was surreptitiously planning his coming out party against three-time world title challenger Ali Funeka in the main support bout of the undercard. With Top Rank promoter Bob Arum watching from ringside, the capable 28-year-old boxed his way to an early lead before shifting gears in the 4th round to give the lanky South African native a pasting, dropping him in the fifth and again in the sixth before the referee Marlon Wright wisely ended proceedings at 0:30 of the round.
Fast-forward a month and Horn has been announced as the next challenger to WBO welterweight champion and Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao on April 23rd, most likely in his hometown of Brisbane. The 52,000 seat Suncorp Stadium is vying for hosting rights in what would be the most expensive fight ever held in Australia.
Arum had originally planned to match Horn against either WBO #1 and Pacquiao conqueror Timothy Bradley or WBO #2 and former Pacquiao opponent Jesse Vargas to help build the Aussie’s profile Stateside. But when a proposed matchup between six-division division titleholder Pacquiao and WBC/WBO 140 pound champion Terrence Crawford fell through, the opportunity presented itself to make Pacquiao vs Horn sooner rather than later.
Team Horn will fancy their chances against the ageing Pacquiao who, despite still being a formidable force in the ring, has lost half a step since his prime when he was a whirling dervish tearing his way through the weight classes in the late 2000’s. Horn is young, aggressive, active and agile, with decent speed of hand and foot and a deadly right cross. If he has a flaw it’s his habit of learning in when he punches, which could make him vulnerable to a mid-range counterpuncher like the Pacman. But youth, hunger and fearlessness has a way of overcoming experience and old legs at times.
Along with Zac Dunn, Horn is Australia’s leading world title contender.
JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT: Czar Amonsot 33-3-3 (21)
The last time Csar Amonsot lost a fight George W. Bush was the American President, the first iPhone had debuted a few weeks earlier to relatively little fanfare, and Michael Jackson was still well and truly alive. And if American fight fans cast their collective minds back they might even remember that Australian former WBO interim lightweight titleholder Michael Katsidis was in the other corner of the memorable and bloody 12 round brawl.
It seems almost fitting then that the 31-year-old Filipino southpaw has based himself in Australia since 2010 where, under the patronage of promoter Brian Amatruda, he has quietly chipped away at the WBA ratings, rising to his current ranking of #5. It has taken him three fights in 2016 to get nine completed rounds under his belt with none of his opponents hearing the final gong. The consistency of his outings have put him at the doorstop of a shot at the WBA strap held by rugged two division champion and Katsidis conqueror Ricky Burns 41-5-1 (14).
But first the wiry Scottish brawler looks set to unify his WBA strap against his newly minted IBF counterpart Julius Indogo in April. Indongo 21-0 (11) shocked the boxing world with a left hook in December that abruptly ended former titleholder Eduard Troyanovsky’s reign in just 0:40 seconds. That unification bout will give Amonsot enough time to line up an official world title eliminator against one of the other leading contenders in the Panamanian sanctioning body’s top ten.
Scanning through the WBA’s list of leading contenders – #1 Kiryl Relikh 21-1 (19), #2 Rances Barthelemy 25-0 (13), #3 Amir Iman 19-1 (16) and #4 Adrian Granados 18-4-2 (12) – and you get the sense that the ultraconfident Amonsot would back his experience garnered over almost 40 pro bouts over these relative novices.
Expect Amonsot to aim for an official title eliminator in his next bout before staking his claim to a shot at the WBA 140-pound belt before the year is out.
LIGHTWEIGHT: George “Ferocious” Kambosos Jr 11-0 (6)
“Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr. is a polarising figure on the Australian fight scene. Some see him as a super talented boxer-puncher who can back up his boasts with his actions in the ring. Others see him as nothing more than an overrated loudmouth who will get exposed as soon as he steps up his level of competition. The truth, as is often the case, may actually lay somewhere in between.
The 23 year-old Sydneysider had his coming out party in December when he defeated local rival Brandon Oglivie 17-2-1 (9) on points to claim the WBA Oceania lightweight title. The win saw Kambosos sneak into the #9 position in the WBA’s latest ratings and makes him a dark horse for a shot at the belt held by veteran Jorge Linares 41-3 (27).
Some have questioned how Kambosos will adapt to better credentialed fighters who will cut off the ring and force him to fight in ways that Ogilvie was unable to. But if gym rumours are to believed Kambosos more than held his own recently against world ranked boxers Sergiy Lipinets and Andrey Klimov at Justin Fortune’s gym in Los Angeles, so there is some reason to expect that he will continue to improve as he steps up his competition.
Kambosos certainly doesn’t lack for confidence and will be looking forward to the opportunity to test himself against the big names in and around the 135-pound division. And if a clash against a fellow world-rated boxer can’t be immediately made, another domestic matchup that makes perfect sense would be against heavy-handed super featherweight Kye “Frenzy” MacKenzie 16-1 (14).
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT: Paul “Showtime” Fleming 23-0 (15)
After eight years in the pro ranks 28-year-old Aboriginal Paul “Showtime” Fleming is ready to step up his level of competition and make a run for a world title.
The Sydney-based Queensland southpaw had a successful 2016 fighting twice away from home on the undercards of Nonito Donaire’s WBO super bantamweight world title defence against Zsolt Bedak in the Philippines and Rex Tso versus Ryuto Maekawa in Hong Kong.
In Cebu City in April he suffered an early scare against Mexican former WBC Silver featherweight title challenger Miguel Angel Gonzalez 22-7-1 (12) when he found himself on the canvas in the first round, but showed his composure to overcome the flash knockdown to win a wide points decision over ten. Japan-based Filipino Jerope Mercado 27-8-3 (9) showed less resistance when he faced Fleming in October, capitulating in two.
The knockdown in Cebu City aside, Fleming is yet to be genuinely tested and looks to have the skills to hang with other world title contenders. And at 5’9” the lanky lefthander has a number of physical advantages. It is remarkable then that not one of the four major sanctioning bodies has him listed in their top 15 at 130 pounds.
So what happens next for the Beijing Olympian in 2017? Fleming’s manager Mike Altamura, who recently signed 2016 Olympic welterweight gold medallist Daniyar Yeleussinov from Kazakhstan to a promotional deal, will be setting up shop in China to promote and will need a solid roster of talent to fill out his cards.
This will likely afford Fleming the opportunity to make his move on the world stage and with a platform to perform on and highly-regarded trainer Billy Hussein in his corner, he looks to have all the ingredients to go all the way.
FEATHERWEIGHT: Luke “Action” Jackson 13-0 (5)
Luke “Action” Jackson is the best boxing product to come out of Tasmania since Daniel “The Real Deal” Geale. The Hobart native represented Australia at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, where he won bronze in the featherweight division, and was selected to captain the Australian boxing team at both the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics. He closed out his amateur career with a respectable record of 113-32.
Not bad for a kid who didn’t pick up the gloves until the age of 19.
Jackson has parlayed that experience into the pro ranks with an unbeaten run of 13 fights since 2013. Since then, the 32-year-old has admirably built his brand in his native Tasmania while also campaigning across the width and breadth of Australia, fighting in every state except South Australia in his almost four-year pro career.
A points decision over Filipino former world title challenger Silvester Lopez 27-11-2 (19) last November was the highlight of his year. Indonesian Master Suro 6-4-2 (1) was on the wrong end of a six round shutout in Melbourne in May and John Mark Apolinario 18-6-3 (4) from the Philippines barely won a round in Hobart in March in a 10 round battle for the vacant WBA Oceania featherweight title.
Jackson has spoken opening about his battle with obsessive compulsive disorder, which saw him preoccupied with counting the number of breaths he was taking in his fight against Apolinario, but believes he has now got a handle on this crippling mental health condition.
With 26 quality rounds under his belt last year across three fights, Jackson looks primed to hit the ground running in 2017 and continue his growth as a pro. It’s unlikely that a world title shot will land in his lap this year – or that he would be ready for it – but it is reasonable to expect that he will get through the year undefeated and head into 2018 banging on the door of a top ten ranking – or better.
Look for Part 3 covering junior featherweight to minimumweight coming soon!
Part 1:
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Abuse? Email: anthonyc1974@gmail.com
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