WORLD BEAT
positive for influenza type A. We will return soon, and stronger than ever.” A rematch date is in the works. Whenever that clash takes place, it will not have the IBF belt at stake, since Martinez vacated it in order to focus only on defending the WBA title he lifted from Ioka in the first encounter. A fighter who did return successfully to the ring in December was former Ring middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. The caveat, however, is that he faced former soccer goalkeeper Pablo Migliore in an exhibition bout that nevertheless managed to sell out the very same Velez Sarsfield soccer stadium in which Martinez defended his belt against Martin Murray almost 12 years ago (in what was my first-ever coverage for The Ring, incidentally). The undercard was filled with fights pitting influencers and media characters turning their public airings of grievances into feats of strength in front of a raucous audience of Gen Zs and young millennials sitting through a boxing card for the first time in their lives, including my son Francisco (talk about an apple that fell far from the tree). The clash itself saw Martinez showing flashes of his former self against a taller and heavier foe who learned to fight during a brief jail stint. Their underlying soccer rivalry (Migliore played for the popular Boca Juniors team, while Martinez passionately follows their nemesis, River Plate, having even tried out to be a player there before his boxing career started) provided the bad blood background that the fight needed to attract casual fans from both teams and beyond. In the most relevant clash of the final days of 2024, blue-chip flyweight contender Tobias Reyes traveled to Nicaragua, only to lose his unbeaten status against Felix Alvarado in an extremely close fight. The two 115-113 cards and the single 114-114 score that Reyes was able to obtain in that notoriously hostile territory (the same city in which Miguel Castellini had a military police officer climb to the
ring between rounds and tell him at gunpoint to lose his fight against fellow officer/contender Eddie Gazo in 1977, for example) tell the whole story. Even though he was nine years his foe’s senior, Alvarado did show an impressive array of weapons that he deployed throughout the contest with great versatility. Reyes’ power and accuracy were on display during the entire fight, but the 27-year-old was never able to capitalize on his strengths, since Alvarado managed to reply with a solid volume of punches and a lot of mobility, never allowing himself to be in front of Reyes for too long. With the loss, Reyes is now 0-1-1 in fights abroad, but his age and talent level suggest that he will be turning those numbers around very soon. A fighter who was able to turn his luck around was Fabian “TNT” Maidana, estranged brother of former world titlist Marcos Maidana, by bouncing back from his decision loss to Mario Barrios back in May 2024 with two straight stoppage wins. The most recent came at the expense of Jesus Antonio Rubio in Santa Fe, with Maidana sending his Mexican foe to the canvas in the opening round and stopping him in the seventh when Referee Analia Maradona (nephew of soccer legend Diego Maradona) stepped in and called a halt to the bout.
stepped back from his attacks and let his hands go at will. Potgieter rolled under some of the punches, but he ate right hands and shipped left hooks to the body. One of those left hooks strayed low, which led to the referee stopping the action momentarily. When the fight resumed, Huni continued to back his opponent to the ropes. Potgieter fought back in spurts, just enough to avoid the stoppage. In the second, Potgieter let his hands go but struggled to reach Huni, who was just a step ahead. A right from Huni around the guard followed by a left hook to the body buckled Potgieter, backing him into the corner. Huni let rip with a combination to the head and body, prompting the referee to jump in at the 0:33 mark. It was always going to be a big ask. Potgieter tried but fell short on the international stage. There are some good local matchups waiting for him. Who will be South Africa’s next titleholder among the four recognized sanctioning bodies? Presently it has one major beltholder in Phumelele Cafu, who upset Kosei Tanaka to become WBO junior bantamweight champion last year. Besides Cafu, there is another junior bantamweight, Ricardo Malajika, flyweight Jackson Chauke, welterweight Thulani Mbenge and junior flyweight Mpumelelo Tshabalala, who all hold IBO belts not recognized by The Ring. Kevin Lerena holds the WBC title at bridgerweight, a cruiserweight/heavyweight middle- ground division also not recognized by The Ring. Bantamweight Landi Ngxeke is on a six-fight win streak over decent opposition. Junior middleweight
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SOUTH AFRICA BY DROEKS MALAN The new year did not start well for South African boxing. National heavyweight champion Shaun Potgieter was outclassed and stopped in two rounds by undefeated Australian Justis Huni in Queensland, Australia. The difference in speed was obvious from the first bell. Potgieter landed a glancing right and a left hook through the course of the round, but Huni
South African heavyweight Shaun Potgieter (right) lasted only two rounds with Australian prospect Justis Huni.
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