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 Welcome to the Liberty Dome in New York for SPNY’s midweek fight night where you will see the Heavyweight Title defence of Shane Waitzel against challenger Mitch Rapp. Nine other fights grace our card tonight, and the one to watch out for is the Lightweight rematch between Christian Jacobs and Doctor Rockzo.
Main Event: Heavyweight Title
Shane Waitzel (c) 24-5 (3-1 SPNY) vs Mitch Rapp 19-14 (3-3 SPNY)
Waitzel has now won 15 of his last 16 professional fights, and with 23 knockouts in his 24 wins is easily one of the worlds most feared Heavyweights. His recent wins over Earnest Abe have propelled him to the top of SPNY’s pound for pound rankings and is easily one of the more exciting fighters to watch.
Rapp threw off a run of poor form to win 3 of his last 4 fights and shoot back into title contention. Much like Waitzel, Rapp is primarily a boxer with heavy hands leading to 18 knockouts in 19 wins.
With two heavy handed boxers who like to stand and bang you can sense that this won’t last 5 rounds. Expect Rapp to be the more aggressive to outscore his higher rated opponent. Unfortunately, it could well be that aggression that brings him undone leaving him open to counters from Waitzel. I see Waitzel by KO in the 2nd.
2: Light Heavyweight
Johnie Ballantine 34-20 (SPNY Debut) vs Katsuji Rikidozan 11-13 (7-4 SPNY)
Over a 54 fight career Ballantine has been the champion of 4 different orgs, and while he comes to SPNY in the twilight of his career he feels he still has something to prove. For those of you who haven’t seen him before, he is primarily a boxer who is very strong in the clinch, don’t expect to see him take a fight to the ground but he is very good at getting out of bad positions if he is taken down.
Rikidozan is a former SPNY champion whose record does not reflect how good of a fighter he actually is. A brilliant kick boxer with knockout power, expect this entire fight to be kept on its feet.
For me I see this a good chance for both fighters to make an impact on the Light Heavyweight rankings, either fighter could use a win here as a way to climb into title contention by following it up with good form. I expect Ballantine to have a higher work rate which should see him take a late KO in the 3rd.
3: Welterweight
Jamison Burkina 12-10 (1-2 SPNY) vs Julio Madrigal 15-7-1 (3-1 SPNY)
Burkina vs Madrigal pits two of the premier ground fighters in SPNY against each other, with both coming off first round losses in the TWGC. Burkina in recent fights has struggled badly, winning just 2 of his last 7. Madrigal on the other hand won 5 straight before his title loss to Toni Atomi. Burkina has the better takedowns which may see him get the better of the fight early, but if Madrigal can sweep into the top position I expect him to be able to make short work of the fight. Madrigal by KO in the 2nd.
4: Middleweight
Jermaine Barksdale 8-3 (3-1 SPNY) vs ZaZa Mutumbo 6-1 (5-1 SPNY)
Two rising stars meet in this Middleweight clash with boxers Barksdale and Mutumbo set to stand and bang. Barksdale was climbing the ranks rapidly before a single punch took him out of his last fight and stalled his progress. Mutumbo has won his last 3 in a row and is hoping to keep his star rising with another win tonight. Expect Mutumbo to throw and land a lot more punches than Barksdale, but expect Barksdale to load up on his and do more damage. If Barksdale can inflict some hurt early, he should be able to get on top and out Mutumbo away, but if he can’t get through Mutumbo’s defences expect the superb work rate of Mutumbo to impress the judges. I see Mutumbo by decision.
5: Light Heavyweight
Rocky Granite 12-8 (0-3 SPNY) vs Dominic Rude 14-3 (SPNY Debut)
Granite returns to SPNY after a fairly long lay off in which he fought just one exhibition fight. His first spell was not successful and is hoping he can make a better go of it this time around. With a record of 14-3 Rude would be a contender in a lot of orgs, but the depth of the SPNY Light Heavyweight division means he has a lot of work ahead of him before he will even be close to a title shot. If Granite can get this fight to the ground he should make short work of Rude, but I’m not sure he has the takedown. Rude will dominate the stand up aspects of this fight, and with the KO power he possesses, I expect him to finish the fight before Granite can land the takedown. Rude by KO in the 1st.
6: Lightweight
Christian Jacobs 15-13 (7-8 SPNY) vs Doctor Rockzo 17-15 (7-6 SPNY)
The last time these two SPNY veterans met at SPNY 49, Jacobs was the Lightweight Title holder and a 5 round fight of the night victory to Jacobs was the result. Ominously for Jacobs he has gone 2-5 since that night and has drifted out of title significance. Rockzo has a 3-5 record since that fight, and disappointingly has never developed the stand up skills he needed to go on to better things. Jacobs is a good ground fighter, but knows tonight that if he can keep this fight on its feet he will come out as the winner with little resistance. Rockzo must get the fight to the ground to stand a chance, and that will make him predictable and potentially sap a lot of energy out of him. Jacobs by decision.
7: Super Heavyweight
Joe Leduc 5-2 (SPNY Debut) vs Jack Teller 8-6 (6-6 SPNY)
Leduc is a strong wrestler who arrives at SPNY after making it through to the 3rd round of the Division 3 qualifiers at the TWGC. At only 20 years old he represents a potential future star of the sport and is one to keep your eyes on, from what I’ve seen of him so far, powerful takedowns and vicious ground and pound are what you can expect. Teller of course is a jujitsu guy who relies almost entirely on submission attempts to get through a fight with no stand up skills to talk about. Leduc should be able to get a takedown into the top position early and pound Teller out with little resistance. Leduc to win by KO in the 1st.
8: Super Heavyweight
Vydan Freuster 10-3 (2-1 SPNY) vs Steven Sangweni 4-4 (0-1 SPNY)
This Super Heavyweight match up throws together two heavy handed boxers who rely on their knockout power to win. I can’t see this lasting until the end of the first round; Sangweni has devastating combinations in his arsenal, while Freuster is known for vicious head punches. Sangweni has the offensive skills to do some damage if he is first to score, but I don’t expect his defence to be up to the task of surviving against Freuster. Freuster to win by KO in the first.
9: Welterweight
Vladimir Ivanova 11-6 (1-1 SPNY) vs Taneli Maija 5-4 (5-4 SPNY)
Ivanova is a good wrestler who may look to use his ever improving boxing skills to keep this fight standing against jujitsu specialist Maija. Maija has demonstrated almost no ability to defend strikes across his 9 fight career leading to being knocked out on 4 occasions. While Maija does have good takedowns, he will be up against it to takedown and dominate Ivanova who displays very good takedown defence. Maija has the ability to get a submission from top or bottom, but will not want to have someone with the ground and pound power of Ivanova on top at all in this fight. From whatever angle I look at it, Ivanova wins by KO.
10: Welterweight
Jim Calia 1-0 (SPNY Debut) vs Kim Smith 4-10 (0-1 SPNY)
Calia is a 20 year old grappler who shows a fair amount of promise for such a young guy, tonight he is up against a fighter in Smith who appears only to be comfortable in the cage if the fight is in a clinch. Calia is a rising star who may well be outmatched across the SPNY Welterweight division, but I see him easily submitting Smith tonight, I’d keep an eye on Calia in the future to see how he goes against a better opponent.
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