Notebook: Colbert jabs way past Nyambayar; Rivera gets big KO of Fernandez
Ledwaba dies; Casimero-Rigo on; 'ShoBox' 20th anniversary card
Junior lightweight Chris Colbert, with far superior speed and a very busy and effective jab, cruised to a unanimous decision victory over late replacement Tugstsogt “King Tug” Nyambayar on Saturday night in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on Showtime at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Sporting bright orange dyed hair, Colbert won 118-110, 118-110 and 117-111 to retain his WBA interim junior lightweight title for the second time. Fight Freaks Unite also scored it 118-110 for Colbert, whose flashy combinations, slick defense and quick hands were too much for Nyambayar.
Nyambayar took the fight on about 10 days’ notice after original opponent Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-4, 18 KOs), a former unified featherweight world titlist, suffered a soft tissue injury around his clavicle during a sparring session. Although Nyambayar was moving up in weight from featherweight, he seemed to be an upgrade over the faded Gamboa on paper but he could never get much going offensively.
"This was a great fight and ‘Tug’ did a great job coming in off only a week and a half of training for me. I take off my hat to him and wish him nothing but the best in his career,” Colbert said. “I’m very slick. It’s not that easy to hit me. If you get me with one, you got lucky.”
Colbert set a fast pace from the outset as he peppered Nyambayar with jabs. Nyambayar made many of the rounds competitive but not enough to win them, although he had a good second round when he put Colbert on the ropes early on and landed several punches.
A pair of accidental head butts seemed to rattle both fighters in the fifth round but they shook them off and the fight continued as it had — with Colbert’s hand speed, jab and combination punching carrying the action.
Colbert (16-0, 6 KOs), 24, of Brooklyn, New York, had predicted he would stop Nyambayar in the 10th round and although he did not come close to fulfilling it he nonetheless was in total control. Nyambayar (12-2, 9 KOs), 29, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist for Mongolia, who fights out of Los Angeles, mustered a bit of a rally in the closing moments of the fight but it was far too little, too late.
“He carried power for a 126-pounder,” Colbert said. “Boxing is about hitting and not getting hit. I had to use my Muhammad Ali tactics and float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. We had a tremendous training camp. We sparred a lot with a bigger guy in (lightweight contender) Michel Rivera. I had a lot of practice using my speed and jab in camp. The jab is always a key in this sport.”
According to CompuBox statistics, Colbert landed 218 of 662 punches (33 percent), including 112 of 421 jabs (27 percent), and Nyambayar connected with 78 of 332 shots (24 percent) and was outlanded in every round.
Nyambayar dropped to 1-2 in his last three fights. His other defeat came by unanimous decision challenging WBC featherweight world titlist Gary Russell Jr. in February 2020 before returning with a 12-round split decision over Cobia Breedy in September.
Rivera drills Fernandez
In the entertaining co-feature, lightweight Michel Rivera scored a one-punch highlight-reel knockout of Jon Fernandez in a WBA title elimination fight.
The Miami-based Dominican Republic native Rivera (21-0, 14 KOs), 23, and Fernandez were in a nip-and-tuck fight that featured many exchanges.
In the fourth round, Rivera hurt Fernandez (21-2, 18 KOs), 25, of Spain, with a right hand and followed up with a combination that did more damage, but Fernandez hung in there. In the sixth round, Fernandez floored Rivera for the first time in his career when he landed a perfect straight right hand on the chin.
In the eighth round, however, Rivera knocked Fernandez out when he landed a right hand behind the ear that flattened him face first in the center of the ring. He got to all fours but then fell over backwards and referee Jack Reiss waved off the fight at 44 seconds.
“Fernandez is a good fighter who hits hard, but he doesn’t have the skill that I have,” Rivera said. “I had to get him tired and I knew I could get to him. My coach (Herman Caicedo) was telling me that my right hand would be able to land. Once I landed it, I knew right away that the fight was over.”
Rivera was ahead 67-65 on all three scorecards at the time of the knockout. According to CompuBox, Rivera landed 87 of 337 punches (26 percent) and Fernandez landed 76 of 330 (23 percent).
Rivera is aiming for bigger fights in a talent-rich division, although he could end up facing interim titlist Rolando Romero (13-0, 11 KOs) next, although Romero first has date with Austin Dulay on July 17 on Showtime.
“I can fight with Ryan Garcia, I can fight with (unified champion) Teofimo Lopez, and I’m not joking,” Rivera said. “I know that I can fight with any of the top five in the lightweight division. I live in the gym and I have made the sacrifices to be great and I have a great team behind me. Once I do face (Romero), I would like to go up against Gervonta Davis or Teofimo Lopez.”
Casimero-Rigondeaux back on
In the wake of Nonito Donaire electing not to face John Riel Casimero in a bantamweight unification fight on Aug. 14, original opponent Guillermo Rigondeaux, a secondary bantamweight titlist, is back in the Showtime main event slated to take place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite on Saturday.
Casimero-Rigondeaux was the original fight Showtime announced for the date when it unveiled nine cards in April but when Donaire easily knocked out Nordine Oubaali in the fourth round to win a bantamweight title for the third time on May 29, Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions — with Rigondeaux’s OK — decided to match Donaire with Casimero in a higher-profile unification fight.
On Tuesday, however, Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs) withdrew from the bout because he was very upset with the way Filipino countryman Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs), 32, and his team had handled his enrollment in random Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency testing program and with Team Casimero’s nasty attacks on social media against his wife/manager/trainer Rachel Donaire.
That paved the way for Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs), 40, the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist based in Miami, to be placed back in the fight.
‘ShoBox’ 20th anniversary card
Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation,” the prospect-oriented series that debuted on July 21, 2001 at Bally’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a tripleheader on July 23 (9 p.m. ET/PT) at Heartland Event Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, the network announced on Saturday.
“This is a milestone ShoBox event and we could not be more excited,” said Gordon Hall, the executive producer of the series since it began. “As we celebrate two decades of ShoBox on July 23, we will stay true to our ethos to match undefeated, developing prospects tough.”
The main event will match super middleweights Isaiah Steen (15-0, 12 KOs), 24, of Cleveland, and Forth Worth, Texas, native Kalvin Henderson (14-0-1, 10 KOs) in the first 10-rounder for both. The fight was originally scheduled in October but Henderson withdrew during fight week with an illness.
“This is the next step in my career,” Henderson said. “A lot of fighters have been on ShoBox and have gone on to amazing careers, and now it’s my turn to do the same.”
Said Steen, who is the half-brother of junior middleweight up-and-comer Charles Conwell: “I am going to mix it up, and outbox him with a lot of jabs. Then when I see his weakness, I am going to get him out. Kalvin is a come-straight-forward fighter and he punches hard. I was supposed to fight him before, so this fight has been brewing for a while.”
In the co-feature, welterweight Janelson Bocachica (17-0, 11 KOs), 22, a Puerto Rico native fighting out Detroit, will face Shinard Bunch (15-1, 13 KOs), 21, of Trenton, New Jersey, in a 10-round fight.
The opener will match featherweights Martino Jules (10-0-2, 2 KOs), a 23-year-old southpaw from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Armenia native Aram Avagyan (10-0-2, 4 KOs), 30, in an eight-rounder.
Ledwaba dies from Covid-19
Former IBF junior featherweight world titlist Lehlo Ledwaba died from Covid-19 on Friday in his native South Africa. He was 49 and would have turned 50 on July 27.
Ledwaba (36-6-1, 23 KOs), who boxed from 1990 to 2006, won a vacant 122-pound world title by decision over John Michael Johnson in 1999 and made five successful defenses. He was widely considered the No. 1 fighter in the division before losing the belt by sixth-round knockout against late replacement opponent Manny Pacquiao in June 2001.
Pacquiao, in his first fight in the United States and long before he became a legend, took the fight on a couple of weeks’ notice and dazzled on the Oscar De La Hoya-Javier Castillejo HBO PPV undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao paid tribute to his former foe, posting condolences on social media.
“So sad to hear the passing of Lehlo Ledwaba! He was a true champion in and out of the ring and left behind an amazing legacy,” Pacquiao wrote. “RIP champ!”
Quick hits
Per California State Athletic Commission, official contract purses for Saturday’s PBC Showtime card: Chris Colbert $150k, Tugstsogt Nyambayar $75k; Michel Rivera $20k, Jon Fernandez $10k; Daniel Garcia $3,500, Gabe Sandoval $2k; Angel Alejandro $8k, Rudy Ochoa $7,500; Shon Mondragon $6k, Jose Perez $6k; Gabriela Fundora $2k, Indeya Smith $2k; Rajon Chance $4k, Marco Lara $3,500; Anthony Cuba $4k, William Flenoy $2,750.
Weights from Carson, Calif., for Saturday’s PBC Showtime card: Chris Colbert 130 pounds, Tugstsogt Nyambayar 129.6 (for Colbert’s WBA interim junior lightweight title); Michel Rivera 134.4, Jon Fernandez 135 (WBA lightweight eliminator); Daniel Garcia 128.8, Gabe Sandoval 130; Angel Alejandro 131, Rudy Ochoa 129.6; Shon Mondragon 125.2, Jose Perez 125.8; Gabriela Fundora 114, Indeya Smith 110.2; Rajon Chance 122, Marco Lara 119.8; Anthony Cuba 134.4, William Flenoy 133.
Salita Promotions defaulted on its $355,000 winning purse bid for the IBF super middleweight title eliminator between Russian countrymen Evgeny Shvedenko (15-0, 6 KOs), 30, and Detroit-based Vladimir Shishkin (12-0, 7 KOs), 29. Shvedenko promoter Facher Sport takes over promotional rights to the fight as the underbidder at $277,308 and it has scheduled fight for July 31 in Eggenstein, Germany. Salita Promotions won the purse bid on June 15 and had two weeks to finalize its plans.
Heavyweight Tony Yoka (10-0, 8 KOs), 29, the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist for France, announced that his next fight will come against Petar Milas (15-0, 11 KOs), 25, of Croatia, on Sept. 10 and that it will take place at an unusual setting. The fight will take place at center court at Roland-Garros — home of tennis’ French Open — in Paris.
The next Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox will take place on Aug. 7 at The Armory in Minneapolis, which has become a regular stop for PBC events. The lineup of fights has not yet been announced.
Colbert-Nyambayar and Rivera-Fernandez photos: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Pacquiao-Ledwaba photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Good info Dan, thanks for including the purse structure for the entire card. I
Cheers Dan - thanks for always gathering together so much boxing news for us - really appreciate it.
Especially good to read about fights, like Colbert vs King Tug and Rivera vs Fernandez, that UK fans can't usually see (except for bits on YouTube). I also really like the photos of the judges scorecards.