Star Maker: Boxcino 2014 Review

By Peter Wells:

Brandon Adams (left) vs Willie Monroe Jr (right)

Over the last few months the real purpose of the Boxcino tournament has shone through. Over two tournaments there have been two winners, two stars born, one career resurrected and several lessons learned.

At Middleweight, potential future world champions made the world of boxing open its eyes as Willie Monroe Jr and Brandon Adams showcased their hidden talents. Monroe Jr – son of the man who handed Marvin Hagler his second professional defeat – rejuvenated his career after an early defeat to journeyman Darnell Boone – the same man that stunned now WBC Light Heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson – with three well-disciplined points victories. While Brandon Adams came out of nowhere to show his power and intellect on the big stage to reach the final, before succumbing to the more experienced Monroe.

In the Lightweight tournament, Petr Petrov – most well-known for a loss against Marcos Maidana – may well have earned himself an upcoming world title fight with three impressive victories. All three were ruthless as he handed out boxing lessons all the way to the Boxcino Belt.

On the way to the final Petrov dominated one of the tournament favourites in Fedor Papazov, winning a clear 6 round points decision. That was followed up by a brutal 4^th round stoppage of the tall but inexperienced Chris Rudd. Then in the final Fernando Carcamo was saved by the referee in the 8^th round of a one-sided beat down. The heavy handed Carcamo was on his heels for the whole fight, receiving punishment from a Petrov who was 100% on his game.

Throughout Petrov displayed the intelligence he had gained in his 35-4-2(17) career. His use of angles and setting up punches while taking away from his opponents best weapons was excellent to watch. Now at Lightweight, Petrov looks comfortable and a world title shot looks to be on the brink for the Russian.

Fernando Carcamo (left) vs Petr Petrov (right)

As for the two young Middleweights, neither were favoured to take the eventual winners belt. Brandon Adams was expected to find it tough with the experience of Daniel Edouard, but instead he used his speed, power and footwork to floor Edouard before he retired after 4 rounds.

In the 2^nd round, Raymond Gatica was coming off the back of a devastating performance, but he was out boxed for 8 rounds, eating big punches from the power fists of the compact Adams. The result was a split decision, despite Adams’ dominance in an entertaining fight.

Monroe was seen as the firm favourite in the opening round, and despite the un-wilting aggression of Donatas Bondorovas he took a clear points win.

In the semi’s Monroe was the clear underdog, as the tournament favourite Vitaliy Kopylenko was expected to walk through the fast punches of Monroe. Despite not having the power, his movement and activity was all Monroe needed to utterly dominate Kopylenko, who bar a few solid uppercuts was outclassed and frustrated throughout.

In the final it was hard to split the two beforehand, but it was the amateur pedigree and long reach of Monroe that prevailed. Adams struggled to find his way inside, and when he did Monroe was more than willing to fight fire with fire. A clever performance from Monroe showed what the 18-1(6) fighter is capable of. After the contest, Monroe hinted at a move down to Light Middleweight, where he will be more than a problem for many of the top contenders and champions.

As for Adams, he will have learnt a lot from his defeat to Monroe, but his size could well be a problem with the champions at 160lbs. Still Adams has a lot of boxing fans talking, and he proved maturity beyond his years, especially for a fighter with just 6 amateur fights.

At 14-1(9) Adams will need a couple more fights to build up his resume and to gain more valuable experience – Adams’ team admitted that Gatica was the first southpaw they had fought.

Fernando Carcamo and Vitaliy Kopylenko are two fighters that will have learnt a lot from their respective experiences, which further highlights just how important tournaments like Boxcino are for boxing. 2014 has without a doubt been a success and you can expect plenty more over the coming years.