May 20 - Showtime 10:00
pm
William Joppy vs. Rito Ruvalcaba
(For the WBA MW Title)
Joppy is a very fluid and natural boxer. His only loss was a controversial 12 round
decision to Julio Cesar Greene, a fight he avenged. He displayed great skill and poise in
the one sided 3 round dismantling of Roberto Duran in Aug 98. He since then defended
against Julio Cesar Green (7 rd KO Sep 99) and in his last outing, he went the distance to
a convincing decision against Fernando Zuniga this past March. William is one of the
dominating forces in the middle weight division, and always performs intelligently.
Rito is Joppy's mandatory. Rito is ranked #7 in the WBO. It befuddles me how a person like
Rito gets ranked #1 in the WBA. He has no fights of recognition and has fought only a
handful of times outside of Mexico. He does come off and impressive 3 round stoppage of
unheralded Leroy Owens this past Aug, but hasn't fought since.
Does he have any idea who he is getting in the ring with?
Joppy will start fast. He will open with bombs that Rito will not be able to answer. This
will end by KO, it's just a matter of when. I suspect the early to mid rounds.
Joppy inside 6
May 20 - HBO 11:00 pm
Derrick Jefferson vs. Oleg Maskaev
Derrick somewhat disappointed me in his last outing against David Izon. he looked good
until he ran out of gas in the 9th last Jan. Oleg was in a similar fight with Hassim
Rahman. He took a solid beating from Hassim, until he he caught the Rock with a big right
hand and knocked him out of the ring, then seconds later, out of the match. I said in that
fight that Oleg proved nothing in that win. Can he prove something tonight?
Derrick is a bomber, and proved that against Maurice Harris. He vows he has worked on
conditioning, and that was his fatal flaw in the Izon fight. Both Oleg's loses came by KO
to big hitters. Oliver McCall stopped in 1 in Feb 96 and heavy hitting David Tua stopped
him in 11 in Apr 97. This should prove to be a fight of attrition. Derrick has good
mobility and natural boxing skills. I see him going the distance in a sporadically
competitive fight.
Jefferson by Decision
Corrie Sanders vs. Hasim Rahman
(For the WBU HW Title)
The last time I saw Hassim fight he did a header out of the ring onto the ringside
observers table and caught a computer in the sack! He was stopped by Oleg Maskaev. A fight
he was winning. That was last Nov. Since then he beat Marion Wilson in 10 rounds and tries
to continue his win streak against Corrie. In both of Hassim's loses he was stopped in the
late rounds. David Tua stopped him in 10 in Dec 98, and Oleg did it in 9 last Nov. Does
Corrie have a chance?
Corrie is relatively unknown here to most casual boxing fans. He's a banger form South
Africa who has faced some stiff opposition. His solo loss was a 2nd round stoppage at the
hands of Nate Tubbs in May 94. He since came back and went the distance with Ross Purity
(the only person to beat Vladimir Klitschko), STOPPED Bobby Czyz in Jun 98 (a fight I
enjoyed), and stopped Al "Ice"Cole in 1 round this past Feb. Corrie has never
had a KO past round 6. He typically takes out his opponents inside of 4 rounds. Remember,
Hassim's loses came late. Hmmm.
Look for Corrie to score his first late round KO.
Sanders inside 10
In Retrospect:
William Joppy vs. Rito Ruvalcaba
Exactly as expected. Rito was way out of his league in this fight. It adds credence to my
questioning his #1 ranking. Joppy was dropping bombs with both hands that prompted the ref
to stop the fight at 1:53 of the first round. After the fight Joppy said, "Put
anybody in front of me, I will knock them out."
Derrick Jefferson vs. Oleg Maskaev
Not as expected. Oleg dropped Derrick in the first round,and Derrick fell in a way that
sprang his ankle. In round 2, Oleg dropped Derrick again, and the end looked near. Derrick
never gave up, and hobbling around was trying to drop a match ending bomb himself, until
the fight was stopped at 2:10 of the fourth. Derrick was visibly in pain with each step,
and was deemed unable to continue. HBO's Kery Davis said he's hoping to make a Maskaev vs
Jefferson rematch. I'll keep an eye on both of these guys.
Corrie Sanders vs. Hasim Rahman
Not as expected. I didn't believe that Corrie's inactivity would play a factor, but it
obviously did. The first 3 rounds were action packed, and in round 3 they both visited the
canvas. Corrie went down again in round 4 and that was the beginning of the end. The fight
was stopped at 1:57 of the 7th round when Hassim opened up on an out of gas Corrie, and
landed numerous unanswered bombs. Hassim showed good poise and maturity, and went for the
kill when the opportunity became available. Hassim also looked much bigger this night.
Still with a suspect chin, I'll keep an eye on him.
