LaJuan Simon decisions Elvin Ayala to retain the USBA Middleweight title in Las Vegas!

Talk about it on the forum http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=981.0

photo courtesy of http://www.fightnews.com/

Congrats go out to Philly’s LaJuan Simon (22-2-2, 12ko’s) for retaining the USBA Middleweight title on 10-17-09 in Las Vegas with a unanimous decision over Elvin Ayala (20-4-1, 9ko’s) of Connecticut. Reports say that Ayala won the opening rounds but Simon regrouped to sweep rounds 3 – 12. The fight eventually went to the scorecards which read 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 in favor of the Philly fighter.

Nice bounce back for a fighter that had a rough go of it lately. The win keeps Simon in the top 15 and in prime position to land another significant fight in the near future.

LaJuan Simon to compete in an IBF eliminator in German on Saturday!

photo by Ed Mulholland / www.fightwireimages.com

Philly Middleweight contender Lajuan Simon (21-1-2, 12 KOs), once again heads out to Germany for an important fight in the divisional standings. This time he will square off against Sebastian Sylvester (30-3, 15 KOs), of Greifswald, Germany for a twelve round IBF middleweight eliminator at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany. Simon, ranked #10 by the IBF, and Sylvester, ranked #5, will battle for the vacant #2-spot in the IBF rankings. The shot is a reward of sorts for Simon, who fought tooth and nail with IBF world champion Arthur Abraham in a title challenge last March, only to lose a lopsided decision. Many neutral observers felt that Simon deserved perhaps a draw. Sylvester dropped a decision to Felix Sturm in a WBA title challenge last November, but bounced back to win the IBF International title in his next bout. FightNews correspondent Rick Sharmberg stops in with an interview with the one they call “simply Marvelous” Read it here http://edmulholland.com/galleries/scharm_interview/simon_inter.html

Check back for a live internet stream. I will post it if it becomes available….

Talk about it on the forum here http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=813.0

April 2009 Philly Top 10 Pound for Pound Lists!

Discuss at http://phillykeith.com/fightforum/index.php?topic=729.0

photo by Mike “Teek” McGuigan

It has been a while since I put together a Philly top 10 list and in that time it is still pretty obvious who is #1 in the town, that would be B-Hop. But in the past year there has been a lot of activity amongst the rank and file who made moves to get to the top. Some succeeded, some failed, some have rebounded and others are on their way.

This time around I give you two lists. First is a national Philly top 10 pound for pound which gives my ranking to those from this area who are either champions, within title contention or TV fighters. These guys are all over the world and are known industry names.

The next list is themed “21 & Under” ranking the Philly pros with 21 pro fights or less. These fights can take place anywhere in the world. This list tracks the activity of the young pros who seem to be on their way to making big moves in the boxing circuit within the next few years. These rankings are based on pro performance and potential, not solely on amateur career.

This was done as a replacement for the local top 10 list that ranked boxers competing within city limits. There was just not enough activity to compile one. Take a look and feel free to send any feedback to me via email.

http://phillykeith.com/nationaltop10April09.htm

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com

Go to www.phillykeith.com for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene

Arthur Abraham retains the title by decision over LaJuan Simon in Germany

USBA Middleweight champion LaJuan Simon (20-1-2, 12ko’s) put forth a game effort but in the end lost a unanimous decision to IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham’s 28-0, 23ko’s) on March 14th.in Germany which is Abraham’s backyard. All accounts say that Simon held his own with the champ and had some very good offensive spots along with showing a strong chin. Simon suffers his first loss but you can bet that he will be back!

Photos of the fight were shown here on a German website

Former Philly world champion Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer knows all about fighting for and defending titles overseas in enemy territory. Hatchet had a chance to get a few words in with LaJuan about his upcoming fight against the man many feel is the best middleweight in the world. Read it here

LaJuan Simon to fight Arthur Abraham in Germany March 14th!

USBA Middleweight champion LaJuan Simon (20-0-2, 12ko’s) just got an opportunity of a lifetime as he was offered a crack at Arthur Abraham’s 28-0, 23ko’s) IBF Middleweight title on March 14th. The fight will take place at Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany which is Abraham’s backyard. It’s a big jump up for Simon who most recently plowed through anonymous journeyman Jose Spearman while Abraham was last seen blowing out big named Edison Miranda on national TV. It’s a tall task for the Philly native going into enemy territory but stranger things have happened.

Former Philly world champion Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer knows all about fighting for and defending titles overseas in enemy territory. Hatchet had a chance to get a few words in with LaJuan about his upcoming fight against the man many feel is the best middleweight in the world. Read it here

Steve Chambers, LaJuan Simon & Ran Nakash win, Blackwell gets KO’d @ The Blue Horizon

Photo by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com & Write-up by Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer.

On Friday December 5, 2008 at The Legendary Blue Horizon in Philly, promoter Vernoca Michael and matchmaker Don Elbaum put together their annual boxing holiday show. Over the past two years, the December card at The Blue had its share of surprising upsets and tradition held up for a third straight year. It wasn’t in the main event though as Philly Jr. Welterweight “Showtime” Steve Chambers improves to 19 – 1 (5ko’s) with an 8 round unanimous decision win over Ghana’s Ben Ankrah. This was a good test for the young Chambers as Ankrah as taken on a list of top prospects in the 140 lb division, most recently losing to the world rated Mike Arnoutis on points.

In the co-feature, USBA Middleweight champion LaJuan Simon had no problem blowing away Jose Spearman, scoring an early knockout in what amounts to a warm up fight to bigger and better paydays.

In other action, Israeli hand to hand combat instructor Ran Nakash once again showed off his dangerous hands, this time knocking out opponent Harvey Jolley in the 7th.

In a stunner, well regarded featherweight Jules Blackwell was stopped by Darrell Martin in their scheduled 6 rounder.

Julias Edmunds won a unanimous decision over Mike Weaver.

Lenny DeVictoria was presented the 1st ever “Briscoe Award” for participating in the Philly 2007 Fight of the Year. He also fought on this night in a rematch against Ricardo Medina in a fight that ended up as a draw.

The round by round recap by former IBF champion Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer along with photos by Anthony Gargano

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com

Go to www.phillykeith.com for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene