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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.
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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)
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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.
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6: Lightweight
Christian Jacobs 15-13 (7-8 SPNY) vs Doctor Rockzo 17-15 (7-6 SPNY)
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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.
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7: Super Heavyweight
Joe Leduc 5-2 (SPNY Debut) vs Jack Teller 8-6 (6-6 SPNY)
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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.
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8: Super Heavyweight
Vydan Freuster 10-3 (2-1 SPNY) vs Steven Sangweni 4-4 (0-1 SPNY)
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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.
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9: Welterweight
Vladimir Ivanova 11-6 (1-1 SPNY) vs Taneli Maija 5-4 (5-4 SPNY)
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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.
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10: Welterweight
Jim Calia 1-0 (SPNY Debut) vs Kim Smith 4-10 (0-1 SPNY)
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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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