Joshua Feldman Analyzes His Latest Knockout Win

This past Saturday, Joshua Feldman dominated Brian Shakoane on route to a first round stoppage victory. The 5-0 junior middleweight from Cape Town, South Africa discussed the fight today with The Jewish Boxing Blog.

"Quite honestly, I actually didn't have any game plan for the fight coming in," Feldman revealed. "It was mostly just getting in the ring and deciding on the go how I was going to assess the fight." That Josh didn't have a game plan was a surprising revelation. Not because it showed any lack of preparation as boxers often don't have game plans, especially when fighting opponents without many pro fights, but because he improvised such an effective strategy so quickly.

That strategy involved attacking the body and then moving out of harm's way, which prevented Feldman from getting caught by one of Shakoane's wild powerful swings and kept the taller southpaw safe from any accidental headbutts since Shakoane has been known to lead with his head.

"His hands were very high up," Feldman explained, "and I threw a couple shots to the body. I felt him wince and I could see he didn't like the body shots."

After a minute and five seconds of landing to the body and then moving, Feldman decided to change strategy and stay inside.

"I could feel that he was pretty strong," Josh analyzed, "so I thought that if I come inside and smother him, he won't be able to hit me, because he has no leverage. So when I went inside, I knew if I keep my shots short, I could hit him to the body. But if I keep my head into his chest, he won't be able to hit me."

The result was an impressive stoppage a minute and 23 seconds into the fight and Josh's third professional knockout. "I would've liked a longer fight," he admitted. In the heat of battle, he thought the fight was stopped a bit too early, but after watching the film, he now thinks it was a good stoppage. The JBB concurs; Shakoane was on the verge of getting seriously hurt.

Feldman has come a long way in a little over a year as a pro. "My biggest improvement comes from being more relaxed in the ring," he said. "I'm feeling a lot more comfortable and calm, so I'm able to pick my shots much better, instead of just throwing aimlessly like I felt I've done in the past." It was a very astute observation as his punch selection was bit haphazard in his first two fights. But against Shakoane, that calm under fire allowed him to immediately find a spot-on strategy to avoid damage, land cleanly, and win quickly.

"I also feel my body shots and punch placement has improved the most actually," he concluded. Equally as impressive as finding the right strategy on the fly was Josh's body work. Most young fighters- Josh is only 20- don't target the body in any sustained fashion.

"Now I'm excited to step up the level of competition," Josh declared. His fans are excited to watch him meet those coming challenges.

Yonatan Landman Wins by Sixth Round TKO

Yonatan Landman beat Albert Commey by sixth round TKO at Bukom Boxing Arena in Acra, Ghana today. Landman outboxed his toughest test as a pro. It was his second fight in eight days.

Landman and Commey were announced as 118 pounds each, but Commey, a 39 year old from Accra, looked huge compared to Landman. Yonatan told The Jewish Boxing Blog, "The plan was to get inside as much as I could."

Early in the first, Yonatan got inside and absorbed a chopping right from Commey. Landman then began to jab cautiously from the outside, land two body shots, and get out. The rest of the round he tried to get inside, but Commey was ready to exchange even as both fighters missed.

"After the first round my father told me to change tactics because the original game plan was not working," Landman told The JBB. "Start boxing from the outside and get in when you can with body shots but still be aware of defense."

Landman followed his father's advice. His jab was crisp, and he then moved to avoid counters. Landman doubled and even tripled up on his jab. He managed to touch the body a few times in the second round. Commey became befuddled by the Israeli's movement and mostly kept his hands up in a high guard. When the Ghanaian threw, Landman used agile foot movement to evade damage while occasionally blocking or parrying Commey's jab.  Yonatan tried to land power shots off the jab, but that's when Commey would shoot his punches, and the result was usually sloppy exchanges with no harm done.

In the fourth, Landman continued to pump his jab while finding more openings to Commey''s midsection. Commey did nothing to dissuade the red-headed fighter from touching the body, but the memory of the chopping right in the first round kept Landman cautious.

In the fifth, Yonatan pulverized Commey's body, but missed when he tried to go up to the head. At the end of the round, Landman finally smashed Commey's face with a right after two left hooks to the body. It was Landman's most punishing combination of the fight.

Commey came out for the sixth guns ablaze. He pressed forward for the first time and made a concerted effort to go for the knockout. He threw several hard rights, which proved to be Commey's last stand, because he then took a knee for the ten-count with an apparent injury. "I think he did hurt himself and was very tired," Yonatan explained. The abrupt end came fifty seconds into the sixth round.

With the victory, Landman was awarded the vacant Tanzanian super flyweight title. Though the fight featured an Israeli fighting a Ghanaian in Ghana at 118 pounds, it's important to note that being a Tanzanian super flyweight is more a state of mind than the reality of weight, nationality, or location. Or something.

In any event, Landman has been very impressive over the past eight days when he stepped up twice and more than answered both challenges. On November 16, he stopped Asamoah Wilson in the fifth round. In his first five fights, Landman only fought a total of ten rounds. In the past eight days, he fought a combined eleven rounds against tougher opposition and looked good both times.

"I do feel tired but very happy with the results," Yonatan said. "My father and I worked very hard on those two fights!" They put in twelve weeks for the back-to-back bouts. Landman is now 7-0 with 7 KOs. Commey falls to 9-10 with 8 KOs. Has has been stopped in all of his losses.

David Malul Scores a Frightening Third Round KO

"King" David Malul punctuated a five-punch combination with a frighteningly destructive overhand right in the third round of his fight against Zachary "Mississippi Baby" Davis at the Paramount Theater in Huntington, New York, USA tonight.

Malul was patient early, showing educated aggression. Davis, a 25 year old with a four-inch height advantage, jabbed well in the first. Malul, who represents Queens and is turning 22 years old in two days, showed a big improvement from his debut, a first round KO victory in which he was knocked down twice. David used his double jab, kept his hands up, and set up most of his big punches.

Malul went to the body early and consistently. Those body shots set up overhand rights to the head. The Mississippi fighter caught on and began leaning his head off the line. David adjusted and used the left hook with success.

In the second round, Malul was a bit too eager to score a knockout. He unloaded with four huge rights that found nothing but air because he led with the punch. He showed slick defense though, ducking under Davis's rights. As the crowd chanted, "Let's go David!" Malul worked his jab and left hook at the end of the round.

King David ravaged Davis's body in the third round. But he wasn't content to just attack the midsection. He shot off gigantic overhand rights and left hooks off the body assault. One of the combinations knocked out Davis's mouthpiece. Malul then pounded the body with two shots, and came up top with a right, left hook, and another overhand right. After the left hook, Davis dropped his hands and took the full brunt of the final overhand right. He lost consciousness before hitting the canvas. Referee Al LoBianco immediately waved off the fight.

After less than a minute, Davis was thankfully on his feet, smiling and jumping up and down. Malul's trainer Mike Stellate came over to make sure Davis was ok and got him water.

About the knockout, David explained, "I don't train to go the distance, I train to take them out." He dedicated the fight to his mother, who is celebrating her birthday today. "I wasn't going to be denied," he said. He is now 2-0 with 2 KOs. Davis is 0-5; it was the third time he has been stopped.