Whilst we describe ourselves as boxing fans we all love seeing fighters who come to fight, rather than "box". They tend to be the guys, and girls, who make for great fights, dramatic contests, action brawls and in ring wars. They aren't always the most skilled people in the sport, but they constantly provide the most entertainment and are the people we would describe as being must watch. If you want to attract new fans into the sport you're always best off showing them fighters to begin with, rather than boxers. Today we delve into the closet to bring you a fight featuring one of Hong Kong's greatest fighters in a modern day Closet Classic. The Fight Rex Tso (20-0, 12) vs Hirofumi Mukai (13-4-3, 3) The Hong Kong fighter in question is Rex Tso, who consistently provided action and was the face of the Hong Kong scene thanks to his combination of thrilling in ring style, toughness, energy and charisma. The "Wonder Boy" was never the most polished of fighters, or the biggest of punchers, but what he was was a thrill a minute warrior who provided several FOTY contenders in a short but memorable career. Sadly he decided to go back to the amateurs when on the verge of a world title fight, though there is still some hope he return to the professional ranks one day. The opponent for Tso in this particularly bout was Japan's Hirofumi Mukai. The talented Mukai was much more polished than Tso, and was a very talented amateur, but after turning professional he struggled to adapt to the professional scene. His lack of power was always an issue, and instead of being a dangerous guy in the ring he was often relying more on his heart and determination rather than his power. He would twice fight for world titles, facing Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and prove his toughness, but he never looked like a world champion in the making. The best he managed was winning the WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight title, twice. With Tso in action we knew to tune in and expect fireworks. Those fires were set off almost immediately with Tso pressing the fight and trying to drag Tso into a war. Mukai tried to avoid it but the pressure of Tso just built and built, forcing Mukai to fight back. A head clash part way through the first round saw Mukai suffer a cut over his left eye and be taken to the doctor in the first round, and he was dropped in round 2. It was after that knockdown that the pace increased, with Mukai changing tactics. Rather than trying to avoid a fight, something that hadn't worked in the first round a bit, he decided to fight fire with fire. This gave us some crazy, wild and truly sensational action as both fighters tried to break the heart of the other. It was Tso's power against Mukai's toughness, Tso's front foot aggression against Mukai's blistering combinations and counters. This was all action, with both fighters throwing long flurries, trading combinations and putting on a show for the fans. Tso and Mukai may never have hit the heights they had hoped for, but with this bout they gave us something that really hit the spot!
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By Eric Armit
As this year began there was speculation on when Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury would stop hurling insults and start throwing punches at each other. Well we did get Wilder vs. Fury but all that did was pose more questions and then up popped Andy Ruiz to spoil the party. As we look forward to 2020 the same question is right there with things as clear as mud. Joshua had apparently put things back on track by gaining revenge over Ruiz and the return fight between Wilder and Fury is set for 22 February and it looks as though Joshua will relinquish the WBO title and instead defend the IBF title against Kubrat Pulev in April. So clarity at last. Well no as it has already been stated that there will be a third Wilder vs. Fury fight in the summer irrespective of what happens on 22 February so any fight between Joshua and the winner could not happen until late in 2020 and who knows by then Olek Usyk might have intruded into the Wilder-Fury-Joshua equation if he gets past Dereck Chisora on 7 March. Fury sacks his trainer, Joshua offers to act as a sparring partner for Fury to prepare him for the Wilder fight, Wlad Klitschko occasionally hints at a comeback, if the WBO title is vacated Usyk could finish up fighting Joseph Parker, Dillian Whyte has been cleared of the suspicion of using a banned substance so will the WBC mandate that the winner of Wilder vs. Fury II has to defend against Whyte throwing a spanner into the whole Wilder-Fury-Joshua situation and with Ruiz and Alex Povetkin being mentioned as possible opponents for Whyte in his next fight.. It is about as confusing as the old Bud Abbott and Lou Costello “Who’s On First” sketch Don’t be surprised if at the end of next year as we look forward to 2021 we will be asking ourselves the same questions all over again- but no one can say the heavyweight division is boring. According to some figures released from the Joshua vs. Ruiz fight the purse for the champion Ruiz was $13 million and for Joshua $85 million. Don’t know how accurate they are and whilst I did not expect a 50/50 split I though Ruiz might get a larger share of the money. Joshua will have had other sponsorship money on top of the $85 million which dwarves the size of the purses Wilder and Fury fought for and will get paid in their return match. Saul Alvarez has relinquished the WBO light heavyweight title so that he can choose which division he wants to fight in without any pressure from the WBO. He said of the WBO “I have long enjoyed my relationship with the WBO and appreciate all they do to preserve and enhance the sport of boxing” Now remind which sanction body was it that anointed Alvarez as their Franchise Champion? Marcos Maidana has found it impossible to resist the lure of the ring. Now 36 the former holder of the secondary WBA welter title has talked about returning before but has not followed through and the talk has died away. This time he seems to have made his mind up and he will be returning on 18 April on a show promoted by none other than Marcos Maidana. Handy that as there is not much chance of the promoter giving him a tough fight for his return. Boxing a young man’s sport-forget it. Manny Pacquiao has just celebrated his 41st birthday and 44-year-old Omar Narvaez is scheduled to fight in Rosario Argentina on 21 December. That will be fight No 55 for Narvaez. On 1st December he celebrated 19 years as a pro, He has a record of 28-3-1 in world title fights and Manny is 19-4-2. Nkosinathi Joyi made a third oldie holding back the ageing process. The 36-year-old former IBF minimumweight champion outpointed Filipino Joey Canoy in East London on Monday to collect the IBO minimumweight title. Joyi was being written off after a 4-5 run but took two years out and is 3-0 1 technical draw since returning last December. There were to have been two IBO title fights on this excellent show but Gideon Buthelezi’s defence of the super flyweight title was called off on the day before the fight when his proposed challenger Alex Marin reported ill. Another disappointment for the local fans was the eleventh round victory for Argentinian Fernando Martinez over Athenkosi Dumezweni in a fight for the vacant WBC Silver super fly title. Martinez is 11-0 but behind that sits extensive experience as an amateur including a number of seasons competing for the Los Angeles Matadors in the WSB, fighting in the AIBA Pro Boxing and competing at the 2016 Olympics. Former middleweight and super middleweight champion Felix Sturm has been released from custody. He had been held in a German jail pending charges for tax evasion. To obtain his release he had to surrender his passports-German and Serbian- and come up with EURO 300,000 ($ 334,000) bail money. It seems that the German authorities realised that Sturm would not be able to raise the money to pay off his 5.8 million Euros ($6.8 million) whilst sitting in jail but if they released him then he might be able to raise some of it by fighting. There is talk of a fight with Arthur Abraham but I don’t see that as a $6.8 million fight and if he did get more than $6.8 million for a fight of then he would owe tax on the anything left over after settling his $6.8 million from that fight. He could finish doing the hokey cokey in and out of prison. There are a couple of interesting European tile fights coming up in the New Year. Igor Mikhalkin and Callum Johnson will face each other on 7 March in Manchester in a fight for the vacant European light heavyweight title and Italian outfit OPI Since 82 will stage the third clash between Francesco Patera and Edis Tatli for the European lightweight title but no date yet. Patera beat Tatli to win the title then Tatli regained it in a return match only to relinquish it and for Petra to win the vacant title by beating Lewis Ritson. Two 50/50 title matches, Pole Kamil Szeremeta will now challenge Gennady Golovkin for the IBF middleweight title sometime in March. It was to have been going ahead in February but has been pushed back due to clashes with other major fights. Szeremeta is 21-0 but to show the value of his rating the No. 1 and 2 spots in the IBF middleweight rankings are vacant but Szeremeta can’t go to the No 1 or 2 slot in the IBF ratings because he has not beaten a rated fight but it seems there is no problem in getting to No 3 without facing a rated fighter which is farcical. The Congo has produced many good fighters but there are rarely any major fights staged there. That will change on 18 January when local fighter Ilunga Makabu (26-2) and Pole Michal Cieslak (19-0) clash for the vacant WBC cruiser title. In his only other world title fight, also for the vacant WBC title, Ilunga had Tony Bellew down in the first round before being stopped in the third. Cieslak has wins over Youri Kayembre Kalenga and Olan Durodola but will start an outsider against the heavy punching Makabu who has won 24 of his fights by KO/TKO. The fight that was to mark Guillermo Rigondeaux’s move to bantamweight has had to be postponed as his proposed opponent Liborio Solis could not get clearance of his visa in time. It will be rescheduled. Solis is No 1 in the WBA bantam ratings and Rigondeaux No 2. That may sound OK but as the lowest Rigondeaux has weighed is 119 ½ lbs and that was back in 2010 rating him as bantamweight is yet another WBA sleight of hand trick. Why can’t they stay away? Riddick Bowe has recently talked about returning to the ring. Former world champion Bowe is 51 and has not fought since 2008 so let’s hope talk is all it is Boxing in Japan is going out with a bang this year. The card on 23 December in Yokohama will feature three world title fights with Ryota Murata defending the secondary WBA middleweight belt against Canadian Steven Butler, Moruti Mthalane putting his IBF flyweight title up for grabs for the third time with three-division champion Akira Yaegashi his challenger and WBC light fly champion Kenshiro Teraji will be making a seventh defence of his title against replacement challenger Randy Petalcorin. In addition Roman Gonzalez fights in an eight round contest on the show. Eight nights later in Tokyo Jeyvier Cintron challenges WBO super fly champion Kazuto Ioka and in a miserable excuse for a title fight WBO flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka puts his title on the line against Chinese fighter Wulan Tuolehazi who in his 13-3-1 record has never fought an opponent anywhere near the world ratings. So sorry to read of the death of Saoul Mamby at the age of 72. If you look at his overall record of 45-34-6 you might question his quality but Saoul fought on long after he should have put his gloves away and that’s where most of those losses came. At his peak he was an outstanding technician a difficult opponent to tackle. He lost on a very controversial split decision to Thai Saensak Muangsurin in Thailand 1977 in a challenge for the WBC super light title but won the title in South Korea in 1980 with a stoppage of local boxer Sang Hyun Kim and made five defences before losing his title to Leroy Haley in 1982. He failed in three attempts to regain the title and became a travelling loser fighting in a number of different countries. He scored wins over Percy Hayles, Mike Everett, Esteban De Jesus, Maurice Watkins, Monroe Brooks, Gary Hinton and many others. RIP Saoul WBA cruiser champion Arsen Goulamirian defends the secondary WBA cruiser title against Constantin Bejenaru on 28 December in Marseilles. Fights to look out for in 2020 include Alex Besputin defending the secondary WBA welter title against Yordenis Ugas on 14 February with Ryan Garcia also on the bill, Caleb Plant putting his IBF super middleweight title on the line in Nashville on 18 February with no challenger named yet. Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas meeting on 29 February in Frisco, Texas, and Amir Khan talking about fighting again in March or April. Merry Christmas and I hope 2020 is kind to you all. By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Teo Lopez wins the IBF lightweight title as he stops champion Richard Commey in two rounds -Terrence Crawford halts Egidijus Kavaliauskas in nine rounds in WBO title defence -Vergil Ortiz impresses as he foes to 15-0 15 wins by KO/TKO with stoppage of Brad Solomon -Sandor Martin and David Avanesyan retain their European titles in Barcelona -Yves Mendy wins the WBA Gold title with stoppage of Jaider Parra and Elie Konki wins the European bantamweight title by outpointing champion Sebastian Perez -Michael Conlan gets win over Vlad Nikitin to exact some revenge for the controversial decision for the Russian the ruined Conlan’s chance of a gold medal in Rio -Diego De La Hoya returns with a win but fails to impress -Fedor Chudinov decisions Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in Russia WORLD TITLE SHOWS 14 December New York, NY, USA: Welter: Terrence Crawford (36-0) W TKO 9 Egidijus Kavaliauskas (21-1-1). Light: Teo Lopez (15-0) W TKO 2 Richard Commey (29-3). ). Feather: Michael Conlan (13-0) W PTS 10 Vlad Nikitin (3-1). Light: George Kambosos (18-0) W PTS 10 Mickey Bey (23-3-1,1ND). Super Light: Josue Vargas (16-1) W PTS 10 Noel Murphy (14-2-1. Super Middle: Edgar Berlanga (13-0) W TKO 1 Cesar Nunez (16-2-1). Super Light: Julian Rodriguez (19-0) W PTS 8 Manuel Mendez (16-7-3) . Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas After a slow start Crawford gets into his stride and then ruthlessly cuts down Kavaliauskas Round 1 Not much in the way of commitment from either fighter. Crawford looked just a little sharper with his jab whereas Kavaliauskas seemed to be reluctant to let his hands go. Close but I gave it to Crawford. Score: 10-9 Crawford Round 2 Kavaliauskas took this one. Crawford scored with a body punch early but Kavaliauskas made better use of his jab and connected with a hard left and followed that with a right that stopped Crawford in his tracks. He also did a good job of deflecting Crawford’s punches. Score: 10-9 Kavaliauskas TIED 19-19 Round 3 After a cautious start Kavaliauskas jumped inside scoring with a hard right to the head and threw a bunch of punches. As Crawford ducked under the punches he dropped to one knee but it was no knockdown. They both connected with punches in a brief exchange and just before the bell Kavaliauskas again got through with a left and a right. Score: 10-9 Kavaliauskas Kavaliauskas 29-28 Round 4 Crawford changed his tactics in this one. He had been standing a couple of steps away and firing punches from distance. Now he climbed into the box with Kavaliauskas crowding the challenger and throwing a lot more punches. He scored with jabs and rights and although Kavaliauskas connected with some hard rights the sudden change of pace from Crawford seemed to throw Kavaliauskas out of his stride and it was Crawford’s round although he was showing a swelling by his right eye. Score: 10-9 Crawford TIED 38-38 Round 5 Crawford again dominated the action in this round. He was much quicker with his jab and was putting together some combinations and firing fast, accurate lefts. Kavaliauskas had been matching Crawford with his jab early but now he was tending to get caught by punches and firing wildly and too late with his counters Score: 10-9 Crawford Crawford 48-47 Round 6 A close round with very little action. Crawford was not pressing as hard or throwing as many punches. That allowed Kavaliauskas to get his jab working again and try some rights as Crawford effectively gave away the round. Score: 10-9 Kavaliauskas TIED 57-57 Round 7 This round provided plenty of action. Crawford was inside the box again and they traded some hard punches with Kavaliauskas scoring with a cracking right. Crawford switched to orthodox and landed a left hook that shook Kavaliauskas. The challenger fired back but could not keep Crawford out and late in the round a right to the head saw Kavaliauskas turn away and drop .to the canvas on his hands and knees. Kavaliauskas was up at four and after the eight count Crawford chased Kavaliauskas across the ring but Kavaliauskas ducked and dodged and made it to the bell. Score: 10-8 Crawford Crawford 67-65 Round 8 For much of the early part of this round Crawford just stood in front of Kavaliauskas behind a high guard letting Kavaliauskas try to pierce the guard. When Crawford opened up he landed some heavy rights to the head. He had Kavaliauskas trapped on the ropes at the end of the round and unleashed a barrage of punches that had Kavaliauskas reeling and holding to survive. Score: 10-9 Crawford Crawford 77-74 Round 9 In the first exchange in the round Crawford took Kavaliauskas to the ropes and snapped his head back with a right uppercut. Kavaliauskas managed to get off the ropes but was driven back by some right before an fearsome right uppercut dropped him to his hands and knees. When the count was finished Crawford walked over and floored Kavaliauskas with a right to the head and as he went down the referee ended the fight. Kavaliauskas was competitive early but once Crawford upped his pace it was only a matter of how long Kavaliauskas could survive against the power and speed of arguably the best pound for pound fighter out there right now. Crawford, 32, is a three-division champion and is 14-0 in title fights with eleven inside the distance victories in those title fights. Hopefully we will get Crawford vs. Errol Spence sometime in 2020 and not have that match put off until it is too late in the way the Mayweather and Pacquiao worked out. Lithuanian Kavaliauskas showed good technical skills and landed some testing punches but in the end he was just beaten down by superior skill and power. Lopez vs. Commey Lopez blasts out Commey in hugely impressive style to win the IBF title Round 1 After some early probing with jabs Commey landed a sharp right to the head. They then both connected with rights to the head with Commey adding another head punch Lopez got through with a left hook but Commey’s strong jabbing just gave him the edge. Score: 10-9 Commey Round 2 Lopez rocked Commey back on his heels with a left hook and then exploded a straight right on the head of Commey. The champion went down on his haunches then as he tried to rise toppled sideways and down. He was up quickly but was unsteady. After the eight count Lopez chased Commey to the ropes and pounded him with punches. Commey bobbed and weaved but could not get off the ropes and with Lopez landing with a series of head punches the referee jumped in and stopped the fight. Towering display of power from Lopez to effectively finish Commey with one punch as the Ghanaian has a very good chin. The 22-year-old from Brooklyn must be on his way to a clash with Vasyl Lomachenko with the great Ukrainian making a passing remark about seeing Lopez in April. What a fight that could turn out to be. Commey will come again. He has the style and tools to be a champion again but with Devin Haney relinquishing the WBC title and Luke Campbell and Javier Fortuna likely to contests the vacant title and Lomachenko the WBA and WBO champion it may be a long road back for Commey. Conlan vs. Nikitin Conlan takes a wide unanimous decision over Russian Nikitin in revenge for a very questionable loss to Nikitin in the Rio Olympics. In a cagey first Conlan was looking to find the range with his jab and Nikitin was looking for chances to dive inside with some quick punches. The fight came to life in the second with Conlan using his longer reach to pop Nikitin with southpaw jabs and counter the Russian’s charges with hooks. Nikitin had brief success when he trapped Conlan in a corner but Conlan quickly slid out of the trap. Nikitin went down in the third from what looked like a left hook from Conlan but the referee decided the Russian had been pushed down so no count. Conlan was again scoring well with his jab and punishing Nikitin on the way in. Conlan controlled the action over the fifth and sixth . Nikitin managed to connect with some straight rights and put Conlan under pressure in the seventh as they traded punches over the late part of the round. Conlan landed a very low right hook on the eighth which paused the action for a brief spell and the referee spoke to both fighters about some rough stuff inside. For the rest of the round Conlan forgot his boxing and stood and exchanged punches toe-to-toe with Nikitin and paid the price in the form of a cut by his right eye. Conlan outboxed Nikitin in the ninth and tenth handing out some severe punishment in the last. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 for Conlan. So a measure of revenge for Conlan but not really enough to compensate for a bad decision against Nikitin which cost Conlan a chance at a gold medal in Rio. The 28-year-old from Belfast is rated WBO 1/WBA 3/IBF 9(7)/WBC 14 although the WBO No 1 looks over generous on the basis of his opposition to date. With Shakur Stevenson the WBO champion also being with Top Rank that is a fight that could be made but that might not be the fight Top Rank are aiming Conlan at although the other champions, Josh Warrington, Gary Russell and Leo Santa Cruz would be tough asks for Conlan at this stage. Despite his success as an amateur Nikitin has not impressed as a pro and I can’t see him making much progress. Kambosos vs. Bey Kambosos gets split verdict over Bey in a close-fought competitive match with plenty of quality work from both fighters. Kambosos all-out aggression and harder punching gave him a slight edge, Bey has a great jab and he was doubling and tripling the punch with impressive accuracy. Kambosos landed some heavy rights in the third and fourth but Bey was doing outstanding work in every round with his jab and featuring some very clever defensive work. Most of the rounds were close and although Kambosos had a slight lead going into the last the fight was there for the taking as far as both fighters were concerned. Kambosos nailed down the victory by flooring Bey with a right uppercut in the tenth. Scores 97-92 and 96-93 for Kambosos and 95-94 for Bey. Australian Kambosos has been one of Manny Pacquiao’s main sparring partners and has good domestic wins over Brandon Ogilvie and Qamil Balla. He is rated IBF 3(2)/WBO 5 so will be looking to advance to a title fight next year. Bey, 36, is a former IBF lightweight champion who relinquished the title without defending it. He lost a split decision to Rances Barthelemy in a challenge for the IBF title in 2016 and between that loss and the Kambosos contest had only one fight in over three years. A great pity as he is a slick boxer with great skills. Vargas vs. Murphy Vargas puts on another classy display to outpoint Murphy. Southpaw Vargas quickly established that he was much quicker than Murphy and had a more varied attack. He was sliding jabs past the Irishman’s guard and slipping inside to score with short, quick punches. The speed of movement from Vargas too often lefty Murphy prodding air. Vargas was buzzing around Murphy connecting with rapid combinations and dominating the action. Vargas landed a punch way south of the border in the third but Murphy quickly recovered. Although not listed as a southpaw Murphy was fight out of a southpaw stance and barely using his left. On occasion he shaped to throw a left but didn’t which made me wonder if he was carrying an injury because if it was a tactical decision it was not working. Vargas rocked Murphy with a left late in the fourth and had him bleeding from the nose and under heavy pressure at the end of the seventh. Murphy managed to score with enough rights to have a nasty bump develop under the left eye of Vargas and marched bravely through some heavy punches doing enough to deserve at least a share in a couple of rounds. In the end with just one usable arm and after being rocked in the tenth Murphy did well to last the distance. Scores 98-92 for Vargas on the cards of the three judges. He was going ten rounds for the first time and wins the vacant IBF North American title. His lone loss was on a disqualification. Murphy’s only previous loss was on a narrow points decision against Mike LesPierre who challenged Maurice Hooker for the WBO title in his next fight . Berlanga vs. Nunez Thirteen fights into his career and Berlanga has yet to hear the bell for the second round. The explosive puncher from New York blows away Cesar Nunez for another quick ending. Inside the first fifteen seconds as Nunez barrelled forward taking the fight to Berlanga he was clipped by a left to the top of his head and dropped to his knees. He was up quickly not looking shaken. After the count he again marched towards Berlanga but was caught by a chopping right and a left hook. Berlanga landed some more rights then one that landed on the back of Nunez’s head. He went down but the referee did not treat it as a knockdown. More head down rushes from Nunez were met with heavy rights from Berlanga then a left to the body that had Nunez backing off before another right put him down and the referee did not bother with a count. Nunez was just fifteen seconds from being the first fighter to take Berlanga into the second round. Thirteen one round wins but against some very modest opposition so no real way yet to know how far he can go. He did not win gold at any major tournament as an amateur and was eliminated at the quarter-finals of the US Olympic Trials for Rio but he has certainly shown some power. He had said that he was determined to finish this latest fight inside the first round in honour of his cousin Anthony Santana who was murdered whilst Berlanga was training for this fight. Second inside the distance loss for Spaniard Nunez with the other loss being an eight round stoppage against German Vincent Feigenbutz for the GBU world title in August. Rodriguez vs. Mendez After the usual exchange of probing jabs Rodriguez stepped in with a left hook to the body and a left and right to the head which dropped Mendez on his rear. After the count Rodriguez took Mendez to then ropes and fired a barrage of punches with a stoppage looking possible but Mendez held and moved and made it to the bell. Rodriguez was in charge the rest of the way. He shook Mendez with left uppercuts in the second and third and outscored Mendez the rest of the way. To his credit Mendez kept trying to walk through Rodriguez’s punches and was always willing to trade scoring with some shots of his own but the quality and quantity were coming from Rodriguez. The judges scored this one 80-72 twice and 79-72 for Rodriguez. A shoulder injury saw Rodriguez out of the ring for almost two years before returning to action in July this year and this is his third win since returning. Five defeats in a row for Mendez but all on points and all against good level opposition. 12 December Barcelona, Spain: Super Light: Sandor Martin (36-2) W PTS 12 Joe Hughes (17-5-1). Welter: David Avanesyan (26-3-1) W KO 1 Jose Del Rio (29-9-1). Super Light: Jonathan Alonso (19-1) W PTS 10 Samuel Gonzalez (22-6). Light: Samuel Molina (14-0) W TKO 6 Ivan Tomas (9-2-1). Martin vs. Hughes Local; hero Martin outpoints Hughes in the first defence of his European title. Martin had height and reach over Hughes and also quicker hands. In the first two rounds he was getting his right jab over Hughes left landing to the head. He was firing lefts to the body and snapped Hughes head back with a left cross. Hughes pressed hard but had little success until the third when he cracked Martin with a couple of good rights. He then hustled Martin hard over the fourth and fifth but Martin was landing stiff counters and the rounds were close. Hughes forced Martin to trade in the sixth but Martin did some good defensive work and was more accurate. From the seventh Martin was in control. He was getting his punches off first then blocking or avoiding the counters from Hughes. Martin handed out some severe punishment in the eleventh with hard shots from both hands and attacked fiercely in the last for a clear victory. Scores 119-109 twice and 117-111 all for Martin. The 26-year-old from Barcelona is 20-1 in his last 21 contests with the loss coming on points against Anthony Yigit in 2017in a challenge for this same European title. Third time but not lucky for Hughes who has lost to Yigit and Robbie Davies in previous title shots. Avanesyan vs. Del Rio In a European title defence English-based Russian Avanesyan blows away Spanish challenger Del Rio in two rounds. In the first Avanesyan tracked an apprehensive Del Rio and sent him stumbling with a left hook. Del Rio, a southpaw, fired some lefts trying to keep Avanesyan off but was rocked badly by a right to the chin and an uppercut followed by two hooks to the body forced him to drop to his knees and then slump face down on the canvas and he was counted out. After his stoppage of Kevin Lejarraga in September that makes it two defences of the EBU title and two first round victories for Avanesyan. The 31-year-old former interim WBA champion looks to be in terrific form. He is ranked WBC 5/IBF 6(5)/WBA 10/WBO 12. Del Rio was a very sub-standard challenger and had already lost to Jordy Weiss for the EU title. Alonso vs. Gonzalez Alonso gets his career back on track with a decision over Gonzalez. Alonso needed all of his skills as the Italian-based Venezuelan pressured hard scoring well with uppercuts. Alonso’s accuracy and work rate gave him most of the early rounds but pressure paid off for Gonzalez over the middle rounds as he began to get through with hooks. Over the last three rounds Alonso was moving and scoring again and he held off a late burst from Gonzalez to emerge the winner. Scores 98-92, 98-93 and 97-94 for Alonso. The Dominican-born Alonso has been resident in Spain for 20 years and is a big favourite there. In his last fight in July he lost a decision against unbeaten Dominican Albert Puello for the interim WBA super light title. Gonzalez had won his last seven fights six of them in his new base of Italy. Molina vs. Tomas Molina retains the Spanish title by turning back the challenge of Tomas. After pocketing the points in the first round Molina floored Tomas in the second. He continued to boss the fight and with Tomas taking heavy punishment the referee halted proceedings in the sixth round. Sixth inside the distance victory for the 21-year-old fighter from Malaga who holds wins over 28-2-1 Ezequiel Fernandez and faded former WBA super fly champion Alex Munoz. Second shot at the title for Tomas who had drawn with Frank Urquiaga in February. Tokyo, Japan: Super Bantam: Hiroaki Teshigawara (21-2-2) W KO 5 Shohei Kawashima (18-4-2). Champion Teshigawara too good for challenger Kawashima and puts him down and out in the fifth. Teshigawara was on Kawashima’s case from the opening bell using his jab to open Kawashima up and then putting together some solid combinations. At the end of the fourth the champion was in front 39-37 on two cards and 40-36 on the other. In the fifth Kawashima went for broke throwing rights but a left hook from Teshigawara knocked him over and he could not beat the count. Teshigawara retains the OPBF title for the second time with his fourteenth win by KO/TKO. A run of ten wins has seen him climb to No 7 (5) in the IBF ratings. Kawashima once put together a 16 bout unbeaten streak but is now 4-4 in his last eight outings. Geneva, Switzerland: Super Feather: Patrick Kinigamazi (32-2) W PTS 12 Bongani Mahlangu (22-8). Successful fourth defence of the WBFederation title for Kinigamazi as he takes majority decision over veteran South African Mahlangu. The southpaw challenger lived up to his “Dancing Shoes” nickname as he led Kinigamazi a merry dance particularly over the early rounds. Kinigamazi just kept pressing and pressing and eventually the 40-year-old Mahlangu tired allowing Kinigamazi to dominate and get through with some heavy punches to emerge a deserved winner. Scores 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114. Now fourteen wins in a row for Kinigamazi but at 36 the Rwandan-born boxer is unlikely to progress further. This is only the second fight in over two years for Mahlangu a former South African super bantamweight champion. December 13 Indio, CA, USA: Welter: Vergil Ortiz (15-0) W KO 5 Brad Solomon (28-2). Super Middle: Bektemir Melikuziev (4-0) W PTS 10Vaughn Alexander (15-3). Light: Alberto Machado (22-2) W KO 2 Luis Porozo (14-2). Welter: Alexis Rocha (15-0) W RTD 5 Roberto Valenzuela (17-2). Super Light: Luis Feliciano (14-0) W PTS 10 Herbert Acevedo (16-3-1). Super Middle: Erik Bazinyan (24-0) W KO 3 Saul Roman (45-14). Super Welter: Serhii Bohachuk (17-0) W KO 5 Carlos Galvan (17-10-1). Ortiz vs. Solomon Ortiz hounds experienced Solomon to defeat with a display of relentless pressure and punching power. Aware of Ortiz’s power Solomon was dancing and throwing light jabs in the first with Ortiz tracking him and having some success when he was able to pin Solomon against the ropes. Solomon fired occasional bursts of punches but was then quickly on the move again. Ortiz launched a series of ferocious attacks in the second and third. Solomon was pelting Ortiz with punches as he came forward but he had nothing in his arsenal to deter the young Texan. Solomon ducked, weaved , moved and fired back when he could but Ortiz was landing hard and often. Ortiz stepped up the pace in the fourth. He connected with a blazing combination and a straight right. Solomon took them without crumbling until a stiff left jab sat him down on his rump. He was shaken but easily beat the count. Ortiz was chasing and trying to land a finishing punch. Instead he landed a left hook well below the belt. Solomon took a couple of steps back expecting the referee to step in but with the referee making no move to do so Ortiz continued his attack until the bell. After an early burst of attacks from Solomon in the fifth Ortiz took over. He hounded Solomon around the ring banging home heavy shots to head and body. He connected with a couple of rights to the head which unhinged Solomon’s legs and another right saw Solomon go down on one knee. He was up at six but when the eight count was completed he looked as though he was inviting Ortiz to end the fight and as Ortiz was starting to let his punches fly Solomon caved in and just dropped to a knee in surrender and the referee halted the fight. Still only 21 Ortiz has the power and hand speed to be a world title challenger in 2020. He fights with a savage intensity that has brought him 15 wins by KO/TKO including respectable opposition in Mauricio Herrera and Antonio Orozco in his list of victims. He holds the WBA Gold title which he was defending here and would certainly be in with a good chance of winning against both the WBA champion Manny Pacquiao and WBA secondary champion Alex Besputin. Solomon, 36, has a great set of skills but no real power and is now a very rare sight in a boxing ring having had only one fight in 2017 and with his last fight being in April 2018. Melikuziev vs. Alexander Former top amateur Melikuziev wins his first pro title in only his fourth fight as he outpoints Alexander to pick up the vacant WBA Continental Americas belt. From the opening round the Uzbek southpaw dictated the fight with his right jabs that kept Alexander on the back foot. Melikuziev showed clever movement changing angles to find gaps for his left hooks. Alexander managed to get on the front foot in the middle rounds but just could not apply enough pressure to worry Melikuziev and simply did not throw enough punches. Melikuziev outscored Alexander in every round with his only concern being a cut over his left eye caused by a clash of heads in the seventh but that was never a factor. Scores 100-90 for Melikuziev from all three judges. The 23-year-old Uzbek won gold medals at the World Youth and Youth Olympics. He collected a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships and a bronze at the 2017 Championships as well as taking a silver at the 2016 Olympics. Alexander, 34, whose career was interrupted by an eleven year term in prison is 3-4 in his seven most recent contests Machado vs. Porozo Machado overwhelms Ecuadorian Porozo in two rounds. Machado took a round to figure out the awkward lunging style of Porozo. Early in the second Porozo landed a good right that unbalanced Machado but Machado looked to have scored a knockdown as he landed a couple of punches before Porozo went down on his knees. The referee did not apply a count then but he did on three other occasions all from body punches and Porozo was counted out. “El Explosivo” Machado, a former holder of the secondary WBA title super feather title, was having his first fight since consecutive inside the distance losses to Andrew Cancio. Porozo’s other loss was against unbeaten 16-0 Giovanni Mioletti. In his amateur days he competed at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. Rocha vs. Valenzuela Rocha forces Valenzuela out of the fight on a fifth round retirement. Despite Valenzuela’s impressive looking 16 wins by KO/TKO in the end it was Rocha’s power that won the fight. Valenzuela was boring in from the start taking the fight inside. He stormed through the second showering Rocha with punches with Rocha rocked and almost swamped. Valenzuela had punched himself out and by the fourth Rocha was in control and he was driving Valenzuela back with Valenzuela seriously hurt by body punches and flagging. A right to the ribs saw Valenzuela sag and hold to survive but he retired at the end of the round. The 22-year-old southpaw from Santa Ana gets his tenth inside the distance victory in a successful third defence of WBC Continental Americas belt. Mexican Valenzuela, 20, has built his record on wins over sub-standard opponents and was found out here. Feliciano vs. Acevedo Feliciano takes wide majority decision over Acevedo. Both landed some good shots over the first two rounds with Feliciano’s jab just giving him the edge. The third was a big round for Feliciano. He shook Acevedo with a left to the head and then nailed him with a right that buckled Acevedo’s legs and he toppled to the floor. He was up at nine and had to soak up some more heavy shots but then traded punch for punch with Feliciano to the bell. To add to Acevedo’s woes he was also cut over the right eye by a punch. Acevedo walked through punishment to swap punches in the fourth and fifth and although his cut opened again to even things up a clash of heads saw Feliciano cut. They continued to wage war and eventually both fighters were cut over both eyes as they battled over the late rounds with the accuracy of Feliciano making the difference. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92 for the 26-year-old from Milwaukee. He was US Under-19 champion and US National Champion but lost at both the US Final Qualifiers for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He retains the NABF title. Acevedo fought with guts in his first ten round contest. Bazinyan vs. Roman Armenian-born Canadian Bazinyan crushes Roman in three rounds. In the first Bazinyan was too quick for veteran Roman beating the Mexican to the jab and testing his chin with straight rights. Bazinyan went to work again in the second connecting with some sharp left hooks. A clash of heads saw Roam given a short break whilst he recovered. Bazinyan landed moor rights to the head and lefts to the body until heads clashed again. No cuts so the action continued with Bazinyan blasting Roman with those straight rights and lefts to the body and heads clashed again just before the bell. It was all over in the third in spectacular style. As Roman led with a weak jab Bazinyan came over the top with a right cross to the chin that put Roman on the floor on his back and the referee just waived the fight over. Now 18 wins inside the distance for 24-year-old Bazinyan. He is No 1 with the WBO which seems too rich a reward for beating David Zegarra and Francy Ntetu. He was sharp, accurate and punched hard here but the 39-year-old Roman looked his age. Bohachuk vs. Galvan Ukrainian Bohachuk floors Galvan three times in the fifth round to end this contest. The 24-year-old already has 17 wins by KO/TKO including victories over Freddy Hernandez and Tyrone Brunson. Colombian Galvan did well to last into the fifth. Levallois-Perret, France: Light: Yves Mendy (44-5-1,1ND) W KO 6 Jaider Parra (33-3-1). Light Heavy: Mathieu Bauderlique (19-1) W TKO 5 Hugo Kasperski (33-10-1). Bantam: Elie Konki (9-0) W PTS 12 Sebastian Perez (12-1-1). Super Middle: Christian Mbilli (16-0) W TKO 8 KeAndrae Leatherwood (22-7-1). Mendy vs. Parra Mendy wins the vacant WBA Gold title with victory over Parra. An early night looked on the cards when in the opening round Mendy connected with a left jab and threw a right that just looked to have scraped past Parra’s body but sent Parra to the floor. It seemed more a case of Parra’s bad footwork opening himself up to a punch when he was off balance but he did seem hurt so it looked ominous for the Venezuelan oldie. He easily beat the count and saw out the round. The fight did not kick on from there. Mendy seemed over cautious at times as Parra showed he still had some power. Mendy got his act together and ended in style in the sixth. As Mendy came forward Parra landed a left hook to the body. Mendy countered with a right uppercut and a left hook and Parra stepped back and then went down heavily landing on his back and was counted out. The 34-year-old “French Lion” is 14-1 in his last fifteen fights with the loss being in a return match with his former victim Luke Campbell. Venezuelan Parra, 37, had won five in a row against very sub standard opposition but in January outpointed unbeaten 16-0 Fabian Maidana which probably said more about Maidana than it did about Parra. Bauderlique vs. Kasperski Southpaw Bauderlique adds another short route victory with stoppage of Kasperski. Bauderlique took the first two rounds with some heavy jabs and impressive power shots. In the third a four-punch combination to head and body dropped Kasperski to his knees and although he survived that he again had to take on board some more punishment in the fourth. Kasperski tried to take the fight to Bauderlique in the fifth but two rights to the head had him retreating under fire and as Bauderlique scored with more head punches the referee halted the fight. Seven inside the distance wins on the trot for the 30-year-old Olympic bronze medallist Bauderlique who was defending the WBA Inter-Continental title. He is ranked 13 by the WBA. Only the second inside the distance defeat for former French champion Kasperski. Konki vs. Perez Frenchman Konki boxes his way to the European title. Konki has no punch worth mentioning but he is tall for the weight at 5’7” has a long reach and highly developed defence skills. Perez just did not have the speed to match Konki but he pressed Konki all the way. He had a good third round when he briefly caught up with Konki but the challenger was quickly on the move again. Konki built a good lead but Perez managed to run him down often enough to make some rounds close. Perez landed with some heavy hooks in the ninth but Konki was constantly threading punches through the guard of Perez and took a deserved unanimous decision on scores of 117-111, 116-113 and 115-113 . “The Spider” a former elite level amateur in the French team was national champion four times and competed at the 2016 Olympics. Perez, 23, was defending the EU title for the first time after winning it in October last year. Mbilli vs. Leatherwood Mbilli scores devastating eighth round stoppage of Leatherwood. In his normal style Mbilli drove forward throwing big punches. Leatherwood was under pressure from bell to bell. He could not match Mbilli for power but used his experience to block or dodge the incoming shells. He made it into the last round but was backed into a corner. When tried to move out he was met with a fierce right that sent him back to the ropes then nailed with a clubbing right that had him out on his feet. Mbilli managed to land two more powerful rights to the head as the referee leapt in to stop the fight with Mbilli still trying to land rights even with the referee between them. The 24-year-old Montreal-based “Solide” has only had to go the distance once as a pro. He looks an animal but how far he can go will only become clear when he fights higher quality opposition. Leatherwood is 3-4 in his seven most recent contests. Manezh, Russia: Super Middle: Fedor Chudinov (22-2) W PTS 12 Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (37-5). Chudinov gets wide unanimous points win over N’Jikam. The strong Russian just kept walking down the fleet-footed N’Jikam who constantly circled the ring before divining in quickly with a burst of punches before going back to his circuits. As the fight progressed N’Jikam tired and spent more time and more time on the ropes and clinching. Chudinov kept banging to the body and N’Jikam looked in trouble a couple of times late in the fight but used his considerable experience-and some more clinching to go the distance. Scores 120-108 twice and 119-109 for Chudinov. The 32-year-old former WBA champion is No 1 with the WBA so in theory is the mandatory challenger for Callum Smith but Smith will be looking for a bigger fight than a defence against Chudinov perhaps an all-British clash with Billy Joe Saunders. Second loss in a row for N’Jikam having been stopped in three rounds by Smith in June Miramar, FL, USA: Welter: Harold Calderon (22-0) W TKO 2 Krisztian Santa (16-14-2). Honduran southpaw Calderon blows away Hungarian Santa in two rounds. Fifteen wins by KO/TKO for 32-year-old Calderon. Poor Santa is 1-6 in his last 7 fights with all of his loses coming inside three rounds. 14 December Brentwood, England: Light Heavy: Hosea Burton (25-1) W PTS 10 Bob Ajisafe (19-4). Light Heavy: Ricards Bolotniks (15-6-1) W TKO 1 Steve Ward (12-1). Light Heavy: Liam Conroy (18-5-1) W PTS 10 Andre Sterling (10-2). Light Heavy: Serge Michel (10-1) W PTS 10 Tommy Philbin (13-1) . Light Heavy: Dan Azeez (11-0) W PTS 10 Lawrence Osueke (9-1-1). Burton vs. Ajisafe Burton outpoints Ajisafe in a fight in the MTG Golden Contract tournament. It looked like a sensationally early finish as a right from Burton dumped Ajisafe on the floor after just six seconds. Ajisafe recovered to go the full route, He is an awkward opponent and although Burton was dangerous with rights he never really had Ajisafe in trouble again. Ajisafe came into the fight more over the second half but Burton outboxed him to take a well deserved unanimous decision. Scores 99-90, 98-91 and 99-92 for former British light heavy champion Burton who must now the favourite to win the tournament. Former undefeated British and Commonwealth champion Ajisafe only just counts as active with only one fight in each of years 2016,2017 and 2018 but was coming off a win in August. Ward vs. Bolotniks Bolotniks provides the surprise of the night as he blasts out unbeaten Ward inside a round. Bolotniks landed a long left late in the round that sent Ward down. He was up in plenty of time but Bolotniks took him to the ropes and a barrage of punches saw Ward drop to rest on the bottom rope for another count . After a right floored him for the third time the referee stopped the fight. Bolotniks proceeds to the semi-finals and wins the WBO European title held by Ward. The Belfast fighter will have to regroup after this shock loss. Conroy vs. Sterling Cumbrian Conroy boxes his way into the semi-finals with a unanimous decision over Londoner Sterling. The more experienced Conroy was pushed hard by Sterling but paced the fight well and opened a vital gap in the scoring by putting Sterling on the canvas in the seventh and had enough left in the tank stage a strong finish. All three judges had Conroy the winner but the scores varied at 98-91, 97-92 and 96-94. Former English champion Conroy was crushed in three rounds by Joshua Buatsi in a fight for the vacant British light heavyweight title in March and was defeated in June on a very close technical decision by Steven Ward . Former Southern Area champion Sterling gave a creditable performance in losing a unanimous decision to Craig Richards in June. Michel vs. Philbin This was another quarter final that featured a first round knockdown. The strong Michel, a former top amateur, put Scot Philbin down with a body punch in the opening round . The Scot took a while to get over that early shock but once he did he took the fight to Michel. The German boxed well within himself despite the pressure from Philbin and had a big lead going into the last. In the tenth a right from Michel floored Philbin for the second time just to punctuate Michel’s superiority. Scores 99-90 twice and 98-90 all for Michel. The Russian-born Michel , a former German amateur champion, competed at the 2016 Olympics and in the WSB. His only loss was a surprise stoppage against Canadian Ryan Ford in April. Philbin has fought as low as super middle and moved up from super middle for this tournament. Azeez vs. Osueke In a non-tournament fight Azeez wins the vacant English title with victory over Osueke. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 98-93 for Southern Area champion Azeez.. Big set-back for Osueke who was an outstanding amateur winning the British title three times but did not turn pro until 2018 at the age of 30. Mexicali, Mexico: Feather: Diego De La Hoya (22-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Renson Robles (16-7). Super Feather: Roger Gutierrez (24-3-1) W PTS 10 Andres Tapia (16-8-3). Light: Luis Lopez (20-2) W TKO 5 Cristian Baez (18-1). Light: William Zepeda (20-0) W TKO 3 Jampier Oses (16-6-1). De La Hoya vs. Robles De La Hoya gets a win as he returns to the ring for the first time since losing his unbeaten record against Ronny Rios in July. De La Hoya had big physical advantages again a combative but limited Robles. De La Hoya built an early lead flooring Robles in the third and benefitting from the Venezuelan losing two points for low pinches but he showed signs of tiring late. Robles then took the opportunity to get into the fight more and upped his pace. De La Hoya was exhausted and holding through much of the tenth and lucky not to lose a point but he did enough to just take that round and the decision. Scores 99-89, 98-89 and 97-94 for De La Hoya who stated that he had injured his left hand in the second round. Not an impressive showing from De La Hoya. Robles had won his last three fights but over opponents with combined records of 1-7. Gutierrez vs. Tapia Venezuelan Gutierrez outpoints a durable Tapia for his fifth win in a row. Gutierrez was much the bigger man and handed out a one-sided beating to the gutsy local fighter who fought hard all the w\ay. Gutierrez was able to use his longer reach to score on the outside dominating the fight with relentless pressure with Tapia too busy defending himself to build and attacking momentum. Gutierrez dropped Tapia with a right in the seventh but Tapia saw out the round and lasted to the final bell fighting all the way. Scores 98-91 on all three cards for Gutierrez. He made a spectacular entry to the world ratings with a first round stoppage of Eduardo Hernandez in July snapping Hernandez’s unbeaten record after 28 victories. Tapia had scored victories in his last five fights but was in over his head here. Lopez vs. Baez Lopez gains revenge for Mexicali as he stops unbeaten Venezuelan Baez. Baez, rated No 7 by the WBA, seemed to have everything going for him- an unbeaten record with 17 of his 18 wins by KO.TKO, being taller at 5’8” to the 5’4” Lopez and with an 9cm edge in reach. Baez really did not make use of his physical advantages allowing Lopez to drag him into close quarter’s action where the more accurate work gave Lopez the edge. Lopez was also much quicker and was able to pierce Baez’s guard regularly. In the fifth Lopez exploded sending Baez down with a left hook and scoring two more knockdowns to finish the fight. Lopez is now 8-1 in his last 9 fights including a victory over 18-1 Ray Ximenez and giving unbeaten prospect Ruben Villa a good test before losing a close decision. Baez had scored wins in Panama and Colombia as well as Venezuela but as with many fighters from Venezuela there is some heavy padding in his record. Zepeda vs. Oses Mexican southpaw Zepeda records yet another inside the distance victory with third round win over Venezuelan Oses. There were plenty of fireworks in the opening round as Zepeda landed heavily to the body and Oses stepped back and knelt on the canvas. Zepeda was marching forward trying to get a quick win and landed two right hooks to the head only to be dropped himself by a left from Oses. Zepeda was up quickly and went back on the attack. He continued to take the fight to Oses in the second and floored Oses in the third with a body punch. Oses made it to his feet but was back on the canvas after a series of punches from Zepeda and was counted out. The 23-year-old Zepeda has 18 wins by KO/TKO including ten in his last ten fights. Not a great deal of quality in his victims but a couple of experienced fighter. Third inside the distance defeat for Oses. Melbourne, Australia: Cruiser: Jason Whateley (7-0) W TKO 1 Daniel Russell (7-2-2). Flashy Whatley floors champion Russell twice in first round to win the Australian title. Dancing with his hands down the showy Whateley had a big reach advantage which meant Russell had to lunge forward trying to get close. Whateley simply side-stepped Russell’s attack and then stepped forward with a right to the head which sent Russell sprawling on the canvas. He was quickly on his feet and threw himself at Whateley who danced and dodged then connected with a couple of rights to the head and backed to the ropes. When Russell again lunged forward Whateley again dodged resulting in Russell leaning on the ropes looking out into the crowd and whilst Russell was in that position with his back to him Whateley curved a right around Russell which landed on the side of Russell’s head and sent him down on his back. Russell grasped the ropes trying to get up but the towel came in from Russell’s corner. The excessive arrogance and showmanship of Whateley (he makes Tyson Fury look conventional) will not be to everyone’s taste. The 29-year-old 6’5” Whateley has six wins by KO/TKO. He is a former Australian national champion and he represented Australia at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships as well as the 2016 Olympics-he raised money by crowd funding to cover his training costs for Rio- but did not medal in those competitions. Russell was making the first defence of the national title. Plovdiv, Bulgaria: Cruiser: Tervel Pulev (15-0) W PTS 10 DeShon Webster (12-3-2). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (19-2) W TKO 4 Osborn Machimana (23-14-2). Light Heavy: Spas Genov (12-0) W PTS 8 Levan Shonia (15-18). Pulev vs. Webster Pulev takes decision over Webster in a dull one-sided contest. This was mainly a battle of the jabs early but Pulev had Webster hurt with a powerful left hook to the body in the second. That was about it for excitement. Pulev had the stronger jab but he was really only using it to set Webster up for right crosses. Webster changed his tactic s from trying to box with Pulev to rushing in head down. When he did manage to get inside he was either holding or finding his head trapped under Pulev’s arm. The pattern did not change and it was a boring contests with no highlights. Scores 118-110 twice and 120-108 for Pulev. He wins the vacant WBA International title and in the crazy world of the WBA beating Webster for that title will get him a world rating. Never mind the quality look at the lovely shiny title belt! And don’t forget to send the sanctioning fee. In the amateurs Pulev, 36, won a gold and two silver medals at the European Championships and took bronze at the London Olympics losing to Oleg Usyk in the semi-finals. He had older brother Kubrat in his corner for this fight. Webster had a couple of reasonable performance this year in outpointing Marcus Oliveira and drawing with Al Sands but he certainly underperformed in this one. Dinu vs. Machimana Romanian Dinu stops South African Machimana in four rounds but this was just one obscene farce. Although Dinu was 2” taller than Machimana the South African at 323lbs was 75lbs heavier and most of it was around his middle. Dinu spent three rounds beating on the ponderous Machimana who absorbed the punches without throwing much back. In the fourth Dinu was again beating on Machimana who was propped up on the ropes. Dinu backed off and Machimana took a few steps forward but after a couple more punches the towel came in from Machimana’s corner which was strange timing. Other than putting some money in his pocket this farce will have done nothing towards rebuilding Dinu after consecutive losses to Jarrell Miller and Kubrat Pulev. Machimana had been knocked out in one round in a fight in September. Why anyone puts the obese Machimana on their show is a mystery to me. Genov vs. Shonia Genov makes one of his rare appearances and outpoints Georgian Shonia. Scores 79-73 twice and 79-74. Now 38 Genov won a trunk full of gold medals at some of the most prestigious tournaments on the European circuit but has had just 12 fights in 11 years as a pro. Poor Shonia is 1-12 in his last 13 outings. Ensenada, Mexico: Super Welter: Carlos Ocampo (27-1) W RTD 4 Adolfo Moreschi (11-5). Super Welter: Omar Aguilar (16-0) W KO 3 Francisco Hernandez (12-2-1). Ocampo continues his campaign to pad his record with easy wins as he beats down Argentinian novice Moreschi. From the first bell Ocampo bossed the fight connecting with accurate shots to the body. Moreschi did his best to counter but he just did not have the power or the experience to deal with Ocampo. After four one-sided rounds Moreschi stayed in his corner and did not come out for the fifth. Since his first round kayo loss against Errol Spencer for the IBF title in June last year Ocampo had fed on five relative novices. Moreschi was 1-3 in four domestic fights going into this one. Aguilar vs. Hernandez Angular was to have faced his first test of any kind against a fighter with a 16-0-1 record but somehow that was changed late and he had an easier job on his hands against Hernandez. Having said that he made it harder than it should have been. He put Hernandez down in the second and then down again and out in the third. The 20-year-old local showed the power that had seen him score eight first round victories in his first eight fights but also showed his defensive weaknesses as Hernandez was able to score with his jabs and some hard uppercuts before succumbing in the third. Bogo, Philippines: Super Bantam: Jeo Santisima (19-2) W RTD 3 Rene Dacquel (20-10-1). Too easy for Santisima as he pounds on a faded Dacquel for three rounds before Dacquel retires in his corner. Twenty-three-year-old Santisima has won his last 17 fights 15 of them inside the distance. Former OPBF super fly champion Dacquel had lost his last three fights but those losses include going the distance with Andrew Moloney and only being defeated on a split decision by South African Yanga Sigqibo in a fight for the vacant WBC International title but he was poor in this one. Manila, Philippines: Super Fly: Cris Paulino (21-4) W PTS 12 Mateo Handig (15-21). Super Feather: Dave Penalosa (16-1) W TKO 1 Virgil Puton (18-14-2). Bantam: Rey Gaballo (23-0) W TKO 6 Kongfah (32-3). Paulino vs. Handig Paulino wins the vacant Philippines title with decision over Handig. The 26-year-old southpaw has won 7 of his last 8 fight losing only to Jason Moloney in that sequence. Fellow southpaw Handig suffers his fifth loss in a row. Penalosa vs. Puton Penalosa blasts out a gutsy Puton in the first. Penalosa softened Puton up with a succession of body punches that forced Puton to the canvas. He looked very unsteady but was allowed to continue. Penalosa sunk more vicious hooks into the body of Puton who tried to punch with Penalosa. As Penalosa piled on the punches Puton looked to be out on his feet but somehow still pushed out punches and refused to go down and the referee stepped in to save him. First fight for southpaw Penalosa since losing on points to Lerato Dlamini for the WBC Silver title in July. Puton is 1-6-2 in his last 9 fights and needs protecting from himself. Gaballo vs. Kongfah Former undefeated interim WBA bantam champion batters Thai Kongfah to defeat in six rounds. Gaballo wound up the pressure round by round slowly breaking down the Thai. In the sixth a right to the head sent Kongfah back into a corner spread-eagled against the ring post. The fight should have been stopped then but instead Gaballo continued to land rights as poor Kongfah stumbled to-and-fro along the ropes with no defence and out on his feet. Finally the fight was stopped six or seven punches later than it should have been. The 23-year-old General Santos City “Assassin” goes to 20 wins by KO/TKO . The bantamweight is a tough division but Gaballo looks a danger man. First inside the distance defeat for Kongfah (Chaiwat Buatkrathok) . Koscierzyna, Poland: Cruiser: Nikodem Jezewski (18-0-1,1ND) W PTS 8 Tamas Lodi (20-13-1). Fighting in his home town Jezewski celebrates being designated official challenger for the vacant European Union title with victory over Hungarian Lodi. Jezewski put Lodi down in the seventh but was unable to put him away and had to settle for a points win. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-71 for Jezewski. The 6’3”, 28-year-old Jezewski is waiting to find out who his opponent will be for the EU title fight. Lodi drops to 2-7 in his last 9 fights. Cape Town, South Africa: Heavy: Thembani Mbangatha (11-0) W TKO 2 Aphiwe Masengwana (8-4). Feather : Abdul Aziz Kunert (10-0) W TKO 1 Mfusi Maxhayi (14-8-1). Mbangatha vs. Masengwana Former WBFederation African champion Mbangatha floors Masengwana in the first and repeats the feat in the second to stop Masengwana. Five wins by KO/TKO for “Baby Jake” the South African No 5. Masengwana the South African No 2 had won 3 of his last 4 fights Kunert v. Maxhayi Local prospect Kunert crashes the national rankings with first round stoppage of more experienced Maxhayi. Only the second inside the distance win for the 25-year-old Kunert. Southpaw Maxhayi a former South African super bantamweight title challenger was ranked No 3 and had won his last three fights. Kunert and Mbangatha will probably meet next year to settle local bragging rights. South African heavyweight champion Ruann Visser was to have been in the main event on this show but whilst waiting in the ring for the introductions he leant back against the ropes as boxers often do but the ropes collapsed and he fell out of the ring and after being examined by a doctor it was decided he should not fight. Zaragoza, Spain: Super Welter: Ezequiel Gurria (12-0) W Jony Vina (9-4). Neighbourhood fighter Gurria collects the vacant Spanish title with points victory over Vina. Gurria had the better skills and floored Vina early in the third with a left hook. Vina managed to beat the count but was never really in the fight to any significant degree and Gurria was a comfortable winner. All three judges gave him the decision on scores of 98-91. He will now be looking to make his first defence against David Soria early in 2020. Former Spanish welterweight title challenger Vina had won his last two fights and only quality punchers Josh Kelly and Aitor Nieto have beaten him inside the distance. Fribourg, Switzerland: Cruiser: Benoit Huber (6-1) W Seid Dzemaili (8-0) Huber comes from behind to win the vacant national cruiser title with late stoppage of Dzemaili. Huber attacked hard early with Dzemaili under a lot of pressure but staying cool and collected. Huber’s defence is not too sound and Dzemaili began to find gaps and connect with some heavy punches. Huber fought back but was behind on two cards at the start of the tenth. He turned things around by shaking Dzemaili and then putting him down with a left hook with the referee stopping the fight with less than one minute remaining. Five wins by KO/TKO now for the 32-year-old new champion who did not turn pro until he was 31. Southpaw Dzemaili will be hoping for a return match next year. Fight of the week (Significance): Shared between Terrence Crawford’s win over Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Teo Lopez’s victory over Richard Commey. Both have some big fights out there for them Fight of the week (Entertainment): Nothing stood out for sheer action from bell to bell Fighter of the week: Teo Lopez for his crushing win over a never before stopped tough Richard Commey Punch of the week: So many to chose from. I go for the right that Lopez drilled Commey with but the right uppercut from Crawford that unhinged the legs of challenger Kavaliauskas and the right cross from Erik Bazinyan that ended any interest Saul Roman had in their fight were special Upset of the week: No biggies although Ricards Bolotniks stopping Steve Ward inside a round was something of a surprise Prospect watch: Uzbek Bektemir Melikuziev , 23,a silver medal winner in Rio won his first pro title in his fourth fight so could go far. In November we counted down a number of honourable mentions for our 20 for 20. Now it's time to look at the 20 fighters who have managed to make it into the list properly, and they come from all over Asia and all over the weight classes. Some of these you may already be aware of, some are perhaps less well known, but either way these 20 men are going to be well worth following in the new year as they look to push forward in their career and move towards major success. For these fighters we will look at the the reason why you should follow them, our expectations for them in the coming year and the issues they may face going forward. The one rule with all of these fighters is that they can't have fought for a world title at the time of writing. Some of these are world ranked, and some of these may well be set for world title fights in the near future, but so far they have not had that top level bout. Without any further ado, lets take a look at the man we have ranked #12 in our list of Ones to watch in 2020, and began our count down to the man we rank #1 Who? Taku Kuwahara (7-0, 4) Age? 24 Where? Japan What weight? Flyweight Why? The Ohashi gym have proven they know how to handle talent, taking Naoya Inoue, Katsushige Kawashima, Ayaka Miyao and Akira Yaegashi to world titles. The head of the gym, the fantastic Hideyuki Ohashi, is himself a former world champion as well and the gym has enough brains to really know how to guide talented fighter to the top. With that in mind we start this by saying that Taku Kuwahara is probably the best Ohashi Gym fighter to have not won a title, of any kind, but that's likely to change in 2020. The talented 24 year old has been frequently compared to Kazuto Ioka, with the Japanese press regularly referring to him as "Ioka II" and although he's not quite on Ioka's level you can see they do have things in common. Not only did they both attend the same educational facility but they are both talented fighters who have crisp punching, fight with smart pressure, though lovely combinations and have particularly good body shots, a trade mark for both men. Kuwahara has lot of reasons to follow him. Not only is the Ohashi gym pushing him as a future star, and not only is his an exceptional talent, but 2020 is expected to be the year where he goes out there and begins to collect gold. As we've seen with Ohashi gym fighters in the past when they are ready for titles Ohashi pushes them for titles, rather than wasting time with talk and bluster, and Kuwahara is certainly at the point where he's ready for serious tests. What do we expect? With 7 fights under his belt, a couple of completed 8 rounder and 4 fights in 2019, including a massive step up in class, it's clear that the fighter is wanting to go places, his team know he has the talent and together they have the drive. The minimum expectation we have of Taku Kuwahara in 2020 is for him to win his first title, which we expect to be a regional belt. With that belt we expect to see the youngster breaking into the world rankings and fighting against a fellow ranked fighter by the end of the year. Kuwahara certainly needs more fights before fighting for a world title, his relative lack of experience and limited opposition make it clear that he needs more ring time before thinking about world titles. However an OPBF champion in these lower weights to tend to be fringe world class, and a bout against a world ranked opponent after that will certainly be 2 solid fights that will help Kuwahara develop his experience. One other thing we would expect from Kuwahara is to face off with a Western opponent of some kind. To date all of his opponents have been from Asia, so it would be good to see him in with a tough Mexican or a Puerto Rican later in 2020. Concerns? Whist we have no real concerns over Kuwahara the fighter, he looks like a complete package even if he has now gone the distance in back to back fights, there are still question marks regarding how his career will go from here, and how well it can be managed. Whilst we do think the Ohashi is great, and the way they've developed fighters over the years has certainly been more exciting than we've seen from many other promoters, there is a worry they are spreading themselves a bit thin. The company, who maintain an interest in Naoya Inoue and Andy Hiraoka, will see their focus split between East and West and it may mean that a fighter like Kuwahara doesn't get the time they deserve. It's not happened yet, but might in 2020. On the flipside of that the links up with Top Rank from some of the more marketable stars in the gym may well turn out to be a positive for fighters like Kuwahara who could be fighting on US soil on an Inoue undercard, if things fall in place. So there is a worry he could be over-looked, but on the other hand that worry could be alleviated and quickly become a positive, if things go well for his US based stablemates. Unfortunately we don't have much professional footage of Kuwahara so we've included an amateur bout of him below from 2014, in a tournament in Taiwan. (Image courtesy of Boxkob.jp) In November we counted down a number of honourable mentions for our 20 for 20. Now it's time to look at the 20 fighters who have managed to make it into the list properly, and they come from all over Asia and all over the weight classes. Some of these you may already be aware of, some are perhaps less well known, but either way these 20 men are going to be well worth following in the new year as they look to push forward in their career and move towards major success. For these fighters we will look at the the reason why you should follow them, our expectations for them in the coming year and the issues they may face going forward. The one rule with all of these fighters is that they can't have fought for a world title at the time of writing. Some of these are world ranked, and some of these may well be set for world title fights in the near future, but so far they have not had that top level bout. Without any further ado, lets take a look at the man we have ranked #13 in our list of Ones to watch in 2020, and began our count down to the man we rank #1 Who? Apinun Khongsong/Downua Ruawaiking (16-0, 13) Age? 23 Where? Thailand What weight? Light Welterweight Why? When a fighter is on the verge of a world title fight they are really are one to take not of, almost by default, especially when that title fight would be in a division that has international appeal. That however isn't the only reason to take note of Downua Ruawaiking, aka Apinun Khongsong, who is the IBF mandatory challenger at 140lbs. In fact there is a lot more to the Thai than just his mandatory situation, he is a big, talented, smart, hard hitting fighter in a division that we rarely see Thai's making a mark in. The unbeaten 23 year old is a talented boxer-puncher who had been making a name for himself in Thailand with wins against lower level regional fighters until 2019. It was this past February that he fought outside of Thailand for the first time, and he left a real impact by stopping Japanese veteran Akihiro Kondo in 6 rounds, scoring one of the most eye catching KO's of the year. That win set him up for a shot at the eventual WBSS winner at 140lbs, and left him in a situation where the key was to tick over and bide his time, rather than risk his ranking. Although certainly not a big name outside of his homeland his win over Kondo showed he was a legitimate fighter, a real brutal puncher and someone who could perform on foreign soil It was the sort of win that instantly puts a fighter on the map, and stopping a man who had fought for a world title just 3 fights earlier, when Kondo went 12 rounds with Sergey Lipinets, was impressive. What do we expect? We're realists and we know the clamour internationally isn't for Downua to fight Josh Taylor. In fact the reality is that no one outside of Thailand is even thinking about that fight, especially given that other options on the table for Taylor, but we do expect to see the Thai get a title shot at some point during the next 12 months. He would be a big under-dog but we still see him getting a shot. Prior to a title fight we expect the title scene at 140lbs to change quite dramatically, and wouldn't be surprised to see the Thai waiting until quite late in the year for his shot. Sadly that will mean stay busy fights whilst the IBF, and their champion, sort things out. It seems likely that the champion's will look to take part in an undisputed unification bout at some point in the new year, with Jose Carlos Ramirez, and that really is the bout to make at 140lbs. Hopefully after that happens the Thai will get his shot, however he is very much a low reward opponent and has little value to a champion who may not be in a rush to risk anything against him. Basically the division will move on before Downua gets a title fight, but he'll be linger waiting for the opportunity he earned in 2019. Concerns? He is truly part of the "who needs him?" club. The IBF won't want to shoot themselves in the foot or strip Taylor, to give Downua a shot, likewise Downua lacks the political backing to force the bout on his terms, and his team aren't going to be winning any sort of purse bids. The reality is that he's a mandatory without the finances needed to make the most of his shot, and is likely getting his shot as, and when, the IBF deem fit. Adding to the awkward position he's in there is always, as we've seen numerous times with Thai's, also the chance he simply doesn't travel well. Yeah he good in Japan, but Thailand to Japan is much less of a trek than Thailand to the UK, where he will likely need to be to face Taylor. At the age of 23 his team might also take the odd, though maybe understandable, decision to decline an immediate title shot, if offered, so that their man can get a bit more experience. He's only had 62 rounds as a professional and has only gone beyond 6 rounds once. If offered the right step aside money they may well take the money and try to develop Downua, rather than let him fight for the title. At the moment it's really hard to understand what exactly the future holds for the young Thai, but he is in a great position and one we hope he can make the most of. On December 21st fight fans will see former Japanese Heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto (21-1, 13) take part in his first bout on international soil, as he travels over to London, England, to take on the unbeaten 22 year old hopeful Daniel Dubois (13-0, 12). It is the biggest bout in history for a Japanese Heavyweight fighter, and it features a man who has essentially held together the Japanese and regional title scenes in the last few years, acting as a lynch pin the local scene. Despite how significant Kyotaro has been for the Japanese, Oriental and Asian Heavyweight scene he is a bit of an unknown to a wider audience, such as the British one he will be fighting in front of later in the month. With that in mind he seems a perfect fighter to put under a microscope and look at in more detail. The 33 year old boxer has certainly had a weird journey to get to where he is, and although he's far too obscure to deserve some kind of biopic, he's had a professional sporting career that could make an interesting movie all the same. Born in Osaka in 1986 Kyotaro Fujimoto's first sporting career wasn't actually in boxing. Instead he was a professional kick boxer, competing in minor kick boxing leagues from the age of 19 as "Kyotaro Ranger". His kick boxing career went on to bloom and as a professional boxer he ran up a reported 18-5 (9) record. Whilst Kyotaro didn't stay kick boxing for long he did achieve quite a lot, winning the K1 Heavyweight championship in 2009 and scored notable wins over the likes of Mighty Mo, Melvin Manhoef, Gokhan Seki, Pater Aerts and Jerome Le Banner. Despite his success fans didn't always enjoy his style, which was negative, and did little to interest the viewing public. He was charismatic, but unenjoyable to watch and certainly not a fan favourite that you'd expect from someone who was quite flamboyant outside of the ring. With 2 losses in 2009, including one to Tyrone Spong who has also turned to professional boxing, and two more in 2010, including one to Semmy Schilt, Kyotaro closed out his career at a point where it seemed he had lost his ambition for the sport. He then began to look for a new avenue for his career and found professional wrestling. In 2011, Kyotaro announced his intention was to leave the world of kick boxing behind him and move on to professional wrestling, and he was given an offer to join All Japan Pro Wrestling, the historic rival to New Japan Professional Wrestling. He would wrestling in an event that summer and seemed like that was going to be the route for him. On paper it allowed him to use his size and combat sport experience, along with his personality and flair, to become a star, without taking significant punishment. It's here that we should mention professional wrestling in Japan is less "safe" than in the USA. High risk moves are done in major Japanese promotions, and whilst injuries are still rare wrestlers do tend to get banged up a bit more often, though they do have less intensive schedules than their WWE counterparts. Kyotaro then decided that wrestling wasn't going to be for him, and instead he signed papers with the Kadoebi gym to become a professional boxer, and seemed to suggest that he would be able to fight as either a Heavyweight, albeit a small one, or a Cruiserweight. Despite only deciding to go the boxing route in the second half on 2011 his combat sport experience allowed Kyotaro's team to put him on a relatively tough schedule of fights. He debuted at the very end of 2011 and within a year he was 5-0 (3) with a notable 10 round win over Chauncy Welliver, who was fighting in his 55th professional bout. Sadly ambition got too much too soon and on December 31st 2012 Kyotaro fought for the OPBF Heavyweight title against the limited, but heavy handed Solomon Haumono. The hard hitting "Solo" managed to do what no other Kyotaro opponent had done up to this stage. Haumono had come to the ring in decent shape, full of hunger and pressured Kyotaro with some intensity. It was a style that meant Kyotaro was on his bike even more than usual, and in round 5 the visitor did what he needed to, catching up Kyotaro and battering him against the ropes. Kyotaro was dropped about 35 seconds into round 5 and then again about 25 seconds later before the referee waved off the bout, crowning Haumono the new OPBF champion. The loss put the brakes on Kyotaro's and saw him change focus from regional titles to more local success, and in 2013 the Japanese Boxing Commission finally re-activated the Japanese Heavyweight title, which hadn't been seen since the 1950's. Kyotaro fought Japanese based Ugandan Okello Peter for the belt, whilst the same had Kotatsu Takehara take on Rio Hidaka in an eliminator. Kyotaro would defeat the 41 year old Peter, in 6 rounds, to claim the newly active title, and then take a narrow decision win over Takehara in a mandatory defense of the belt. Surprisingly it was around this time that Nobuhiro Ishida announced he wanted a shot at the Japanese Heavyweight title, and he began to bulk up for a shot. The JBC were pretty much against a title fight, given the natural size difference between the two men, though allowed them to fight in an 8 round bout. Essentially allowing Ishida to prove himself as a Heavyweight in a lower risk fight than a 10 round title bout. Surprisingly Ishida give Kyotaro all he could handle in their 8 round bout, and was unlucky not to take the decision, with Kyotaro taking a narrow decision win in April 2014. Following Kyotaro's win over Ishida he would defend his title for a second time against Takehara, stopping the veteran this time around, then take a decision over Frenchman David Radeff, before a rematch with Ishida. This time the belt was on the line, but like their first bout there was little to split the men, with Kyotaro taking a razor thin split decision over Ishida to record his third, and final, defense of the title. Having made 3 defenses of the Japanese belt, and running out of suitable challenger Kyotaro before to look back to the regional scene. After picking up 3 easy wins in 8 rounders he then took on the slow, out shape, but heavy handed, Willie Nasiio for the OPBF title. This time Kyotaro would have the speed needed to avoid his opponent, rack up rounds and take the Oriental belt, becoming the first Japanese born OPBF Heavyweight champion. Kyotaro would then stop Herman Ene Purcell to add the WBO Asia Pacific title to his collection, becoming the first Japanese Heavyweight triple crown winner, unifying the Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific belts. The regional titles would be defended together 3 times, all by stoppage before Kyotaro seemed to vanish off the map, spending almost 13 months out of the ring. When Kyotaro returned to action, this past October, it was in disappointing fashion, stopping Thai Suthat Kalalek, aka Kajornsak Saikaew Boxing Camp, the same man he had beaten in his previous bout. He revealed around this same time that he had considered retirement, and was wanting big fights to keep him interested in the sport. It was strange to think that he had failed to secure a big bout with the likes of Joseph Parker, especially given the two had come incredibly close to signing for a bout, but for whatever reason Kyotaro was unable to get into the ring with a notable name. Thankfully just a few weeks ago Frank Warren announced that his rising star, Daniel Dubois, would be facing Kyotaro next. For Dubois this will be his 5th bout of the year whilst Kyotaro lands his the big fight he has wanted, and fights outside of Japan for the first time. For those who haven't seen Kyotaro we have included a video below, though we'll go on to describe his style anyway. He's regarded as a small Heavyweight with a style similar to a Cruiserweight who has moved up. It'd be unfair to describe him as a poor man's Oleksandr Usyk, as he's more like a bankrupt version. His style has had success regionally, due to the limitations of his opposition, but taking on someone with the aggression and power of Dubois will see Kyotaro's style have limited, if any, success. Although we don't see Kyotaro putting up any sort of a challenge to Dubois, it's still great to see a Japanese Heavyweight fighting in a high profile bout, just a shame it won't end well for the man from the land of the rising sun. In November we counted down a number of honourable mentions for our 20 for 20. Now it's time to look at the 20 fighters who have managed to make it into the list properly, and they come from all over Asia and all over the weight classes. Some of these you may already be aware of, some are perhaps less well known, but either way these 20 men are going to be well worth following in the new year as they look to push forward in their career and move towards major success. For these fighters we will look at the the reason why you should follow them, our expectations for them in the coming year and the issues they may face going forward. The one rule with all of these fighters is that they can't have fought for a world title at the time of writing. Some of these are world ranked, and some of these may well be set for world title fights in the near future, but so far they have not had that top level bout. Without any further ado, lets take a look at the man we have ranked #14 in our list of Ones to watch in 2020, and began our count down to the man we rank #1 Who? Ali Akhmedov (16-0, 12) Age? 24 Where? Kazakhstan (but based in the US) What weight? Super Middleweight Why? The Kazakh boxing scene is only a year or two from losing Gennady Golovkin as it's focal point, and finding his successor is a key to maintaining the Kazakh fan base which has grown around Golovkin. With that in mind we probably need and aggressive, exciting and hard hitting fighter to build around. In steps Super Middleweight prospect Ali Akhmedov, who has power, aggression, a good look and a very exciting style. He is someone who ticks almost every box and at only 24 years old he could be the long term successor to Golovkin. Unlike Golovkin Akhmedov doesn't have a legendary amateur career that "GGG" used to help build his professional legacy, but he has youth and he's been based in the US for his formative boxing years. Golovkin was 30 when he made his US debut against Grzegorz Proksa in 2012, in what was his 24th professional bout. Whilst his landing in the US was big, it had taken more than 6 years to kick off the most exciting part of his career. Akhmedov on the other hand has been fighting in the US since 2017, making his US debut in his 8th bout, and really generating a buzz in his early 20's. He's not the natural talent Golovkin is, but he's managed to make the switch to the US very early, and with his style there is no reason that Akhmedov can't become a star. What do we expect? With 3 fights in 2019 Akhmedov has been busy but underwhelming in the last 12 months. He fought just 12 rounds, and his final bout of the year was a farce against late replacement Andrew Hernandez. We expect his level of competition to increase markedly in 2020. No more late replacement, opponents or rick over fights and instead more testing opponents and top 50 type of foes. He has the potential to fight at a high level in the coming years but needs to be given the developmental fights to prepare for world class fighters. Likewise Akhmedov's profile and name also needs increasing, and for that we need to see him in with "known" opponents. No more Mike Guys and Marcus McDaniel's and instead someone like Ryno Liebenberg, Ryan Ford, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna or Peter Quillin. Sure not all of those opponents are likely to watch to face a rising Kazakh puncher but they are the type of opponents his team need to be looking at. We'd hope that Akhmedov can land a big fight by the end of the year and can really begin to connect with a more casual boxing audience. Concerns? Given that Akhmedov has an exciting style there are going to be major concerns on what happens when he can't blitz opponents, when they tag him back and what his chin is like. It could take a while to really find out about his chin and stamina, especially given the way he is blowing away opponents, but so far the concern is that he may not take a shot as well as he delivers one. A bigger concern is that he will always be compared to Golovkin. That's not a huge issue to begin with, but longer term it could be a real negative for Akhmedov, who could end up with a huge shadow hanging over him, and that could be very hard to shake. Another concern is that Akhmedov may not have the full backing of his team, or their full belief, at least that's a feeling from his match ups this year. If they continue to match him softly it could cause him to regress and see him fall short of his potential. Hopefully this concern will be allied in 2020, when he fingers crossed, is matched much tougher than he has been. When we talk about really great fights what we love is the complete package. High quality boxing, drama, excitement, and momentum swings. Whilst we don't really mind too much on the profile of the bout we do love to see bouts that swing one way and then the other. Today we bring you one such bout, that featured a knockdown early, a point deduction, a fight back and saw a brawl take the fight to a boxer. Better yet this bout really does come from deep inside out vault, with this Closet Classic taking place way back in 1972 and features a legitimate legend. The Fight Masao Oba (32-2-1, 13) vs Orlando Amores (27-1, 18) Japan's Masao Ohba, the Eternal Champion, is regarded as one of Japan's all time greats despite passing away at just 23. He's arguably the greatest unfulfilled talent in boxing history, and despite passing away so young had a career that many fighters would have wished they could have matched. In just 38 career bouts he would beat the likes of Bernabe Villacampo, Berkrerk Chartvanchai, Betulio Gonzalez, Susumu Hanagata and Chartchai Chionoi. In the ring he was a pure joy to watch, a fantastic technical boxer who moved well and judges distance fantastically. Here he was just 22 years old, here he was seeking his 4th defense of the title just 20 months after winning it. As well as the 4 defenses he had also fit in 3 non-title bouts, including a win over Fritz Chervet. Panama's Orlando Amores is sadly not a well remembered fighter, which is a shame as he was a very fan friendly and aggressive fighter who should be more fondly remembered than he is. Sadly though he came around in an era where Panama had a few icons with fighters like Roberto Duran, Ernesto Marcel and Ismael Laguna as well world champions like Jaime Rios and Enrique Pinder. Coming in to this bout the then 24 year old had only suffered a single loss, coming way back in 1968 against Luis Carlos Urrunaga. He had bounced back with 18 straight wins, 12 of which had come by T/KO and included wins over future Bantamweight champion Enrique Pinder, future world title challenger Nestor Jimenez, future Minimumweight champion Luis Estaba and a win in a rematch with Urrunaga. From the opening moments it was clear that both men were there to win, and to do so impressively, with Oba looking to set the pace. He paid for that when Amores began to press forward and caught Oba with a huge left hook on the jaw. It send Oba down, though he got to his feet quickly. That spurred on Amores who pressed hard, and tried to take Oba out with calculated pressure and huge, booming right hands. In round 2 Oba managed to get behind his razor jab and force Amores backward at times, but the man from Panama continues to look for, and land big shots, though it was he that took a big one, and was dropped in the second round. With both men knowing they could put the other down there was a sense of danger and that added to the drama and excitement as the bout went on. This was a bout with everything, and deserves a series amount of attention, even now, almost 50 years on! In November we counted down a number of honourable mentions for our 20 for 20. Now it's time to look at the 20 fighters who have managed to make it into the list properly, and they come from all over Asia and all over the weight classes. Some of these you may already be aware of, some are perhaps less well known, but either way these 20 men are going to be well worth following in the new year as they look to push forward in their career and move towards major success. For these fighters we will look at the the reason why you should follow them, our expectations for them in the coming year and the issues they may face going forward. The one rule with all of these fighters is that they can't have fought for a world title at the time of writing. Some of these are world ranked, and some of these may well be set for world title fights in the near future, but so far they have not had that top level bout. Without any further ado, lets take a look at the man we have ranked #15 in our list of Ones to watch in 2020, and began our count down to the man we rank #1 Who? Shuichiro Yoshino (11-0, 9) Age? 28 Where? Japan What weight? Lightweight Why? Seeing fighters unify titles is what we want to see, especially at the top level. World title unifications are, whether we admit it or not, usually the biggest bouts and the best vs the best. Whilst Shuichiro Yoshino isn't at world level we did see 2019 become a huge year for him as he unified the Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight titles to become the undisputed champion of the Asian scene. Seeing a fighter do that really suggests they are ready to step up a level, and stepping up a level from Asian title level puts Yoshino into the mix for world level, or at least fringe world level. In 2019 Masayoshi Nakatani, the previous OPBF Lightweight champion, surprised American fans by giving Teofimo Lopez a tough test. It's also worth noting that other Japanese fighters who have held the OPBF Lightweight title include Nihito Arakawa, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, Tsuyoshi Hamada and the legendary Guts Ishimatsu. All of whom have made a mark at the top level, win or lose, and we see Yoshino genuinely getting into the mix in 2020. He may not win at the highest level, but he will certainly be able to hold his own with other fringe world level fighters. For those who haven't seen Yoshino he has a fan friendly style, and we wouldn't be surprised at all if an American promoted brought him to the US late in 2020 with the plan for something bigger in 2021. What do we expect? With a Japanese, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific title around his waist there's only really 2 options for Yoshino now. He can either look to settle at regional level, following Masayoshi Nakatani who wasted years of his career defending the OPBF title when he had the potential to do so much more, or he can look to move forward and chase bigger fights. To begin we do hope to see him defending his regional titles, at least once. There are good options for him on the regional scene George Kambosos, Jr., Xiangxiang Sun and even Jorge Linares, who is still popular in Japan and would serve as a perfect stepping stone opponent towards world level. Even if Linares is a faded force. After a defense or two of his title, or titles as the case may be, it would be great for him to face some more well known international names. Maybe some former contender type, like a Raymundo Beltran or Sharif Bogere, to boost his name on the international stage. Better yet would be an American debut, maybe even on the under-card of a Lightweight world title bout to try and build him as a possible future challenger. Concerns? The biggest problems with Yoshino are less things we've spotted, and more things have gone unanswered. He has often looked too calm in the ring, too lazy at times, and been happy to rely on his power and skills to turn fights on when he wishes. It's a great trait to have in many ways, but something he needs to get out of his system before fighting against a world class opponent. The top guys won't fade and let him turn things around like some of his opponents have. It is however a little bit unfair to criticise Yoshino too much given that each bout is still a learning experience for a man with only 11 bouts and 50 rounds under his belt. On a similar note we're unsure about Yoshino's stamina, and he has never seen round 10 before. He's looked comfortable going 7, 8 and 9 rounds, but will that carry up to 12 rounds? Likewise will he be comfortable fighting at a higher pace set by his opponent? Likewise we wonder what his chin really like? Sadly the biggest concern for Yoshino isn't him, but the others in the division. The Lightweight division is strong, and that strength could be too much for Yoshino with the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Richard Commey, Luke Campbell and Teofimo Lopez all in and around the top of the division. By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Anthony Joshua regains the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO titles with wide unanimous decision over Andy Ruiz -Filipino Jerwin Ancajas stops Miguel Gonzalez in six rounds in the eighth defence of the IBF super flyweight belt -Emanuel Navarrete destroys Francisco Horta in four rounds in WBO super bantamweight title defence -Jermall Charlo halts Dennis Hagan in seven rounds in first defence of the WBC middleweight title -In an interim WBA super middleweight clash Chris Eubank gets win over Matt Korobov when Korobov is unable to continue after injuring his shoulder in the second round -Ryosuke Iwasa scores late stoppage victory over Marlon Tapales in fight for interim IBF super flyweight title -In heavyweight action Alex Povetkin and Mike Hunter draw and Dylan Whyte and Filip Hrgovic score wins in Saudi Arabia -Ismael Barroso posts upset victory over Yves Ulysse -David Lemieux moves up to super middleweight and just scrapes by with a split verdict over Maksym Bursak -Sergio Garcia retains the European super welterweight title with points win against Fouad El Massoudi -Tim Tszyu goes to 15-0, 11 wins by KO/TKO with stoppage of Jack Brubaker as he continues to follow in his father’s footsteps WORLD TITLE SHOWS December 7 Diriyah, Saudi Arabia: Heavy: Anthony Joshua (23-1) W PTS 12 Andy Ruiz (33-2). Heavy: Alex Povetkin (35-2-1) DREW 12 Mike Hunter (18-1-1). Heavy: Filip Hrgovic (10-0) W KO 3 Eric Molina (27-6). Heavy: Dillian Whyte (27-1) W PTS 10 Mariusz Wach (35-6). Heavy: Mahammadrasul Majidov (2-0) W TKO 2 Tom Little (10-8). Middle: Diego Pacheco (8-0) W KO 1 Selemani Saidi (20-16-5). Joshua vs. Ruiz Joshua outclasses an overweight and undertrained Ruiz to regain the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO titles in far from exciting clash where the result was all that mattered for Joshua and he stuck to the game plan all the way. Round 1 It was strange to see a slim line Joshua just circling Ruiz prodding with his jab. Ruiz just could not get near enough to land anything but when Joshua let his hands go at the end of the round he looked to have shaken Ruiz with a right and opened a cut over the left eye of Ruiz. Score: 10-9 Joshua Round 2 Even with two big men in the ring looked huge. It was bigger than their fight in June and Joshua used all of it as he circled Ruiz spearing him with jabs and landing an occasional right. When he did stand and trade he banged home a good right but was cut over his left eye in a clash of heads. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 20-18 Round 3 Ruiz was looking ponderous and slow because he was ponderous and slow. He just could not move fast enough to cut off the ring so Joshua was able to score with his jab and just throw one quick burst of punches which was enough to win the round. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 30-27 Round 4 There was a bit more heat in this round as Ruiz did a bit better at closing Joshua down. Joshua was still rocking Ruiz’s head with jabs and dropping in a couple of rights. They finally traded some punches just before the bell with Ruiz landing a couple of clubbing rights to the side of Joshua’s head which had people holding their breath but Joshua shook them off. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 40-36 Round 5 No need for Joshua to take risks and he didn’t. He continued to circle Ruiz jarring him with jabs and trying a couple of right crosses but kept moving frustrating Ruiz’s effort to get close enough to land a punch. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 50-45 Round 6 Joshua opened the round catching the advancing Ruiz with three rights but then went back to moving and jabbing with Ruiz too slow to block the jabs, Ruiz needed Joshua to either stand still or come to him but Joshua did neither and put another round in his pocket. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 60-54 Round 7 Ruiz forced a bit harder in this round but the combination of Joshua’s reach, height and movement made it hard for Ruiz to land any telling shots. Joshua connected with a left hook and two right crosses but Ruiz was unmoved. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 70-63 Round 8 Finally a round for Ruiz. Joshua was not using his jab as much and Ruiz was able to close the distance and he landed a couple of good hooks that had Joshua scrambling to hold. Ruiz kept up the pressure and sent Joshua stumbling with a left hook but was too slow to follow up on that success. Score: 10-9 Ruiz Joshua 79-73 Round 9 Back to basics for Joshua. Plenty of movement quick jabs and occasion long shots to the body. At times you could see him restraining himself from jumping in throwing punches but he did let himself off the leash briefly and connected with a series of head punches. Ruiz just stalked in vain. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 89-82 Round 10 Move and jab and throw an occasional right that was yet again Joshua’s strategy and it was working from a point of view of winning but not entertaining but then this was about taking care of business. Ruiz just could not get close enough to threaten Joshua. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 99-91 Round 11 Ruiz was showing signs of desperation as he swung wildly anytime he got near Joshua. Joshua just stuck to the game plan spearing Ruiz with jabs and any time Ruiz did get close grabbing hold of Ruiz to stop him scoring. Not many punches were being landed but Joshua was the one landing them. Score: 10-9 Joshua Joshua 109-100 Round 12 On a couple of occasions we saw a glimpse of the more recognisable Joshua as he landed a hard left hook and the two best rights he had produced in the fight. He continued to dance and jab and ignored a final invitation from Ruiz to stand and fight as he cruised to the bell. Score 10-9 Joshua Joshua 119-109 Official Scores: 118-110 twice and 119-109 for Joshua Joshua is champion again after a fight which was too one-sided to be entertaining and in which he very rarely took any chances although his discipline was admirable some fire would have been nice to see. It is suggested that Kubrat Pulev in London in May could be Joshua’s next outing. Meanwhile the triumvirate of Joshua-Wilder and Fury will rule the headlines again. Ruiz disrespected the title by partying it away. He was pathetic here just a fat guy relying on wild swipes. Hopefully he will get serious again as there are plenty of big money options for him. Povetkin vs. Hunter Povetkin and Hunter fight to a split draw in an entertaining heavyweight duel. No study time here as Hunter makes a fast start. He was getting his punches off first and scoring with shots to the head with Povetkin unable to get his jab working and being constantly on the defensive. A right cross had Povetkin stumbling in the second as Hunter continued to control the action. The first sniff of success for Povetkin came at the end of the round when he staggered Hunter with a right. Povetkin worked his way into the fight over the third and fourth as he finally had his jab working and some of the fire went out of Hunter’s attacks. A pivotal moment came in the fifth. Povetkin finally let fly with his favoured left hooks and drove Hunter back across the ring. Hunter fell backward into the ropes which held him up. That could and perhaps should have been counted a knockdown but with only a split second to decide the refer saw it as Hunter being off balance but it certainly looked like a knockdown should have been registered. The pace dropped over the sixth and seventh with neither fighter able to dominate but with Povetkin just looking to have done the better work. Hunter seemed to outwork a tiring Povetkin in the eighth and ninth only for Povetkin to connect with some good rights in the tenth. Hunter had a big eleventh. He hurt Povetkin inside and then drove Povetkin back scoring with a series of punches including a neck-snapping right cross. That gave Hunter a slight lead going into the last but he blew it there. Hunter fought like a man who thought he only needed to get through the last three minutes to win but that allowed Povetkin to do the better work and win the round. Scores 115-113 Hunter, 115-113 Povetkin and 114-114. The draw helps neither fighter but it looked the right result. At 40 and in the top ten of the IBF, WBA and WBC the most the Russian can hope for is one more title shot but that seems a long way away. Hunter showed he belongs in the heavyweight ranking but the extra 30lbs he has put on to get him there has came at the expense of some speed. Hrgovic vs. Molina Hrgovic scores kayo of Molina but is fortunate to get away with punches to the back of the head in all three rounds. He tracked the retreating Molina around the ring with Molina just skating around the ropes. Hrgovic connected with some powerful straight rights but with Molina ducking under his punches Hrgovic was landing to the back of Molina’s head throughout the round particularly just before the bell when Molina ducked lower and lower until he was kneeling on the canvas. No count but no warning for the punches to the back of the head. Hrgovic pushed a ducking Molina to the floor at the start of the second. Molina came alive striding forward throwing wide swinging rights. A number of them landed on Hrgovic’s head but the Croatian shook them off and landed a big right to the head and a left to the body that dropped Molina to his knees. Molina needed his mouthguard replaced which gave him an extra few seconds relief and he survived a couple more chopping punches to the back of his head before the bell. Molina tried a few wild swings in the third connecting with a couple. Hrgovic began to land some heavy punches and as Molina ducked low Hrgovic landed a chopping right to the back of Molina’s head and he went down and just failed to beat the count. The 27-year-old Croat retains the WBC International title with his eighth win by KO/TKO. He is showing improvements but his defence is anything but solid and he flirts with disqualification with those deliberate punches to the back of the head. At 37 and having only his second fight in two years Molina was no real test for Hrgovic. Whyte vs. Wach Whyte celebrates his emergence from the shadow of a possible ban with a points win over Pole Wach. Whyte took the fight at relatively late notice and he weighed a career highest. The 6’7 ½” Wach had a much longer reach then Whyte but from the first bell Whyte was quicker with his jab and able to get inside to attack Wach’s body and he punctuate a good first round with a heavy right to Wach’s head. Whyte was more accurate and outscored Wach in the second and third. Wach was getting through with jabs and an occasional body punch but Whyte was busier. Whyte connected with a heavy right in the fourth but there was the signs of a swelling by his right eye. Wach had a good fifth. He was getting through with his jab and landing some clubbing rights to Whyte’s head. Whyte was banging back but it was Wach’s round. Whyte took the next two rounds. He was throwing more and landing more than the big Pole. Wach was just too slow when coming forward allowing Whyte time and space to get his punches off first. The pace had never been fast but now it was down to a stroll. In the eighth after Whyte had done the better work early Wach finished strongly connecting with a right uppercut that seemed to stagger Whyte. Wach took the ninth as looked to have more left and he was marching forward digging to Whyte’s body. Whyte had saved something for the last round and he had the better of the exchanges with Wach the one looking more tired. Scores 97-93 twice and 98-93 for Whyte. He lost his No 1 rating with the WBC after information was leaked of a positive test before his fight with Oscar Rivas. However before this fight UKAD stated that the result “was consistent with an isolated contamination event and not doping”. So that effective cleared Whyte. I would have believed them if they had said it was a positive test and I believe them now in saying it effectively was not so there are good grounds for demanding the WBC put him back at No 1. Wach, 39, demonstrated his solid chin and his severe limitations having never won a big fight. Majidov vs. Little Majidov gets his second pro win with stoppage of Brit Little. Majidov shook Little in the first and it was all over in the second. A right sent Little headlong into the ropes and from there to the canvas. Little did well to beat the count but was shipping heavy punishment when the fight was halted. If amateur achievements are any guide then the 6’3” 33-year-old Azeri-born Russian, who fought under his real last name of Medzhidov in the amateurs, is a huge threat in the division. He was world champion in 2011 beating Erislandy, Ivan Dychko and on a 22-21 score Anthony Joshua. He took the gold medal again at the 2013 World Championships decisioning Cam Awesome, Magomed Omarov and Roberto Cammarelle and knocked out Dychko in the final then completed his hat-trick by capturing the gold at the 2017 Worlds. Additionally he was a bronze medal winner at the 2012 Olympics but did not get a medal in Rio losing to Dychko and walked away from boxing after the 2017 Championships. Four losses in a row for Little a member of the British Traveller community. Pacheco vs. Saidi Pacheco massacres poor Tanzanian Saidi. The Tanzanian had only the most basic of techniques and Pacheco was able to land left hooks to the body and right crosses to Saidi’s head. Somehow Saidi stayed on his feet. He was sent staggering by a right and Pacheco connected with a thunderbolt of a right which sent Saidi down flat on his back with no count needed. All over in 98 seconds. The 18-year-old 6’4” Pacheco who hails from Los Angeles has five first round wins but his first seven opponent had only 15 wins in total so lambs to the slaughter. Ninth inside the distance defeat for Saidi. New York, NY, USA: Middle: Jermall Charlo (30-0) W TKO 7 Dennis Hogan (28-3-1). Super Bantam: Ryosuke Iwasa (27-3) W TKO 11Marlon Tapales (33-3). Middle: Chris Eubank Jr (29-2) W TKO 2 Matvey Korobov (28-3-1). Middle: Ronald Ellis (17-1-2,1ND) W PTS 10 Immanuwel Aleem (18-2-2). Bantam: Duke Micah (24-0) W PTS 8 Janiel Rivera (18-6-3). Feather: Cobia Breedy (15-0) W TKO 6 Titus Williams (9-3). Charlo vs. Hogan Round 1 Good first round for Hogan as he sped around Charlo probing with jabs and stepping in quickly with a bust of punches and then evading Charlo’s counters. The speed of his attacks allowed him to score with some hooks inside and he did enough to take the round. Score: 10-9 Hogan Round 2 Charlo upped his output in this round and did a better job of cutting off the ring. He stopped Hogan in his tracks with a jab and scored with some hooks inside. Hogan was still speeding around but his rushed attacks were wild. Score: 10-9 Charlo TIED 19-19 Round 3 A close round. Hogan did good work with his jab and surprised Charlo with some of his quick attacks which were becoming cruder and cruder as he put his head down a flailed his arms but he was landing enough to take the round-just. Score: 10-9 Hogan Hogan 29-28 Round 4 A left hook counter from Charlo put the charging Hogan over just seconds into the round. Hogan went down, did a somersault and came right back up to his feet to listen to the count. He did not seem to shaken and although Charlo landed a few more hard shots Hogan moved, jabbed and was in no real trouble in the rest of the round. Score: 10-8 Charlo Charlo 38-37 Round 5 Charlo chased in this round. He scored with the occasional jab but did his best work when countering Hogan’s rushing attacks. Hogan was still circling the ring at a high speed then lunging in but there was no accuracy or power in his attacks. Score: 10-9 Charlo Charlo 48-46 Round 6 Charlo was walking Hogan down throughout the round. He was finding the Irishman a difficult target but was again anticipating Hogan’s lunges and countering him with hooks. Hogan was holding instead of punching inside. Score: 10-9 Charlo Charlo 58-55 Round 7 Charlo started the round connecting with a left hook and a right. Hogan backed along the ropes but Charlo stepped in with a left hook to the head sending Hogan sliding down the ropes to the canvas. Hogan made it to his feet but he was shaky and after a look into his eyes the referee waived the fight over. The former IBF super welter champion was appointed WBC champion after Saul Alvarez was kicked upstairs to become the ridiculously labelled Franchise Champion. Obviously Charlo would like a fight with WBA champion Alvarez but would probably settle for a unification scarp against Gennady Golovkin. If neither of those options are available then his mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs would be an attractive match. Australian-based Hogan really just a super welter was coming off a very creditable majority decision defeat against WBO super welter champion Jaime Munguia in April and this is his first inside the distance loss. Iwasa vs. Tapales Former IBF super bantamweight champion Iwasa wins the interim IBF title with late stoppage of former WBO bantamweight champion Tapales Round 1 Both southpaw started cautiously. Tapales was coming in low with his jab getting under the taller Iwasa’s jab and he connected with a couple of lefts. Iwasa was short with his jab but also landed a left with Tapales just taking the round Score: 10-9 Tapales Round 2 Iwasa had his jab working in the second. He was pushing shots through the guard of Tapales from distance and not allowing Tapes to get inside to work. Tapales was having to reach with his punches and was mainly off target. Score: 10-9 Iwasa TIED 19-19 Round 3 Tapales was bobbing and weaving his way inside and scoring with hooks from both hands. Iwasa managed to create some space and began to land with straight lefts; They banged heads a couple of times and then as they came together Iwasa’s head thudded onto the side of the head of the Filipino. Tapales dropped back and went down on one knee and immediately rebounded to throw a punch but the referee decided it was a punch from Iwasa that had caused Tapales to drop to one knee and gave a protesting Tapales a count. The y fought on equal terms for the rest of the round but it went down as a big round for Iwasa. Score: 10-8 Iwasa Iwasa 29-27 Round 4 Tapales was swarming forward at the start of this one trying to get close and work to the body. Iwasa used his reach to probe and pierce the guard of Tapales and was following behind his jab with right crosses. Tapales just could not find a way past Iwasa’s jab. Score: 10-9 Iwasa Iwasa 39-36 Official Scores: 39-36 Iwasa, 39-36 Iwasa, 39-36 Iwasa Round 5 Tapales took this one. He was able to score with his own jab and then moving in to connect with hooks from both hands with a left hook the best punch he had landed so far. Iwasa upped his pace late driving a jab and a straight left through but the early work of Tapales gave him the edge. Score: 10-9 Tapales Iwasa 48-46 Round 6 A dominant round for Iwasa. He kept Tapales on the back foot with his jab and kept dropping in long lefts. Tapales needed to be coming forward getting in close and scoring with hooks but he was reduced to some long, inaccurate swings and had a growing bump under his left eye. Score: 10-9 Iwasa Iwasa 58-55 Round 7 Iwasa was pressing all the way. Again his jab was keeping Tapales on the back foot and off balance. He was also connecting with strong straight lefts and putting together some powerful combinations. Tapales landed a couple of hooks but often just threw and hoped. Score: 10-9 Iwasa Iwasa 68-64 Round 8 A very one-sided round. Iwasa could not miss Tapales with the jab and driving rights. When Tapales tried to come forward Iwasa was meeting him with hooked counters and as Iwasa pinned Tapales against the ropes and bombed him with hooks and uppercuts a stoppage looked near with the swelling under the left eye of Tapales a growing threat. Score: 10-9 Iwasa Iwasa 78-73 Official Scores 78-73 Iwasa, 77-74 Iwasa, 78-73 Iwasa Round 9 Smart work from Tapales in this on. He was quicker to the punch at the start of the round putting together a couple of sharp combinations and sliding home some jabs. Iwasa just could not get on target with his jab as Tapales used quick footwork and upper body movement to frustrate Iwasa’s attacks. Score: 10-9 Tapales Iwasa 87-83 Round 10 Iwasa was back on his jab in this low key round. Tapales managed to snap through some sneaky shots but Iwasa was walking him down and scoring with some telling left crosses and had Tapales under pressure at the bell. Score: 10-9 Iwasa Iwasa 97-92 Round 11 After a cautious start to the round in response to a crisp right hook from Tapales Iwasa landed a left and two right hooks that rocked Tapales. He then he drilled Tapales with a straight left that dumped the Filipino on the floor. He was up at seven but when the referee asked him to take a couple of paces to the side he stumbled and the referee just waived his arms. Japan’s Iwasa, 29, just had height and reach advantages that Tapales could not match. With real champion Daniel Roman injured Iwasa will probably look for a title defence before facing Roman with a fight against IBF No 4 Cesar Juarez or a revenge against No 5 T J Doheny who alongside Shinsuke Yamanaka and Lee Haskins constitutes the three fighters to have beaten Iwasa. Filipino Tapales, 27, had won twelve in a row before this one including seven wins by KO/TKO in his last seven fights. He will have to rebuild if he is to get another title chance. Eubank vs. Korobov Eubank wins the vacant interim WBA middle title as Korobov is forced to retire with an injury to his left shoulder. Round 1 A feeling out round. Eubank was on target early with his jab and Korobov was looking to draw the jab and then step in quickly to work inside. Close round but Eubank’s work with his jab just took it Score: 10-9 Eubank Round 2 Once again Eubank was jabbing and Korobov looking to counter. With just thirty seconds gone Korobov threw a left and then walked away from the action obviously in pain and clutching his left arm. He had injured his shoulder and was unable to continue so Eubank was declared the winner. Eubank is No 1 with the WBA but I can’t see the WBA ordering Saul Alvarez vs. Eubank and as WBA interim champion he won’t be made mandatory challenger by the WBC, IBF or WBO. At 36 time is running out for Korobov and he may be facing a long layoff with this injury so will slide back a bit in the queue for a title shot. Ellis vs. Aleem Ellis take the majority decision over Aleem to steady the ship after suffering his first loss as a pro. Ellis tried to take the fight to Aleem in the first but Aleem boxer cleverly and edged the round. Ellis kept forcing the fight over the second and third and had more success connecting with some crisp rights. Ellis outworked Aleem in the fourth to move in front but Aleem rebounded and finished the fifth with a strong attack. There were some fierce exchanges in the sixth and seventh with Ellis landing the heavier shots. Aleem got back into the fight with a strong attack in the eighth but Ellis swept the last two rounds and looked a clear winner. Scores 98-92 and 97-92 for Ellis and 95-95. Ellis dropped a majority decision to DeAndre Ware in February a result that cost him his world rating so this is an important first step on his rebuilding project. In recent times Aleem’s career has been a switchback as he is now 2-2-2 in his last six fights including a loss to Hugo Centeno and a draw with Matt Korobov Micah vs. Rivera Ghanaian Micah gets his second win of the year with unanimous decision against useful Puerto Rican Rivera. Micah had early success flooring Rivera with a right in the first. Micah took the second and then in an exciting third Rivera put Micah down only for Micah to fire back and floor Rivera. From there Micah was in control and went on to take the verdict. Scores 79-72, 78-72 and 77-74. The still undefeated former Commonwealth champion needs a big fight if he is to crash the ratings. . Rivera who has fought as low as minimumweight was coming of successive losses in matches against now WBO minimumweight champion Wilfredo Mendez and former WBC light flyweight champion Pedro Guevara. Breedy vs. Williams Breedy gets stoppage victory over Williams in an entertaining contest. Breedy had the better of the exchanges in the first and rocked Williams in the second. Williams banged back to clearly win the third with some heavy shots and floored Breedy in the fifth. Breedy saw out the round and then dropped Williams in the sixth to force the stoppage. Fifth inside the distance win for the 28-year-old Barbados-born Breedy but at 5’4” with a short reach he will struggle against some of the rated fighters. Williams had won his two fights this year but against low grade opponents. Puebla, Mexico: Super Bantam: Emanuel Navarrete (30-1) W TKO 4 Francisco Horta (20-4-1). Super Fly: Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2) W TKO 6 Miguel Gonzalez (31-3). Feather: Miguel Marriaga (29-3) W KO 6 Alfredo Mejia (14-3-3). Fly: Joebert Alvarez (20-2-2) W PTS 8 Luis Escobedo (0-7-1). Navarrete vs. Horta Navarrete disposes of undeserving challenger Horta inside four rounds in his fourth defence of his WBO title. . Round 1 After the usual prodding with jabs Navarrete tried a couple of rights. His jab was stronger and Horta never committed to his jab. Navarrete was switching guards and already there was reddening by the left eye of Horta from a right from Navarrete. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Round 2 Navarrete cut loose in this one. He was firing long looping hooks and uppercut snapping Horta’s head back. He trapped Horta a in a corner and unloaded more hooks and uppercuts before backing off allowing Horta to come forward and throw some punches but without any power. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 20-18 Round 3 Navarrete was in cruise control as he was landing punches and then backing off and not pressing his attacks. That allowed Horta to come forward but he was too slow and lacked power. When Navarrete did get serious he was landing hard shots to head and body and it felt he could end this anytime he wanted to. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 30-27 Round 4 Navarrete decided to end it in the fourth. He came out firing hooks and uppercuts. A clash of heads stopped the action for a few seconds but no one was cut and Navarrete went back to business. He was pounding Horta with lefts and rights but Horta fired back hard. Navarrete forced Horta across the ring to the ropes and was bombarding him with punches as the referee stepped in to stop the fight. The 24-year-old “Cowboy” makes it 26 inside the distance victories and has 25 wins in a row. His mandatory challenger is Albert Pagara but I can’t see the Filipino bringing Navarrete’s reign to an end. Sanctioning bodies have to work with promoters but Horta’s No 3 rating from the WBO was disgraceful. He had fought only once in the previous fourteen months and in that fight in August he won an eight round majority decision over a fighter with a 8-3-2 record but even worse Horta had not been in a fight scheduled for ten round since 2015 but suddenly in the WBO October ratings he appeared at No 13. Where would they have hidden if Horta had suffered a serious injury? And if there had been a tragedy boxing would have also suffered, Ancajas vs. Gonzalez Filipino star Ancajas racks up the eighth defence of his IBF title with stoppage of game but outclassed Chilean Gonzalez Round 1 Gonzalez decided to take the fight to Ancajas moving inside to trade body shots. Initially Ancajas scored from distance with long southpaw lefts but then stood and traded with Gonzalez and quickly showed he had more power and more accuracy but a determined Gonzalez did not back off. Score: 10-9 Ancajas Round 2 Gonzalez was coming forward in the second but without much success. Ancajas was spearing him with right jabs and straight lefts. When they stood and traded punches although Gonzalez connected with a few hooks Ancajas was hooking off the jab and digging home some wicked body shots. Score: 10-9 Ancajas Ancajas 20-18 Round 3 Gonzalez landed a couple of hooks early but then a left from Ancajas sent him stumbling across the ring to the ropes and Ancajas piled in with a series of hooks and uppercuts. Gonzalez survived and moved inside trying to smother Ancajas attacks and fought back but Ancajas was the one landing the harder punches. Score: 10-9 Ancajas Ancajas 30-27 Round 4 A quieter round as Gonzalez did not try to trade punches but settled for darting in throwing a couple of shots and getting out. Ancajas was happier when he did not have to go and look for Gonzalez so he did not press the fight but he again was the one doing the scoring Score: 10-9 Ancajas Ancajas 40-36 Round 5 Gonzalez did much better in this round. He was scoring with counters and darting in with quick hooks. Ancajas was off target with some of his punches but he threw more and landed more. Score: 10-9 Ancajas Ancajas 50-45 Round 6 Ancajas came storming out in this round taking the fight to Gonzalez inside and hooking to the body. Gonzalez was forced back and when he did move in a short left uppercut sent him reeling back from the action. Ancajas jumped on him showering him with punches. Gonzalez tried to hold but Ancajas wrestled him off and to the floor. It was not a knockdown but Gonzalez was very unsteady when he got up and deliberately backed into a corner and covered up until the referee stopped the fight. Ancajas extends his unbeaten run to 19 fights with his twenty-second win by KO/TKO. He has no mandatory challenger as the top two slots in the IBF ratings are vacant and fight with No 4 Donnie Nietes looks attractive. Gonzalez gave it a go but was in way over his head. He was also slipped into the ratings to legitimise the fight. In his case having just won a fight but having been stripped of the WBA Fedelatin title for not making the super fly limit! Marriaga vs. Mejia Marriaga is 0-3 in world title fights but he keeps hoping for a fourth shot and kept that hope alive with a win here. He needed to impress and he did so with a knockout in the sixth round. Marriaga was in front and it looked as though the fight might go the distance but a rib-bending left hook to the body in the sixth had Mejia writhing on the floor in agony and being counted out. The 33-year-old Colombian has failed in title challenges against Nicholas Walters, Vasyl Lomachenko and Oscar Valdez. He is No 6 with the WBO and No 8 with the WBC. He is seen as an acceptable level for a challenger but unlikely to win so those two factors might get him another shot. Mexican Mejia was 8-1-1 before this fight but Marriaga was a considerable step up from his other opponents. Alvarez vs. Escobedo Filipino southpaw Alvarez gets points decision over local Escobedo. The 30-year-old Alvarez went 14-0-1 before losing on points to Juan Francisco Estrada. He bounced back from that with a victory over 18-1-1 Jonathan Gonzalez but then suffered a devastating one round defeat against Miguel Cartagena and has struggled to impress since. He had only one fight in 2018 and this is his first fight for almost nine months but hopefully he will be more active. Escobedo did his duty by lasting the distance. 5 December Costa Mesa, CA, USA: Super Light: Ismael Barroso (22-3-2) W PTS 12 Yves Ulysse (18-2). Middle: D’Mitrius Ballard (20-0-1,2ND) DREW 10 Yamaguchi Falcao (16-1-2,1ND). Middle: Jason Quigley (17-1) W KO 3 Abraham Cordero (13-5-2). Ulysse vs. Barroso Canadian Ulysse throws away any chance of a title shot with loss to Barroso. Ulysse made the better start being quicker and more accurate than Barroso. From the third southpaw Barroso picked up the pace and was getting his punches off first and taking the fight to Ulysse who was on the back foot but too slow with his counters. Ulysse was coming out of his corner in a positive manner but then promptly going on to the retreat allowing Barroso to swarm forward punching. Ulysse took the fight to Barroso in the sixth and did some useful work. Barroso’s punch output gave him the seventh and Ulysses, now showing a swelling under his left eye, flirted with disqualification after land a punch after the break call in the eighth. Barroso took the ninth and they both connected heavily in the tenth with Ulysse just taking it as Barroso appearing to tire. Barroso walked Ulysse down in the eleventh with Ulysse just not throwing enough punches and the Venezuelan was the one throwing and scoring in the last. Scores 115-113 twice and 117-111 with the last for me presenting the best picture of the fight. Barroso, 36, a former interim WBA champion had dropped out of the ratings after losses to Anthony Crolla, Isa Chanev and Batyr Akhmedov but resurrected his career with this win. Ulysse, 3, the WBO No 7 will have to go back a few steps. Ballard vs. Falcao In a fight that Ended as a majority draw Ballard remains undefeated and Falcao steadies his career after a loss last time out. Ballard jabbed and boxed well in a cautious first but Falcao did the scoring in the second and third drawing Ballard’s lead and countering and also unleashing a barrage of shots forcing Ballard to the ropes. Ballard did better over the middle rounds having a good seventh but these are two good technical fighters of comparable skill level so the rounds were close. Ballard had a good ninth but neither fighter did enough to deserve to take a tame tenth. Scores 95-95 twice and 97-93 for Ballard. The NABF title remains vacant but I don’t think this fight generated enough excitement for there to be raised voices calling for a return. Ballard looked to have a slight edge but too slight to be argued over and neither he nor Brazilian Falcao advanced nor harmed their career’s so they will be looking for a significant match next time out. Quigley vs. Cordero Quigley overwhelms Cordero for third round stoppage. Quigley had a much longer reach than the small Mexican southpaw but never used it effectively and instead tended to rush in with crude attacks. He did much better when he let Cordero get inside and stood and traded punches. After taking the first two rounds Quigley began to land with heavy rights in the third. He quickly beat down Cordero’s attempts to punch with him pinning Cordero against the ropes and unloading with both hands until with Cordero reeling under the barrage of punches the referee stopped the fight. First outing for former European Amateur champion Quigley since being stopped by Tureano Johnson in July. This was only the second fight in two years for Cordero. New York, NY, USA: Super Feather: O’Shaquie Foster (17-2) W PTS 10 Alberto Mercado (16-4-1). Heavy: Stephen Shaw (13-0,1ND) W TKO 3 Gregory Corbin (15-3,1ND). Super Light: Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1) W PTS 8 Roody Pierre Paul (16-6-2,1ND). Foster vs. Mercado Texan “Ice Water” Foster comfortably outboxes Mercado and protects his WBC No 8 rating. Foster was just too clever and too quick for Mercado. He constant found gaps for his jab and counters to the body. Mercado tried hard to hustle Foster out of his measured tactics but never really got a toe-hold in the fight. Body punches weakened Mercado and he had to survive a rocky seventh but was never really in trouble after that as Foster boxed his way to victory. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92 for Foster. He was rewarded with his high WBC rating for winning the Silver title but has good victories over Frank de Alba, Jon Fernandez and Jesus Bravo. Southpaw Mercado has not yet lost inside the distance. Shaw vs. Corbin Shaw gats another inside the distance win as he halts Corbin in three rounds. The “Big Shot” from St Louis floored Corbin with a thunderous right in the first that sent Corbin down flat on his back. He made it to his feet. The ringside doctor climbed on the ring apron and walked to where the count was being administered waving his arms for the fight to be stopped. Even though he was standing right alongside Corbin the referee ignored the doctor and let the fight continue. Shaw handed out severe punishment in the second. In the third an uppercut followed by a heavy right sent Corbin back into the ropes and as Shaw pounded on him the referee jumped in to stop the fight. The 6’4” 27-year-old Shaw moves to ten wins by KO/TKO. As an amateur he won the National PAL Tournament in 2013. Curiously he also won at the US National Championships when they had two separate championships one for boxers with headgear-which Shaw won-and one without headgear which Cam Awesome won. Mainly low grade opposition so far but worth watching. Corbin was stopped inside a round by Filip Hrgovic in May. LesPierre vs. Paul In a clash of southpaws LesPierre just too clever for Canadian Paul. LesPierre was happy to go toe-to-toe with Paul where his better defensive work and sharp hooking gave him the edge all the way. Paul pressed hard but just could not figure a way to deal with the crafty upper body work of LesPierre. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72 for LesPierre. The Trinidad-born LesPierre was having his first fight since losing on points against Maurice hooker in a challenge for the WBO title March. After a 7-0-2 streak it is now three losses in a row for Paul. 6 December Sydney, Australia: Super Welter: Tim Tszyu (15-0) W TKO 4 Jack Brubaker (16-3-2). Super Feather: Bruno Tarimo* (25-2-1) W PTS 10 Nathaniel May (21-3). Cruiser: David Light (15-0) W TKO 3Trent Broadhurst (22-4). Super Bantam: Luke Boyd (9-0) W KO 1 Masing Warawara (3-2). Tszyu vs. Brubaker Outstanding performance from Tszyu as he dismantles Brubaker in four rounds. Brubaker launched himself at Tszyu in the first trying to blitz the young prospect. Tszyu just let the storm blow itself out and then took charge. He had Brubaker hurt with a body punch in the second and began to find the target with heavy rights to the head. Brubaker tried to match Tszyu in the exchanges in the third but Tszyu was again connecting with overhand rights trapping Brubaker in a corner and landing a big right to the head from which Brubaker did well to stay on his feet. In a brutal fourth using a straight arm to hold Brubaker on the ropes Tszyu landed a series of rights to the head. Brubaker managed to get off the ropes but a right uppercut sent him reeling back to the ropes and as Tszyu bombarded him with punches Jeff Fenech threw the towel into the ring to save his charge from more punishment. The 25-year-old Tszyu retains the WBO Global and IBO Australasian titles with his eleventh win by KO/TKO. He has beaten experienced Denton Vassell and ill-fated Dwight Ritchie and there is talk of a fight with the winner of the Michael Zerafa vs. Jeff Horn return contest which would be a tough test for the 25-year-old local. Second inside the distance defeat for Brubaker who was stopped in six rounds by Kris George for the Commonwealth title 2017. Tarimo vs. May Tanzanian Tarimo* (he boxed previously in Australia as Bruno Vifuaviwili but is now using his birth name) outworks and outpoints May in a mild upset. May’s better boxing saw him edge the first round but in a hotly contested second Tarimo rocked May early and just had the better of the exchanges. The Tanzania’s pressure saw him sweep the next three rounds. May worked some space for himself and countered well enough to take the sixth but looked to be tiring as the aggressive Tarimo clearly won the seventh and eighth. May dug deep and boxed and countered well to collect the ninth but Tarimo edged a close tenth. Scores 98-92 twice and 97-93 all for Tarimo. In action in Australia Tarimo has won and lost against Bilel Dib and outpointed Joel Brunker. He hit the road again in August travelling to Serbia where he beat local fighter Serif Gurdijeljac to win the IBF International title. May, 24, had put together a 16 bout winning run before being floored twice and outpointed by James Dickens for the IBF European title in July. Light vs. Broadhurst Light gets inside the distance win over experienced Broadhurst. After a close first round with Broadhurst probably just taking it he ran into serious trouble in the second. A right hook to the left side of Broadhurst’s head sent Broadhurst down. Broadhurst later stated that he had suffered a ruptured ear drum in training and this came back to haunt him. He was in serious trouble and floored later in the round. Only the bell saved him from a third knockdown as he was being punched through the ropes. Two more knockdowns in the third, both from rights to the left side of Broadhurst’s head had Broadhurst turning away and kneeling on the canvas and the fight was stopped. New Zealander Light retains the WBO Oriental title with his ninth inside the distance win. A former Commonwealth Games silver medal winner Light is No 14 with the IBF and a fight with unbeaten Australian Jai Opetaia would be big down there if it can be made. Broadhurst suffered a first round knockout against Dmitry Bivol when challenging for the secondary WBA title in 2017 and was stopped by Blake Caparello in 2018. He had scored two wins over modest opposition since then but needs to think about his future after this loss. Boyd vs. Warawara Boyd makes it five first round finishes in a row as he blows away Warawara in 96 seconds. The 32-year-old from Sydney represented Australia at the World Championships and the 2008 Olympics before turning pro in 2014. All of his wins have come by KO/TKO achieved in a total of less than 15 rounds but against low ability opposition. Warawara is from Vanuatu a nation of more than 80 islands in the South Pacific, Singapore: Super Feather: Hamzah Farouk (10-0) W KO 4 Rey Kundimang (8-2-3). Super Feather: Muhamad Ridhwan (15-2) W TKO 5 Junny Salogaol (14-1-5). Farouk vs. Kundimang Singapore’s Farouk beats Indonesian teenager in four rounds to collect the OPBF Silver title which was vacant. Kundimang fought strongly to be competitive over the first three rounds but the harder punching of Farouk ended it in the fourth. Kundimang staged a fierce attack at the start of the round but then Farouk took over and bombarded Kundimang with chopping rights until he collapsed to his hands and knees and was counted out. Seventh win by KO/TKO for Farouk. After fighting in the amateurs from 2005 to 2013 Farouk was out of boxing for five years. Kundimang, 18, was 5-0-1 going in and held a version of the Indonesian title. Ridhwan vs. Salogaol Former IBO super bantam title challenger Ridhwan continues to put his career back on track with stoppage of Filipino Salogaol. Ridhwan dominated the fight and in the fifth drove Salogaol along the ropes landing to body and head. Salogaol was cut over the left eye and when the referee asked the doctor to inspect the cut the fight was over. Consecutive losses to Paulus Ambunda for the IBO title and to modest Filipino opposition in Landy Cris Leon knocked Ridhwan back a long way but he has made some progress with four wins. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Welter: Mykal Fox (22-1) W PTS 8 John Arellano (10-2). Fox makes good use of height and reach to decision Arellano. The 6’3 ½” Maryland southpaw was quicker and more mobile than Texan Arellano popping him with his jab and pivoting and shifting to dodge Arellano’s attacks. Fox constantly got his punches off first but is not a power puncher so Arrellano kept coming and running onto straight left counters, Fox’s best punch. Late in the fifth Fox landed a straight left to the body followed by a right to the head and when Arellano missed with a counter he spun off balance and almost went down but used his glove to stay up. He was given a count but was not hurt. Fox continued to boss the action to the final bell. Scores 80-71 twice and 78-73 for Fox. Third win in a row for Fox after losing on points to unbeaten Uzbek Shohjahon Ergashev in February. Not sure how far “The Professor will go as his lack of power is a distinct drawback. Arellano had won his last seven fights six by KO/TKO but he was just too slow to threaten Fox. 7 December Montreal, Canada: Super Middle: David Lemieux (41-4) W PTS 10 Maksym Bursak (35-6-2). Heavy: Arslanbek Makhmudov (10-0) W TKO 1Samuel Peter (38-9). Heavy: Simon Kean (18-1) W TKO 10 Siarhei Liakhovich (27-8). Super Welter: Sadriddin Akhmedov (11-0) W KO 7 Jose Villalobos (12-6-2). Super Light: Mathieu Germain (18-1-1) W PTS 8 Gilberto Meza (11-9-1). Super Middle: Lexson Mathieu (8-0) W TKO 8 Rolando Paredes (16-9-2). Lemieux vs. Bursak Lemieux’s move up to super middle proves a hazardous one as he has to climb off the canvas twice to get the split decision. In his first fight in almost fifteen months the rust showed on Lemieux. In the opening round A right from Bursak shook Lemieux and another right sent him sprawling to the canvas and he had to survive a big effort from Bursak to make it to the bell. Lemieux steadied himself and was clawing his way into the fight outscoring Bursak over the next three rounds only to be floored again in the fifth Bursak staggered Lemieux and then exploded with barrage of punches until Lemieux dropped to the floor. He beat the count but another 10-8 round put him behind on all three cards. Knowing he was behind Lemieux forced his way back into the fight by dropping Bursak in the sixth to put himself one point in front on the cards. Now It was Bursak’s turn to fight back and he took the seventh and eighth. They battled hard over the last two rounds with Lemieux having a slight edge to convince two of the judges he had done enough to deserve the decision. Scores 94-93 twice for Lemieux and 94-93 for Bursak. With the 30-year-old former IBF champion having knocked out Gary O’Sullivan in the first round of their bout in September last year effectively Lemieux had had less than three minutes of ring time in the last seventeen months so some rust was expected but it was not an impressive showing by Lemieux and the two knockdown are a bad sign. Ukrainian Bursak, 35, has lost in shots at the IBO and WBO super middle titles but an eight round majority draw against a 10-6 opponent last year showed he was no longer a top flight competitor. Makhmudov vs. Peter Easy night for Makhmudov as he stops oldie Peter in143 seconds. Makhmudov connected with an overhand right and then drove Peter to the ropes and down under a barrage of punches. Peter managed to beat the count. Makhmudov then shook him with a right uppercut and another right to the head sent Peter stumbling into a corner and the referee stopped the fight. Makhmudov retains the NABF title. All ten of his wins have come by KO/TKO talking him less than 19 rounds in total and including seven first round endings. The management of the 30-year-old 6’5 ½” “Russian Lion”, has offered $20 million to the winner of Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II Makhmudov will have to beat better opposition than the than the 39-year-old Nigerian if he wants to be taken seriously Kean vs. Liakhovich Kean just too young and too powerful for ancient Liakhovich. Kean showed some improvement in his mobility and a slightly tighter defence but Liakhovich was no kind of test. The Belarusian was too slow to ever pose a threat and his low work rate allowed Kean to boss the fight. None of Kean’s fights had gone past the eighth round so it was a new experience going into the tenth and he finished the fight convincingly. A right cross stunned Liakhovich and Kean took him to a corner and was bombarding him with punches to force the stoppage. Kean wins the vacant WBC International Silver title. He now has 17 wins by KO/TKO and has reversed his only loss but his defence is likely to let him down against any quality opposition. A very cynical piece of matching here. Certainly Liakhovich had gone the distance with Andy Ruiz and one judge had turned in a 96-94 card for that fight but this was the 43-year-old Liakhovich’s first fight for over two years and only his second in five years. Akhmedov vs. Villalobos Akhmedov finished Argentinian Villalobos in the seventh. Akhmedov was generally in control of the rough contests littered with some illegal work from both fighters. He slowly punched the resistance out of Villalobos before obliterating him in the seventh. He scored with a left to the body and then exploded a thunderous right to the head that sent Villalobos down and out. The 21-year-old from Kazakhstan makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. He is an outstanding prospect having won gold at the World Youth Championships and at a number of international tournaments. He is one of eight children and his good luck talisman is a pair of gloves given to him by Roy Jones. One to follow. Second loss by KO/TKO for Villalobos. Germain vs. Meza Germain eases his way back into the winning column with comprehensive victory over Mexican Meza. Having lost his unbeaten tag in his last fight Germain’s team were taking no chances and he was able to win this one all the way. He showed more aggression than in recent fights and Meza never really got into the fight. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Germain. He will need to be matched carefully after the kayo loss to Uriel Perez in September. Meza is now 0-3 in fights in Canada with the losses all being on points. Mathieu vs. Paredes Mathieu comes through a good learning fight and wins his first title as he halts tough Mexican Paredes in the last round. Once again the young Canadian showcased some sharp skills dominating the fight before punctuating his performance with an impressive finish with two knockdowns in the last round including a spectacular five-punch combination. The 20-year-old Canadian wins the vacant NABF Junior title and with his title winning exploits in the amateurs and his seven wins by KO/TKO as a pro he looks the most exciting Canadian prospect but how good he is will only become clear after he takes on better opposition. Paredes is 0-3 in Canada with the other two losses coming on points against unbeaten Canadian-based Kazaks. Torrelavega, Spain: Super Welter: Sergio Garcia (31-0) W PTS 12 Fouad El Massoudi (17-12). Feather: Kiko Martinez (40-9-2) W PTS 10 Alex Cazares (16-11). Garcia vs. El Massoudi Fighting in his home town Garcia outpoints French challenger El Massoudi in the third defence of his European title. Garcia was much the better technical boxer. The skilful Spaniard knew that El Massoudi lacked punching power so he spent more time trading inside with El Massoudi than was expected but both inside and at distance he bossed the action going in front on all three cards over the first four rounds with the cards reading 40-36 twice and 39-37. El Massoudi marched forward aggressively throughout the middle rounds and again Garcia chose to outfight El Massoudi inside using El Massoudi’s own tactics on him to extend his lead and the champion was in front 79-73 on two of the judges’ cards and up 78-74 on the third. El Massoudi had a little more success over the closing third as Garcia’s output dropped but the tall champion’s clever boxing still gave him the edge and at the end of twelve rounds Garcia had shown how wide the gap was between himself and a strong but limited challenger. Scores 118-110 twice and 117-111for Garcia. The champion is rated No 3 by the WBC and will be hoping to either get a straight shot at the winner of the Tony Harrison vs. Jermell Charlo title fight later this month or go into an eliminator with WBC No 3 Erickson Lubin. Twelve months ago Garcia was relatively unknown and underappreciated but wins over 27-1-1 Maxime Beaussire, 15-0 Ted Cheeseman and 29-4 Siarhei Rabchanka have brought his name to the fore in Europe but these are not world rated fighters so he has not yet measured himself against the best. Former French champion El Massoudi, 32, had earned his title chance with wins over 19-0 Patryk Szymanski and 26-3 Gennady Martirosyan but was outclassed here. Martinez vs. Cazares Former IBF super bantam champion Martinez returns with a win in his first fight since being stopped on a cut against WBC champion Gary Russell in May. Martinez was forcing the fight over the first three rounds with Cazares willing to stand and exchange shots. From the third Cazares decided to try to slow the pace by moving more and Martinez was having trouble connecting with any meaningful punches. Martinez upped the pace over the closing rounds with Cazares tiring rapidly and spitting out his mouthguard a few times to get some respite as Martinez rolled on to the unanimous decision. The man from Valencia is No 4 with the EBU so a challenge for the European title might be in the future for Martinez. Cazares has yet to lose inside the distance going the full route against Karim Guerfi, Paul Butler and recent IBF title challenger Sofiane Takoucht Vienna, Austria: Light Heavy: Mansur Elsaev (13-0) W RTD 8 Reagan Dessaix (18-23). Elsaev collects the vacant WBC Asia belt as Australian Dessaix retires after the eighth round. Dessaix at 6’3” was much taller and had a big edge in reach. Elsaev used powerful aggression to pressure Dessaix all the way. It was a tough, close battle. Elsaev floored Dessaix in the fifth but Dessaix rebounded to take the sixth. From there Elsaev dominated taking the seventh and flooring Dessaix with a right to the head and a left uppercut in the eighth with Dessaix not coming out for the ninth. Austrian champion Elsaev gets his eleventh win by KO/TKO and takes his biggest scalp so far. Australian champion Dessaix had won twelve of his last thirteen fights with the loss in there being a on a controversial decision against Blake Caparello. Qingdao, China: Middle: Ainiwaer Yilixiati (17-1) W TKO 2 Betuel Ushona (36-10-1). Yilixiati crushes sliding veteran Ushona in two rounds. Yilixiati chased hard trying to close this out on the first but Ushona survived. Yilixiati put Ushona on the canvas twice in the second. Both knockdowns came from heavy rights plus some follow-up punches with the referee ending the fight after the second knockdown. The tough, aggressive Yilixiati makes it seven wins in a row. His only defeat was on points against Australian Jayde Mitchell in Melbourne in 2017. Namibian Ushona is 37, just in it for the money now and this is his fifth loss in a row in fights on the road. Argentan, France: Super Bantam: Thomas Barbier (10-20-1) W PTS 10 Anthony Buquet (15-9-3). Barbier wins the vacant French title with a split decision over fellow-veteran Buquet in a fight that was tight all the way. Barbier was giving away lost of height and reach to the 5’7” Barbier but his constant attacks brought him the win. Scores 97-93 twice for Barbier and 97-93 for Buquet. Nice to see the 36-year-old Barbier win the national title after a ten year career. He appears to be flourishing late as he is 7-3 in his last 10 contests. Buquet, 39, also a ten year veteran, has moved up and down the weights having challenged for the French flyweight title, won the French featherweight title, won the WBC Mediterranean belt at super bantam and challenged twice for the EU bantam title. Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Joe Noynay (18-2-2) TEC DRAW 5 Kenichi Ogawa (24-2,1ND). Super Feather: Kosuke Saka (20-5) W TKO 6 Masaru Sueyoshi (19-2-1). Noynay vs. Ogawa A lot of blood spilt here as both fighters suffer severe cuts before the fight is halted in the fifth and goes to the cards which add up to a split draw. Both scored well in the first Ogawa with his jab and Noyna with southpaw straight lefts. The blood began to flow in the second. Noynay was cut over his left eye in a clash of heads but passed doctor’s inspection. It was Ogawa’s turn in the third as he suffered a bad cut over his right eye and although the vertical cut was situated so the blood affected his vision he was also allowed to continue. After Noynay was cut over his right eye in the fifth the fight was halted . Score 48-47 Noynay, 49-46 Ogawa and 48-48 so Noynay retains the WBC Asia Pacific title. Winning this fight was supposed to open the door for drugs cheat Ogawa to challenge for the IBF title. He had outpointed Tevin Farmer for the title in December 2017 but tested positive for a banned substance and was out for fourteen months. When he returned the IBF reinstated him into their top five and after two wins over low grade opposition he is now their top rated boxer at No 3 (positions 1 and 2 are vacant ) which just does not seem right for a cheat to be treated so generously. Filipino Noynay had won his last six fights and was No 6 with the WBO. Saka vs. Sueyoshi Saka wins the Japanese title with stoppage of champion Sueyoshi. This fight was to have taken place earlier in September but was postponed due to Sueyoshi suffering a foot injury. He must be regretting it ever took place. Saka took charge of the action immediately with strong attacks that saw him rock Sueyoshi in the first on his way to capturing the opening three rounds. Sueyoshi did a little better in the fourth with some useful body punches but was cut over the left eye by a punch. Although his aggression cooled somewhat Saka took the fifth and at that stage was in front on the three cards on scores of 49-46 twice and 50-45.Saka wound up the pressure in the sixth connecting with series of punches driving Sueyoshi to a corner and pounding the champion until the referee stopped the fight. Third time lucky for Saki as he had lost in fights for the Japanese featherweight title and to Joe Noynay for the WBO Asia Pacific title. Sueyoshi was unbeaten in his last 17 fights and was making the fifth defence of the national title. Naucalpan. Mexico: Light: Jovanni Straffon (21-3-1) W TKO 10 Carlos Cardenas (24-16-1). Straffon comes from behind to win by late stoppage. Mexican-based Venezuelan Cardenas had used his greater experience to build a good lead with the accuracy of his punching too much for Saffron. He was just seconds away from victory when Saffron unleashed a thunderous right hook to the jaw that put Cardenas down. He climbed to his feet but with Saffron showering Cardenas punches and nothing coming the other way the referee stopped the fight with just twenty seconds remaining. The 26-year-old southpaw from Torreon adds a thirteenth inside the distance win to his total and gets his seventh win on the trot. Cardenas came so close to a win but instead is 3-8 in his last eleven. Mashantucket, CN, USA: Light Heavy: Peter Manfredo (42-7-1) W TKO 4 Milton Nunez (37-23-1). Manfredo gets hi s second win in two weeks as he stops Nunez in four rounds. Nunez, 40, has reached the stage where he needs protection from himself. He was competitive in the first round but then just soaked up punishment. In the fourth he was stumbling and reeling under punches from Manfredo when his corner thankfully tossed a towel into the ring. The 39-year-old Manfredo turned pro nineteen years ago. He won his first 21 fights before being beaten in the “The Contender” reality show. He won the IBO belt but lost in title fights to Joe Calzaghe and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and then had only one fight in six years before returning with a win on 23 November this year. Now 18 losses by KO/TKO for Nunez who was 21-1-1 until being obliterated on a first round kayo by Gennady Golovkin for the interim WBA title in 2010. Ekaterinburg, Russia: Aleksei Egorov (10-0) W PTS 10 Serhiy Radchenko (7-5). Super bantam: Mukhammad Shekhov (7-0) W PTS 10 Aron Juarez (15-7-3). Egorov vs. Radchenko Egorov wins every round against Radchenko. It looked as though Egorov might add to his tally of inside the distance wins when he floored Radchenko with a big right in the first but the Ukrainian is an accomplished survivor and Egorov had to settle for a points victory. Scores 100-89 on the three cards for Egorov. He has wins over Lateef Kayode and Thomas Oosthuizen and is ranked No 12 by the WBC. Radchenko is 1-5 in his last 6 outings but has always lasted the full distance even in losing to Krzys Glowacki and Ruslan Fayer. Shekhov vs. Juarez Uzbek southpaw Shekhov outpoints fellow southpaw Juarez to pick up the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title. As usual for Nicaraguan’s fighting in Europe Juarez proved hard to put away but was never really competitive. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 for Shekhov who was in his first ten round contest. First fight outside Nicaragua for Juarez. San Francisco, Argentina: Light: Jose Acevedo (13-0-1) W TKO 2 Lucas Montesino (7-2-1). Super Feather: Fabricio Bea (15-0-1) W TKO 1 Silvio Arano (7-5-1). Light: Hector Sarmiento (21-1) W PTS 6 Cesar Perez (5-16-3). Acevedo retains the Argentinian title and adds the South American belt to his collection. In front of his home town supporters he rolled over Montesino with ease. A left hook floored Montesino in the opening round and he continued to punish Montesino in the second until a big right shook Montesino badly and his corner threw in the towel to save their man. Acevedo was making the second defence of the national title and gets win No 8 by KO/TKO. Montesino, really just a prelim fight was badly overmatched. Bea vs. Arano Bea racks up another inside the distance victory with first round stoppage of Arano. Bea does not do decisions. He took Arano to the ropes and pinned him there unloading with heavy hooks from both hands until Arano slumped to the floor. Arano managed to rise but the towel came flying in and the fight was over. All of the South American champion’s wins have come by KO/TKO and he averages less than three rounds per fight. Former Argentinian bantamweight title challenger Arano was having his first fight for two years. Sarmiento vs. Perez Just a Christmas money fight for Sarmiento as the Argentinian champion eased his way to a unanimous decision. Scores 60-54 ½ twice and 59 ½ -56 ½ for “Little Bird”. His only loss was on a technical decision in a fight that had hardly got started. Perez has won only two of his last eighteen fights. Fight of the week (Significance): Anthony Joshua’s win over Andy Ruiz has already got the rumour mill going about who and where he will fight next and revives the hope of a fight with either Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury Fight of the week (Entertainment): David Lemieux and Maksym Bursak traded knockdowns over ten entertaining rounds and Mike Hunter vs. Alex Povetkin kindle plenty of interest. . Fighter of the week: Anthony Joshua as he faces down his ghosts and regains his titles. Punch of the week: An overhand right from Stephen Shaw that floored Greg Corbin was special with honourable mention to the right cross from Sadriddin Akhmedov that starched Jose Villalobos and the right from Diego Pacheco that flattened Selemani Saidi Upset of the week: Nothing jumps out-perhaps Ismael Barroso decisioning Yves Ulysse Prospect watch: Former World Youth Champion 21-year-old Sadriddin Akhmedov from Kazakhstan is 11-0 with 10 wins by KO/TKO so keep an eye on his progress |
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