December 18
Bilbao, Spain: Welter: Kerman Lejarraga (13-0) W TKO 2 Kim Poulsen (27-3). Lejarraga was coming forward behind a stiff jab with Dane Poulsen on the back foot and just throwing an occasional light jab. Lejarraga moved in quickly and a left hook to the head saw Poulsen stagger and then go down on his knees. Lejarraga tried to finish it scoring with left hooks to the body but Poulsen made it to the bell. In the second a right to the head put Poulsen down again. He tried to fight back but when another a left and right and then a left hook put Poulsen down again the fight was stopped. Hometown fighter Lejarraga just punched too hard for Poulsen and now has 10 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. After an early career loss the Dane then had a run of 23 wins before being stopped by Anthony Yigit in February. Nykoping, Sweden: Light Heavy: Erik Skoglund (24-0) W PTS 10 Derek Edwards (27-6-1). Super Light: Anthony Yigit (16-0-1) W RTD 3 DeMarcus Corley (42-26-1). Super Middle: Oscar Ahlin (13-0-1) W KO 1 Varazdat Chernikov (10-4). Heavy: Otto Wallin (14-0) W PTS 6 Samir Kurtagic (12-8). Skoglund vs. Edwards Skoglund gets wide unanimous verdict over Edwards. From the outset the Swede tried to use his height and reach to keep Edwards out and that worked for the first round. Edwards determinedly bored his way inside in the second and had some success but Skoglund showed he could fight inside as well and was getting the better of the exchanges. Skoglund continued to boss the action scoring with counters and had Edwards badly hurt with a right uppercut in the sixth. Edwards clung to Skoglund and dragged the Swede down with him so that it was not registered as a knockdown. Skoglund kept control of the fight outscoring Edwards the rest of the way scoring well with both hands and having Edwards in trouble on a couple of occasions on his way to a wide decision. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92. With Edwards win over Badou Jack this counts as the best win so far for the tall 24-year-old Swede who is rated IBF 4 (3)/WBO 9/WBC 12 but is by no means ready for Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson. Edwards “The Black Lion” , 36, is still a name even though since his shock first round win over Badou Jack in February last year he has now lost three in a row to Andre Dirrell, Gilberto Ramirez and Skoglund. Yigit vs. Corley Yigit continues to progress as he forces Corley to retire after three rounds. The youth and speed of Yigit was just too much for Corley as he moved around changing angles and firing home southpaw right leads and hard lefts. Corley was able to get through with enough punches to show that Yigit still has some work to do. The Swede continued to score freely in the third but it was a surprise when Corley retired at the end of the round as he had not seemed to be badly hurt. After an early career draw with Brit Tony Pace Yigit has now won 11 fights on the bounce including victories over fellow Scandinavians Kasper Bruun and Kim Poulsen. He is No 14 with the WBC but right now more relevant might be his status as mandatory challenger to Spanish EU champion Sandor Martin who is 15-1 and has his own ambitions. At 41 Corley is way past his best and this is his fourth loss in a row but he is still a “name” and can teach the young guys a few things. Ahlin vs. Chernikov Swedish “Golden Boy” Ahlin gets back in the winning column with a one punch kayo of Chernikov. The Russian came out hustling and forced Ahlin into a corner. As he tried to attack the cornered Swede he was hammered by a wicked left hook to the chin and was put down and out after just 94 seconds. Last time out in May Ahlin, 26, lost his unbeaten label when he was outpointed by modest Bernard Donfack but now has 11 wins by KO/TKO. Chernikov, 24, was 5-1 in his last six bouts the last fight in that sequence saw him knocked out in ten rounds by Gevorg Khatchikian in October. Wallin vs. Kurtagic Wallin wins an uninspiring fight over Austrian-based Serb Kurtagic. Wallin made a promising start and looked as though he might even get Kurtagic out of there in the first but Kurtagic is a survivor who has yet to lose a fight by KO/TKO and a low punch from Wallin gave him time to recover. Wallin won every round but anytime he had Kurtagic hurt the Serb held or found another way to stay in the fight and as Wallin got frustrated there was little real action. Wallin did have Kurtagic unsteady in the fifth but the Serb again held to get out of trouble. The referee finally took a point off Kurtagic in the last round for holding. Scores 60-53 from all three judges. The 25-year-old Swedish southpaw will have better nights than this. Kurtagic, 39, was having his first fight since losing on points over eight rounds to Mariusz Wach in October last year. Santa Fe, Argentina: Super Feather: Jonathan Barros (40-4-1) W PTS 10 Pablo Barboza (24-8). Former holder of the secondary WBA feather title Barros returns to action with a win. Over the first five rounds Barboza did enough to keep the fight fairly even but from the sixth the fitter and stronger Barros took control using his jab and body punches to erode the resistance of Barboza and sealed the win by flooring Barboza with a right in the ninth. Barboza managed to get up and last out that round and the tenth but was a clear loser. Scores 97-92 from all three judges. The 31-year-old “Yoni” from Mendoza lost his WBA title to Celestino Caballero in 2011 and then in 2012 lost successive fights to Juan Carlos Salgado for the IBF super feather title and to Mikey Garcia. This was his first fight since October 2014. “Bad Boy” Barboza, 30, the Argentinian lightweight champion has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Thabong, South Africa: Super Fly: Doctor Ntsele (18-8-1) W TKO 1 Teboho Setseke. Ntsele retains his provincial title with first round kayo of Setseke. A body punch did the business for the former South African flyweight champion who breaks a three bout losing run and gets his twelfth win by KO/TKO.
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December 18
Charleroi, Belgium: Cruiser: Ryad Merhy (18-0) W KO 6 Sylvera Louis (7-4). Heavy: Herve Hubeaux (23-1) W PTS 10 Gogita Gorgiladze (26-10). Welter: Mouhamed Sder (9-2-2) W PTS 10 Imad Azaroui (8-1). Merhy vs. Louis Merhy continues unbeaten as he lifts the vacant WBC International Silver title with kayo of Canadian Louis. Merhy made a good start scoring with a long right to the head and following that up with a succession of body punches making it an uncomfortable first round for Louis. Merhy kept up the pressure in the second with hooks and uppercuts and used double and triple jabs to take the third. He had Louis shaky in the fourth with the Canadian only just lasting to the bell. Louis had good spell at the start of the fifth but by the end of the round he was again taking hard punches to head and body. It was all over in the sixth as Merhy took Louis to the ropes and finished him with a right to the head that put Louis down and out. The 23-year-old Ivory Coast-born Marhy makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO including 6 quick finishes in his last 7 fights. Louis, 33, had a good win in October last year over Didier Bence for the Canadian title but lost his title as he was then inactive for a year before returning with a low level win. Hubeaux vs. Gorgiladze Belgian Hubeaux has no trouble outpointing young Georgian. Scores 100-90, 99-90 and 99-91. The 23-year-old Hubeaux has now won his last 12 fights and reversed his only loss. His opposition has not been strong so he is not in the EBU ratings but is No 19 in the EU ratings. Gorgiladze has a typical Georgian record-wins at home loses away and he normally fights at cruiser. Sder vs. Azaroui Sder overcame a slow start to win the decision in a close fight which could have gone either way. Azaroui took the first two rounds but Sder floored him with a body punch in the third which proved to be the defining moment in the fight. The remaining rounds were all close with the knockdown just making the difference. Scores 96-95 and 95-94 for Sder and 95-95 giving Sder the vacant WBC Francophone title on a majority decision. The 28-year-old Sder is 4-0-2 in his last 6 fights. Both fighters were in their first ten round fight and they could go again. Helsinki, Finland: Heavy: Robert Helenius (22-0) W PTS 12 Franz Rill (11-1). Helenius wins the vacant European title with wide points victory over late substitute Rill. This was a poor match on paper but Rill was available when champion Erkan Teper suffered a hand injury (or his drug test failure was known) and could not go through with the defence of his title so to save the show standards were allowed to drop. Helenius nearly made it an embarrassing match when he floored Rill after just 11 seconds. The German had scored with a good jab that snapped Helenius’s head back but as he moved inside Helenius landed a chopping right which put him down on his knees and threw one whilst Rill was down. Rill got up and with Helenius just looking to land a big punch. Despite giving away a lot in height and reach Rill was able to score repeatedly with his jab and looked safe until the last ten seconds of the round when Helenius forced him to a corner and unloaded heavy punches to head and body. In the second Helenius was again not using his jab but just looking to land a fight finishing punch and Rill was finding it easy to get through the Finn’s guard with jabs. Helenius lets hands go more in third and every time he landed he shook Rill, but too often his rights were telegraphed and again he was open time and again to Rill’s jabs. Helenius was walking Rill down in the fourth actually using his jab on occasion but Rill stayed out of trouble until the end of the round when a right to the head put him down. He was up quickly but the bell went just as the referee completed the eight count The pattern of the fight stayed basically the same until Rill tired and Helenius was able to score with some of heavy punches. A left to the head hurt Rill in the seventh and over the closing rounds Rill went into survival mode and he never really looked to be in trouble again in the fight. Scores 117-109 twice and 118-109. The 31-year-old Swedish-born Finn also wins the vacant IBF International title. Hand and shoulder injuries saw Helenius inactive from March 2013 until March this year which cost him his European title and this is his third win since returning. The absence of any injury is this fight is a bonus but he did not look impressive not letting his punches go, getting caught with too many jabs and looking slow. However he had been unwell leading up to the fight and had breathing difficulties due to his flu-type symptoms and he retains his power but will need better tests than this. With the news of a positive test by Teper after the David Price fight that opens the door for Derek Chisora to step into the mandatory position and get a chance to gain revenge for a controversial split decision loss to Helenius in a European title fight in 2012. Rill did his best and used a sharp jab early to be competitive but he came in at short notice and had never even been in a ten round fight let alone a twelve round one. Labasa, Fiji: Light Heavy: Joseph Kwadjo (22-10,1ND) W TKO 3 Opeti Tagi (17-13). Kwadjo gets second win in his adopted home. Tagi made a promising start in the first but Kwadjo put him down at the end of the round. In the second Kwadjo again got through with his punches and in the third a straight right floored Tagi again and the fight was stopped. Now 18 wins by KO/TKO for the 30-year-old Ghanaian. Eleven losses by KO/TKO for FijianTagi. Caltanissetta, Italy: Super Middle: Valerio Rinaldi (9-1) W TKO 3 Luciano Lombardi (19-13-4,1ND). Rinaldi wins the vacant Italian title with stoppage of Lombardi. Rinaldi opened fire in the first landing to head and body and already had Lombardi on shaky pins. In the second Rinaldi was landing heavy rights with Lombardi’s attempts at counters wide of the target. In the third Lombardi had a brief moment of hope as a right had Rinaldi dipping at the knees but a punch from Rinaldi sent Lombardi stumbling into the ropes. The referee started to give Lombardi and eight count but then had a hard look at Lombardi and stopped the fight. Now six wins by KO/TKO for 28-year-old Rinaldi. Only one win in his last five fights for Lombardi and his sixth unsuccessful attempt to win the national title. Tlalnepantla, Mexico: Super Welter: Pablo Cesar Cano (29-4-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Silverio Ortiz (34-16).Light: Cristian Mijares (53-8-2) W KO 7 Cristian Arrazola (18-10-2). Bantam: Edgar Jimenez (21-11-2) W KO 6 Humberto Morales (14-13-4,1ND). Welter: Ivan Alvarez (22-5) W PTS 8 Juan Orozco (7-1-2). Cano vs. Ortiz Cano gets unanimous decision in an exciting and eventful scrap. The bout was a catchweight with Cano being the naturally bigger man and Ortiz fighting above his usual weight division. Cano was also more accustomed to fighting in the thin atmosphere with his home town being 2,000 mts above sea level. Cano edged the first and in an exciting second a low punch from Cano had Ortiz down who was given time to recover but Cano was cut on his right eyebrow by a butt for which Ortiz lost a point. It looked all over in the third as Cano put Ortiz down twice but this is Mexico and Ortiz got up each time and continued to exchange punches to the bell. In the sixth blood was seeping out of the cut over Cano’s right eye and although under pressure he got a break as he slipped on a wet area of the canvas and Ortiz landed a punch whilst Cano was down which cost the Yucatan boxer another point. The seventh was a desperate round for Cano as his cut was bleeding and affecting his vision. Ortiz attacked again and again with a bruised and battered Cano in trouble at the bell. Ortiz seemed to have punched himself out and Cano was able to regain control in the eighth and overhand right put Ortiz down. He claimed it was a slip but Cano had him in trouble before the bell interrupted his attacks. Cano had Ortiz retreating in disarray in the ninth landing heavy rights to the head with Ortiz ducking and diving to avoid the fire storm. The moment the bell went Cano turned away but Ortiz threw a punch as Cano had his back turned. He was not punished but litter was thrown into the ring by the home fans in protest. Still bleeding heavily Cano boxed defensively in the last to emerge a clear winner. “ El Demoleder” Cano, 26, a former interim WBA super light champion who lost a split decision to Paul Malignaggi for the WBA welter title was having his first fight since tested positive for a banned substance after outpointing Juan Carlos Abreau in February. The 33-year-old “Chamaco III” Ortiz, yes there were two other Chamaco’s from the clan who fought as pros, was 14-2 in his last 16 fights and can give anyone problems on his night. Mijares vs. Arrazola Fighting up at lightweight Mijares just too much for modest Arrazola and scores knockout in the seventh. The agreed contract weight was 132lbs (60kg). The 34-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBC champion has 26 wins by KO/TKO and has won 5 of his last 6 fights with the loss being to Leo Santa Cruz for the WBC super bantam title. Fellow-Mexican and fellow-southpaw Arrazola was 9-0-1 in his last 10 fights Jimenez vs. Morales Jimenez gets win with sixth round knockout over reasonable level opponent Morales. The 23-year-old from Mexico, a former national flyweight champion, was coming off a career best win on points over unbeaten Ivan Morales (28-0) and had gone from five losses in a row to 6-1-1 in his last 8 fights. Morales, 26, was 4-1-2 in his last 7 fights but was coming off a seventh round kayo loss to Alejandro Hernandez for the Mexican super bantam title. Alvarez vs. Orozco With unanimous decision over Morales southpaw Alvarez makes it 9 wins in a row mostly against good level opposition but too big a step up for Orozco. Merida, Mexico: Super Feather: Miguel Berchelt (28-1) W TKO 3 Rolando Giono (17-7,1ND). Super Welter: Juan Macias Montiel (19-2-1) W TKO 3 Ivan Montero (19-1). Super Feather: Eduardo Torres (19-0) W TKO 3 Miguel Angel Gonzalez (22-7-1). Berchelt vs. Giono Bechtel blows away Panamanian Giono in three rounds. Berchelt was scoring well to head and body in the first. In the second Giono launched wild attacks trying to get into the fight. He forced Berchelt onto the back foot but was leaving himself open to counters with Berchelt finishing the round strongly. In the third Berchelt was getting through with hooks to head and body but Giono tried hard to fight back. That resistance ended when a hook put Giono down. The Panamanian got up but Berchelt took him to the ropes and unleashed a barrage of punches with the referee stopping the fight. The 24-year-old “Scorpion”, the WBO No 1, makes it 25 wins by KO/TKO. Giono, 28, lost last time out on a tenth round stoppage against Emanuel Lopez for the interim WBA title and has twice taken Jezreel Corrales to a split decision. Montiel vs. Montero Montiel springs a big surprise as he stops unbeaten Montero. There was plenty of action in an even first round. In the second after Montero scored with some hard punches Montiel sent out the danger signals to Montero with a punch that shook him. Early in the third a right cross from Montiel crashed into Montero’s head and he went down heavily. Montero made it to his feet and was allowed to continue but after a couple more punches from Montiel the referee decided that was too shaken to continue. “Juanito” Montiel now has 19 wins by KO/TKO. His only loss in his last 18 fights is a split decision against Alejandro Barrera (26-2). “Terrible” Montero had scored good wins this year over Michael Rosales and Ramses Agaton. Torres vs. Gonzalez Torres remains unbeaten with impressive stoppage of Gonzalez. In his first fight for ten months Torres was not really rolling over the first two rounds and Gonzalez was using his experience to outbox the local fighter. Torres exploded in the third taking Gonzalez to the ropes and putting Gonzalez down with a head-snapping uppercut. The referee immediately stopped the fight although it looked a too hasty stoppage Gonzalez was badly shaken. The 28-year-old “Lalo” Torres makes it eleven wins by KO/TKO. Gonzalez had won 5 of his last 7 fights and this is only his second loss by KO/TKO. Moscow, Russia: Super Feather: Vyacheslav Gusev (21-3) W Cosmas Cheka (15-4-4). Gusev wins the vacant IBF International title with unanimous decision over Cheka. The Russian was a good winner but Cheka is a skilled fighter and the fight was closer than the scores indicated. Scores 118-110, 117-111 and a more reflective 115-113. The little 30-year-old Gusev has only lost to good opposition including Juan Carlos Burgos and Gary Russell. Tanzanian Check, 25, was 11-1 in his last 12 fights including an upset victory over Thai Thewa. Managua, Nicaragua: Light Fly: Felix Alvarado (22-2) W TKO 2 Yader Cardoza (18-8-1). Alvarado finishes Cardoza in this all-Nicaraguan contest. Alvarado was winning the fight all the way and in the fifth round a left hook to the body put Cardoza down and he could not recover. Alvarado goes to 19 wins by KO/TKO. After winning his first 18 fights he then lost back-to-back contests against Kazuto Ioka for the WBA light fly and Juan Carlos Reveco for the WBA light fly title. This is his fourth win by KO/TKO since then. Cardoza must feel he is improving as he only lasted three rounds with Alvarado in 2010. December 18
Manchester, England: Middle: Billy Joe Saunders (23-0) W PTS 12 Andy Lee (34-3-1) W . Super Welter: Liam Smith (22-0-1) W TKO 7 Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly (16-1). Super Welter: Liam Williams (13-0-1) W TKO 2 Kris Carslaw (22-6). Super Fly: Paul Butler (20-1) W TKO 6 Silvio Olteanu (15-9-1). Super Light: Jack Catterall (14-0) W TKO 3 Noe Nunez (15-3-1). Middle: Tommy Langford (15-0) W TKO 5 Robert Swierzbinski (15-5-1). Light Thomas Stalker (10-1-3) DREW 10 Craig Evans (14-1-2). Super Feather: George Jupp (13-2) W PTS 10 Mitchell Smith (13-1). Super Feather: Vijender Singh (3-0) W TKO 2 Samet Hyuseinov (7-8). Saunders vs. Lee Saunders wins the WBO title with majority verdict over champion Lee. Both started cautiously probing with their southpaw jab. Lee landed a long range right but at the end of the round Saunders made Lee’s legs quiver slightly with a sharp right hook. Lee had height and reach over Saunders but it was thought it would be his power that would divide the fighters so that right hook was a significant sign saying that Saunders was also a puncher. Both were cautious in the second each looking to draw the other into an error and capitalise with a hard counter. Both managed to get home good lefts with Lee holding his right lead glove higher than in the first round looking to pull the trigger. A confident Saunders did a little dance at the end of the round. Lee missed with two big lefts in the third and when he missed with another one he left himself open and Saunders came up inside with a right hook that sent Lee crashing to the canvas. It was a heavy knockdown but Lee was up at six and ready to go on after the eight count. He tried to get inside and hold but Saunders pushed him off landing four punches none of which connected cleanly as Lee dropped down on his haunches putting his gloves on the canvas to stop himself going all the way down. Lee got up whilst Saunders was baying to the crowd thinking he had the fight won but Lee got up and although Saunders landed some more punches he ducked and dived and lasted to the bell. In the fourth and fifth Lee had recovered and it went back to some cagey sparring with neither taking any chances both being wary of the others power and it was tense but not exciting. The sixth saw hardly any action with Lee probing with his jab but usually falling short. He threw and landed few punches and Saunders did even less. Saunders had a much better seventh out-jabbing Lee despite the Irishman’s edge in reach and getting through with some lefts. Lee was more active in the eighth but the respect each had for the others power meant neither was committing himself and it was a case of both jabbing and feinting with only the occasional punch landing which made it hard to score the rounds. Both did a bit of dancing in the ninth to show they were still full of energy and when Lee managed to land a rare left clipping Saunders on the jaw Saunders mimicked being hurt. Again you could count the punches landed on one hand but Lee probably did just enough to edge it. Saunders was letting the champion back into the fight but was still well in front. Saunders took the tenth landing a good left early and then a right and snapping out his jab. Lee landed a body punch on the bell which was the first real body punch of the fight. There was a little more action in the eleventh but even though Lee must have felt he was behind there was little real fire and an absence of any heated exchanges. The tactics in the last round said it all with Lee throwing more lefts than he had all fight, but missing with most of them, and Saunders constantly moving and just looking to stay out of trouble. Scores 115-113 and 114-112 for Saunders and 113-113 which seems to indicate that the third round, be it 10-8 or 10-7, was the difference between the fighters. Not a great fight but an important one and a huge win for the 26-year-old Saunders. Also a great few weeks for the traveller community with two world champions in Tyson Fury and Saunders. Saunders is not ready for Gennady Golovkin but as he was the mandatory challenger he can pick his next opponent and see how things develop but has ruled out a return with Chris Eubank Jr saying Eubank needs to earn the chance. Lee, 31, obviously wants a return. This was really his first defence as a defence against Peter Quillin turned into a non-title bout when Quillin failed to make the weight. Lee might have to wait for a chance for revenge Smith vs. Kelly As expected Smith proves too strong for Kelly and retains his WBO title. Kelly was competitive early but the strength of Smith and his thudding body punches finally proved too much for the challenger. Kelly’s only chance was to keep Smith on the outside and he had some success with good work with his jab, but Smith was waging a war of attrition inside. The champion turned up the heat with each successive round and since Kelly could not keep him out with his jab and was out-powered on the inside it was obvious just a matter of time before Smith broke down the Manchester-born fighters resistance. In the sixth a desperate Kelly was deducted two points for a blatant butt. He was on the floor in the seventh and although no count was given he had no resistance left and his corner sensibly threw in the towel to save their man. The 27-year-old “Beefy” was making the first defence of the title he won with a victory over John Thompson in October. Whilst a total of 12 wins by KO/TKO in 23 fights may not seem impressive Smith has now won his last seven bouts inside the distance which shows a growing power even against tougher opposition. Kelly is a good young fighter with talent but was not really in Smith’s class and jumped from nowhere to No 8 with the WBO for winning their Inter-Continental title against a fighter who had won only one of his previous five fights. Kelly can come again. Williams vs. Carslaw Williams makes this look easy as he halts Scot Carslaw in two rounds, Williams indicated he did not intend sticking around for long as he floored Carslaw with a combination in the first round. Carslaw came out in the second trying to take the fight to Williams but ran onto a ramrod stiff jab which had enough power to put him down and the referee waived the fight off without a count. Williams was having his first fight since November 2014 having been side-lined with an injury. The victory gives the 23-year-old Welshman 8 wins by KO/TKO and the British title to go alongside his Commonwealth title. The draw on his record was a technical one due to his opponent being cut. Carslaw, 31, had been in with some good class opposition and won his last four fights. This is the first time he has been beaten on KO/TKO. Butler vs. Olteanu Butler stops game little Romanian Olteanu in six rounds to win the vacant WBO European title. The “Baby Faced Assassin” was in charge from the beginning and only the bravery of Olteanu kept him in the fight as Butler was just too quick for the aging Romanian. Butler had Olteanu in trouble a couple of times but Olteanu stayed in the fight although he soaked up a lot of punishment in a one-sided fourth round. Despite that he actually seemed to have recovered in the fifth and was able to land some nice counters on the young Brit. In the sixth a wicked left hook to the body put Olteanu down. He was up and ready to continue after the eight count but another series of punches saw the referee stop the fight. Olteanu protested but Butler is a finisher and this fight could not have lasted much longer. The former undefeated 27-year-old IBF bantam champion now has 11 wins by KO/TKO. His only loss was an inside the distance defeat against Zolani Tete in a challenge for the IBF super fly title. Tete has also joined Frank Warren but it would make sense to keep them apart. Olteanu, 37, a former European Champion, lost a controversial split decision to Daiki Kameda for the WBA flyweight title in Japan in 2010 and suffered majority decision losses to Wilbert Uicab and Armando Santos in Mexico so breaks have been hard to come by for the little Spanish-based craftsman. Catterall vs. Nunez Catterall continues to do the business but Mexican Nunez came to fight. Catterall looked comfortable winning the first round behind his southpaw jab and straight lefts. That changed in the second as Nunez came storming forward and landed some good punches which split open a cut on the lip of the Chorley fighter. Nunez tried to take the fight to Catterall again in the third but Catterall had found his range and a straight left forced Nunez back into the ropes. Catterall followed-up with some brutal head punches and the referee halted the fight to save Nunez. The 22-year-old local “El Gato” was making the second defence of his WBO Inter-Continental title and makes it 9 wins by KO/TKO. Nunez, 28, had won 6 of his last 7 fights and this is first loss by KO/TKO. Langford vs. Swierzbinski Langford also makes a successful second defence of his WBO Inter-Continental title. Langford took the first round impressively with the use of his jab, uppercuts and hooks to the body. He looked to have scored a knockdown with a right in the second but it was not counted but his body work was weakening the Pole. Langford dominated the third with more damaging work with his jab and body punches. In the fourth further pressure from Langford saw Swierzbinski forced to go down on one knee to get a break from the punishment. Langford went straight back to the attack and his eagerness saw him catch a couple of punches from Swierzbinski but he shrugged them off and put Swierzbinski down with a right. The Pole made it to the bell but was wilting under body punches from Langford in the fifth when the referee stopped the fight. Langford continues to impress and gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for the Pole but the other two losses have been to David Lemieux and Chris Eubank Jr so no shame there. Stalker vs. Evans A second draw shows how well matched these two are. Last time the feeling was that Stalker may have been unlucky not to walk away with the victory but this time although it was close a strong finish from Evans seemed to have turned things his way. Stalker had built a lead but despite suffering a cut over his right eye in the ninth round Evans did enough to close that gap and put his nose in front but it was even closer than their first fight. Scores 96-94 for Evans, 96-94 for Stalker and 95-95. Stalker, 31, a long-time top amateur just has not been able to get any traction as a pro and this is his third draw in a row. Blackpool-based Welshman Evans, 26, lost a decision to Scott Cardle for the vacant British title in May and is prone to cuts but is a talented boxer who can come again. Jupp vs. Smith There are no certainties in boxing as Jupp proved with hard-fought win over WBO rated Smith. Jupp had his jab working effectively from the outset and it was the fight winning punch for him as with Smith being unable to out-jab Jupp he had to get inside to work the body. Smith kept the bout close with his inside work but Jupp was busier and more active with Smith not really letting his punches go and too often loading up on his punches whereas Jupp was constantly scoring with his jab and also with left hooks. The middle rounds were all close with Smith trying to up his work rate but Jupp was edging them on accuracy and using good footwork and a solid defence to block many of Smith’s punches. By the last Smith needed a knockout but he had never come close to having Jupp in trouble in the fight and Jupp ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 98-94, 97-93 and 96-94. The 25-year-old Jupp has now won his last 9 fights and has twice had experienced of full ten round fights but he is not a noted puncher and the opposition had not been strong. This is a huge win for Jupp as he lifts Smith’s WBO Inter-Continental title and as Smith was rated a much too high No 4 with the WBO it will be interesting to see what they do with the ratings of both fighters. This will get Jupp some good paydays which is the least he deserves. Smith, 23, had wins over much better opposition on paper in Cristian Palma and Dennis Tubieron but they were both coming off loses so Smith’s rating is based on his winning the WBO Inter-Continental title rather than the quality of his opposition and if you ignored the daft WBO rating this was a contest between two promising young largely untested fighters and on that basis was perhaps not a huge upset. Smith is just 23 so he can and will rebound from this. Singh vs. Hyuseinov Singh gets his third win with stoppage of reluctant Bulgarian. Singh worked him over in the first round and at the start of the second round he cornered Hyuseinov and unloaded a series of punches that saw the referee halt the fight. Three wins by KO/TKO in three fights for the 30-year-old former star of Indian boxing. Hyuseinov is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. December 18
Verona, NY, USA: Heavy: Luis Ortiz (24-0,2ND) W TKO 7 Bryant Jennings (19-2). Super Feather: Nicholas Walters (26-0-1) DREW 10 Jason Sosa (18-1-4). Super Welter: Gabriel Rosado (22-9,1ND) W PTS 10 Joshua Clottey (39-5). Light Heavy: Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (15-0) W PTS 10 Yunieski Gonzalez (16-2). Middle: Steve Martinez (16-2) W TKO 2 Jorge Melendez (29-6-1). Light: Yuriorkis Gamboa (25-1) W PTS 10 Hylon Williams Jr (16-2-1).Super Middle: D’Mitrius Ballard (11-0,1ND) W PTS 6 Fabiano Pena (14-4-1). 19 Ortiz vs. Jennings Ortiz stops Jennings to retain his interim WBA title and put himself in line for fights with the other title holders. Both started fast with Jennings looking to get inside and work the body of the older southpaw. Ortiz scored with a good right hook and that was followed by a left that saw Jennings retreat to the ropes where Ortiz worked him over with body punches. Jennings managed to get off the ropes but Ortiz knew he had him hurt and was stalking Jennings. Near the end of the round a left again had Jennings hurt and in trouble and Ortiz landed two hard left hooks to the body just before the bell. Jennings had a better second round as he moved inside to deny Ortiz punching leverage and although rocked by a right inside he probably edged the round. Jennings was using the same tactics in the third but was hurt by a left uppercut and then sent reeling into the ropes by an overhand right and a left hook and momentarily had his back turned to Ortiz. He again managed to escape off the ropes but was having trouble getting past the right jabs of Ortiz. By the end of the round Jennings had found his way inside and landed some good punches of his own with Ortiz not working inside and getting a warning for pushing Jennings back but it was Ortiz’s round. In the fourth Jennings was able to get inside again and was throwing uppercuts and hooks of his own. In the fifth Ortiz came out dancing on his toes ad stabbing out his jab and inviting Jennings to come forward. Jennings was doing well until he did come forward walked onto a left uppercut which shook him but Ortiz did not press his advantage. Ortiz was boxing again in the sixth dominating the action with his jab and Jennings was not able to work inside. Ortiz had taken the fifth and sixth rounds but Jennings had the better of the first two minutes of the seventh bulling forward against a retreating Ortiz and scoring with a thudding right to the chin. That all changed when Ortiz landed a wicked right uppercut followed by a left uppercut that put Jennings face down on the canvas. Jennings got up but Ortiz staggered him with another left that had Jennings tumbling into the ropes and the referee stopped the fight. Cuban Ortiz “The Real King Kong” showed good skills and impressive punching power. Every time he landed cleanly with his left Jennings was hurt and the punch that marked the beginning of the end was an equally impressive right uppercut. Where the 36-year-old Ortiz goes from here I am not sure. Tyson Fury is tied into a return match with Wlad Klitschko and the secondary WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev has a defence lined up against Lucas Browne in March. Deontay Wilder is making yet another voluntary defence this time against Pole Artur Szpilka and then hopefully the WBC will finally stop screwing Alex Povetkin and insist Wilder makes an overdue mandatory defence. The vacant IBF title is to be decided between Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin next month. Because he is the interim WBA champion none of the other bodies have Ortiz rated and with WBA No 2 Browne and No 3 Klitschko tied-up who knows No 4 Shannon Briggs might get a title shot-unfortunately. Jennings, 31, just met a better fighter on the night. He has an inside the distance win over Szpilka and a points victory over Mike Perez with his only losses being on points against Klitschko and this one to Ortiz. He is a possible opponent down the line for any of the other champions or even Anthony Joshua in late 2016/2017. Walters vs. Sosa Walters has his first fight at super feather and looks very unlucky to have to settle for a majority draw against Sosa. Walters had the skill to win this on boxing alone but he seemed to want to prove he was just as strong at the new weight and spent more time than he needed to do fighting inside. After a feeling-out first round there were constant exchanges making it an exciting fight and although many rounds were close and Sosa was throwing lots of punches the sounder defence and the cleaner, more accurate and heavier punches were coming from the Jamaican. This was not a battle of jabs but of hooks and uppercuts inside. Sosa was setting himself a fast pace with his busy, busy style but that and the body work from Walters eventually had Sosa fading a bit over the last three rounds. Walters landed a sharp right inside in the fifth which had Sosa stumbling a couple of steps but he banged back with a couple of rights to the head but his punches lacked the power of the Jamaican’s. Walters landed some thudding body punches in the seventh and scored with a hard right to the head at the end of the eighth. They battled toe-to-toe in the ninth and Sosa landed some nice rights as they just threw caution out of the ring and banged away. It was the same in the tenth as two tired warriors slugged it to the bell. Walters seemed to have the edge in the last round and the fight but the judges saw it differently. Scores 95-95 twice and 96-94 to Sosa. The former unbeaten WBA feather champion looked to have won this one clearly and although Sosa was the busier the CompuBox statistics had Walter landing 281 punches to 168 for Sosa. He may need a couple more fights but the 29-year-old Jamaican is a big threat to any super feather. Camden’s Sosa, 27, is now unbeaten in his last 17 fights but against a much lower level of opposition. However, he showed he belonged up with the rated guys in the division and this showing will have given him a much higher profile. Rosado vs. Clottey Rosado outworks Commey to win a fight which neither fighter could afford to lose if he was to remain in with a chance of a title fight somewhere in the future. This was close over the first three rounds with Clottey being more aggressive and probably just getting the better of the action but then Rosado started to edge the rounds. Clottey was methodical with Rosado more fluent and fluid. Neither was capable of hurting the other but Rosado was making use of his strength to force the fight. There was never much in it with Rosado just doing enough to cancel out the early work of Clottey and with a strong tenth round doing enough to be a deserving winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 all for Rosado. The 29-year-old “King” had lost three tough fights in a row against Peter Quillin for the WBO title, Jermell Charlo and David Lemieux and this was his first fight since losing to Lemieux in December last year. Former WBA welter champion “Grand Master” Clottey, 38, is not the force he was in 2008/2009 when beating Zab Judah and taking Miguel Cotto a split decision. He showed he was still a player last year with a win over Anthony Mundine but if continues his role may just be that of a scalp for the up and coming prospects. Shabranskyy vs. Gonzalez With both fighters having a high percentage of inside the distance wins this one might have been expected to end early but after ten close round of action they both showed they also have a good chin. These two went straight to it with Gonzalez rumbling forward throwing sweeping hooks focusing on the body and the taller Shabranskyy using his extra reach working behind his jab slotting in straight rights and mainly head hunting. Gonzalez was wild with his swinging punches early with Shabranskyy finding openings but a solid right in the first did not even make Gonzalez blink. Neither fighter was interested in fighting inside and they were both willing to stand in the pocket and let their punches go with huge shots flying in both directions. In the third Shabranskyy had Gonzalez on the ropes and looked to have hurt him with a series of head punches with Gonzalez again swinging wildly in furious spurt of action. Gonzalez worked his way off the ropes only for a left jab and a right cross from Shabranskyy to send him back there and for a few seconds it looked as though Gonzalez might crumble. Instead he banged back but again was mainly swishing air. Just before the bell they again just stood and pitched bombs. No one was interested in digging trenches. Shabranskyy seemed to have tired himself in that frantic third round and Gonzalez was able to get into the fight with a bit more success and was blocking Shabranskyy’s jab with a high guard. Shabranskyy was still doing the cleaner scoring with his jab/straight right and working the body a bit more but Gonzalez kept coming. The Cuban landed a big right in the sixth but Shabranskyy took it well and in the seventh Shabranskyy was given recovery time after a low punch from Gonzalez. The Cuban scored with some clubbing shots before they again ended the round like a couple of Friday night drunks swinging away. An amazing last round saw Gonzalez scoring early with a four punch combination but with 20 seconds left Shabranskyy landed a thunderous right and Gonzalez was almost out on his feet as Shabranskyy piled in more punches only for Gonzalez to stagger forward swinging to the bell. Scores 98-92 and 97-93 for Shabranskyy and 95-95. For me the middle score was the most accurate but it was a pity either had to lose as these two gave everything for the full three minutes of every round. Ukrainian Shabranskyy, 28, lived up to his “Lion Heart” nickname and although Gonzalez marked a big step up from his previous victims he showed he is ready to face some tough opposition. Gonzalez, 30, had shown his quality in losing to Jean Pascal in July with all three judges scoring it 96-94 to spark some controversy. With a little bit more composure and accuracy he might just have won this one. Martinez vs. Melendez This was a case of the biter bit as big puncher Melendez is blown away inside two rounds. Despite it being his first fight for a year Martinez was sharp and landed a hard combination at the end of the first round that had “Destroyer” on shaky pins. Martinez knew he had shaken Melendez and went right after him in the second. A left hook put Melendez down. He was up quickly but in a bad way and a succession of unanswered punches brought the referee’s intervention. The 25-year-old from the Bronx has 12 wins by KO/TKO and made the perfect recovery from a loss to Chris Pearson in his fight last December. Puerto Rican Melendez, 26, was in the ratings when he had a 13-0 run with 12 wins by KO/TKO but is now 3-4 in his last 7 fights. Gamboa vs. Williams Gamboa and Williams had rust to shed as Gamboa returns with a win. The Cuban was just that bit quicker and more accurate and within the first ten seconds of the fight he made Williams stumble with a short left hook. Williams recovered and showed a good jab to keep himself out of trouble for the rest of the round. Williams scored with a sharp right in the second but Gamboa was showing plenty of head movement and lateral shifts with Williams often swishing air. Williams was the one coming forward but Gamboa’s movement was making it difficult for Williams to find the target and meanwhile Gamboa was shifting about changing angles and getting his punches off first. There were some wild exchanges in the fourth but Gamboa was in charge. Over the late rounds Gamboa’s work rate dropped and Williams had a bit more success but never enough to endanger Gamboa or change the pattern of the fight and Gamboa got in ten good rounds of work. Scores 98-92 twice and a too close 96-94 all for Gamboa. The 34-year-old former IBF and WBA feather and interim WBA light champion was having his first fight in 13 months and although he is not the force he was he is still a class fighter who needs to be more active. He was 133lbs for this one so he could go up or down. Williams, 25, won his first 15 fights before losing to Rances Barthelemy in 2012. He had almost three years out before returning with a draw against Jason Litzau in August. Ballard vs. Pena Ballard remains unbeaten as he wins every round against Pena. No real excitement as Ballard outboxed the Los Angeles-based Brazilian but never really had him in any trouble. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. A flat end to the year for the 22-yeear-old from Maryland but he does not need to be rushed. Pena is 3-3 in his last six fights but has usually been stopped quickly by the prospects he has faced. December 18
East London, South Africa: Super Fly: Gideon Buthelezi (17-5) W PTS 12 Makazole Tete (14-2-1). Light: Mzonke Fana (37-9) W TKO 8 Xolani Mcotheli (13-3). Bantam: Lwandile Sityatha (21-3-1) W PTS 12 Ernesto Saulong (18-2-1). Super Fly: Zolani Tete (22-3) W PTS 12 Jether Oliva (23-4-2). Welter: Ali Funeka (37-5-3) W TKO 4 Gideon Agbosu (12-3). Super Feather: Aphiwe Mboyiya (12-2-1) W TKO 7 Abraham Osei Bonsu (10-1-1). Buthelezi vs. Tete Buthelezi takes the unbeaten tag from Tete and wins the vacant IBO title to become a three division champion. Tete had weight problems and it showed as he was tentative and after a decent first round allowed Buthelezi to boss the fight. Buthelezi simply outboxed a sluggish Tete being too quick of hand and foot and Tete never seemed to have a plan for dealing with Buthelezi’s southpaw stance. The fight was one-sided with Tete unable to raise his game despite the exhortations from his brother at ringside. His performance was so insipid that despite fighting in front of his own crowd over the late rounds it was Buthelezi who was getting all of the cheers. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and a very strange 116-113 which was way too generous to Tete. Buthelezi, 29, is one of the lower profile boxers in South Africa despite having won IBO titles at minimumweight and light flyweight and being the only fighter to have beaten Hekkie Budler. When he challenged for the WBC fly title in 2011 he was destroyed in two rounds by Adrian Hernandez and he lost his IBO super fly title with a one round kayo loss to Edrin Dapudong in 2013. He bounced back in December 2014 with a win over world rated Namibian Immanuel Naidjala, but lost a split decision to Lwandile Sityatha for the IBO super fly title in July. Tete, the brother of Zolani, was unbeaten going in but may have been weight weakened so he can bounce back from this. Fana vs. Mcotheli Former IBF super feather champ[ion Fana gets his career off the rocks with a stoppage of Mcotheli in eight rounds for the interim WBO Africa title. The 42-year-old “Rose of Khayelitsha” won the IBF title twice but on the second occasion just gave it up without making any effort to defend it. He had scored a good domestic win over Sipho Taliwe in October but last month was beaten on points by Tunisian Hedi Slimani for the ABU title in Belgium so could not afford another loss. Local fighter Mcotheli, the SABC No 4 lightweight had won his last two fights inside the distance and his other losses had been to very good opposition in Jasper Seroka and Malcolm Klassen. Sityatha vs. Saulong Sityatha wins the vacant WBO International title with unanimous decision over Filipino Saulong. The South African was shaken by a big right hook in the first round but quickly recovered and took control with a stiff, accurate jab and plenty of lateral movement leaving the aggressive Filipino swishing air. After that brief success in the first Saulong was never really in the fight and when a straight right to the jaw dropped him in the seventh it looked like the end but he survived. Saulong came out swinging in the eighth but in vain as over the remaining rounds the defensive skills and fight controlling jabs from Sityatha made it one-sided. Scores 118-109 twice and 119-109 for Sityatha. The South African gave up his IBO super fly title due to problems making the weight. He is 11-1-1 in his last 13 fights. Saulong had won the WBC International title in May and was No 13 with the WBO. Tete v. Oliva Tete saved the night for the family with a comprehensive unanimous verdict over Oliva to win the vacant WBO African title. The brilliant former undefeated IBF champion won ever round as he outboxed and out fought a good level opponent all the way. He had Oliva down from a left hook in the fourth but the Filipino has only lost inside the distance once and had taken Moruti Mthalane to a split decision for the IBO fly title last year. There was never a chance he would get anywhere near a share of the decision here as he took a one-sided beating but stayed the course although he was probably helped in that achievement by the fact that Tete was carrying a shoulder and hand injury into the fight. Scores 120-107 twice and 120-108. The 23-year-old Tete gave up his IBF title rather than defend it for a small purse and has been removed from their ratings and is rated WBC 6/WBA 12 and would give either Carlos Cuadras or Kohei Kono a tough night. This was the first time the Tete brothers have appeared together on the same show. Oliva, 28, was unbeaten in his first 18 fights until he lost to Ulises Soto for the IBF light fly title in 2011 Funeka vs. Agbosu Funeka gets another inside the distance victory as he halts Ghanaian Agbosu in four rounds. For the vacant WBO Africa title. The former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight title challenger now has 30 wins by KO/TKO. It seems incredible to think that the 37-year-old 6’1” (185cm) fighter was a flyweight when he turned pro in 1995. He had no luck in three world title fights losing a majority decision to Nate Campbell for the three titles, fought a draw with Joan Guzman for the IBF title and in the return match lost a split decision. Plenty of controversy as well of course as Campbell failed to make the weight for their fight and Guzman failed to make the weight in their second fight with Funeka also serving a ban for using a banned substance. This wins saves his career which looked over when he lost his IBO welter title being floored four times and stopped in five rounds by lowly rated fellow-South African Tsiko Mulovhedzi in July. Records show Agbosu was having his first fight since November 2013 but a problem with records from Ghana means that not all results are being reported widely. Mboyiya vs. Bonsu Former South African feather champion Mboyiya gets his fourth victory in a row with stoppage of unbeaten Ghanaian fighter Bonsu and wins the vacant WBO Africa title. The Eastern Cape southpaw now has six wins by KO/TKO. Only the second fight in two years for Bonsu. Indio, CA, USA: Feather: Joseph Diaz (19-0) W TKO 2 Hugo Partida (21-7-2). Feather: Andrew Cancio (16-3-2) W TKO 8 Rene Alvarado (23-6). Diaz vs. Partida Diaz crushes Partida inside two rounds. The unbeaten southpaw put pressure on Partida from the first bell scoring with good body shots and keeping on top of Partida who was too busy fending off Diaz’s punches to mount any offensive of his own. In the second Diaz caught Partida early with a right that had the more experienced Mexican hurt. He slammed home a series of southpaw lefts and with Partida caught on the ropes and shipping punishment the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old “JoJo” wins the vacant NABF title and although not yet rated he is ready to step up to much tougher opposition. Fourth loss by KO/TKO for Partida and third loss in a row. Cancio vs. Alvarado Cancio continues his seesaw series of fights with stoppage of Alvarado. Over the first four rounds Alvarado was doing the better work being more accurate with his punches and blocking most of those coming from Cancio as they fought toe-to-toe. In the fifth a left hook from Cancio unhinged Alvarado’s legs and he floundered around the ring with Cancio in pursuit but when Cancio was unable to capitalise on his success Alvarado was banging back at the end of the round. The intensity dropped in the sixth and seventh with Alvarado recovered and Cancio looking to have tired himself with his attacks in the fifth. In the eighth Cancio again landed a heavy left hook and again Alvarado was badly shaken and as more punches from Cancio landed the referee gave Alvarado a standing count. When the count was over Cancio again unleashed a volley of punches and the referee stepped in to save Alvarado. Cancio, 27, was having his first fight for 20 months. In a four-fight sequence he had beaten Rocky Juarez, lost to Rene Gonzalez, beaten Jerry Belmontes and then lost to Ronnie Rios so this win sees him on the top of the seesaw sequence. Nicaraguan Alvarado, 26, a former WBC Silver champion loses by KO/TKO for the first time having gone ten rounds with Diaz in July. He is also on a switchback going W,L,W,L,W,LW,L in his last 8 fights. Las Palmas, Canary Isles, Spain: Welter: Nabil Krissi (10-0) W KO 1 Ignacio Mendoza (40-12-2). Light: Jerobe Santana (10-0) W PTS 6 Kakhaber Avetisian (42-34-1). Krissi vs. Mendoza Krissi finished off experienced Mendoza in first. After shaking Mendoza with a head punch late in the end of the round he ended the fight with a body punch that put Mendoza down and he was unable to beat the count. The local “Sultan”, 31 has five sins by KO/TKO. This was supposed to be his first ten round fight. Colombian-born Mendoza who has mixed in good company in the past drops to six losses by KO/TKO and is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Santana vs. Avetisian Santana makes it a local double with a unanimous verdict over Georgian Avetisian. Santana won every round and had Avetisian in trouble a few times but lacked the power to finish the fight early. The 23-year-old Santana gets his seventh win in 2015. For Avetisian it is his twelfth fight of the year, 5 home wins and 7 away losses December 18
Las Vegas, NV, USA: Light: Rances Barthelemy (24-0,1ND) W PTS 12 Denis Shafikov (36-2-1). Cruiser: Isaiah Thomas (15-0,1ND) ND 3 Murat Gassiev (22-0,1ND). Light: Gervonta Davis (14-0) W KO 9 Luis Sanchez (17-5-1). Middle: Brian Castano (11-0) W PTS 8 Aaron Garcia (15-5-1). Light: Mickey Bey (22-1-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Naim Nelson (12-1-1). Super Welter: Ishe Smith (28-8) W PTS 10 Tommy Rainone (24-7-1). Super Welter: Eric Walker (12-0) W PTS 8 Chris Pearson (13-1,1ND). Super Middle: Ronald Gavril (15-1) W TKO 3 Mariano Hilario (13-5) Barthelemy vs. Shafikov Barthelemy wins the vacant IBF light title with unanimous decision over Shafikov. The physical size of the boxers, Barthelemy 5’11” (180cm) and Shafikov 5’5” (165cm) dictated the tactics as Shafikov had to get inside the Cuban’s reach advantage. It is something that the little Russian is used to and he employed his usual tank-like approach rumbling forward to try to start a brawl. Over the first six rounds he had quite a bit of success as Barthelemy chose not to use those advantages but to fight the fight Shafikov wanted. That made it a close contests but Barthelemy introduced a game-changer when he opened a bad cut over Shafikov’s right eye. The cut bleed profusely with Barthelemy targeting it and Shafikov had to survive a doctor’s inspection in the eighth. Barthelemy’s confidence grew and he boxed more and by the ninth was starting to showboat winding up his punches but Shafikov kept pressurising and had a good round. Over the tenth and eleventh Barthelemy was finally using his longer reach to pop Shafikov with jabs and hooks and the Cuban danced through the last round to a clear victory but one that was closer than the scores indicated. Scores 116-112 twice and 119-109. The 29-year-old “Kid Blast” had relinquished the IBF super feather title due to problems making the weight and had established his lightweight credentials with a win over former champion Antonio DeMarco. “Djingis Khan” Shafikov loses in a world title fight for the second time having been outpointed by Miguel Vazquez for the WBC light title in February last year. He had scored three wins since then including a victory over Rustam Nugaev in an IBF eliminator. Thomas vs. Gassiev No real benefit to either Thomas or Gassiev in this technical draw. Neither fighter landed a real punch in the first which saw the taller southpaw Thomas backing around the ring with Gassiev just tracking him but not cutting him off. Gassiev was more aggressive in the second getting inside and trying to land some rights but Smith was tying him up. They both scored with some shots Gassiev with rights and Thomas with southpaw lefts. In the third Gassiev was getting past Thomas’s jab and working inside. As the round came to an end Gassiev had taken Thomas to the ropes. He landed two thudding rights to the head but he had been swinging them on the bell and the second landed late. Thomas decided he could not continue and as it was ruled that Gassiev had not intentionally hit late and there had only been three rounds completed the fight was ruled a No Decision. Russian “Iron” Gassiev, 22, looked to be getting on top at the stoppage with Thomas lacking the power to keep him out. It broke Gassiev’s run of inside the distance wins at seven. Detroit’s Thomas, 26, was coming off a good win over Jordan Shimmell. Davis vs. Sanchez Davis marches on with ninth round win over Sanchez. Davis had his manager Floyd Mayweather Jr. leaving his seat and coming to his corner in the fight shouting advice. Davis had the power and made a good start hurting Sanchez in the third but the gutsy Sanchez hung in there taking the punishment and fighting hard to stay competitive. Davis broke his resistance in the eighth with an uppercut that put Sanchez down. The Mexican got out of the round but Davis jumped in with a short left hook in the ninth putting him face down on the canvas and the fight was waived off before the count was completed. The 21-year-old “Baltimore Tank”, a former NGG and PAL champion, has 13 wins by KO/TKO and this is the first time he has had to go past the sixth round for a win. He was coming off a win over former IBF feather champion Cristobal Cruz. Sanchez had won a decision over unbeaten Adan Mares in April but was knocked out in six rounds by Michael Perez in July. Castano vs. Garcia Argentinian prospect Castano gets wide unanimous decision over Garcia. Castano was giving away height and reach but fought in his usual all-out aggression tactics. He had Garcia in bad trouble in the second but injured his right hand in the third and was only able to make limited use of it. Garcia took advantage and was more competitive but Castano’s aggression was forcing Garcia to fight toe-to-toe and left hooks to the body from Castano helped him keep control of the fight. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72. Castano, 26, a former South American Championships gold medallist and WSB fighter, is considered the best prospect in Argentina. Chicago-born Mexican Garcia, 22, had lost only one of his last eleven fights but against modest opposition. Bey vs. Nelson Bey has his first fight in 15 months and registers a wide unanimous verdict over Philadelphian Nelson. Bey was much too good for Nelson and won by the wide margins of 100-90 twice and 99-91. Bey, 32, the former undefeated IBF light champion relinquished his title rather than fight his mandatory challenger Shafikov. He has dropped out of the ratings due to inactivity so this was one fairly easy step on the way to a championship fight. Nelson, 25, was having his first fight since September 2014. Smith vs. Rainone Smith was another former champion working his way back. Rainone was a good opponent on paper but Smith was just too quick and skilful and won every round. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. The 37-year-old for IBF super welter champion is No 10 with the WBC but dropped out of the other ratings after losing a majority decision to Vanes Martirosyan in September. New Yorker Rainone has yet to lose inside the distance and his only loss in his previous nine fights was to Dusty Hernandez Harrison. Walker vs. Pearson An upset here as Walker just proved too tough for unbeaten southpaw Pearson. Walker knew he did not have the skill to match Pearson so he set a high work rate and just kept the pressure on Pearson all of the way making for an exciting scrap. Walker had Pearson in trouble in the fourth only for Pearson to survive and bang back hard in the fifth. Walker was going for quantity whilst Pearson seemed to be looking for one big punch to turn things around but it never came. Walker had another impressive round in the seventh to stall any attempt from Pearson to stage a strong finish and Walker was a clear winner. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74 all for Walker. A huge contrast in how these two boxers got where they are. Pearson came through the amateur ranks winning various titles including the US national Championships and a spell in the WSB. Walker 32, leaned to box in prison during a 13 year sentence which saw him inside from the age of 16 to 29 and been very much under the radar. This was both his first eight round fight and a big step up in the level of opponent. Pearson, 25, can learn from this and come again. Gavril vs. Hilario Gavril too young and strong for Dominican-born Hilario. Gavril took the first two rounds before cornering Hilario in the third and putting him down with a quick combination rounded off with a body punch and the referee stopped the fight. The 29-yeart-old Romanian gets his eleventh win by KO/TKO and his fourth victory since losing his unbeaten record to Elvin Ayala in March. Spanish-based Hilario, a former EU champion, has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Malvern, Australia: Super Bantam: Jason Moloney (5-0) W TKO 6 Markquil Salvana (9-1). Bantam: Anthony Maloney (5-0) W TKO 4 Roberto Lerio (16-23-1). Moloney vs. Salvana Good night for the Moloney twins as they both collect titles. Jason used his jab to control the fight and it also had the unbeaten Filipino’s right eye gradually closing. By the end of the fifth round Salvana was fighting with his vision severely restricted and his corner retired him. Jason, 24, wins the vacant WBA Oceania title and gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. He is rated No 3 by the ANBF and was a quarter-finalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Salvana, 19, needs more experience but can only improve. Maloney vs. Lerio Andrew wins the vacant Australian title with fourth round stoppage of experienced former Australian champion Lerio. Third win by KO/TKO for Andrew who was a gold medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Now six losses in a row for Australian-based Filipino Lerio Cartagena, Colombia: Feather: Miguel Marriaga (22-1) W TKO 3 Luis Zambrano (10-8,1ND). Super Bantam: Luis Melendez (45-10-1) W TKO 4 Yurley Barrios (0-5). Marriaga vs. Zambrano Easy win for Marriaga. He spent two rounds just boxing with Zambrano but when he let his punches go in the third a body punch followed by a right to the head ended the fight. The 29-year-old local “Scorpion” gets his second victory since losing to Nicholas Walters for the WBA feather title in June. Fellow-Colombian Zambrano now has six losses in a row by KO/TKO. Melendez vs. Barrios Disgraceful match sees Melendez halt poor Barrios in the fourth. The 36-year-old former WBA super fly and IBO bantam challenger has won 11of his last 12 fight and there is a mixture of matches as bad as this and some much more competitive. Barrios now has 4 losses by KO/TKO. Le Mans, France: Middle: Patrice Sou Toke (22-4) W PTS 12 Nordine Arik (14-4-2). Visitor Toke wins vacant ABU and WBC Francophone titles with unanimous decision over Le Mans–based Moroccan fighter Arik. In a close fight a knockdown scored by a Toke left uppercut in the fourth which put Arik down heavily for the first time in his career made the difference. Scores 114-111 twice and 113-111 all for Toke who finally wins the ABU title at his third attempt. Arik, 34, a Frenchman based in Qatar was trying to rebound from a split decision loss to Damien Martin for the national title. Ratingen, Germany: Light Heavy: Avni Yildrim (8-0) W KO 1 Janne Forsman (21-3). Welter: Selcuk Aydin (28-3) W RTD 5 Nodar Robakidze (15-16-3). Yildrim vs. Forsman Yildrim destroys Finn Forsman inside a round. After some brief sparring Yildrim dug a left hook into Forsman’s side and the Finn went down in agony writhing on the canvas and the referee just waived the fight off. Turk Yildrim, 24, wins the WBC Eurasia Pacific title and retains his WBC International Silver title. He goes to 5 wins by KO/TKO and is No 14 with the WBC. Forsman was halted in two rounds by Brit Ovill McKenzie but that was his only loss in his last 10 fights. Aydin vs. Robakidze Aydin gets win on his first bout for eleven months. From the outset he was forcing the young Georgian onto the back foot with a stiff jab. Robakidze tried to counter when he could but he did not have the power to push Aydin back. In the second Aydin was using hooks and uppercuts on the inside and tracking the retreating Robakidze around the ring fighting at a walking pace. Robakidze was trying to come forward in the third and stay off the ropes and as a result did a bit better. Aydin was back in control in the fourth thumping left hooks to the body and thudding rights but ended the round with a small cut on his right eyelid. The fifth was brutal as Aydin just marched Robakidze around the ring landing left hooks to the body and clubbing head punches and Robakidze retired at the end of the round. First fight for the former WBC Silver champion since losing in eleven round against Viktor Postol in April last year. Robakidze, 21, showed real guts but gets his seventh loss by KO/TKO. Mexicali, Mexico: Super Bantam: Hanzel Martinez (23-2) W KO 4 Jose Silveria (16-19). Martinez overcomes a bad start to kayo Silveria in a short war. In the first round Silveria went on the attack and had Martinez on the back foot and to add to Martinez’s problems a clash of heads saw Martinez suffer a bad cut. In the second a right from Martinez put Silveria down only for Silveria to get up and score a knockdown of his own and when the eight count was completed Martinez was again hurt and only just survived to the bell. In the third Martinez took over with a series of body punches and in the fourth a combination put Silveria down and he could not beat the count. The 24-year-old “Rude Boy” from Tijuana won his first 19 fights before losing to Alejandro Gonzalez (17-0-2) in 2013 and his second loss was on points against Alexis Santiago in 2014. This is his third win since then and win No 18 by KO/TKO. Silveria, 36, has now lost 10 of his last 11 fights Budva, Montenegro: Super Middle: Nikola Sjekloca (30-4) W KO 1 Ivan Jukic (22-7). Serb-born local Sjekloca gets this one over early. A right hook to the head followed by a body punch put Jukic down and he did not beat the count. The 37-year-old Sjekloca won his first 25 fights but is 4-4-1 in his last nine including a loss to Sakio Bika in a WBC eliminator and defeats against Arthur Abraham, Callum Smith and unbeaten Tyrone Zeuge. Croatian Jukic, 34, now has six losses by KO/TKO including one round blowouts by both Chris Eubank Jr and Frank Buglioni. Tlalinepantla, Mexico: Light: Sergio Torres (26-8-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Ivan Lopez (5-9). Torres gets majority decision but is a given a tougher than expected fight by less experienced Lopez. This was a typical second level Mexican fight with both fighters parking their defence in the corner and just fighting hard for round after round. Torres was looking to wear Lopez down with straight lefts and left hooks to the body. Lopez surprised by taking the punishment and just firing back hard in every round keeping the verdict in the balance to the last bell. Scores 96-93 and 96-95 for Torres and 95-95. The 28-year-old “Tama” a former interim WBC Fecarbox champion, is 6-2 in his last 8 fights. Lopez, having his first ten round fight put on a good show. Uitenhage, South Africa: Minimum: Siphosethu Ncisane (8-1 W KO 11 Ndikho Magadaza (6-7). Local fighter Ncisane wins the vacant World Boxing Federation International title with late stoppage of Magadaza. The fight was close until Ncisane’s power brought the end. Fifth win by KO/TKO for Ncisane who jumped straight from six round fights to twelve. He was rated No 6 by the SABC. “Mini Cooper” Magadaza was having his first fight since September last year. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his latest weekly review. Unfortunately given the huge size of it we have had to post it in several parts
December 17 Paris, France: Super Welter: Cedric Vitu (43-2) W PTS 12 Roberto Santos (23-8-3). Super Light: Franck Petitjean (15-4-3) W PTS 10 Renald Garrido (15-12-1). Light: Marvin Petit (17-1-1) W PTS 10 Sylvain Chapelle (15-22-2). Cruiser: Arsen Goulamirian (13-0) W TKO 6 Isossa Mondo (6-9). Vitu vs. Santos Vitu retains the European title with a majority verdict over Spaniard Santos. The pattern of the fight was decided by the styles of the fighters. Southpaw Vitu had the better boxing skills and Santos had an all-out aggressive approach. Vitu was able to score with his jab and block punches from Santos but it was always close. Santos got through with some good punches in the second and despite his skills Vitu lacked the punch to keep Santos out for long. As long as Vitu stayed off the ropes and worked in centre ring he was winning the fight but Santos was constantly marching in behind a high guard and working inside. Vitu kept out of trouble long enough and was the more accurate puncher doing just enough to deserve the decision. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-115. Vitu, 30, was making the first defence of the title he won with an impressive eleventh round stoppage of previously unbeaten Orlando Fiordigiglio in June. He lost on a spliot decision against Sergey Rabchenko for the same European title in 2012, his only loss in his last 26 fights. He is rated IBF 11(10)/WBC 12. Santos, 34, “The Benidorm Tiger”, a former Spanish super middle and EU middle champion had added the EU super welter title with a win over Frenchman Zakaria Attou in April. Petitjean vs. Garrido Petitjean makes it three defences of his French title and by coincidence his third win over Garrido. No time for study here as being used to each other’s style they started straight in with all-out war which suited Garrido. Southpaw Petitjean had his jab working in the second and despite constant pressure from Garrido he was picking up points with his mobility and smart boxing. Over the late rounds as Petitjean tired Garrido was able to take him to the ropes more but never quite able to do enough to catch up on the lead Petitjean’s skills had built. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Petitjean. The 27-year-old Petitjean is 4-0-1 in his last 5 fights and had previously outpointed Garrido over four and six rounds. He is domestic level but will struggle if he moves up. “Le Lion” Garrido had beaten Brit Bradley Saunders on a disqualification in September but is now 4-5 in his last 9 fights. Petit vs. Chapelle Petit wins the vacant French title with unanimous decision over experienced Chapelle. Petit had height and reach over Chapelle but was often forced to stand and trade. Petit was able to use his jab to stem Chapelle’s attacks over the early rounds and and scored with hard left hooks in every round. Chapelle had a good seventh round as he landed with clean punches from both hands but Petit boxed his way to a convincing win but it was closer than the decision he scored over Chapelle in the final of the French Boxing League in 2012. Scores 98-92 twice and 97-93. Petit, 24, becomes French champ[ion for the second time. He lost his title to Yvon Mendy on a close decision in 2013 with two judges giving the decision to Mendy 96-94 which looks a good performance in view of Mendy’ s win over Luke Campbell. Chapelle, 29, is 1-6 in his last 7 fights but the opposition has been tough. This is his fourth unsuccessful attempt to win a French title. Goulamirian vs. Mondo Goulamirian uses his superior strength and punch to wear down game Mondo. Goulamirian was forcing the fight but Mondo showed good defensive skills. Goulamirian was winning the rounds with his aggression and pressure and had Mondo under fire in the sixth when the referee stopped the fight but it was a disputed stoppage. The 28-year-old Armenian-born “Fire” Goulamirian now has 7 wins by KO/TKO. Mondo, 36, is 2-4 in his last 6 fights. Panama City, Panama: Super Welter: Shane Mosley (49-9-1,1ND) W TKO 10 Patrick Lopez (23-6). Super Fly: Luis Concepcion (34-4) W PTS 12 Herman Marquez (39-7-1). Super Feather: Jezreel Corrales (19-1,1ND) W RTD 11 Juan Antonio Rodriguez (28-6). Super Bantam: Liborio Solis (23-3-1) W PTS 9 Jonathan Baat (30-7-4). Feather: Bryan De Gracia (17-0-1) W PTS 9 Alejandro Palmero (7-3-1). Mosley vs. Lopez Mosley gets stoppage in the last round but shows his age. In the first round a clash of heads had Mosley complaining to the referee and dabbing at a cut over his right eye. Mosley was pressing the fight throwing power punches with southpaw Lopez showing some slick skills and good upper body movement but their heads clashed again before the end of the round. In the second the referee stopped the action to have the doctor examine Mosley’s injury but the fight continued with Mosley probably worried about the cut firing a salvo of punches and flooring Lopez with a left hook. Lopez was up immediately but was shaken badly again just as the round ended. In the third and fourth Lopez started to get into the fight scoring with long straight lefts as Mosley already looked to be tiring and was getting caught with punches he would have blocked at his peak. Mosley showed he still has the punch as he shook Lopez again at the end of the fifth. They action slowed in the sixth but the seventh, eighth and most of the ninth were won by Lopez. He was getting through with his right jab and long lefts and had Mosley backing up and looking tired. Just before the bell to end the ninth Mosley landed two big rights but Lopez, although shaken, took them well. Lopez made the better start to the tenth sending Mosley staggering back with a right to the top of his head and again he had Mosley backing up. The beginning of the end was a short left to the chin inside which sent Lopez staggering back into a corner and down. He was up quickly and Mosley pounced on him landing a series of head punches which put Lopez down on his knees. He was up quickly but a left hook again floored him. He made it to his feet and the referee had a long look at him making him walk out of the corner and along the ropes before wiping his gloves but another attack from Mosley saw Lopez slump to the canvas for the fourth time and the fight was waived off. The 44-year-old former world champion shows he still has a punch as he moves to 41 wins by KO/TKO. Mosley had one fight in 2011, one in 2012, 2 in 2013, was inactive in 2014 and just had the one fight this year in August when he beat Ricardo Mayorga. He may have power but he was slow and looked vulnerable. Venezuelan Lopez, 37, was having only his second fight in three years and his first for 13 months but once he was rolling he was in this one until he got nailed. Concepcion vs. Marquez Home fighter Concepcion gets wide unanimous decision over Marquez for a measure of revenge for two stoppage losses. The was to be a defence of his interim WBA title but Marquez failed to make the contract weight and it went downhill for him from then. Although both started cautiously it was a one-sided fight with Marquez doing well to last the distance. Concepcion was in command from the start and won every round. He floored Marquez in the fifth but the bell came to the Mexican’s rescue. Marquez had rocky spells in other rounds but lasted the distance. Scores 120-107 twice and 120-109. The 30-year-old “Nica” lost twice inside the distance to Marquez in WBA flyweight title fights, the first a wild eleventh round slug fest and the second saw Concepcion down three times and out inside a round. so sweet revenge. He feels he has added some skills to his power and is looking for a fight with Kohei Kono for the full WBA title. Marquez, 27, said he had only nine days notice for the fight and thought they should clash for a fourth time but recent inside the distance losses to Giovanni Segura, McJoe Arroyo and Juan Francisco Estrada shows he may no longer be the force he was. Corrales vs. Rodriguez Corrales continues to impress and looks to be the coming fighter in Panama as he wins the interim WBA title. His skills, hand speed, accurate combinations and solid defence meant that Mexican Rodriguez was never in with a chance in this all-southpaw contest. Even though not winning any rounds Rodriguez was competitive until the fourth round and then was gradually beaten down and retired at the end of the eleventh round. The 24-year-old “El Invisible” is a highly skilled fighter with great moves and great hand speed. He lost his second pro fight and is 18-0 with one No Decision. The ND was a fight he won but the ND came about because he tested positive for Marijuana. Rodriguez, 27, had lost just 2 of his last 14 fights on points to Billy Dib and Javier Fortuna, and had wins over Marco Antonio Lopez (22-1) and Yenifel Vicente (15-1-2). Corrales is one to watch. Solis vs. Baat Former undefeated WBA super fly champion Solis gets wide unanimous decision over Japan-based Filipino Baat. Both fighters were giving their best but the dominance of Solis meant it did not really spark and the crowd were disappointed in the match. Scores 90-81, 89-82 and 89-83 for Solis who wins the vacant WBA Fedecaribe title. Now 13 wins in a row for 33-year-old Solis. His term as WBA super fly champion came to an end in 2013 when he beat IBF champion Daiki Kameda in what was to be a unification match but fell apart when Solis failed to make the weight. He is WBA No 3 and bantam looking for a fight with either full champion Juan Carlos Payano or secondary title holder Jamie McDonnell. Southpaw Baat, 35, was 5-1-1 in his last 7 fights with the loss being to former IBF super fly champion Rodrigo Guerrero. De Gracia vs. Palmero As far as Panamanian prospects are concerned De Gracia is next in line behind Corrales. The Panamanian champion comprehensively outpointed Mexican Palmero winning a wide unanimous decision and retained his WBA Fedecaribe title. The 22-year-old De Gracia was held to a draw in his first pro fight so now has a 17 bout winning streak including a sixth round kayo of former world title challenger Manuel Vides and is rated WBA No 9. Scores 90-81 twice and 90-82. Palermo really just a Mexican prelim fighter. The Past Week In Action 2 December 2015
November 25 Hialeah, FL, USA: Super Welter: Erislandy Lara (22-2-2) W TKO 3 Jan Zavcek (35-4). Heavy: John Wesley Nofire (19-0) W TKO 4 Yasmany Consegura (17-3). Middle: Daquan Arnett (15-1) W TKO 1 Yudel Johnson (17-3).Bantam: Emmanuel Rodriguez (14-0) W TKO 7 Eliecer Aquino (17-2-1). Lara vs. Zavcek Lara retains his secondary WBA and his IBO titles with injury stoppage of Zavcek. Both fighters were probing with their jabs with Zavcek just a little livelier but a punch from Lara had him stumbling back into the ropes and Lara unleashed a flurry of punches some got through some were blocked. Zavcek got back into centre ring and there were just spasmodic exchanges with Lara quicker. The controlling punch in the second round was the southpaw straight left of Lara, He constantly slotted it through the centre of Zavcek’s guard and with just a few seconds remaining in the round another of those lefts sent Zavcek stumbling back across the ring but the bell went before Lara could add to his success. In the third Lara drove Zavcek to the ropes with a left and scored with a couple of quick combinations. A left snapped back Zavcek’s head and when he came forward to get off the ropes he suddenly pulled away indicating an injury to his right neck/shoulder. He indicated he could not continue and looked in some pain and the fight was stopped. The 32-year-old Lara looked quick and slick and was really just getting into his stride at the stoppage. “The American Dream” lost a split decision to Saul Alvarez in July 2014 when neither of them held a title but his style is one that Alvarez would probably prefer to avoid so Lara may have to look elsewhere for a big fight. Former IBF welter champion Zavcek, 39, is not as quick as he was and was getting a boxing lesson but the loss was unfortunate. Nofire vs. Consegura Practically unknown Nofire did not live up to his name as he forced Consegura out of the fight at the end of the third round. The big Oklahoman, 6’6” (198cm) had plenty of height and reach over the 6’1” (188cm) Cuban and Consegura never really had a workable game plan to overcome this. Nofire was not snapping the jab but even then Consegura was trying to rush in and then not really doing much inside which made it an untidy fight for two rounds. In the third Nofire was finally countering Consegura effectively and making him pay for his reckless rushes. Near the end of the round he shook Consegura badly and belaboured him in a corner until the bell saved the Cuban and his corner pulled him out of the fight. The 29-year-old Nofire was a Regional Golden Gloves champion and competed at the 2010 National Championships but was eliminated in the preliminaries. Since turning pro he has been fighting in the boxing backwoods against the usual suspect and in theory this was a stiff test but he gets win No 15 by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. Consegura, 31, has suddenly hit the skids. After 17 wins in a row he now has three losses by KO/TKO in succession. The other two loses were a step up for Consegura in Dominic Breazeale and Artur Szpilka but this loss to Nofire was a very disappointing performance, Arnett vs. Johnson This one definitely an upset as Cuban Johnson had been rebuilding after losing his world rating after a defeat against Willie Nelson back in 2012 and then dropping a decision to Jorge Cota in August this year. Arnett floored Johnson early then kept up the pressure. He backed the Cuban into a corner and landed a couple of punches. Johnson tried to storm out of the corner and landed a decent left hook but two rights put the Cuban down and the fight was over. Big win for the 23-year-old from Winter Park as he makes it 9 victories by KO/TKO.. His only loss was on points against then unbeaten Eddie Gomez in January 2014 and this is his fourth win since then. As an amateur he was US Junior champion, and US National bronze medal winner. The danger signs were there for Johnson in the Cota fight as Cota had him down twice. Rodriguez vs. Aquino Rodriguez displays speed, skill and power in stoppage of Aquino. These two went at it hard from the first both showing good skills and throwing bombs to head and body. They looked well-matched but Rodriguez was the quicker and harder puncher throwing and landing more than Aquino. Neither was bothering about defence and they both stood in the pocket and were both landing and absorbing heavy punches to head and body. Rodriguez showed blistering hand speed particularly with his left hooks to the body. The action was red hot in the third when suddenly Rodriguez nailed Aquino with a thunderous right to the chin. He was up at five and ready to continue after the mandatory count. Rodriguez let go punch after punch and a still shaky Aquino was swinging wildly to ride out the storm to the bell. Rodriguez continued his impressive two-handed attacks in the sixth and seventh with Aquino still trying to stand and trade and getting the worst of things. In the seventh Aquino lost his gumshield and was deducted a point. Rodriguez landed a hard right hook to the head and slammed home a left jab that had Aquino staggering back. He came forward trying to punch his way out of trouble and got Rodriguez’s attention with a sharp right uppercut. He was in trouble again from a right from Rodriguez and then shaken by a series of hooks and uppercuts which sent him staggering back again and the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old Puerto Rican looks class. He retains his WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino titles, makes it 5 wins in a row inside the distance and his 11th in total. The brilliant young prospect won a god medal at the World Youth Olympics and a silver at the World Youth Championships both in 2010 however by the end of that year it looked as though his boxing days were over. He was involved in a road accident that resulted in his suffering second degree burns over 66% of his body but he fought back from that and despite some setbacks he was back in competition by September 2011. Dominican Aquino, 28, had an 18 bout unbeaten run snapped when he lost to unbeaten Adam Lopez in July so now it is two losses on the bounce. Hammond, IN, USA: Super Middle: Mike Jimenez (19-1,1ND) W KO 1 Dezi Ford (24-30-2). Super Light: Ed Brown (15-0) W TKO 3 Gilbert Venegas (12-20-4.1ND). Light: John Joe Nevin (7-0) W PTS 6 Greg Coverson (3-15-3). Jimenez vs. Ford It took only 92 seconds for Jimenez to dispose of poor Ford who should never have been allowed in the ring. A left hook to the body from Jimenez saw Ford go down and he could not get up. “Hollywood” Jimenez goes to 13 wins by KO/TKO. The only loss for the 28-year-old from Chicago was a stoppage against Jesse Hart in May and this is his second win since then. He was stopped in seven rounds by Derrick Findley in 2013 but Findley tested positive for a banned substance. Ford was a late substitute when Ghanaian Thomas Awimbono could not get a visa but even as a late substitute letting Ford into the ring was a disgrace. Ford is 47-years-old and his last fight was in October 2010 when he was also beaten inside a round and that 2010 loss was his fifteenth in a row. Brown vs. Venegas “Bad Boy” Brown pads his record with another inside the distance win. The Chicago prospect made a slow start but exploded in the third first stunning and then flooring Venegas with big rights. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for 24-year-old Brown who was a quarter-finalist at both the 2010 and 2011 NGG’s.Venegas,38, drops to 6 losses by KO/TKO and 11 losses in a row. Nevin vs. Coverson Nevin builds a few more rounds into his short pro career as Coverson takes him the full six episodes. In his second fight in eleven days the former star of Irish amateur boxing found Coverson an easy fight but a rough fighter. Nevin worked behind his jab and Coverson was an easy target for body punches but despite flooring Coverson in the fourth round Nevin could not put the gutsy Detroit fighter away. As with Emmanuel Rodriguez Nevin had to overcome serious injury having both legs broken in an attack on him at his home last year. The 26-year-old from Mullingar is yet another outstanding amateur to have turned pro. He won a gold medal at the European Union Championships, a silver medal at the European Championships, two bronze medals at World Championships, competed at the 2008 Olympics and at the 2012 Olympics beat Oscar Valdez and Cuban Lorenzo Alvarez but lost in the final to Luke Campbell. Southpaw Coverson, 36, is the son of Greg “Candy man” Coverson who fought from 1976 to 1983 and finished with a 33-2 record. Coverson Senior won his first 32 fights but lost on points to Hector Camacho and was stopped by Howard Davis Jr and retired. The son is nowhere as good as his dad was. Boston, MA,USA: Cruiser: Chris Traietti (20-3) W TKO 1 Adam Collins (13-11,1ND). Traietti continues his run of inside the distance as he blows away Collins in the first round. The local fighter put Collins down with a right to the head. When Collins got up and the action continued another right put Collins down for the second time and Traietti ended it with a left hook flooring Collins for the third time. The 30-year-old Traietti was beaten in two rounds by Edwin Rodriguez in 2011 but has rebounded with 10 wins in a row. Collins, 39 , has lost 9 by KO/TKO. Erie, PA, USA: Bantam: Antonio Nieves (15-0-1 W KO 1 Lorenzo Trejo (35-32-1) “Carita” Nieves fed an easy one in Mexican veteran Trejo. Nieves was just too quick for Trejo who after trying a few punches and tasting some incoming from Nieves went into survival mode. That did not save him as a body punch from Nieves put him down. The Mexican seemed to have injured his arm and just sat out the count. Cleveland’s Nieves now has 7 wins by KO/TKO. The 28-year-old won bronze medals at the NGG’s and the US National Championships and then a silver at the NGG’s but he lost out at the US Olympic Trials. Trejo, 38, a 20 year pro and a former challenger for the WBC Minimum and Light fly titles, now has 19 losses by KO/TKO. November 27 Recero, Argentina: Super Welter: Marcelo E Coceres (19-0-1) W TKO 1 Cesar H Velez (18-10-1). This one was a mismatch. Coceres was almost a head taller than Velez and had a big edge in reach. As Velez tried to come forward Coceres was knocking him back with a stiff jab. Velez managed to land a left hook but the a right from Coceres drove him to the ropes and Coceres forced him around the ring with hooks and uppercuts. Coceres threw a series of punches with Velez bending in half to escape. The referee gave Velez a warning for ducking too low and as the fight restarted Velez walked onto a jab and went down he claimed he had slipped but was given a count. Coceres took Velez to the ropes and unloaded left hooks and overhand rights and the referee stepped in and gave Velez a standing count. When the count was completed Coceres again forced Velez to the ropes and landed 4 or 5 rights. The referee jumped in to stop the fight just as Velez was throwing a counter and Velez protested the stoppage. The 24-year-old “El Terrible”, the FAB No 3, has 11 wins by KO/TKO and this was his fourth defence of his IBF Latino title and had won 7 of his last 9 fights inside the distance. Now 6 losses by KO/TKO for Velez. Sydney, Australia: Super Welter: Ahmed Dib (17-0) W PTS 8 Mark Dalby (4-10). Light: Billel Dib (18-1) W KO 4 Sayan (14-17). Light: Luke Jackson (10-0) W TKO 6 Thongchai (6-6). Dib vs. Dalby Dib returns to action with comfortable points victory over fellow-Australian Dalby. The tall 25-year-old member of the boxing family won on scores of 80-72 twice and 78-74. Only the second fight this year for the ANBF No 5. Now 6 losses on the bounce for 37-year-old Dalby. Dib vs. Sayan A family double here as brother Billel knocks out poor Thai opponent Sayan in four rounds. The 26-year-old ANBF No 3 has won his last 9 fights and reversed the only loss on his record. Sayan is 2-15 in his last 17 fights including 8 losses by KO/TKO in his last 9 so a very predictable result. Another member of the Dib family made his pro debut on the show with a win. Jackson vs. Thongchai Australian champion Jackson halts another poor Thai opponent in six rounds. This was the first southpaw opponent Jackson has faced since coming out of the amateurs. The 2012 Olympian has 5 wins by KO/TKO. Thongchai has lost 5 of his last 6 fights with all of the losses by KO/TKO so another poor match. Bangkok, Thailand: Fly: Inthanon (28-7-1) W KO 7 Ichal Tobida (12-18). Over the first three rounds the visitor was under heavy pressure but kept banging back in a competitive contest. Inthanon was going to the body more over the next three rounds and put Tobida on the floor in the sixth. Tobida got up and survived to the bell but only briefly as in the seventh Inthanon floored Tobida heavily and the fight was called off without a count being needed. Now 17 wins by KO/TKO for the 28-year-old southpaw who is 8-0-1 in his last 9 fights. Indonesian Tobida has lost 7 of his last 8 fights, 6 by KO/TKO. Scanndicci, Italy: Super Feather: Mario Pisanti (16-2-1) W PTS 10 Angelo Ardito (8-5-2). Super Welter: Orlando Fiordigiglio (23-1) W TKO 2 Istvan Kiss (22-22). Pisanti vs. Ardito Pisanti makes successful first defence of his National title with split decision over Ardito. It was not an inspiring fight with too much holding and too little punching. Ardito was trying to force the fight but southpaw Pisanti was blunting Ardito’s attacks with a sound defence, despite sometimes dropping his hands to tease Ardito and he also showed better stamina. Ardito managed to get close over the middle rounds but Pisanti had paced the fight well and tied-up the decision with a strong finish. Scores 96-94 and 96-95 to Pisanti and 96-94 for Ardito. Pisanti had lost his Italian feather title in October last year, his only loss in his last 13 fights, but then collected the super feather title in July. Ardito, 37, a former Italian champion, was 3-0-1 in his last four fights. Fiordigiglio vs. Kiss Fiordigiglio gets second round win over late notice Hungarian. After a quiet first round Fiordigiglio landed a thunderous right uppercut that put Kiss down heavily. He did well to make it to his feet but was still unsteady at the end of the standing count and the fight was stopped. Second win for 31-year-old Fiordigiglio, since losing on an eleventh round stoppage against Frenchman Cedric Vitu for the vacant European title In June. He is a former European Union and WBC International champion,. Kiss, 23, has lost 13 times by KO/TKO. Mexico City, Mexico: Fly: Ariel Guzman (10-3-3) W PTS 8 Armando Torres (21-16). Guzman wins on unanimous decision in minor upset. This was a battle of exchanges and clashes from the start. Guzman had a slight edge but after heads banged together in the early action Guzman had a cut by his left eyebrow. When heads clashed again in the third the referee deducted a point from Torres. They battled toe-to-toe in the fifth with Guzman flooring Torres with a body punch and then Torres putting Guzman down with a right to the head. Over the last three rounds Guzman decided to box and from then he was more accurate and Torres missed more. Scores 79-72, 79-73 and 79-74 all for Guzman. The winner is now 2-2-2 in his last 6 fights. Torres, the nephew of former WBC champion German, has lost his last 4 fights. Cancun, Mexico: Super Light: Roberto Ortiz (33-1-1) W KO 9 Nestor Garcia (21-10). Super Bantam: Hairon Socarras (14-0-2) DREW 8 Marco Chable (6-13-3). Super Feather: Miguel Angel Gonzalez (19-2) W PTS 8 Jesus Quintero (16-12-3). Light: Robert Manzanarez (32-1) W TKO 8 Cristian Lopez (16-6-1) Ortiz vs. Garcia Ortiz gets his second win in 2015 with stoppage of game Garcia. Ortiz had the power and experience and landed heavy punches in each round frequently having Garcia in trouble. Garcia took the punishment and stayed in the fight willing to trade. Finally in the ninth a body punch from Ortiz had Garcia in too much pain to continue and the fight was stopped. The 29-year-old “Massa” from Torreon goes to 25 wins by KO/TKO. He had his unbeaten streak broken at 32 with a second round stoppage loss to Lucas Matthysse in September. Garcia is 6-6 in his last 12 fights. Socarras vs. Chable Good fight but poor result for Cuban Socarras. There was plenty of action in every round with both trading and bringing the crowd to its feet time and again. In the end the judges could not separate them and the fight ended in a draw. Socarras,22, remains unbeaten but has a 10 bout winning streak ended but disappointing that he could not get a win over Chable who came in at short notice and was 2-13-1 in his last 16 fights. Gonzalez vs. Quintero Gonzalez gets win but has to climb off the floor. Gonzalez was cruising to victory but in the third found himself on the floor from a left cross. He got up survived the round and was again the boss over remaining five round and took the unanimous decision. The 20-year-old “Miguelito” has lost only one of his last 9 fights and that was a split decision against Abner Mares in December. This is his third win since then. Quintero also a late entrant is 1-4-1 in his last six fights. Manzanarez vs. Lopez Manzanarez extends his current run of wins to 10 with stoppage of Lopez. The fight was uninspired with Manzanarez on his way to a routine points victory when a straight left in the eighth looked to have seriously damaged Lopez’s nose and he was unable to continue. Still only 20, “Tito” has already been fighting for more than five years and has 26 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to Alejandro Barrera in 2012 but has won 10 in a row since then, 8 by KO/TKO, including a revenge win by knockout over Barrera. “Poison” Lopez was having only his second fight in almost four years and gets his third loss by KO/TKO. Rzeszow, Poland: Welter: Przemyslaw Runowski (10-0) W PTS 10 Felix Lora (18-20-5). Light Heavy: Marek Matyja (11-0) W PTS 8 Bartlomiej Grafka (15-19-1). Cruiser: Michal Cieslak (11-0) W TKO 2 Hamza Wandera (18-9-3,1ND). Runowski vs. Lora Runowski gets split decision over unpredictable Lora. Over the early rounds Lora picked up the points with a good work rate and more accurate punching. From the half way mark Runowski was on top as Lora tired and the Pole was able to score well with rights over Lora’s low left. Lora kept pressing but Runowski showed a tight defence and although not throwing as many punches was more accurate and seemed to have done enough to be a clear winner but he had to settle for the split verdict. Scores 98-92 and 97-93 for Runowski and 97-95 for Lora. The 21-year-old Pole was in his second ten round fight and this was a good leaning fight. Spanish-based Dominican Lora a former WBO European champion has lost his last nine fights but has scored a couple of upsets in other visits to Poland. Matyja vs. Grafka Matyja wins unanimous decision over fellow-Pole Grafka in a good, competitive fight. Matyja was using his better skills and hand speed with Grafka really looking to win with one big punch. Matyja was working his trade mark left hook to the body with Grafka slinging hooks and always dangerous but apart from a hard right in the last round inaccurate. It later turned out that Matyja had injured his right hand early in the fight so it was a good performance. Scores 78-74 twice and 78-75. Fourth win in the year for the 24-year-old Matyja. Despite his negative record the 27-year-old Grafka was coming off a useful points win over Pawel Glazewski (23-4). Cieslak vs. Wandera Cieslak has no trouble polishing off Wandera. The unbeaten Pole had Wandera hurt with a right in the first with the bell going before he could finish the job. In the second Cieslak landed a series of body punches which quickly saw Wandera wilt and he was trapped on the ropes and taking punishment when his corner threw the towel into the ring to save their man. The 26-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Cieslak, twice a silver medallist at the Polish Championships, has won 7 of his last 8 fights by KO/TKO. Ugandan southpaw Wandera was having his first fight for 11 months and only his second fight in over two years. He has six losses by KO/TKO. Barnaul, Russia: Super Middle: Dmitry Sukhotsky (23-4) W PTS 12 Apti Ustarkhanov (11-2-2). Super Welter: Pavel Mamontov (11-2-1) W PTS 10 Oscar Roberto Medina (26-12-2). Sukhotsky vs. Ustarkhanov Home town fighter Sukhotsky gets win on the basis of a late knockdown. It was a hard, close fight with the result in the balance until the eleventh when Sukhotsky floored Ustarkhanov at a time when the visitor was ahead on two cards. Scores 116-111 and 114-113 for Sukhotsky and 116-111 for Ustarkhanov. The 34-year-old “Hunter” wins the WBC Russian and Slovenian title. He lost a points decision to Juergen Braehmer for the WBO light heavy title in 2009 and was knocked out in two rounds by Adonis Stevenson in a challenge for the WBC light heavy title in December 2014. In August he lost an upset decision to Dilmurod Satybaldiev (8-1) so needed to win this one. Chechen Ustarkhanov,25 was going twelve rounds for the first time. He was 9-0-1 in his last 10 fights. Mamontov vs. Medina Mamontov gets a split decision over Argentinian Medina. These two had fought each other in November last year and although Mamontov got the unanimous decision it was a close fight and this ended the same way. Scores 98-92 and 96-94 for Mamontov and 97-93 for Medina who looked unlucky. Since losing his first pro fight the 32-year-old local fighter has gone unbeaten with 11 wins and 2 draws. Moreno, 34, had been living in Siberia and fighting in Russia since his loss Mamontov and is 2-5 in his 7 fights this year. And naturally he thinks they need a third fight to settle things. Khayelitsha, South Africa: Light Fly: Mfundo Gwayana (19-9-3) W PTS 12 Dalisizwe Komani (14-7-1). Super Welter: Nkululeko Mhlongo (17-4) W PTS 12 Christiano Ndombassy. Gwayana vs. Komani Southpaw Gwayana wins the vacant WBFed Inter-Continental title with unanimous decision over fellow-countryman Komani. In an eventful scrap which saw both fighters on the floor Gwayana won on scores of 116-113, 115-110 and 116-109. Former South African light flyweight champion Gwayana, a 16 year career veteran, needed the win after losing 3 of his 4 previous fights. Komani had won 9 of his last 10 fights but had never gone twelve rounds before Mhlongo vs. Ndombassy Mhlongo adds the interim WBA Pan Pacific title to his collection with a unanimous decision over Angolan novice Ndombassy. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Mhlongo is the South African and WBFed Inter-Continental champion and has won 6 of his last 7 fights. Not enough reliable information on Ndombassy to comment. Santa Ponsa, Baleares, Spain: Super Welter: Jose Del Rio (19-6) W KO 1 Alan Casillas (5-10). Former Spanish welter champion Del Rio ends this one quickly. The Spaniard came out throwing hard combinations. Casillas tried to trade but was out-gunned, floored and counted out, First fight for Palma fighter Del Rio since being kayoed in two rounds by Italian Orlando Fiordigiglio in a fight for the European Union title in January. Six losses in a row for Spanish-based Mexican Casillas. East London, South Africa: Feather: Macbute Sinyabi (27-4) W PTS 12 Oscar Chauke (36-11-3). Sinyabi vs. Chauke In a clash of former South African super bantamweight champions Sinyabi collected Chauke’s national featherweight title with a points victory. It is Sinyabi’s third win over Chauke and he has won 7 of his last 8 fights with his loss being to Lusanda Komanisi for the vacant IBO title in July last year. Chauke. 35, was making the third defence of his title but was coming off tenth round kayo loss to Tshifihiwa Munyai in September in Preston. November 28 Dusseldorf, Germany: Heavy: Tyson Fury (25-0) W PTS 12 Wladimir Klitschko (64-3) . Super Light: Robert Tlatlik (18-0) W TKO 10 Said Rahimi (9-3). Super Feather: Jono Carroll (9-0) W PTS 10 Miguel Gonzalez (13-4). Fury vs. Klitschko Ok get me a dunces cap. I never thought Fury could do this but I was completely wrong as Tyson went in with a game plan, executed it to perfection and won one the biggest upsets in recent memory snapping an 11 ½ year, 22 bout unbeaten streak and doing it in the champion’s back yard to lift the IBF, WBA and WBO titles. It was great achievement but not a great fight with both fighters showing low levels of punches thrown and landed but with Fury the clear winner as his tactics took away Klitschko’s usually dominant jab and had the champion hesitant and confused. There was very little action in the first with what was landing coming from Fury in the shape of a strong jab. In the second Klitschko finally had his jab working but not a lot. He started the round stronger but Fury ended the round with a good combination to Klitschko’s head. Fury was in mind game mode in the third letting his hand lie down his thighs and switching to southpaw and urging Klitschko to come forward and in a low scoring round again what useful work there was was coming from Fury, Klitschko had slight the better of the fourth landing a right his best punch so far. After four rounds most had Fury comfortably in front but on the official score cards two judges had it 38-38 and one had Fury ahead 39-37. In the fifth a clash of heads saw Klitschko cut under his left eye and again the better work came from Fury and this was the first round in the fight that all three judges agreed on giving it to Fury. That pattern continued in the sixth with Fury scoring with his jabs to again get the points as agreed by all on the judges. Fury dominated over these middle rounds as he was out-throwing and out-landing Klitschko who seemed fazed by the tactics of Fury and was not letting his hands go and the fight was going away from him with the official scores at the end of the eighth round 77-75 twice and 78-74 all for Fury. Klitschko needed to try to change the pace and pattern of the fight and looked to have hurt Fury with a right in the ninth but Fury replied with a left hook and at the end of the round Klitschko was cut on his forehead. The tenth went to Fury as he scored well to the body and with two rounds to go the Ukrainian needed a knockout to retain his title. Fury was winning the eleventh with Klitschko cut again but the challenger had been warned previously about punches to the back of the head and when he did it again the referee deducted a point turning what all three judges had given as a 10-9 to Fury into a 9-9. Klitschko finally woke up in the last round getting home with a big right but instead of capitalising on that success he let himself get involved in clinches and as the bell went it was obvious his status was about to change form champion to former champion. Scores 115-112 twice and 116-111 all for Fury. The 27-year-old member of the Traveller community had walked the talk and you can be sure that his reign, however long it last will be interesting and eventful and on this night he illustrated the strength of an absolute confidence in one’s ability. Klitschko never turned up. He was outthought and outboxed and looked all of his 39 years against an opponent he never figured out. The CompuBox stats show that neither fighter really threw or landed that many punches with Fury throwing a total of 371 and landing 86 and Klitschko throwing 231 and landing just 52 meaning he landed an average of only four punches around but this was not about entertainment it was about winning and that’s what Fury did. Tlatlik vs. Rahimi Tlatlik wins on late stoppage. From the opening bell it was the neater boxing of Tlatlik against the aggressive wild swinging hooks of Rahimi. Tlatlik had his jab working well and that together with occasional rights saw him sweep the first three rounds. Rahimi had a better third as he was ducking under Tlatlik’s jab and slamming hooks inside. Tlatlik managed to kee4p Rahimi and clearly took the sixth. The seventh had some controversy. Rahimi shook Tlatlik with a right early in the round and Tlatlik was in trouble trying to hold and looking disorganised for the first time. Rahimi kept swinging but some of his shots were low. Near the end of the round he landed a very low left hook and then a quick right to the chin as Tlatlik was backing away in pain from the low punch. The referee stopped the fight, warned Rahimi and gave Tlatlik time to recover which got him out of the round without any more punishment. Going into the last Tlatlik had a good lead and Rahimi was storming forward just swinging wildly. The was leaving plenty of gaps and Tlatlik caught him with a left hook that staggered Rahimi who missed with a wild hook and took a left to the chin and was toppling forward when caught with a right. He got up and after the count was caught with a couple of head punches which made him stumble and the referee stopped the fight. The 27-year-old Essen-based Pole, a former German Under-21 champion and one of two pro brothers, gets his twelfth win by KO/TKO. Afghani Rahimi, 33, gets his second loss by KO/TKO but this was the first time he had gone past the sixth round. Carroll vs. Gonzalez Carroll gets wide unanimous decision over limited Honduran. The stocky Irish southpaw was giving away a lot in height and with his muscular arms even more in reach. It was of no consequence as Gonzalez had no idea of how to make use of either advantage. Carroll was able to out jab and out manoeuvre the taller man with Gonzalez having no idea of how cut the ring off and just padding after Carroll who was firing quick combinations and getting away before Gonzalez could counter. Carroll did not seem to be looking for a knockout and Gonzalez lacked the power to inconvenience the Irishman. Scores 100-90, 100-92 and 99-91 all for Carroll. The 3-year-old “Celtic Warrior” was in his first ten round fight so some experience at pacing a contest. Gonzalez, 29, was never in the fight. Quebec City, Canada: Super Middle: James DeGale (22-1) W PTS 12 Lucien Bute (32-3). Light Heavy: Eleider Alvarez (19-0) W PTS 12 Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2). Super Welter: Adrian Granados (17-4-2) W TKO 8 Amir Imam (18-1). Heavy: Oscar Rivas (18-0) W KO 2 Joey Abell (31-9,2ND). Super Light: Yves Ulysse (10-0) W TKO 5 Randy Lozano (10-8-2). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (14-0) W TKO 6 Manuel Pucheta (38-11). Super Welter: Sebastien Bouchard (11-1) W TKO 2 Giuseppe Lauri (55-18). Super Welter: Custio Clayton (5-0) W TKO 2 Ivan Pereyra (20-6). DeGale vs. Bute DeGale gives top class performance in retaining his IBF title in Bute’s backyard. Both fighters got something out of this fight. DeGale another outstanding performance away from home and Bute the assurance that he is still a top flight fighter with a future as he went 12 hard rounds, stayed the distance well and was only let down by a slow start. DeGale came out of the blocks fast taking the fight to Bute firing home quick combinations and effortlessly switching guards. Bute was getting home with some punches but over the first three round DeGale was the busier and more accurate. It was the fourth before Bute picked up the pace focused more on body punches and started backing the champion up and eating into DeGale’s lead. In the fifth a clash of heads saw DeGale suffer a cut over his left eye and it was to trouble the Londoner on and off over the rest of the fight as it affected his vision. The sixth, seventh and eighth rounds saw plenty of action and were close enough to be scored either way but the cut over DeGale’s left eye was trickling blood again. DeGale needed to change the flow of the fight and he did that by clearly winning the ninth round with a selection of hooks and uppercuts. Bute tried to force things in the tenth and had a good round but DeGale had a better one. The last two rounds saw quality action from two excellent boxer/fighters as they both found gaps in the others defence and battled away for the three minutes of each round with the crowd on its feet with excitement particularly in an electrifying twelfth , It seemed to have been a close fight with DeGale a close but clear winner. The scores said something else as they came out for DeGale at 117-111 twice and 116-112. The 29-year-old former Olympic gold medallist was making the first defence of his title and as some fighters do is growing into the title and improving with every fight. Bute, 35, had to deal with whispers that he was on the slide after losses to Carl Froch and Jean Pascal and he did that emphatically here with the wide scores not reflecting how well Bute fought and how hard DeGale had to fight to hold onto his title. Alvarez vs. Chilemba If it wasn’t for bad luck Chilemba would have no luck at all. Colombian Alvarez just did enough to take this fight on a majority decision but it was mighty close and Chilemba has failed to get the decision in the two split draws on his record. In a pattern similar to the DeGale vs. Bute fight Alvarez took the first round outworking Chilemba and pocketing the round. The second and third were close but again Alvarez seemed to have just done enough to edge them. It was the fourth before Chilemba began to assert himself when he seemed to have just edged some fiery exchanges only for Alvarez to get back on top in the fifth and sixth. Chilemba then rebounded with some nice touches and a good body attack with Alvarez tiring and only really active in short bursts. Alvarez had built a lead over those early rounds but Chilemba was getting stronger and eating into that lead. Alvarez was impressive in those short spells of activity with more power in his punches and a higher level of accuracy but Chilemba was working harder and throwing more to compensate for his lack of accuracy. The fight was too hard to call over the last two rounds and both fighters went all out for the win with Alvarez crucially seeming to do enough to edge the last round. Scores a way-out 118-110 and a more reflective 115-113 for Alvarez and 114-114 showing that if he could have taken that last round Chilemba would have got a draw. “Storm” Alvarez, 31, retains his WBC Silver title and is now in line for a shot at WBC title holder Adonis Stevenson and since both fighters are promoted by Yvon Michel it should happen. He has skill and power and could give Stevenson problems with his counter-punching style. “Golden Boy” Chilemba, 28, had lost only one of his last 19 fights, a points loss to Tony Bellew, and come up short in draws with Bellew and Thomas Oosthuizen. He is a quality fighter and will be back looking for a title fight in 2016. Granados vs. Imam Late choice Granados gets off the floor to get huge upset win over WBC No 1 Imam. Granados came out quickly in the first trying to duck inside the reach of the much taller Imam to work. He was able to take Imam to the ropes but not able to land anything effective. Imam landed some hard rights and suddenly Granados was hurt and on the back foot retreating and trying to avoid the right and get inside. He was unsuccessful as Imam met him with a solid jab and then fired a hard, fast straight right and Granados went down on his back. He was up immediately but with Imam still throwing bombs it looked likely that Granados would not last the round. He took some punishment but at the bell was trading punches and looked to have recovered. In the second Granados was swarming all over Imam denying him room to get leverage on his punches taking him to the ropes and working away with hooks and uppercuts from both hands. Imam was allowing himself to be dragged into a brawl and his punches seemed to have lost their sharpness. He kept trying to walk Granados onto that right hand again but the pattern was that even in mid-ring Imam just could not shake Granados loose. By the fifth round Imam was resorting to stiff- arming Granados to keep him out but Granados just brushed it aside. Imam tried briefly to jab and move in the sixth but then took Granados to the ropes which exactly where Granados wanted the fight to be. In the seventh Granados was walking through Imam’s punches and firing a constant stream of thudding rights. In the eighth a right sent Imam back into the ropes and Granados fired a stream of punches. Imam escaped briefly but Granados pursued him banging away with both hands with Imam almost folded in half and taking head shots when the referee stopped the fight. With Imam No 1 with the WBC this is a huge victory for 26-year-old Granados as he lived up to his “Tiger” nickname. He has a good draw with Kermit Cintron on his record but suffered back-to-back losses to Felix Diaz and Brad Solomon which put him back to square one. This is his fourth and most important win since then. Disaster for Imam who could to be said to have folded literally under the pressure. Wins over Yordenis Ugas, Santos Benavides, Fidel Maldonado and Walter Castillo had seen him rated highly and at 25 he has plenty of time to rebound but the manner of the loss was worrying. Rivas vs. Abell Rivas blows away Abel in two rounds. Not too many punches landed in the first round as Abel circled the ring prodding out a few southpaw jabs and Colombian Rivas looked awkward as he lunged in with wild rights. Rivas’s corner had told him to move in closer and not swing such wide punches. That worked immediately as he crowded Abell back to the ropes and landed punch after punch to head and body. A couple punches crashed into the side of Abell’s head and he slumped to the canvas against the ropes. After starting the count the referee could see Abel was not going to get up and he waived the fight off without completing the count. The 28-year-old “Kaboom” is slow and no stylist but he has real power with 13 wins by KO/TKO. This is his seventh win in a row inside the distance with only one opponent lasting more than three rounds. He was a very useful amateur scoring wins over Kubrat Pulev, Mike Wilson, Didier Bence and Andy Ruiz but has yet to be really tested as a pro. “Ice” Abel, 34, now has 9 losses by KO/TKO. He had back-to-back losses to Pulev and Tyson Fury and then took 14 months out before returning earlier this year and scoring two wins. Ulysse vs. Lozano Ulysse cuts and stops Lozano. The Montrealer was on to Lozano from the start hunting the Mexican down and scoring freely. Things went from bad to worse for Lozano in the second when he suffered a bad cut. Ulysses was lacking some sharpness due to an elbow injury suffered in training for which he had a couple of cortisone injection in the days leading up to the fight. Despite that Ulysses caught up with Lozano in the fifth and floored him with a right. Lozano got up but was soon down again from an uppercut. The third knockdown came along and the referee had seen enough. The 27-year-ols Ulysses was Canadian amateur champion in 2011 and 2012, competed at the World Championships in 2011 and 2013 and was a quarterfinalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he beat Frederic Lawson but lost to Brit Bradley Saunders. He is making good progress but has surgery coming up on that elbow. Lozano who came in late now has 7 losses by KO/TKO and is 2-5 in his last 7 fights Dinu vs. Pucheta Dinu gets win over eccentric Pucheta. The big Romanian had height and reach over his Argentinian opponent and Pucheta seemed to have decided from the start that he was not going to win. Pucheta is old in boxing terms and fat in any terms. It was difficult for Dinu to look good but he did his job. He put Pucheta down twice in the third with Pucheta egging him on to do his worst. Pucheta was just looking to survive and that’s why Dinu could not end it earlier, but after another knockdown in the sixth Pucheta’s corner pulled their man out to save Pucheta and the fans from further punishment. The 29-year-old 6’5” (196cm) Dinu has won 8 of his last 9 fight by KO/TKO. After winning a gold medal at the World Cadet Championships Dinu went on to win the Romanian title and to compete at the European and World Championships so good amateur credentials. Pucheta 44 and 6’0” (183cm) now has 5 losses by KO/TKO and is No 4 with the FAB ratings Bouchard vs. Lauri It was a bad night for oldies as Italian Lauri was halted in two rounds by Bouchard. The Canadian dropped Lauri at the end of the first round and ended the fight with a blitz at the start of the second. The 28-year-old from Quebec won his first eight fights before dropping a decision to then unbeaten Frankie Galarza. This is his third win since then. Lauri, a former European Union and WBA International champion, is now 39 and 2-9 in his last 11 fights. Clayton vs. Pereyra Clayton wipes out Mexican Pereyra inside two rounds. The Canadian Olympian floored Pereyra right at the bell to ends the first. The Mexican came out for the second but not for long as Clayton was right on him and scored two more knockdowns to finish the fight. The 28-year-old from Nova Scotia was Canadian amateur champion in 2009. 2010 and 2012, competed at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Olympics he beat currently unbeaten pros Oscar Molina and Cameron Hammond and came close to a medal drawing 14-14 with Fred Evans in the quarter-finals but losing on judges counts. He is one of the top prospects in Canada. Pereyra has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights but in June went the distance against Clayton’s old amateur foe Mian Hussain. Dallas, TX, USA: Super Welter: Jermall Charlo (23-0) W TKO 4 Wilky Campfort (21-2). Welter: Errol Spence (19-0) W TKO 5 Alejandro Barrera (28-3). Super Welter: Erickson Lubin (13-0) W KO 2 Alexis Camacho (21-6). Super Light: John Molina Jr (28-6) W TKO 3 Jorge Romero (24-10). Cruiser: Steve Lovett (15-0) W DISQ 2 Sam Miller (29-13). Charlo vs. Campfort The first round saw hardly a punch thrown as they circled each other just probing with jabs. Charlo had minimal edges in height and reach but was more upright in his style which made the height difference look more. In the second Charlo was letting his hands go more and hurt Campfort with a short right. Campfort tried to come forward and Charlo nailed him with a thumping left jab and straight right that sent him down. He was up quickly and continued to press the fight with Charlo not really trying to build on that knockdown but a double jab from but Charlo sent Campfort back a couple of steps with a double jab at the end of the round. In the third Charlo landed a swinging left to the side of Campfort’s head and a right uppercut through the middle of Campfort’s guard and the challenger was down again. This time when the eight count was over Charlo was letting his hands go landing a series of combinations and it looked as though Campfort might not make it through the round. However he re-grouped and was rumbling forward at the bell but without really doing any useful scoring. In the fifth Charlo landed a straight right then a left uppercut and then a right which sent Campfort back to the ropes dabbing at his right eye. As Charlo followed Campfort to the ropes he went down on his knees still dabbing the eye. He got up but indicated his vision was affected and he could not continue and the referee stopped the fight. The 25-year-old Texan was making the first defence of his IBF title and put on an impressive show as he collected win No 18 by KO/TKO, but there are tougher fight out there for him. Haitian Campfort , 31, was unbeaten in 20 fights going in but the opposition had not been strong and he suddenly got his IBF rating at a time when he had not fought for almost six months. He tried hard here but the statistics showed he hardly landed a punch and was in over his head. Spence vs. Barrera Spence impresses in front of his home crowd with break down and stoppage of useful Mexican Barrera. The Texan southpaw was coming forward in the first with Barrera, who had the longer reach, not find the target with Spence using good movement, coming underneath and scoring with body shots. Barrera just could not establish his jab and early in the second Spence had him wobbling with a right hook to the chin. Barrera escaped and tried to throw a few punches of his own but his range finder was off and Spence hurt him with another right. Late in the round a right snapped Barrera’s head back and he was under pressure at the bell. Barrera started the third throwing more punches and backing Spence up at times but he was out of distance and wild with them allowing Spence to bang home straight lefts. In the fourth Spence was taking his time picking Barrera apart with sharp combinations not wasting a punch and he landed two good straight lefts to end the round. In the fifth Spence took Barrera to a corner and slammed home a left and right to the body with Barrera slumping to his knees. Barrera got up but Spence jumped on him and a four punch combination to head and body saw Barrera going down again as the referee stepped in to stop the fight. The 23-year-old Spence moves to 16 wins id with 9 inside the distance wins in his last 10 fights and with useful names such as Sammy Vargas, Phil Lo Greco and Chris van Heerden all failing to last the distance. He is rated WBC 10/WBA 10/IBF 10(8)/WBO 13. He needs a few more fights and will then be ready for some of the big names in the division. Barrera, 29, suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. He has wins over Abner Lopez, Juan Maciel Montiel and Jose De Jesus Macias but Spence was a different class. Lubin vs. Camacho Lubin too hot for Camacho who is down in the first and out in the second. . Southpaw Lubin was stalking Camacho in the first. Camacho was trying a couple of long rights but Lubin backed him into a corner and shook him with a right hook. He followed Camacho along the ropes and a right hook put Camacho down. He was up at three and after the eight count Lubin continued to stalk Camacho around the ring. Late in the round he again cornered Camacho and unloaded combinations to head and body and with Camacho wilting until he was saved by the bell. Lubin finished it in style in the second with a stunning overhand right that crashed onto Camacho’s jaw and put him down on his back. He managed to sit up but just stayed there until the count was completed. The tall 20-year-old southpaw from Orlando, a former NGG champion, looks better every time he fights. No big tests yet but useful wins over Norberto Gonzalez and Orlando Lora. Austin-based Mexican Camacho, 34, was having his first fight for 14 months and was never in with a chance. Molina vs. Romero Molina returns refreshed and punches too hard for Romero. After dominating the first two rounds Molina was unloading heavy combinations on Romero in the fourth when the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. First fight for the 32-year-old Californian since he lost three tough fights in a row against Lucas Matthysse-a brutal beating-Humberto Soto and in March this year to Adrien Broner but he is looking for a chance to erase the memory of his loss inside a round to Antonio DeMarco in a WBC title fight in 2012. Now 6 losses in a row for the once promising Romero. Lovett vs. Miller Lovett gets painful win over Miller. Lovett was boxing well enough in the first but Miller seemed to think that the Australian’s waist started at his knees and was throwing low shots from the start. After deducting three points from Miller and seeing the danger of things progressing from circum to castration the referee disqualified him. Lovett, 30, is a former Australian amateur champion and is 9-0,1ND since moving to the USA. Miller has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but had never been disqualified so perhaps he was just feeling a little low. Sendai, Japan: Light Fly: Yu Kimura (18-2-1) W PTS 12 Pedro Guevara (26-1-1). Super Fly: Carlos Cuadras (34-0-1) W PTS 12 Koki Eto (17-4-1). Kimura vs. Guevara Kimura pulls off upset victory to lift Guevara’s IBF title. Guevara was favourite in this one and that looked a good pick as he used rapid and accurate jabs and plenty of movement to outbox the less skilful Japanese challenger. After four rounds Guevara was ahead on all three cards 39-37 twice and 40-36. It looked an even better choice after Guevara shook Kimura with big right in the fifth. Guevara piled on the pressure looking for the finish but Kimura survived the round. Up to now Kimura had been trying to box with Guevara but that was not working so from the sixth he changed his tactics and began to close the distance, put on more pressure and work the body more. It worked to an extent as after eight rounds he had closed the gap in the points slightly as they stood at 79-73 and 77-75 and 76-76. It rested on the last four rounds and Kimura swept the closing rounds constantly putting Guevara under pressure with the champion’s work rate dropping and his title with it. Scores 115-113 twice for Kimura and 117-111 for Guevara. The 32-year-old new champion, a former undefeated Japanese champion, had lost only one of his last 15 fights but his opposition had been mainly low level domestic opposition. Guevara had impressed in knocking out Akira Yaegashi in seven rounds in Japan in December and in two defences during 2015 but he let his title slip away here with a poor finish. Cuadras vs. Eto Cuadras got a win for Mexico as he used superior skill, speed and movement to box his way to a clear unanimous decision and retain his WBC title. Despite Eto having reach and height over Cuadras the champion was able to get in land his punches and out before Eto could counter. Eto kept trying to force the fight but Cuadras was able to manoeuvre him onto the ropes and work inside with Eto not having space to use his physical advantages, Eto’s defence was not too sound and Cuadras was able to slot home accurate shots in round after round of intelligent boxing. At the end of the fourth the scores clearly showed the dominance of Cuadras as they stood at 40-36 for the Mexican on all three cards. He continued to use his speed to score inside and outside although an overhand right from Eto had shaken Cuadras in the sixth and he had been more cautious in the seventh and eighth. At the end of the eighth Cuadras had a winning lead and after that right from Eto in the sixth he went into his shell and fought a much more defensive fight not fighting on the inside but moving more and punching less. Even then his speed allowed him to outscore Eto over the closing rounds. Scores 117-111 twice and 116-112 all for Cuadras. The 27-year-old “Principe” was making the fifth defence of his title and with his blend of skill and power will be hard to beat. Eto also 27 a former interim WBA flyweight champion had done little of note since losing his title to Yodmongkol in November 2013 and just could not match the skills of the champion. Venado Tuerto, Argentina: Super Bantam: Javier N Chacon (21-3-1) W TKO 9 Isaias Luques Castillo (16-4). Chacon comes from behind to halt Luques Castillo. Over the early rounds Luques Castillo used his height, reach and long jab to build a lead. Chacon was dangerous with his wild attacks but not accurate. Eventually Chacon’s pressure found Luques Castillo spending more and more time on the retreat and being shaken by rights from Chacon Luques Castillo tried to fight back with quick combinations of hooks and uppercuts but he lacked the power to match Chacon. In the ninth with blood trickling from a cut over his right eye Chacon sent Luques Castillo tumbling into the ropes with a hard left. Luques Castillo was being driven along the ropes with Chacon chasing and landing with heavy swipes that put Luques Castillo over and the referee stopped the fight. Chacon, 34, wins the interim WBC Latino title. He lost to Anselmo Moreno for the WBA bantam title in March 2014 and to Jamie McDonnell for the secondary WBA title in November but last time out had a good draw with Roberto Domingo Sosa in July. He was FAB No 2 at bantam: Luques Castillo, the FAB No 1 bantam was making the second defence of his interim WBC Latino title and gets his second loss by KO/TKO. Mansfield, Australia: Light Heavy: Trent Broadhurst (17-1) W KO 8 Rob Powdrill (6-2). Super Welter: Rocky Jerkic (12-0) W TKO 8 Shannon King (9-2). Light: Darragh Foley (8-1) W KO 1 Miles Zalewski (5-1). Cruiser: Jai Opetaia (3-0) W PTS 6 Randall Raiment (2-2). Broadhurst vs. Powdrill Experience and better skills win this one for Broadhurst. He used a stiff, accurate jab to keep Powdrill on the back foot. Powdrill had shown how dangerous he was with a 21 seconds blow-out of hot prospect Damien Hooper but Broadhurst never gave him a chance to use that power. Broadhurst bossed the action with that jab and hooks to the body. In the seventh a couple of those hooks strayed low and Broadhurst was deducted a point but it made no difference. In the ninth anther stiff jab from Broadhurst put Powdrill on the back foot and a peach of a right uppercut and a left hook to the body had Powdrill retreating along the ropes. He stopped and tried to fire off a punch but Broadhurst banged home two right to the head and Powdrill went face down on the canvas. He managed to turn over but only managed to turn over on his back and the referee waived the fight over without taking up the count. The 27-year-old scaffold worker makes it 11 wins by KO/TKO and wins the vacant IBF Pan Pacific title. His only loss was a knockout against Robert Berridge in 2011 and he has won 10 fights since then, 7 by KO/TKO. Powdrill, 31, suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. Jerkic vs. King Jerkic pulls this one out of the fire to win the Australian title from champion King in an exciting but untidy fight. Jerkic had the superior skills and with King swinging wildly he was able to stay on the outside and pick up the points. Both indulged in some rough stuff with the referee having his work cut out to control the fight. Gradually King came into the fight and despite having soaked up quite a bit of punishment he began to take over as Jerkic seemed to tire. After seven rounds King was ahead on two cards but Jerkic took it out of the judges hands by flooring King twice with big rights and forcing the stoppage. The 27-year-old new Australian champion showed he had power to go with his skills and has now won 7 of his last 8 fight by KO/TKO. King just kept coming and coming no matter how much punishment he took and the 37-year-old “Shaggy” is a popular fighter but not active enough with just two fights in 14 months. Foley vs. Zalewski Minor upset as Foley kayos unbeaten Zalewski to win Australian title. It took the 27-year-old Kent-born Irish fighter just 2:20 of the opening round as he gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. He had shown his potential last month with a stoppage of Australian hope Valentine Borg. Zalewski was making the first defence of his Australian title Opetaia vs. Raymen Former Olympian Opetaia settles for going the distance. The highly-touted southpaw prospect suffered an early injury to his left hand but still managed to floor Raymen in the third. After that he just boxed his way to a comfortable victory . Scores 60-54 twice and 60-53. The 20-year-old 6’4” (194cm-although the official Australian information for the Olympics gave his height as 182cm) was Australian champion at Schoolboy, Junior and Senior level and won a gold medal at the 2011 World Junior Championships. One to watch whatever his height. Rayment, a former mixed martial arts competitor just really a four round fighter. Dartmouth, Canada: Super Bantam: Tyson Cave (28-3) W TKO 2 Walter Rojas (24-8-1). Feather: Joey Laviolette (3-0) W TKO 2 Larami Carmona (1-2). Cave vs. Rojas Cave takes care of business in less than 5 minutes with stoppage of Rojas. Cave was much too good for the Argentinian. The first round did not feature much action with Cave just seeing what Rojas brought to the table. In the second an already frustrated Rojas signalled for Cave to stand and trade punches-big mistake. A hard accurate shot to the chin from Cave put Rojas down and he never really recovered from that punch. Rojas got up and tried to punch his way out of trouble only to be floored again. Once again the Argentinian got up but a thumping punch to the head sent Rojas out under the ropes. He tried to rise but collapsed again and the referee waived the fight over so that Rojas could get medical attention. The 34-year-old Cave “The Prince of Hali”-that’s Halifax Nova Scotia-makes it 11 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to Oscar Escandon for the interim WBA title in December and this is his fourth low level win since then. He is rated No 4 by the WBA. This fight was for a version of the WBU title, as there is more than one WBU I don’t know which one and don’t really care too much, but understandably Cave was happy to have won a “world” title in front of his fans and family and now naturally he wants Carl Frampton or Scott Quigg. Rojas,28, came in at very short notice when the original Mexican opponent had a visa problem, and suffered his third loss in a row by KO/TKO with the other two being first round losses. He does not do distance fights as only 2 of his 33 fights have gone the distance with him losing 8 of them by KO/TKO. It was not his night as they played the Mexican anthem for him instead of the Argentinian one-insult and injury. Laviolette vs. Carmona Former Canadian amateur champion gets his third inside the distance win. The local fighter put Carmona down three times before the referee halted the match in the second round. The 27-year-old Laviolette is a four-time Canadian amateur champion. He turned pro in 2012 after failing to qualify for the Olympics but after his first fight suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and one thing led to another and he drifted away from the sport for three years before returning with a win in July this year. Second quick loss in a row for Carmona. Turin, Italy: Super Light: Andrea Scarpa (19-2) W PTS 12 Lyes Chaibi (14-9-2). Heavy: Carlos Takam (33-2-1) W PTS 8 Geroge Arias (56-15). Super Middle: Hadillah Mohoumadi (20-3-1) W TKO 1 Ericles Torres Marin (8-7-1). Heavy: Matteo Modugno (18-0) W TEC DEC 5 Ivica Perkovic (21-29). Light Heavy: Orial Kolaj (16-5) W TKO 4 Bela Juhasz (12-5). Scarpa vs. Chaibi Scarpa wins the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title with unanimous decision over French southpaw Chaibi. The Frenchman made an aggressive start and although giving away height and reach had his right jab working well and was getting through with some light but scoring punches and took the first three rounds. Scarpa began to find the rang with his right late in the third. Chaibi was still forcing the fight in the fourth but a right counter from Scarpa had him badly shaken. The Frenchman recovered in the fifth and was again marching forward and they exchanged body punches in what was becoming a testing and entertaining fight. Scarpa had Chable shaken by a counter at the start of the sixth but Chaibi showed a good chin and although he took punishment again in the seventh was still dangerous. Chaibi kept rolling forward in the eighth and ninth ignoring the incoming fire but was hurt by another right in the ninth. Scarpa’s face was a mask of blood from cuts but he had Chaibi hurt and pinned to the ropes in the tenth. Chaibi bounced back to have a good eleventh leaving the fight in the balance. Scarpa needed a big last round to be sure of the decision and he again got home with a big right and this time Chaibi was badly hurt and a stoppage seemed possible but Chaibi made it to the bell. Scores 116-111, 115-112 and 115-113 all for Scarpa but only the last two scores really reflected how the action panned out. The 26-year-old local, the Italian champion, went 1-2 in his first 3 fights so is now on an 18 bout winning streak and is No 9 with the EBU. Chaibi, 32, was 5-6-2 in his last 13 fights but fought much better than expected. Takam vs. Arias Takam gets eight rounds of work against Brazilian oldie Arias as he cruises to a unanimous decision. The French-based fighter from Cameroon varied his work over the first round using the jab and then getting inside and working the body. Arias tried to force the fight in the second but Takam was too skilful and handled the Brazilian’s attacks easily. Takam turned the heat up in the third with Arias forced to take a standing count and as the Brazilian tired over the closing rounds Takam even had time for a bit of show-boating on his way to the victory. Takam had a good run with wins over Mike Grant and Tony Thompson but in October last year was knocked out in ten rounds by Alex Povetkin. He has three wins this year including a kayo of Michael Sprott in June. I was going to say that Arias, 41, was a shadow of the fighter who lost to Johnny Nelson for the WBO cruiser title in 2011 but since he now weighs about 40lbs heavier than he did then I will say he is past his best. Mohoumadi vs. Marin Just some Christmas money for European champion Mohoumadi. He started in his usual whirlwind fashion and just overwhelmed the inexperienced Hungarian southpaw . The 35-year-old Frenchman, a human dynamo, lost on points to James DeGale in a challenge for the European title in 2012 but has won his last 6 fights the last five of those by KO/TKO. Marin, 39, is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Modugno vs. Perkovic Italian champion Modugno gets technical decision over yet another oldie in Croatian Perkovic. Modugno was on his way to a points victory when a clash of heads left the Italian fighter with a bad cut and the fight went to the cards with Modugno the clear winner. The 6’6 ½” Milanese fighter remains unbeaten but has yet to face any real tests and is rated No 10 by the EBU. Perkovic, 41, has lost 8 of his last 9 fights. Kolaj vs. Juhasz The Albanian “Eagle” Kolaj stops Hungarian Juhasz in four rounds. The Rome-based fighter, is Italian champion and after a 5-5 start to his career has now won 12 in a row and is No 14 with the EBU. Juhasz, 28, lost to Brit Miles Shinkwin June but then had three low level wins back home. Tequisquiapan, Mexico: Welter: Carlos Ocampo (17-0) W PTS 10 Jorge Paez Jr (39-7-2,1ND) W. Bantam: Emanuel Navarrete (12-1) W KO 3 Ricardo Roman (9-8-3). Ocampo vs. Paez Ocampo gets his best win so far with wide unanimous verdict over experienced Paez. Over the first four rounds Ocampo surprised by standing and trading with Paez and getting the better of the exchanges. Ocampo then changed his tactics and began to move more and outbox Paez. Paez kept pressing and had some success but was tiring and Ocampo cleverly then moved back inside and then over the eighth and ninth started to box again and a desperate last round attack by Paez was too little too late. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92 all for Ocampo. The young fighter from Ensenada was coming off a good win over Jhonny Navarette in August but Paez is by far his biggest scalp. Paez, 27, had lost to Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA title in May but bounced back with a points victory over Daniel Echevarria (18-0) in August so it looked to be a big ask for Ocampo. Navarrete vs. Roman “Cowboy” Navarette extends his winning streak with kayo of Roman. Navarette had Roman down in both the first and second rounds before scoring the knockout in the third. The 20-year-old from Mexico City has won his last 7 fights 6 of them by KO/TKO. Roman going the other way with only one win in his last 9 fights, Outapi, Namibia: Feather: Gottlieb Ndokosho (16-4,1ND) W Francis Miyeyusho (41-13-2). Ndokosho wins the IBF African and Persian Gulf title with close decision over Tanzanian Miyeyusho. This one had a dramatic start with Ndokosho flooring Miyeyusho inside the first minute of the first round. The Tanzanian southpaw got up and shocked the locals by flooring Ndokosho before the round ended. Miyeyusho seemed to recover better and over the next four rounds built a good lead. From the sixth to the eighth Ndokosho’s body attack helped him get back into the fight and over the remaining four exciting rounds he did enough to convince the judges that he had won Scores 115-110, 114-111 and 114-113 for the local fighter with Miyeyusho’s trainer adamant that his fighter had been robbed. The 36-year-old Ndokosho was having his first fight since losing his IBF Inter-Continental title on a wide unanimous decision to Oscar Chauke in February. Former CBC title challenger Miyeyusho,35, has lost a lot of fights on the road . Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines: Super Fly: Arthur Villanueva (28-1) W PTS 12 Victor Mendez (19-3-2). Super Feather: AJ Banal (34-2-1) W TKO 3 Emilio Norfat (25-7). Super Fly: Milan Melindo (33-2) W PTS 10 Victor Olivo (9-1). Super Fly: Rocky Fuentes (39-8-2) W KO 2 Afrizal Tamboresi (11-4). Fly: Kevin Jake Cataraja (2-0) W TKO 4 Ellias Nggenggo (10-9-3). Villanueva vs. Mendez Villanueva wins the vacant WBC International title with a split decision over Mexican Mendez. Villanueva made a fast start being more aggressive than in other fights and scoring with southpaw rights and some choice uppercuts. Mendez took the punches well and used his longer reach to work outside and get home enough rights of his own to be in the fight. Villanueva was more successful at getting inside over the middle rounds although at distance his timing and accuracy were off. Villanueva had Mendez in trouble in the ninth but other than that seemed to think he was way out in front and tended to coast over the late rounds which almost cost him the fight. Luckily he had built enough of a lead to have a cushion. Scores 117-111 and 116-112 for Villanueva and 115-113 for Mendez. Villanueva “barely” made the weight for this one. He was over at the first weighing but stripped off his underpants and that was enough to get him inside the limit. This is the first fight for the 26-year-old “King Arthur” since losing on a technical decision to McJoe Arroyo for the vacant IBF title in July. The 22-year-old “Spock” Mendez-he resembles the famous Star Ship Vulcan-had been meeting a much lower level opposition but had won his 5 fights this year. Banal vs. Norfat Banal floors Norfat early but then gets a cut before ending things in the third. “Bazooka” knocked Norfat over with one of his bombs, a southpaw left, just after the bell to start the opening round. Tanzanian Norfat did well to get up and last the remaining time. In the second a clash of heads saw Banal suffer and injury to his left eye in a clash of heads and the injury quickly ballooned up to virtually close Banal’s eye. He came out firing in the third and a right hook to the side of the head put Norfat down he got up but Banal showered him with punches until the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Banal makes it 23 wins by KO/TKO. He has lost his two biggest fights being knocked out by Rafael Concepcion for the interim WBA super fly in 2008 and to Pungluang on a ninth round stoppage in 2012 for the vacant WBO bantam title. He took nine months out after that defeat and has acquired six wins since then but has a long way to go to another title shot. Norfat, 26, “Prince Kilimanjaro” suffers his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Melindo vs. Olivo “Method Man” Melindo gets a less than impressive split decision over Mexican novice Olivo. Melindo edged the first round but was rocked badly by punches from Olivo in the second and third rounds. Melindo managed to find some punching space in the fourth but lacked the power to keep Olivo from getting inside and the Mexican did well over the middle rounds. Melindo had Olivo badly hurt with a right in the eighth but Olivo’s punches had caused swelling around both of Melindo’s eyes. With only one ten round fight behind him Olivo seemed to tire over the last two rounds allowing Melindo to steal the verdict. Scores 96-94 twice for Melindo and 96-94 for Olivo. The 27-year-old Melindo’s losses have been in world title shots against Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBA/WBO flyweight titles and Javier Mendoza for the IBF light fly title. This was his first fight since losing the technical decision to Mendoza in May. He is rated WBO 4/IBF 5 (3)/WBC 8. Olivo, just 19 was brought in as a very late notice substitute and was taking a huge step up in class and distance in this fight as his previous experience consisted of seven four round fights, one six round, and one ten, so to have taken Melindo to a split decision in Melindo’s home town indicates a lot of potential. In addition he had to take off quite a bit of weight having fought at 121lbs in July but he got down to 113 for the fight and his mobility posed problems for Melindo Fuentes vs. Tamboresi “Road Warrior” Fuentes is a few classes above relatively inexperienced Indonesian. After taking the first round Fuentes put Tamboresi down and out with an overhand right and a left uppercut. The 29-year-old local now has 21 wins by KO/TKO. The former OPBF champion had a 15 bout winning streak snapped as he suffered defeats against Amnat Ruenroeng in January 2014 for the vacant IBF fly title and in November to Roman Gonzalez for WBC title. This is his first fight since that November loss to Gonzalez. Tamboresi was coming off a points loss against Brad Hoare in Australia in May. Cataraja vs. Nggenggo Cataraja may be a name to keep an eye on. The former top amateur had Nggenggo retreating and under pressure all the way. A wicked right to the ribs put Nggenggo down in agony in the first but the Indonesian made it to the bell. Cataraja always looked as though he would finish this inside the distance but in the end it was a cut on the left eyebrow of Nggenggo which saw the doctor recommend the fight be stopped. Still only 20 Cataraja is considered a can’t miss prospect. Nggenggo could not complain about losing on a cut as it was a cut caused by a punch that gave him his biggest when he beat world rated Merlito Sabillo in November last year. East London, South Africa: Light: Xolisani Ndongeni (20-0) W TKO 9 Jasper Seroka (26-5). Feather: Simpiwe Vetyeka (28-3) W KO 4 Rodolfo Puente (16-2-2). Minimum: Siyabonga Siyo (10-0 W PTS 10 Ronie Tanallon (8-2-1). Super Bantam: Mzuvukile Magwaca (17-1-1) W TKO 2 Raul Medina (26-17-3). Ndongeni vs. Seroka Ndongeni wins vacant IBO title but fails to impress on the night. The talented local fighter started brightly taking the early rounds but Seroka just kept plugging away and was soon outworking Ndongeni and turning the fight around. Seroka had got his nose in front and with Ndongeni not using his superior skills or usual forceful jabbing the fight was getting away from him. His trainer Colin Nathan read Ndongeni the riot act at the end of the eighth round which stung Ndongeni into action. He stormed out for the ninth driving Seroka to the ropes with a succession of hard, accurate combinations and with Seroka not fighting back the referee stopped the fight. Seroka’s corner protested the stoppage but Seroka was badly hurt and just taking punishment. Strangely after eight rounds Ndongeni was in front 78-74 on two cards and 79-73 on the third so comfortably in front but the perception was that he was fading. Ndongeni gets his tenth win by KO/TKO and it was explained that he had injured his right shoulder nine days before the fight and had troubled him more the longer the fight went. He remains one of the top prospects in South Africa. Seroka, the South African super feather champion, had won his last five fights including good wins in domestic action against Joey Stiglingh, Ashley Dlamini and his No 1 challenger Koos Sibiya. Vetyeka vs. Puente The former WBA and IBO feather champion showed he is still a force as he was a class above Colombian Puente despite the South American superficially impressive looking statistics. Vetyeka had no trouble dealing with the erratic attacks of Puente and outboxed him over the first three rounds before putting him down and out with a head shot in the fourth. The 34-year-old Vetyeka retains his WBA International title. He still does not get the recognition he deserves for stopping Chris John in 2013 to snap the Indonesian’s unbeaten streak at 53 fights. Vetyeka lost his WBA title to Nonito Donaire on a technical decision in May last year but got a good win over Arturo Santos Reyes in December. This is Vetyeka.s first fight in 2015 but low levels of activity are the norm with the South African who has never fought more than twice in any year since 2007. Puente lost his first pro fight so was unbeaten in 18 fights going in but this is his first fight outside Colombia and his first real opponent. Siyo vs. Tanallon Siyo remains unbeaten with unanimous verdict over Filipino southpaw Tanallon. The talented but light punching Eastern Cape boxer had to climb off the floor in the seventh round but was never in any real danger of losing. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-91. The South African No 1 shows plenty of promise. The 22-year-old Filipino “Ultimate Warrior” holds the Philippines Boxing Federation title and is rated No 8 light flyweight by the GAB. Magwaca vs. Medina “Old Bones” Magwaca is much too good for Argentinian veteran Medina. Magwaca was in top form and dished out enough punishment for the referee to feel the need to save Medina from too much punishment just as the Argentinian’s corner were about to pull their man out. Don’t let the “Old Bones” nickname fool you Magwaca is a promising fighter with real talent. His only loss is to another rising star in unbeaten Makazole Tete and he has good domestic wins over Lwandile Sityatha the current IBO super fly champion, Mfundo Gwayana and Mexican Jose Santos Gonzalez (22-2). The 36-year-old Medina, a former Argentinian and South American champion, is well down the slope with 8 losses in his last 9 fights but this is the first time he has failed to last the distance in a fight in nine years. Brabant, Belgium: Middle: James Hagenimana (4-4) W KO 6 Mohammed Sidi Slimani (7-7-1). Hagenimana wins the Belgian title with kayo of Silimani. There was not much between these two over the first three rounds but in the fourth a right uppercut/left hook combination from Hagenimana put Slimani down but he got up took the eight count and saw out the round. Silimani was down again in the fifth but it was rightly rules a slip but he is under pressure. In the sixth Hagenimana a body punch from Hagenimana again floors Slimani and although he bravely climbed to his feet his corner threw in the towel but the referee complete a ten count. Now three wins by the local “Black Dragon Hagenimana who had knocked Silimani out in one round when Hagenimana had his first pro fight. Silimani, 35, is now 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Suzhou, China: Heavy: Peter Graham (10-3-1) W TKO 4 Alphonce Masumbuko (12-4-1). Cruiser: Shunkai Xia (6-0) W TKO 1 Amour Mzungu (7-4-1). Graham vs. Masumbuko Graham wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title with stoppage of Tanzanian. Masumbuko had no chance of winning this one on physical measurement alone. He was a 5’9” (175cm) 220lbs (100kg) fighter facing a 6’6” (198cm) 250lbs (113kg) fighter. His only chance was to get inside and although he marched forward he was just soaking up jabs and body punches. Graham floored the Tanzanian twice in the third and after another knockdown in the fourth the fight was stopped. Australian champion Graham gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. He is 40 and initially turned pro in 2000. He lost his first three fights but then went 6-0-1 in his next seven before disappearing from the scene in November 2002. He did not return until 2012, almost 10 years later but this is only his fourth fight in over three years so is unbeaten in 11 fights. Masumbuko (he fights as Mchumiatumbo), 28 began his career with 10 wins and a draw and has gone downhill from there Xia vs. Mzungu Xia retains the WBO China Zone title with 104 seconds wipe out of another Tanzanian with no hope of winning. A left hook to the body and a straight right put Mzungu down and out cold with the referee not counting but getting Mzungu medical attention and he quickly recovered. Xia, 23, gets his third win by KO/TKO. Poor Mzungu had even less chance of winning than Masumbuko. The dimension were similar to the Graham fight at 5-9” (175cm) against 6’4” (193cm) but to make it far worse Mzungu is 44-year-old and had been knocked out in 91 seconds in his last fight in March. The WBO are obviously quite happy to sanction this sort of dangerous mismatch and they would share equal blame with the local officials if something bad happened. Manila, Philippines: Super Feather: Randy Braga (17-1-1) W TKO 2 Jilo Merlin (13-25-2). Elorde Gym fighter Braga gets his fourth win by KO/TKO as he floors Merlin in the first and forces the stoppage in the second. The 27-year-old southpaw, the GAB champion, gets his second win since suffering his sole loss on a split decision against Macbute Sinyabi in South Africa for the IBO Inter-Continental title. Merlin has lost his last 10 fights so obviously no magic from him. General Santos City, Philippines: Super Fly: Mark Antonio Geraldo (32-6-3) W TKO 6 Jelbirt Gomera (10-0). Experience triumphed here as Gerald halted the unbeaten run of Gomera. Geraldo floored Gomera heavily in the second but the youngster got up and fought back. Geraldo suffered a bad cut over his right eye before scoring two knockdowns in the sixth to finish the fight. Southpaw Geraldo, 24, was coming back from tough points losses to McJoe Arroyo in an IBF eliminator and Takuma Inoue for the OPBF title so could not afford another defeat. Gomera, just 19, has the talent to come again. Olivos, Argentina: Super Light: Matias E Gomez (34-2) W TKO 5 Martin Escobar (15-3). Both of these fighters are big punchers so it came to who struck first and Gomez won the race. He floored Escobar in the first and like the experience so much that he put him down six more times. He scored another knockdown in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth to finish the fight. Only the third fight in over three years for Gomez who was once looked on as a big prospect. He won his first 29 fights, 28 by KO/TKO but then suffered back-to-back losses on the road in 2013 to Thompson Mokwana and Andrey Klimov. Fellow-Argentinian Escobar had won his last 10 fights in a row by KO/TKO including 5 in the first round. November 29 St. Petersburg, Russia: Middle: Igor Selivanov (11-0) W PTS 8 Kassim Ouma (28-9-1). Young Russian hope gets a name on his record as he takes a wide unanimous decision over former IBF super welter champion Ouma. He had Ouma rocking a couple of times but never managed to close the fight out. Scores 80-72 twice and 78-75. The tall 21-year-old Ukrainian-born Selivanov is being brought along carefully and this is his first win over a “name” fighter. Ugandan southpaw Ouma, 36, was having his first fight in two years and only his third in over four years. December 1 Kempton Park, South Africa: Welter: Paul Kamanga (18-0) W TKO 5 Roman Zhailauov (15-2). Super Light: Warren Joubert (23-4-5) W PTS 8 Jason Bedeman (18-4-3). Kamanga vs. Zhailauov Kamanga gets off the floor to halt Zhailauov. Things looked to be going badly for Kamanga when he was floored by a left in the second round but he had been doing some substantial scoring of his own before that. He had been boxing on the outside with Zhailauov dangerous with left hooks when he got inside. Kamanga’s work paid dividends in the third when a punch stated a rapidly growing swelling under the right eye of Zhailauov. Both continued to land hard punches in the fourth with Kamanga getting home the harder shots. Zhailauov survived a doctor’s inspection in the fourth but with his right eye closed was shipping heavy punishment in the fifth when the fight was halted. Tenth win by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old DRC-born Kamanga who already has wins over Kaizer Mabuza and Jason Bedeman and looks to be one for the future. Zhailauov, 21, currently based in South Africa, had lost a split decision to Thompson Mokwana in September and gave Kamanga a good test until the injury. Joubert vs. Bedeman This was an important fight for both men as they were both coming of losses and did not want to slip any further. As a result it was a real war which could have swung either way but in the end Joubert got a close but deserved decision. Scores 77-75 twice and 77-76. “The Warrior” Joubert has been a pro for 11 years but only won his first South African title in April. Unfortunately he only held it for just over three months losing it to Grant Fourie in July. “Badman” Bedeman has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights but the other two losses were to class opposition in Ali Funeka and Kamanga and at 25 he can rebuild. Bedeman Badman 25 has now lost 3 of 4 but is young enough to rebuild with the other losses to Ali Funeka and Kamanga |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
December 2015
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