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By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Chris Eubank Jr outpoints James DeGale in IBO super middle title fight -Anthony Dirrell gets technical verdict over Avni Yildirim for the vacant WBC super middle title -Humberto Soto gets upset victory over Brandon Rios -Lee Selby returns with a win but again suffers cuts -Joe Joyce halts Bermane Stiverne in six rounds -Blake Caparello, Tony Luis, Byron Rojas, Jamal James and Jeison Rosario get wins. WORLD TITLE/MAJOR SHOWS February 23 London, England: Super Middle: Chris Eubank Jr (28-2) W PTS 12 James DeGale (25-3-1). Light: Lee Selby (27-2) W PTS 12 Omar Douglas (19-3). Heavy: Joe Joyce (8-0) W TKO 6 Bermane Stiverne (25-4-1). Light Heavy: Andre Sterling (10-0) W PTS 10 Ricky Summers (15-2). Super Feather: Anthony Cacace (17-1) W PTS 8 Alan Luques (26-8). DeGale vs. Eubank Eubank takes unanimous verdict over DeGale to win the vacant IBO title Round 1 A cautious round early as both pawed with their jab. DeGale was the more positive as the action warmed-up following his southpaw jabs with lefts. Eubank was looking to counter the advancing DeGale with rights but DeGale just did enough to take the round. Score: 10-9 DeGale Round 2 Eubank was firing rights in the second and connecting. He landed a couple which sent DeGale tumbling along the ropes to a corner and DeGale went down sitting on them lower ropes trying to get under the punches. He was up quickly and not seriously hurt. After the count Eubank pressed hard trying to land more big rights but DeGale boxed and held and was not troubled again in the round except for a clash of heads that saw him cut over his left eye. Score: 10-8 Eubank Eubank 19-18 Round 3 This was a close round with too many clinches. DeGale was throwing a couple of jabs and then darting inside and clinching. Eubank was looking to score with right hand counters but was having trouble timing DeGale’s diving attacks. Eubank landed a hard right and just had just the edge. Score: 10-9 Eubank Eubank 29-27 Round 4 A disappointing round. It was punch, clinch, punch, clinch all the way. DeGale scored with a couple of useful jabs but Eubank ended the round strongly forcing DeGale to the ropes and landing with rights. Score: 10-9 Eubank Eubank 39-36 Round 5 Eubank was on the front foot with DeGale circling and then diving in. At one point Eubank lifted DeGale and almost threw him over. DeGale was making no use at all of his jab and Eubank was stalking him and doing what clear scoring there was. Score: 10-9 Eubank Eubank 49-45 Round 6 DeGale had a better round. He was using his jab more and scoring from distance rather than diving in. Eubank continued to prowl after DeGale but did not land much. Score: 10-9 DeGale Eubank 58-55 Round 7 Pressure all the way from Eubank. DeGale was showing some nice defensive work but Eubank was the one landing punches as he fired home a series of hooks. Score: 10-9 Eubank Eubank 68-64 Round 8 Another round for Eubank. DeGale was just sticking out a jab and then diving inside and not working when he got there. Eubank chased in vain for much of the round but then drove DeGale across the ring with a series of punches. Score: 10-9 Eubank Eubank 78-73 Round 9 Eubank opened this round by scoring with a succession of jabs and hooks. DeGale connected with a couple of sharp hooks but as the round progressed Eubank was again the one landing as he had success with his hooks Score: 10-9 Eubank `Eubank 88-82 Round 10 DeGale scored first in this round with a couple of sharp punches but then went back to his punch and dive forward tactics, The fight was untidy with no sustained action. Eubank took over and drove forward. He staggered DeGale with a left hook and then drove DeGale across the ring raining punches with DeGale going down. DeGale was up straight away complaining he had been pushed down but was given a count and the bell went when the count was completed. Score: 10-8 Eubank Eubank 98-90 Round 11 The eleventh was another round with too many clinches. A frustrated Eubank lifted DeGale on his shoulder and threw him to the canvas and the referee deducted a point from Eubank. DeGale connected with a couple of lefts but Eubank stormed forward chasing a tired DeGale scoring with uppercuts and a left to the head to give him the round. Score (10-9 Eubank) with the deduction 9-9 107-99 Round 12 Eubank stormed through the last round going forward throwing punches. DeGale countered when he could but over the closing seconds he was being forced to the ropes from hooks by Eubank. Score: 10-9 Eubank 117-108 Official Scores: 117-109, 115-112 and 114-112 all for Eubank Commanding performance by Eubank perhaps his best as a pro. Where next is the question now so we have to wait and see. DeGale will be looking at his options but he has already had an outstanding career and retirement would be a smart decision. Selby vs. Douglas Selby outpoints a determined Douglas but again suffers badly from cuts. Douglas clearly thought this was a fight he could win and he made a strong start. Selby seemed to just take the first round but Douglas put himself in front by taking the second and third. To make things even worse for Selby a clash of heads in the second round saw him emerge with a cut over his right eye. He had been badly cut in losing his IBF title to Josh Warrington so it was a bad sign that he was cut so early and when a clash of heads in the third opened a cut over his left eye things looked bad for Selby. Undismayed Selby showed champions determination and used his customary speed and skill to get back into the fight and outboxed Douglas over the fourth and fifth. Douglas fought his way back into the fight with a strong sixth but then Selby took over again and with the cuts being held in check he took control and built a winning lead. Douglas put in a big effort in the twelfth but by then it was already Selby’s fight. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-113 all for Selby. The Welshman wins the IBF Inter-Continental title. Once the cuts heal he will be looking to work his way to a world title shot. Douglas’ progress was derailed by consecutive losses in fights against Javier Fortuna and Edner Cherry but he recorded a good win in August by decisioning 26-2-1 Haskell Rhodes Joyce vs. Stiverne Joyce stops a vastly overweight Stiverne. The key measure as to how hard a fight this would be for Joyce was Stiverne’s weight. Had he trained hard and would he be a real threat as Don King claimed or had his road work consisted of running to and from the nearest McDonald’s. He came in 20lbs heavier than when he fought both Derric Rossy in 2015 and Deontay Wilder in his last bout in November 2017 and right there you knew he was never going to pose a threat to Joyce. He would give the unbeaten fighter a few rounds against his most experienced opponent to date-but nothing more. Joyce bossed the opening round. He was using a strong jab and hooking to the body with Stiverne on the retreat, Stiverne found the target with some rights but Joyce took them well and continued to belabour Stiverne with lefts and right. Stiverne tried to come forward in the second and threw some rights. From the half way point it was one-sided with Joyce walking forward pounding Stiverne with lefts and rights hooks and uppercuts with very little coming back from Stiverne. A couple of left hooks and a right to the head floored Stiverne early in the third but he was up quickly and carried on. It really was just target practice for Joyce with only the occasional attempt at a counter from Stiverne who already looked exhausted. More punishment for Stiverne in the fourth. His only effort was the occasional wild swipe with his right. Joyce could not miss him with a jab and over the late part of the round was content to land a jab and then take a step back and then land another jab, It was that easy for him. Joyce pounded away at Stiverne in the fifth with Stiverne more of a pacifist than a pugilist and in the sixth with Joyce rocking Stiverne time and again with head punches the referee stopped the fight. It was so one-sided that it could have been stopped at any time from the third round onwards. Joyce retains the Commonwealth title and wins the WBA gold title although the status of the newly invented WBA title is obscure. The 6’6” Joyce has won all of his fights inside the distance and again he demonstrated his power particularly with his damaging jab. Going in he was rated No 5 by the WBA. There is talk that Joyce will fight Manuel Charr the holder of the WBA secondary title. It seems that the mandated fight between Charr and Fres Oquendo is no longer mandated which would conveniently open the door for Joyce to fight Charr. It was obvious Stiverne came for the money and his “effort” was pathetic. Joyce did his job but the fact that Stiverne is a former world champion does not change the fact that for this fight he was a flabby 40-year-old who had not fought for over 14 months and had spent less than one minute in the ring in over three years. Sterling vs. Summers Sterling gets off the floor to outpoint Summers in British title eliminator. Summers just edged the first round and then floored Sterling with a right in the second. Sterling got up and survived and then dominated the fight. Summers was cut over his right eye in the third and Sterling swept that round and the next four. Summers rallied to take the eighth but Sterling took over again and won the ninth and tenth. Scores 97-92 twice and 97-93. Good win for the 28-year-old BBC of C Southern Area champion. Summers only previous loss was on points against Frank Buglioni for the British title in 20127 when coming in as a late substitute. Cacace vs. Luques Cacace returns with a win. The Belfast southpaw showed no early signs of ring rust as he was quicker and outworked Argentinian Luques. It was only very late in the fight as Cacace seemed to slow that Luques was competitive but Cacace was able to work his way to the end of the fight getting eight rounds of useful work on the ledger. Referee’s score 79-74 for Cacace. The Belfast man lost to Martin Joseph Ward for the British title in July 2017 and then had a fight in December 2017 so this is his first fight for 14 months. He will look to get some more rounds under his belt and then go again for a title. Luques is the South American champion. He was 7-1 before this fight with the loss being on points against Diego De La Hoya. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Super Middle: Anthony Dirrell (33-1-1) W TEC DEC 10 Avni Yildirim (21-2). Welter: Jamal James (25-1) W RTD 6 Janer Gonzalez (19-2-1). Middle: Jeison Rosario (18-1-1) W RTD 9 Mark Hernandez (13-3-1). Welter: Bryant Perrella (16-2) W PTS 8 Breidis Prescott (31-16). Heavy: Efetobor Apochi (7-0) W TKO 2 Ray Ochieng (26-23-3). Dirrell vs. Yildirim Dirrell wins the vacant WBC title with technical decision over Turkey’s Avni Yildirim in a total war. Round 1 Yildirim made a strong start forcing Dirrell to the ropes with jabs and landing clubbing rights. Dirrell was on the back foot using his longer reach to spear Yildirim with jabs and slipping home left hooks and uppercuts. A flurry of punches from Yildirim got through and that sparked Dirrell into forcing Yildirim back with a couple of head-snapping uppercuts and then Dirrell used his jab to take the round Score: 10-9 Dirrell Round 2 An already entertaining fight was even more entertaining in the second as they stood and traded jabs, hooks and uppercuts. Yildirim forced Dirrell to the ropes and again both fired fast accurate shots. Yildirim worked strongly with his jabs and lefts to the body and although Dirrell landed a sharp uppercut it was Yildirim’s round. Score: 10-9 Yildirim Tied 19-19 Round 3 After a quiet start to the round Yildirim piled on the pressure coming in behind a strong jab and lading overhand nights and lefts to the body. Dirrell was scoring with accurate counters and quick bursts of punches and scored with a long heavy right to the head to take a very close round Score: 10-9 Dirrell Dirrell 29-28 Round 4 It was war again as Yildirim kept Dirrell on the ropes for the whole three minutes. Dirrell was landing some scorching counters inside but Yildirim kept working banging lefts to the body and rights to the head to take the round. Score: 10-9 Yildirim Tied 38-38 Round 5 Dirrell boxed more in this one. He was still circling the perimeter of the ring with Yildirim walking him down but he was slotting punches trough Yildirim’s guard and when they did start to trade heavy stuff again Dirrell was just that bit more accurate. Score: 10-9 Dirrell Dirrell 48-47 Round 6 Dirrell raked the advancing Yildirim with hooks and uppercuts at the start of the round. Yildirim did better when he closed then distance and connected with clubbing lefts and rights. Dirrell was straying low with some of his hooks and Yildirim just did enough to take the round. Score 10-9 Yildirim Tied 57-57 Round 7 Best round so far for Dirrell. He stayed off the ropes and the speed and accuracy of his punches had Yildirim backing up. Inside Dirrell was landing wicked right hooks and cracking uppercuts but a clash of heads opened a cut over the left eye of Dirrell. Score: 10-9 Dirrell Dirrell 67-66 Round 8 Three minutes of pressure from Yildirim. It was close work all the way. Dirrell scored with sharp accurate and a few low punches but Yildirim kept pressing and landed a series of hard thudding head punches from both hands. Dirrell’s cut was worsening and Yildirim was cut on his nose. Score: 10-9 Yildirim Tied 76-76 Round 9 Dirrell looked to be tiring but Yildrim did not. He kept piling forward pushing out his punches with Dirrell throwing less and holding more. Dirrell was given another warning for a low punch and was under pressure at the bell. Score: 10-9 Yildirim Yildirim 86-85 Round 10 Dirrell danced and boxed his way in this one. He was not looking to trade but instead speared Yildirim from distance. When Yildirim rushed forward head down Dirrell side-stepped and mimicked being a matador to Yildirim’s bull. With a minute to go in the round the referee stopped the action to let the doctor examine Dirrell's cut and the doctor recommended the fight be stopped. Yildirim climbed on the ropes to celebrate his victory only to be told it would be decided on the scorecards with the tenth round being scored. Score: 10-9 Dirrell Tied 95-95 Official Scores: 96-94 twice for Dirrell and 98-92 for Yildirim. The 24-year-old “Dog” becomes WBC champion for the second time. When he held the title previously he lost it in his first defence against Badou Jack but he will be aiming to keep the title a bit longer this time. I guess Dirrell’s dream fight would be against Saul Alvarez-dream on Anthony. Yildirim showed considerable improvement from his losing effort against Chris Eubank Jr in an IBO title fight in 2017 and he looked to be the stronger man when this one was stopped so his team will push for a rematch. James vs. Gonzalez Fighting in front of his home fans James gets inside the distance win and hopes to get into the welter mix and a place at the top table. Plenty of action in this one. James had a good opening round forcing Gonzalez onto the back foot and scoring to the body. The second was close with Gonzalez connecting with stiff jabs and a cut was opened under James’ right eye. With Jones being 6’2” Gonzalez had to push forward and he had some success to the body in the third with James countering well. In the fourth and the fifth James had the better of the exchanges particularly with long rights. Gonzalez was down early in the sixth but it was due to their legs getting in a tangle and there was no count. Later in the round a right from James floored Gonzalez heavily. He beat the count and survived the remaining seconds but did not come out for the seventh round. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for James. After a run of good wins James lost a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2016. He has rebuilt well with six wins including victories over Ionut Dan Ion, Diego Chaves and Abel Ramos and is No 3 with the WBA. Colombian Gonzalez was 19-0-1 against very modest opposition but after losing in his last fight against Russian Radzhab Butaev in November 2017 that is two defeats in a row. Rosario vs. Hernandez When these two clashed a year ago it was over six rounds and ended in a split draw. This time Dominican Rosario made sure the judges were not needed. The fight was close to the end with Rosario’s power the deciding factor. After a close first round they began to trade heavy punches in the second with Hernandez doing most of the scoring. A low punch in the third saw Hernandez get some recovery time and Rosario get a warning. The action continued hot over the next four rounds and it was hard to split them. Rosario’s heavier punch saw Hernandez under pressure in the eighth. Rosario was dominating the ninth and floored Hernandez with a powerful left hook. Hernandez made it to his feet but a fierce attack from Rosario saw the referee step in and stop the fight. The 23-year-old Rosario suffered his only defeat when he was floored three times and stopped by Nathaniel Gallimore in 2017. He has rebounded in style with victories over Justin DeLoach and Jamontay Clark and is rated 11(10) by the IBF. Fresno’s “Madman” Hernandez was 4-0-1 in his last 5 fights. Perrella vs. Prescott Tall Floridian southpaw Perrella gets back into action with unanimous decision over regular loser Prescott. Scores 79-73 twice and 78-74. After defeat by Yordenis Ugas in September 2016 Perrella did not fight again until December 2017. In his sole fight last year he took a big step up by facing Luis Collazo but lost on a majority verdict. This is his first fight since that August loss and hopefully he will be more active. Prescott has now won only one of his last nine fights so looks a reliable loser. Apochi vs. Ochieng Nigerian Apochi blows away another opponent as he makes progress under the radar. His second round stoppage of Kenyan Ochieng makes it seven inside the distance wins in seven outings all scored inside three rounds. At 5’11” and just over 200lbs the cruisers are where he should fight. The Houston-based 31-year-old is a former Captain of the Nigerian boxing team. He was twice runner-up at the All-African Championships and beat world rated Jai Opetaia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games on his way to a bronze medal. He also fought at the World Championships and was a member of the Mexican Guerreros team in the World Series of Boxing. At 31 time is not in his corner and he needs to face much better opposition before any judgment can be made on how far he can go. Ochieng, 42, suffers his sixth loss in a row. February 22 Melbourne, Australia: Light Heavy: Blake Caparello (29-3-1) W PTS 10 Reagan Dessaix (16-2). Super Welter: Joel Camilleri (17-5-1) W RTD 5 Billy Limov (4-1-1). Caparello vs. Dessaix Caparello wins close unanimous decision over younger Dessaix. Caparello took the fight to Dessaix in the opening round getting past the guard of the 6’3” from Brisbane. Dessaix had a better second as he started to settle into the fight but Caparello was finding the range with his southpaw lefts in the third. Dessaix swung the fight back his way with a good fourth and finished the fifth with a strong attack. Dessaix looked to have outworked Caparello in the sixth. The seventh was a close round but Dessaix appeared to have done enough to take the eighth, After that Dessaix, who had not gone ten rounds before, seemed to tire allowing Caparello to edge in front but it was very close. Score 97-93 twice and 96-94 all for Caparello. He lifts Dessaix’s WBA Oceania title but for the Australian No 1 the win was everything as a loss here would have probably signalled the end of the 32-yerar-old former WBO title challenger’s hopes of any more big fights. Dessaix, 22, will recover quickly from this and looks a very good bet for the future Camilleri vs. Limov Camilleri lifts the vacant Australian title with victory over novice Limov. Camilleri put Limov down in the first and Limov only just made it to the bell. Camilleri continued to connect with heavy punches in the second, third and fourth with Limov taking the punishment and trying to fight back. Camilleri floored Limov again in the fifth and at the end of the round Limov’s team pulled him out of the fight. Camilleri goes to 8-1-1 in his last 10 fights and has eight wins by KO/TKO. New Zealand-born Queensland State champion Limov never really got into the fight after the first round knockdown. Budakalasz, Hungary: Cruiser: Imre Szello (23-0) W KO 2 Denis Simcic (32-4-1). Super Welter: Roman Zakirov (9-0) W PTS 10 Daniel Vega Cota (13-3-1). Super Middle: Mate Kiss (14-0-2 ) W KO 2 Hussein Itaba (5-3-2). Light Heavy: Oscar Ahlin (17-2) W TKO 4 Beka Mukhulishvili (6-5). Szello vs. Simcic In the first show of the year in Hungary Szello brushes aside an out of condition Simcic inside two rounds. Szello was looking to end this early and handled Simcic’s attempts to attack easily and then put Simcic down and out just a few seconds before the bell at the end of the second round. The 35-year-old “Imo” has scored six inside the distance wins in his last seven fights and despite never facing a rated opponent is No 2 with the WBO. Szello was a great amateur but to put him above fighters such Murat Gassiev, Mairis Breidis, Yuniel Dorticos and Andrew Tabiti is ridiculous- but then the WBO No 1 is 48-year-old Firat Arslan! Szello is No 12 in the EBU ratings. Slovenian Simcic, 37, had just one fight in 2015, one in 2016 was inactive in 2017 and had just one fight in 2018 beating a guy with 86 losses so no risk being taken here. Zakirov vs. Cota Russian boxer Zakirov wins the vacant IBO International title with unanimous verdict over southpaw Cota. This was an entertaining fight and although Zakirov was stronger, more accurate in his work and a clear winner Cota was always competitive until he tired but always second best. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92 for Zakirov. First ten round fight and first title for the Azeri-based 22-year-old. Mexican Cota was having his first fight outside Mexico and also his first ten rounder. Kiss vs. Itaba Kiss dismantles Tanzanian novice Itaba in two rounds. Kiss was able to walk though the 6’1” Itaba and he floored the African late in the first before putting him down and out half way through the second. The 25-year-old Hungarian has ten wins by KO/TKO but this was an abysmal mismatch. Third loss by KO/TKO for poor Itaba Ahlin vs. Mukhulishvili Swedish “Golden Boy” Ahlin gets his fourth win on the bounce by KO/TKO with stoppage of Georgian Mukhulishvili. Unexpected losses to Bernard Donfack and Patrick Mendy have taken the shine off the “Golden Boy” image but he is trying to regroup. Fourth loss in a row for Mukhulishvili and his first inside the distance defeat. Ekaterinburg, Russia: Light: Zaur Abdullaev (11-0) W TKO 10 Humberto Martinez (33-9-2). Heavy: Evgeny Romanov (12-0) W KO 1 Dillon Carman (14-4). Super Feather: Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (13-0) W PTS 10 Emanuel Lopez (29-10-1). Super Welter: Magomed Kurbanov (17-0) W PTS 10 Damian Bonelli (23-6).Cruiser: Evgeny Tischenko (4-0) W PTS 8 Jose Ulrich (17-3,1ND). Abdullaev vs. Martinez Abdullaev gets late stoppage win against Martinez. Abdullaev was tracking the smaller Martinez around the ring in the first and put the Colombian down with a left hook to the body. Martinez made it to his feet just as the bell went. Abdullaev has an unusual humped style and is not a fast mover but has quick hands and good power. He continued stalking Martinez throughout the fight and did a good job of cutting the ring down and landed some hard straight rights. Martinez kept moving and was most effective when diving forward with hooks to the body. Abdullaev came close to finishing Martinez when he floored him with double left hooks in the fourth and then rocked him with a big combination later in the round. Over the second half of the fight Martinez stood and traded. Abdullaev was scoring with stiff jabs and long rights but Martinez took the punches and kept firing hooks. They stood toe-to-toe late in the seventh just punching away but Martinez had to absorb lots of punishment in the eighth and ninth. The exchanges were fairly even in the tenth until a series of uppercuts had Martinez shaky and a big right put him down. He beat the count and as Abdullaev bombarded him with punches Martinez looked shaky but just as he was punching back the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. The 24-year-old Russian scored a good win in outpointing Hank Lundy and this is his seventh win by KO/TKO. Martinez was 6-0-1 in his last 7 but against substandard opponents. Romanov vs. Carman Romanov flattens “Big Country Carman in just 110 seconds. The 6’5” Carman towered over 6-0” tall Romanov but was forced to the ropes by rights to the head. He moved forward off the ropes but Romanov drove him back and then connected with a right and a left hook and Carman dropped to the floor on his hands and knees and was counted out. The 33-year-old Romanov gets his fifth inside the distance win in a row. In the amateurs after settling for three silver medals in consecutive Russian Championships he finally won the national title in 2009. In the third round of a Russia vs. USA meeting in February 2008 he landed a big right which saw Deontay Wilder staggering badly forcing an eight count and then floored Wilder with another right. Wilder made it to his feet but was unsteady and the fight was stopped. That was a powerful Russian team with Artur Beterbiev and Sergey Kovalev both fighting at 81kgs and Rakhim Chakhkiev at 91kgs. Not surprisingly Russia won the match 8-2. Romanov was consistently by-passed for the big International Tournaments so retired from boxing in 2010 to work in local sports administration but returned to boxing in 2016 and turned professional. Former Canadian champion Carman scored a big domestic win last October when he knocked out unbeaten Simon Kean. All four of his losses have come inside the distance. Yaqubov vs. Lopez Yaqubov outboxes Mexican Lopez in a fast-paced bout. The Tajik southpaw was quicker and more mobile than Lopez and was already finding the target with straight lefts in the first round. Lopez was looking to draw Yaqubov’s lead and counter but he was waiting too long. Yaqubov continued to find the range with his lefts and worked the body well. Lopez was plodding forward but Yaqubov was too quick, too slick and too accurate for the visitor. He was rattling off combinations and moving too quickly for Lopez to counter. Lopez had some success coming forward in the fifth but as the fight progressed Yaqubov was beginning to put together precise and accurate five/six punch combinations and was outclassing the experienced Lopez. Yaqubov slowed a bit in the eighth and ninth but was still moving changing angles and doing the scoring speeding around Lopez bombarding him with rapid-fire fists in the last. Scores 100-90 for Yaqubov from the three judges. He was making the first defence of his WBC International title. Still only 23 he has tremendous skill, quick feet and flashing hands and outclassed the former interim WBA super feather champion. He looks certain to break into the world ratings this year. Lopez looked shop-worn and is now 2-4 in his last six fights. Kurbanov vs. Bonelli Kurbanov just had too much power for Bonelli. He scored a first round knockdown and pressed hard all the way. Bonelli found plenty of gaps for counters but he is not enough of a puncher to threaten Kurbanov. A left hook in the third had Bonelli hurt and the Argentinian was spending more and more time covering up on the ropes. Bonelli had a good sixth forcing Kurbanov back with quick attacks but was rocked by a right in the seventh. Bonelli’s holding and ducking tactics saw a frustrated Kurbanov throw the Argentinian to the canvas twice in the eighth. A series of head punches floored Bonelli just before the bell in the ninth and he was down again in the tenth but lasted the full distance. There is nothing pretty about the style of the Russian “Black Lion” the 23-year-old Kurbanov is powerful, he loads up on every punch and leaves big gaps in his defence. It has worked for him against some good level opposition but his No 3 rating with the IBF is difficult to defend. Bonelli, 40, did well to get off the floor a few times and last the full ten rounds but he has now lost five in a row. Tischenko vs. Ulrich Former amateur star Tischenko gets some rounds under his belt as he wins every round against Argentinian Ulrich. With Tischenko at 6’5” and Ulrich at 5’11” it was not much of a spectacle and Tischenko disappointed in not ending this early and had to settle for dominating every round. The 27-yerar-old Russian southpaw swept the board as an amateur winning gold at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, European Under 23, European Youth and Russian Championships. Ulrich, the Argentinian No 6 lost on a split decision for the national title in May but that is now three losses in a row for him. Cape Town, South Africa: Feather: Thembani Mbangatha (10-0) W PTS 10 Doctor Ntsele (22-12-1). A gutsy Mbangatha overcomes injury to outpoint experienced Ntsele and retain his WBFederation African title. The local fighter was boxing well behind his jab and looked on the way to a comfortable victory until he dislocated his shoulder. That stirred Ntsele into upping his pace and he made some inroads into Mbangatha’s lead but not enough to turn the fight his way. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91 for “Baby Jake” Mbangatha. This is the second time the South African No 6 Mbangatha has suffered a dislocation of this shoulder in a fight. Former South African flyweight champion Ntsele has also fought for titles at bantam and super bantam and in his last fight before this one he was just inside the super feather limit. London, England: Welter: Freddy Kiwitt (15-2) W PTS 10 Paddy Gallagher (15-5). In a close entertaining fight two knockdowns prove to be the deciding factor in Kiwitt’s majority decision win over Belfast’s Gallagher. The pattern of the fight saw Gallagher taking the fight to Kiwitt with the Liberian-born fighter boxing and countering. The rounds were close but just as Gallagher looked to be taking control in the fifth he was knocked down. The Belfast fighter battled back over the sixth and seventh and looked to have clawed back the 10-8 fifth round. He was forcing the fight in the eighth but Kiwitt was boxing well and the fight seemed to be put out of Gallagher’s reach when he suffered a flash knockdown late in the round. Gallagher stormed forward in the ninth and tenth but Kiwitt stayed strong and countered well but it was close. Scores 96-94 and 95-93 for Kiwitt and 95-95. British-based Kiwitt wins the vacant WBO European title. His two losses have been to unbeaten fighters and he has won his last three fights. Gallagher had won 5 of his last 6 fights with the loss being a split decision against Brad Solomon in April last year in the WBC welterweight tournament that seems to have vanished without trace. Kissimmee, FL, USA: Super Light: Yomar Alamo (16-0) W PTS 10 Manuel Mendez (16-5-3). Middle: Carlos Monroe (12-0) W TKO 1 Jonathan Tavira (17-7). Bantam: Antonio Vargas (10-0) W TKO 2 Lucas Baez (34-18-5). Alamo vs. Mendez Puerto Rican Alamo boxes his way to wide unanimous verdict over Mendez. Alamo won this one on the back foot. Mendez marched forward behind a high guard looking to hook to the body. Alamo stuck to the perimeter of the ring constantly moving. He speared the advancing Mendez with jabs and connected with hooks and uppercuts and moved again before Mendez could land anything. Alamo rocked Mendez with a right in the second but could not capitalise on that. A frustrated Mendez was throwing wild shots with Alamo having no trouble dodging them and making Mendez pay with counters. Mendez pressed all the way but never came close to catching Alamo with a punch of consequence as Alamo cruised to victory. Scores 99-91 twice and 100-90 for Alamo who wins the vacant WBO NABO title. Third defeat in a row for Mendez. Monroe vs. Taviro Monroe dismantles Travis inside a round. This one lasted just 91 seconds and gives 24-year-old Monroe his ninth win by KO/TKO Mexican southpaw Taviro suffers his third inside the distance defeat in a row against unbeaten opposition with combined records of 47-0. Vargas vs. Baez Vargas blows away Argentinian Baez inside two rounds. The former Olympian was much too good for Baez. Vargas put Baez down for the first time with a precise right uppercut and the second knockdown came as Vargas took a step back to dodge a couple of jabs from Baez and threw a straight right to the chin that floored Baez. He made it to his feet but wobbled and the referee stopped the fight. The 22-year-old Vargas, born in Houston of mixed Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage, gets his fourth win by KO/TKO. In 2015 he was voted US Elite Male Boxer of the Year after winning the US National championships, the National Golden Gloves and a gold medal at the Pan American Games but did not medal at the 2016 Olympics. Florida-based Baez drops to nine losses by KO/TKO. Huntington, NY, USA: Cruiser: Joel Tambwe Djeko (15-2-1) W PTS 10 Simone Federici (14-2-1) Belgian “Big Joe” Djeko wins decision over Italian Federici. With “Big Joe” being just that the tactics were easy to predict. Federici had to pile forward usually leading with a right aiming for Djeko’s head but too often falling short of the towering Djeko’s chin. When he did get inside Federici pumped away with hooks and uppercuts. Djeko did not want to fight inside so was holding and smothering Federici’s attacks. At distance Djeko was scoring with strong jabs and punishing hooks and was a good winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91 for Djeko who gets his sixth win on the trot. Former undefeated Italian champion “Tyson” Federici was 7-0-1 going into this one. February 23 Tijuana, Mexico: Welter: Humberto Soto (69-9-2,1ND) W PTS 12 Brandon Rios (35-5-1). Bantam: Joel Cordova (8-4-2) W PTS 10 Jose Quirino (20-3-3). Light: Hector Tanajara (17-0) W TEC DEC 4 Ivan Delgado (13-2-2). Fly: Joselito Velasquez (8-0) W TKO 7 Kevin Villanueva (10-2-3). Middle: Diego Pacheco (2-0) W PTS 4 Alberto Aguilar Soto vs. Rios Soto gives Rios a boxing lesson on the way to a convincing victory. Brilliant start by Soto. Rios was moving forward with jabs and hooks. Soto kept moving around Rios and then scoring with blazing combinations with fists too quick for Rios to block. Rios continued to force the fight looking to trap Soto on the ropes and work him over with hooks and uppercuts. Sometimes that worked but Rios was wide open and Soto was able to land heavily as Rios walked in. Even when Rios managed to take Soto to the ropes Soto would twist away and put Rios on the ropes and then rake Rios with a bunch of rapid combinations. Rios only had one pace and one plan so he kept rumbling onto Soto’s punches aiming to get close enough to do some work of his own but Soto was only staying still long enough to rattle Rios with his punches and then moving leaving Rios to follow behind. Rios had some success over the second half of the fight as the pace caught up with the 38-year-old Soto but he was never able to pin Soto down long enough to get any sort of toe-hold in the fight and was out punched and outclassed by Soto. Scores 118-112 twice and 119-111 all for Soto. The former WBC super feather and light champion was considered to be semi-retired as he was inactive in 2017 and had not impressed in victories over two modest level fighters in 2018. He was tactically brilliant here so that may have given him the desire to try for one more title fight. Even if that does not happen he has had the pleasure of knowing that in beating Rios he is the first Mexican born fighter to defeat Rios after Rios had beaten all fifteen he had faced previously. Rios, 32, a former holder of the secondary WBA lightweight title, had a mixed 2018 being stopped in nine rounds by Danny Garcia but stopping Ramon Alvarez in November. No indication that he will do anything but continue his career but he was given a boxing lesson here. Cordova vs. Quirino Minor upset as Cordova outpoints local favourite Quirino. These two had fought to a split draw in December and this one was also close with Cordova getting the split decision. This one was every bit as tight as after the early rounds went to southpaw Quirino Cordova dominated the middle rounds. Cordova forced the fight hard. Quirino was finding himself pinned to the ropes and was bleeding from nose and mouth from Cordova’s punches. Quirino tried to pull the fight his way late but just came up short. Scores 97-93 twice for Cordova and 96-94 for Quirino. Cordova fought above expectations and is now 2-0-2 in his last 4 fights. Quirino was unbeaten in his last 17 contests. Tanajara vs. Delgado In a fight shortened due to a cut received by Tanajara he took the verdict on a technical decision. Tanajara dominated the first round with his jab. He used his longer reach to score and countered Delgado’s advances with straight rights. In the second Tanajara stuck to the same tactics with Delgado forcing harder and occasionally getting inside. In the third a clash of heads saw Tanajara suffer a cut over his right eye. Delgado was getting into the fight more but Tanajara finished the round strongly. Tanajara kept the jab working in the fourth but his cut was ugly and worsening and at the end of the round the doctor recommended the fight be stopped so it was decided on the score cards. Scores 40-36 from the three judges for Tanajara. The unbeaten 22-year-old Texan wins the WBC United States title. He was coming off a career best win in December when he outpointed 36-2 Robert Manzanarez. Californian Delgado was 2-0-1 in his last three contests. Velasquez vs. Villanueva Olympian Velasquez gets another inside the distance victory as he halts Villanueva in the fifth round. Velasquez bombarded Villanueva with hooks and uppercuts from the outset. He floored Villanueva in the third and had him in deep trouble in the fifth when the referee halted the fight. Now seven wins by KO/TKO for the 25-year-old “Hurricane” who won gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2015 and competed at the 2016 Olympics. Villanueva, 18, was 8-0-1 going into this one bur gets his first inside the distance loss. Pacheco vs. Aguilar A long way down the card and only a four round fight so why bother? Well Pacheco, who won 40-36 on the three cards, may be one for the future. Still just 17 the 6’4” Pacheco was a Silver Gloves National champion, USA Boxing Junior Open champion and has signed up with Matchroom. Alvarez, Argentina: Welter: Gustavo Vittori (22-4-1) W PTS 10 Walter Castillo (13-3). Vittori collects the vacant WBC Latino Silver title with decision over Castillo. This was a fast-paced fight with “Little Dog” Vittorio the clear winner. These two went at it from the first bell, with no time spent studying their opponent. It became apparent quickly that southpaw Vittorio had the harder punch and better defence. Castillo had the edge in reach but that was never a factor and although he never backed away from the exchanges he lacked the power to hurt Vittorio-with his fists anyway. Castillo was warned about his bulling forward head first. He was deducted a point and it was Castillo himself who was cut in the clashes and ended a loser. Scores 100-89 for Vittorio from the judges. Vittorio was beaten inside the distance by Alex Saucedo and Mikkel LesPierre in the USA but since returning home has now scored two wins. Castillo also lost in an away fight lasting less than a round against Josh Kelly in Manchester in November. Cornwall, Canada: Light: Tony Luis (27-3) W TKO 8 Juan Jose Martinez (26-8). Fighting in his home town Luis gets a stoppage win over a sliding Martinez. Luis outboxed and outscored Martinez until the referee had seen enough and stopped the uneven contest in the eighth of a ten round fight. The 31-year-old “Lightning” registered win No 8 since coming in as a late substitute and losing on points against Derry Mathews for the interim WBA title in 2015. Despite the run of wins Luis is unrated so may have to step up the quality of his opposition. Mexican Martinez was 19-1 when he started out but has won only one of his last seven fights but with Felix Verdejo, Alberto Machado and Andres Gutierrez in the list of his opponents he has had a tough ride. Accra, Ghana: Light: Emmanuel Tagoe (30-1) W PTS 12 Vyacheslav Gusev (25-6). Super Middle: Bastie Samir (16-0-1) W Raoul Lokossou (0-2). Tagoe vs. Gusev Having relinquished his IBO title Tagoe starts his search for another title with a win over Gusev. The little Russian made a busy start throwing plenty of jabs but he was mostly short with his punches against the longer reach of Tagoe. The local fighter was sharp with his jab and it was the controlling punch in the fight. Gusev continually took the fight to Tagoe but if he did get past the jab then excellent if flashy defensive work from Tagoe blunted the Russian's attacks and Gusev lacked the power to hurt Tagoe. A quick right in the third knocked Gusev off balance and his gloves touched the canvas and he was given a count. Tagoe connected with some hard rights and left hooks trying to end the fight but Gusev was fighting back by the bell. Tagoe had too much speed, skill and reach for Gusev and for much of the fight was content to put on a show rather than press his attacks. Gusev never stopped trying to come forward but was outclassed. Scores 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109 all for Tagoe. The 30-yerar-old former undefeated IBO champion wins the vacant IBF International title and will now campaign in the USA under Lou Dibella’s banner. Tagoe has wins over former champions Mzonke Fana and Paulus Moses. He lost his first pro fight so has now won 30 in a row. Gusev did his best and keeps his record of never losing by KO/TKO. Samir vs. Lokossou This was a disgrace to boxing. Samir is a good quality boxer with a punch and he was matched against a man who’s only recorded fight was an inside the distance loss in 2004! Lokossou had only the most basic of techniques and every time he threw a punch he threw his whole body into it and when he missed he had thrown himself so far around he was facing the crowd. He tried to bundle Samir to the ropes but had no idea of what to do when he got there. Samir was throwing punches to the body and Lokossou took them. In the second round Lokossou was sent sprawling onto the canvas by a punch. After the count Samir threw a series of punches with a brutal left hook that crashed onto Lokossou’s chin and sent him flying down with his head crashing on the canvas. The referee immediately waived the fight off and a motionless Lokossou was on the floor for almost five minutes. Samir, who turned pro in the USA gets his sixteenth win by KO/TKO. This is his first fight since stopping unbeaten Briamah Kamoko in October 2017. Managua, Nicaragua: Minimumweight: Byron Rojas (26-4-3,1ND) W PTS 8 Byron Castellon (13-13-3,1ND). This was supposed to be a routine eight round win over a very modest fellow Nicaraguan. Castellon had already lost twice to Rojas but the last was a majority decision in 2017 so never accepted the loser’s role. He constantly took the fight to Rojas forcing Rojas out of his comfort zone and making him fight harder than he expected. Rojas won the rounds but he had to fight hard to do so. Castellon and his supporters thought he had done enough to win but the judges were split and two of the three gave it to Rojas 79-73, which seemed unkind to the efforts of Castellon, and the third saw Castellon winning 77-75. This was the first fight for the former WBA minimumweight champion since losing a close decision to Knockout CP Freshmart (Thammanoon Niyomtrong) in November. Castellon had won his last two fights. Fight of the week (Significance): Chris Eubank’s win over James DeGale raises the prospect of some interesting fights at super middle Fight of the week (Entertainment) Anthony Dirrell vs. Avni Yildirim was a tough, brutal match Fighter of the week: Chris Eubank Jr Punch of the week: The right from Antonio Vargas that ended his fight with Lucas Baez was a peach. Upset of the week: Humberto Soto was expected to be too old and too small to beat Brandon Rios but he proved everyone wrong Prospect watch: Russian Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov 14-o showed class in beating former WBA interim champion Emanuel Lopez
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By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout) In the last part of this mini-series we take a look at 5 more notable amateurs from the Asian continent who have achieved success for their respective nations. Erdenbaat Tsendbaatar, Mongolia, bantamweight (56kg). For a country with a population of around just 3 million, Mongolia regularly more than holds its own at major tournaments and produces excellent fighters who fight with pride, skill and determination. The country’s young boxing star is undoubtedly Tsendbaatar who enjoyed a golden 2018, triumphing at the Asian Games in Indonesia. Now campaigning at lightweight, Tsendbaatar reached the last 8 of the Rio Olympics, going out to eventual silver medallist Shakur Stevenson down at bantamweight. The 21-year-old has ruled the roost at home, claiming 4 national titles and also a Bronze at the 2014 Asian Youth Championships. Tsendbaatar will be one of the favourites for the upcoming Asian Championships in Thailand and if boxing does take place at the Tokyo Olympics then he’s more than in the frame for a medal. You can view Tsendbaatar’s winning effort at the 2018 Asian Games below. Chinzorig Battarsukh, Mongolia, light welterweight (64kg). Battarsukh possesses copious amounts of experience but has been a bit of a nearly man and has lost a number of very close decisions. The 27-year-old is a 5-time national champion and after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2014 Asian Games, he managed to reach the podium 4 years later taking Silver. Battarsukh grabbed silver at the 2017 Asian Championships in Tashkent but was highly unlucky to lose to home man Ikboljon Kholdarov in the final and later on that year he narrowly missed out on a world championship medal, losing in the last 8. Battarsukh is a tough out for anyone in his division apart from probably the formidable Cuban Andy Cruz and with a little bit of luck an Olympic medal isn’t out of the question. Battarsukh’s contest in the 2018 Asian Games final can be seen below Carlo Paalam, Philippines, light flyweight (49kg). Despite the limited resources at their disposal the Philippines isn’t lacking in talented pugilists with Paalam being one of a number of gifted Pinoys in the amateur ranks. A successful stint at youth level saw him take Bronze at both the Asian and world Championships in 2016. He was on the wrong end of an awful hometown decision in the quarter-finals at the 2017 South East Asian Games in Malaysia but bounced back to take Bronze at the 2018 Asian Games, losing to gold medallist Amit in the semi-final. Paalam is still young therefore, there is plenty of room for growth and he is defitely capable of achieving success at future events. Some footage of Paalam sparring can be viewed below. Christian Pitt Laurente, Philippines (56kg). Laurente is yet to make his senior debut at a major tournament but the future looks bright for him judging by his performances at youth level. His first success came at the South East Asian Youth Games in 2017 as he took lightweight Bronze, being defeated by top operator Atichai Phoemsap. A move down to bantamweight saw him win silver followed by Bronze and the Asian and world Youth Championships respectively with elite Uzbek Abdumalik Khalokov victorious over him on both occasions. Laurente is clearly one for the future and you can watch him in action versus Khalokov Kim Ink-Yu, South Korea, flyweight (52kg). Korean boxing both sides of the border has been in the doldrums for well over a decade but there have been small signs of recovery especially in the amateur ranks in recent times. The most consistent performer has been South Korea’s Kim Ink-yu who came away from the 2017 world Championships with Bronze after winning silver at the Asian equivalent earlier on in the year. The world Bronze bettered his quarter-final appearance in the previous edition and he is capable of being in the mix for medals in future major competitions. Below is a bout involving Kim up against Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Latipov. By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Rob Brant retains secondary WBA middleweight title with late stoppage of Khasan Baysangurov -South African DeeJay Kriel halts Carlos Licona in the last round to win the IBF light flyweight title -Ryosuke Iwasa wins technical decision over Cesar Juarez in IBF bantamweight final eliminator -Yves Ngabu and Francesco Patera retain their European cruiserweight and lightweight titles in action on separate shows in Belgium -German prospect Abass Baraou wins the WBC International super welter title with victory over former IBF champion Carlos Molina -Former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa outpoints John Molina in a war -Thomas Patrick Ward wins in his first fight in the USA WORLD TITLE SHOWS February 15 Hinckley, MN, USA: Middle: Rob Brant (25-1) W TKO 11 Khasan Baysangurov (17-1). Bantam: Joshua Greer (20-1-1) W KO 8 Giovanni Escaner (19-4). Super Middle: Lennox Allen (22-0-1) W PTS 10 Derrick Webster (28-2). Light Heavy: Steven Nelson (13-0) W PTS 6 Felipe Romero (20-17-1). Light: Ismail Muwendo (21-1) W PTS 6 Hevinson Herrera (24-16-1). Middle: Tyler Howard (17-0) W PTS 8 Cristian Olivas (16-4). Brant vs. Baysangurov Fighting in front of his home fans for the first time as champion Brant scores late stoppage of Baysangurov in defence of his secondary WBVA title. Round 1 Brant went to work immediately flying out of his corner throwing left jabs and straight rights to the head. He continued to advance now adding body punches. Brant was scoring repeatedly with lead rights and only late in the round did Baysangurov try to find the distance with his jab-and failed. Score: 10-9 Brant Round 2 Baysangurov tried to get on the front foot but Brant’s stiff jab and straight rights were getting through and a short right to the side of the head saw Baysangurov dip and go down briefly on one knee. He did not seem badly hurt but there was blood dripping from his nose. After the count he came forward throwing punches but his defence was poor and Brant was able to score with counters. Score: 10-8 Brant Brant 20-17 Round 3 Brant was coming forward throughout the third but was only throwing one punch at a time. Brant couldn’t miss Baysangurov with his right as the lead punch or as part of a combination. Baysangurov scored with a crisp left hook but he was looking one-paced and limited. Brant was boxing cleverly on the back foot and continually finding gaps for his jab and right cross. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 30-26 Round 4 Baysangurov continued to march forward but he was not quick enough to cut the ring off so Brant was able to keep moving and keep slotting punches through the Russian’s guard. Baysangurov showed no upper body or head movement making life easy for Brant whose confidence was growing with each round. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 40-35 Official Scores: Judge Mike Fitzgerald 40-35 Brant, Judge Pasquale Procopio 40-35 Brant, Judge Octavio Rodriguez 40-35 Brant Round 5 A much closer round as Baysangurov threw more punches and landed some stiff shots to head and body. He was also using some upper body movement but not enough. Brant was taking pot shots on the back foot and landing overhand rights and at the end of the round connected with a six-punch combination. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 50-44 Round 6 Another easy round for Brant. He was skating around the perimeter of the ring with Baysangurov plodding after him but never quick enough to catch him. Brant was banging home jabs and seemed to rock Baysangurov with a left hook Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 60-53 Round 7 The best action round so far. Baysangurov was chasing hard and letting his hands go more. Brant trapped Baysangurov on the ropes and unloaded a shower of punch but Baysangurov fought his way forward and landed some hefty hooks. The speed and accuracy of Brant’s punches gave him the edge. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 70-62 Round 8 This was mainly a jab and move round for Brant. He was buzzing around Baysangurov scoring with his jab and occasionally stepping forward firing quick combinations. Baysangurov scored with some heavy shots late in the round but it was yet again Brant’s round. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 80-71 Official Scores: Fitzgerald 80-71 Brant, Procopio 80-71 Brant, Rodriguez 80-71 Brant Round 9 Finally a good round for Baysangurov. He applied a lot more pressure threw more punches and did a better job of blocking or ducking Brant’s punches. Brant was not as busy and Baysangurov just did enough to take the round. Score: 10-9 Baysangurov Brant 89-81 Round 10 Brant outboxed Baysangurov in this one. He was moving more and found the range again with his jab. Baysangurov was too slow to trap Brant and when they did trade punches both landed, Baysangurov with a heavy right cross, but Baysangurov was the one breaking off the exchanges. Score: 10-9 Brant Brant 99-90 Round 11 Baysangurov made a bright start to the round ploughing forward scoring with some shots to the body. He fired home a strong combination but Brant connected with some quick punches. A long chopping right to the head from Brant staggered Baysangurov and Brant chased him across the ring scoring with lefts and rights to the head. Baysangurov dropped forward with both gloves touching the canvas but did not go down. He was given an eight count and when the action resumed a couple of rights to the head sent Baysangurov staggering back and the referee stopped the fight. Brant looks a different fighter to the one who failed so miserably against Juergen Brahmer in the WSSB super middleweight tournament in 2017. He was quick, skilful and finished the fight in style. There are much tougher fights out there for him but it is difficult to see how he can break into the division’s big boy’s league containing Saul Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Jermall Charlo, David Lemieux, Demetrius Andrade etc. Ukrainian Baysangurov was No 8 with the WBA but he was yet another fighter gifted a rating for winning one of the WBA regional titles and not for the quality of his opposition. When you rate fighters because their promoter paid a sanctioning fee and not because they have earned a rating you get one-sided title fights like this. Baysangurov is just 21 so there is time for him to earn a rating if he improves-or he could always fight for another WBA regional title! Greer vs. Escaner A quality performance from Greer as he finishes Escaner with a corrosive body punch after eight highly entertaining rounds of quality fighting. A fiery opening round saw Filipino Escaner pressing hard doing a good job of cutting off the ring and scoring with short bursts of hooks inside. Greer was quick and clever and was connecting with flurries of hooks and uppercuts. War was declared in the second as they traded clusters of punches. Escaner seemed to get the better of the exchanges landing some hard rights but there was quality aggressive work from both in hot action. Escaner was relentless in the third with Greer slick and countering well. Escaner lunged forward chasing Greer along the ropes. He landed a couple of rights and trying to get under them Greer squatted on the bottom rope and a glove touched the canvas. The referee decided that the rope was holding Greer up and gave Greer a count over Greer’s protests and the bell went. Greer scored big in the fourth piling on the right hands and staggering Escaner. Again there was some heavy trading with Greer coming out best. Greer’s speed and accuracy gave him the fifth and sixth with Escaner’s work rate dropping. The Filipino was fighting in burst and having to soak up some wicked left hooks to the body and overhand rights. Escaner came out punching in the seventh and for the last two minutes of the round they stood toe-to-toe and exchanged punches but now it was Greer forcing Escaner back and scoring the quality shots. They were toe-to-toe again in the eight when a right to the body saw Escaner stand still for a second and the spin around drop to his knees. The referee started to count but Escaner was not going to be getting up so he stopped the fight. The 24-year-old from Chicago retains the WBC Continental Americas title. He has finished nine of his last ten fights inside the distance and registers his seventeenth victory in a row. He is rated IBF 7(5). Greer is one of the many young men saved by boxing. His father was murdered when Greer was still a baby and he grew up on the streets into drugs and robbery and was almost killed in a drive-by shooting. After yet more trouble with the police his grandmother took him to a gym and that changed his life. Philippines champion Escaner suffers his second loss but played his part in a great little scrap. Allen vs. Webster One of these days Allen will get serious about his career. With the 6’4” Webster having some serious advantages in height and reach Allen had to force the fight and get past the job. He did that consistently and he hustled with success flooring Webster in the third and winning by a large margin on the judge’s scorecards at 98-91 twice and 97-92. The 33-year-old US-based Guyanan has been a pro for 14 years but inactivity in 2016 and 2017 and only one fight last year is no way to conduct a career. Webster, 36, had won his last nine fights with a couple of reasonable level victims but he was never really in the fight here and time is passing him by. Nelson vs. Romero Nelson found Mexican Romero tougher than expected but won clearly. Nelson made a slow start with a right to the side of the head knocking him off balance and as both gloves touched the canvas he was given a count. Nelson evened the score by putting Romero down with a couple of body punches in the third. He landed some booming head punches in the fifth and sixth but Romero took them and did not fold making Nelson fight all the way. Scores 59-54 twice and 58-54 for Nelson. The 30-year-old local boxer, a friend and stable mate of Terrence Crawford, is making good progress. Before turning pro he was US Army and Armed Forces champion, won the US National title and registered a win over Rob Brant. He travelled to London in 2012 as a first reserve for the US Team but did not get to fight. Romero has lost eight of his last nine fights Muwendo vs. Herrera Ugandan-born Muwendo puts a second brick in the wall of his rehabilitation with unanimous decision over US-based Colombian Herrera. Muwendo bossed the fight but with Herrera having scored 18 wins by KO/TKO including seven first round finishes he had to take care. Herrera was occasionally dangerous without ever winning a round. All three judges had Muwendo in front 60-54. Second win for Muwendo since losing to 19-1Filipino John Moralde in May. Muwendo had just one fight in Uganda before relocating to Minneapolis in 2009. Herrera is 2-4 in his last six fights including a one round loss against Dejan Zlaticanin in 2017. Howard vs. Olivas Howard holds on to his unbeaten record but only just as Olivas staged a strong finish. Howard had scored seven first round win but that never looked on the cards here as Olivas had never lost inside the distance. Howard looked on his way to a win early as he was getting past the jab of the 6’2” Olivas and working well inside. He was paying a price for his success as over the later rounds he was handicapped by cuts as Olivas came on strong to make the fight a very close call. The scores were 79-73 and 77-75 for Howard and 77-75 for Olivas giving Howard the split decision. Reality check for Howard against his toughest opponent so far. Mexican Olivas suffers his second loss in a row have been outpointed by Bilal Akkawy in September. February 16 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Feather: Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1) W PTS 12 Rafael Rivera (26-3-2,1ND). Light Fly: DeeJay Kriel (15-1-1) W TKO 12 Carlos Licona (14-1). Bantam: Ryosuke Iwasa (26-3) W TEC DEC 9 Cesar Juarez (23-7). Welter: Omar Figueroa (28-0-1) W PTS 10 John Molina (30-8). Feather: Marlon Tapales (32-2) W RTD 5 Fernando Vargas (34-14-3). Middle: Hugo Centeno (27-2,1ND) W TEC DEC 4 Oscar Cortes (27-4). Santa Cruz vs. Rivera Three division champion Santa Cruz outclasses Rivera in a one-sided contests and retains the WBA title in his third defence. Round 1 A close opening round. Santa Cruz had the longer reach and was stabbing his jab out. Rivera was on the back foot and was quick to counter if Santa Cruz came up short. There was not a lot between them but just before the bell Rivera connected with some strong hooks and took the round. Score: 10-9 Rivera Round 2 Santa Cruz was landed some heavy left hooks to the body and was quicker and more accurate inside. Santa Cruz was scoring with right uppercuts and when Rivera tried to fight in close he was having to soak some crisp shots with Santa Cruz blocking Rivera’s efforts. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz ` Tied 19-19 Round 3 Santa Cruz dominated this one but Rivera fought hard firing bunches of hooks. Santa Cruz was able to slot home his jab at distance and was doubling up on his left hooks. At the bell they were standing in front of each other just pitching hooks and uppercuts. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 29-28 Round 4 For the first half of this round Santa Cruz boxed at distance sliding jabs through Rivera’s defence and planting left hooks to the body. Rivera tried rushing attacks to get inside and landed some useful hooks but Santa Cruz was snappier and more accurate. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 39-37 Round 5 Santa Cruz boxed his way through this one. He was able to reach Rivera time and again with the jab and quick hooks. Rivera was fighting in burst waiting to draw Santa Cruz’s lead and then jump in firing hooks but he was becoming predictable and wild with his attacks. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 49-46 Round 6 Easily Santa Cruz’s round. Rivera hardly launched an attack or threw a punch. Santa Cruz was able to pick and place his punches jabs, straight rights, left hooks with Rivera throwing very little in return. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 59-55 Round 7 It was difficult to, understand Rivera’s tactics. In the early rounds if Santa Cruz was short with a jab Rivera would lunge forward throwing hooks now he was letting those chances go begging. Santa Cruz was comfortably coming forward behind his jab and bouncing punches off Rivera who was hardly ever throwing a counter. Easy for Santa Cruz. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 69-64 Round 8 A walk in the park for Santa Cruz. After trying to out jab Santa Cruz when that didn’t work Rivera went onto the back foot allowing Santa Cruz to land punches on him with his longer reach and connect with rights to the head. Rivera threw a few hooks but other than that it was Santa Cruz doing the work and the scoring. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 79-73 Round 9 Rivera was a bit more competitive in this round. He was once again throwing lots of hooks and uppercuts. Most were being blocked but at least he was throwing them. Santa Cruz worked steadily throughout the round scoring with more and better punches. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 89-82 Round 10 Rivera showed a bit more life in the tenth round. He threw bunches of hooks and uppercuts but most of them were wild or were blocked. Santa Cruz had not yet had to move out of second gear and worked steadily with his jab, right cross and left hooks to the body. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 99-91 Round 11 There was no heat left in this fight. Santa Crux just kept doing what he had been doing. Jab, jab, straight right, left hook and then start all over again. Rivera launched a wild attack late in the round-as he had been trying to do in most rounds, but he was embarrassingly ineffective and as he slaps with his right no real danger and an easy target for Santa Cruz’s counters. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 109-100 Round 12 Rivera tried some rushing attacks but Santa Cruz was able to block or dodge his punches and connect with accurate jabs and hooks. Over the last twenty seconds they both put their heads down and just threw punches in a frantic finish which did not erase the memory of eleven one-sided and pedestrian rounds. Score: 10-9 Santa Cruz Santa Cruz 119-109 Official Scores: 119-109, for Santa Cruz from all three judges. Too easy for Santa Cruz for whom it was just another uneventful day at work. He never seemed fired up and despite his dominance he never had Rivera hurt or shaken. He had to adjust to a late change of opponent and was not as sharp as usual. There are tougher fights awaiting him with Santa Cruz interestingly floating the idea of a third fight with Carl Frampton. In fairness to Mexican Rivera he was a late replacement for the injured Abner Mares and was parachuted into the ratings to give a cloak of legality to this challenge. His best win was a split decision over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in 2015 and he lost a wide decision to Joseph Diaz in 2017 and a split decision to unbeaten Joet Gonzalez in July last year. Kriel vs. Licona I though this fight was coming too early in Kriel’s career but balancing that was the fact that although the champion Licona was also a relative newcomer to the title scene. In the end the South African came from behind-eight points on two cards- to score a dramatic late stoppage and lift Licona’s IBF title. Round 1 Good early work from Kriel as he had his jab on target and was followed through with straight rights. He was also moving well changing angles and although Licona connected with a couple of rights it was Kriel’s round Score: 10-9 Kriel Round 2 A better round for Licona. He had his own jab working, was slipping Kriel’s rights and countering. Kriel was keeping busy but it was Licona’s round. Score: 10-9 Licona Tied 19-19 Round 3 Kriel outworked Licona in the third. He was still firing jabs but was mixing in left hooks to the body and straight rights. Licona connected with a couple of overhand rights and a left hook just before the bell but was not doing enough and Kriel’s movement was making Licona look slow. Score: 10-9 Kriel Kriel 29-28 Round 4 Licona had a better round but it was still Kriel’s. The South African’s footwork and hand speed were giving him the edge. He was changing angles and picking his punches intelligently. Licona scored with heavy rights but not enough of them. Score: 10-9 Kriel Kriel 39-37 Official Scores: Judge Rudy Barragan 38-38, Judge Pat Russell 39-37 Licona, Judge Daniel Sandoval 39-37 Licona Round 5 Licona’s round. He put Kriel under more pressure and was throwing more punches. He was landing left hooks to the body and clubbing rights. Kriel was throwing plenty but now Licona was ducking under Kriel’s punches and coming back with shots of his own Score: 10-9 Licona Kriel 48-47 Round 6 Another round for Licona. He was getting forward and letting his hands go. He was landing heavy rights to the head and working the body. Kriel was still busy busy and finding gaps but the eye-catching punches were coming from Licona. Score: 10-9 Licona Tied 57-57 Round 7 Kriel upped his pace and threw plenty of punchers. Licona was using clever upper body movement to slip Kriel’s pinches and was countering better scoring with thumping body punches and rights to the head and just took the round. Score: 10-9 Licona Licona 67-66 Round 8 This was proving to be a fast-paced open fight with plenty of both attacking and defensive skill on show. Initially Kriel tried to stand and exchange with Licona but eventually went back to boxing outside. Both threw plenty but Licona’s punches were heavier. Score: 10-9 Licona Licona 77-75 Official Scores: Barragan 77-75 Licona, Russell 79-73 Licona, Sandoval 79-73 Licona. Round 9 Not a good round for Kriel. His accuracy had been key earlier but now by the simple manoeuvre of ducking Licona seemed to have negated that edge. Whilst Kriel was swishing air above Licona’s head Licona was moving in and landing left hooks and straight rights to the head and looked to be taking the fight over. Score: 10-9 Licona Licona 87-84 Round 10 Kriel needed to change things and he did. He was now getting in close and going to the body with hooks and uppercuts. Licona was still landing the heavier shots but Kriel was making him miss more and was sharper and more accurate. Score: 10-9 Kriel Licona 96-94 Round 11 A quality round as these two swapped punches with hardly a punch wasted they were both quick and accurate with very little between them but I felt that Licona’s overhand rights gave him the edge. Score; 10-9 Licona Licona 106-103 Round 12 Licona was coming forward just letting fly. Kriel was punching with him but in a more controlled manner and Licona was walking onto rights to the head. Kriel kept landing and Licona started to falter under the hail of punches. Licona came inside and tried to hold on but when the referee parted them two rights to the head dropped Licona to his hands and knees. Licona was up at eight and grabbed Kriel who wrestled him off. Licona went down but it was not a knockdown and he climbed up. Kriel landed two thudding rights to the head and Licona went down again. He made it to his feet but was unsteady and when the action restarted two more punches from Kriel saw Licona drop to his knees and the referee waived the fight over. A tearful Kriel celebrated his victory. Licona was given extensive medical attention before being taken from the ring on a stretcher. No information on his condition as I write Iwasa vs. Juarez Iwasa wins IBF eliminator after a brutal battle. Southpaw Iwasa was on the target in the first scoring with straight lefts. Juarez was mostly on the back foot looking to draw Iwasa’s jab and then fight inside. Juarez launched a storming attack at the end of the first but was just swinging wildly and their heads clashed with both fighters cut. Iwasa was picking Juarez off from distance in the second with Juarez flying forward just pumping out punches and leaving himself wide open to counters. The sheer volume of punches from Juarez threatened to overwhelm Iwasa in the third but Iwasa was able to find some space in the fourth and fifth and score with counters with Juarez continuing to swing long bursts of wild punches. Juarez’s cut was examined by the doctor and the referee also checked on it. Iwasa was picking Juarez off with accurate shots at distance at the start the sixth but before the bell in he was trapped on the ropes with Juarez swinging punches’. With his wide open approach Juarez was soaking up a lot of punishment but kept coming. Iwasa drove Juarez back in the seventh landing punch after punch. It looked as though Juarez was finished as Iwasa bounced his head around with punches. After the bell the referee walked Juarez over to the doctor for another examination of the cut. Iwasa handed out a savage beating to Juarez in the eighth and ninth but a tiring Juarez refused to fold but kept coming forward wide open but pumping out punchers. Iwasa was forcing an exhausted Juarez back in the tenth. Juarez had nothing left but heart and he had a big one and just before the bell they just pounded away on each other. At the end of the round the doctor ruled that Juarez’s cut was too severe for him to continue so the fight was stopped and it went to the score cards which read 98-92 and 97-93 for Iwasa and 95-95 with Iwasa the winner on a majority decision. Savage doesn’t even begin to describe this fight. Former IBF super bantam champion Iwasa will now move into the mandatory challenger position to champion T J Doheny. Juarez had been stopped by Isaac Dogboe in a fight for the interim WBO title in January last year and now he should take a very long rest. Figueroa vs. Molina Figueroa decisions veteran Molina a gruelling but entertaining battle of attrition. Figueroa came out boxing as a southpaw in the first and Molina took some time to adjust. Figueroa did most of the scoring early in the round but after Figueroa switched to orthodox Molina did better and was dangerous with rights. In the second round it was Figueroa who was connecting with rights and he took the round. Figueroa was back to southpaw in the third and continued to switch throughout the fight. He was forcing Molina onto the back foot and ducking around Molina’s jab to work inside. They both landed with hooks inside and Molina trapped Figueroa on the ropes and bombarded him with punches to the bell. The fourth and fifth saw them brawling in closer. Figueroa connected with some heavy rights in the fourth as he kept Molina on the back foot but Molina was the one scoring with rights in the fifth. Molina came out ahead in the exchanges in the sixth but the rounds were close. It really was brutal no quarter stuff. In the seventh. The taller Molina did well when he could find space to use his jab but Figueroa was outscoring him inside. The eighth was a gruelling trial of strength and Figueroa was the one landing most and looking the stronger. Molina was moving around Figueroa using his jab at the start of the ninth and he stuck to that with Figueroa struggling to get inside. Molina was again trying to work at distance with his jab in the last and did well early with Figueroa closing the distance late in the round. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 all for Figueroa. He landed more punches but the fight looked a lot closer than those scores. Texan Figueroa, 29, a former undefeated WBC light champion, looked very heavy in this fight. He was inactive in 2016 and had just one fight in 2017 and this was his first fight in nineteen months as a result he has a relatively low profile for a guy who had beaten Ricky Burns, Antonio DeMarco and Robert Guerrero in his last three fights but that will change with more activity. Molina, 36, has been in quite a few wars. This was his first fight since beating Ivan Redkach in December 2017 and I wonder how many more times he can go to the well. Tapales vs. Vargas Filipino Tapales signals his return to the big fight scene with stoppage of Vargas. The former WBO bantam champion outboxed and then finished Vargas in five rounds. Tapales used his southpaw jab and some wicked lefts to the body to soften Vargas up and then late on in the fifth he floored Vargas with a right hook. Vargas made it to his feet but was unsteady on his legs and his corner pulled him out at the end of the round. Tapales won the WBO title in a dramatic battle against champion Pungluang in 2016 climbing off the floor twice in the fifth and going on to kayo Pungluang in the eleventh. He was to defend his title in 2017 against previous victim Shohei Omori. He stopped Shohei in the eleventh round but lost the title for not making the weight. He was then inactive for seventeen months before returning last September with a first round win. Still only 26 he is aiming for a title shot at featherweight now. Vargas was stopped in nine rounds by Jamie McDonnell in a challenge for the secondary WBA title in 2016 and last year was beaten inside a round by Ryan Garcia Centeno vs. Cortes Centeno gets technical decision over Cortes. Centeno already looked on his way to a points victory before the fight was stopped due to a cut suffered by Cortes. After winning the first three rounds Centeno floored Cortes in the fourth. Cortes beat the count but was cut over his right eye in a clash of heads. The cut was too severe for Cortes to continue so as the fourth round had started it was decided on the score cards with the fourth round being scored on the activity up to the stoppage. Centeno won by 40-35 on all three cards. It has been a bit of a switchback ride for Centeno over the past couple of years. He lost to unbeaten Pole Maciej Sulecki in 20167, beat Immanuwel Aleem in 2017 then lost in three rounds to Jermall Charlo for the interim WBC title in April last year and this is his first fight since then. Mexican Cortes losses whenever he meets genuine opposition. February 15 Mulvane, KS, USA: Super Bantam: Thomas Patrick Ward (26-0) W PTS 10 Jesse Hernandez (12-2,1ND). Super Light: Shohjahon Ergashev (16-0) W PTS 10 Mykal Fox (19-1). Heavy: Apti Davtaev (16-0-1) W TKO 1 Richard Carmack (15-15-1). Super Light: Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-0-1,1ND) DREW 8 Jose Rodriguez (25-12-1). Fly: Nico Hernandez (6-0) W Victor Trejo (16-9-1). Ward vs. Hernandez Ward puts on impressive show in his first fight in the USA as he floors and outpoints southpaw Hernandez. Initially Ward was content to showcase his slick skills and outbox Hernandez. Ward’s movement was making it hard for Hernandez to get into the fight. In the fourth a sharp left hook floored Hernandez and he was still shaky when he made it to his feet but was saved by the bell. Ward upped his pace over the second half of the fight and although Hernandez did his best to be competitive the referee twice warned Hernandez that he was concerned over the amount of punishment he was taking but let the fight run its course. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 98-90 all for Ward. The 24-year-old former undefeated British champion wins the vacant NABA-USA title and is No 4 with the WBO. For Hernandez Ward was too big a step up. Ergashev vs. Fox Big puncher Ergashev has to go the distance for a win against unbeaten Fox. It took a few rounds for Ergashev to figure out how to Handle Fox who is 6’3 ½” and a fellow southpaw. Ergashev kept rolling forward looking to get inside and attack the body. Fox was scoring well at distance and looking to tie Ergashev up inside. After a fast start the fight cooled down with Ergashev building a good lead. Fox boxed well doing a fine job of handling the aggression of Ergashev but neither fighter was busy enough to make the fight entertaining. Many rounds were close but Ergashev did the cleaner work and looked a good winner. Scores 98-92 twice and 96-94 for Ergashev. The 27-year-old Uzbek had scored 14 wins in his previous 15 fights and had knocked out Argentinian Nazareno Ruiz in 18 seconds in December but Fox was his sternest test so far. Ergashev is rated WBA 6/IBF 11(9) which is too high as he has yet to meet a rated fighter. Big setback for Fox and his lack of power will restrict how far he can go. Davtaev vs. Carmack Davtaev disposes of Carmack inside a round. The 6’5” Russian put Carmack down and out with a heavy right late in the opening round. The Chechnyan fighter makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO. He trains at the Kronk Gym. Carmack, 6’2”, is now 0-8-1 in his last nine fights with all 8 losses inside three rounds. Eyubov vs. Rodriguez Eyubov’s 100% record goes as he fights a draw with more experienced Rodriguez. It was a case of the higher work rate from Eyubov who took the fight to Rodriguez against the smart movement and more accurate work from Rodriguez. There was never much in it as both fighters had good spells and the rounds were hard to call so the majority draw looked about right. Score 76-76 twice and 77-75 for Rodriguez. Eyubov had scored useful wins over Jared Robinson and Karim Mayfield but he also has seven first round wins so some of his opposition has been poor. Mexican Rodriguez had gone the distance with Jose Pedraza and Sharif Bogere. Hernandez vs. Garcia Local hero Hernandez gets eight rounds of useful work against little Trejo. Although only 5’4” tall Hernandez almost towered over diminutive southpaw Trejo. He was scoring with his rights at distance and landing solid hooks inside. Trejo stuck to his job always firing back but having to absorb lots of punishment. Hernandez tried to end this over the middle rounds but Trejo never looked like folding and stayed there fighting to the end. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Hernandez. The 23-year-old from Wichita was US Youth and National Golden Gloves champion and took a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. Fourth loss in his last five fights for Trejo. Mulvane, KS, USA: Super Bantam: Thomas Patrick Ward (26-0) W PTS 10 Jesse Hernandez (12-2,1ND). Super Light: Shohjahon Ergashev (16-0) W PTS 10 Mykal Fox (19-1). Heavy: Apti Davtaev (16-0-1) W TKO 1 Richard Carmack (15-15-1). Super Light: Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-0-1,1ND) DREW 8 Jose Rodriguez (25-12-1). Fly: Nico Hernandez (6-0) W Victor Trejo (16-9-1). Ward vs. Hernandez Ward puts on impressive show in his first fight in the USA as he floors and outpoints southpaw Hernandez. Initially Ward was content to showcase his slick skills and outbox Hernandez. Ward’s movement was making it hard for Hernandez to get into the fight. In the fourth a sharp left hook floored Hernandez and he was still shaky when he made it to his feet but was saved by the bell. Ward upped his pace over the second half of the fight and although Hernandez did his best to be competitive the referee twice warned Hernandez that he was concerned over the amount of punishment he was taking but let the fight run its course. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 98-90 all for Ward. The 24-year-old former undefeated British champion wins the vacant NABA-USA title and is No 4 with the WBO. For Hernandez Ward was too big a step up. Ergashev vs. Fox Big puncher Ergashev has to go the distance for a win against unbeaten Fox. It took a few rounds for Ergashev to figure out how to Handle Fox who is 6’3 ½” and a fellow southpaw. Ergashev kept rolling forward looking to get inside and attack the body. Fox was scoring well at distance and looking to tie Ergashev up inside. After a fast start the fight cooled down with Ergashev building a good lead. Fox boxed well doing a fine job of handling the aggression of Ergashev but neither fighter was busy enough to make the fight entertaining. Many rounds were close but Ergashev did the cleaner work and looked a good winner. Scores 98-92 twice and 96-94 for Ergashev. The 27-year-old Uzbek had scored 14 wins in his previous 15 fights and had knocked out Argentinian Nazareno Ruiz in 18 seconds in December but Fox was his sternest test so far. Ergashev is rated WBA 6/IBF 11(9) which is too high as he has yet to meet a rated fighter. Big setback for Fox and his lack of power will restrict how far he can go. Davtaev vs. Carmack Davtaev disposes of Carmack inside a round. The 6’5” Russian put Carmack down and out with a heavy right late in the opening round. The Chechnyan fighter makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO. He trains at the Kronk Gym. Carmack, 6’2”, is now 0-8-1 in his last nine fights with all 8 losses inside three rounds. Eyubov vs. Rodriguez Eyubov’s 100% record goes as he fights a draw with more experienced Rodriguez. It was a case of the higher work rate from Eyubov who took the fight to Rodriguez against the smart movement and more accurate work from Rodriguez. There was never much in it as both fighters had good spells and the rounds were hard to call so the majority draw looked about right. Score 76-76 twice and 77-75 for Rodriguez. Eyubov had scored useful wins over Jared Robinson and Karim Mayfield but he also has seven first round wins so some of his opposition has been poor. Mexican Rodriguez had gone the distance with Jose Pedraza and Sharif Bogere. Hernandez vs. Garcia Local hero Hernandez gets eight rounds of useful work against little Trejo. Although only 5’4” tall Hernandez almost towered over diminutive southpaw Trejo. He was scoring with his rights at distance and landing solid hooks inside. Trejo stuck to his job always firing back but having to absorb lots of punishment. Hernandez tried to end this over the middle rounds but Trejo never looked like folding and stayed there fighting to the end. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Hernandez. The 23-year-old from Wichita was US Youth and National Golden Gloves champion and took a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics. Fourth loss in his last five fights for Trejo. Ghent, Belgium: Welter: Meriton Karaxha (23-5-2) W PTS 10 Jean Pierre Habimana (9-16-3). Routine win for Karaxha. He had height and reach over Rwandan Habimana and was on the front foot for most of the ten rounds and Habimana was never able to get out of the way of Karaxha’s jab. When Habimana did come forward he lacked the power to trouble Karaxha. A right cross had Habimana in trouble in the seventh but Karaxha let him off the hook. Karaxha scored with a left to the body and some rights to the head later in the round but Habimana survived. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92 all for Karaxha who retains the WBFederation International title. . The 27-year-old Albanian-born Karaxha is 12-1-1 in his last 14 fights. Four losses in a row for Habimana who has only the most basic of techniques. Hammanskraal, South Africa: Super Feather: Sibusiso Zingange (13-3-2,1ND) W PTS 12 Nataneal Sebastian (10-2). Feather: Jeff Magagane (11-3) W PTS 12 Tello Dithebe (20-11). Zingange vs. Sebastian Zingange wins the vacant WBA Pan African title with split verdict over Namibian Sebastian. Although Zingange took the first round the strong attacks of Sebastian in the second had Zingange under lots of pressure and he was deducted a point for holding. Sebastian had a good third but the middle rounds were close. Zingange came on strong and took the ninth and tenth to edge ahead but Sebastian came back strongly in the eleventh. Zingange outboxed Sebastian in the last to just deserve the verdict. Scores 117-110 and 116-111 for Zingange and 115-112 for Sebastian. The South African No 1 collected the ABU title last near. “Iron Fists” Sebastian suffered his only loss when he was defeated on points by unbeaten Muhamad Ridhwan in Singapore in 2017. Magagane vs. Dithebe Southpaw Magagane collects the vacant WBA Pan African title with split decision over fellow-South African Dithebe. Magagane made good use of longer reach to go in front but Dithebe came into the fight more over the middle rounds and quickly evened things up. It remained close over the last three rounds but Magagane just did enough to get back in front and held off a strong finish from Dithebe to collect the decision. Scores 116-112, 115-113 for Magagane and 117-111 for Dithebe. A former two-time South African amateur champion Magagane dropped down two divisions to challenge for this title having lost for the WBA pan African lightweight title in 2017. “King Razor” Dithebe has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but four of those losses were in title fights. Oviedo. Spain: Welter: Aitor Nieto (24-6-1) W PTS 10 Hamza Misaui (9-2). Middle: Sergio Fernandez (8-0-1) W PTS 10 Jose Fandino (13-5). Super Light: Jonathan Alonso (18-0) W TKO 8 Ruben Garcia (5-6-2). Nieto vs. Misaui Nieto holds on to the Spanish title with unanimous decision over Misaui. Fighting in his home town Nieto made a slow start but gradually took control outboxing his inexperienced challenger. With his lack of experience it was expected that Misaui might fade over the late rounds and Nieto was looking to end it inside the distance but Misaui fought hard over the eighth and ninth and Nieto had to settle for a points win. Two judges had Nieto winning clearly 99-91 and 98-92 but the third had it close at 96-94. Nieto, 35. Is No 14 with the EU and will be hoping to get another shot at the EU title having lost in two previous challenges. Moroccan Misaui had won his last three fights. Fernandez vs. Fandino In a battle of two local fighters Fernandez wins the vacant Spanish title with a split decision over Fandino. Using his longer reach Fernandez built a lead over the first four rounds only for Fernando to cancel out that advantage over the next four. That left it down to the last two rounds and Fernandez just did enough to convince the judges. Scores a surprising 98-92 and 96-94 for Fernandez and 96-94 for Fandino. Fernandez was in his first ten round fight and faded a bit. The more experienced Fandino lost tough fights against Ronny Landaeta and Esquiva Falcao in 2017 but had two low level wins last year. Alonso vs. Garcia Dominican-born Alonso is one of the coming stars of Spanish boxing. He halted Garcia here to retain the Spanish title. Alonso made a blazing start dominating the first round and then putting Garcia down in the second. Garcia beat the count and Alonso seemed to go, off the boil. Over the next three rounds the action slowed with too much holding. Alonso came back to, life in the sixth handed out punishment and put Garcia down in the seventh. Garcia made it to the vertical but the referee halted the contest. Seventh win by KO/TKO for Alonso. The 28-year-old Alonso had 95 amateur fights and only 11 losses. He was Spanish champion, competed at the World Championships in 2011 at the Olympic Games in 2012 and the Europe Championships in 2013. Fourth loss inside the distance for Garcia. February 16 Roeselare, Belgium: Cruiser: Yves Ngabu (20-0) W PTS 12 Micki Nielsen (25-2). Even fighting in front of his home town fans this looked a tough European title defence for Ngabu on paper but in the end he was a clear winner on a unanimous decision. Nielsen let the fight get away from him with a slow start. The champion was getting inside the tall Dane's jab and banging to the body with hooks and uppercuts. There was already blood coming from Nielsen’s nose in the second round and he was holding inside to try to stifle Ngabu’s work. Ngabu continued to collect the rounds as he connected with some damaging uppercuts in the fourth and with Nielsen looking to be rocked by and uppercut in the fifth. The fight was almost half over before Nielsen finally began to make better use of his jab. He worked hard over the seventh and eighth as Ngabu’s work rate slowed. Any though that Nielsen was turning the fight his way were dispelled in the ninth with Ngabu again using hurtful hooks and uppercuts to take the round and he outscored Nielsen in the tenth. The Dane put in a big effort in the eleventh and forced the fight in the last but Ngabu boxed skilfully on the back foot finding gaps for counters. Scores 117-111 twice and 117-112 for Ngabu. Second defence for Ngabu who gets his mandatory out of the way. Many of the top European cruisers are tied into the WSSB tournament or are looking to step into a title fight when Olek Usyk decides to move up to heavyweight. So far Ngabu has not cracked the world ratings so that may be his next target. Meanwhile he will continue to give his management palpitations by playing football for one of the teams in the Belgian provincial league. Nielsen, who will be 26 this month, was beaten by Kevin Lerena on majority decision in 2016 and dropped out of the ratings. He had been largely inactive and this was his first fight for 13 months. He will need to busier if he is to shake off this loss. Herstal, Belgium: Light: Francesco Patera (21-3) W PTS 12 Marvin Petit (24-2-1). Belgian Patera wins against Frenchman Petit in yet another close, hard fought EBU title contest. Petit had won his last eleven fights and made a confidently start. He forced the fight with the champion on the back foot but boxing with his well recognised skill for countering with precise and accurate punches. Petit’s determined aggression was giving him the edge as he landed hooks and uppercuts. It was the fourth when Patera began to take control. He is not a big puncher but rarely wastes a punch and is adept at slotting his punches into gaps and keeping a high work rate. Petit connected with a strong right in the fifth but Patera absorbed it and kept firing his jabs and straight rights. Petit had expended a lot of energy over the early rounds and he seemed to tire over the middle rounds. Petit got back into the fight but was being outlanded by Patera who has great stamina. Petit kept firing and as they traded punches over the last two rounds it was obviously going to be very close but Patera was a deserving winner. Scores 115-113 twice and an unkind 117-112 all for Patera. This is the first defence of the European title for Patera in his second spell as champion. He showed his quality when going into Lewis Ritson’s back yard in defensive of his title in October and winning against the in form Englishman much more widely that the split decision indicates. At 25 he is still improving. The lightweight division in Europe is full of talented fighters. A return with Petit would be an attraction but there is a suggestion that Patera may look towards the IBO title. Petit, 27, a former French and European Union champion, will hope to get that return. His only other loss came back in 2013 against Yvon Mendy for the French title. It was a unanimous decision but two of the judges had it 96-94 Koblenz, Germany: Super Welter: Abass Baraou (5-0) W PTS 12 Carlos Molina (29-11). Super Welter: Jama Saidi (15-0) W PTS 12 Arman Torosyan (19-6-1). Light Heavy: Leon Bunn (13-0) W PTS 10 Viktor Polyakov (13-6-1). Super Light: Anthony Yigit (22-1-1) W PTS 8 Mohamed Khalladi (10-8-1,1ND). Baraou vs. Molina Baraou wins the vacant WBC International title with unanimous decision over experienced former champion Molina. The rounds were close with Baraou making the better start but Molina being competitive all the way. Baraou rocked Molina with a left hook but Molina was finding gaps for counters. Baraou had a strong sixth connecting with a succession of punches but Molina came back in the seventh and eighth. Baraou again scored well in the ninth and being under pressure in the tenth Molina tried the referee’s patience once too often. He had been given a final warning in the ninth for being careless with his head and was rightly deducted a point when he sinned again. Baraou tired over the last two rounds with Molina finishing strongly to make close. Scores 115-112 twice and a much too wide118-109 all for Baraou. The 24-year German has the talent to make rapid progress and this will have been a useful learning fight. Former IBF super welter champion Molina, 35, is filling the role of teacher to rising prospects now having also lost recently to Carlos Adames, Josh Kelly and Souleymane Cissokho. Saidi vs. Torosyan Saidi predictably outpoints Torosyan in a one-sided defence of IBF European title. There was very little action in the first round but things looked promising when Saidi dropped Torosyan with an uppercut in the second. He was unable to finish things and Torosyan made it to the bell. Saidi dominated the fight from there. Torosyan had a couple of good rounds but other than that there were few highlights as Saidi worked his way to victory. Scores 118-109 twice and 120-107 for Saidi. Third defence of the IBF European title for Saidi. He had beaten Torosyan in 2018 by 11 points on two cards and 8 on the other. The difference between the EBU title fights and the IBF, WBA and WBO European title fights is that the promoter can pick his own opponent for the IBF, WBA and WBO fights-they nominate no mandatory challengers- so his guy should always win. Saidi, 25, is a former German K-1 martial arts champion who turned to pro boxing at 17. His biggest win so far is over former EBU title challenger Sasha Yengoyan. Armenian Torosyan, 35, was stopped in four rounds by Martin Murray in 2017 and this was his first fight since losing to Saidi 11 months ago. Bunn vs. Polyakov Bunn continues on his winning way with unanimous verdict over Polyakov. Comfortable win for Bunn. He worked well behind his jab constantly getting past Polyakov’s guard and Polyakov’s face was bright red from the punishment by the second round. It was a slow-paced fight with few highlights. Polyakov showed aggression a couple of times coming forward and throwing punches but generally he was on the back foot on the end of Bunn’s jab. Despite his dominance Bunn never really had Polyakov in any distress as he boxed his way to his sixth points win in his last seven fights. Scores 98-92 twice and 97-93 for Bunn. The 26-year-old Bunn has good skills but seems a bit one-paced. He has been conservatively matched but needs to take a step up soon. Polyakov on the other hand has been in tough matches and this is his fifth loss in a row. He has some good performance on his record with a win over 26-2-2 Dariusz Sek and over Giovanni De Carolis, a former holder of the WBA secondary middleweight title. Yigit vs. Khalladi Former European champion Yigit eases himself back into action with an eight round decision over Italian-based Tunisian Khalladi but injuries may cause another break. Yigit’s hand speed gave him a big edge and he was connecting with some sharp southpaw left counters and getting away. Khalladi keep pressing but by the fourth his frustration with clever body movement from Yigit had him relying on wild swings. Khalladi is strong and tough but crude and Yigit was finding him an easy target. In the sixth as Khalladi dived forward Yigit side-stepped and threw a punch. Their feet also got mixed and Khalladi dropped forward and was given what looked a harsh count. Yigit stepped up the pace in the fifth and scored a knockdown in the sixth. There was plenty of roughhouse stuff from both boxers in the seventh. Khalladi had often been leading with his head when he charged forward and as their heads banged together a cut was opened over Yigit’s left eye. The Swede avoided any further injury and worked his way to the win. Scorers 80-71, 79-74 and 78-73 for Yigit. This was his first fight since losing to Ivan Baranchyk for the vacant IBF title in a WSSB Tournament fight in October. Apart from the cut Yigit also injured his hands so a win but a pyrrhic victory for Yigit. Khalladi was tough perhaps tougher than Yigit needed for his return. The Tunisian has yet to lose inside the distance. Manila, Philippines: Feather: Dave Penalosa (15-0) W TKO 4 Marcos Cardenas (19-7-1). Bantam: John Riel Casimero (26-4) W TKO 6 Kenya Yamashita (13-5). Fly: Carlo Caesar Penalosa (14-1) W KO 3 Watana Phenbaan (18-6). Bantam: Carl Martin (12-0) W RTD 3 Petchchorhae (17-3). Penalosa vs. Cardenas A good night for the Penalosa clan as Dave and Carlo Caesar score inside the distance wins on a show promoted by former WBC super fly and WBO bantam champion Gerry. Dave struggled to make the weight for this fight but overcame that and halted Mexican Cardenas in the fourth round The tall skinny Cardenas had height and reach on his side but no real power. Penalosa rocked him in the first with a right to the head. Cardenas recovered quickly and was scoring with some accurate rights later in the round. Cardenas boxed around Penalosa in the second he was busier and Penalosa could not find the range with his jab. A lively third round saw both landing some hard punches as Penalosa managed to get close and force Cardenas to stand and trade. Penalosa was looking flat-footed and slow in the fourth and a right from Cardenas made Penalosa stumble. Penalosa quickly recovered and took the fight to Cardenas landing a right to the body and a left to the head. Cardenas took a couple of steps back and then went down on one knee. Cardenas was up at nine but did not have enough experience to hold and Penalosa drove home lefts and rights to the head before dropping Cárdenas with another body punch. Once again Cardenas was up at nine but when another body punch put him down the referee waived the fight off. Penalosa 28, the Philippines No 1, wins the WBO Oriental title with his eleventh victory by KO/TKO. After being inactive in 2017 Penalosa scored two moderate level wins last year and is aiming for a title shot. The Penalosa clan is a true boxing family. Dave is Grandson of former Philippines champion Carl Penalosa, the son former world champion Dodie, the nephew of both former world champion Gerry and former pro boxer Jonathan and younger brother of pro Dodie Jr. There are seven former/current fighters in the family including Carlo Cesar who fought on this same show. Cardenas had won five of his last six fights. Casimero vs. Yamashita Casimero returns and is looking to win yet another world title to make himself a three-division champion. He was several classes above a game Yamashita and was connecting with some savage punches from the opening round. He continued to rake Yamashita with searing body punches in the second and third and almost ended the fight with a fierce uppercut in the fourth. After a painful time for Yamashita in the fifth the referee visited the Japanese fighter’s corner but they insisted their man was capable of continuing. Casimero did not even bother to lift his gloves in the sixth but walked forward with his arms hanging at his sides slipping and sliding under Yamashita’s punches. Suddenly Casimero connected with a ferocious uppercut that mashed Yamashita’s nose and had the Japanese fighter slumping to the canvas. He was very badly hurt and almost fell, of his stool a couple of times as he was being attended to. Former IBF light fly and flyweight champion Casimero suffered an upset defeat against Jonas Sultan in 2017 and then took 10 months out before returning with a low level win in July now he will be looking to work his way into a shot at a version of the bantamweight title. Yamashita was moving up to ten rounds for the first time and found it a very painful experience. Penalosa vs. Phenbaan Another member of the Penalosa family in the ring and another win. “Too Sharp” Carlo Caesar had Thai Phenbaan under fire over the first two rounds and then ended the in the fight in the third with a crunching right hook to the body that had Phenbaan on the floor in agony and unable to beat the count. The 25-year-old southpaw, the Philippines No 2, has won his last seven fights with five of those wins inside the distance. Fifth loss by KO/TKO for Phenbaan Martin vs. Petchchorhae Filipino hope “Wonder Boy” Martin was much too quick and polished for more experienced Thai Petchchorhae. He showed some clever movement and good hand speed. Petchchorhae went over in the first and was given a count although it looked as though he had gone down trying to evade a punch rather than from one but the local southpaw was landing some scorching body punchers. Petchchorhae really was poor despite his record. He had very little foot work and was too slow. Martin worked him over with body punches in the second and third before flooring Petchchorhae just before the bell and Petchchorhae decided not to come out for the fourth. The 19-year-old Martin has been drawing rave notice in the Philippines and is considered by some to be the best prospect in the islands. This is his eighth win on the trot by KO/TKOL and his eleventh in total. Make a note of the name! Second inside the distance loss in a row for Petchchorhae Mackay, Australia: Super Light: Liam Paro (16-0) W PTS 10 Massimiliano Ballisai (22-6). Welter: Tysinn Best (10-0) W TKO 4 Dillon Bargero (5-7). Paro vs. Ballisai Paro comprehensively outboxes Italian visitor Ballisai but it will be some time before he fights again. The local southpaw broke both hands early on the fight and fought the rest of the way in considerable pain but won every round as the 100-90 score cards from the judges show. The former undefeated Australian champion is No 4 with the WBO (for beating Czech novice 11-0-1 Sebastian Bytyqi for a Regional title) and is hoping to work his way to a title shot once he recovers from the injuries. Italian champion Ballisai is experienced but loses when he tries to step up. Best vs. Bargero Fighting in front of his home fans Best much too good for Bargero as he retains the Australian title with a fourth round stoppage. Best had Bargero down in the first and second rounds with the fight being stopped in the fourth. First defence of the title for Best. Bargero, the Australian No 10 suffers his first inside the distance loss. Montreal, Canada: Welter: David Theroux (15-3) W TKO 6 Jose Alfaro (31-12-1,1ND). Theroux continues to rebuild his stuttering career with a stoppage of former WBA secondary title holder Alfaro. The visitor made the mistake of trying to stand and trade with Theroux over the first three rounds. Theroux was younger and stronger and over the fourth and fifth he began to break Alfaro down. In the sixth with Alfaro fading fast and cut on his left eyelid the bout was stopped. Theroux, the Canadian No 7, came into this fight as a late substitute. His three losses have all been against imported fighters but ones who were a cut above most travelling losers. Nicaraguan Alfaro, 35, had won his last three fights but this is his ninth loss by KO/TKO. Sint Truiden, France: Super Light: Jessy Petit-Jean (15-0) W KO 5 Nukri Gamgebeli (10-5). Belgian Petit-Jean ended this one early with a second round kayo of Georgian Gamgebeli. The 29-year-old Petit-Jean makes it eight wins by KO/TKO. The former European and World Kickboxing champion is No 8 with the EBU. That looks a bit high on the basis of his of opposition and he has not really been tested. Gamgebeli has yet to win a fight outside of Georgia. San Pedro Alcantara, Spain: Super Welter: Jorge Fortera (19-1-1) W PTS 10 Navid Mansouri (19-2-2). Spanish champion Fortea gets split decision over Mansouri. Not a great fight in the end but a very close one with Fortea getting the split decision and collecting the IBF Inter-Continental title. Two judges had Fortera winning by three points and the other judge had Mansouri one point ahead. Sixth win on the bounce for Fortea and the first loss in over six years for Mansouri whose team protested the decision. Fight of the week (Significance): Leo Santa Cruz keeps the way open for some big fights in the featherweights with win over Rafael Rivera Fight of the week (Entertainment) Two different fights stood out Dee Jay Kriel’s stunning victory over Carlos Licona in a fight full of quality and Omar Figueroa vs. John Molina a good old fashioned donnybrook (how’s that for old fashioned) Fighter of the week: DeeJay Kriel for his dramatic late win over Carlos Licona Punch of the week: The body punch from Joshua Greer that ended his fight with Giovanni Escaner but even better was the ferocious uppercut from John Riel Casimero that destroyed Kenya Yamashita Upset of the week: Other than Kriel’s win nothing spectacular Prospect watch: My Filipino friends tell me 19-year-old southpaw bantamweight Carl Jammes Martin 12-0 11 wins by KO/TKO could make it big. By Eric Armit-
Highlights: -Gervonta Davis destroys Hugo Ruiz inside a round in WBA super feather title defence -Andrew Cancio pulls of huge shock win as he stops unbeaten Alberto Machado to win the secondary WBA super featherweight title -Jose Carlos Ramirez retains the WBC super light title with a majority verdict over Jose Zepeda in an entertaining fight that was close all the way -Rey Vargas gets off the floor and outpoints challenger Franklin Manzanilla in defence of his WBC super bantam title despite cuts over both eyes -Erickson Lubin stops Ishe Smith and sends the former IBF super welter champion into retirement -Ray Beltran returns and stops unbeaten Hiroki Okada -Javier Fortuna outpoints Sharif Bogere in a disappointing match -Mario Barrios goes to 23 wins with stoppage of Richard Zamora WORLD TITLE SHOWS February 9 Carson, CA, USA: Super Feather: Gervonta Davis (21-0) W KO 1 Hugo Ruiz (39-5). Super Welter: Erickson Lubin (20-1) W RTD 3 Ishe Smith (29-11). Light: Javier Fortuna (34-2-1) W PTS 10 Sharif Bogere (32-2,1ND). Super Light: Juan Heraldez (16-0) W KO 7 Eddie Ramirez (17-3). Super Light: Mario Barrios (23-0) W KO 4 Richard Zamora (19-3). Light: Ladarius Miller (19-1) W KO 1 Daulis Prescott (32-11,3ND ).Feather: Angelo Leo (16-0) W PTS 8 Alberto Torres (11-2-3). Fly: Genesis Libranza (18-1) W PTS 8 Gilberto Mendoza (11-7-2). Davis vs. Ruiz Davis retains the WBA title as he obliterates Ruiz who never managed to land any punch of note before a stunning combination dropped and finished him just one second from the end of the opening round Davis was shadowing Ruiz probing with his right jab as Ruiz slid around the ropes. Davis tried a couple of quick lefts to the body. Ruiz was just poking out his jab and tried a right but was short. Davis backed Ruiz into a corner and leapt in with a quick right followed by a left then backed off and Ruiz advanced to the centre of the ring. Davis backed Ruiz into a corner again and banged home a solid right jab followed by a powerful right to the side of the head. Ruiz took a step forward and then wobbled badly took a step back and dropped to one knee. He was in some distress but climbed to his feet at eight. There was blood pouring from what was probably a broken nose. He looked unsteady and when he failed to respond the referee’s questions the fight was stopped. That makes twelve wins in a row for Davis who has that deadly combination of speed and power. Ruiz was a very late substitute after Abner Mares had to withdraw with a detached retina but he was in some shape as he was due to fight Filipino Jhack Tepora on 19 January but instead outpointed Alberto Guevara who stepped in after Tepora was overweight. There is a WBA eliminator on 2 March between Edner Cherry and Ricardo Nunez but with Cherry having had only one fight in two years and Nunez never having faced a name fighter they pose no threat to Davis who plans to have another three or four fights this year. We will have to wait to see what develops. Former WBC super bantam champion Ruiz gets his fourth loss by KO/TKO and has said he will look to move down to feather. Lubin vs. Smith Lubin destroys Smith and sends the former IBF super welter champion into retirement. Lubin dominated the first and then really went to work in the second. Initially he used his longer reach to keep Smith out and then connected with a couple of head punches that did not seem heavy but sent Smith down and onto his back. He slowly made it up just in time. Lubin chased Smith along the ropes and Smith fell to his knees although again it did not seem that Lubin had landed anything particularly heavy. He was up quicker this time but as the action restarted he went down again to his knees whilst ducking under Lubin’s punches. This time after the count he used some fast movement and punched back to survive to the bell. Lubin was chasing Smith down in the third and just before the bell Smith went down from a right to the head. He beat the count and the bell went and Smith’s corner pulled him out of the fight. Second fight for the 23-year-old Lubin since his first round kayo loss to Jermell Charlo in October 2017. With a couple more wins he should be in position to challenge for a title again. Good decision by Smith’s corner. The former IBF champion suffers his third loss in a row. He only lost on a split decision to now WBC champion Tony Harrison in May but looked all of his 40 years here. His punch resistance looked to have gone and it is a sensible retirement. Bogere vs. Fortuna Fortuna gets the unanimous decision but this was a poor fight which neither deserved to win. There was just some hesitant prodding of jabs in the first and although they did swap a few punches in the second, the best was a right from Fortuna which had Bogere holding on, but in fact there was more holding and wrestling than fighting and already the crowd was booing. The third, fourth and fifth were no better. When they did trade punches the exchanges were untidy and ineffective. It was a simple case of the two styles not mixing well. Both are good fighters but just not against each other. Things livened up in the sixth as at the start of the round they stood and threw hooks and uppercuts. They were just swinging wildly and Fortuna seemed to get the better of the exchanges. They went wild again at the end of the round throwing looses punches. They both tumbled to the floor but the referee decided that an left uppercut from Fortuna has put Bogere down and gave a protesting Bogere a count and he was showing a cut over his right eye at the bell. Bogere had probably been just in front before the sixth but the knockdown put Fortuna marginally ahead. The seventh round saw too much untidy mauling with Fortuna doing what clean work there was. Fortuna was firing body punches in the eighth with Bogere not able to counter. The referee stopped the action to get the ringside doctor to examine the cut over Bogere’s right eye but he was allowed to continue and Fortuna attacked the body again to take the round. Bogere staged a strong finish over the ninth and tenth but it was not enough. Scores 96-93 to Fortuna from the three judges. The 29-year-old Dominican is a former holder of the secondary WBA super feather title. He challenged Robert Easter for the IBF lightweight title but blew his chance by not making the weight and lost the fight on a split decision anyway. This is his first outing since falling through the ropes in his fight against Adrian Granados in June last which resulted in Fortuna being taken to hospital and the fight being declared a No Decision. Ugandan Bogere had a shot at the vacant secondary WBA light title in 2013 but lost on points. He was 9-0,1ND going into this one. Both will have better nights/. Heraldez vs. Ramirez Good test for Heraldez and he passes with flying colours. Ramirez constituted his toughest fight on paper but he dominated the action putting Ramirez down in the fifth and again in the seventh with the count being waived on the second knockdown. Californian-born Heraldez, 28, a member of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s team, has ten wins inside the distance. No names yet but useful victories over unbeaten Jose Borrego and Kevin Watts. Third loss on the bounce for Ramirez having been knocked out by Antonio DeMarco and outpointed by Argenis Mendez. Barrios vs. Zamora Barrios stops Zamora in the fourth. After a cautious opening they traded quick punches with Barrios scoring with a sharp left hook inside but it was an otherwise slow opening. The 5’10” Barrios had lots of height and reach over Zamora but the Mexican showed a useful jab. As Barrios began to open up in the second Zamora was being rocked by right hand counters. They both landed some good punches but a left hook from Barrios staggered Zamora at the bell. Barrios upped the pace in the third forcing Zamora back with a strong jab and Zamora fired back and landed a strong three-punch combination. That made Barrios a bit more cautious but again he landed a heavy right at the bell. Barrios rammed home a strong right early in the fourth but when he tried to follow that up Zamora ducked and dived and then held on tight with a frustrated Barrios tossing him to the floor. Barrios landed a series of rights to the head and Zamora visibly weakened. Barrios bombarded Zamora with head punches and although Zamora kept swing in hope he was taking too many head shots and the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old “El Azteca” the WBA No 1 has 15 wins by KO/TKO but has yet to face a name opponent and yet to be really tested. With typical WBA shenanigans he went from unrated to No 3 super light for winning their Inter-Continental welterweight title and from there to No 1 without fighting! The young Texan has talent and could be fighting for the title next year. Zamora had won his last five fights. Miller vs. Prescott A very quick win for Miller. Not a noted puncher southpaw Miller put a very over the hill Prescott down and out after just 57 seconds. “Memphis” Miller is on a ten bout winning streak including convincing victories over Jamel Herring and Dennis Galarza. Colombian Prescott was a late choice as Miller’s opponent and eight losses in his last nine fights, six by KO/TKO tells its own story. Leo vs. Torres Leo goes to 16 wins with points victory over Torres. Leo forced the fight from the first bell and scored knockdowns in the second and fifth rounds but Torres survived going on to lose by wide margins on all three cards. Scores 79-71 for Leo. Leo, 24, another Mayweather Team member, reportedly won 65 of his 75 amateur fights and is making steady progress. Torres only other loss was a split decision against useful 17-1-1Erick Ituarte. Libranza vs. Mendoza Filipino champion Libranza gets his eighth win after taking the decision over Mendoza in a competitive contest. Libranza had expected to face an aggressive Mendoza but instead it was Libranza who had to force the fight with Mendoza cagey and countering. Libranza’s pressure paid off with a unanimous decision. Scores 78-74 on the three judges’ cards for Libranza. He made an ambitious challenge to South African Moruti Mthalane for the IBO flyweight title in Johannesburg in 2017 and was knocked out in four rounds. He has rebuilt with seven wins back home in the Philippines. Mexican Mendoza had won his last four fights. Indio, CA, USA: Super Bantam: Rey Vargas (33-0) W PTS 12 Franklin Manzanilla (18-4). Super Feather: Andrew Cancio (20-4-2) W TKO 4 Alberto Machado (21-1). Feather: Joseph Diaz (28-1) W PTS 10 Charles Huerta (20-6). Light: Adrian Estrella (29-3) W PTS 10 Oscar Duarte (15-1-1). Super Feather: Azat Hovhannisyan (16-3) W KO 5 Lolito Sonsona (22-3-4). Super Middle: Tureano Johnson (20-2-1) DREW 8 Fernando Castaneda (26-13-1). Varga vs. Manzanilla Vargas gets off the floor in the second round and survives two doctors inspection of cuts over both eyes to retain the WBC title with wide points decision over determined but limited Manzanilla./ Round 1 Vargas took control immediately. With his height and long reach he was able to slot home his jab and score with right crosses. Manzanilla tried some rushing attacks but Vargas was able to take long steps back and either catch Manzanilla coming in or tie him up inside Score:10-9 Vargas Round 2 Vargas was again bossing the action behind his jab mixing in straight rights and left hooks to the body. It was too easy and that made Vargas careless and as he stood in front of Manzanilla preparing another attack the Venezuelan landed a sweeping left that dropped Vargas on his back. Vargas did not look badly shaken. After the count Manzanilla was desperately throwing hooks but Vargas was holding inside and smothering Manzanilla’s attacks. A frustrated Manzanilla wrestled Vargas to the floor which resulted in a bit more recovery time for Vargas who made it comfortably to the bell. Score: 10-8 Manzanilla Manzanilla 19-18 Round 3 Vargas was back in charge. He was again spearing Manzanilla with jabs at distance and dropping in straight rights. Manzanilla was restricted to charging forward chucking hooks but Vargas was tying him up inside as the fight got messy. Score: 10-9 Vargas Tied 28-28 Round 4 Vargas was now on the front foot. Manzanilla had no answer to the champion’s jab and Vargas was going to the body with some wicked left hooks. A clash of heads saw Vargas suffer a small cut over his right eye. Score: 10-9 Vargas Vargas 38-37 Round 5 Vargas just kept sticking his jab in Manzanilla’s face and the challenger had no answer to it. Vargas was also countering when Manzanilla rushed in and instead of holding was pumping punches to the body. Manzanilla did go down but it was ruled a slip. Score: 10-0 Vargas Vargas 48-46 Round 6 Manzanilla launched some fierce attacks at the start of this round and connected with a few hooks. Vargas saw out the storm and then went to work with his jab and straight rights before moving in with blazing combinations. Manzanilla continued his rushing attacks but with his long legs Vargas was able to move back out of range and then step in quickly with counters. Score: 10-9 Vargas Vargas 58-55 Round 7 A clash of heads at the start of the round had blood dripping from the cut over the right eye of Vargas. Vargas lost his composure briefly but then punished Manzanilla with hard counters and connected with left hooks to the body. A wild Manzanilla was deducted a point for one of many punches to the back of the head. Vargas outscored Manzanilla and with the deduction that made it a 10-8 round. Score: 10-8 Vargas Vargas 68-63 Round 8 A messy round as Manzanilla became more desperate with his attacks and again was penalised a point this time for hitting on the break. Vargas did what clean scoring there was so another 10-8 round for the champion. Score: 10-8 Vargas Vargas 78-71 Round 9 A clash of heads in this round saw a cut opened over the left eye of Vargas and it was serious enough for the referee to have the doctor inspect it. Vargas was allowed to continue but he now had blood trickling down his face from both cuts. He began to keep his gloves high to protect the cuts and had more trouble dealing with the attacks of a fired-up Manzanilla who just did enough to take the round. Score: 10-9 Manzanilla Vargas 87-81 Round 10 Manzanilla stormed forward for much of the tenth and managed to land some hooks. Vargas had his composure back and was connecting with jabs, straight rights and hooks and was the one coming forward at the bell. Score:10-9 Vargas Vargas 97-90 Round 11 Vargas boxed intelligently in this one. Manzanilla was flying in head first but Vargas was landing chopping rights and tying Manzanilla inside. Again Manzanilla had some success with hooks and rocked Vargas with a right to the head but was clearly outscored. Score:10-9 Vargas Vargas 107-99 Round 12 Manzanilla piled forward for the whole three minutes but was wayward with his punches. Vargas boxed mainly on the outside letting Manzanilla walk onto counters and firing quick combinations as took the round. Score: 10-9 Vargas Vargas 117-108 Official Scores : Judge Lou Moret 117-108, Judge Dennis O’Connell 117-108 and Judge Pat Russell 117-108 all for Vargas. The 28-year-old champion was making the fourth defence of his WBA title. Manzanilla could never find an answer to the height and reach advantages of Vargas who outworked and outscored him all the way. Jessie Magdaleno is No 1 in the WBC ratings but Vargas is a Golden Boy fighter and Magdaleno is with Top Rank so that might be a difficult match to make and with his height Vargas might be more comfortable at feather where there are some good fights to be made. Colombian-based Manzanilla landed the title shot on the basis of a shock four round victory over Julio Ceja but he was outclassed by Vargas. The two deductions did not help his cause but he was lucky not to lose more points for punches to the back of the head and kidney punches. He is strong, aggressive but limited . Cancio vs. Machado Cancio climbs off the floor in the first round to steamroller champion Machado to defeat with four knockdowns in the fourth. Round 1 Machado had plenty of height and reach over Cancio and as Cancio came forward he was caught by a couple of straight southpaw lefts from Machado. Cancio continued to advance and he was able to get past the jab and score with hooks. As Cancio moved in he ducked under a right and into the path of a short left hook that dropped him to the floor on his side. He was up at eight and Machado was throwing slashing hooks trying to repeat his success but Cancio was getting inside again and finished the round strongly. Score: 10-8- Machado Round 2 Machado was looking to box on the outside and land more left hooks. Cancio was walking through the punches and hooking to the body with both hands. The ferocity of Cancio’s attacks had Machado retreating and Cancio was doing the better work inside. Just before the bell Cancio rocked Machado with a series of hooks and took the round. Score: 10-9 Cancio Machado 19-18 Round 3 A painful round for Machado. Cancio kept marching forward throwing hooks and uppercuts and Machado could do nothing to keep Cancio out. He was brushing aside Machado’s counters and rocked Machado’s head back and forth with a volley of punches. During the interval the referee was concerned enough to come to Machado’s corner to check he was OK. Score: 10-9 Cancio Tied 28-28 Round 4 Somehow Cancio seemed to have defused El Explosivo’s bombs and there was no power in the champions punches. Cancio was hunting him down and a long right to the body saw Machado take a step away and go down on one knee. He had his head bowed and looked a dispirited and beaten fighter. He reluctantly got to his feet at nine and as Cancio threw a couple more body punches, most of which seemed to be blocked, Machado dropped to the floor again. He was up at nine and hesitated before raising his gloves when asked to do so by the referee. The fight continued but only for a few seconds and as Cancio was throwing s few more body punches Machado dropped to the floor and the fight was stopped. Huge upset as Cancio wins the secondary WBA title. Cancio had been in erratic form losing to Ronny Rios and Joseph Diaz but beating Rene Alvarado and Hugo Cazares. He was inactive in 2017 and had two modest wins in 2018 but here his ferocious onslaughts just blew Machado away. Puerto Rican Machado had scored 17 wins by KO/TKO but he just seemed to have lost his power and when Cancio attacked the body he buckled then broke. Cancio may now defend against former conqueror Rene Alvarado who is rated No 1 and Machado may now move up to lightweight. Diaz vs. Huerta Diaz moves up to super feather and looks sharp in win over useful Huerta. Diaz controlled the action with a sharp strong southpaw jab and impressed with some flashing combinations. Huerta just could not get into the fight in any meaningful way but apart for a rocky time in the fifth he was never in any real trouble. Unanimity from the judges who all saw Diaz winning 99-91. Diaz had good and bad in 2018. He knocked out former WBC champion Victor Terrazas in February but then lost a unanimous decision to Gary Russell Jr for the WBC title in May. In August he outpointed Jesus M Rojas but had failed to make the weight for this challenge for the secondary WBA title so no title for Diaz. He was rated No 2 feather by the WBC and No 5 with the WBA but now it looks like he will move up and forfeit those spots. Huerta was having his first fight since beating 21-2 Miguel Angel Gonzalez on a technical decision in August 2017. Estrella vs. Duarte Estrella wins a split decision over unbeaten Duarte to breathe some life back into a career that seemed to be going nowhere. Duarte was quicker and more accurate and built a substantial lead. Estrella put in a strong finish and managed to claw back some of that deficit but did not seem to have done enough but the judges decided otherwise. Scores 98-92 and 96-94 for Estrella and 97-93 for Duarte. There was a time not that long ago when Estrella was the hottest prospect in Mexico. He won his first 22 fights 18 by KO/TKO beating Dante Jardon and former champion Ernesto Caballero along the way. His power was camouflaging some serious deficiencies in his defence and his run was broken by a crushing loss to Filipino Eden Sonsona. Estrella continued to win but he was no longer the hot prospect and losses last year to unbeaten fighters Subriel Matias and Alex Duran seemed to indicate a serious decline so he badly needed a win here. Duarte had shown promise in wins over Juan Jose Montes, Rey Perez and Roger Gutierrez so hopefully this will be a temporary blip. Hovhannisyan vs. Sonsona The aggression of former WBC title challenger proves too much for Filipino Sonsona. Hovhannisyan’s fierce attacks particularly his left hooks to the body had Sonsona on the back foot from the off. He strayed low a few times but the body attack weakened Sonsona. In the fifth a right put Sonsona down. He was up but looked shaky and Hovhannisyan forced him to the ropes. Sonsona threw a weak left and Hovhannisyan came over the top with a stunning right and two more rights to the body saw Sonsona drop to the canvas and he was counted out. A win over Ronny Rios in March last year saw Hovhannisyan pitched in against Rey Vargas in a challenge for the WBC title in May but he lost a unanimous decision. He bounced back in October with a stoppage of 24-4 Jesus Martinez. He is No 8 with the WBC and with a couple more impressive wins such as this could yet land another title chance. Sonsona lost by a large margin against Jason Moloney in 2017 and this is only his second fight in eighteen months and his first loss by KO/TKO. Johnson vs. Castaneda Disappointing performance and disappointing result for Johnson. This was the first fight in eighteen months for Bahamian Johnson but he looked sharp enough at the start. He had a much better skill set than the Mexican “Hurricane” and outboxed him early. Castaneda kept pressing and got into the fight more and more. Johnson probably had a slight lead going into the last but Castaneda staged the stronger finish and that was enough to get him a share of the decision. Scores 77-75 for Johnson, 77-75 for Castaneda and 76-76. A last round stoppage loss to Sergey Derevyanchenko in August 2017 in what was virtually and IBF eliminator cost Johnson the chance of a title shot and he will now have to fight his way back into the ratings but at 35 he is on the clock. Castaneda had a title shot in 2011down at super light when he was stopped in four rounds by Johan Perez but he is 24lbs heavier and at 4-6-1in his last 11 fights a long way down the road from that high point. February 10 Fresno, CA, USA: Super Light: Jose Carlos Ramirez (24-0) W PTS 12 Jose Zepeda (30-2,1ND). Super Light: Ray Beltran (36-8-1) W KO 9 Hiroki Okada (19-1). Feather: Carlos Castro (22-0) W PTS 10 Genesis Servania (32-2). Super Feather: Andy Vences (22-0-1) W PTS 8 Dardan Zenunaj (14-6). Light: Saul Rodriguez (23-0-1) W TKO 5 Aelio Mesquita (17-4). Super Light: Cristian Coria (29-7-2) W KO 3 Joel Diaz (24-2). Ramirez vs. Zepeda Ramirez holds on to the WBC title with majority verdict over Zepeda in a fight that was too close to call until Ramirez settled it over the championship rounds. Zepeda found the range early with his southpaw jab with Ramirez tending to ignore his own jab. Ramirez was taking the fight to Zepeda but the speed and accuracy of Zepeda’s work saw him take the first two round. In what was to be the pattern for much of the fight. Ramirez then had a good couple of rounds finally using his jab and getting inside with some effective body punches and rocking Zepeda with rights in the fourth. At that stage the judges all had identical 38-38 scores and had all scored every round the same. Ramirez kept the imitative over the fifth and sixth. He was still under using his jab but was making up for that with sustained pressure that was forcing Zepeda onto the back foot and allowing Ramirez to do some hurtful body punching when he pinned Zepeda to the ropes. The fight swung back to Zepeda over the seventh and eighth with his jab constantly getting past the guard of Ramirez and smart footwork allowing him to find the space to counter the attacks of Ramirez. After eight rounds there was very little between them with two judges having them level on 76-76 and the other giving Ramirez the edge at 77-75. The body punching from Ramirez finally began to bring rewards over the closing rounds. Zepeda was still jabbing well and moving skilfully but also being forced to stand and trade more which favoured Ramirez. Critically the champion’s pressure earned him the points in the ninth and tenth and it looked as though the fight was going all his way. Zepeda was not finished and he stormed back to take the eleventh and put the result in the balance again. They both fought fiercely in the last and it was a late burst from Ramirez that made the difference and he took the round and the decision. Scores 116-114 and 115-113 for Ramirez and 114-114. Ramirez was making the second defence of his WBC title and is now looking to unify the titles but the position there won’t be clear until the fate of the WSSB tournament is decided as the WBC “Diamond” champion Regis Prograis and No 1 challenger Josh Taylor are still waiting to fight in the WSSB semi-finals. Zepeda came so close. Close enough to deserve a return but Ramirez may not want to take that step back. I have some sympathy for Zepeda. He fought Terry Flanagan for the vacant WBO lightweight title back in 2015 but dislocated his shoulder in the second round of that fight and had to retire. It has taken him almost three years to get another title shot. Beltran vs. Okada It is rarely boring when Ray Beltran fights and it was no different in this one as he stopped the previously unbeaten Okada in the ninth round. Okada was looking to fight this one from the outside and avoid getting dragged into a close quarters brawl which is where Beltran is most effective. However with typical Japanese fighting spirit Okada was willing to trade if he had to. The action was hot from the opening round. In an amazing second Beltran made a big statement flooring Okada with a left hook. Okada beat the count and then showed fighting spirit in spades as he staggered Beltran with a right and then proceeded to batter Beltran for the rest of a frantic round. The fight calmed a little after that and gradually Okada began to find the target with his long range punches. Beltran kept ploughing forward and did his best work when he could pin Okada to the ropes. The Japanese fighter looked to have edged in front and Beltran seemed to be tiring. That changed in the ninth when Beltran connected with a right to the head that put Okada down. He made it to his feet but Beltran drove him to a corner and rained punches on Okada until he went down again and Okada’s corner immediately asked the referee to stop the fight. Now at supper light Beltran collected the WBC Continental and WBO Inter-Continental titles which should put him in the ratings. Nothing is straightforward with Beltran. In world title fights he has lost to Terrence Crawford for the WBO lightweight title then beaten Takahiro Ao in what was to be a fight for the vacant WBO lightweight title but he had failed to make the weight and tested positive for a banned substance. He finally won the WBOI title by beating Paulus Moses in February 2018 but lost it in his first defence against Jose Pedraza in August. The super light situation is muddied but Beltran will be looking for a title shot. Okada had halted 40-2-1 Jason Pagara and a few reasonable but not outstanding opponents and was floored in taking a split verdict over Cristian Coria so he will have to fight his way back to get another shot. Castro vs. Servania Big win for Castro as he decisions former WBO featherweight title challenger Servania and hands the Filipino his second loss. Castro simply outboxed Servania he was too quick for the Filipino and won by a wide margin on all cards. Servania was cut over his right eye in the second round which did not help his cause but hard as he chased he just could not pin Castro down and kept eating fast accurate counters. Score 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 all for Castro. The 24-year-old from Phoenix wins the vacant WBC Continental Americas title in what was only his second ten round fight. After winning his first 29 fights Servania had Oscar Valdez on the floor before losing to him for the WBO title in February 2017. He has won three fights since then including a inside the distance victory over former WBC bantamweight title challenger Carlos Carlson but with this defeat Servania has blown his WBO No 1 position. Vences vs. Zenunaj Local fighter Vences returns to action and gets eight rounds of work as he outpoints Kosovon-born Albanian Zenunaj . “The Shark” was having his first fight since scoring a good win over Frank De Alba in July. Vences won every round with the three wise man all seeing Vences the winner by 80-72. A draw with unbeaten Erick de Leon is the only slight blemish on Vences record. Three losses in a row for Zenunaj but one of those over ten rounds against Andrew Cancio with one judge seeing it a 96-94 fight. Rodriguez vs. Mesquita Rodriguez rolls on with stoppage of Brazilian Mesquita. That makes it seventeen wins in a row for Rodriguez and he has a total of seventeen inside the distance victories. The draw on his record was a technical one. Mesquita has lost 4 of his last 5 fights but all against opposition he would be expected to lose to and all on the road. Coria vs. Diaz A wow! here as Coria beats once world rated Diaz in three rounds. No sign of the upset to come as Diaz seemed to be controlling the fight over the first two rounds. In the third Coria blitzed Diaz with a shower of punches and Diaz went down under the barrage. He arose but seemed unsteady. Coria then landed a ferocious left hook that put Diaz down on his back. He scrabbled around trying to get up but the referee waived the fight off. This should have been a routine win for Diaz. The 36-year-old Argentinian Coria was down at No 10 in the Argentinian ratings with an unthreatening 12 wins by KO/TKO. He had been floored and lost every round against Canadian Custio Clayton in 2017 but a much better result is his only losing on a split decision against unbeaten Hiroki Okada in September. Diaz’s only other loss was a two round stoppage by Regis Prograis in 2017 and he took fourteen months out after that before returning with a win in October last year. February 8 Sydney, Australia: Super Welter: Tim Tszyu (12-0) W TKO 2 Denton Vassell (25-6). Super Middle: Rocky Jerkic (17-1) W PTS 8Mark Lucas (9-1). Super Middle: Cesar Tapia (9-0) W PTS 8 Adam Copland (4-1). Heavy: Paul Gallen (9-0) W TKO 2 John Hopoate (12-6). Tszyu vs. Vassell Tszyu blows away a faded Vassell inside two rounds. The young Australian found his range early and scored well over the first round. There was a brief stoppage in the second as Vassell had left his corner without his mouthguard but when the action resumed a series of punches floored Vassell. He beat the count but Tszyu drove him to the ropes and a left uppercut followed by a right to the head saw Vassell staggering along the ropes with his guard down. Tszyu followed him along the ropes raining punches to the head until the referee stepped in to save Vassell. Tenth win by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old son of the great Kostya Tszyu. He collects the interim WBA Oceania title as he prepares to head out to the USA for sessions at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym and Floyd Mayweather Jr’s Boxing Club. Former Commonwealth champion Vassell, 34, was 20-0 at the start of his career but is now 5-6 in his last 11 which tells his own story but in fairness to Vassell he took this fight a short notice and his other losses have also been against tough opposition. Jerkic vs. Lucas Jerkic just gets by Lucas on a split decision. Scores 78-73 and 77-75 for Jerkic and 78-76 for Lucas. Both fighters had the effects of inactivity to shake off. Former undefeated Australian super welterweight champion Jerkic was having his first fight for six months and only his second fight since losing to Anthony Buttigieg for the Vacant Commonwealth title in March 2017. Former Australian amateur champion Lucas had run up nine wins and then surprisingly retired in 2017 and this is his first fight since then. Tapia vs. Copland Mexican youngster proves much too good for Copeland and takes wide unanimous decision. Scores 80-72, 79-72 and 78-73 all for Tapia. The 20-year-old MTK Global boxer has done all of his pro boxing in Australia and is making good progress. Copeland, a top level amateur, was moving up to eight rounds for the first time. He is just 23 so can rebound from this. Gallen vs. Hopoate Gallen halts former Australian champion Hopoate in rubbish match-up. Gallen was too strong and fit for oldie Hopoate. After pounding on Hopoate for two round Gallen cornered Hopoate and banged away to head and body as Hopoate tried to hide behind a high guard. Eventually Hopoate dropped his hands to punch back which left him open and Gallen stunned him with a left hook and then connected with a series of head punches that had Hopoate falling forward and face down on the canvas with the referee immediately ending the fight. At 37 Gallen is probably going nowhere but as a former professional Rugby League player and Australian international he is news and sells tickets. His first eight opponents had just twelve wins between them and Hopoate, 44, was having his first fight for nine years which says it all. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Bantam: Victor Ruiz (23-10) W KO 2 Christian Carto (17-1). Heavy: Darmani Rock (14-0) W KO 4 Steven Lyons (5-4). Ruiz vs. Carto Local hope Carto doing OK until a thunderbolt from Ruiz puts him down and out.. The Philly prospect was boxing well and took the opening round of the fight against limited Mexican southpaw Ruiz. In the second as Carto was just short with a jab Ruiz stepped inside and landed a booming left to the head. Carto went down heavily on his back with his head slamming onto the canvas. The referee instantly waived the fight over and the ringside doctor and other medical aides climbed into the ring to attend to Carto. He was given oxygen and taken from the ring on a stretcher and to hospital. No news yet of his condition although he was said to be alert as he left the arena so let’s hope it is not too bad. Huge shock for the fans of the 22-year-old former National Golden Gloves champion. Ruiz had lost his last four fights against relatively modest opposition but with 15 wins by KO/TKO he was a dangerous opponent.. Rock vs. Lyons Rock gets another win but in a dull and uninspiring fashion. Lyons was never in with a chance against the former Elite level amateur star. He was smaller with very limited technique and giving away 63lbs in weight. There was very little in the way of excitement and it was embarrassing that Rock could not get Lyons out of there. Finally in the fourth he took Lyons to a corner and unloaded a few head punches and Lyons slid down and then just took the full count whilst on one knee and showed no inclination to get up. Rock,22, is 6’5” and was 273 ¼ lbs for this fight. That is some way below the 315lbs of the 6’4” Jarrell Miller but is a heavy burden to carry for ten rounds and he does not seem to have the punch power to blow away better class opposition. He was outstanding as an amateur He was US, Pan American and World champion at Youth level and won gold medals at both the US National Championships and the National Golden Gloves. An inside the distance loss to Marlo Moore cost him a place in the US Team for the 2016 Olympics so he has great credentials. Heavy or not he has to be respected. Second loss inside the distance for the 209 ¾ lbs Lyons. Lautaro, Chile: Feather: Cristian Palma (30-10-1) W PTS 10 Ernesto Franzolini (8-9-1). Home town fighter Palma extends his winning run to ten with unanimous decision over Argentinian prelim fighter Franzolini. A left hook from Palma dislodged Franzolini’s mouthguard in the first round as he was getting past the jab of the taller man and working inside. Franzolini lost a point in the second for a punch to the back of Palma’s head and a point in both the third and the fifth for the same offence. Palma was scoring repeatedly with his jab and left hooks but Franzolini fought hard, if wildly, in every round. An already lost cause disappeared completely when he was again penalised for a punch to the back of Palma’s head. It began to look as though if he wasn’t careful Franzolini would finish up with a minus score. Palma was streets ahead in technique. Franzolini never gave up charging forward but lost every round-plus a few points. The Chilean was making the second defence of his South American title. Franzolini was having his first fight outside of Argentina. Bangkok, Thailand: Super Bantam: Saenganan (23-1) W PTS 10 Noldi Manakane (33-28-3) Easy night for teenager Saenganan as he wins every round against experienced but long since faded Manakane. Saenganan was too quick and too busy for the 35-year-old Indonesian. Scores 100-90 for Saenganan from all three judges. He wins the interim WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver title (so not even the interim title but the Silver interim title). The 19-year-old 5’2” Thai has been confined to strictly substandard opposition since being floored twice and knocked out by Filipino no-hoper Edison Berwela in January last year. Manakane is now 1-7-1 in his last 9 fights. February 9 Paris, France: Super Welter: Souleymane Cissokho (8-0) W KO 3 Romain Garofalo (14-4). Bantam: Elie Konki (6-0) W PTS 10 Anthony Chapat (5-1-1). Super Light: Yazid Amghar (22-0) W TKO 4 Oszkar Fiko (32-27-1). Cissokho vs. Garofalo Cissokho wins the vacant French title against seriously overmatched Garofalo. Cissokho started the first round cautiously but before the bell was already connecting with powerful uppercut. In the second he had Garofalo in trouble from a left hook but Garofalo did not crumble. It ended in the third as Cissokho put Garofalo down. He connected with a wicked right to the body followed by a left hook and another body punch which dropped Garofalo. He made it to his feet but a right to the body almost cut him in half and he went down in agony and was counted out. Senegalese- born Rio bronze medallist Cissokho, 27, was returning after eight months of inactivity due to an operation to repair a rupture of a tendon in his left bicep. He registers his sixth win by KO/TKO. Garofalo was having his second shot at winning a French title but was never in with any sort of a chance against the talented Cissokho. Konki vs. Chapat Konki, another former top amateur, makes a successful first defence of the French title with points victory over flyweight champion Chapat. Konki used his longer reach and some fierce counters to control this one Chapat kept trying to get close but the speed and accuracy of Konki had him floundering at times. Konki began to load up on his punches in the ninth to try to end the fight early and dropped Chapat with a crunching left hook to the body in the tenth but Chapat beat the count and was saved by the final bell. Scores 99-90 for Konki on the three cards. Konki, 26 was French champion in 2012,2013,2104 and 2015 and fought at the Rio Olympics. Chapat showed guts but was in against a fighter several classes above him in ability. Amghar vs. Fiko Amghar overcomes awkward Romanian Fiko and finishes in impressive style. Amghar was careful early as the head down rushes of Fiko could have caused injury but once he settled it was just a matter of time before he ended things. He rocked Fiko with a right and a left hook in the third then finished the job in the fourth. A left hook to the head and a left to the body sent Fiko down. He beat the count but another left hook had him rolling in agony on the floor and the fight was waived off. Ten wins by KO/TKO for the undefeated former French champion. He was an outstanding performer at French boxing where both fists and feet are used but then switched conventional boxing before eventually turning pro. He is No 13 with the EBU. Now thirteen defeats by KO/TKO for Hungarian-based Fiko. Berlin, Germany: Light Heavy: Nick Hannig (7-0) W PTS 12 Ryan Ford (15-4). Super Middle: Yusuf Kanguel (18-3-1) W PTS 10 Vartan Avetisyan (18-1-2). Welter: Rico Mueller (25-2-1) W PTS 8 Bethuel Ushona (36-8-1). Hannig vs. Ford Hannig wins the vacant WBC International title with close unanimous decision over Canadian Ford. The local fighter dominated the early rounds. He took control of the centre of the ring and outboxed the slower but strong Ford. After four rounds Hannig was way in front at 40-36 on all three cards. Hannig built on his lead over the fifth and six but gradually the strength of Ford began to tell and he pushed strongly over the seventh and eighth but importantly Hannig had a strong ninth which left Ford with a big gap to bridge. Ford began to get through with some heavy head punches over the last three rounds against a tired Hannig. Ford came close but it was just too big a deficit to claw back. Scores 115-113 twice and 117-112 all for Hannig. The 32-year-old “Mr Business” is reported to have ended his amateur days after 100 fights with 79 wins before turning pro at 30. He had never gone past eight rounds before so the experience of goiung twelve will have helped his confidence. The “Mr Business” is because he owns a security company and a gym and the money from this fight will help him build his collection of vintage Harley Davison’s. Ford, 36, a former MMA campaigner, has lost 4 of his last 5 fights but they have all been on points in the other guy’s backyard and he is one tough customer. Kanguel vs. Avetisyan Kanguel wins the vacant WBC Mediterranean title in a fight that was close from first to last. Kanguel tactics were to march forward behind a high guard with Avetisyan moving and countering. As expected Kanguel was most effective when he could take Avetisyan to the ropes and work the body. Avetisyan did his scoring at distance and neither was really dominating. The scores after four rounds reflected this at 39-37, 37-39 and 38-38. Kanguel was finding plenty of gaps in the defence of Avetisyan as he ploughed forward but Avetisyan was throwing more and the judges were still having difficulty splitting them. The position had not really changed after eight rounds with two judges carding 76-76 and the third just giving Kanguel the edge at 77-75. Kanguel had a big ninth having Avetisyan shaken and in trouble and although Avetisyan fought hard in the last it was not enough. Scores 96-95 twice for Kanguel and 95-95. German Kanguel had won this same title in March last year but did not defend it. He has won 11 of his last 12 fights with the loss being to world rated Vincent Feigenbutz. Armenian-born Avetisyan, 29, came to Germany at the age of five as a refugee but has retained his Armenian nationality. Kanguel was a step up in the quality of his opposition but he made it close here. Mueller vs. Ushona Mueller beats Ushona again and as in their first fight wins every round against the Namibian veteran. The 30-year-old German has won 17 of his last 18 fights including a points victory over Ushona in August. A ninth round stoppage by Jeff Horn in 2016 is only loss in that run but his opposition has been pretty non-threatening. At 36 Ushona is on the downward path with just two wins in his last seven fights. Manila, Philippines Bantam: Reymart Gaballo (21-0) W TKO 2 Yuya Nakamura (9-3-1). Light: Romero Duno (19-1) W KO 2 Kuldeep Dhanda (7-2). Gaballo vs. Nakamura Another power showing from outstanding Filipino Gaballo. He almost ended this one in the first three minutes putting his Japanese opponent down twice. Nakamura survived to hear the bell for the second round but was annihilated by crunching shots from Gaballo. A right sent Nakamura to the ropes. He tried to punch with Gaballo but was rocked by a right to the head and hurt by a left to the body before a wicked left hook to the chin saw him drop to his knees with his head touching the canvass. He grabbed the ropes and clung to them as he made it to his feet but the referee waived the fight over. The 22-year-old “Assassin” is living up to his nickname. He has won 13 of his last 14 fights by KO/TKO in a total of 18 inside the distance victories. He won the interim WBA title with a points decision over unbeaten Stephon Young in March last year. Second loss by KO.TKO for Nakamura who was overmatched here. Duno vs. Dhanda Not to be outdone “Ruthless” Duno scored an even more spectacular kayo over Indian novice Dhanda. Duno had the outclassed Dhanda down in the first and then crushed him in the second. Dhanda scored with a sharp straight right then Duno connected with a couple of jabs and landed a fearsome overhand right that sent Dhanda face down on the canvas out cold. Ten wins in a row for 23-year-old US-based Duno and his fifteenth victory by KO/TKO. In fights in the USA Duno has scored useful wins over unbeaten Christian Gonzalez, Yardley Armenta Cruz and Gilberto Gonzalez. He is not in the ratings but he won the vacant WBA Asian title in this fight and in the twisted WBA figuring beating an eight fight novice for this minor title will count for more than the victories over much better opposition in the USA. The WBA got a sanctioning fee for this one-that’s their ranking criteria right there. First fight outside India and first loss by KO/TKO for Dhanda. Korbach, Germany: Mario Jassmann (18-0) W TKO 5 Mika Joensuu (15-11). Ilja Mezencev (19-1,1ND) W TKO 2 Jan Hrebik (1-12). Jassmann vs. Joensuu Too easy for Jassmann as he stops overmatched Finn Joensuu in five rounds. Joensuu tried to come forward behind a high guard so Jassmann was able to slot home jabs and rights to the head. Joensuu was too slow and had no power so was never really in the fight. In the fifth Jassmann had Joensuu on the ropes and after landing a series of head punches he connected with a left to the body that dropped Joensuu to his knees. The Finn made it to his feet but another left to the body saw him turn away badly hurt and the referee halted the fight. Jassmann, 31, makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO and retains the German International title but his opposition has been strictly low grade. His father Reinhard was a good level amateur and uncle Manfredo a Germany light heavy and heavy champion who fought for the European title at light heavy, cruiser and heavyweight titles but I can’t see Mario going that far. Fifth defeat by KO/TKO for Joensuu and fifth loss in his last six fights. Mezencev vs. Hrebik No surprise here as German-based Kazak goes to 17 wins by KO/TKO with stoppage of poor Hrebik in some abysmal matchmaking. The 23-year-old Mezencev has fed on some very substandard opposition. The only decent fighter he has faced is unbeaten Tom Schwarz who kayoed him in seven round s. He is young so could improve. Tenth inside the distance loss for Czech Hrebik. Belfast, Northern Ireland: James Tennyson (23-3) W TKO 2 Garry Neale (10-1). Light: Feargal McCrory (10-0) W TKO 9 Karl Kelley (2-3). Light: Paul Hyland Jr (20-1) W PTS 8 Miroslav Serban (10-2). Cruiser: Tommy McCarthy (13-1) W PTS 8 Jiri Svacina (13-33). Tennyson vs. Neale Tennyson much too big a step up for Neale. Tennyson had his jab working well in the first and was already connecting with body punches. Southpaw Neale was forced onto the back foot but tried to counter when he saw an opening. In the second Tennyson again took the fight to Neale and put him down with rights to the head. Neale arose and tried to fight back but was down again under a series of punches and was counted out. The 25-year-old “Assassin from Belfast goes to 19 wins by KO/TKO . This is his first fight since a fifth round stoppage loss against Tevin Farmer for the IBF super feather title in October. None of Neale’s victims had a positive record so this was a too ambitious fight for him. McCrory vs. Kelley McCrory gets late win against Kelly in a hard-fought contests. Southpaw McCrory made a good start behind his jab and staggered the aggressive Kelly with a left in the opening round. Kelly was walking through McCrory’s punches over the next two rounds but a clash of heads saw both fighters cut over the left eye. His better boxing saw McCrory winning the rounds and Kelly was a wide open target as he marched forward. Pressure from Kelly increased and more and more McCrory was being forced to fight inside as Kelly began to eat into McCrory’s lead. The eighth was close but McCrory broke through in a big way in the ninth. He trapped Kelly in a corner and blasted away until with Kelly not firing back the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. McCrory wins the vacant Boxing Union of Ireland title. Dubliner Kelly had earlier lost in a fight for the BUI super light title. Hyland vs. Serban Hyland given a tough night and a scare by inexperienced Serban. Hyland boxed well over the first four rounds. Serban was pressing hard and looked dangerous at times but Hyland was slotting home jabs and landing with power shots to the body. Both Hyland and the crowd were shocked in the fifth when a head punch from Serban put Hyland down. He made it to the vertical but was unsteady. Serban’s inexperience saw him throw away his chance of victory as he launched wild punches trying to nail Hyland again and the local fighter survived. Hyland was staggered again by left hook in the sixth but boxed his way through the seventh and eighth to take the decision. Referee’s score 78-74 for Hyland. Second win for Hyland as he rebuilds after losing inside a round to Lewis Ritson for the British title in June last year. Czech champion “Lumberjack” Serban had won his last six fights. This was his first outing since December 2017 but by flooring Hyland he might have earned himself some more paydays. McCarthy vs. Svacina McCarthy takes every round against survivor Svacina. McCarthy fed Svacina a steady diet of punishment but the ancient Czech just soaked it up. McCrory scored heavily in the fifth and sixth but Svacina refused to cave in and McCarthy had to settle for a points win. Referee’s score 80-72 for McCarthy whose only loss is a points decision against then British champion Matty Askin in 2016. This is win No 4 since then. The 41-year-old Svacina has only lost eight times by KO/TKO in his 47 fights. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Cruiser: Marcos Aumada (21-6) W TKO 4 Carlos Nascimento (16-7). Aumada has no trouble holding on to his WBC Latino title against poor Brazilian Nascimento. Aumada was able to walk past the jabs of the 6’4” Nascimento and score with hooks and uppercuts. A fearsome southpaw left uppercut put Nascimento down in the first and he showed guts to get up and survive. Aumada continued to punish the Brazilian in the second and third. In the fourth Aumada used a series of straight lefts to force Nascimento to the ropes and the landed a another left that staggered Nascimento and the referee had seen enough and stepped in. Aumada, 32, the Argentinian No 1 has 16 wins by KO/TKO . Sixth inside the distance defeat for Nascimento. Halifax, Canada: Super Bantam: Tyson Cave (33-4) W PTS 12 Humberto de Santiago (16-6-1). Local fighter Tyson wins unanimous verdict over de Santiago in IBA title fight. The 37-year-old southpaw handled de Santiago well but was hampered late in the fight by a calf injury that limited his mobility. Scores 120-107, 117-110 and 116-111 for Cave. The Halifax fighter lost to Oscar Escandon for the interim WBA super bantam title in 2014. He has now won nine in a row but against modest level opposition. Mexican de Santiago was having his first fight since December 2017. Peterborough, Canada: Super Welter: Cody Crowley (17-0) W PTS 12 Stuart McClellan (25-3-3,1ND). Super Light: Steven Wilcox (20-3-1) W PTS 8 Javier Mercado (25-14-2). Crowley vs. McClellan This looked a very even match on paper but in the event local southpaw Crowley outclassed the more experienced former champion and retained the Canadian title. Crowley was quicker, busier, punched harder and floored McClellan on the way to a wide unanimous decision. McClellan did well to stick in there to the final bell. Scores 120-107 for Crowley from the three judges. The 25-year-old Crowley, a bronze medal winner at the Commonwealth Youth Games, is ready to step up to tougher competition. McClellan, 32, was 13-0,1ND in his last 14 fights. Wilcox vs. Mercado A breeze turned into a tornado for Wilcox as he only just survives a late surge by Mercado. Wilcox outboxed the limited Mexican and was coasting to victory with a good lead strengthen by Mercado losing a point for a low punch. It was near disaster for Wilcox in the seventh. A big punch from Mercado dropped Wilcox and he was in serious trouble. He was floored for a second time and there could haven been a third knockdown as a punch buckled his knees and his glove brushed the canvas but it was not spotted by the referee. Wilcox survived the round and despite being staggered again he fought hard in the eighth and took the decision. Scores 77-73 twice and 76-74 for Wilcox. Now 5 wins in his last 6 fights for the Canadian No 3. Mercado has now won only two of his last seven fights but with 22 of his 25 wins coming inside the distance he had a punchers chance and nearly brought it off. Nadi, Fiji: Joseph Kwadjo (24-11,2ND) ND 6 Savenaca Naliva (9-2-1,1ND). A wild and wet night in Fiji as the fight between Kwadjo and Naliva was halted twice before being abandoned. The first stoppage came in the second round when a brawl broke out between the rival fans and the police had to intervene to quell the trouble. The fight restarted but rain had made the canvas slippery and even after both fighters shed their footwear they still had problems keeping their balance with Kwadjo sliding to the floor six times and the fight was abandoned. Kwadjo is a Ghanaian who now lives in Fiji and he and local fighter Naliva will have to meet again as this was for the Fijian title and that remains vacant. Estosadok, Russia: Light Pavel Malikov (14-1-1) DREW 10 Vage Sarukhanyan (19-2-2). Super Welter: Olek Ivanov (17-4) W PTS 10 Konstantin Ponomarev (34-2). Light: Denis Shafikov (40-4-2 )DRE W 10 Gaybatulla Gadzhialiev (6-0-1) . Super Welter: Alex Sharonov (12-3-2) W PTS 8 Akhmed Khapachev (3-2-1). Malikov vs. Sarukhanyan Malikov and Sarukhanyan draw in a close fight that saw both fighters on the floor. Malikov was the aggressor and the busier fighter early with Sarukhanyan showing some nice skills but just not working hard enough over the first three rounds. Sarukhanyan eventually began to pick up rounds but was floored in the eighth. He took the ninth and put Malikov down in the tenth to even things up. Scores 96-92 Malikov, 96-92 Sarukhanyan and 94-94.This was a quarter-final of a tournament so there had to be a winner and a fourth judge had Malikov 95-93 in front so he goes through to the lightweight semi-finals. Reportedly the 32-year-old Russian Malikov was defending the oddly named Eurasian Parliament title. Armenian Sarukhanyan, 28, is now 11-1-1 in his last 13 fights. Ivanov vs. Ponomarev Ivanov pushes the once promising Ponomarev a little further down the slope with a wide unanimous decision. Ponomarev did plenty of attacking but with a very leaky defence and Ivanov’s jab was the dominant punch in the fight. Ponomarev was bereft of any idea on how to turn things around and seems only half the fighter he was when campaigning in the USA and earning a world rating. Scores 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93 for Ivanov. Ukrainian-based Russian Ivanov makes it 7 wins in his last 8 fights and he also goes through to the semi-finals at super welter. Ponomarev looked a top prospect when he was beating Mikael Zewski and Brad Solomon but after 34 wins in a row he lost a split decision to unbeaten newcomer Sergey Vorobiev for the vacant Russian title in July last year. Gadzhialiev vs. Shafikov Disappointing performance from Shafikov. The former three-time challenger for the IBF title made a slow start and Gadzhialiev used speed and skill to work on the outside countering Shafikov’s usual forward march. Gadzhialiev built a good lead in the early rounds but Shafikov kept coming and looked to have edged in front only for Gadzhialiev to find another gear late. The judges scored this 96-96, 95-95 and 97-94 for Gadzhialiev. Again a result was needed and it was decided that whichever fighter the judges scored the last round for would go through to the semi-finals and that was Gadzhialiev. Although he has had only seven pro fights Gadzhialiev (Hajialiyev) was a high level amateur being Azeri national champion, winning a bronze medal at the European Championships and competing at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He also fought for the Azerbaijan Baku Fires team in the World Series of Boxing. It remains to be seen how badly this draw affects Shafikov’s chances of getting a fourth world title fight but it must be a heavy blow to them. Sharonov vs. Khapachev Sharonov goes through to the semi-finals with Gadzhialiev as he gets majority decision over Khapachev. The fighters in this one were a class or two behind Gadzhialiev and Shafikov but their contrasting styles produced a competitive and close fight. Scores 77-76 and 77-75 for Sharonov and 76-76. Four wins in a row for Sharonov. Southpaw Khapachev was in his first eight round fight. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Light: Prince Lee Isidore (17-3-1) W PTS 10 Antoni Armas (9-4). Local fighter Isidore overcomes a slow start to outpoint Venezuelan Armas. In his first fight since December 2017 Isidore took a few rounds to get into his stride and Armas connected with some heavy body punches in the second. The visitor looked to have edged the first three rounds. From the fourth Isidore took control and outboxed Armas. The young Venezuelan had never gone past six rounds and he tired late in the fight allowing Isidore to put the verdict beyond doubt and Isidore took the unanimous decision. This marked the first time that the 33-year-old Isidore had had to go the distance for a win. He collects the vacant WBFoundation International title. Armas, 22, had won 4 of his last 5 fights. February 10 Pretoria, South Africa: Heavy: Elvis Moyo (9-5-2) W PTS 10 Ruann Visser (14-1). If these two are amongst the best heavyweights in Africa then the Africa is in sore need of some new faces. This contest was fought at a pedestrian pace. The 6’9 ½” tall Visser towered over the 6’1” Moyo who just kept plodding forward. There was no power in Visser’s jab and he was sloppy with his right so Moyo was able to walk the big man down. Moyo would work Visser to the ropes and launch himself forward firing hooks past the porous guard of Visser. Visser was slightly more active than the 282 ¼ lbs Moyo and landed enough to win a round here and there but other than that it was Moyo who did most of what scoring there was and was a deserving winner. Scores 98-95, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Zimbabwean Moyo. He has won his last six fights but against strictly low level opposition and at 6’1 and over 280lbs he makes Jarrell Miller look almost svelte. South African champion Visser had won his last nine fights but is going nowhere. Fight of the week (Significance): Gervonta Davis has opened some exciting possibilities at super feather Fight of the week (Entertainment): Ray Beltran vs. Hiroki Okada had plenty of action on show and the Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. Jose Zepeda fight was in the balance all the way. Fighter of the week: Gervonta Davis for his obliteration of Hugo Ruiz Punch of the week: So many to choose from. The left hook from Victor Ruiz that flattened unbeaten Christian Carto. A left hook from Reymart Gaballo that obliterated Yuya Nakamura and on the same show the overhand right that Romero Duno used to put away Kuldeep Dhanda also the lightning uppercut from Marcos Aumada that wiped out Carlos Nascimento all great punches but I go for the left hook from Cristian Coria that laid out favoured Joel Diaz. Upset of the week: Ruiz vs. Carto, Cancio Coria vs. Diaz Prospect watch: I will go with 24-year-old Tim Tszyu who is 12-0 with 10 wins by KO/TKO-it’s in the blood. By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout) Japanese professional boxing is in a great place right now when some truly elite fighters and a plethora of outstanding youngsters racing through the ranks at a lightning pace. The country is hosting the 2020 Olympics but boxing’s place is yet to be confirmed due to a dispute between governing body AIBA and the IOC. Japan has never been a traditional powerhouse in amateur boxing but has had plenty of success at the youth and junior levels. Here are a small selection of boxers from the land of the rising sun who could either feature in Tokyo, or more likely in the professional ranks in the years to come. Hayato Tsutsumi, bantamweight, (56kg). The next potential superstar from Japan, Tsutsumi ruled the roost at the youth level and has made a solid start in the elite level. He’s had plenty of success domestically winning various tournaments. 2016 was a banner year as Tsutsumi claimed flyweight golds at the Asian and World Youth Championships before repeating the success up at bantamweight at the 2017 Asian Youth Championships. His move to the senior ranks saw him win the national title in 2017 and reach the last 4 in 2018 but elimination in the first contest of the 2018 Asian Games will have been a disappointment but should be seen as a valuable learning experience. If boxing doesn’t take place in Tokyo, expect promoters to be queueing round the block to sign up Tsutsumi. You can view the final of the 2017 national Championships involving Tsutsumi below. (Ed's note - The fight below is against highly regarded Teiken prospect Mikito Nakano, now 2-0 (2) in the professional ranks) Sora Tanaka, light welterweight, (64kg). Blessed with an exciting style and punching power, Tanaka won gold at the Asian Junior Championships in 2017. After winning Bronze at the 2018 Asian Youth Championships, Tanaka didn’t fare as well at the world Youth’s, going out in his first bout. An excellent performer at home, the teenager is definitely one for the future whether that’s as an amateur or a professional. Tanaka’s bout from the 2018 World Youth Championships can be seen below Ryutaro Nakagaki, flyweight, (52kg). Nakagaki’s first success away from home came in 2015 when he topped the podium at the Asian Junior Championships. His best result to date saw him take Asian Youth gold in 2017 as he prevailed over top notch Uzbek Abdumalik Khalokov in the final. Nakagaki’s 2 outings at the Japanese nationals saw him reach the last 4 in 2017 and the last 8 in 2018 and there is plenty to build on for the gifted youngster. You can take a look at a bout from 2015 involving Nakagaki below. Sho Usami, welterweight, (69kg). 2018 saw Usami reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Youth Championships before going one better at the World Youth Championships in Hungary, coming away with a credible Bronze medal. A shot at the national crown last year saw him lose in his opening bout but again he should only improve given the right coaching and appearances at international tournaments. You can watch Usami’s semi-final contest at the World Youth Championships below Finally it’s not just Hayato who has the boxing bug in the family as younger brothers Ryonosuke and Reito Tsutsumi have shown plenty of promise. Ryonosuke reached the last 8 at the 2018 World Youth Championships after grabbing Bronze at the Asian Youth Championships, losing out on both occasions to the outstanding Atichai Phoemsap. Reito’s most notable triumph so far saw him earn lightweight gold at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. Footage of both Tsutsumi’s in action can be viewed below.
By Eric Armit
It looks as though Anthony Joshua’s first fight in the USA will be against Jarrell Miller in New York on 1 June and confirmation of that is imminent. Reportedly Joshua’s purse will be his highest yet at $32 million. The WBC pushed the date for the purse bids for Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury back to 12 February with the parties said to be near to reaching an agreement. If the purse bidding does go ahead it will be interesting to see whether, as has been claimed, Wilder vs. Fury is a bigger fight. It is to the credit of the fighters and the Wilder/Fury people if they can come to an agreement in such a relatively short time. With the possibility of Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker, Dillian Whyte vs. Dominic Breazeale on the cards, Joe Joyce vs. Bermane Stiverne on 23 February and Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman all scheduled to fight in the next two months I can’t remember the last time there was so much happening for British heavyweights. Definitely not the “horizontal heavyweights” of the past. It is not just British heavyweights keeping busy with Agit Kabayel 18-0 defending the European title against Andriy Rudenko 32-3 on 2 March in Magdeburg and fellow SES heavyweight unbeaten Tom Schwarz 23-0 facing 17-1 Croatian Kristijan Krstacic on the same show. With Alex Povetkin likely to return to action in April and Kubrat Pulev facing Robert Helenius in the USA on 23 March (but that may fall through as the main event was to be Miguel Berchelt defending the WBC super feather title against Francisco Vargas and that fight has had to be put back to May due to Berchelt injuring his left hand) Romanian heavyweight Christian Hammer going where others fear to tread by taking on Luis Ortiz on 2 March it is a busy time for the heavyweights. The WBSS is still limping along. It is a bit like a wounded animal-is it going to be able to limp safely to the end of the current rounds involving the cruiserweights, super lightweights and bantamweights or is it fatally wounded and destined to die out? It has been announced that the cruiserweight semi-final between Krzys Glowacki and Mairis Breidis will take place in Riga, Latvia, on 15 June but no date or venue yet for Yunier Dorticos vs. Andrew Tabiti. At super light Josh Taylor vs. Ivan Baranchyk has an 18 May date in Glasgow but no information yet available for Regis Prograis vs. Kiryl Relikh. At bantamweight nothing advised for Zolani Tete vs. Nonito Donaire or Naoya Inoue vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez. The quarter finals were held in October so you are looking at a gap of seven and eight months between even those fights already scheduled. It is encouraging that a couple of the six semi-finals have a date but the longer it is before the other four are schedules the more it looks like the wound is fatal. Gilbert Ramirez has thrown his hat into the light-heavyweight mix indicating he is targeting Sergey Kovalev and it is a sensible move as there is very little for him in staying at super middle as the WBO ratings offer very little for Ramirez in the way of a challenge. In another move he is reported to have changed his manager and his trainer. Rob Brant is set to make the first defence of the secondary WBA middleweight title on 15 February in Hinckley against unbeaten 17-0 Russian Khasan Baysangurov. Brant will be back in his home State of Minnesota where he turned pro and had most of his early fights. Originally set for 6 February the WBA have reset the date for purse offers for three of their titles. Bids were due for Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Anthony Crolla at lightweight, Beibut Shumenov vs. Arsen Goulamirian at cruiser and Daniel Roman vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev at bantam but they have delayed the purse opening to 13 February. You can be sure Top Rank will decide who Lomachenko fights in April and not the WBA. Shumenov vs. Goulamirian will be between their secondary champion and their gold champion as they continue to try to sort out the mess they made by having more champions than titles. They solved the Denis Lebedev problem by just making him disappear. As he is not in their ratings he is probably back in the recess they put him in before. You can be sure that the gold title they invented for Goulamirian will not disappear because there are sanctioning fees to be made from it. There was a faint hope that Roman might be allowed to fight IBF champion TJ Doheny in a unification fight but that looks unlikely. Roman vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev? If you have never heard of Murodjon Akhmadaliev let me say that he was a top level amateur but has only been a professional for less than a year. How did he become the WBA No 1 super bantamweight? Well this is another case where paying the sanctioning fee for one of their obscure minor titles can reap such rich rewards. After three six round fights in August last year Akhmadaliev beat world No 266 Ramon Contreras from Chile for the WBA Inter-Continental title and was parachuted into the WBA ratings at No 6. In November be beat Isaac Zarate rated No 66 or 70, depending on which independent ratings you go by, and beating the No 66/70 was enough for Akhmadaliev to rise to the No 1 spot in the WBA ratings. That abomination makes a complete mockery of the very principles that should underpin ratings. In the WBA ratings a sanctioning fee trumps a win over a rated opponent every time. Olek Gvozdyk will put his WBC light heavyweight title on the line against Doudou Ngumbu in Philadelphia on March 30. It seems that Adonis Stevenson who had to be put in an induced come after losing the WBC title to Gvozdyk is making slow progress but it is progress. At the start of the year he was able to speak for the first time since being hospitalised and at the end of last month he took his first unaided steps. He has a long journey and I am sure he will tackle it with the same dedication and courage he showed as a fighter. That is one journey he won’t have to make unaided as his family his team at Group Yvon Michel and his fans will all be supporting him. If Gvozdyk gets past Ngumbu there will be pressure for him to fight Marcus Browne who beat Badou Jack in a final eliminator. Miguel Cotto is going to be busy this year. On March his fighter Alberto Machado defends his WBA super featherweight title against Andrew Cancio and he has said that he plans to have ten shows in Puerto Rico to develop more talent. With Saul Alvarez set to fight Daniel Jacobs in a unification match on 4 May in Las Vegas it is obvious that the secondary WBA super middle title will fall vacant. British fighter John Ryder is rated No 1 by the WBA with Fedor Chudinov No 2 and Chris Eubank Jr No 3 Chudinov would seem the most likely opponent although there has been a suggestion that David Lemieux could be in the other corner against Ryder. The AIBA are fighting it but it seems that the IOC’s decision to cut the number of divisions to be competed for at the Olympics is going to stand. It is a blow to the lower divisions. The weight divisions will be: 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg. That means that instead of the four lighter divisions 49kg, 52kg, 56kg and 60kg there will now only be two divisions in that range. That will be blow to the little guys as they will all have to compete at a higher weight than in the past. That will mean a natural 49kg fighter having to compete in his national qualifiers at 52kg. It also means that there will be fewer medals available and often national funding is based on medals won previously or potential returns. It is yet another blow to boxing at the Olympics. The Oubaali’s are another of boxing’s fighting families. Not surprising in their case. Nordine who won the WBC bantamweight title last month is the 13th of the 18 children in the family. Elder brother Ali lost only three of his 29 fights but unfortunately they were all in title fights. Now younger brother Messaoud is turning pro with his first bout scheduled for April. Ali and Nordine founded and run a gym in Deauviller with Olympic champion Estelle Mossely being one of their discoveries. There are still rumours of a return to action by Marcos Maidana. A few weeks back he seemed to indicate he was about to return but then he indicated he was only joking. Now he says there have been people talking about fights for him and he is training. What is certain is that Omar Narvaez will return to the ring. Now 43 he is targeting March for his first fight. By Eric Armit
Highlights: - Sergey Kovalev outboxes Eleider Alvarez to regain the WBO light heavyweight title -Richard Commey crushes Isa Chaniev in two rounds for the vacant IBF lightweight title -Oscar Valdez returns to action and stops Carmine Tommasone in seven rounds in defence of his WBO featherweight title -Teo Lopez continues his march of destruction as he batters Diego Magdaleno to defeat in seven rounds -Sergio Garcia outpoints unbeaten Ted Cheeseman to retain the European super welter title -Samir Ziani beats Julie Giner on a sixth round retirement to win the vacant European super featherweight title -Oldie Tomas Rojas scores late inside the distance win over Jairo Lopez and is hoping for a title fight -World rated Aston Palicte crushes Jose Martinez to keep alive his hopes of a return against Donnie Nietes -In Commonwealth title fights Felix Cash wins the vacant middleweight belt with win over Nigerian Rasheed Abolaji and Philip Bowes halts Tanzanian Benson Nyilawila for the super lightweight title. WORLD TITLE CARDS February 2 Frisco, TX, USA: Light Heavy: Sergey Kovalev (33-3-1) W PTS 12 Eleider Alvarez (24-1). Light: Richard Commey (28-2) W TKO 2 Isa Chaniev (13-2). Feather: Oscar Valdez (25-0) W TKO 7 Carmine Tommasone (19-1). Light: Teo Lopez (12-0) W KO 7 Diego Magdaleno (31-3). Super Welter: Patrick Day (17-2-1) W PTS 10 Ismail Iliev (11-1-1). Super Welter: Bakhram Murtazaliev (15-0) W TKO 9 Elvin Ayala (29-13-1). Middle: Janibek Alimkhanuly (5-0) W TKO 5 Steven Martinez (18-5).Feather: Jason Sanchez (14-0) W TKO 2 Daniel Olea (13-7-2). Kovalev vs. Alvarez Sweet revenge for Kovalev as he outboxes and outpoints Alvarez to regain the WBO light heavyweight title Round 1 Not a great deal of action. Kovalev was regularly stabbing out his jab but falling short. Alvarez scored with a his jab to the body and just did enough to edge a slow round that could have gone either way. Score: 10-9 Alvarez Round 2 Dominant round for Kovalev. He was constantly finding gaps for his jab and following in with hooks and straight rights. Alvarez was throwing one punch at a time and mostly missing. Score: Score 10-9 Tied 19-19 Round 3 A much better round for Alvarez. He was able to get on the front foot and was jabbing strongly with purpose and doing a better job of blocking Kovalev’s jab. He was also firing rights. Kovalev did most of the pressing but was not letting his punches flow as he had in the second. Score: 10-9 Alvarez Alvarez 29-28 Round 4 One for Kovalev. He was controlling the fight with his jab slotting it through Alvarez’s high guard and then firing clubbing lefts and rights to the head. Alvarez was just not throwing enough punches and in hiding behind his high guard was just moving into Kovalev’s punches without countering. Score: 10-9 Kovalev Tied 38-38 Official Scores: Judge Levi Martinez 40-36 Kovalev, Judge Jesse Reyes 38-38 tied, Judge Lisa Giampa 40-36 Kovalev. Round 5 Alvarez started the round well firing his jab and throwing a series of punches to the body. That was as good as it got for him once Kovalev started to find the rang with his jab and thumping rights. Alvarez tried to get close by coming in low but Kovalev cracked him with a right to the head and then finished the round with more hurtful head punches. Some of Kovalev’s shots were getting blocked but he was punching while Alvarez was waiting. Score: 10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 48-47 Round 6 Alvarez scored the first punch in this one a clubbing overhand right to the head which was the best pinch he had landed so far in the fight. From there Kovalev took over. He was teeing off on the advancing Alvarez and digging left hooks to the body. As Alvarez was coming forward Kovalev was firing a quick sequence of punches and then moving leaving the plodding Alvarez without a target Score: 10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 58-56 Round 7 Alvarez let his hands go more in this one. When Alvarez came forward behind his high guard Kovalev was again able to stab home punches but in this round Alvarez was standing and exchanging punches and just getting the better of the action. Score: 10-9 Alvarez Kovalev 67-66 Round 8 It was boxer Kovalev and not “Krusher” Kovalev who was winning here. His jab and move tactics were frustrating Alvarez’s attempts to get close. Kovalev was sliding punches through the porous guard of Alvarez and rattling him with quick bursts and then moving. Alvarez resorted to dropping his high guard and trying to walk Kovalev onto counters but that didn’t work either. Score: 10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 77-75 Official Scores: Martinez 78-74 Kovalev, Reyes 77-75 Kovalev, Judge Giampa 80-72 Kovalev. Round 9 Another round for Kovalev. He was sticking to his hit and move tactics and landed a choice right over the top of Alvarez’s guard. He continued to pop out punches not really loading up on them but still scoring. Alvarez had started to go away from the high guard and was holding his hands where he could throw punches but kept falling back to the high guard under pressure. Score:10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 87-84 Round 10 Kovalev was in charge throughout this one. He was finding more and more gaps for his jabs and straight rights and was putting Alvarez on the back foot and having him floundering at times. Alvarez had largely abandoned the plodding head down tactics but had also long since abandoned using his jab and had no answer to Kovalev’s. Score: 10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 97-93 Round 11 With his hands freed from defensive work Alvarez opened the round with a series of punches including a strong left to the head. Kovalev worked hard throughout the round and threw more and landed more but it was the most competitive Alvarez had been for a few rounds. Score:10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 107-102 Round 12 Kovalev took the last clearly. He was against slotting home jabs and then firing quick bursts with Alvarez looking to land one big punch. Although he connected with a couple of hard head shots a confident Kovalev was forcing him back with quick accurate punches and was a clear winner of the round and the fight. Score10-9 Kovalev Kovalev 117-111 Official Scores: Judge Levi Martinez 116-112 Kovalev, Judge Jesse Reyes 116-112 Kovalev, Judge Lisa Giampa 120-108 Kovalev. The 35-year-old Florida-based Kovalev had his tactics just right here as he jabbed, moved and fired short bursts of punches controlling the tempo of the fight with Alvarez too slow to catch him. With fellow Russians Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol holding the IBF and WBA titles respectively and Ukrainian Olek Gvozdyk the WBC champion Eastern Europeans rule the roost. Britain’s Anthony Yarde is the WBO No 1 but I am not sure he is ready for Kovalev as he is yet to face an opponent remotely near the ratings. Alvarez had his tactics all wrong. Pressing behind a high guard only works if you can force your opponent to the ropes and work on him there. Alvarez never did that efficiently so rarely had Kovalev under any real pressure and he changed his tactics too late. He is still a force in this division and may look to get a return with Kovalev or try for one of the other belts. Commey vs. Chaniev Justice for Commey as demolishes Chanev inside two rounds and lifts the vacant IBF title in his second. attempt. Commey established a strong jab from the outset. Chanev was trying some rights but looked low on power. Commey put Chanev on the back foot with his jab but Chaniev landed with some good hooks and a straight right. That gave Chanev the confidence to stand and trade which proved a big mistake. First he was shaken by a Commey left hook and then a straight right dumped Chanev on the floor. He was up quickly but he looked very unsteady and staggered backwards. After the eight count Commey leapt in to try to finish the fight but after landing a couple of punches Commey tripped and went down. There was no count and after Commey landed another right the bell went. With just eight seconds gone in the second round a left hook sent Chanev down again. He looked unsteady and after the count Commey piled in connecting with punches from both hands. Chanev tried desperately to hold on but when a short left hook on the inside floored Chanev again the fight was stopped. Great win for the 31-year-old from Ghana and win No 25 by KO/TKO. In his first shot at the title he lost a controversial split decision to Robert Easter and then suffered another blow in a questionable split verdict against Denis Shafikov. He had scored three good wins going into this one and crushed Chanev with ease. Boxing in Ghana suffered a blow with the loss of Isaac Dogboe against Emanuel Navarette but this win by Commey will restore national pride and put a smile back on the faces in his home country. By winning this one Commey had lined up a huge fight against Vasyl Lomachenko in Los Angeles on 14 April but Commey indicated he had injured his right hand in the Chanev fight so there is some doubt over that. The ease with which Commey disposed of Russian Chaniev puts a question over how Chaniev came to be at No 3 the second highest rated fighter in the IBF ratings. Significantly he could not fill the No 2 spot because he had not beaten a rated fighter so the No 2 spot was vacant. He had beaten reasonable level opposition in Jean Pierre Bauwens, Juan Martin Elorde and Ismael Barroso but those fighters were all unrated when he beat them and he was crushed here. Valdez vs. Tommasone Valdez returns to action and shakes off some rust as he retains the WBO title with stoppage of Italian Tommasone Round 1 Neither fighter dominated the round. Valdez was quicker and more accurate with his jabs. Tommasone tried some rights but was mainly on the back foot and short with his punches. Score: 10-9 Valdez Round 2 Valdez stepped up the pace in the second . Again he was forcing Tommasone back with hard, accurate jabs. He was letting his hands go more but with his inactivity his timing was off. Tommasone kept stabbing out his jab but it was a defensive weapon not an offensive one. Score: 10-9 Valdez Valdez 20-18 Round 3 Tommasone did well over the first half of the round. He was more positive with his jab and landing some rights. Valdez was hunting him down with more purpose but his timing was still out and Tommasone kept moving and kept jabbing and just did enough to edge the round. Score: 10-9 Tommasone Valdez 29-28 Round 4 The roof fell in on the Italian challenger in this one. Valdez moved up a gear and hurt Tommasone early with a left to the body. Valdez was pressing hard and Tommasone stepped in to trade punches and Valdez connected with a straight right that sent Tommasone down. He sat on the floor and timed his rise getting up at eight. Valdez went after him but Tommasone boxed on the back foot piercing Valdez’s guard with jabs and scoring with a four-punch combination. Just before the bell a long left from Valdez landed on the belt of Tommasone. He momentarily dipped at the knees and touched the canvas that led to a second count. Score: 10-7 Valdez Valdez 39-35 Official Scores: Judge Javier Alvarez 40-34 Valdez, Judge Ursulo Perez 40-34 Valdez, Judge Elias Johnson 40-34 Valdez Round 5 Tommasone was moving and jabbing again and now his jab was more accurate and he was getting though Valdez’s guard. When Tommasone became too confident a left to the body from Valdez saw him backing off. Valdez began to find the target with his left hooks to the body and straight rights bringing blood from Tommasone’s nose and bruising under his left eye as Valdez was finally getting his timing right. Score: 10-9 Valdez Valdez 49-44 Round 6 Valdez was staring to load up on his punches but the punch that put Tommasone down early in this round was a jab which knocked the Italian off balance. He was up at eight and despite pressure from Valdez was never really in trouble again as he boxed on the back foot with plenty of jabs. Score: Score 10-8 Valdez Valdez 59-52 Round 7 It was over quickly in this round. With less than ten seconds on the clock a stunning short right uppercut from Valdez sent Tommasone down. The referee immediately waived the fight over despite protests from Tommasone. It looked as though Tommasone could have continued but it was only going to end with him taking more punishment so it was a wall judged decision by the referee. Due to injuries this is the first fight for Valdez since March 2018 and he took a few rounds to get his timing right and got the job done. His mandatory challenger is Filipino Genisis Servania so what happens next depends on whether the WBO insist he fights Servania or allows Valdez another voluntary defence. Tommasone’s role as challenger required some ratings “adjustment” form the WBO who parachuted him in on the back of a November win over a guy with a 8-8-1 record. Having said that he show a sharp jab and plenty of shifty footwork but with only five wins by KO/TKO was never a threat so just right for Valdez after his long period of inactivity. The night was not all bad for Tommasone as he proposed to his girlfriend in the ring and she accepted. Bravisimo Carmine! Lopez vs. Magdaleno Another imperious performance from Lopez as he dismantles then demolishes Magdaleno. It was the power of Lopez against the hand speed and movement of Magdaleno and both were on show in the first with Magdaleno’s right jab flicking out like a snakes tongue and Lopez landing with a couple of hard punches just before the end of the round. Magdaleno was quick with his fist again in the second and although he was landing for Lopez it was a case of insult but not injury and he shook Magdaleno with a vicious right uppercut that saw Magdaleno buckle at the knees and opened a cut on the bridge of Magdaleno’s nose. Lopez is pretty quick with his own hands and was driving Magdaleno back with snapping hooks to the head starting to connect with some hard shots. He trapped Magdaleno in a corner and landed with some straight rights before Magdaleno skipped out of range. Lopez does not mind which hand he leads with and in the third he sneaked home a peach of a right uppercut and then continued to land with rights either as the lead or following a jab. Magdaleno was throwing his jab at the start of the fourth but a few right counters from Lopez made him much more reluctant to commit himself to attack. It was a quieter round but it was Lopez whose punches were landing. In the fifth Lopez began to unload on Magdaleno with right uppercuts and straight rights Magdaleno was trying to come in behind his jab with lefts to the body and had some success but there was no real sting to the punches whereas almost every punch Lopez threw was a power shot- and plenty of them were landing. Lopez hardly threw a punch over the first half of the sixth but then landed a right to the body that hurt Magdaleno. He continued to be sparing with his shots but connected with another body punch and snapped Magdaleno’s head back with a left uppercut. Magdaleno kept working but late in the round as he moved inside a wicked left to the chin sent him tumbling sideways to the floor. He was up at eight and after the count with less than ten seconds left Lopez landed a couple more head punches at the bell. As Magdaleno walked back to his corner he was unsteady, there was blood dripping from the cut on his nose and his left eye was almost closed. Lopez connected with a series of hard head punches in the seventh driving Magdaleno to the ropes and pouring on punishment. A gutsy Magdaleno gestured for Lopez to bring it on and he did with more lefts and rights to the head and then connected with a fearsome left that put Magdaleno down on his back. The referee started the count but did not bother to complete but cradled Magdaleno in his arms and stopped the fight. The 21-year-old from Brooklyn makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. If he continues to destroy opposition this way I am going to run out of superlatives. To just talk about his power would be to understate his talent as he is also a very clever defensive boxer. He retained his NABF and USBA titles and won the vacant NABA belt so is covering all angles and is rated WBA 9/WBC 11/WBO 11. There is talk of a fight with Jose Pedraza this year and that would be an interesting test for Lopez. Magdaleno, 32, had previously only lost in world title fights being outpointed by Roman Martinez and stopped by Terry Flanagan in WBO fights. He won his two fights in 2018 but took a savage beating here so will be on the sidelines for a while. Day vs. Iliev Former top amateur Day registers his sixth win on the bounce with unanimous verdict over Russian Iliev. The respective tactics gelled well producing a competitive ten rounds. Iliev was the aggressor early with Day boxing well and countering the Russian’s attacks. Iliev was going for quantity and Day with accuracy and more power punches. Most of the rounds were close and could have been scored for either boxer but it was Day’s heavier eye-catching shots that earned him the verdict. Scores 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Day. The 26-year-old from Freeport was National Golden Gloves champion and great things were expected from him when he first turned pro, initially he had trouble adjusting to the pro game but seems to have settled now and is making progress. Iliev, also a good level amateur, was having his first fight in the USA and his first fight for almost 14 months so his slow start is understandable. Murtazaliev vs. Ayala World rated Russian slowly breaks down a gutsy Ayala for a late stoppage win. Murtazaliev was attacking hard from the start and Ayala tried to match him early. In the opener a Murtazaliev punch had Ayala taking a knee but he survived the round. After that Ayala quickly went into reverse under the pressure. Murtazaliev continued to boss the action with Ayala doing just enough to stay in the fight and it looked as though Ayala might go the distance. Late in the eighth a left hook had Ayala badly shaken and Murtazaliev stormed forward in the ninth landing plenty and with Ayala on the ropes and being pounded the referee stepped in and halted the fight. The 26-year-old Murtazaliev retains the WBC USNBC title and makes it ten wins by KO/TKO in his last eleven contests. No names on his record yet but he is already rated WBO 7/IBF 10(9). Way back in 2008 Ayala challenged unsuccessfully for the IBF middleweight title losing to Arthur Abraham. Now 38 Ayala is a long way down the slope with one win in his last eight fights. Alimkhanuly vs. Martinez Look out here comes yet another outstanding talent from Kazakhstan. Martinez is a good level pro and looked a reasonable test for southpaw Alimkhanuly. The Kazak boxer soon dispelled that notion. After taking the first two rounds he floored Martinez early in the third and rocked Martinez with savage uppercuts in the fourth. After another of those wicked uppercuts in the fifth the referee came in to save Martinez from more harm. The 25-year-old Oxnard-based Alimkhanuly gets his second inside the distance win. As an amateur he was a gold medallist at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Asian Games but did not medal at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics. Certainly one to follow. Martinez suffers his first loss inside the distance. He took Terrell Gausha to a majority decision but this was his first fight for eleven months. Sanchez vs. Olea Sanchez dismantles Olea in two rounds. Sanchez blitzed Olea landing heavily with both hands in the first and then putting Olea on the floor with a powerful right in the second. Olea managed to return to the vertical but his legs were all over the place and the referee would not let him continue. The 24-year-old “Little Scorpion” from Albuquerque moves to seven inside the distance wins. A victory in October over unbeaten Jean Carlos Rivera saw him lift the vacant WBO Youth title and he was rewarded with No 15 in the WBO ratings. Mexican Olea suffers his third defeat in a row all against very tough opponents. January 31 Alpine, CA, USA: Super Fly: Aston Palicte (25-2-1) W TKO 2 Jose Martinez (20-1-2). Impressive showing by Palicte as he wipes out previously unbeaten Martinez inside two rounds. In the opening round Palicte used his longer reach to probe with his jab and then fired home straight rights. Martinez was going to the body and landed a good left hook. He was confident and taking the fight to Palicte and they exchanged punches. Just at the bell Martinez lunged forward with his head banging into Palicte’s face but luckily there was no damage. Martinez went after Palicte at the start of the second landing body punches. A left hook to the body followed by a left to the head saw Martinez almost go down and he briefly touch the canvas with a glove. No count was applied but Palicte kept Martinez against the ropes and unloaded with shots to head and body. Martinez got off the ropes and fired back but was nailed with a series of rights from Palicte and dropped to one knee. He was up at eight but dropped under more rights complaining about a punch to the back of the head. He was up at eight again but as Palicte was beating on him the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. First fight for the 28-year-old Filipino since drawing with Donnie Nietes for the vacant WBO super fly title in September and win No 21 by KO/TKO. He has lost only one of his last seventeen contests. He fights under the banner of the Roy Jones Jr team and is trained by former WBC light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol. He was an elite level amateur competing at the World Junior Championships and the prestigious King’s Cup and his younger brother Jamie won a gold medal at the Asian Junior Championships. Puerto Rican Martinez beat 23-2 Jesus Martinez in 2017 but had only one fight in 2018. February 1 Rochester, NY, USA: Super Middle: DeAndre Ware (13-1-2) W PTS 10 Ronald Ellis (15-1-2,1ND). Light: Will Madera (13-0-2) W PTS 8 Thomas Mattice (13-1-1). Middle: Dominic Wade (19-1) W KO 1 Martin Rios (23-19-4,1ND). Ware vs. Ellis Minor upset as Ware takes majority decision over previously unbeaten Ellis. It was a close fight all the way. Ellis made the better start working well on the outside with his jab with Ware trying to get inside. The fight changed after the third in which Ellis suffered yet another of the hand injuries that have plagued him in his career. With his right of limited use Ellis had to rely mainly on his jab. He tried to compensate by throwing even more jabs and for a while he was outworking Ware and built a lead. Eventually as it became apparent that Ellis was carrying the injury the always pressing Ware was able to step up his attacks and get past the jab and land with powerful rights. Ellis was only able to use his right sporadically and despite a big effort in the last Ware just got the decision his pressure and power punching deserved. Scores 96-94 twice for Ware and 95-95. Big win for Toledo fireman Ware who had suffered his only loss to date when coming in as a late substitute and being outpointed by Cem Kilic in September. He collects three previously vacant titles in one go as he wins the NABA, WBC Continental Americas and the USBO titles. More bad luck for former National Golden Gloves champion Ellis. Hand injuries have caused two extended periods of inactivity but he was also out for fourteen months back in 2013/2014. Whilst that was due to an elbow injury it was also the result of positive test. He will be inactive again whilst this latest injury heals . Madera vs. Mattice Good matchmaking under the sponsorship of Shobox sees a second very close battle between unbeaten fighters as Madera beats favourite Mattice on a tight unanimous verdict. Madera won this one on the basis of his better work over the first half of the fight. He pressed the fight hard and Mattice was slow to get into his stride. Madera was the busier and more accurate. Mattice used his better skills to get into the fight over the middle rounds but Madera protected the early lead he had built with a strong finish over the last two rounds and was a good winner. Scores 77-75 twice and 78-74 all for Madera. The 28-year-old Madera from nearby Albany has struggled against very modest opposition but against a better class of opponent he showed improvement here. Mattice had also struggled lately. In his last two fights he had looked lucky to get a split verdict over Zhora Hamazaryan and then fought a draw with the Armenian. Wade vs. Rios In his first fight for almost three years Wade disposes off Argentinian Rios in just 108 seconds. No time for any rust to show as Wade floors Rios twice with the second, a left to the head, putting Rios down and out. First fight for Wade since his crushing two round beating by Gennady Golovkin in a world title challenge in April 2016. Still only 28 it will be interesting to see where he goes next as he was 173lbs for this one. Rios, a former Argentinian champion at middleweight and super middleweight, suffers his fourth loss by KO/TKO and his eighth loss in his last nine fights. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Feather: Pablo Ojeda (16-4-1) W KO 3 Mario Lozano (18-2-1). Ojeda’s power too much for Lozano. After two fairly even rounds Ojeda broke through in the third. A straight right forced Lozano back to the ropes. He tried to fight his way off the ropes but an overhand right and a left hook sent him staggering and another left saw him pitch forward and down and he was counted out. Ojeda wins the vacant WBO Latino title with his eleventh win by KO/TKO. Lozano was 10-0-1 in his last eleven fights but they were mostly four round preliminaries. Fontvielle, Monaco: Middle: Diego Natchoo (18-1-4,1ND) W PTS 10 Patrick Momene Mokamba (7-24-4). Super Feather: Florian Montels (14-2-2,1ND) W PTS 10 Rachid Sali (6-8-2,1ND). Natchoo vs. Mokamba L’Indien Natchoo retains the French title with wide unanimous verdict over Mokamba. Natchoo made a great start flooring Mokamba with a hard left hook in the first round. Mokamba survived and tried to force the fight but Natchoo was too quick and too clever .The fight was fast-paced and both tired badly over the late rounds but Natchoo held on to the lead and was a clear winner Scores 98-91 twice and 98-92 all for Natchoo. He lost in a challenge f or the French super middle title in 2017 but then moved down to middle and is now 8-0-1 in the new division. Next up will be a defence against experienced Michel Mothmora who he beat for the title in October. First shot at the national title for Mokamba who is now 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Montels vs. Sali Montels holds on to the French super feather title as he knocks back the challenge of No 1 feather Sali in a return match. Montels boxed coolly in this one with Sali trying to break through with wild attacks. A right from Montels had Sali in trouble in the third but he was unable to capitalise on that. Montels controlled the fight with his better boxing but over the second half of the fight with Montels taking no chances and Sali just not able to be a threat it was a disappointing contest. When these two fought in November a clash of heads saw Sali badly cut and although Montels had won the three completed rounds it was declared a No Decision. No mistake this time as Montels won all the way. Scores 100-90,99-91 and 98-92 for Montels. He is now 6-1,1ND in his last 8 fights with the loss being against WBC No 7 lightweight Yvan Mendy. Sali, a poor challenger, is 1-7-2,1ND in his most recent 11 contests February 2 London, England: Super Welter: Sergio Garcia (29-0) W PTS 12 Ted Cheeseman (15-1). Middle: Felix Cash (11-0) W TKO 1 Rasheed Abolaji (11-5-1). Light Heavy: Craig Richards (13-1) W TKO 3 Jake Ball (12-2). Cruiser: Lawrence Okolie (11-0) W TKO 3 Tamas Lodi (20-12-2 ). Middle: Scott Fitzgerald (12-0) W TKO 2 Filip Rzadek (2-12). Garcia vs. Cheeseman Garcia outboxes a gutsy but outclassed Cheeseman in the first defence of his European title. No probing or posturing in this fight. Garcia was immediately sliding punches past the guard of the advancing Cheeseman who was using a high guard and throwing hooks. Garcia was on the back foot but very accurate with his jab and straight rights and moving quickly back leaving Cheeseman with no target. Cheeseman did better in the second connecting with hooks and straight rights and landed a sharp uppercut but Garcia was throwing more and landing more and it was as well that Garcia is not a heavy puncher. Cheeseman continued to walk into jabs and heavy counters in the third and fourth. Garcia did not have a strong enough punch to keep him out but was scoring with jabs hooks and uppercuts on the challenger. Cheeseman upped his pace in the fifth and scored well with hooks. He was also moving his head more but Garcia was still finding plenty of gaps although Cheeseman rattled the Spaniard with a left hook late in the round. The sixth saw three minutes of pressure from Cheeseman and three minutes of pain and frustration as uppercuts from Garcia brought blood dripping from the challenger’s nose and movement from Garcia left Cheeseman swishing air. At the half-way point it was hard to feel Cheeseman had won a single round. In the seventh Cheeseman tried both the high guard and hands down swinging but he just kept walking onto punishment. The eighth was a great round. Cheeseman again came out swinging. No high guard just powerful rights and lefts and for once he was connecting and bombarding Garcia who looked rattled. He was caught with some powerful punches and it looked as though Garcia was about to go under. Then the storm blew itself out and Garcia was the one landing heavily only for Cheeseman to come to life again and score with heavy rights to take the round. Garcia couldn’t miss Chesses man with his punches in the ninth and tenth as the challenger just kept walking onto punch after punch. His head was snapped back by a vicious uppercut and a bruise under his left eye was leaking blood. Cheeseman connected with some wild swings in the eleventh but he was walking forward with both hands at hip level making it easy for Garcia to rattle his head with a series of punches. Cheeseman had early success in the last as he trapped Garcia in a corner and landed three rights to the head. After that he was just swinging wildly and too often standing right in front of Garcia with his hands down allowing the Spaniard to tee-off on him an array of punches. Scores 119-109 twice and a totally unbelievable 115-114 all for Garcia. Scoring is not subjective it is opinion but how Massimiliano Bianco scored this one 115-114 is beyond me. Garcia outclassed a very brave Cheeseman in his first defence of his European title. The super welter division is talent rich in Europe and the world. I am not sure Garcia has the power to beat the top fighters. He is No 4 with the WBC and No 14(13) with the IBF so could land a title shot. British champion Cheeseman was never able to get a foothold in this fight but is 23 so he can come again. Cash vs. Abolaji Cash wins the vacant Commonwealth Boxing Council title with stoppage of Nigerian Abolaji. Cash was sharp from the start. He was snapping out his jab to head and body and landed a couple of hooks to the body . The next jab from Cash surprisingly saw Abolaji go back and down on his rump. He got up at six and after the eight count he seemed to have recovered. They boxed on until Cash connected with a combination and as Abolaji came forward Cash landed a hard jab and following behind it came a straight right that connected with the forehead of Abolaji who stumbled forward a couple of steps and then pitched face down on the canvas. He somehow staggered to his feet but wobbled back to the ropes and was obviously in no condition to continue and the fight was over. Seventh win by KO/TKO for 25-year-old prospect Cash. Abolaji had gone the distance with Sam Sheedy for this same title in 2017. He then scored three wins in 2017 before losing on a sixth round retirement against Bilel Jkitou in January 2018 for the vacant ABU title which was his last fight. He got caught cold here but it was a very disappointing performance from him. Richards vs. Ball Richards right proves too strong for the skills of Ball. After a tentative opening in the first with southpaw Ball circling the ring and probing with his jab Richards landed a straight right which dumped Ball down onto the bottom rope. Ball arose quickly and looked OK and the bell went after the eight count was completed. Ball was working with his jab in the second but there was danger in every right that Richards threw. After they both landed good punches a right to the body saw Ball drop to his knees. He beat the count but was hurt and the bell went before Richards could press home his advantage. It was mainly a case of exchanging jabs in third until two rights from Richards put Ball down again. Ball was up at eight and allowed to continue. Richards chased Ball throwing more rights. A couple landed and as Ball staggered back the referee stopped the fight with Ball protesting strongly that he was OK. “Spider” Richards, 28, makes it eight wins by KO/TKO and collects the vacant WBA Continental title. His only loss is against Frank Buglioni when he came in as a very late substitute and lost a close decision in a challenge for the British title. This is his fourth inside the distance win since then. The 6’4” Ball had won his last five fights. Okolie vs. Lodi Okolie just keeps busy with stoppage of an outclassed Lodi. There was no way this one was going to last long. Okolie towered over the Hungarian and was able to spear Lodi with jabs and drop in right crosses. Lodi was in survival mode before the first minute was over. Okolie was able to stand off and place his punches where he liked with little or nothing coming back from Lodi. The visitor threw a few punches at the start of the second but soon went back into his shell’ Okolie put Lodi down with a left and a right . Lodi was up quickly but floored again by a right to the head. Got to his feet and as the eight count was completed the bell rang. A straight right saw Lodi drop to one knee in the third. He beat the count and tried to come forward but two rights sent him down again. This time when he completed the eight count the referee waived the fight over. Okolie, the Commonwealth and British champion, move to 8 wins by KO/TKO. This was a defence of his WBA Continental title and whoever though this was a suitable title fight should hide their face. A top prospect Okolie was several classes above Lodi who was a late pick as his opponent. The danger is that if Okolie gets fed opposition like this he could develop habits that could cost him dear against better opposition but his team will make sure that doesn’t happen. Eighth loss by KO/TKO for Lodi. Fitzgerald vs. Rzadek Fitzgerald overpowers poor Rzadek for another quick win. No time wasting from Fitzgerald. He was landing thudding hooks to the body and strong rights. Rzadek tried a couple of punches but all he got for his trouble was another series of blistering hooks from Fitzgerald. A stiff jab followed by a right to the head saw Rzadek fall to his knees late in the round. He made it to his feet and lasted the remaining seconds to the bell. Early in the second a left from Fitzgerald landed very low. He was given a warning and Rzadek given some recovery time. When the fight resumed a series of hooks and a wicked uppercut saw Rzadek fall to his knees and although he just made it his feet the referee stopped the fight. The 27-year-old Commonwealth gold medallist makes it nine wins by KO/TKO but this was just another keep busy fight. He will face a much sterner test when he tackles unbeaten Anthony Fowler in Liverpool on 30 March. Now that will be some fight. Rzadek in way over his head he has 18 losses inside the distance. Barcelona, Spain: Super Feather: Samir Ziani (28-4-1) W RTD 6 Juli Giner (23-4-1). Light: Frank Urquiaga (13-1-1DREW 10 Ivan Tomas (9-0-1) . Super Feather: Moussa Gholan (11-0) W RTD 5 Alex Rat (8-4-2). Ziani vs. Giner Another exciting European title fight sees Frenchman Ziani take on experienced former EU champion Giner in the Spaniard’s home city and break both Giner’s heart and that of Giner’s fervent supporters to win the EBU belt. The pattern for the fight was set in the first round and never varied. Southpaw Ziani was marching forward getting in close and working the body and Giner was moving and countering. The rounds were close in a too-and-fro battle. Ziani was having success with his body punches and Giner was on target with sharp, accurate counters. It looked a fairly even fight over the first five rounds but in the sixth the body attack paid off for Ziani. He continued to press hard and Giner began to feel his 35 years and began to struggle. He had nothing left and although he was still on his feet at the bell he was finished and retired in his corner. Former French champion Ziani, 28, wins the European title at his second attempt having lost a very close decision, 115-113 from all three judges, against Guillame Frenois in 2016. He had won seven in row since then Giner, 35, is a former Spanish feather and super feather and EU champion with his losses being to quality opposition in Ruddy Encarnacion, Miguel Roman and Martin Joseph Ward for this European title. It could be retirement time for “The Rock”. Urquiaga vs. Tomas Urquiaga and Tomas end up all even after a good ten round scrap for the vacant Spanish title. Urquiaga was the favourite and that looked the right pick over the first four rounds. From the fifth Tomas started to firstly get into the fight and then take it over and it was close all the way with the draw looking a fair result. Scores 95-95 twice and 96-95 for Torres. Peruvian-born Urquiaga suffered his only loss when he was outpointed by Edis Tatli for the European title last August. Tomas, 25, did well as this was his first ten round fight. Hopefully there will be a return. Gholan vs. Rat Lanky youngster Gholan wins the vacant WBC Youth title with a victory over Rat. The tall Moroccan-born Gholan had already built a substantial lead when Romanian Rat retired citing an injury to his left arm. Good win for Gholan who was also in his first ten round fight. Madrid-based Rat, who previously fought for the IBF Youth title, had won his last two fights. Tokyo, Japan: Light: Kenichi Ogawa (23-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Roldan Aldea (12-7-1). Fly: Junto Nakatani (18-0) W TKO 9 Noaki Mochizuki (15-4). Koki Ogawa vs. Aldea Ogawa returns to the ring for the first time since being suspended for testing positive after winning the vacant IBF super featherweight title against Tevin Farmer. Ogawa won the first round but southpaw Aldea scored with some sharp lefts to the body in the second. Ogawa took over then scoring with heavy rights in the fourth and fifth with Aldea managing to get home some left hooks. Ogawa dished out heavy punishment in the seventh And eighth but Aldea refused to crumble and fought hard to the last bell. Scores 99-92, 98-92 and 97-93 for Ogawa. He celebrated his 31st birthday on Friday and gets win No 17 by KO/TKO. With Farmer now the IBF champion Ogawa will be looking to fight his way back to another title shot. Aldea, the Philippines lightweight champion, does not travel well-six of his seven losses have been on the road, Nakatani vs. Mochizuki Southpaw hope Nakatani wins the vacant Japanese title with stoppage of Mochizuki. Nakatani was handing some severe punishment with lefts to the body and right uppercuts. Mochizuki managed to do some good work inside in the second but was having to absorb some heavy hits. Nakatani continued to press over the next three rounds with his uppercut again a dominating punch. After five rounds Nakatani was well in front on scores of 49-46 twice and 50-45. Mochizuki was beginning to fade but kept fighting back although his face was now swelling from Nakatani’s punches. In the ninth a right uppercut and a straight left had Mochizuki in trouble and the referee stopped the contest. The 21-year-old Nakatani now has 13 victories by KO/TKO. He is already rated WBC 4/WBO 10 so could be in line for a title fight later this year. First loss by KO/TKO for Mochizuki who had won 4 of his last 5 fights. Rio Bravo, Mexico: Super Feather: Tomas Rojas (51-16-1) W RTD 10 Jairo Lopez (23-10). Super Middle: Juan Macias Montiel (21-4-1) W TKO 4 Marcos Reyes (37-5). Rojas vs. Lopez Age is but a number for “The Worm” as Rojas outclasses and beats Lopez. The tall, skinny southpaw, a former WBC super flyweight champion was living up to his “Doberman” nickname but Rojas showed a combination of good defensive work and hurtful counters and Lopez went down on one knee after a hail of punches in the fourth. Lopez is tough and he continued to try to take the fight to Rojas but was paying a heavy price and was floored again with a body punch in the tenth. It was a well beaten Lopez who went back to his corner and he did not answer the bell for the eleventh round. After loses to Cris Mijares and Edivaldo Ortega in 2017 it looked as though Rojas was coming to the end of the road. However he proved that he still had plenty left with a points win in October over Jhonny Gonzalez. He is No 8 with the WBC so at 38 there may be one more title shot out there for him. Fifth loss by KO/TKO for Lopez. He was 2-3 in fights in 2017 and 2018 but the three losses were against Luke Campbell, Jose Felix and 19-0 Joseph Aguirre Montiel vs. Reyes Montiel gets win over more experienced Reyes. Both of these are big punchers so it was not expected to go the distance. What was not expected was that young Montiel would almost blow Reyes away in the first round. Montiel came out punching and put Reyes immediately under pressure. He landed some heavy stuff and late in the round a series of head punches floored Reyes. He only just beat the count and was saved from defeat by the bell. Reyes never really recovered from that pounding and Montiel had him under fire and on the back foot through the second and third and by the fourth the referee was ready to step in and declare Montiel the winner. The 24-yerar-old “Juanito” is a member of the clan fighting Montiel’s clan from Los Mochis which includes former world champion Fernando Montiel. This is his 21st win b y KO/TKO. His only inside the distance defeat was against Jaime Munguia in 2017. Reyes started his career by going 32-1 in his first 33 fights and had reversed his only loss. He then went 3-3 in his next six including defeats against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and David Lemieux. He had won his last two fights but he looked an old man here and just caved in under the pressure Anapa, Russia: Light: Elnur Samedov (8-1) W PTS 10 Viskhan Murzabekov (18-3). Samedov climbs off the floor twice and wins vacant Russian title at the second attempt with split decision over more experienced favourite Murzabekov. Samedov was down in the first and third rounds and both boxers escaped without injury when they toppled through the ropes with Murzabekov landing on the ring apron and Samedov pitching head first into the ringside seats. Neither fighter was injured and Samedov staged a strong finish to claw back the points lost over those first three rounds. The 25-year-old Azeri-born southpaw had lost a split decision to unbeaten Nikita Kuznetsov for the vacant title in March last year. He now goes forward into the semi-finals of the Presidents Cup. “Little Tyson” Murzabekov had won 6 of his last 7 fights with all of the wins by KO/TKO. London, England: Super Light: Philip Bowes (19-3) W TKO 2 Benson Nyilawila (10-2). “Quicksilver” Bowes wins the vacant Commonwealth Boxing Council belt with second round stoppage of young Tanzanian Nyilawila. The tall East London southpaw gets win No 3 by KO/TKO and has won 10 of his last 11 fights. Nyilawila, 21, lacked the experience to really pose any problems for Bowes and suffers his second loss in a row. Necochea, Argentine: Middle: Francisco Torres (11-3) W PTS 10 Alan Castano (13-1). Middle: Jonathan Wilson Sanchez (14-3-1) W TKO 3 Sergio Lopez (12-3). Torres vs. Castano An upset result as Torres beats Castano. This was a quarter final fight in the Argentinian middleweight Super 8 tournament for the Carlos Monzon Cup. Castano was the favourite to win the Tournament but fell by the wayside as he was clearly beaten by Torres. After a close opening round Torres began to make use of his advantages in height and reach and was able to counter the attacking Castano with long lefts and rights and land sharp uppercuts when Castano did get inside. Castano took too long to get into the fight and was not nearly busy enough. By the end of the fifth Torres had built a good lead. Castano was walking through the punishment in the sixth and finally handing out some of his own. Torres banged back strongly in the seventh and there were some savage exchanges over the last three rounds as Castano tried vainly to close the points gap. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 all for Torres. Big win for Torres who did not even figure in the Argentinian ratings. Inactivity may have caused the slow start to the fight for Castano. He had only one fight in 2017 and was inactive in 2018. He was a top ranked amateur who competed in the World Series of Boxing before turning pro. He is the younger brother of Brian Castano the holder of the secondary WBA super welterweight title. Sanchez vs. Lopez Plenty of incident in this one as Sanchez gets a win when Lopez just climbs out of the ring in the middle of the third round. In the first round Lopez was storming forward forcing Sanchez to the ropes. As he piled forward throwing more punches Sanchez stepped to the side and a charging Lopez went out over the top rope being caught by a couple of ringsiders before he hit the floor. He managed to get in the ring before being counted out. Later in the round Lopez floored Sanchez with a right and with Sanchez kneeling on the canvas looking up at him Lopez took a step forward and landed another right for which he should have been disqualified. Sanchez was up at eight and survived. In the next round the position was almost reversed with Sanchez missing with punches and ending up balanced on the top rope half way out of the ring with the referee grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back into the ring. In the third Sanchez began to connect with hard right crosses to the head and the referee gave Lopez a standing count. When the action resumed Sanchez drove Lopez to a corner. Lopez then turned away , waived his arm and just climbed out through the ropes onto the ring apron. He then changed his mind and climbed back into the ring. The referee proceeded to count Lopez out., Bizarre! Sanchez needed the win being 1-3-1 in his last 5 fights. The victory puts him in the semi-finals of the Argentinian middleweight Super8. Lopez, the Argentinian No 6, had won 8 of his last 9 fights and even he could not explain his crazy actions. Ingelmunster, Belgium: Super Feather: Maidin El Garni (14-0) W PTS 10 Brian Pelaez (8-4). Super Feather: Hakim Ben Ali (21-6) W PTS 8 Matthieu Lehot (11-10-1) El Garni vs. Pelaez El Garni lifts the vacant IBO Continental title with victory over Spaniard Pelaez. El Garni was conceding lots of height and weight against Pelaez but was always coming forward and getting past the jab of Pelaez. Neither fighter is a puncher so there were plenty of fiery exchanged but without either really being shaken. Most of the rounds were close but El Garni looked to have just done enough to edge out the Spaniard. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 96-94 all for El Garni. The 25-year-old El Garni is a former undefeated French lightweight champion but has moved down and is now No 2 super feather in the French ratings and No 18 in the EU lists. Pelaez , 23,had won 6 of his last 7 fights with the defeat coming in December against unbeaten Puerto Rican hope Abraham Nova . Ben Ali vs. Lehot Former Belgian champion Ben Ali also faced a taller opponent in former French champion Lehot. The pattern was much the same as the other main event with Ben Ali bundling his way inside with Lehot trying to work at distance. Ben Ali’s tactics prevailed and he was a clear winner on all three cards. Scores 77-74 twice and 78-74 all in favour of Ben Ali. The former European Union title challenger lost back to back fights to unbeaten opponents Faroukh Kurbanov and Joe Cordina but has won two in a row and is hoping to fight for a title this year. First fight for Lehot since losing the French title last May. Fight of the week (Significance): Sergey Kovalev vs. Eleider Alvarez which could lead to some interesting unification fights in the light heavy division Fight of the week (Entertainment): Nothing really stood out. Fighter of the week: Sergey Kovalev with honourable mentions to Richard Commey and Teo Lopez Punch of the week: The sweet uppercut from Oscar Valdez that finished Carmine Tommasone was special as was the left from Teo Lopez that ended his fight with Diego Magdaleno Upset of the week: No biggies although DeAndre Ware’s win over Ronald Ellis was unexpected Prospect watch: Kazak middleweight Janibek Alimkhanuly 5-0 is worth following.  By - George Delis (@Delisketo)
Strawweight: -Rene Mark Cuarto (16-1): IBF #5 / WBO #8 Cuarto won his first championship in August after he fought Clyde Azarcon (14-2) for the vacant WBO Oriental title. He will face Samuel Salva (16-0) in an IBF world title eliminator, on March 25. -Robert Paradero (17-0): WBO #1 / WBC #28 Paradero successfully defended his WBO Asia Pacific Youth title in 2018. -Samuel Salva (16-0): IBF #4 The Filipino prospect remained undefeated in 2018 as well, thus adding 4 more victories to his record. As mentioned above, Salva and Rene Mark Cuarto (16-1) will square off, for a chance at the IBF World championship, March 25, in Manila. -Pedro Taduran (13-2): WBC #9 / IBF #9 Taduran began 2018 very promising as he dropped former world title challenger Jerry Tomogdan (26-10) in the fifth round, but couldn’t capitalize on that momentum in his World championship bout against Chayaphon Moonsri (52-0). He beat Jeffrey Galero (17-6) in December. -Melvin Jerusalem (14-2): IBF #10 Jerusalem got a unanimous decision victory over 2 time world title challenger Toto Landero (10-4) this past November. -Mark Anthony Barriga (9-1): IBF #3 / WBA #5 / WBC #14 Barriga failed to capture the vacant IBF World Championship in December. -Joey Canoy (14-3): WBO #10 Canoy recently challenged Simpiwe Konkco (19-5) for the IBO title but the fight ended in a no contest. Light Flyweight: -Jonathan Taconing (28-3): WBC #1 / WBO #1 / WBA #2 / IBF #6 Taconing defended his WBC International championship, for the second time, this past September against former world title contender Vince Paras (13-2). A match with either the WBO World champion Angel Acosta (19-1) or the WBC World champion Ken Shiro (15-0), seem to be the next step for him. -Edward Heno (13-0): WBO #3 / WBC #3 / WBA #6 / IBF #11 Heno marked 2 successful title defenses of the OPBF championship, within 2018, over Jesse Espinas (19-3) as well as former World champion Merlito Sabillo (27-6). His third OPBF title defense will take place in Japan, against Koji Itagaki (18-13), on February 11. -Jing Xiang (16-4): WBO #8 / WBC #9 2018 was a quite successful year for Xiang as he, not only captured the vacant WBO Intercontinental title in January, but also earned a huge victory after defeating former World champion Merlito Sabillo (27-6), this past September, to become the WBC Silver champion. 2019 already brought another major test for the Chinese rising star as he successfully defended his WBC Silver title against 2 division World champion Suriyan Satorn (59-7), on January 5th, in China. -Christian Araneta (17-0): IBF #3 / WBA #9 / WBC #10 / WBO #11 Araneta added 3 more wins to his perfect record, in 2018, including a stoppage victory over former world title contender Jerry Tomogdan (26-10), in August. -Randy Petalcorin (29-3): IBF #10 The former interim WBA World champion will return to action on April 6, in Australia. -Rey Loreto (24-14): WBC #4 Loreto has only fought once in 2018. Flyweight: -Giemel Magramo (23-1): WBO #5 / WBC #5 / WBA #8 / IBF #8 The Filipino captured the vacant WBO Oriental title on March of 2018 and successfully defended it in October, against Petchchorhae Kokietgym (17-2). Magramo kicked off 2019 with a bang as he stopped Wenfeng Ge (11-1) for the WBO International title on January 5th, in China. -Teeraphong Utaida (38-6): IBF #6 Utaida went 4-0 in 2018, moving up to Flyweight only recently and soon became the IBF Pan Pacific champion. -Sarawut Thawornkham (20-1): WBA #1 The former WBA Asia champion has fought twice in 2018 and has knocked out both of his opponents. -Nare Yianleang (69-5): WBA #2 / WBC #7 Since losing to Kazuto Ioka in 2017, Yianleang has been undefeated in his last 7 fights. -Komgrich Nantapech (25-5): IBF #3 Nantapech became the IBF Pan Pacific champion in 2018, when he earned a decision win over Naoki Mochizuki (15-3). He was supposed to face Masayuki Kuroda (30-7) in an IBF World title eliminator bout on November 21st, but due to a sudden injury, he wasn’t able to compete. Komgrich later had to vacate his belt but still managed to pick two more victories before the year was over. -Sirichai Thaiyen (51-4): WBA #7 / WBC #18 The former WBA interim World champion failed the recapture the crown this summer in Ukraine when he fought Artem Dalakian (18-0). Super Flyweight: -Aston Palicte (25-2): WBO #1 / WBC #7 / IBF #14 Palicte stopped Jose Martinez (20-1) on January 31st, in a WBO world title eliminator. Bantamweight: -Michael Dasmarinas (28-2): IBF #4 / WBC #14 Dasmarinas knocked out former EBU European champion Karim Guerfi (28-4) in 2018 to win the IBO title. He will square off against Kenny Demecillo (14-4), on March 29, in an IBF world title eliminator. -Kenny Demecillo (14-4): IBF #3 / WBC #33 Demecillo has fought only once in 2018, scoring a KO win over Vyacheslav Mirzaev (11-1) in Russia. As mentioned above, he takes on Michael Dasmarinas (28-2) in Singapore. -Carl Jammes Martin (11-0): WBO #10 / WBA #14 2018 has been a breakout year for the Filipino, winning 4 fights in the span of only 6 months, plus earning the WBO Oriental Youth & WBA Asia titles. Martin will fight again, on February 16, against Petchchorhae Kokietgym (17-2). -Arthur Villanueva (32-3): WBO #8 / WBC #15 The former WBO Asia Pacific champion and world title contender has one win and one draw in 2018. Super Bantamweight: -Albert Pagara (31-1): WBO #2 / IBF #7 / WBC #21 Pagara stopped Laryea Gabriel Odoi (20-4) this past June, to become the WBO Intercontinental champion. He successfully made his inaugural title defense against George Krampah (14-4) in November. He will return to action in early March (opponent TBA). -Juan Miguel Elorde (27-1): WBO #3 Elorde has won the WBO Asia Pacific championship in 2015 and has defended it successfully thrice since then. -Marlon Tapales (31-2): WBO #6 / IBF #6 The former WBO Bantamweight World champion’s next fight will take place on February 16. -Nawaphon Kaikanha (44-1): WBC #10 Kaikanha went 5-0 in 2018 and even scored a TKO victory over former World champion Amnat Ruenroeng (18-3). He will be involved in a special attraction match in Thailand, on February 8, against the WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-4). -Jeo Santisima (17-2): WBO #10 The Filipino won the vacant WBO Oriental title this past summer and has already defended it once. Featherweight: -Genesis Servania (32-1): WBO #1 / WBA #1 Servania has knocked out all of his opponents, since losing to WBO World champion Oscar Valder (25-0) in 2017, including world title contender Carlos Carlson (23-5) in September. His next confirmed opponent is Carlos Castro (21-0), whom he’ll face in California, on February 10. If Servania wins here, since he’s already the number 1 ranked Featherweight by both the WBA & WBO, he can either challenge Can Xu (16-2) or rematch Valder in the immediate future. -Mark Magsayo (18-0): WBC #1 The former undefeated WBO International champion is the number 1 contender for the WBC World title. A match with Gary Russell Jr. (29-1) could be in the works for later this year. Lightweight: -Daud Yordan (38-4): WBA #5 Yordan’s latest success came in April of 2018, when he knocked out Pavel Malikov (14-1) to become the WBO Intercontinental champion. He later put on a good performance against former World champion Anthony Crolla (34-6) in a WBA world title eliminator, but it wasn’t enough to get the win. -Mercito Gesta (32-2): WBO #2 / WBC #32 After unsuccessfully challenging Jorge Linares (45-5) for the WBA World championship, Gesta defeated Robert Manzanarez (36-3) for the vacant WBO-NABO. Super Lightweight: -Apinun Khongsong (14-0): IBF #6 The current IBF Asia & Pan Pacific champion has fought 4 times in 2018, all stoppage victories. Khongsong will now face Akihiro Kondo (31-7) in an IBF world title eliminator, on February 18. Light Heavyweight: -Meng Fanlong (14-0): IBF #8 / WBA #12 / WBO #15 / WBC #29 Meng stopped the former British & Commonwealth champion Frank Buglioni (22-4), this past November, to defend his IBF Intercontinental title for the first time. Heavyweight: -Zhilei Zhang (20-0): WBO #5 The undefeated Chinese giant and Olympic Silver Medalist beat Don Haynesworth (15-3) this past September in his first WBO Oriental title defense.  By - George Delis (@Delisketo)
Strawweight: -Masataka Taniguchi (11-2): WBO #2 / WBC #18 Taniguchi defeated Joel Lino (10-1), back in November, for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title. He will challenge Vic Saludar (18-3) on February 26 for the WBO title. -Tsubasa Koura (14-0): WBC #3 / WBA #8 / WBO #9 / IBF #11 Koura has been the OPBF champion since 2017 and has marked 3 successful title defenses. He is expected to face Simphiwe Khonco (19-5) in a WBC World title eliminator. -Tatsuya Fukuhara (21-6): WBO #3 / WBC #6 The former World champion will get another shot at Chayaphon Moonsri (52-0) and the WBC title, on March 1st, in Thailand. (Ed's note - This bout is now set to be rescheduled for March 29th) -Shin Ono (23-10): WBO #5 / WBC #29 Ono lost his Japanese title to Norihito Tanaka (18-7) on January 12. Light Flyweight: -Tetsuya Hisada (33-9): WBA #1 / WBO #2 / WBC #2 / IBF #9 After recording a 5th successful Japanese title defense in November, before vacating the belt, Hisada is now rumored to fight Carlos Canizales (21-0) for the WBA (Regular) World championship. -Reiya Konishi (17-1): IBF #4 / WBA #4 / WBO #4 / WBC #6 The WBO Asia Pacific champion will clash with Felix Alvarado (34-2) for the IBF World title, either in March or in April. Kenichi Horikawa (35-18): WBC #7 Horikawa ended 2018 with a 4-0 record. The former Japanese & WBO Asia Pacific champion’s next opponent will be Satoru Todaka (9-2), whom he will meet on February 14, for the vacant Japanese title. Flyweight: -Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3): WBO #4 The former IBF & WBA Light Flyweight World champion is moving up a weight class to challenge Kosei Tanaka (12-0), for the WBO strap, on March 16. -Junto Nakatani (18-0): WBC #4 / WBO #10 / IBF #13 / WBA #14 The unstoppable Japanese prospect has fought 4 times in 2018 and has won all of his bouts, 2 of them via KO. He finally won his first championship, when he stopped Naoki Mochizuki (15-4), on February 2nd, for the vacant Japanese crown. -Masayuki Kuroda (30-7): WBO #3 / IBF #4 Kuroda has recently vacated his Japanese title as his has set his sights on the World championship. He is rumored to meet Moruti Mthalane (37-2) for the IBF title in 2019. -Sho Kimura (17-2): WBO #6 The former WBO World champion lost his title to Kosei Tanaka (12-0) this past September, in a FOTY candidate. No word yet as to what’s next for him at the moment. Super Flyweight: -Ryuichi Funai (31-7): IBF #1 / WBO #4 / WBC #11 Funai stopped Victor Olivo (15-3) in an IBF world title eliminator, this past November, to become the number 1 contender for Jerwin Ancajas’s (30-1) title. -Sho Ishida (27-1): IBF #4 / WBO #6 / WBA #7 / WBC #12 Since losing to the WBA world champion Khalid Yafai (25-0) in 2017, Ishida has won all of his 2018 bouts, against Ratchanon Sawangsoda (12-3), Richard Claveras (18-6), as well as former world title contender Warlito Parrenas (26-9). -Kazuto Ioka (23-2): WBC #3 / WBO #5 Ioka debuted at the Super Flyweight division this past September, defeating McWilliams Arroyo (17-4) to become the WBC Silver champion. In December, he fought Donnie Nietes (42-1), for the vacant WBO World title, losing a very close decision. -Koki Eto (24-4): WBC #6 / WBO #7 / WBA #8 / IBF #12 The former interim WBA Flyweight World champion has been on a 7 fight winning streak, since losing to Carlos Cuadras (37-3) in 2015. -Daigo Higa (15-1): WBA #6 The former WBC Flyweight World champion is expected to make his return to the ring in 2019. Super Bantamweight: -Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3): IBF #3 Iwasa will square off against Cesar Juarez (23-6) in an IBF world title eliminator, on February 16. If he wins, he will be one step closer to regaining his championship. -Shingo Wake (26-5): IBF #4 / WBC #4 The former Japanese & OPBF champion has been on a 6 fight winning streak since losing to Jonathan Guzman (23-1) in 2016. -Yukinori Oguni (20-2): WBA #4 After losing his World title in 2017, Oguni has picked only one victory in 2018. Featherweight: -Satoshi Shimizu (8-0): IBF #3 The 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist has made 3 successful title defenses of the OPBF crown in 2018, against Kyung Min Kwon (6-5), Shingo Kawamura (16-5) and Takuya Uehara (16-1). -Hiroshige Osawa (34-5): WBA #8 / IBF #13 The former OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific champion finds himself once again in the world rankings, since losing to WBO World champion Oscar Valdez (24-0) in 2016. -Reiya Abe (19-2): IBF #4 / WBC #12 Abe is the number 1 contender for Taiki Minamoto’s (16-5) Japanese title. These 2 men will collide at the 2019 Champion Carnival, on May 1st. Super Featherweight: -Masaru Sueyoshi (18-1): WBO #4 Sueyoshi will defend his Japanese championship, for a fourth time, against Ken Osato (15-2), on May 4th. Lightweight: -Masayoshi Nakatani (18-0): IBF #4 / WBC #8 / WBO #9 Nakatani marked his 11th successful OPBF title defense in December, when he stopped the former WBC International champion Hurricane Futa (25-8) in round 6. He is rumored to face former EBU European & WBA Intercontinental champion Edis Tatli (31-2) in an IBF world title eliminator. -Nihito Arakawa (31-6): WBO #6 The former Japanese, OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific champion is looking for his second world title opportunity in 2019. Super Lightweight: -Hiroki Okada (19-0): WBO #2 / WBA #3 / IBF #5 / WBC #9 Okada’s toughest challenge to date will take place on February 10, as the undefeated Japanese superstar takes on the former WBO Lightweight World champion Raymundo Beltran (35-8), in a WBC world title eliminator. -Akihiro Kondo (31-7): IBF #4 The former WBO Asia Pacific champion will be involved in an IBF world title eliminator, against the IBF Pan Pacific champion Apinun Khongsong (14-0), on February 18. Welterweight -Keita Obara (20-3): IBF #6 / WBO #13 The 2 time WBO Asia Pacific champion will face the undefeated former WBC Silver champion Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (15-0), on March 30, in an IBF world title eliminator. Super Welterweight: -Takeshi Inoue (13-1): WBO #3 The former Japanese, OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific champion unsuccessfully challenged Jaime Munguia (32-0) for the WBO World title, on January 26. Middleweight: -Ryota Murata (14-2): WBC #4 / IBF #6 / WBA #7 The 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist lost his WBA (Regular) World title to Rob Brant (24-1) this past October, and once again finds himself in the position of the title chaser. Heavyweight: -Kyotaro Fujimoto (20-1): WBO #7 / WBA #11 / WBC #27 The former K-1 champion has unified the Japanese, OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific Heavyweight titles. |
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