By Eric Armit
Highlights -Regis Prograis outpoints Terry Flanagan to go through to the WBSS super lightweight semi-finals -Ivan Baranchyk stops Anthony Yigit to win the vacant IBF title and join Prograis in the WBSS semi-finals -Daniel Jacobs gets split decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko to win the vacant IBF middleweight title -Alberto Machado obliterates Yuandale Evans inside a round to hold on to his WBA featherweight title -Felix Alvarado batters Randy Petalcorin to defeat to become IBF light flyweight champion -Kubrat Pulev decisions Hughie Fury in an IBF final eliminator and brother Tervel win the vacant European Union title -Dominic Boesel retains the European light heavyweight title with decision against Enrico Koelling -John Ryder knocks out Andrey Sirotkin and Jordan Gill halts Sean Doyle to capture the Commonwealth featherweight title -Kiko Martinez wins the European title with victory over fellow-Spaniard Marc Vidal WORLD TITLE FIGHT SHOWS October 27 New Orleans, LA, USA: Super Light: Regis Prograis (23-0) W PTS 12 Terry Flanagan (33-2), Super Light: Ivan Baranchyk (19-0) W RTD 7 Anthony Yigit (21-1-1). Super Light: Subriel Matias (12-0) W DISQ 1 Fernando Saucedo (62-9-3). Prograis vs. Flanagan Prograis floors out outpoints Flanagan to make his way through to the semi-finals of the WBSS. Round 1 Although Flanagan was coming up from lightweight he was much the bigger man. Both fighters were cautiously probing but when they did open up the two best punches were a lefts to the head from Prograis. Score 10-9 Prograis Round 2 A close round. Flanagan was throwing right jabs but having trouble nailing down the clever Prograis. Both landed hard rights but Prograis was the quicker man and had slotted home some jabs Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 20-18 Round 3 Flanagan had not been throwing enough punches over the first two round but he started to let his hands go more in this one. He drilled home some hard jabs and countered well and did enough to take the round. Score 10-9 Flanagan Prograis 29-28 Round 4 I was tempted to score this one 0-0 as neither fighter landed a real punch. Plenty of jabs which fell short and plenty of clever movement but no hits for either man. Score 10-10 tied Prograis 39-38 Official scores: 38-36, 39-37 and 39-37 for Prograis Round 5 Prograis upped his pace in this one. Flanagan was boxing behind a high, tight guard and Prograis was having difficulty getting through with any big punches. Flanagan connected with a good left to the head but Prograis responded with a body punch and his work with his jab was enough to take this round. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 49-47 Round 6 Prograis went up through the gears and took this one clearly. He was getting home time and again with jarring jabs and following in behind the jab to score to the body. Flanagan was throwing punches but Prograis used clever upper body movement to slip them and countered quickly landing a heavy left. The best punch in the fight so far. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 59-56 Round 7 Flanagan had no answer to the speed and accuracy of |the right jabs from Prograis. They were zipping through Flanagan’s guard as Prograis circled changing angles and following the jab with straight lefts. Flanagan was struggling to get into the fight. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 69-65 Round 8 Flanagan was trying to get his own jab working again but was having to eat jabs from Prograis. Prograis threw a quick left over the top of Flanagan’s jab which clattered into the side of Flanagan’s head and sent him down to his hands and knees. . He got up at five and when the eight count was over Prograis leapt in trying to put Flanagan away. Instead of crumbling Flanagan fired back and scored more and harder punches than he had so far in the fight. Prograis landed some head punches that sent Flanagan back into the ropes. He looked in trouble but again matched Prograis punch for punch to the bell. A great round, but a 10-8 round and Flanagan was cut over his left eye. Score 10-8 Prograis Prograis 79-73 Official scores: 77-74, 79-72 and 79-72 for Prograis Round 9 The bell to start this round marked the first time that Prograis had gone past the eighth round in a fight. This was a quiet round after the drama of the eighth. Prograis just did enough to win it but Flanagan worked well with his jab. He was lucky not to see the cut worsened as Prograis brought his head up inside and it crashed into the left side of Flanagan’s face. Close round. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 89-82 Round 10 Prograis took this one with his right jab. He was circling Flanagan firing home single jabs but not following up with any other punches. Flanagan was too slow to block the jabs and was throwing too few punches for a man clearly behind in the scoring. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 99-91 Round 11 Flanagan stuck to his task here. He boxed well slotting his jab through the defence of Prograis who was doing more posing than punching. He was neglecting his own jab and getting caught with jabs he should have avoided. A jolting right jab from Flanagan was the punch of the round. Score 10-9 Flanagan Prograis 108-101 Round 12 Prograis went back to his jab and took the round. He was just too quick whipping the jab through Flanagan’s defence and this time following up with some lefts. Flanagan managed to land a few jabs but not enough. Score 10-9 Prograis Prograis 118-110 Official scores: 117-110. 118-109 and 119-108 for Prograis The New Orleans-born Prograis goes through to the semi-finals where he will face WBA champion Kiryl Relikh. He is the favourite to win the tournament and he showed here just why that is. He has real hand speed, power in both hands and a clever, tricky style. Having gone twelve rounds will also benefit him. Flanagan just met a much better fighter on the night but performed well enough to have hopes of a world title fight next year after he gets himself a couple of wins. Baranchyk vs. Yigit Baranchyk wins the vacant IBF title and progresses to the semi-finals of the WBSS as a very brave Yigit is forced out of the fight after seven rounds with his left eye totally shut so it was the sensible decision for Yigit’s well-being. The Belarusian was well ahead on all three cards at the end. Round 1 Yigit scored early with some southpaw lefts but Baranchyk was finding the target with stabbing jabs and when they stood and exchanged Baranchyk was the one landing with sharp hooks inside. Yigit fired home some long lefts but Baranchyk attacked the body and took the round Score 10-9 Baranchyk Round 2 Baranchyk dominated the round. He was much the stronger and was scoring with hard accurate hooks and uppercuts through Yigit’s guard. The action really became hot with Yigit storming into the attack only to be driven back by the power of the hooks from Baranchyk and already the Swede was cut over his left eye and showing a swelling under the eye. Score 10-9 Baranchyk Baranchyk 20-18 Round 3 Yigit started this one aggressively but he was soon on the retreat and under fire. Baranchyk was stringing together some brutal combinations. Yigit boxed well in the middle of the round sliding home right jabs and straight lefts but Baranchyk was the one landing as the round closed but he was warned for a couple of low punches. Score 10-9 Baranchyk Baranchyk 30-27 Round 4 The pace of the fight was frantic. For me Yigit took this one. He was getting through with jabs and banging lefts past Baranchyk’s guard. He outworked the Russian for most of the round. Baranchyk tried to end the round strongly but Yigit was more accurate. Score 10-9 Yigit Baranchyk 39-37 Round 5 Once again Yigit boxed well but the power of Baranchyk was proving the decisive factor. He was throwing bunches of wicked body punches. There was a time out as Baranchyk was given a stern warning for hitting on the break and another break when (surprise, surprise) the tape came loose on Baranchyk’s gloves. The Russian finished the round with a fierce attack. Yigit’s left eye was now totally closed. Score 10-9 Baranchyk Baranchyk 49-46 Round 6 Big round for Baranchyk. A jarring jab sent Yigit stumbling and Yigit finally seemed to be weakening under the pressure. Baranchyk attacked throughout the round. He worked Yigit over in a corner for a spell and kept pressing. His accuracy was slipping and Yigit kept fighting back but Baranchyk took this one. Score 10-9 Baranchyk Baranchyk 59-55 Round 7 Start of the round and within seconds Baranchyk’s tape comes loose. Is anyone working on trying to cure this seemingly too complicated equipment failing? I digress but surely something such as a very tight non-abrasive elasticised material can be slipped over the boxers wrist before the gloves and tape are fitted and then pulled into place over the wrist enclosing the tape and stopping it from coming loose-rant over! Back to the fight. The action was messy with neither fighter landing much. Baranchyk pushed Yigit’s head down and the referee deducted a point. Baranchyk finished the round strongly forcing Yigit back and digging to the body-with the tape from his wrist again flapping in the wind. Score 9-9 (point deducted from Baranchyk) Baranchyk 68-64 Official scores: In the interval the referee and the doctor were in Yigit’s corner and with his left eye closed by a huge swelling it was decided the fight was over. The 25-year-old Russian-born Baranchyk showed why his nickname is “The Beast”. He is tremendously powerful and a wicked puncher when it come to hooks and uppercuts. He is going to give any super light problems and he is waiting for the winner of Josh Taylor vs. Ryan Martin. Yigit fought all the way in this one but even without the closed left eye he would have found Baranchyk too strong for him. He showed some quality work and real grit and he will be back fighting at the highest level again when he recovers from this one/ Matias vs. Saucedo Chaos reigns as Saucedo is disqualified due to one of his seconds climbing onto the ring apron during the round. Saucedo was on the back foot from the start. Matias tracked him and let loose with a couple of punches. The last a jab which saw Saucedo fall into a corner. Matias then unloaded a hail of punches with Saucedo slipping to the floor. The Argentinian was up quickly and bounced on his toes as the referee counted out the eight seconds. Saucedo walked forward and got home a couple of body punches but Matias prowled after him and drove home a left hook to the body and Saucedo sunk to his knees. Matias landed a punch whilst Saucedo was almost on his knees and the referee deducted a point from the Puerto Rican. Saucedo was up quickly again and as Matias pursued him Saucedo fired some quality punches but Matias either blocked or ignored them and a left to the body sent Saucedo down for the third time. He bounced right back up and was taking punishment when almost unnoticed one of his corner men seeing Saucedo taking too much punishment stepped up onto the ring apron but the bell went to end the round. There was then total confusion. No one was sure what was happening. Both fighters were up and ready to start the second round. Although the referee had not seen Saucedo’s corner man on the apron before the bell to end the first but when it was pointed out to him he disqualified Saucedo. if a corner man climbs onto the ring apron during a round it is an immediate disqualification for his fighter. It was correct but Matias was unhappy as he lost his 100% record of wins by KO/TKO. It is doubtful whether Saucedo could have lasted another round. Saucedo won’t be happy to have a disqualification loss on his record. New York, NY, USA: Middle: Daniel Jacobs (35-2) W PTS 12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-1). Super Feather: Alberto Machado (21-0) W KO 1 Yuandale Evans (20-2).Super Welter: Patrick Day (16-2-1) W PTS 10 Elvin Ayala (29-12-1). Welter: Radzhab Butaev (10-0) W RTD 3 Azael Cosio (21-8-2,1ND). Light: David Oliver Joyce (9-0) W PTS 6 Jorge Zacazontetl (4-5-1). Jacobs vs. Derevyanchenko Jacobs finally wins a full title as he takes a split verdict over a combative Derevyanchenko to win the vacant IBF title having only previously held the secondary WBA title. Round 1 Derevyanchenko made the livelier start. He was on the front foot probing with his jabs and throwing a couple of rights. He landed a light punch on the break and Jacobs made the basic error of looking to the referee to complain and was nearly nailed by a right. That woke Jacobs up and with just over 20 seconds remaining in the round he landed a right to the head which saw Derevyanchenko pitch forward. He put both gloves on the floor to steady himself and as he straightened up Jacobs darted in trying to land another punch. Since Derevyanchenko’s gloves had hit the floor the referee threw himself at Jacobs to stop him landing more punches. There were only five seconds left in the round but enough time for a fierce exchange. Score 10-8 Jacobs Round 2 After a cautious start Derevyanchenko came forward quickly and landed two hard lefts and a right to the head of Jacobs that made Jacobs stumble. From then Derevyanchenko was pressing the fight hard and out jabbed Jacobs. Score 10-9 Derevyanchenko Jacobs 19-18 Round 3 A fired-up Derevyanchenko was chasing down Jacobs but Jacobs was boxing cleverly and was quicker and more accurate with his jab. Derevyanchenko had some success when he trapped Jacobs in a corner. Jacobs switched to southpaw then back to orthodox and although under pressure his work with the jab gave him the round but it was close. Score 10-9 Jacobs Jacobs 29-27 Round 4 The pace was quickening with Derevyanchenko chasing the elusive Jacobs. Both landed hard jabs, but the impressive work was the body punching from Jacobs and he landed a thudding right to Derevyanchenko’s head. Score 10-9 Jacobs Jacobs 39-36 Official scores: 39-36, 39-36 and 39-36 all for Jacobs Round 5 Derevyanchenko started this with connecting with a couple of stiff jabs and then with left hooks to the body and later connected with a right to the body. Jacobs landed a left hook counter as Derevyanchenko moved in but Derevyanchenko responded with two left hooks and just before the bell banged home a right to the head. Score 10-9 Derevyanchenko Jacobs 48-46 Round 6 The Ukrainian was again the one forcing the fight and he started this one with some jarring jabs. Jacobs was having difficulty getting away from the ropes but when he did they stood and traded quality hooks, uppercuts and short rights with both landing heavily It was the best moments of action so far. Derevyanchenko continued to take the fight to Jacobs but Jacobs was more accurate which was just enough to give him a very close round Score 10-9 Jacobs. Jacobs 58-55 Round 7 A close round. They fought inside in the early part of this round but the pace had dropped from the frantic exchanges in the sixth. Again accuracy from Jacobs was enough for him to take the round as he landed some crisp body shots before the bell. Score 10-9 Jacobs Jacobs 68-64 Round 8 Jacobs spent much of the round against the ropes with Derevyanchenko searching for openings. When Derevyanchenko did move in Jacobs was catching him with cute uppercuts and when Derevyanchenko stepped back he was being speared with jabs. Derevyanchenko got through with a couple of hooks but Jacobs had more variety in his work and a better defence. Score 10-9 Jacobs Jacobs 78-73 Official scores: 76-75 Derevyanchenko, 77-74 Jacobs, 77-74 Jacobs Round 9 Derevyanchenko chased and chased in this round. Jacobs was circling the perimeter of the ring pinging Derevyanchenko with jabs and using upper body movement to let Derevyanchenko’s punches slide by. Jacobs was switching guards and landed a couple of hard straight lefts and won the round Score 10-9 Jacobs Jacobs 88-82 Round 10 A much better round from Derevyanchenko. He was ducking and weaving under Jacob’s punches and the connected with a series of head shots probably his best combination to this time Jacobs worked with his jab late in the round but Derevyanchenko had outscored him. Score 10-9 Derevyanchenko Jacobs 97-92. Round 11 Derevyanchenko carried where he left off in the last round pressing for three minutes. He landed some clubbing punches to the body but was finding Jacobs a difficult target. Jacobs cut loose over the last thirty seconds but Derevyanchenko matched him and ended the round strongly and just edged it. Score 10-9 Derevyanchenko Jacobs 106-102 Round 12 Derevyanchenko put in a huge effort here. He just kept punching. Jacobs was scoring with some choice counters but was taking plenty of head punches as he forgot defence and traded with Derevyanchenko with the Ukrainian staging a strong finish as they battered away at each other. Score 10-9 Derevyanchenko Jacobs 115-112 Official scores: 114-113 for Derevyanchenko, 115-112 for Jacobs and 115-112 for Jacobs Now that he has the IBF title Jacobs is looking for Saul Alvarez next although a return with Gennady Golovkin would be a huge fight. He could choose to defend against Britain’s Martin Murray who at No 4 was listed one place behind Jacobs in the IBF ratings. He won this one on the basis of his superior skills against a strong determined contender and Brooklyn-based Derevyanchenko certainly made Jacobs fight hard all the way for victory. Machado vs. Evans Round 1 Machado demolishes challenger Evans with three knockdowns and it is all over inside a round. Evans made a quick, confident start in this all-southpaw contest coming in behind his jab and landing a left to the body. Just past the minute mark a flashing straight left to the head from Machado floored Evans. He was up quickly and after the eight count drilled Machado with a right jab that had Machado stumbling back. Machado threw another straight left that was short and then another that crashed onto Evans head and sent him staggering back. He was on stiff lags and Machado hammered home shot after shot with both hands. Evans did not lift his hands to defend himself and totted over putting his gloves down to stop his fall then straightened up. He touchdown with the gloves which meant a count. He looked unsteady but did the moves the referee requested and was allowed to continue. Machado threw a quick burst of uppercuts and hooks at lightning speed and as Evans landed on the floor on his back the referee immediately stopped the fight. The 28-year-old Puerto Rican certainly lived up to his “El Explosivo” nickname. This is his seventeenth win by KO/TKO and he retains his WBA title in his second defence. At 5’10” he is very tall for the weight and that plus the speed and power of his punches were reminiscent of a young Alexis Arguello. He is one of those curious cases of being right-handed but boxing southpaw. Second loss by KO./TKO for 29-year-old Evans with the other being a first round stoppage against Javier Fortuna in 2012. He was a two-time National Golden Gloves champion before turning pro but had gone through a couple of spells of inactivity not fighting in 2013 or 2014 and also missing out in 2016 but wins last year over 21-1Bilel Dib and unbeaten Luis Rosa landed him in the WBA ratings at No 9. He can come back from this. Day vs. Ayala Day outpoints veteran Ayala. The young fighter from Freeport finally seems to be finding his feet in the pro ranks as he gets his fifth win in a row. Day had the fight winning punch in his jab which constantly found its way past the defence of Ayala and also broke up Ayala’s attacks. Body punches also played their part with Ayala in trouble from a shot to the ribs in the fifth. There was a scare for Day in the eighth when he was rocked by a right but he recovered quickly and boxed his way to the final bell. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91 for Day who was making the second defence of his WBC Continental Americas title. A former National Golden Gloves champion Day had a couple of early stumbles losing to Alantez Fox and being stopped in the first round by 9-14-1 Carlos Garcia Hernandez but in his last three fights had beaten Virgilijus Stapulionis, 15-0 Eric Walker and Kyrone Davis. Ayala, 37, lost to Arthur Abraham in a challenge for the IBF title back in 2008 but with this defeat he is 1-6 in his last 7. Butaev vs. Cosio Butaev blows away seasoned pro Cosio inside three rounds. Butaev was connecting with rights to head and body over the first two rounds and ended it in the third. Late in the round a cluster of heavy punches had Cosio floundering and although he made it to the bell he retired. Eighth win by KO/TKO for the Russian “Python”. This is only his second fight this year due to a shoulder injury. He reportedly was 8-1 in bouts in the WBS and also scored wins over Cuban Roniel Iglesias and Denys Berinchyk in the amateurs. Panamanian Cosio, 37, is in the victim category now having won only one of his last six fights with four of his losses by KO/TKO. Joyce vs. Zacazontetl Joyce moves to eight wins but has to get off the floor to outpoint Mexican Zacazontetl. A left hook floored Joyce in the first but he paid Zacazontetl back putting the Mexican down in the second. No more scares for Joyce as he drilled Zacazontetl with strong jabs and straight rights over the next four rounds to take the decision. Scores 58-53 twice and 58-54 for Joyce. The 30-year-old Joyce has left it late to turn pro but as an amateur he was Irish champion four times, European Union champion twice, competed at the 2016 Olympics and scored wins over Luke Campbell and Carl Frampton. Four losses in a row for Zacazontetl. October 29 Manila, Philippines: Light Fly: Felix Alvarado (34-2) W TKO 7 Randy Petalcorin (29-3-1). Fly: Giemel Magramo (22-1) W TKO 3 Petchpraya (17-2). Super Fly: Jade Bornea (13-0) W TKO 5 Macrea Gandionco (12-7-3). Alvarado vs. Petalcorin Alvarado overpowers gutsy Petalcorin and floors him three times on his way to winning the vacant IBF title. Round 1 Petalcorin was off the mark quickly spearing the advancing Alvarado with southpaw jabs. He landed a couple of nice body punches and a straight left. Alvarado marched forward taking Petalcorin to the ropes and fired a fusillade of punches including some wicked lefts and right to the body. Petalcorin responded with hooks of his own but Alvarado continued to attack driving Petalcorin to the ropes again and landing some hefty stuff. Petalcorin was countering but was taking more than he was giving as Alvarado continued to pound Petalcorin’s body Score 10-9 Alvarado Round 2 Alvarado was fighting a war of attrition. He had Petalcorin trapped on the ropes for the full three minutes and never stopped throwing punches. Not all of them landed and Petalcorin scored with hard counters from both hands but nothing deterred Alvarado. He has throwing bunches of hooks to the body and sending rights through the middle of Petalcorin’s guard. Score 10-9 Alvarado Alvarado 20-18 Round 3 Petalcorin actually found some space to box in this one. Alvarado started the round on a low key and Petalcorin was connecting with right jabs and left hooks. Alvarado stormed his way through the last minute again showing the ferocity of the first two rounds but Petalcorin’s early work just took the round Score 10-9 Petalcorin Alvarado 29-28 Round 4 It was three minutes of mayhem again from Alvarado. He never stopped throwing punches he was slinging hooks from both hands firing straight rights and curving shots around Petalcorin’s guard and on to the side of the Filipino’s head. Alvarado was missing lots of times and Petalcorin was landing counters but being outpunched and looking tired. Score 10-9 Alvarado Alvarado 39-37 Official scores: 39-37 Petalcorin, 39-37 Alvarado, 38-38 Round 5 Petalcorin started the round with a series of hooks and uppercuts to the body which looked promising but he was punching with a harder puncher and soon had his back to the ropes again. Alvarado’s punch rate dropped but he was still out landing Petalcorin who was finding it difficult to get the strength to counter effectively. Score 10-9 Alvarado Alvarado 49-46 Round 6 Petalcorin was up on his toes stabbing home right jabs and firing a couple of hooks but then Alvarado took over again. With Petalcorin on the ropes Alvarado pounded him with huge head punches and hooks and uppercuts. Petalcorin found the strength to rally but again was under heavy pressure at the bell. Score Alvarado 10-9 Alvarado 59-55 Round 7 Early in the round a left to the body and two clubbing rights to the head saw Petalcorin drop to one knee. He was up at nine and his body language said he was finished but the fight continued. Alvarado drove Petalcorin back with a series of punches and Petalcorin went down on one knee again. He got up at eight and all the referee did was ask him if he was alright when it was obvious he was not. The referee is there to make those decisions not the fighter and because of that although Petalcorin bravely tried to punch with Alvarado he again went down after a succession of head punches and was counted out as he was rising. Alvarado finally gets a title. His two losses came in 2013 when he lost on points to Kazuto Ioka for the secondary WBA light flyweight title and in 2014 when he was outpointed by Juan Carlos Reveco for the secondary WBA flyweight title. Since those two losses the 29-year-old Nicaraguan has compiled 16 wins 15 of them by KO/TKO. Petalcorin, 26 lost only one of his first 26 fights before losing to Omar Kimweri in 2016 but had rebuilt with six wins. Here he just could not live with the power or punch output of Alvarado. Magramo vs. Petchpraya Magramo destroys Petchpraya with a body punch in the third. Magramo stalked Petchpraya over the first two rounds. Petchpraya scored with some counters but Magramo just ignored them and In the third he sunk a rib bending left to the Thai’s body and that was the end. The 24-year-old “Pistolero” the WBO No 7 makes it 18 wins by KO/TKO as he retains his WBO Oriental title. Magramo’s only loss is a very close decision to world title challenger Muhammad Waseem in 2016. Petchpraya’s record had been carefully built to avoid any risks. Bornea vs. Gandionco Prospect Bornea makes it nine wins by KO/TKO as he halts overmatched Gandionco in five rounds. The former top level amateur looks one to watch. Sixth loss by KO/TKO for Gandionco. October 26 Vesoul, France: Bantam: Georges Ory (10-2-1) W Josh Wale (27-10-2). Local fighter Ory wins the vacant European title with very close majority decision over Wale. Southpaw Ory boxed well over the early part of the fight. He was getting inside the longer reach of Wale to score and then getting out. He knew Wale had the power so was not going to trade if he could avoid it. The Frenchman switched guards and showed a sound defence. He built a lead but then began to tire over the second half of the fight and Wale came on strongly banging to head and body with Ory countering with straight rights. This really was a fight of two halves and it came down to whether the judges felt that Ory’s early work had been overtaken by the stronger finish by Wale but they ruled otherwise. Scores 116-114 and 115-113 for Ory and 114-114. The 26-year-old Frenchman completes a treble having won the French, European Union and European titles in successive fights. It was a big event for Vesuol as this was the first European title fight held there in the last 24 years. Wale will feel he won this one and it was close enough to have gone either way but you get no favours in the other guy’s back yard. Hopefully wale will get a return. London, England: Super Fly: Sunny Edwards (9-0) W PTS 10 Ryan Farrag (19-3). Super Bantam: Neslan Machado (15-0,1ND) W PTS 10 Fadhili Majiha (23-11-4). Welter: Michael McKinson (15-0) W PTS 10 Sammy McNess (10-2). Welter: Johnny Coyle (10-0-1) W PTS 6 Arvydas Trizno (27-84-3). Edwards vs. Farrag Edwards outboxes former European champion Farrag to retain his WBO European title. Farrag was his usual aggressive self pressurising Edwards from the start but “Showtime” Edwards was too quick and slick. He stayed out of trouble and outscored Farrag in every round. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91 for Edwards. The 22-year-old from South London was making the first defence of his WBO title. The younger brother of world title challenger Charlie Edwards he is immensely talented with a great future. Farrag, a former English and European champion lost big fights to Karim Guerfi and Ryan Burnett but had scored two wins this year and is rated No 6 bantam by the EBU. Machado vs. Majiha In his third fight in the UK young Cuban Machado gets a split verdict over unknown Tanzanian Majiha. Machado fought mostly on the back foot as Majiha forced the fight. Machado was down but he was trying to avoid a glancing punch and went over putting his left glove on the floor. It was counted as a knockdown which left Machado with some work to do. The judges all saw a different fight here as Machado took the decision on scores of 98-91 and 96-93 with the third judge scoring it 96-93 for Majiha. The 22-year-old “Pitbull” wins the vacant WBA International title. He seems to have a problem with Tanzanians as he outpointed Nasibu Ramadhan in July by a score of 76-74 but scored two knockdowns in the fifth round which must have been a 10-8 or even 10-7 so without the knockdowns the best he would have gotten was a draw. Majiha, 25, the WBA Pan African champion, has been landed with some very tough jobs on his travels losing to Jerwin Ancajas, Marlon Tapales and Vusi Malinga. McKinson vs. McNess Portsmouth southpaw prospect McKinnon wins the vacant WBC International Silver title with wide unanimous decision over Londoner McNess. McKinson boxed on the back foot drawing the lead and countering. His good defensive work and hand speed were enough to win this one but McNess pressed hard and scored with some good rights to the body to make the rounds close. Scores 99-90, 98-91and 98-92. McKinnon had his best win so far in November when he stopped experienced Colin Lynes in six rounds. McNess had won his last three fights. Coyle vs. Trizno Essex southpaw Coyle extended his unbeaten run to 21 as he won every round against Trizno. The quality of his opposition has been unimpressive and despite his unbeaten run he is down at No 25 in the EU ratings. However the 25-year-old takes a big step up in December when he faces unbeaten Akeem Ennis Brown for the vacant IBF European title. Lithuanian Trizno is a horrible 1-15 in his last 16 fights. Coronda, Argentina: Welter: Demian Fernandez (10-1) W PTS 10 Diego Ramirez (16-2). Mild upset as Fernandez faces home town fighter Ramirez and comes away with a close unanimous decision. This was a war all of the way. The taller Fernandez was driving Ramirez around the ring then Ramirez was opening up and putting Fernandez on the back foot. Neither paid much attention to defence in a stirring contest. It was close until Fernandez took over in the ninth and tenth to capture the decision. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 for Fernandez. The 28-year-old from Buenos Aires, the Argentinian No 10, collects the interim WBO Latino title. He was going ten rounds for the first time and gets his seventh win on the trot. Southpaw Ramirez, 23, the Argentinian No 1had won his last 14 fights but now he will drop down the domestic rankings as well as losing the interim title. Quilmes, Argentina: Bantam: Fernando Martinez (6-0) W KO 1 Carlos Ruben Ruiz (21-12 Argentinian super fly champion Martinez obliterates Ruiz inside a round. After forcing Ruiz onto the retreat Martinez landed a left hook that had Ruiz staggering back. Martinez follower up with another left hook and a right to the head and finally a left to the body. Ruiz dropped to his hands and knees and was counted out. Martinez represented Argentina at the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships and won a gold medal at the Americas Olympic Qualifier to get to the Rio Olympics. He also fought for the Argentinian Condors in the WBS and won the national title in his fourth fight. Ruiz is way, way down the slope and this is his ninth loss in his last ten fights. Lagos, Nigeria: Cruiser: Olan Durodola (29-6) W TKO 3 Maroy Sadiki (15-2-1). Cruiser: Tony Salam (11-2) W TKO 6 Chamunorwa Gonorenda (12-14). Super Middle: Habib Ahmed (26-1-1) W TKO 2 Sunday Ajuwa (13-5). Durodola vs. Sadiki Disappointing end to this one. Durodola was punching too hard for DRC fighter Sadiki, The DRC fighter tried to match Durodola’s power but was under heavy fire in the third round when he suddenly stopped fighting and turned away. He was limping badly and seemed to have injured a muscle in his right leg. He had to be helped back to his corner with Durodola proclaimed the winner. The Nigerian banger wins the vacant WBFederation title. Second loss to Durodola for Sadiki who was stopped in five rounds in Ghana in September last year. Salam vs. Gonorenda Salam gets revenge for a hotly disputed loss to Gonorenda in Zimbabwe in August. Salam had promised Nigeria he would reverse that loss and he did. He made a faster start than in the August fight and looked fitter and stronger. He had Gonorenda under pressure for most of the rounds. Gonorenda launched an attack in the sixth taking Salam to the ropes but Salam spun off the ropes and put Gonorenda there. He then cut loose with a barrage of punches and with nothing coming back from Gonorenda the fight was stopped. Salam wins the WBFederation African title and a fight with Durodola would seem a logical step. After going 8-1 in fights in Britain Salam was then out of action for seven years before returning with a win in September last year and he us now 3-1 since his return. Gonorenda had won his last five fights. Ahmed vs. Ajuwa First fight for Ghanaian Ahmed since being halted in six rounds by Gilberto Ramirez in a challenge for WBO title in February. Initially the Nigerian was competitive but fell apart in the second round,. Ajuwa staged a big attack landing some head punches and forcing Ahmed back. Ahmed then drove forward pounding Ajuwa with a series of clubbing rights to the head and Ajuwa stopped fighting, waived his arm, turned and walked away forcing the referee to stop the fight. The “Wild Hurricane” makes it 18 wins by KO/TKO but this was too easy. “Golden Child” Ajuwa has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Lublin, Poland: Middle: Lukasz Maciec (25-3-1) W PTS 8 Damian Bonelli (23-4). Maciec outpoints Bonelli but the Argentinian gave him plenty of trouble early. Over the first three rounds Bonelli was often forcing Maciec to the ropes and landing left hooks and straight rights. Maciec finally started to roll from the fourth rocking Bonelli with some heavy rights and bringing his own left hook into play more often. Bonelli went down but it was rightly ruled a slip. Bonelli pressed hard at the end but the experienced Maciec boxed and battled his way to the win. Scores 79-73, 78-74 and 77-76 all for Maciec. The Pole’s only loss was a points decision against Hugo Centeno in 2015. He had only one fight in 2016 and was inactive in 2017 so needs to fight more often as he has dropped out of all of the ratings. Bonelli, 40, has now lost three in a row one in Canada and two in Poland. Oviedo, Spain: Welter: Aitor Nieto (23-6-1) W TKO 4 Jonathan Valero (9-4). Neighbourhood fighter Nieto has no trouble defending his national title. The tall “El Diamante” was miles ahead of Valero in every department. He took control in the first round and by the second Valero had swollen cheeks; blood from the nose and cuts Valero’s was already bruised and battered. Nieto handed out more punishment in the third and it was no surprise that the referee stopped the fight in the fourth. The year has not gone to well for Nieto with losses to unbeaten fighters Jordy Weiss and James Metcalf but this win will make 2018 a bit less painful for Nieto. Valero was later found to have suffered an orbital bone fracture. He is 3-1 in his last 4 fights with one of those losses also to Weiss. October 27 Sofia, Bulgaria: Heavy: Kubrat Pulev (26-1) W PTS 12 Hughie Fury (21-2). Cruiser: Tervel Pulev (12-0) W TKO 2 Leonardo Bruzzese (19-6). Middle: Fouad El Massoudi (16-11) W PTS 10 Gennady Martirosyan (26-4). Super Welter: Yosif Panov (13-3) W PTS 10 Stiliyan Kostov (21-9). Pulev vs. Fury Pulev outpoints Fury to open the way to a fight with Anthony Joshua. Fury began in the “Fury” style with his hands down, plenty of movement and stabbing out his jab. Pulev made a slow start having difficulty in letting his hands go as he tried to solve Fury’s tactics. Pulev was trying to set Fury up for a right cross but it was his jab that was proving his best punch and in the second a jab opened a cut over the left eye of .Fury. Concerned about the seriousness of the cut Fury launched a furious attack at the start of the third that had Pulev stumbling. Gradually the fire died out but that early attack was enough to give Fury the round. The fight was becoming messy. Fury was tending to dive in with his attacks and his head always seemed to end up under Pulev’s arm until the referee pulled them apart. The pattern of the fight remained the same over the middle rounds with Pulev tracking Fury and letting fly with jabs and then flinging wild rights. Fury kept on the retreat probing with his jab and then trying to land big right crosses. Fury seemed at times to be worried about the injury over his eye and gradually some of the fire went out of his work and he spent more and more time retreating around the perimeter of the ring only firing an occasional big right trying to turn the fight his way. It was not an entertaining fight. Fury’s counters kept him in the fight but more and more it was Pulev scoring with his powerful jab and Fury throwing less and less punches. Pulev scored with two heavy rights in the eleventh. Fury came out throwing punches in the last but with Fury totally exhausted they lacked power and Pulev soon had Fury on the retreat and was the one doing the scoring as the round closed. Scores 118-110, 117-111 and a surprisingly close 115-113 all for Pulev. This win makes the 37-year-old Pulev the mandatory challenger for the IBF title. He is strong but oh so slow and I can’t see him causing Anthony Joshua any problems. Fury was a disappointment and he performed way below the form he showed in losing a majority decision to Joseph Parker but at 24 he has plenty of time to rebound from this. Pulev vs. Bruzzese Younger brother Tervel makes it a winning night for the Pulev family as he halts Italian Bruzzese in two rounds. After some preliminary jabs Pulev stepped inside and landed a couple of left hooks to the body . Bruzzese tried to keep Pulev out with his jab but the Bulgarian connected with a right to the head and a left to the body and Bruzzese dropped to his knees. He beat the count and again tried to work with his jab but Pulev muscled him to the ropes and Bruzzese went down under a few clubbing shots. Again he beat the count and the bell went. Bruzzese went forward behind his jab in the second but a heavy right cross put him on the floor on his back. He tried to rise but tumbled over again and the fight was stopped. Pulev, 35 wins the vacant EU title. He won plenty of gold medals as an amateur and also took a silver at the European Championships and a bronze at the 2012 Olympics losing to Oleg Usyk. Argentinian-born Bruzzese, a former Italian champion, was having his third shot at winning a EU title. El Massoudi vs. Martirosyan Frenchman El Massoudi wins a split decision over Martirosyan. Scores 99-93 and 98-94 for El Massoudi and 96-95 for Martirosyan. After a run of six losses in seven fights El Massoudi has suddenly come good as last month he scored a fourth round stoppage victory over 19-0 Pole Patryk Szymanski. Armenian-born Russian Martirosyan lost to Dmitry Pirog for the WBO middle title way back in 2011but then had only one fight in almost six years before scoring three wins last year. Panov vs. Kostov Panov continues his good run with unanimous verdict over Kostov to pick up the national title. Scores 98-94, 98-95 and 97-94 for Panov. He was 2-3 in his first 5 fights with the three losses being against unbeaten British fighters. From there he has won eleven in a row. Kostov has been going in the opposite direction and is now 1-5 in his last 6. London, England: Super Middle: John Ryder (27-4) W KO 7 Andrey Sirotkin (15-2). Feather: Jordan Gill (22-0) W TKO 7 Sean Doyle (17-3-1). Super Welter: Ted Cheeseman (15-0) W PTS 12 Asinia Byfield (14-2). Cruiser: Isaac Chamberlain (10-1) W PTS 10 Luke Watkins (13-2). Middle: Felix Cash (10-0) W PTS 10 Stephen Danyo (14-2-3). Super Feather: Martin Joseph Ward (20-1-2) W KO 2 Mohammed Kambuluta (18-5).Feather: Reece Bellotti (13-1) W PTS 6 Brayan Mairena (10-4-1). Ryder vs. Sirotkin Ryder protects his WBA No 3 rating with stoppage of Russian Sirotkin. The visitor had a good first round. He was penetrating Ryder’s defence with quick, accurate jabs and getting home with a couple of straight rights. He was confident enough to be dancing hands down and Ryder was having difficulty finding the range. Ryder did better in the second. He was throwing more punches and had tightened his guard. Sirotkin was ignoring his jab and was a bit wild with his punches, Sirotkin looked to have edged the third and fourth His speed and movement were making it difficult for Ryder to land and meanwhile Sirotkin was popping Ryder with jabs and straight rights. There was not much power in Sirotkin’s punches but they were landing. Ryder still did not have an answer to the bobbing, weaving and dancing Russian in the fifth and Sirotkin was scoring with some wild rights and dangerously driving in head down. The fight changed in the sixth. Ryder was now taking an extra step forward cutting down the ring and putting pressure on Sirotkin. Ryder was scoring with body punches and Sirotkin’s work became ragged. With Sirotkin still diving in head first a clash of head saw Ryder suffer a bad cut over his left eye. Ryder was hunting Sirotkin down in the seventh landing thudding punches to the body. Sirotkin stumbled forward and down to his knees but it was a fall rather than a knockdown so no count but it was a sign that Sorokin was weakening. Ryder was forcing Sirotkin around the ring pounding him with punches to head and body and a right hook to the ribs saw Sirotkin go down on one knee and make no attempt to beat the count. The “Gorilla” had made heavy work of this early but his power proved too much for Sirotkin in the end. Now 15 wins by KO/TKO for the 30-year-old southpaw Losses to Nick Blackwell, Jack Arnfield and to Rocky Fielding on a split decision left Ryder some way down the pecking order but a fourth round kayo of 29-1 Dane Patrick Nielsen changed that and his second round kayo of 25-1Jamie Cox put him in sight of a title shot against Callum Smith for the WBA crown in 2019. Sirotkin, 33, had scored wins over former champion Ricardo Mayorga and Canadian hard man Ryan Ford and risen to No 4 in the WBA ratings but his hopes were dashed here... Gill vs. Doyle The boxer outpunches the puncher as Gill stops champion Doyle in seven rounds to win the Commonwealth title. Gill led in this one from the outset. He was drilling Doyle with jabs and using clever footwork to frustrate Doyle’s attempts to counter. Doyle managed to land a hard right in the third but Gill continued to outscore the champion. In the fourth it was Doyle’s turn to be shaken by a left hook as Gill stepped up his attacks. He continued to score with jarring jabs and in the sixth a left uppercut had Doyle in trouble and then a series of body punches drove Doyle to the canvas. He beat the count and made it to the bell but it was all over in the seventh when with Doyle on the ropes and Gill connecting with a series of punches the referee stopped the fight. A brilliant performance from “The Thrill” as he gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. Doyle had won the Commonwealth title with a career best performance in halting unbeaten Reece Bellotti in June. Cheeseman vs. Byfield After some nasty exchanges in the time leading up to the fight this was a much anticipated grudge match. It was seen as a 50/50 fight but Cheeseman controlled the fight from the start and won a wide unanimous decision to become British champion. The aggressive Cheeseman went onto the attack immediately with Byfield boxing cleverly on the back foot and slotting home counters. Cheeseman stepped up his attacks in the second setting a punishing work rate, getting in close and going to the body. Byfield was finding the target with jabs and rights to the head but lacked the punch to deter Cheeseman and he was too often trapped with his back to the ropes having to fight off strong attacks. A right from Cheeseman floored Byfield in the fifth and he also rocked Byfield with right in the sixth. Byfield rallied in the seventh and had a measure of success as evidenced by the blood from Cheeseman’s nose but Cheeseman connected with strong rights in the eighth and again in the eleventh. They put everything into the last round as they traded punches for the final three minutes of the fight with Cheeseman a clear victor. Scores 117-111 twice and 117-110 all for Cheeseman. The 23-year-old Londoner‘s unrelenting pressure were just too much for Byfield. A former top level amateur Cheeseman already holds a win over experienced Carson Jones and is poised to take on higher level opposition. Byfield had won his last five fights but just met a better and stronger man on the night. Chamberlain vs. Watkins Chamberlin beats Watkins on points but needs a last round knockout to secure the win. Chamberlain made a good start stabbing home stiff jabs and countering attempts by Watkins to get inside. Watkins did better in the second round but the superior skill of Chamberlain kept him in front. Watkins began to get through with rights to the head and his aggressive attacks saw him build a small lead. Chamberlain then found his way again and outscored Watkins over the middle rounds doing some useful body work. Watkins stormed back pressurising Chamberlain and shaking him with a right in the eighth and edging the ninth. The fight was on a knife’s edge so both fighters went at it hard in the tenth. Chamberlain controlled his punches better and found the target with a series of hooks which had Watkins badly shaken and with just seconds to go Watkins dropped to one knee but made it to his feet at the bell. Referee’s score 95-94 for Chamberlain so assuming a 10-8 last round for Chamberlain in effect Watkins was only seconds from Victory. The 24-year-old Chamberlain will now be looking for a chance to reverse his only loss a points decision to current British and Common wealth champion Lawrence Okolie in February. Watkins came so close here. He lost his Commonwealth title to Okolie in June so it is now two losses in a row but he can rebound. Cash vs. Danyo Cash showcases some excellent skills and outclasses Dutchman Danyo. Cash was on the attack early moving forward behind some jarring jabs and banging home body punches. Initially Danyo tried to box on the back foot but Cash was piercing his guard with jabs and raking the Dutchman’s body with hooks. Danyo turned more aggressive over the middle rounds but with Cash constantly changing angles and firing rapid combinations. Cash connected with some hard punches in the fifth to stagger Danyo and handed out plenty of punishment in the seventh. Cash was going ten rounds for the first time and slowed a little over the closing rounds with Danyo having some success but never enough to win a round. Scores 100-90 for Cash from the three judges. Cash wins the WBC International Silver title and will be looking to add some more titles after collecting his first. He has great skills but looks a little light in punch power at this stage. After being unbeaten in 17 fights it is now two losses in a row for Danyo but the other one was against the WBO No 1 Custio Clayton. Ward vs. Kambuluta Early night for Ward. He had some problems with the unorthodox wild swinging style of Kambuluta but ended it in the second. Kambuluta was marching forward throwing wild punches and was nailed by a right to the head that stiffened his legs. A left hook saw him stumble into a corner and he went down under a couple more punches. He grabbed the ropes trying to rise and although he made it he just failed to beat the count. First step on the road to recovery for Ward who lost his European title on a fifth round stoppage against James Tennyson in May. It’s now five fights outside Tanzania and five losses by KO/TKO for Kambuluta Bellotti vs. Mairena As with Ward Bellotti was also working his way back after a loss. He was much too good for Nicaraguan Mairena. Faster feet and faster hands was the story here. Mairena kept chugging forward and did enough to take a round but it was cruise control for Bellotti. Referee’s score 59-55. The Watford “Bomber” lost his Commonwealth title to Ryan Doyle in June and will be looking to build back to go for the British title or target new Commonwealth champion Jordan Gill. Four losses in a row for Mairena. You can expect that run to grow as he is a new addition to the Barcelona-based loser’s school. Weissenfels, Germany: Light Heavy: Dominic Boesel (28-1) W PTS 12 Enrico Koelling (26-2). Cruiser: Roman Fress (5-0) W PTS 10 Bjoern Blaschke (12-10-1). Boesel vs. Koelling Boesel retains European title with unanimous decision over fellow-German. Koelling The champion made a confident start outboxing Koelling over the first two rounds. Koelling had some success in the third with left hooks but was outscored by Boesel. The champion was dominating the action both inside and outside. He used his better skills to outscore Koelling on the outside and also had Koelling pinned to the ropes for much of the time. By the half way mark Boesel had built a substantial lead. Koelling had also been working to the body and he focused more of his attacks there. From the seventh round he began to eat into Boesel’s lead. Boesel had a good eighth making things even tougher for Koelling but the challenger was finding the target again with left hooks. He swept the ninth and tenth rounds but with some clever boxing and greater accuracy Boesel halted Koelling’s surge by edging the eleventh. Koelling put in a strong finish in the final round but it was never going to be enough to claw back Boesel’s early lead and Boesel was a good winner. Scores 118-111, 116-113 and 115-113 for Boesel. Boesel was making the first defence of the title that he won with a points victory over Serhiy Demchenko in March. His only loss was a late stoppage by Karo Murat for the vacant European title in July last year. He is the second highest fighter in the IBF ratings at No 4(the first two spots are vacant) and with Murat rated one spot above him a return could see the winner installed as mandatory challenger to Artur Beterbiev. Koelling knows all about Beterbiev having been knocked out in the twelfth round by Beterbiev in a fight for the vacant IBF title in November .Koelling was two places behind Koelling in the IBF ratings and since they were both in the IBF top 10 Boesel now qualifies for the mandatory spot son might vault over Murat. Fress vs. Blaschke Fress wins the vacant German title in only his fifth fight. The former top rank amateur outboxed a willing but very limited Blaschke in every round. The speed and accuracy of his jab gave Fress domination and he worked Blaschke over on the ropes when he decided to take the fight inside. He showed excellent technical skills albeit against an inferior standard opponent. Scores 100-90 for Fress form the three judges. The 24-year-old 6’3” Kazak-born Fress was German Under 17, Youth. Under 21 and Under-23 champion and was runner-up at the German National Championships in 2015. Blaschke was never in with a chance. Madrid, Spain: Feather: Kiko Martinez (39-8-2) W PTS 12 Marc Vidal (11-2-5). Super Middle: Adan Silvera (10-1) W KO 5 Mariano Hilario (17-7). Martinez vs. Vidal Martinez powers his way to victory over champion Vidal to win the European title and become the first Spaniard to be a two-division European champion. When they met in May the fight ended in a technical draw just when it was heating up. This time it went the distance and Martinez won clearly. Although giving away height and reach Martinez used his wealth of experience to dodge past Vidal’s jab and score well inside and avoid Vidal’s counters. Martinez had began the fight well with his busier style and the accuracy of his punches. He was able to connect with heavy rights and it was his best punch. Martinez’s punches saw him build a good lead but his work rate dropped in the seventh allowing Vidal the space to claw his way into the fight. Martinez came back again and a booming right in the eleventh had Vidal in trouble and Martinez was a comfortable winner. Scores 118-110, 118-111 and 117-111all for the new champion. The former IBF super bantam king has been voted Fighter of the Year four times by Spain’s boxing fraternity and naturally he now wants Josh Warrington, Carl Frampton or Leo Santa Cruz next. Vidal was making the second defence of the European title. Silvera vs. Hilario A mild upset sees inexperienced Silvera blast out Hilario to win the vacant Spanish title. The Canary Islander proved just too strong for the Dominican-born Hilario. He steamed forward throwing punches battering away at Hilario’s defences. Hilario was badly shaken in the fourth and was given a standing count. In the fifth a fearful straight right from Silvera sent Hilario down heavily. Hilario grabbed the ropes and tried to rise but toppled over and was counted out. Silvera, 33, did not turn pro until he was 30. After winning his first nine fights he lost in Portugal to 8-8-1 Rui Manuiel Pavanito so was not given much chance of winning this one. Hilario, 31, a former Spanish and twice EU champion falls to his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Cutral Co, Argentina: Welter: Luis Veron (16-0) W PTS 10 Jonathan Eniz (21-11-1,1ND). Super Light: Sebastian Aguirre (16-3) W TKO 2 Martin Coggi (35-8-4,1ND). Veron vs. Eniz Veron retains the WBO Latino title with very controversial decision over Eniz with a wide divergence in the scoring. Eniz was the quicker man and built an early lead outscoring Veron over the first half of the fight. Veron just could not get to grips with the clever southpaw boxing of Eniz who continually pierced Veron’s guard with straight lefts. It was the sixth before Veron really got into the fight as Eniz’s work rate dropped. The seventh and eighth were close with Eniz rallying and looking to have edged them. Thinking he had an unassailable lead Eniz boxed cautiously over the ninth and tenth which Veron took but it did not look as though he had done enough, Scores 97-93 twice for Veron and 99-91 for Eniz with both scores being unrepresentative of the action. The 27-year-old winner was lucky. A former top amateur who was a member of the Argentinian Condors in the WBS Veron is No 7 with the WBO but did not look like a world rated fighter here. Eniz was 6-1, 1 ND going in having lost to unbeaten Batyrzhan Jukembayev in Canada in May. Aguirre vs. Coggi Aguirre disposes of Coggi in two rounds. Coggi, the son of the former world champion, had plenty of height and reach over the crude swinging Aguirre in this all-southpaw clash and took the opening round, In the second as Coggi was boxing confidently Aguirre ducked under a right jab from Coggi and came over the top with a thunderbolt left to the head and Coggi went down on his back and was counted out. Tenth win by KO/TKO for Aguirre who wins the vacant WBO Latino title. He had been a very ordinary 3-3 going in. Coggi”The Little Prince” suffers his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Brugge, Belgium: Super Welter: Vadim Stoljartsjoek (9-0) W TKO 10 Ayoub Nefzi (26-12-2). Stoljartsjoek wins the vacant Belgian title. Nefzi came in over the weight limit so could not win the title. Stoljartsjoek power kept him in control on this one. Nefzi was never really a force and his chances were not helped by a points deduction in the sixth round for careless use of his head. Stoljartsjoek kept up the pressure and the fight was stopped in the last round. Tajikistani Stoljartsjoek now has seven victories by KO/TKO and he went into this fight on the back of two first round wins. Tunisian Nefzi was 16-0-1 in his early days but is now 0-5-1 in his last six. Nuremburg, Germany: Super Welter: Jama Saidi (14-0) W PTS 12 Sasha Yengoyan (41-4-1). Saidi retains the IBF European title with majority verdict over experienced Yengoyan. Scores 117-111 and 115-113 for Saidi and 114-114. Second defence for Saidi but he was lucky he was fighting ay home as this was very close. The 25-year-old German of Afghan parentage who turned pro at 17 has split his time between boxing and competing at K1. Armenian Yengoyan, 33, is past his peak and has now lost three of his last four fights. Ensenada, Mexico: Welter: Alessandro Riguccini (22-0) W TKO 3 Andres Villaman (14-1). Super Welter: Mario Meraz (26-4) W TKO 7 Manuel Aguilar (20-12,1ND). Riguccini vs. Villaman Italian Riguccini wins the vacant WBC Silver title with stoppage of Mexican Villaman. It is now 11 wins on the bounce by KO/TKO and 18 in all for Riguccini. Not bad for a guy who only took up boxing to improve the boxing part of his kickboxing skills. Apart from winning the WBC Silver title he was also a champion at kickboxing, K1 and full contact- and is a computer engineer. Villman’s record is heavily padded with low level opposition. It is strange that with the prestige the WBC claims for their Silver title two fighters who are not even in the top 40 fight for it. Will Riguccini now go into the top 15 for beating such a mediocre opponent? Meraz vs. Aguilar Neighbourhood battler Meraz continues to get his career back on track with another win. Over 2013 and 2014 he put together a run of nine wins in ten fight with the loss being to world rated Jason Pagara. He then had only one fight in 2015 and was inactive in 2016 and 2017 before returning and now has two wins over reasonable level opposition this year. Aguilar is 3-8 in his last 11. Culiacan, Mexico: Middle: Omar Chavez (37-5-1) W PTS 10 Nicolas Luques (10-6). Super Light: Pedro Campa (29-1) W Adrian Perez (10-4). Chavez vs. Luques Fighting in his home town Chavez wins but struggles to do so. It was evident in the first round that although Chavez had a much longer reach there was no snap to his punches and Luques was able to march forward and score with some hefty hooks. Chavez improved in the second using his jab more but Luques showed some good defensive work. Chavez did better in the third scoring at distance with Luques not able to get close and a punch from Chavez dislodged Luques mouth guard just before the bell. The fourth and fifth were close but there was not much quality work on show. Luques outscored Chavez in the sixth but was rocked by a hard right. Chavez work rate dropped away in the seventh and Luques pressurised him all the way but the Argentinian was missing too many shots and letting Chavez off the hook. Despite that Chavez was now cut on this right cheek. Luques continued to attack a very tired Chavez in the eighth but Chavez banged back hard to have a good ninth. Two exhausted fighters somehow found the strength to punch their way through the last with Chavez the more accurate and just taking the round. Scores 96-94 for Chavez from the three judges. Having lost his last two fights it was vital that Chavez win this one but he was far from impressive and has gone as far as he is going. Luques will feel that he deserved at least a draw but the result looked a fair one-just. Campa vs. Perez Boy this was a wild one until a thunderbolt from Campa finished it in the second round. Campa was wading in scoring with heavy rights in the first. Southpaw Aparicio was taller with a longer reach but under pressure from Campa he was just standing and throwing sweeping but inaccurate punches. The referee stopped the fight and asked the doctor to examine a serious cut Campa had suffered in a clash of heads. Campa was cleared to continue and the mayhem continued. Campa was landing rights again and Aparicio was just punching out blindly. He paid for that. Just before the bell a huge right from Campa dumped him on his back and although he managed to struggle to his feet he was too late to beat the count. Campa “The Rock” from Hermosillo won his first 27 fights but in a big upset was halted in seven rounds by 11-8-1 Carlos Jimenez in October. This is win No 3 since then. Aparicio’s tactics were suicidal as he made no attempt to use his physical edges but tried to outpunch Campa. Lyubertsy, Russia: Light: Pavel Malikov (14-1) W KO 2 Ernie Sanchez (19-13-1). Welter: Olek Ivanov (16-4) W PTS 10 Dmitry Mikhaylenko (23-4). Light: Roman Andreev (22-0) W TKO 3 Evgeny Vazem (8-6). Malikov vs. Sanchez Malikov wins the bizarrely named Eurasian Boxing Parliament title with kayo of Sanchez after a short, fierce battle. Malikov was coming forward connecting with solid jabs and hooks to the body. Sanchez fired some hefty counters but body punches from Malikov had him on the back foot. Malikov continued to bombard Sanchez with hurtful body punches until a left to the ribs saw Sanchez take a couple of steps back and then go down on his hands and knees and get counted out. Sixth win by KO/TKO for the 32-yearold local fighter. He won his first 13 fights but in April lost for the first time on an eighth round kayo against Daud Yordan. Filipino Sanchez drops to 4-7 in his last 11 fights. Ivanov vs. Mikhaylenko Youth won here as Ivanov outworked Mikhaylenko to take the unanimous verdict. Ivanov did his best work inside. Mikhaylenko was the harder puncher but was not stringing his punches together and from the second round was hampered by a cut over his right eye. Ivanov was taking Mikhaylenko to the ropes and pounding away to the body with bursts of hooks and when the action moved off the ropes he was spearing the advancing Mikhaylenko with jabs. Mikhaylenko came on strongly over the closing rounds but Ivanov already had the fight won by then. Scores 100-91, 98-92 and 96-94 for Ivanov. The Russian-based Ukrainian Ivanov, 24, has won 7 of his last 8 fights. Mikhaylenko, 32, was 21-0 at one time and scored wins over Sechew Powell, Ronald Cruz, Johan Perez and Karim Mayfield but had fallen away and was 2-3 going into this fight. Andreev vs. Vazem Andreev wins this mismatch. He took the first two rounds keeping his left jab in Vazem’s face and driving left hooks to the body. Vazem countered but was always going backwards. In the third a left hook to the body had Vazem retreating to the ropes and another one sent him down on one knee. He got up but was still in some pain. He nodded that he was able to fight on but by then the towel had already come in from his corner. Andreev is No 1 lightweight with the WBO but the strength of his opponents does not justify that high a position and BoxRec has him rated No 23. Vazem tried hard but he is really just a four and six round fighter. Newport, Wales: Light: Gavin Gwynne (10-0) W PTS 10 Myron Mills (12-1). Welter: Tony Dixon (11-2) W PTS 10 Kieran Gething (6-2-1). Super Welter: Ryan Toms (16-15-3) W TKO 2 Fred Evans (5-1). Fly: Andrew Selby (11-0) W TKO 2 Adam Yahaya (18-4-1). Gwynne vs. Mills Gwynne outpoints Mills in British title eliminator. These were two well-matched fighters with Gwynne having big advantages in height and reach which he used to build and early lead. Mills scored well to the body over the middle rounds only for a strong finish from Gwynne just do enough to get the verdict. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 for Gwynne. The 28-year-old Welsh champion will be looking to challenge Lewis Ritson but it may be too early in his career for such a hard fight. English champion Mills had scored wins over good domestic opposition in Luke Paddock and Marcus French. Dixon vs. Gething This Welsh Area title fight was even closer than the Gwynne vs. Mills fight. Dixon controlled much of the fight with his jab but Gething pressed hard. In the end it was a fourth round knockdown scored by Dixon that decided the fight on the referee’s card although Dixon did look to have won well. The referee gave the decision to Dixon seeing it 95-94. Last time out in December Dixon lost on points to Ted Cheeseman so a very welcome victory. Gething had lost his last six but this was close enough to justify a second match. Toms vs. Evans This was a big shock and dented the hopes of one of the best amateur boxers produced by Wales. Great things were expected from the 27-year-old from Cardiff but Toms blasted those expectations. Although only possessing a very ordinary record Toms is a known puncher and he shook fellow-southpaw Evans with lefts in the first. A left put Eva\ns down early in the second and another left put him down for the second time. Evans tried to punch his way out of trouble but he was driven to the ropes and was being bombarded with punches as the referee halted the fight. Tenth win by KO/TKO for 36-year-old Toms. He was 2-4-1 before this one but had scored upset stoppage wins in the past over 17-1 Lloyd Elliott and 17-3 Arthur Hermann. Evans, 27, had won gold medals at the Commonwealth Championships and the European Championships and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games beating the current WBO No 1Custio Clayton, WBO 2 Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Taras Shelestyuk on the way to the final. There has to be a question mark over him now. Selby vs. Yahaya With his European title fight with Vincent Legrand postponed Selby took this one to keep busy. He took more chances that usual standing right in front of Yahaya and trading punches. The defensive wizardry of Selby left Yahaya swishing air but the gutsy Tanzanian tried to march forward through the hail of punches from Selby. The local fighter piled on the punches again in the second with Yahaya trying to fight back but he was cornered and taking punishment and the referee stopped the fight. Selby is No 1 with the WBC and already has a win over current champion Cristofer Rosales. A date is awaited for the delayed Legrand European title fight but as well as the No 1 spot with the WBC he is the highest rated challenger with the IBF at No 3 (positions 1 and 2 are vacant) so a world title shot early in 2019 is assured and the fight with Legrand may seem an unnecessary risk. Yahaya way out of his depth but then most fighters are when faced by Selby and he had gone the distance with unbeaten Tommy Frank just 15 days ago, San Antonio, TX, USA: Feather: Ramon Cardenas (16-1) W PTS 10 Ramsey Luna (14-7) Cardenas wins an all-Texan contest to collect his first title as a pro as he gets narrow decision over Luna for the vacant American Boxing Federation title. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 for Cardenas. First ten round fight for the 22-year-old from San Antonio. Luna from Corpus Christi started his career with a run of eleven wins so is now 3-7 in his last 10. Fight of the week (Entertainment): Ivan Baranchyk vs. Anthony Yigit Fight of the week (Significance): Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko Fighter of the week: Ivan Baranchyk with honourable mention to Felix Alvarado Punch of the week: Both the first straight left and the following uppercut from Machado were great punches. Honourable mention to the left from Sebastian Aguero which flattened Martin Coggi Upset of the week: Demian Fernandez 9-1 was not expected to beat 16-1 Diego Ramirez and prospect Fred Evans stoppage at the hands of Ryan Tom was a shock. Prospect watch: Ted Cheeseman 15-0 was impressive in his win over Asinia Byfield and Filipino flyweight Giemel Magramo 22-1 Filipino looks good
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By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Demetrius Andrade outclasses Walter Kautondokwa to win the vacant WBO middleweight title -Rob Brant spring major upset as he outpoints Ryota Murata for the secondary WBA middleweight title -Tevin Farmer halts James Tennyson in IBF super feather title defence -Emmanuel Rodriguez just edges out Jason Moloney to retain the IBF bantam title and moves into the semi-finals of the WBSS tournament and Yuniel Dorticos get close verdict over Mateusz Masternak to qualify for the semi-finals of the WBSS cruiser tournament Arsen Goulamirian stops Mark Flanagan in defence of his interim WBA cruiser title -Kid Galahad gets unanimous verdict over Toka Kahn Clary in IBF featherweight eliminator and Brits Tommy Coyle and Scott Quigg also score wins in Boston -Johnny Garton wins the vacant British welterweight title with stoppage of former WBO title challenger Gary Corcoran and Anthony Yarde moves to 17-0 with stoppage of Argentinian Walter Sequeira -Prospects Michael Conlan, Esquiva Falcao, Jason Quigley and Maxim Dadashev continue unbeaten -Emmanuel Tagoe gets wide unanimous decision over Namibian veteran Paulus Moses who announces his retirement WORLD TITLE SHOWS October 20 Boston. MA, USA: Super Feather: Tevin Farmer (27-4-1,1ND) W KO 5 James Tennyson (22-3). Middle: Demetrius Andrade (26-0) W PTS 12 Walter Kautondokwa (17-1). Feather: Kid Galahad (25-0) W PTS 12 Toka Kahn Clary (25-2). Super Light: Tommy Coyle (25-4) W PTS 10 Ryan Kielczewski (29-4). Super Welter: Mark DeLuca (22-1) W PTS 10 Walter Wright (17-5). Feather: Scott Quigg (36-2-2) W TKO 2 Mario Briones (29-8-2). Heavy: Niall Kennedy (12-0-1) W PTS 6 Brendan Barrett (7-1-2). Welter: Daniyar Yeleussinov (4-0) W TKO 1 Matt Doherty (8-6-1). Farmer vs. Tennyson Farmer uses some wicked left hooks to the body to end Tennyson’s challenge and retain the IBF title. Round 1 Fast-paced opener as Tennyson takes the fight to Farmer marching forward firing jabs and rights. Farmer on the back foot scoring with southpaw jabs and left hooks. Plenty of movement from Farmer who is quicker of hand and foot and finds gaps for counters. Score 10-9 Farmer Round 2 Tennyson still trying to get inside but Farmer too quick. The champion is sliding home jabs and countering with lefts to head and body changing angles and firing flashy combinations. Tennyson manages to work inside late in the round but Farmer’s round easily. Score 10-9 Farmer Farmer 20-18 Round 3 Much better round for Tennyson. He hustles Farmer for the whole three minutes doing a better job of cutting off the ring. Farmer off target with many of his punches and drawn into a brawl over the last minute of the round. Score 10-9 Tennyson Farmer 29-28 Round 4 Tennyson marching forward again. Farmer on the back foot but this time avoiding working inside. He is moving fast and pinging Tennyson with light, quick punches as Tennyson comes forward. Late in the round he curves a left around Tennyson’s guard and into the ribs that collapses Tennyson to his hands and knees in pain. Tennyson is up at seven and goes back onto the attack until the bell. Score 10-8 Farmer Farmer 39-36 Official scores: 40-35, 40-36 and 38-37 for Farmer Round 5 Farmer is put under pressure again in this one. He is getting through with rights to the body but Tennyson keeps coming. Farmer on the back foot is landing quick jabs and straight rights but without power. A right to the body sees Tennyson dip at the knees obviously hurt. He goes back onto the attack but another left hook drops him and the referee rules the fight over with Tennyson disputing the speed of the referee’s decision as he had arisen from the same punch in the fourth and fought on. “American Idol”, Farmer, 28, was making the first defence of the IBF title he won with a points win over Billy Dib in August. After losing on an eighth round stoppage to Jose Pedraza in 2012 he was a very modest 7-4-1, He has now gone 20-0,1ND in his last 21 fights. The story behind the No Decision is that in December he lost on a split decision against Kenichi Ogawa in a fight for the vacant IBF title only for Ogawa to test positive for a banned substance resulting in a No Decision ruling. Farmer is very fast and very clever but at times looked a little light weight. Tennyson 25 was 14-1 in his last 15 fights before this one. He had won the European and Commonwealth titles by overcoming unbeaten Martin Joseph Ward but the body punching from Farmer was just too much for him and he suffers his third loss by KO/TKO. Andrade vs. Kautondokwa Andrade wins the vacant WBO title as he floors Namibian Kautondokwa four times on the way to a unanimous points victory. Round 1 Great start for Andrade. He was much quicker than the big Namibian and was sliding punches through Kautondokwa’s guard. Late in the round Andrade threw two straight lefts. The first landed and shook Kautondokwa but in avoiding the second he tumbled to the canvas. He had one knee and one glove on the floor when Andrade landed another punch. Kautondokwa was up at eight and before signalling for the fight to continue the referee warned Andrade for the foul punch. Andrade got off too lightly as his action deserved at least a point deduction if not disqualification. Andrade was unable to land another meaningful punch in the time remaining in the round. Score 10-8 Andrade Round 2 Andrade used dazzling footwork and fast hands to outbox the Namibian. Kautondokwa was trundling after Andrade but was just not letting his hands go. The movement of Andrade was making it difficult for Kautondokwa to find his range and Andrade was buzzing around the Namibian nipping in and landing and getting out before Kautondokwa could counter. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 20-17 Round 3 After being outboxed at the start of the round Kautondokwa finally managed to get close and land some powerful hooks to the body. He threw a right cross which Andrade stepped inside and as Kautondokwa was straightening up Andrade came over the top with a crunching left that floored Kautondokwa. Andrade thought the fight was over and raced to a corner and climbed the ropes to celebrate. Whilst he was doing that Kautondokwa was climbing to his feet at the count of six and was ready to continue the fight. Andrade went for the finish and landed some lefts but Kautondokwa fought back to the bell. Score 10-8 Andrade Andrade 30-25 Round 4 Andrade was looking to finish it and letting fly with lefts. Kautondokwa seemed to have recovered from the knockdown in the third but as he drove forward Andrade drilled him with a left and Kautondokwa dropped to his knees. Andrade was knocked off balance as he landed the punch and his gloves touched the canvas as he righted himself. Kautondokwa was up at eight and tried to march forward but was walking into hard counters from both hands and another floored him. He was up early and again tried to chase down Andrade but was nailed with some hefty lefts. Score 10-7Andrade Andrade 40-32 Round 5 With Kautondokwa having been down four times it seemed that the fight could not last much longer and the referee asked the doctor to examine Kautondokwa before the start of the round but the fight continued. This was an incident free round. Kautondokwa scored with a good right early and was not lunging in so much. Andrade was moving more than punching less. He finished the round with a flashy combination but some of the punches were low Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 50-41 Round 6 The pace had dropped dramatically Andrade was finding gaps but throwing fewer punches and Kautondokwa was slow and inaccurate with his punches. Andrade did most of the scoring but again many of his punches were landing low. Both fighters went over but they were from trips. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 60-50 Round 7 Andrade briefly switched to orthodox but it brought him no success so he switched back to southpaw. He was getting through with his jab and occasionally throwing a burst of punches and Kautondokwa landed one hard right but the fight was flat. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 70-59 Round 8 Another low action round. Andrade was moving too quickly for Kautondokwa to connect but was throwing fewer punches himself and not loading up on those he did throw. Kautondokwa did land one right to the head but that was all. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 80-68 Round 9 No change. Andrade was waiting for Kautondokwa to lunge forward and then scoring with a quick burst of counters but he was not taking the initiative just countering. Kautondokwa was still failing to land anything of note in a drab fight. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 90-77 Round 10 Another low intensity round with even less punches thrown than in the ninth. It was close as Kautondokwa had come to taking a round because Andrade did so little but Andrade was more accurate with the punches he did throw. Score 10-9 Andarde Andrade 100-86 Round 11 Andrade let his lefts go more in this round but was mostly luring Kautondokwa forward and countering and there was no sustained action from either fighter. Kautondokwa landed one right and that was his contribution to another dreary round. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 110-95 Round 12 Andrade threw a lot more punches in this round actually taking the fight to Kautondokwa and landing quick combinations. Again he was not sustaining his attacks and both fighters seemed content to not take any risks as Andrade boxed his way to victory. Score 10-9 Andrade Andrade 120-104 Official scores: 120-104 twice and 119-105 all for Andrade. Andrade wins and becomes a two division champion already having held the WBO and secondary WBA titles at super welter. Over the first four rounds he looked a class act but despite his celebration of victory in the third round he then fell away badly from the fifth and it was a pedestrian performance after that. The WBO title was vacant because champion Billy Joe Saunders had a controversial positive test for a banned substance and although the British Board followed their rules and did not suspend Saunders the Massachusetts Commission banned Saunders from fighting in their State. Hopefully the matter can be settled and Saunders gets a chance to regain his title. Namibian Kautondokwa, 33, came in at only two weeks’ notice and had never faced anyone close to the level of Andrade. He did well not to buckle under after those four early knockdowns but he lacked the speed or technique to threaten Andrade. Galahad vs. Clary Galahad gets an important win as he outpoints southpaw Clary in an IBF eliminator. The silky skills of the Sheffield fighter were just too much for Clary. Constantly switching guards and angles Galahad swept the early rounds. He was busier and more accurate and apart from the occasional heavy left he managed to land Clary just could not compete. After Clary landed one of those in the fourth Galahad fired back with an array of punches in the fifth to keep control of the fight. Clary banged home another of his lefts in the seventh but again Galahad came back and raked Clary with punches throughout the tenth. Clary tried hard to find a home for his left over the last two rounds but Galahad was too clever and too quick and was a clear winner. Scores 118-110 twice and 115-113 for Galahad. The No 1 and No 2 spots in the IBF ratings are vacant but with this win Galahad should be able to move into the mandatory challenger slot. The champion Josh Warrington has a big fight coming against Carl Frampton in December and Galahad will be hoping to fight the winner in the New Year. There were big questions over Clary’s future when he was knocked out in 90 seconds by Filipino Jhon Gemino but a run of six wins had seen him climb to No 8 in the IBF ratings. Coyle vs. Kielczewski Coyle gets a good win over late substitute Kielczewski. Both fighters enjoyed some success over the opening two rounds with Coyle just getting the better of the exchanges. The fight remained close over the following four rounds with Coyle still in front due to his busier style and more accurate punching. There was still a chance that Kielczewski might turn things around but in the seventh a left to the head saw Kielczewski drop to one knee in a delayed action knockdown. He made it to his feet and fought off Coyle’s attempts to end things. Kielczewski tired to claw back the lost points but Coyle took no chances knowing he was in front he chose to box his way to the win. Scores 99-90, 98-91 and 96-93 all for Coyle. The Hull man has been in some outstanding fights particularly his win over Daniel Brizuela in 2014 when he climbed off the floor four times before halting Brizuela in the twelfth. He floored and stopped Michael Katsidis in the same year but lost to Luke Campbell and Tyrone Nurse. He collected the Commonwealth title in April this year with a victory over Sean Dodd. “The Polish Prince” Kielczewski won his opening 22 fights. He then went 4-3 in 7 but had rebounded with three inside the distance win before this fight. DeLuca vs. Wright DeLuca gets revenge for his only defeat as he takes unanimous decision over Wright. DeLuca took an early lead hurting Wright with some powerful southpaw lefts in rounds one and two. Wright fired back over the third and fourth to keep things close. DeLuca was constantly switching guards in the fight. He took the fifth scoring with some strong rights but they both landed some crisp punches in the sixth. Deluca looked to have taken the seventh as a right sent Wright’s mouthguard flying but Wright fought back hard in the eighth and ninth to put the result in the balance. DeLuca just had that bit more left in the last and edged the round to take the decision. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 for DeLuca. “Bazooka” DeLuca gets back the IBA world and WBA-NABA titles he lost to Wright in October. Wright, 37, is now 3-1 since returning with a win in January for his first fight for five years. Quigg vs. Briones In his first fight since losing to Oscar Valdez for the WBO featherweight title in March Quigg blasts out Briones with a ferocious attack in the second round. Both scored with some tasty punches in the first with Briones landing a hard right. Quigg was undeterred and in the second as they traded punches Quigg landed a right uppercut a left to the head and a huge right to send Briones into the ropes. Quigg then landed three blistering head punches and the referee jumped forward to stop the fight. Briones protested but it was a good stoppage. Quigg goes to 16 wins by KO/TKO. and will be looking for a title shot next year. He suffered a broken jaw when losing to Carl Frampton and a broken nose when losing to Oscar Valdez so will be hoping for another title shot this at featherweight and an injury free fight. Mexican Briones was 21-1-1 at the start of his career but is 4-5 in his last 9 fights with four of those losses by KO/TKO. Kennedy vs. Barrett After having to settle for a majority draw in his last fight Irishman Kennedy puts another win on his record as he outpoints Barrett. Both scored with some crisp punches in the first. Kennedy was down in the second but he was violently thrown there and Barrett was given a warning. Kennedy was using his height and reach to do the cleaner scoring but Barrett remained competitive as they traded punches in the third and fourth. In the fifth Kennedy sent Barrett down with an overhand right and he rocked Barrett with a right in the last to secure a good win. Scores 60-53 twice and 58-55 for 34-year-old Kennedy who is making progress but slowly. Barrett loses for the first time. Yeleussinov vs. Doherty Brooklyn based “Kazak Thunder” Yeleussinov gets a quick win as he halts Doherty in the opening round. Yeleussinov showered poor Doherty with punches simply overwhelming the local fighter before landing a wicked body shot that had the referee stepping in quickly before Doherty even went down. The 27-year-old has gold medals from the Olympics and World championships and gets his second pro win. Third loss in a row for Doherty. Orlando, FL, USA: Bantam: Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-0) W PTS 12 Jason Moloney (17-1). Cruiser: Yunier Dorticos (23-1) W PTS 12 Mateusz Masternak (41-5). Cruiser: Mike Perez (24-3-1) W PTS 10 Keith Tapia (18-2). Bantam: Stephon Young (18-1-3) W PTS 10 Wilner Soto (21-5). Rodriguez vs. Moloney Rodriguez gets split decision over Moloney to go through to the semi-finals of the WBSS tournament and keeps his IBF title. Round 1 In a fast-paced first round Rodriguez was on the front foot scoring with quick jabs and countering when Moloney surged forward. Moloney scored a couple of nice rights but the left hooks to the body and countering rights gave Rodriguez the edge. Score 10-9 Rodriguez Round 2 They were two very quick little men. Moloney had some success with his attacks early but then Rodriguez began to anticipate them. He was landing sharp left hooks on the advancing Australian and doubling up on his left hooks inside and outscoring Moloney. Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 20-18 Round 3 Maloney made a good start to the third landed a couple of rights and then sent Rodriguez back on heels with a left hook. He frustrated Rodriguez’s attempts to land with some clever movement and landed a couple on hooks to take the round. Score 10-9 Moloney Rodriguez 29-28 Round 4 A much closer round. Both were firing jabs and hooks. Moloney was circling the ring and then stepping in with bursts of punches. Rodriguez was tracking the Australian and countering and scoring inside and just did enough to edge the round. Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 39-37 Round 5 Rodriguez scored with some left hooks and a straight right as he upped his pace in this one. He was spearing Moloney with his jab and landing his trade mark left hooks. Moloney was finding it difficult to score inside and it was Rodriguez’s round Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 49-46 Round 6 Moloney was scoring with snappy jabs and then getting inside with hooks to the body and not giving Rodriguez the time to counter. He outworked Rodriguez who was unable to land anything of note. Score 10-9 Moloney Rodriguez 58-56 Round 7 Another close one. They traded jabs at the start. Rodriguez scored with a bunch of hooks half way through the round. Moloney landed some short right hooks and Rodriguez landed a sharp right and was generally more accurate which was just enough for him to shade the round. Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 68-65 Round 8 Rodriguez was working well with the jab using it more than he had earlier and also using some clever upper body movement to slip Moloney’s punches. Moloney tried to press harder but Rodriguez was picking him off with lefts. Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 78-74 Round 9 Once again in a $1 million fight the $5 tape on Rodriguez wrist came loose. This can’t be difficult to solve. Moloney needed a good round and he produced one. He buzzed around nipping in and scoring with burst of three or four hooks and then getting out. Rodriguez’s work rate was down and Moloney was on the front foot and pressurising Rodriguez for the whole three minutes. Rodriguez did get home one big right but that was all Score 10-9 Moloney Rodriguez 87-84 Round 10 Rodriguez was now the one on the back foot but he was boxing well and landing counter hooks as Moloney tried to get inside. Moloney kept marching forward but was being caught with jabs. Rodriguez was tying Moloney up inside and was warned for holding. Moloney kept throwing punches but not much of what he was throwing was landing Score 10-9 Rodriguez Rodriguez 97-93 Round 11 Rodriguez was doing some scoring at distance at the start of the round but then Moloney began to get inside and hook to the body with both hands. Rodriguez stopped punching and was trying just to stay close to stifle Moloney’s attacks but not really working himself and Moloney finished the round with some smart hooks. Score 10-9 Moloney Rodriguez 106-103 Round 12 In a wild last round Moloney was cut in a clash of heads and then proceeded to hunt Rodriguez down landing more and harder punches with a tired Rodriguez firing back but with no power and little accuracy Score 10-9 Moloney Rodriguez 115-113 Official scores: 115-113 twice for Rodriguez and 115-113 for Moloney Rodriguez just held onto his title on the basis of the early rounds and Moloney came so close to winning. The Puerto Rican will now go on to face Naoya Inoue in the semi-finals and Moloney will keep busy as he waits for another world title chance which will come for sure in 2019. Dorticos vs. Masternak Another round of the WBSS tournament and another close decision. It looked as though the bigger puncher Dorticos might end this one early as he dominated the opening rounds. The Cuban just did enough to edge the first and was landing straight rights through the Pole’s high guard and curving hooks around t Masternak’s elbows and into his ribs in the second. He looked to have shaken Masternak with a volley of punches at the end of the round. Things looked bleak for Masternak in the third as he suffered two cuts, one around each eye. Despite these setbacks Masternak was by no means out of the fight and he began to score with his strong jab and get home with rights of his own as he clawed his way back into the fight. Dorticos was by far the harder puncher but he had put a lot into those early rounds and by the eighth was noticeably slowing. Masternak had a good ninth and looked to be almost on level terms but Dorticos took the tenth as again his power made the difference. The eleventh was a vital round and Dorticos jarred Masternak early with his jab and landed enough long rights to take the round. Masternak put in a huge effort in the last storming forward behind his jab and landing clubbing shots up and down. An exhausted Dorticos was holding on at the end but had done enough. Scores 115-113 twice and 116-112 all for Dorticos. The 32-year-old Cuban lost in the first cruiser series on a twelfth round stoppage against Murat Gassiev. This time he will face unbeaten Andrew Tabiti. Masternak lost a very close decision to Tony Bellew for the vacant European title in 2015 but had bounced back with five wins including victories over Ismayl Sillah and Youri Kayembre Kalenga and at 31 there are still some good fights for him. Tapia vs. Perez The fight started badly for southpaw Perez. The taller Tapia was sliding home jabs and long rights and near the end of the round as Tapia bent over to avoid a punch Perez landed a shot to the back of the Puerto Rican’s head and was deducted a point. So one round over and already two points down for Perez. Both scored with good punches in the second but Perez began to use his strength to get past the jab and thump away to Tapia’s body. Tapia scored with some tasty counters in the fifth but again in an untidy sixth Perez was muscling his way inside. Perez continued to drive past Tapia’s jab in the seventh and eighth and rough the Puerto Rican up. A tiring Tapia was having difficulty in keeping Perez out in the ninth and was being outfought on the inside with Perez throwing Tapia to the canvas at the end of the round. Both fighters gave it everything in the last each landing some wild, tired swings as they brawled to the bell. Scores 96-93 twice and 97-92 for Perez. The 32-year-old Cuban “Rebel” started out as a heavyweight where he drew with Carlos Takam but lost on a first round stoppage against Alex Povetkin for the WBC Silver title in 2015. He took a year out and moved down to cruiser losing on points to Mairis Breidis for the WBC title in a quarter-final of the WBSS tournament. Bronx-born Tapia won his first 17 fights before losing on points to Andrew Tapia in 2016. He was then inactive for 16 months before outpointing Lateef Kayode in September last year. Young vs. Soto St Louis southpaw Young has too much speed and skill for a willing but limited Soto. A straight left from Young put Soto over after just two minutes of the first round but despite shipping some more rights Soto made it to the bell. The flashy skills of Young saw him outboxing Soto over the next six rounds but persistent aggression from Soto kept Young busy .Young was winning the rounds but over the last three Soto kept coming forcing Young to stand and trade more and in the end Young had to fight hard to the last bell to get the verdict. Scores 99-90 twice and 97-92 for Young. First fight for Young since losing to unbeaten Filipino Rey Gaballo for the interim WBA bantam title in March. Colombian Soto had won 5 of his last 6. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Middle: Rob Brant (24-1) W PTS 12 Ryota Murata (14-2). Super Light: Maxim Dadashev (12-0) W PTS 10 Antonio DeMarco (33-7-1). Middle: Esquiva Falcao (22-0) W PTS 10 Guido Pitto (25-5-2). Light: Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (6-0) W TKO 2 Wilbert Lopez (23-10). Michael Conlan (9-0) W TKO 7 Nicola Cipolletta (14-7-2). Brant vs. Murata Brant springs a major shock as he totally outboxes Murata and wins a wide unanimous decision to lift the secondary WBA title and scupper any plans for a Murata vs. Gennady Golovkin fight. Round 1 This was a totally different Brant to the hesitant almost frozen fighter who lost to Juergen Brahmer in the WBSS. He was into his stride immediately firing jabs straight rights and hooks with both hands and a right uppercut was the best punch in the round. Murata was walking forward behind a high guard and did not really throw much until the closing minute. It was the same Murata who lost to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam because of such a slow start. Score 10-9 Brant Round 2 Brant’s round. He was firing lots of punches at an almost static Murata who was walking forward in a straight line. Brant was able to land a bunch of punches and move before Murata could counter. Murata was throwing single punches and being outworked. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 20-18 Round 3 Much better from Murata. He was upping his pace and using his right landing a couple of clubbing shots early. He was following his jab with solid left hooks to the body and Brant was only able to counter with light, quick punches. It was Murata’s round but he was showing a slight swelling under his right eye. Score 10-9 Murata Brant 29-28 Round 4 Brant was moving and punching again and slotting a stream of jabs thorough the guard of the advancing Murata. The Japanese fighter came to life over the last minute and landed some hard rights but Brant was peppering him with light jabs and straight rights. Murata now had swellings under both eyes. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 39-37 Round 5 Brant was comfortably outboxing Murata in the first third of this round but over the second and third parts of the round Murata was landing hard straight rights. Brant kept throwing bursts of punches but it was Murata’s round. Score 10-9 Murata Brant 48-47 Round 6 Brant back in control. He could not miss Murata with his jab and was finding a home for the straight rights and left hooks that he strung together whilst boxing on the back foot. Murata was just too slow and loading up on his rights and not throwing or landing enough. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 58-56 Round 7 Murata was marching forward throwing hard rights and for a while Brant seemed to be finding the power of the champion too much for him. He rallied and was countering with quick, accurate punches but Murata scored with some hefty rights to take the round. Score 10-9 Murata Brant 67-66 Round 8 Brant was back on form in this one. He was on the move spearing the oncoming Murata with jabs and drilling him with straight rights. Murata kept marching into the punches but the constant movement from Brant was leaving him a pace behind and all too often pawing at the place where Brant had been. Murata’s right eye had a swelling above and below and also under his left eye. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 77-75 Round 9 A close round but Brant’s Murata landed some strong rights but again single punches. Brant was raking Murata with jabs and straight rights and whenever Murata landed a right Brant was firing back with four or five punches of his own and the rights Murata did land did not shake Brant in the least. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 87-84 Round 10 Murata was a tired man trying to win the fight with one punch. He kept throwing the right. A couple landed but Brant was piercing Murata’s guard with an array of punches and Brant finished the round with a flourish forcing Murata back and landing some eye-catching combinations. Score 10-9 Brant Brant 97-93 Round 11 Another round for Brant. He was still moving slickly and scoring with flashing combinations. Murata landed a couple of rights but the only effect they had on Brant was to spur him into firing punches of his own including a blazing six-punch combination all of which landed on a wide open Murata Score 10-9 Brant 107-102 Round 12 Two tired guys swung their way through this one. Both landed some hard shots but as the round closed Brant was the one pounding the punches home with Murata rocked on a couple of occasions as his title slipped away. Score 10-9 Brant Scores 117-111 Official scores 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110 all for Brant Brant boxed far better than expected and Murata far worse. Brant can now put his dismal performance in the WBSS super middleweight tournament behind him and look for some big fights in his natural division. Murata was a huge disappointment. He looked limited and slow and although he has powerful backers it is difficult at 32 to see him giving any of the top middleweights sleepless nights. Dadashev vs. DeMarco Dadashev keeps his NABF title with victory over DeMarco. This was very much a tactical battle, interesting but not enthralling. Both showed excellent skills and the first two rounds could have been scored either way. Dadashev scored with some rights early in the third but DeMarco ended the round strongly knocking Dadashev back with a southpaw left and landing some more powerful shots. Dadashev did better in the fourth with left hooks and strong rights that twice halted DeMarco in his tracks. They both boxed neatly in the fifth until the end of the round. A fierce exchange saw the punches flying with DeMarco getting the better of the exchange. The sixth, seventh and eighth were close but Dadashev boxing on the back foot and countering did enough to shade them. DeMarco tried to force the fight in the ninth and scored with some long lefts but Dadashev was busier and bombarded the Mexican with hooks from both hands with a tired DeMarco often trapped on the ropes and under fire. DeMarco needed a knockout and he marched forward in the tenth throwing punches. Dadashev boxed brilliantly ducking, bobbing weaving to leave DeMarco punching air and then bouncing in with quick bursts of hooks and uppercuts and out again. Scores 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Dadashev but he looked a clearer winner that the last score. The 28-year-old Russian “Mad Max” from Leningrad is a class boxer with great hand speed clever and quick movement and excellent defensive skills. He had lots of success as an amateur but at the European Games in 2015 he lost a very controversial decision to Ireland’s Dean Walsh. The two judges who voted for Walsh were reportedly both sacked and that helped Dadashev make up his mind to turn pro. He is rated No 13 with the WBO. Former WBC lightweight champion DeMarco took 14 months out after consecutive losses to Jessie Vargas, Rances Barthelemy and Omar Figueroa but had two good wins last year. Falcao vs. Pitto Brazilian Falcao goes ten rounds for the first time with victory over Argentinian Pitto. A focused body attack from southpaw Falcao formed the basis for this win. He was always in control but came out with quite a few bumps and bruises from headwork by Pitto. Falcao’s punches already brought out a bruise under Pitto’s left eye at the end of the first round. Pitto landed some good punches in the second but a Falcao punch opened a cut over Pitto’s left eye in the third. Falcao outlanded Pitto in the fourth but the fifth was more even. From the sixth Falcao was in control and he had Pitto badly shaken in the ninth. The Argentinian survived but took more punishment in the tenth. Scores 100-90 for Falcao. He won a silver medal in the 2011 World Championships and silver at the 2012 Olympics losing to Ryota Murata at both tournaments. Pitto pulled off a big surprise when in 2013 when he took a split decision over then unbeaten Jack Culcay but lost to Culcay in a return and was stopped by Zaurbek Baysangurov for the IBO title in 2014. Now based in Barcelona he is 2-3-1 in his last six fights. Gaibnazarov vs. Lopez Olympic gold medallist Gaibnazarov seems to be finding his feet as a pro. The Uzbek southpaw looked more poised and let his hands go more freely than in his other five pro fights. Although Lopez was 5” taller than Gaibnazarov he could not keep the Uzbek out and was taking a beating when the referee stopped the fight. Third win by KO/TKO for Gaibnazarov. Lopez, also a southpaw, had won 5 of his last six. Conlan vs. Cipolletta Conlan halts a defence minded Cipolletta. Conlan had the Italian on the back foot early scoring with powerful jabs and body punches. A right had Cipolletta in trouble in the second and Conlan stepped up his body attacks in the third. From there Cipolletta was just looking to survive making life difficult for Conlan who was looking to get him out of there. Cipolletta might have survived to the last bell but the referee stopped the one-sided fight in the seventh. The 26-year-old from Belfast is more than ready for better opposition than this as he gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. Cipolletta is a former Italian featherweight champion and had lost and drawn in challenges for the super featherweight title but was no real test for Conlan. Marseille, France: Cruiser: Arsen Goulamirian (24-0) W TKO 9 Mark Flanagan (24-6). Super Middle: Dylan Charrat (17-0-1) DREW 12 Howard Cospolite (17-6-3). Super Middle: Louis Toutin (12-0) W TKO 4 Jose Varela (25-8) Super Welter: Mohammed Rabii (7-0) W TKO 1 Gogi Knezevic (33-8-1). Super Middle; Michael Diallo (17-0-2) W KO 1 Luis Paz (12-6-1). Light Heavy: Mehdi Amar (35-6) W PTS 6 Genaro Quiroga (14-14). Goulamirian vs. Flanagan Goulamirian retains the interim WBA title with brutal stoppage of Australian Flanagan. The challenger made a confident start boxing on the retreat but scoring with quick jabs and left hooks to the body. He strayed low and was given two warnings. Goulamirian was tracking Flanagan but finding the Australian a difficult target. In the second Goulamirian walked in behind a high guard and Flanagan speared him with jabs and quick hooks whilst circling the perimeter of the ring. Two cracking rights from Goulamirian showed he was the one with the power. Flanagan stood and exchange punches with Goulamirian at the start of the third but then went onto the back foot again. The challenger was doing his share of the scoring but Goulamirian was increasing the pressure and it was obvious that Flanagan lacked the power to hurt Goulamirian. Goulamirian upped his punch output in the fourth again landing some body shots and Flanagan was slowing and he was shaken by a huge straight right in the fifth. Goulamirian cut loose in the sixth forcing Flanagan back with a strong jab and then landing left hooks to the body and right uppercuts. Flanagan’s work rate had dropped and he was mainly just trying to hold Goulamirian off. He was being systematically broken down by Goulamirian who was now putting together some cruel combinations. Flanagan made a spirited effort in the seventh scoring with some quick hooks but was driven back by Goulamirian who was landing left hooks to the body and a straight rights. Goulamirian continued to pound on Flanagan in the eighth landing some heavy rights to the head. A series of punches in the ninth dropped Flanagan and although he made it to his feet he was put down again. He was up quickly but was being driven across the ring by a series of head punches and the referee halted the contest. First defence of the title for the 31-year-old Armenian-born “Fire” Goulamirian and win No 16 by KO/TKO. He was just too strong and punched too hard for Flanagan. The challenger, the WBA No 10, is now 13-2 in his last 15 fights with the other loss being on points against Denis Lebedev for the WBA title in July last year. Charrat vs. Cospolite The European Union title remains vacant after these two Frenchman ended up honours even. The unbeaten Charrat was favourite but Cospolite looked unlucky not to get the decision. Scores 117-111 for Cospolite, 115-113 for Charrat and 115-115. No guarantee these two will contest the title again as sometimes the EBU look towards giving other fighters a chance and there is a lack of quality in Charrat’s victims and Cospolite was making the second attempt to win an EU title. Toutin vs. Varela No trouble here for the hot prospect Toutin. After chasing down veteran Varela over the first two rounds He caught up with him in the third flooring the Nicaraguan. Varela made it to his feet and to the bell but in the fourth two left hooks had him staggering and an overhand right and a left put him down and the fight was stopped. The 21-year-old Toutin, a member of the French Traveller community, won the French light heavy title last year with a first round kayo of experienced Hugo Kasperski but relinquished to title to return to the super middles. He gets his eleventh win by KO/TKO. Varela, 39, has been in with names such as Daniel Jacobs and Erislandy Lara but this is his fifth loss by KO/TKO. Rabii vs. Knezevic Rabii bombs out Knezevic in the first round. Knezevic was trying to take the fight to Rabii but a left hook stopped him in his tracks and a straight right sent him staggering back to the ropes and down. Knezevic beat the count but was on very shaky legs and when the referee signalled for the action to restart Rabii landed three rights to the head of Knezevic and the fight was stopped. The 25-year-old World Championship gold and Olympic bronze medallist from Moroccan gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. Austrian Knezevic, 39, no real test for Rabii. Diallo vs. Paz The hard-punching “Catalonian Bomber” Diallo wipes out Argentinian Paz inside three minutes. The French-born Diallo had an unimpressive start to his career with a couple of early draws but has now won 13 of his last 14 fights by KO/TKO. Paz was having his second fight in France having been stopped in one round by Christian Mbilli in one round in April. Amar vs. Quiroga Home city fighter Amar takes a gentle first step back after losing to Olek Gvozdyk for the interim WBC light heavy title in March. He got in six rounds of work in beating Argentinian Quiroga but at 36 he will find it hard to get another title shot. Quiroga was coming off consecutive inside the distance losses in Canada late last year. October 18 Indio, CA, USA: Middle: Jason Quigley (15-0) W PTS 10 Freddy Hernandez (34-10,1ND). Welter: Eddie Gomez (22-3) W PTS 8 Shoki Sakai (23-9-2). Light: Rey Perez (24-10) W TKO 7 Chris Gonzalez (19-3). Quigley vs. Hernandez Quigley gets another win in bloody battle with veteran Hernandez. The outstanding Irish prospect made this tougher than it needed to be by letting himself get drawn into a brawl in parts of the fight. Over the early rounds Quigley boxed well making Hernandez eat jabs and landing cleanly to the body. A clash of heads in the fourth saw Quigley emerge with a cut by his left eye. That seemed to unsettle Quigley. He let Hernandez get a toe hold in the fight and for a couple of rounds Hernandez looked to betting on top. In the seventh both fighters were cut with a punch opening a cut by Quigley’s right eye and a clash of heads seeing Hernandez suffer a worse cut. Quigley steadied himself and although Hernandez kept marching forward Quigley finished the fight strongly. Scores 98-92 twice and 99-91 all for Quigley. The 27-year-old “Animal” retains his NABF title. He is rated WBC 4/ WBA 8. Top Rank and Teiken, who handle the business for Ryota Murata, wanted Quigley to challenge Murata for the secondary WBO title this week but the WBA had committed themselves to giving Rob Brant a title shot. Quigley must have a good chance of fighting for the title early next year. At 39 Hernandez can still give opponents a tough night. He had the misfortune to last less than a round when challenging Andre Berto for the WBC welter title in 2010 and in 2012 through 2014 suffered six losses in a row but all against high level opposition including Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara. Over 2015 and 2016 he scored four wins including a decision over Alfredo Angulo but lost to Wale Omotoso in his only fight last year. Gomez vs. Sakai Gomez takes every round against limited Japanese fighter Sakai. After dominating the first round Gomez never really let Sakai into the fight. He had too much skill for Sakai and contented himself with outworking the Japanese fighter and coasting to victory. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. Gomez is on a rebuilding project. After going 16-0 at the start of his pro career he then went 4-3 in his next 7. He took a good first step on the road back with a victory in March over 18-1-1 Keandre Gibson. Mexican-based Sakai is now 2-4-2 in his last 8 fights but one of the two wins was over former WBA title challenger Ashley Theophane. Perez vs. Gonzalez Back in February Gonzalez lost an upset decision against Filipino Perez. He wanted another try to put things right but instead finishing up with another loss. Over the first six rounds Gonzalez looked to be on track to get his revenge. He was bossing the exchanges inside landing hooks and uppercuts and building a commanding lead with the scores reading 58-56 twice and 59-55 for Gonzalez. Of the two fighters Gonzalez was the bigger puncher with 15 wins by KO/TKO to 7 for Perez The body punches seemed to be getting to Perez but suddenly a in the seventh Perez had Gonzalez badly shaken with a left. Perez saw his chance and put Gonzalez over with a left hook. Gonzalez beat the count but was taking fire on the ropes when his corner waived the towel for the fight to be stopped. Perez, 28, a former Philippines super fly champion, was coming off an eighth round stoppage of Roberto Marroquin in July. Gonzalez was 16-0 at one time but a second round kayo by Filipino Romero Duno snapped that run and three fights later he lost to Perez. He needs to avoid Filipino fighters. October 19 Bangkok, Thailand: Super Welter: Teerachai (39-1) W KO 4 Manyi Issa (11-2-2). A gift for Teerachai. He punched too hard for Tanzanian Issa. After a feeling-out first round Teerachai staggered Issa with a punch in the second and almost dropped him in the third. The Thai ended it in the fourth. He put Issa down early in the round and although Issa beat the count he was pinned to the ropes under fire when the referee halted the fight. First fight for the 26-year-old Thai since losing on a eighth round knockout against Lucas Matthysse for the vacant secondary WBA title in January. The ratings “elevator” works both ways. From being No 1 in the WBA ratings when he fought Matthysse for the title he was dropped out of the ratings altogether the next month. Ludicrous! First fight outside Tanzania for Issa and way out of his depth. Ontario, CA, USA: Super Feather: Rafael Rivera (26-2-2) W TKO 1 Jose Ramos (10-15-1). Bantam: Saul Sanchez (11-0) W PTS 8 Luis Saavedra (7-6). Rivera vs. Ramos Rivera obliterates poor Ramos inside two minutes. The first left hook that Rivera landed staggered Ramos and sent him on the retreat. A double left hook shook him and he looked very fragile. Another left hook sent him tumbling into the ropes and only the middle strand stopped him going down. The referee applied an eight count And then Rivera drove Ramos to the ropes and with Ramos taking punishment and not making any attempt to fire back the fight was stopped. The 24-year-old “Big Bang” Rivera from Tijuana now has 17 wins by KO/TKO. He was coming off consecutive losses to unbeaten fighters Joseph Diaz and Joet Gonzalez but has win over Wilfredo Diaz Jr in the credit side of his ledger. Ramos was no match for Rivera and he is now 2-8 in his last 10 fights and this is his tenth loss by KO/TKO. Sanchez vs. Saavedra This was a tough exciting fight and one that was tough to score with Sanchez getting a majority decision. In a ferocious first round Sanchez stunned Saavedra with a left hook but Saavedra kept Sanchez pinned to the ropes for the last 30 seconds of the round. The fight veered from Saavedra on top and looking a likely winner in the second to Sanchez rocking Saavedra with head punches in the third and fourth. The action continued hot with neither fighter caring too much about defence and constant fiery exchanges. Feeling he was behind Saavedra switched to southpaw for much of the seventh and eighth and hunted Sanchez who was moving not looking to stand trade and countering with hooks. The result could have gone either way but Sanchez took got the vote. Scores 77-75 twice and 76-76. The 21-year-old Sanchez gets his fifth win this year and Saavedra his fourth loss in a row but he played his part in a classic small hall eight round battle. Santiago de Chile, Chile: Light: Cristian Olivares (9-0) W PTS 10 Patricio Carrion (6-1). Former Chilean amateur champion Olivares wins the vacant national title with split decision over Carrion. It was blood and thunder from the first in this one. Local fighter Olivares was the one forcing the action but Carrion boxed well and landed sharp counters. In the seventh a right from Carrion put Olivares down but the local fighter got a point back in the same round when Carrion lost a point for careless use of his head. It was a close one to call but the winner was Olivares with two judges going 95-94 for him and the third having it 97-93 for Carrion. October 20 Brentwood, England: Welter: Johnny Garton (23-1-1) W TKO 11Gary Corcoran (18-3). Light Heavy: Anthony Yarde (17-0) W TKO 4 Walter Sequeira (21-5). Welter: Bradley Skeete (28-2) W TKO 3 Fernando Valencia (8-7). Heavy: Nathan Gorman (14-0) W PTS 8 Kamil Sokolowski (5-13-2).Middle: Joe Mullender (11-2,1ND) W TKO 7 Ben Capps (15-4-2). Garton vs. Corcoran For a few years I thought that Garton was going to be one of that cast of great small hall fighters who always entertain but never quite make it to the next level. Garton proved me wrong here as he halted Corcoran in the eleventh round of a war to win the vacant British title. Neither of these fighters are the sort to take a step back so from the first bell they were trading heavy punches. The opening two rounds were close with first one and then the other scoring well. In the third a clash of head opened a cut by the left eye of Garton but that just seemed to spur Garton on and he got through with hooks and uppercuts. Corcoran battled back and had a good fourth and they both had good spells in the fifth. In the sixth the heads banged together again and this time Garton was cut on his forehead and the blood quickly began to run down to his eyes. This time it was Corcoran spurred in by blood and he landed the bigger shots in the seventh and eighth and looked to be taking control. Garton was the fresher of the two and he had a big ninth hurting Corcoran with counters and then landing a series of hooks swinging the fight convincingly his way. Garton rocked Corcoran with a left in the tenth and then piled on the punishment with a series of left hooks as Corcoran began to buckle under the pressure. In the eleventh a right from Garton sent Corcoran stumbling back to the ropes. Garton unleashed a storm of punches to head and body and when a huge left hook saw Corcoran tumbling along the ropes the referee came in immediately and stopped the fight. Corcoran protested but it was a well timed stoppage. The 31-year-old “Pexican (he comes from Peckham in London and fights like a Mexican) gets his tenth win by KO/TKO and is now 12-0-1 in his last 13 fights. His only loss was against Sam Eggington in a Prizefighter competition in 2014. Corcoran knows all about stepping up to the next level as in December he found himself in Brisbane challenging Jeff Horn for the WBO title. The 27-year-old “Hellraiser” will take a rest and then fight his way back. Yarde vs. Sequeira Yarde much too big and too strong for game little Sequeira Yarde towered over Argentinian Sequeira and was scoring with stiff jabs in the first. Sequeira was lunging in with his attacks but when he did land there was no power. Sequeira made a brave start to the second taking Yarde to the ropes and throwing looping overhand rights. Yarde had no trouble getting off the ropes but Sequeira took him back there trying to nullify Yarde’s reach and deny him leverage for his punches. When he found room Yarde was scoring with thudding jabs and winning the rounds but Sequeira was proving an awkward opponent. Yarde landed a chopping right early in the third which shook Sequeira and a couple of hurtful right uppercuts and the Argentinian did well to stay on his feet after shipping two heavy rights. Sequeira was able to get inside early in the fourth but a right from Yarde that landed behind Sequeira’s ear forced him to drop to his knees. He got up and tried to fight his way out of trouble but was dropped by a right and a left to the head. He was up at seven but then Yarde landed some more shots punctuated with a heavy right and Sequeira went down again. He was up at six but the referee completed the eight count and then waived the fight off. Yarde, rated No 2 by the WBO, makes it 15 wins in a row by KO/TKO , The No 2 rating is a problem for Yarde as he needs more and better opposition before going against Eleider Alvarez or any of the other champions . Only the second loss by KO/TKO for Argentinian champion Sequeira but he was too small to pose any real threat to Yarde. Skeete vs. Valencia Skeete eases himself back into the winning column with stoppage of Mexican Valencia. Skeete sharpened up his skills over the first two rounds and then handed out enough punishment in the third for the referee to call things off in the third. The lanky South Londoner suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Kerman Lejarraga for the vacant European title in April. A former undefeated Commonwealth and British champion he will be back in the title hunt next year. Now four losses in a row for Valencia. Gorman vs. Sokolowski Heavyweight hope Gorman gets a win in a keep busy fight against former victim Sokolowski. Gorman handled Sokolowski with ease outboxing and outpunching the Pole. It was disappointing that he did not stop Sokolowski as he had beaten him in five rounds in 2016 but it was hinted that he may have injured his hand in the fight which might explain why he did not go full out. The 22-year-old 6’3” Gorman is said to be looking to get a title fight in early 2019 possibly the Commonwealth title held by Joe Joyce. British-based Sokolowski usually goes the distance. Mullender vs. Capps ”Smokin” Joe Mullender wore down and halted Capps in the seventh round. Capps was competitive at the start with some crisp body punches but Mullender quickly took control. He put Capps down in the fourth with a left to the head. Capps beat the count but was on the floor again in the fourth from a body punch. The breaking down continued. At the start of the seventh Capps was down once more. He looked hurt and exhausted but got up and carried on in spectacular style hammering Mullender with a series of punches. When the storm blew over Mullender drove home a right to the body and Capps went down on his hands and knees and although he made it to his feet the fight was stopped. Fourth win by KO/TKO for Mullender and his first fight since his win in December over Lee Churcher which was changed to a No decision after Mullender tested positive for a banned substance. Although English born Capps turned pro in Australia and had his first twenty fights there before returning to Britain. Tecate. Mexico: Light: Jose Zepeda (30-1,1ND) W TKO 7 Domicio Rondon (15-5). Fly: Dwayne Beamon (16-1-1) W PTS 8 Martin Tecuapetla (14-10-4). Zepeda vs. Rondon Zepeda keeps on track for a world title fight with stoppage of gutsy Venezuelan Rondon. It looked like an early night when southpaw Zepeda put Rondon down in both the first and second rounds. Rondon buckled but did not break and tried hard to fight back over the next four rounds. Zepeda closed the fight out in the seventh. Rondon was taking the fight to Zepeda when a straight left had him stumbling back. Zepeda followed him and landed two more powerful lefts and the referee came between them to save Rondon. When Zepeda dislocated his shoulder in the second round of his fight with Terry Flanagan for the vacant WBO lightweight title in 2015 it seemed likely that he would get another shot quickly. That still has not happened. He briefly went up to super light but in June he knocked out 26-0 Carlos Diaz for the WBA Inter-Continental lightweight title. All of the lightweight title holders already have dates on their dance cards so Zepeda will have to wait still more. Rondo was coming off a technical decision loss in June against 28-1 Pedro Campa so his last two opponents have been 57-2 with 44 wins by KO/TKO. Its great the jobs a brave manager can get you as long as you are the one doing the fighting. Beamon vs. Tecuapetla American “Mr Stop Running” Beamon gets a quick chance for revenge for the only loss on his record and takes it. A super aggressive Tecuapetla had forced Beamon to enter into an eight round brawl when the met in August but this time Beamon fought a smarter fight. He used his superior hand speed and accuracy together with clever movement to take this one. Tecuapetla never stopped coming and Beamon was often dragged into a brawl where Tecuapetla was able to dig to the body but Beamon was a clear victor. Scores 78-74 twice and 79-73 for the fighter from North Carolina. At 33 time is against Beamon but hopefully he will get a chance to test himself against rated opposition soon. Tecuapetla’s statistics don’t look very impressive but he only lost on a majority decision to Milan Melindo in 2014, took Akira Yaegashi to a split decision in a challenge for the IBF light flyweight title in 2016 and gave current WBC flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales a hard fight in 2017. Cozumel, Mexico: Super Fly: Francisco Rodriguez (29-4-2) W KO 3 Hernan Marquez (43-10-2). Super Light: Lindolfo Delgado (7-0) W TKO 6 Luis Moreno (2-1). Rodriguez vs. Marquez Rodriguez floors former WBA champion Marquez twice to close out the fight. The sound of the bell was the signal for war to commence and these went straight to it. Rodriguez was picking his punches better and dominated the exchanges over the first two rounds. In the third he floored to advancing Marquez with a counter left to the head. Marquez made it to his feet and soaked up some heavy lefts to the head even managing to stagger Rodriguez with a right. When he tried to capitalise on that two right to the body sent him down and as the referee picked up the count Marquez’s seconds were already climbing into the ring. Rodriguez, 25, is a former WBO and IBF minimumweight champion. He relinquished both titles to move up in weight. He has scored nine wins in a row and is No 2 flyweight with the WBO. As the champion Sho Kimura is defending against No 1 Tanaka a title fight should be Rodriguez’s in 2019. Marquez has slipped a long way from when he was 27-0 at the start of his career. He is now looked on as a stepping-stone and is 4-5-1 in his last 10 fights. Delgado vs. Moreno Delgado makes it seven wins by KO/TKO in seven fights with stoppage of novice Cruz. It was not a very impressive showing by Delgado. He was able to score almost at will against the crude Moreno who was just putting his head down and swinging. Moreno showed “ability” to take lots of punishment but when he was hurt and staggered by a right in the sixth the referee stopped the one-sided spectacle. Delgado, 23, won a silver medal at the Central American and Caribbean games, competed in the World Series of Boxing for two seasons and at the 2016 Olympics. Hopefully he will improve Liege, Belgium: Cruiser: Bilal Laggoune (24-1-2) W KO 4 Tamas Lodi (19-11-2). Cruiser: Ryad Merhy (26-1) W PTS 8 Demetrius Banks (10-6). Super Light: Jessy Petitjean (13-0) W PTS 10 Jarkko Putkonen (15-5-2). Laggoune vs. Lodi With his much anticipated fight against Jai Opetaia delayed until December 15 Laggoune took his frustration out on Hungarian Lodi. Laggoune hammered Lodi to head and body for three rounds and then ended it in some style in the fourth. He backed Lodi to the ropes and then landed a wicked right uppercut to the head and a left hook to the body with Lodi sinking to the floor to be counted out. Laggoune’s only loss is a split decision defeat against Doudou Ngumbu for the WBC Francophone title in February last year and this is his fourth win since then. After scoring an unexpected third round kayo win over Finn Juho Haapoja in Helsinki in 2016 Lodi lost fourth very tough assignments in a row but Finland must be a good place for him as in May this year he stopped 17-1 Sami Enbom in three rounds. Merhy vs. Banks Merhy returns with a win as he decisions Banks. Merhy was slow to get into his stride and Banks did enough to make the first three rounds close From the fourth Merhy began to roll hurting Banks with hooks to face and body. Banks had to survive a torrid time over the last four rounds but stayed the full route. Scores 80-73 twice and 79-74 for Merhy The Ivory Coast-born Merhy, rated No 9 by the WBA, is aiming to stay busy and then try to get a return with Arsen Goulamirian who stopped him in eleven rounds for the interim WBA title in March. Detroit’s Banks has lost 6 of his last 7 but the losses were all against good quality opposition. Petitjean vs. Putkonen Local fighter Petitjean remains unbeaten with comfortable decision over Finn Putkonen. Scores 99-90 twice and 100-89 for Petitjean. Putkonen is 3-5-2 in his last ten including losses to Jack Catterall and Robbie Davies, Dakar, Senegal: Super Light: Mohamed Mimoune (21-2 W PTS 12 Franck Petitjean (22-5-3). Mimoune retains the IBO title in his first defence as he outboxes fellow-Frenchman and fellow-southpaw Petitjean. Giving away height and reach Petitjean was forced to march forward but Mimoune knew those were the obvious tactics for Petitijean and he avoided the challengers attacks and scored with some strong uppercuts and straight lefts. Mimoune had suffered a fracture of his left hand and this was the first test for it. Petitjean kept marching forward but “The Problem” as Mimoune is known was a problem for Petitijean as he dodged Petitjean’s attacks with some smart footwork and was always in a position to counter and ran out a clear winner. Scores 118-110, 118-111 and 117-111 all for the 31-year-old from Toulouse. Mimoune is a former undefeated European champion and has won his last ten fights. Petitjean, a former undefeated French and European Union champion was unbeaten in his last 11 fights. Hamilton, Canada: Super Light: Steven Wilcox (19-3-1) W PTS 8 Enrique Escobar (17-5,1ND). Light Heavy: Ryan Rozicki (8-0) W KO 1 Abokan Bokpe (8-1). Wilcox vs. Escobar Home town fighter Wilcox wins every round against Argentinian Escobar. The visitor was cut over the left eye but it was never a factor as Wilcox comfortably outboxed his limited opponent. Scores 80-70 for Wilcox on all three cards. Wilcox was having his first fight since returning from a trip to Australia in March where he lost on points to Darragh Foley. Escobar was having his second fight in a row in Canada having been stopped in two rounds by Mikael Zewski in December. Rozicki vs. Bokpe Rozicki blasts out Bokpe inside a round. The Nova Scotia fighter was tracking southpaw Bokpe and when he trapped him on the ropes landed a couple of hard combinations to head and body. Bokpe managed to get through with a couple of counters then slid his way along the ropes. Rozicki rocked him with a right and then put him down and out with a booming straight right. All of Rozicki’s fights have ended inside the distance taking him less than 14 rounds to accomplish. He collects the WBA-NABA title. Bokpe had won 3 of his last 4 fights. Montreal. Canada: Super Welter: Sebastien Bouchard (17-1) W KO 2 Carlos Gorham (16-5-1). Super Middle: Shakeel Phinn (19-2) W TKO 1Crispulo Andino (20-12-1). Middle: Francis Lafreniere (17-6-2) W TKO 1 Samir dos Santos Barbosa (37-15-3). Super Feather: Alex Dilmaghani (18-1,1ND) W TKO 1 Cristian Arrazola (24-16-3) Bouchard vs. Gorham Bouchard seems to be finding some power as he registered his second inside the distance win in a row with the stoppage of Mexican Gorham. Two head punches, a right and a left ended this one early in the second. Bouchard’s only loss was on points against Frank Galarza in 2014 and he has won nine on the bounce since then against a reasonable level of opposition. Gorham is 9-2-1 in his last 12 fights with the other loss being on points against former IBF super welter champion Carlos Molina Phinn vs. Andino Phinn gets this one over quickly. He floored Andino early in the first round and although the Argentinian made it to his feet he was rocked by a big right and the referee stopped the fight. “The Jamaican Juggernaut” moves to thirteen wins by KO/TKO and his third win since having his winning streak snapped on a majority decision against Mexican Ramon Aguinaga in December. Eight losses by KO/TKO for Andino. Lafreniere vs. Barbosa Lafreniere overwhelms poor Brazilian in another bout that fails to go three minutes. Lafreniere was landing heavy punches from the start. He drove Barbosa to the ropes and was scoring with powerful shots to head and body with Barbosa soaking up the punishment and not fighting back and the fight was halted. After winning only three of his first ten fights Lafreniere then won 13 in a row before being beaten on a majority verdict by Albert Onolunose in March. Barbosa is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Dilmaghani vs. Arrazola Yet another fast finish as Dilmaghani stops Arrazola just before the bell to end the round. The British-born southpaw put Arrazola down three times and the fight was stopped right on the three minute mark. Southpaw Dilmaghani started his career in England then shifted his base to Mexico and this is his fifth fight in Canada. He has 13 wins by KO/TKO. Arrazola is now 0-5 in fights in Canada. Accra, Ghana: Light: Emmanuel Tagoe (29-1) W PTS 12 Paulus Moses (40-5,1ND). Super Light: Robert Quaye (16-0) W TKO 9 Kpakpo Allotey (12-1). Light: Sherrif Quaye (16-1-1) W PTS 12 Michael Ansah (15-9-2). Tagoe vs. Moses Tagoe outclasses a very faded Moses to win the vacant WBO African title. It was embarrassingly easy for the Ghanaian as Moses was too slow to be completive. Tagoe was whipping out flashy jabs with Paulus reacting too slowly to block them and rarely being quick enough to counter. Tagoe was able to move around the largely static Moses spearing him with jabs and then moving in with a string of hooks and straight rights, and getting back out of range and then repeating the process. Moses was trundling forward but was just not throwing enough punches to ever threaten Tagoe. Occasionally Moses did get close and land some body punches but those occasions were rare and did not trouble Tagoe. The Ghanaian was able to do as he liked often leading with his right off the wrong foot and it was almost exhibition stuff as he cruised to victory. Scores 120-109 twice and 120-110 which show Tagoe’s dominance. The 29-year-old “Game Boy” gave up his IBO title by refusing to fight challenger Fedor Papazov in Russia. It is surprising how often a successful fighter actually lost their first pro fight and that is what happened with Tagoe so now he has 29 wins in a row. He is not currently rated but Paulus was No 13 with the WBO so he will probably be rated now. The dream fight would be with Richard Commey. Now 40 Namibian Moses has had a great career. He won the secondary WBA lightweight title by beating Yusuke Kobori in Japan in 2009 and challenged for the WBO title losing to Ricky Burns in 2012. He fought his way back and in February this year put up a credible performance when losing to Ray Beltran again for the vacant WBO title but he was outclassed here and announced his retirement. Quaye vs. Allotey Someone’s “0” had to go in this one and it was Allotey’s. Quaye was the better boxer and had the power here. He was well on his way to victory when he finally ended the fight in the ninth. He had Allotey badly shaken with a couple of hooks Allotey sidled along the ropes but another couple of hooks sent him tottering across the ring until the ropes stopped him and held him up. Quaye stepped in and was unloading fierce punches from both hands when the referee threw his hands around Allotey to save him. Quaye, a former undefeated national lightweight champion and current super lightweight king now has 13 wins by KO/TKO. Allotey had scored nine wins by KO/TKO but was outpunched in this one. Quaye vs. Ansah Quaye retains the national lightweight title with points win over Ansah. This was a very competitive fight providing plenty of furious trading but Quaye was a good winner. His only loss was a split decision in Morocco against local fighter 17-1 Mohamed El Marcouchi last year and he has now rebuilt with five wins. This is the fourth unsuccessful challenge for a national title by Ansah. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Bantam: Luis Cusolito (27-2,1ND) ND 2 Julian Aristule (33-9,1ND). Light: Elias Araujo (19-1) W PTS 8 Gustavo Pereyra (11-9-4). Cusolito vs. Aristule These two clash again-literally. When the fought each other in 2013 a clash of heads saw Aristule suffer a cut in the fourth round and the judges all had Cusolito in front so Cusolito won a technical decision. This time after Cusolito had taken the opening round the banged heads together again and Aristule was again cut but this time as the second round had not been completed it was ruled a No Decision so the interim Argentinian title remains vacant. It was not all bad news for the local fighter Cusolito. This was a semi-final of a national tournament and because the cut suffered by Aristule would sideline him Cusolito goes on to face Javier Chacon in the final in early December. Araujo vs. Pereyra Araujo returns to action for the first time since losing his Argentinian lightweight title to Javier Clavero and gets unanimous decision over Pereyra. Araujo had trouble with Pereyra’s style and dropped the first round but then dominated throught the next six before slowing and allowing Pereyra to take the last. Scores 79-75, 78-74 and 77-75 for Araujo who will be looking to get a return with Clavero. Pereyra has won only one of his last six fights. Phoenix, AZ, USA: Super Middle: Andrew Hernandez (20-7-2,1ND) DREW 10 Fidel Hernandez (19-5-1). Two fighters named Hernandez both from Phoenix so plenty of pride at stake here. In the end with both fighters suffering cuts the fight ended as a draw with two judges giving the score as 95-95 and the third having Andrew “Hurricane” Hernandez in front 97-93. “Hurricane”, very much the younger man, has been in tough losing matches against Jesse Hart, Patrick Teixeira and Caleb Plant. Fidel, 41, turned pro way back in 1996 but was out of action for 16 years before returning in 2017. October 21 East London, South Africa: Super Feather: Azinga Fuzile (12-0) W TKO 4 Malcolm Klassen (34-9-2). Super Feather: Phila Mpontshana (15-1) W PTS 12 Anthony Moloisane (10-3-1) Fuzile vs. Klassen Fuzile rings up another impressive win as he floors former IBF champion Klassen twice and forces Klassen out of the fight, A growing talent the 22-year-old local southpaw had Klassen down in the first and third rounds and was punishing Klassen in the fourth when Klassen just turned his back and stopped fighting. Fuzile retains the IBF Continental Africa title and gets his fourth inside the distance win in a row, Klassen is past his best. This is only his second loss by KO/TKO but it is time to put away the gloves Malcolm. Mpontshana vs. Moloisane Mpontshana makes it three successful defences of the national title as he wins a wide unanimous decision over southpaw challenger Moloisane. Scores 118-109, 119-108 and 118-111 all for Mpontshana and his ninth win in a row. Moloisane was 7-1-1 going into this one. Fight of the week (Entertainment): Johnny Garton vs. Gary Corcoran a small hall war on a big stage. Emmanuel Rodriguez vs. Jason Moloney also deserves a mention. Fight of the week (Significance): Two really as the wins by Demetrius Andrade over Walter Kautondokwa and Rob Brant over Ryota Murata were not by any means entertaining they have blown the middleweight division wide open Fighter of the week: Has to be Rob Brant who surprised Murata and everyone else with his smart tactics in a fight he was given no chance of winning Punch of the week: Ryan Rozicki’s straight right that finished Abokan was a beauty but nothing too spectacular this week Upset of the week: Has to be Rob Brant beating Murata Prospect watch: Both Maxim Dadashev 12-0 and Azinga Fuzile 12-0 are worth follow. By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout)
The last couple of years have been turbulent times for amateur boxing with scandals and squabbles completely overshadowing any action that has taken place in the ring. Expulsion from the Tokyo Olympics is now a real possibility as the sport is now at a critical tipping point and arguably the most defining phase in its illustrious history. Before we get into the wide ranging ramifications here is a brief timeline of events that have lead us to this point for those who haven’t kept up to date or have simply got lost with the goings on. The boxing at the 2016 Olympics in Rio was marred by controversial judging decisions with all 36 officials and referees suspended for alleged bout-fixing and it was clear changes needed to be made. After much wrangling and bitter infighting long time AIBA president CK Wu was forced out last November due to allegations of financial mismanagement within the organisation. Gafur Rakhimov, described by the US Treasury as “one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals” was installed as interim president in January. Rakhimov as strenuously denied the claims but by now the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were showing concern. An important report from AIBA regarding governance and reforms were submitted in April but IOC president Thomas Bach stated in May “This report shows some progress and goodwill but still lacks execution and substance in some areas,” “Therefore we retain our right to exclude boxing from Tokyo 2020.” Further controversial judging verdicts blighted this year’s Asian Games in Jakarta with a couple of team officials escorted out of the arena with AIBA promising to reintroduce an appeals process. The crisis dramatically deepened at the beginning of October as Gafur Rakhimov was announced as the only presidential candidate at the AIBA congress in Moscow on November 2 and 3 with Serik Konakbayev supposedly not receiving enough support from the federations and not submitting this support within the stated deadline. Konakbayev, the head of the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) has launched an appeal to the court of Arbitration for Sport claiming that his candidacy should be allowed to stand under Swiss law as the Sep 23 deadline was a Sunday therefore not a working day. The outcome of the CAS appeal should be known on October 30 and in the meantime Konakbayev has been allowed to continue campaigning. The IOC have made it abundantly clear that if Rakhimov is elected that boxing’s future at the Tokyo games is in real jeopardy. Rakhimov had stood firm but has softened his stance in recent times and has said he would step aside if necessary. In a startling release on October 3, the IOC Executive Board stated “The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today expressed its ongoing extreme concern with the grave situation within the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and its current governance.” “These include the circumstances of the establishment of the election list and the misleading communication within the AIBA membership regarding the IOC’s position. “Such behaviour is affecting not just the reputation of AIBA and boxing but of sport in general. “Therefore, the IOC reiterates its clear position that if the governance issues are not properly addressed to the satisfaction of the IOC at the forthcoming AIBA congress, the existence of boxing on the Olympic programme and even the recognition of AIBA as an international federation recognised by the IOC are under threat. “At the same time, we would like to reassure the athletes that the IOC will – as it has always done in such situations and is currently doing at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 – do its upmost to ensure that the athletes do not suffer under these circumstances and that we will protect their Olympic dream. Pretty damming words and anyone who had underestimated the seriousness of the situation should now be left in no doubt. Whilst the last part of the statement referring to the athletes not suffering and Olympic dreams being kept alive is well meaning but if AIBA were to be expelled then organising the various continental championships, World Series of Boxing which has Olympic places and the other qualifiers would be an unwanted headache for the IOC and seems pretty farfetched. Rumours have swirled of a professional body being put in charge of this process if necessary but of course nothing official has been confirmed. The funding or at least part of it, for most federations around the world hinges on Olympic participation so if the worst were to happen and boxing is kicked off the Tokyo roster then the very grassroots of the sport will be directly affected and future generations could be lost to other sports. Every 4 years the Olympics acts as a shop window, not only for amateur boxing itself with worldwide coverage available but the boxers themselves who first have dreams of reaching the podium but then afterwards securing a big professional contract. Winning an Olympic medal isn’t the be all and end all as showing some charisma or a style that maybe more suited to the professional ranks can be enough to seal a lucrative deal with Michael Conlan, Errol Spence and Oscar Valdez being 3 good examples of this in recent times. Without Olympic boxing fighters will be turning pro at a financial disadvantage and displaying their skills on such a major platform also gives them a taster of possible future big nights in the professional arena. Of course turning professional isn’t an option for everyone with Cuba being the obvious example with fighters having to defect from the country which is often a harrowing process. From an Asian prospective we’ve seen numerous Uzbek and Kazak pugilists transition over to the professional side of the sport in recent months but make no mistake about it, their success is completely down to the heavy investment in the amateur programme that has made both countries the powerhouses in amateur boxing along with Cuba. Given the deep love and passion Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan could probably soak up a lost Olympics but a drain in talent to the pros would surely be inevitable at least in the near future. Fighters from the Philippines and Thailand often benefit from more financial stability by staying amateur as pro boxing in both nations can be a lottery at times. The reputation of amateur boxing in Japan has taken a battering in 2018 with president of the JABF Akira Yamane forced to resign due to allegations of misappropriation of funds to boxers and gang ties. If the once in a lifetime opportunity to campaign in a home Olympics were to be snatched away then the public’s view of the sport would only further sour and all at a time when the land of the rising sun is producing elite young talent by the truck load. Mongolia, which time and time again punches above its weight for such a small nation would almost certainly lose all its top stars and would need time to try and rebuild. Arguably the most affected member of the continent would be India, whilst making huge strides in the last 2 years at all levels, with no pro scene to speak of it would be an uncertain future for the many gifted boxers and the potential growth in one of the 2 most populated nations on earth could severely regress. Finally the biggest impact of no Olympic boxing in Tokyo would be on women’s boxing at all levels. Despite making solid progress over the last several years the biggest issue in women’s professional boxing is a lack of depth at another 2 or 3 Olympic cycles is the integral ingredient for remedying this. It’s highly unlikely that Claressa Shields, Katie Taylor and Nicola Adams would have been signed to professional contracts without their performances at London and Rio respectively and the Olympics is an essential gateway to attempt to inspire young girls to take up the sport and without it women’s boxing could go back decades. By Eric Armit
With boxing it can be difficult at times to decide whether to cheer, laugh or cry and that’s how it appears right now. We have just enjoyed a master class from Terrence Crawford when beating Jose Benavidez. The show reportedly drew the highest US viewing figures this year for any boxing show either broadcast or cable this. We have Tony Bellew lining up to fight Olek Usyk on November 10 with all four cruiserweight belts on the lined. Saul Alvarez is moving up to fight Rocky Fielding for the secondary WBA super middleweight title on 16 December, we have a very competitive WBSS super light tournament on the go and a bantamweight tournament that holds out the possibility of some very tasty fights, Vasyl Lomachenko will try to unify the WBA and WBO lightweight titles when he faces Jose Pedraza on 8 December and Mikey Garcia looks set to defend his IBF lightweight title against Richard Commey. If Garcia wins then a Lomachenko vs. Garcia fight will be an immediate topic of conversation. On 22 December Josh Warrington will put his IBF featherweight title on the line against Carl Frampton and of course there will be a huge WBC heavyweight title fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury on 1 December with combined records of 67-0 and two very different styles and very different people. Plenty there for our pleasure. The laugh or cry comes in with Floyd Mayweather Jr having trouble not being the big super star so announcing he is going to fight some UFC guy named Khabib Nurmagomedov on 31 December. After that somehow he will fit in another fight with Conor McGregor-once was more than enough-and then Manny Pacquiao-once was more than enough-with Mayweather claiming that he estimates his purse for Nurmagomedov could be $110 to $200 million. Hell I didn’t realise there were that many idiots in the world. This isn’t about boxing it’s about an ego that can’t stand not being the main man in the headlines. I am tempted to shout for Nurmagomedov. Manny Pacquiao did not help my mood by saying he expected to fight Mayweather on 5 May Looking at some of the above obviously the call now is for a Crawford vs. Errol Spence fight which would be a great event. The snag as it often is is the respective contracts Crawford and Spence are under. It would mean Top Rank and ESPN for Crawford doing business with Showtime for Spence but for a fight this big there will be plenty of incentive for the parties to find a way to make it happen. For those interested in money-as I am-Crawford’s purse for the Benavidez fight was $3.625 million and Benavidez took $500,000. Crawford vs. Spence would be much bigger then that but let’s hope the Crawford keeps his hands to himself at any face-to-face stuff. For Alvarez vs. Fielding the obvious size difference is a factor with Fielding having been over the light heavyweight limit in some of his early fights and Alvarez having weighed as low as 140lbs in his early days. Alvarez has never weighed more than 164lbs. The fight contract has a stipulation that at the second weigh-in to be held on the day of the fight neither fighter must be more than 10lbs over what he was in the original weigh in. It is also amazing how quickly the water flows under the bridge in boxing. A year ago Alvarez was going to throw the WBC belt in to the bin if he beat Golovkin this week he was feted by the WBC as a great champion and pictured proudly wearing the green belt. Obviously the huge agreement signed by Alvarez and DAZN guaranteeing Alvarez $365 million for 5-year, 11 fights deal has cause quite a stir. It seems a bit ambitious to me. No one knows what will happen next week in boxing let alone five years. At the beginning of 2017 Roman Gonzalez was recognised by some as the No 1 pound-for-pound fighter yet by September after his second loss to Srisaket he was being written off. A win for Rocky Fielding would make that deal look pretty silly. Of course Manny Pacquiao is still on the scene and he has confirmed he will fight Adrien Broner on 12 January. Manny has stayed around too long. His legacy is huge enough for us to forgive him for this but he needs to walk away soon. The last of the HBO boxing shows will be held on 8 December. No venue yet but it will feature Roman Gonzalez and Norwegian “First Lady” Cecilia Braekhus. The 37-year-old Colombian-born Braekhus will be defending her IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and IBO welterweight titles. An amazing fighter. There is plenty of talk of Gonzalez challenging WBA super fly champion Khalid Yafai down the line. In the meantime Yafai is set to defend his title on the big Monaco show against No 13 Mexican Israel Gonzalez who lost to Jerwin Ancajas for the IBF title in February. Jaime Munguia is determined to be a busy champion. He will fight on either 7 or 15 December and if it is the 15th then it will be a main support to Alvarez vs. Fielding. The name being bandied about as his opponent is 13-0-1 Takeshi Inoue. Don’t worry Jamie I don’t think he is any relation to Naoya Inoue. The WBA’s stupidity is showing again. On November 24 on a big show in Monaco Denis Lebedev will defend his ???? WBA title against American Mike Wilson. Putting aside the fact that Wilson has never fought any opponent remotely near to world rated (he is No 57 in the BoxRec ratings) the ???? is there because according to Matchroom Boxing Lebedev is defending his WBA cruiserweight title. The WBA super champion is Oleg Usyk, the secondary champion is Beibut Shumenov and the interim champion is Arsen Goulamirian and poor Denis is “champion in recess” so no matter who wins the WBA do not have a title for him. Lebedev has come out of “recess” so will want to know where his title is and they can hardly put Wilson in recess if he wins. The WBO had their well-oiled ratings elevator working. Last weekend Angel Acosta defended his WBO light flyweight title with a second round kayo of Mexican Abraham Rodriguez. The challenger had a very impressive looking 23-1 record. So it’s okay as long as you ignore that in his last two fights he lost in March on a fifth round retirement against a guy with a 6-2 record so naturally he was not in the ratings. In July he won a six round fight against a fighter with a 4-9 record and that was good enough to get him a No 11 rating and a second round crushing kayo from Acosta. Oscar Valdez will return to action on 12 January. No opponent named yet but it will be a defence of his WBO featherweight title with the plan then being to go for a unification match with the winner of Warrington and Frampton. British heavyweight action will see Hughie Fury attempt to make himself the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua’s IBF title by beating Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in Sofia on 27 October. A very winnable fight for Fury. In December it looks likely that Dillian White will face Dereck Chisora in what White must be hoping is the last fight he has to take before getting a return against Joshua The Philippines has only one world champion right now in WBO minimumweight title holder Vic Saludar (Pacquiao holds the secondary WBA welterweight title so not a world title in my reckoning) but that could change on 29 October when Randy Petalcorin (29-2-1) takes on Nicaraguan Felix Alvarado (33-2) for the vacant IBF light fly title. It will be Alvarado’s third shot at a title having lost to Kazuto Ioka for the secondary WBA light flyweight title in 2013 and to Juan Carlos Reveco for the secondary WBA flyweight title in 2014. Joseph Parker will return to the ring on 15 December in Christchurch. His opponent will be Alex Flores. Flores has a 17-1-1 record with 15 wins by KO/TKO but again don’t look too closely. In 2014 he lost inside the distance to Charles Martin and boxed a six round draw with an opponent who was 4-4-2. He had one fight in 2015, did not fight in 2016 and had one fight in 2017 and one fight in June this year all against low level opposition. Should not be a hard task for Parker. A little while back there was a problem in South Africa with visiting-and home- fighters not getting paid. It was a disgrace mainly because the rule on purses being lodged before the fights was not enforced. I thought things had improved but the influential South African web site “Sowetan Live” carried a story that seems to indicate there is still a problem. The paper alleges that the promoter did not have the money to put up before Gideon Buthelezi defended his IBO title against Lucas Emanuel Fernandez East London on 27 July. With the promoter unable to pay Buthelezi the amount he was due the fight was going to be cancelled. However an official in the Boxing South Africa Board (BSA)convinced Buthelezi to agree to sign a contract for a sum of about approx $1,400 and BSA reportedly paid him that amount with the promise that the balance would be paid later by the promoter. Nearly three months later Buthelezi is still waiting for his money. The promoter did not have the money at fight time but had partnered with the local municipality for the $30,000 needed and has assured Buthelezi he will get paid. The municipality said that it had approved the request from the promoter and that it was with their legal services and if there were no legal challenges the sum would be paid to the promoter and Buthelezi can only hope the promoter will then pays him. If the Sowetan’s allegations are true then as both the BSA and the IBO experienced this before they don’t seem to have learnt anything from it. The IBO can say that it is a domestic problem but the name of the IBO was on the title fight and it does not reflect well on them that the same thing has happened again. It would seem the BSA took this action to ensure the fight went on and in view of their promise to Buthelezi and as he is licensed by them they have an obligation to make sure Buthelezi gets paid and that this does not happen again. Danish Hall of Fame promoter Mogens Palle has a show coming up on 24 November. He is bringing in former interim WBA Middleweight champion Dmitri Chudinov as a very tough test for his Danish light heavyweight prospect Jeppe Morell. Next year Palle will celebrate 60 years of promoting fights. Some achievement. Former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal will get one more shot at the big time. After a number of outside the ring problems it seemed that he was going to retire but he has landed a shot at WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in Atlantic City on 24 November. Unbeaten Russian heavyweight Evgeny Tischenko is schedule to fight on the undercard. Something that could bring tears to your eyes is the disappearance of two building in Detroit. The Kronk gym was demolished and the Joe Louis Area is closed and going the same way, It appears that the closure and sale of the land where the arena stands has had to be undertaken as part of the restructuring deal to get the City out of bankruptcy. It is ironic that they have been selling off the seats from the arena for a few months and have raised over a $1 million, It took Joe Louis 17 years to earn $4 million. By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Terrence Crawford halts Jose Benavidez in the last round in WBO title defence -Zolani Tete outpoints Mikhail Aloyan in defence of his WBO title and moves into the semi-final of the WBSS Tournament -Angel Acosta destroys Abraham Rodriguez in the second round with a stunning left hook in defence of his WBO light fly title -Andrew Tabiti outpoints Russian Ruslan Fayer in second WBSS cruisers Tournament Robbie Davies wins British and Commonwealth titles with victory over Glenn Foot but Francesco Patera upsets unbeaten Lewis Ritson to become European lightweight champion -Lee McGregor wins the vacant Commonwealth flyweight title in his fifth pro fight with twelfth round stoppage of Thomas Essomba -Russian hope Vlad Shishkin impresses with stoppage of world rated Nadjib Mohammedi -Prospect Shakur Stevenson wipes out Romanian Viorel Simion inside a round and Mike Alvarado continues his comeback with stoppage of Robbie Cannon WORLD TITLE FIGHT SHOWS: October 13 Omaha, NE, USA: Welter: Terrence Crawford (34-0) W TKO 12 Jose Benavidez Jr (27-1). Feather: Shakur Stevenson (9-0) W TKO 1 Viorel Simion (21-3). Super Welter: Carlos Adames (15-0) W TKO 2 Joshua Conley (14-3-1). Welter: Mike Alvarado (40-4) W TKO 2 Robbie Cannon (16-14-3). Light: Ismail Muwendo (20-1) W PTS 6 Andre Wilson (15-12-1). Light Heavy: Steven Nelson (12-0) W TKO 4 Oscar Riojas (17-11-1). Crawford vs. Benavidez Crawford retains his WBO title and hands unbeaten Benavidez a boxing master class before flooring and halting Benavidez just 18 seconds before the final bell. Round 1 Crawford was on the back foot in the first letting the taller Benavidez come forward and then darting in with quick southpaw jabs. Benavidez dropped his hands a few times trying to lure Crawford into range but Crawford used his quicker hands to do what scoring there was in the round. Score 10-9 Crawford. Round 2 Another round for Crawford very much as in the first. Crawford was circling Benavidez slotting home jabs and moving. Benavidez was prowling and posing but not throwing punches. Crawford scored with a good three-punch combination. There was a brief exchange just before the bell but neither fighter landed anything of significance. Score 10-9 Crawford Crawford 20-18 Round 3 Both fighters let their hands go in this round. Crawford was on the front foot more and scored early with a quick combination. Benavidez scored with a couple of rights but as single punches and Crawford came back with a bunch of four quick shots which all landed. Crawford was on the front foot and getting through with quick punches with Benavidez too slow to block or counter them. Score 10-9 Crawford Crawford 30-27 Round 4 Benavidez did a bit better in this round. He was still throwing one punch at a t time but landing a few. He got through with a right to the body early and unbalanced Crawford with another late in the round. Crawford was busier and throwing more but Benavidez just did enough to take this one but only just. Score 10-9 Benavidez Crawford 39-37 Official scores: 40-36 Crawford, 38-38 and 39-37 Crawford Round 5 A close round but Crawford’s. his hand speed was proving too much for Benavidez who was slow in letting his punches go. Crawford was coming inside and trading more which offered Benavidez a target and he scored with some body punches but Crawford ended the round with a flourish banging home to head and body. Score 10-9 Crawford Crawford 49-46 Round 6 Whilst Benavidez was posing Crawford was punching. Benavidez seemed happy to just throw one punch and then admire his work. Crawford was buzzing around slotting home jabs and firing clusters of punches. Benavidez indicated he was not hurt by the punches but Crawford was going for quality and accuracy. Scores 10-9 Crawford Crawford 59-55 Round 7 Crawford was buzzing around a static Benavidez and sticking him with fast right jabs and some heavier straight lefts. Crawford was constantly on the move changing direction, changing angles. To have any chance Benavidez needed to do a better job of cutting off the ring and get Crawford against the ropes but he was too slow. Score 10-9 Crawford Crawford 69-64 Round 8 Easily Crawford’s round. He was taking the fight to Benavidez more and standing close and landing with a series of punches and getting out with Benavidez unable to land any counters. A flashing 5/6 punch combination saw Benavidez open his arms to say he wasn’t hurt but you don’t win fights by taking a punch you have to land them and he was not doing that. Score 10-9 Crawford 79-73 Official scores: 80-72 Crawford 77-75 Crawford and 78-74 Crawford Round 9 Crawford gave Benavidez a boxing lesson in this one. The champion was enjoying himself able to pop Benavidez with single jabs or move inside with a volley of shots to head and body. After once flashing combination from Crawford Benavidez backed to the ropes opening his arms and inviting Crawford to bring it on but Crawford was in charge so he just sneered at Benavidez forcing Benavidez to come to him and to more punishment. Scores 10-9 Crawford Crawford 89-82 Round 10 This was a better round as Benavidez threw some good rights early before going to the ropes and just letting Crawford bang away at him. He was hoping to walk Crawford onto a counter but instead Crawford picked his spots and found gaps to head and body. Benavidez tried the ropes trick again later in the round and paid for it as Crawford banged home some hefty punches on a stationary Benavidez. That fired Benavidez into a furious attack but Crawford was scoring with accurate counters to take the round. At least Benavidez had shown some fire. Score 10-9 Crawford Crawford 99-91 Round 11 Benavidez made a furious start throwing wild rights but then counters from Crawford soon scotched that as a strategy. Crawford was now loading up on his punches more and twice knocked Benavidez off balance. Benavidez flared into action again late in the round but was leaving gaps and Crawford was finding them. Scores 10-9 Crawford Crawford109-100 Round 12 Benavidez was lunging in with his attacks in the last but was rocked by a right from Crawford. He continued to press forward but a couple of lightning quick head punches saw Benavidez back across the ring to the ropes and this time it was because he was hurt. He got off the ropes but as they traded punches a booming right uppercut to the chin put Benavidez down. He was up at six but badly dazed and when the action resumed Crawford pounced on him trapping him on the ropes and scoring with a series of head punches that brought the referee jumping in to save Benavidez. Scores at stoppage: 110-99, 107-102 and 108-101 all for Crawford. The 31-year-old home town hero is now 12-0 in world title fights over three weight divisions and against top level fighters has won 8 of his last 9 fights by KO/TKO which is the sign of a true world class fighter. The talk now is of a fight with Errol Spence which would be yet another huge fight if it can be made. Another important measure is that the market rating for this fight turned in the highest viewing figures for any boxing telecast across all broadcast and cable networks this year so a smart deal by Top rank and ESPN which is already delivering on its promise to be a big event for boxing. Benavidez was never allowed a foothold in the fight. He showed little sign of a workable Plan A and no Plan B. he is only 26 so is can still be a player but not against Crawford. Stevenson vs. Simion Stevenson blows away experienced Romanian with three knockdowns in the first round. Simion launched an early attack but the first punches landed were a couple to the body from Stevenson. Simion continued to take the fight to Stevenson but was nailed by a straight southpaw left that stopped him in his tracks and he then dropped to his knees. He was up quickly but his legs wobbled. After the eight count Stevenson came forward throwing punches to the head. Simion threw a counter and missed badly swinging himself off balance and down. He was given a count but protested strongly, Simion tried to punch with Stevenson but was rocked by a couple of left hook s and was fighting on very stiff legs and a left hook followed by a big right sent him into the ropes and down. He made it to his feet but the referee had seen enough and despite protests from Simion it was a good decision. The 21-year-old Olympic silver medallist gets his fifth win by KO/TKO and collects the WBC Continental Americas title. Simion, 36, also an outstanding amateur, suffers his first loss inside the distance. His other two losses were on points against Brits Lee Selby and Scott Quigg. Stevenson was calling out Selby after the fight. Adames vs. Conley Adames demolishes Conley in two rounds. The Dominican prospect put Conley down in the first with a body punch which looked to have strayed low. It was over in the second as Adames put Conley on the floor with a series of punches and although Conley beat the count another batch of shots floored him. Conley just made it to his feet but the fight was halted. The 24-year-old Adames wins the vacant NABF title. He has 12 wins by KO/TKO having beaten Carlos Molina and other good level opposition. He won a pile of medals as an amateur including tournaments such as the Jose Aponte, Copa Romano and Bolivarian Games and competed at the 2013 World Championships. Conley was halted in seven rounds by world rated Julian Williams in his last fight in June 2017. Alvarado vs. Cannon Alvarado blasts out overmatched Cannon in two rounds. After edging the first round Alvarado put Cannon down in the second with a heavy right. Cannon beat the count but was still badly shaken and another right put him on the canvas and the fight was stopped. The 38-year-old “Mile High” Mike has won six on the bounce now but whether there is the chance of another title shot is questionable. Poor Cannon is now 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights. Muwendo vs. Wilson Muwendo starts his rebuilding with a points victory over Wilson. Scores 59-55 for Muwendo on all cards. The 30-year-old “Sharp Shooter” from Kampala lost his unbeaten tag when he was floored and outpointed by useful Filipino John Vincent Moralde in May. Muwendo, who represented Uganda at the 2007 World Championships, is now based in Minneapolis. Wilson a safe choice as he was 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Nelson vs. Riojas Nelson gets his tenth win by KO/TKO as he halts Mexican Riojas. The Mexican usually goes the distance but not this time. After trying hard for the finish over the first three rounds Nelson ended it in the fourth. He put Riojas over with a left hook and after Riojas beat the count he was on the floor later in the round from a left and the fight was over. The 30-year-old local fighter, a former US Armed Forces, All-Army and US National champion, has won 6 of his last 7 by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for Riojas who had taken both Ronald Ellis and Derrick Webster the distance in previous fights. Ekaterinburg, Russia: Bantam: Zolani Tete (28-3) W PTS 12 Mikhail Aloyan (4-1). Cruiser: Andrew Tabiti (17-0) W PTS 12 Ruslan Fayfer (23-1). Super Middle: Vlad Shishkin (8-0) W TKO 10 Nadjib Mohammedi (40-7). Cruiser: Yury Kashinsky (17-0) W KO 3 Juan Basualdo (11-2-1). Heavy: Andrey Fedosov (31-3) W PTS 10 Joey Dawejko (19-6-4). Super Welter: Magomed Kurbanov (16-0) W PTS 10 Juan Rodriguez (15-1). Bantam: Zafar Parpiev (6-1) W PTS 10 Jack Bornea (14-3). Heavy: Evgeny Tischenko (2-0) W PTS 6 Artush Sarkisyan (4-7). Tete vs. Aloyan Tete outpoints Aloyan in a scrappy fight that opens the way for the South African to progress to the next round of the WBSS Round 1 Tete came out throwing southpaw left jabs and rights to the body. The smaller Aloyan, also a southpaw, was ducking under the lefts but the right jabs to the body were getting through. At the end of the round Tete landed a left to the head and then knocked Aloyan off balance with a right. Aloyan toppled back putting both gloves on the canvas to avoid going down and the referee gave him an eight count and the bell sounded at the end of the count. Score 10-8 Tete Round 2 Tete was controlling the action with his right jab. Aloyan was giving away lots of height and had to lunge forward to get past the jab and as he did soTete was landing counters with a right shaking Aloyan in the closing action Score 10-9 Tete Tete 20-17 Round 3 Aloyan’s problem was clearly shown at the start of the round. As he bustled in right counters from Tete were landing to the Russian’s head and between those and Tete’s right jab Aloyan was taking but not giving. The rest of the round saw both boxers missing more than landing but the early success gave the round to Tete. Score 10-9 Tete Tete 30-26 Round 4 A close round mainly because neither fighter managed to land many punches. Tete was short with his jabs allowing Aloyan to jump in with counters and the Russian just did enough to take the round. Score 10-9 Aloyan Tete 39-36 Official scores; 39-36, 38-37 and 39-36 for Tete Round 5 Tete was busier in this one. He was firing his jab again and landed a right hook early. Aloyan had some success with leaping attacks but Tete showed some good defensive work and just edged the round. Score 10-9 Tete Tete 49-45 Round 6 The fight was deteriorating with too much wrestling and too little punching. Aloyan wrestled Tete to the floor and when the action was inside they were both holding rather than working. Again there were very few punches landed and again Aloyan did just enough to take the round with some hooks. Score 10-9 Aloyan Tete 58-55 Round 7 Tete came back to life in this one. He was firing his jabs with a purpose that had been missing over the last three rounds and also scored with some stinging lefts. He was on the front foot more and when Aloyan rushed forward with his much longer legs Tete was able to take a couple of big steps back leaving Aloyan without a target and open for counters. Score 10-9 Tete Tete 68-64 Round 8 Another round for Tete. He was again on the front foot firing jabs and long lefts. He was using slick footwork to avoid Aloyan’s rushes and banging home quick counters and lefts to the body. A frustrated Aloyan again wrestled Tete to the floor but failed to find the target in the round. Score 10-9 Tete Tete 78-73 Official scores: 78-73, 77-74 and 78-73 for Tete Round 9 A messy, untidy round which suited Aloyan. He was managing to block or evade Tete’s jab and leaping inside with right hooks. He bustled Tete out of his stride and held and wrestled inside with Tete’s work largely ineffective. Score 10-9 Aloyan Tete 87-83 Round 10 Tete was going to the body with hooks from both hands in this one. Both fighters had been holding inside from the opening round and both were at fault but the referee decided that Tete was the guilty party in this round and deducted a point from the South African. Tete continued to score with his jab and right hooks and in a clash of heads Aloyan was cut over his right eye. It was clearly Tete’s round but the point deduction cancelled that out. Score 9-9 Tied Tete 96-92 Round 11 Once again Tete was digging in right hooks to the body. For once they were trading punches in close but Aloyan was again holding and trying to wrestle Tete to the canvas. This time the referee deducted a point from the home fighter. Aloyan attacked furiously trying to at least win the round to compensate for the deduction but he was wild and Tete’s early work took the round which with the deduction made a two point round for Tete. Score 10-8 Tete Tete 106-100 Round 12 Aloyan launched furious attacks but the fight was already way out of his grasp. Tete kept jabbing and moving and Aloyan just could not find a big punch instead having to settle for short burst of harmless hooks. Enough to give him the round but not the victory. Score 10-9 Aloyan Tete 115-110 Official scores: 114-111, 114-111 and 115-110 for Tete. A disappointing fight as their styles clashed and led to too much holding but the result was what was important. Tete retains the WBO title and moves into the semi-finals of the WBSS Tournament where he will meet the winner of the November 2 fight in Glasgow between Ryan Burnett and Nonito Donaire. The South African “Last Born” has now won his last twelve fights. Aloyan never really solved the puzzle of how to beat the much taller and more skilful champion and his crude rushing attacks showed a surprising lack of technique for a fighter with such a long medal strewn career as an amateur. Tabiti vs. Fayfer Tabiti outpoints Fayfer in opening bout of WBSS second cruiserweight tournament in a disappointing fight marred by crude tactics from the Russian. Tabiti was mainly on the back foot in the first using his jab with Fayfer lunging forward trying to get inside. Neither fighter was accurate but Fayfer was doing the attacking. In the second Tabiti was taking the fight to Fayfer but both were falling short with their punches and there were too many clinches. Tabiti had a better third bringing his right in to the action. He scored with a right to the head and slotted jabs home. The fourth and fifth were close but there were too many clinches for the fight to flow. Fayfer had a better sixth coming in behind his jab and scoring with rights but there was not a lot of sustained action and too often Fayfer’s bull-like rushes ended up with the Russian grabbing and holding Tabiti. The American’s better skills and hand speed began to put him in control in the seventh and eighth and he scored with some good counters as Fayfer threw himself forward. The referee was letting Fayfer hold too much. Tabiti outboxed Fayer in the ninth and tenth but that was not difficult as Fayfer’s tactics were just to rush forward head down throwing one punch and then clinch. Tabiti was countering Fayer on the way in and was doing all the clean work. Tabiti took the eleventh landing three rights to the head and the referee finally issued Fayfer with a warning which was long overdue. Tabiti rocked Fayer with a right in the twelfth and finally about ten rounds too late the referee deducted a point from Fayer but not for holding but for pushing, and Fayfer went back to pushing until the final bell. Scores 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113 all for Tabiti but the scores were far too generous to Fayer. This was a poor fight but for Tabiti the result puts him into the semi-finals of the WBSS cruiserweight Tournament where he will fight the winner of the Yunier Dorticos vs. Mateusz Masternak bout. The WBC No 5 is better than he was able to show here. Fayer was awful and his position as top rated fighter in the IBF ratings would be a joke if it wasn’t such a serious misrepresentation of Fayfer’s ability. He is probably much better than he showed and had a bad night. Shishkin vs. Mohammedi Big win for Shishkin as he halts world rated Mohammedi. Shishkin made good use of his longer reach to outbox Mohammedi in the opening two rounds and also slid home some good rights. Mohammedi showed his experience over the next two rounds using good movement to offset the reach advantage of Shishkin and a left in the fourth started a swelling under the right eye of the Russian. Shishkin’s hopes were not helped by a clash of heads in the fifth which opened a cut on his forehead but things were levelled up in the sixth when a punch from Shishkin resulted in a deep cut on Mohammedi’s nose. Shishkin began to take charge of the fight as Mohammedi tired from the fast pace he had set and a chopping right to the head staggered Mohammedi in the eighth. Shishkin had mixed fortunes in the ninth. He again had Mohammedi in trouble with a chopping right. Another two rights saw Mohammedi slide to the canvas but as he was there Shishkin landed a hard left hook that he only started on its way after Mohammedi was already down. Mohammedi was up early and at the end of the eight count the referee deducted a point from Shishkin who was lucky not to be disqualified for such a blatant foul. Shishkin chased Mohammedi landing more rights but Mohammedi boxed his way to the bell. In the tenth another right had Mohammedi badly shaken and another couple of punches, the last which again landed as Mohammedi was almost on the floor, put the Frenchman down. When the action resumed Mohammedi slipped to the floor trying to duck under Shishkin’s punches and was given another count. Mohammedi looked to have recovered but he was staggered by two more rights and then a thunderous right to the head put him flat on his back on the canvas and the referee stopped the fight without a count. The 27-year-old Russian was defending his WBA Continental title and is rated No 15 by that body. He has five wins by KO/TKO. He is a big strong fighter with real power in his right but he should have been thrown out for that punch in the ninth. At 33 the effects of a long, hard career are catching up with Mohammedi but he is still a difficult opponent for inexperienced fighters such as Shishkin. He lost to Sergey Kovalev for the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in 2015 and was knocked out in two rounds by Olek Gvozdyk in 2016. He rebounded well with three good wins but then was blatantly robbed when losing a split decision to Fedor Chudinov in July this year. Kashinsky vs. Basualdo Kashinsky makes it eight wins in a row by KO/TKO as he halts Argentinian southpaw Basualdo in three rounds. Kashinsky ended this by taking Basualdo to the ropes and pounding him with rights until the Argentinian collapse face down on the floor with the referee immediately stopping the fight. No big names yet but useful stoppage of veteran Valery Brudov and second round kayo of Al sands. He has only been taken the distance once and is rated IBF 4(5)/WBO 7/WBA 11/WBC 13. Basualdo suffers his first loss inside the distance and was coming off a good domestic win over 17-1 Jose Ulrich in March. Fedosov vs. Dawejko Fedosov wins unanimous decision over Dawejko. The height and reach edges that Fedosov had were just too much for Dawejko to overcome. Fedosov took the first two rounds clearly but then Dawejko got in the fight. He had some success with hooks inside but it was still Fedosov doing most of the scoring. He was just too quick and too accurate for Dawejko. He gave Dawejko a torrid time in the ninth but Dawejko took the punishment and banged back hard in the last the only round he might have won. Scores 100-90 twice and 98-92. Since losing to Bryant Jennings in 2013 Fedosov has run up seven wins with the sturdy Dawejko the only fighter in those seven to last the full distance. In there are wins over Lenroy Thomas and Donovan Dennis but inactivity between June 2016 and June this year have seen him dropped out of the ratings. Dawejko had a 5-0-2 spell until also losing to Jennings. Kurbanov vs. Rodriguez Kurbanov too strong for the crude Rodriguez but the Venezuela climbs off the floor three times to go the distance. Kurbanov used a strong jab to score on the Venezuelan who tried to get within range by coming forward behind a high guard. Kurbanov was able to find gaps for his jab and land heavy straight rights. Rodriquez tended to be very wild with his punches missing by wide margins but occasionally scoring with some swinging shots. Kurbanov scored with a solid body punch in the second but Rodriguez was unmoved. When he was not throwing wild punches Rodriguez was doing some good work inside with left hooks but his guard was far from sound and Kurbanov was scoring with hard punches to head and body. Rodriguez continued to march forward and Kurbanov continued to spear him with jabs and clubbing rights. The Venezuelan had fought southpaw over the opening six rounds but then switched to orthodox for a few rounds and switched back again but he was still too slow and being outscored. Kurbanov piled on the punishment in the eighth as Rodriguez tired. A kidney punch from Kurbanov in the ninth brought a complaint from Rodriguez and a brief recovery time. A series of rights to the head saw Rodriguez drop to one knee. He was up at six and when the action resumed went down again from head punches a couple of which landed on the back of the Venezuelan’s head. He was up at six and the bell went after the eight was reached. In the last a barrage of hooks and uppercuts dropped Rodriguez again. He beat the count and a lost mouthguard. That gave him some respite and together with some guts saw him make it to the bell. Scores 99-88 twice and 100-87 for Kurbanov. The 23-year-old “Black Lion” outpointed world rated Charles Manyuchi in August. The IBF have him at No 4 and the WBA at No 6 but he is No 8 with the EBU. Rodriguez was gutsy but crude and limited. Of his 15 victims 5 had never previously had a fight, 7 had never won a fight and the other three had just 5 wins between them. Parpiev vs. Bornea Parpiev wins the vacant IBF Asian title with wide points victory over Filipino Bornea. Scores 98-92 twice and 99-91 for southpaw Parpiev. The seeming lack of experience for Tajik-born Russian Parpiev is misleading. He collected medals at many International Tournaments over ten years as an amateur including bronze medals at both the Russian Championships and the World Cup of Petroleum Countries Tournament. Bornea, 23, was stopped in seven rounds by Andrew Selby in 2016 but had scored three wins since then. He is the twin brother of unbeaten Jade Bornea and also had success as an amateur taking a gold medal at the Philippines National Games. Tischenko vs. Sarkisyan Rio gold medal winner Tischenko has no real trouble with poor Sarkisyan and wins every round on all three cards. Apart from the Rio gold Tischenko took gold at the 2015 and 2017 European Championships and the 2015 World Championships. The 6’5” Russian will now head off to the USA for training. Sarkisyan has been beaten in 5 of his last 6 fights Las Vegas, NV, USA: Light Fly: Angel Acosta (19-1) W KO 2 Abraham Rodriguez (23-2). Super Welter: Bakhram Murtazaliev (14-0) W PTS 10 Norberto Gonzalez (23-12). Welter: Rashidi Ellis (21-0) W TKO Saul Corral (28-13). Acosta vs. Abraham Rodriguez “Tito” Acosta obliterates Rodriguez inside two rounds with a tremendous left hook to retain the WBO title. Round 1 In a fast-paced round Acosta had Rodrigues a on the back foot and was trailing him around the ring looking to land his right. He landed a couple of hooks and easily avoided the lunging attacks of the challenger Score 10-9 Acosta Round 2 Acosta landed a right counter early in the second but it was a left hook that ended the fight. Acosta stepped inside a right from Rodriguez and exploded a left hook to the Mexican’s chin putting him on the canvas flat on his back and the referee immediately waived the fight over. In his second title defence the 28-year-old Puerto Rican keeps his 100% record of 19 wins by KO/TKO in 19 fights. .His only loss is a points decision over him by Kosei Tanaka when Acosta challenged for the WBO title in May last year. Tanaka relinquished the title and moved up to win the WBO flyweight title. How Rodriguez qualified for the title fight only the WBO and the promoter know. He lost on a fifth round retirement against 6-2 novice Alejandro Hernandez in March and then beat a 4-9 Jorge Hernandez over six rounds in July-disgraceful that he then fights for a world title in his next fight. Murtazaliev vs. Gonzalez Murtazaliev wins the vacant WBC United States title with decision over Mexican Gonzalez. This was a one-sided affair with Murtazaliev too strong for the fleshy Gonzalez. He was able to bull Gonzalez around the ring scoring with thumping left hooks to the body and stiff jabs. Gonzalez came to life occasionally but spent much of the fight on the back foot in survival mode. A clash of heads in the third saw Gonzalez cut over his left eye but his corner did a good job on controlling it. Murtazaliev walked Gonzalez down for the whole fight but Gonzalez threw occasional bursts of punches to let the referee know he was still active but hardly ever took a forward step and never looked like winning a round. Scores 100-90 from all three judges for the Russian. A run of nine inside the distance wins have see Murtazaliev rated WBO 9/IBF 10(9) and he is even the interim World Boxing Association champion. Gonzalez, 37, does not get given easy fights and this is his fourth loss in a row to very good level opponents. Ellis vs. Corral Ellis stops late stand-in Corral. Ellis was in charge of this one from the outset. His hand speed and clever movement were just too much for Corral. The Mexican fired back often enough to stay in the fight but that was all. Two rights to the head in the third saw Corral drop to one knee but he bounced up immediately and avoided further trouble in the round. Corral tried to take the fight to Ellis but when he did he was getting caught with sharp counters and then Ellis would unleash flashy combinations. A barrage of punches in the sixth shook a bemused Corral with the punches coming too fast for Corral to block. As the round ended Ellis was pounding Corral with hooks and uppercuts and with blood dripping from his nose Corral was just soaking up punishment. At the start of the seventh two rights to the head sent Corral sprawling and both gloves touched the canvas resulting in a count. Ellis then drove Corral along the ropes with a finishing left sending the Mexican down on his back. He was quickly up but the referee stopped the fight. Ellis, 25, was making the second defence of the IBF North American title and has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He has impressive wins in a first round kayo of 19-1 Eddie Gomez and a wide unanimous decision over Albert Mosquera. He is coming in under the radar as he rarely gets headlines. He sits at No 8(7) with the IBF, No 12 with the WBO and No 33 with the WBC so some way to go before his name starts to get mentioned for a title shot in a tough division. Fifth loss by KO/TKO for Corral who has been in with names such as Mike Alvarado and Sadam Ali. October 11 Orleans, France: Light Heavy: Mathieu Bauderlique (15-1) W PTS 10 Yann Binagang (10-3-1). Middle: Diego Natchoo (16-1-4,1ND) W TKO 7 Michel Mothmora (29-27-2). Middle: Christian Mbilli (12-0) W KO 2 Luis Fernando Pina (20-2). Bauderlique vs. Binagang French champion Bauderlique wins the vacant WBC Francophone title with decision over Binagang. The Gabonese boxer made a good start doing well enough to at least share the first round but from there Bauderlique dominated. He worked plenty of openings for his strong southpaw jab and showed good movement and plenty of variety in his work changing angles and working to head and body. Binagang kept pressing and the action slowed after the fifth. Bauderlique came strongly over the next three rounds but with Binagang showing no sign of folding Bauderlique settled for boxing his way through the last two rounds. Scores 99-91 twice and 100-90. The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist was able to give his injured left hand a good test. He is not currently in the EBU ratings (13 listed) but is No 14 in the EU rankings so will probable relinquish his National title and try for the EU title. French-based Binagang was 7-1-1 in his last 9. Natchoo vs. Mothmora If at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again. Good advice but sometimes things are just not meant to be as seasoned pro Mothmora fails in his sixth attempt to win a Nation title in what will probably be his last chance. Mothmora was to have challenged the incumbent champion Anderson Prestot but after the weight-in Prestot learned that his son had suffered burns in an accident so he relinquished the title and headed for the hospital. Natchoo who was preparing for a fight in early November was brought in as a substitute and won the vacant title. Mothmora attacked strongly in the first focusing on the body. In the second a counter from Natchoo put Mothmora down. Mothmora was up quickly and seemed okay but a right put him down for the second time. Natchoo let his chance for a quick win slip and almost paid the price when he was stunned by a right from Mothmora in the fourth. Natchoo was back in control in the fifth and floored Mothmora twice more in the seventh to force the stoppage and win the title. The Algerian-born Natchoo, the French No 5, gets his sixth win by KO/TKO and is now 6-0-1 in his last 7 fights. Mothmora, 38, a former WBFederation champion might now consider retirement. Mbilli vs. Pina Mbilli obliterates poor Pina. The visitor bravely but foolishly took the fight to Mbilli. Fighting with a fierce intensity and loading up on every punch Mbilli just walked through Pina’s punches. In the second he battered Pina around the ring and then ended the fight in a brutal manner. He forced Pina to the ropes with two head punches and then landed a right to the body and with almost no leverage turned that into a sickening right uppercut to the chin. Pina was out and on his way down when Mbilli landed a left to the head and the Mexican was counted out. The 23-year-old Cameroon-born “Solide” has won all of his fights by KO/TKO taking less than 35 rounds for his twelve wins. He is a French citizen having moved to France with his family at the age of 11.He was European Youth and European Union champion and won a gold medal at the European Olympic Qualifier for Rio beating Anthony Fowler on the way. He competed for France at the 2016 Olympics losing to Cuban Arlen Lopez in the quarter-final and boxed for the Puerto Rican Hurricanes in the WSB. Second loss by KO/TKO for Pina who has a heavily padded record. Tokyo, Japan: Super Light: Rikki Naito (21-2) W PTS 12 Daishi Nagata (11-2-1). Super Bantam: Hiroaki Teshigawara (18-2-2) W KO 5 Glenn Suminguit ( 21-4). Naito vs. Nagata Naito retains the OPBF title in all-southpaw, all-Japanese clash. This was a battle between the speed of Naito and the power of Nagata and was a close fight all the way. Nagata went in front over the first two rounds but then Naito had his jab working and scored some good shots to close the gap and the judges all had it 38-38 after four rounds. It was a similar picture over the middle rounds. Again Nagata attacked strongly in the fifth then Naito came on strong over the next three rounds. After eight two judges had them even with the third having Naito in front 77-75, It was difficult to split them in the ninth but Nagata had a big tenth flooring Naito with a left. Naito fought back and before the bell for the last the judges all had it 104-104. They both poured everything into the twelfth but Naito just did enough to retain his title. Scores 114-113 twice for Naito and 114-114.Naito was making the second defence of the OPBF title and gets his sixth win in a row. No one expected the Japanese No 5 Nagata to make it as close as he was having his first ten round fight. Teshigawara vs. Suminguit Teshigawara wins the vacant OPBF title with kayo of Filipino Suminguit. Teshigawara just punched too hard for the Philippines champion. He floored Suminguit in the first and third rounds and ended it in the fifth with a brutal right uppercut. Teshigawara is now 15-1 in his last 16 fights and has 11 wins by KO/TKO. Suminguit was 9-1 in his previous 10 fights and this is his second loss by KO/TKO. October 12 Santiago de Chile, Chile: Super Middle: Julio Alamos (11-0) W PTS 11 Facundo Galovar (10-4-1). Fighting in his home city Alamos keeps his 100% record and lifts the vacant WBA Latino title with wide unanimous verdict over very modest Argentinian Galovar. Alamos won every round but also showed a very leaky defence. Galovar was able to stay competitive with counters and against a better level of opposition Alamos could have hit real trouble. Scores 110-100 twice and 109-103 all for Alamos. The former Chilean amateur champion boxed at 81kgs before turning pro and made the change to the pro ranks after failing to win his way through the Americas Olympic Qualifier for Rio. Galovar had won 6 of his last 7 fights. Accra, Ghana: Super Welter: John Akulugu (15-5) W PTS 12 Daniel Lartey (13-2-1). Super Middle: Delali Miledzi (10-0) W PTS 12 Iddrisa Amadu (10-3). Akulugu vs. Lartey In the first show ushering in a revived Boxing League Akulugu outpoints Lartey for the vacant Ghanaian title but the title remains vacant as Akulugu failed to make the weight. He used his longer reach to control the fight with Lartey having no answer to the jab of “Fire Stone”. Lartey’s corner gave him a slapping after the seventh which seemed to work as Lartey was more competitive from there but by then Akulugu had already built a winning lead. Scores 120-108, 119-109 and 117-115 all for Akulugu. Miledzi vs. Amadu Miledzi wins the vacant National title with split verdict over Amadu. It was Amadu who made the better start and looked to have taken the first three rounds. Miledzi increased his work rate from the fourth and fought his way in front. Neither fighter was able to control the action which featured plenty of fiery exchanges but Miledzi had done enough to take the decision. Scores 117-112 and 115-114 for Miledzi and 117-111 for Amadu. Salgotarjan, Hungary: Cruiser: Josef Darmos (11-2-3) DREW 10 Tomas Toth (9-6-5). Cruiser: Imre Szello (22-0) W PTS 6 Gusmyr Perdomo (25-9). Super Feather: Zoltan Kovacs (22-5-1) W TEC DEC 7 Rafael Hernandez (28-11-2,1ND). Darmos vs. Toth The Hungarian title is still vacant after Darmos and Toth ended up even on a technical decision. Darmos was a regular fixture in the Hungarian amateur team but despite being Hungarian champion eight times and winning bronze medals at two European Union Championships he has struggled as a pro. He started well enough here building an early lead and looking comfortable. After the fifth round Toth started to roll and by the eighth he was the one who looked on the way to victory. Early in the ninth a clash of heads saw both fighters suffers cuts which were too bad for the fight to continue so it went to the cards. Scores 86-86 twice and 87-85 for Toth making it a majority draw. Darmos “The Gladiator” is 33 and looks unlikely to get passed domestic level. “Barbarian” Toth (they had those Gladiator and Barbarian nicknames way before this fight), a former national champion had lost his last two fights. Szello vs. Perdomo Szello wins but in an untidy match. Szello was having problems with the awkward southpaw style of the veteran Venezuelan and for much of the fight the referee was the busiest man. Szello gradually broke down Perdomo’s resistance and after rocking Perdomo with a head-snapping right in the seventh he took Perdomo to the ropes and another right had Perdomo sliding down the ropes and the referee stepped in and halted the fight. The 35-year-old “Imo” has 13 wins by KO/TKO. He was one of the most successful of all Hungarian amateurs and is rated WBO 4/IBF 9(8)/WBC 16 but the EBU has him at No 11 in their ratings. His only chance of landing a title shot is if Oleg Usyk relinquishes the four titles. Perdomo, 41,and 16 years a pro, lost to Mikkel Kessler for the WBA super middle title in 2009 but last year he beat the 20-2 Haitian Azea Augustama in Haiti. Kovacs vs. Hernandez Cuts also brought this fight to a premature end. A clash of heads saw Kovacs suffer a cut early in the fight. His corner did a good job on it but for a couple of rounds the blood was affecting Kovac’s vision. He settled and was winning the rounds but the cut opened again and it was impossible for Kovac’s to continue so again it was decided on the cards. Scores 70-63, 69-64 and 69-65 for Kovac’s. The 26-year-old “Caramel” was 3-4 in his first 7 fights but is now 19-1-1in his last 20. Venezuelan Hernandez, a former interim WBA super bantam title challenger, had won 6 of his last 7 fights with the six wins all coming by KO/TKO. Alta Valle Intelvi, Italy: Super Bantam: Iuliano Gallo (9-2) W PTS 10 Daniele Limone (16-8-1). Gallo holds on to his National title with a split decision over more experienced Limone. Gallo rocked Limone badly with a right in the first round but Limone recovered and they fought on equal terms. Over the fifth and six Limone was finding gaps in the southpaw defence of Gallo. The seventh was a close round but in the eighth and ninth Gallo outworked Limone on the inside. Both tiring fighters put everything into a frantic last three minutes with Gallo coming out on top. Scores 95-94 twice for Gallo and 95-94 for Limone. This was the first defence of the title for Gallo who won the crown at the second attempt. Former feather champion Limone had lost 3 of his last 4 fights including defeats in fights for the national super feather and European Union super bantam titles. Mdantsane, South Africa: Fly: Ulises Lara (21-16-2) W PTS 12 Thembalani Nxoshe (19-8-2) Mexico’s “Little Mouse” Lara makes it two wins in two fights in South Africa as he collects the vacant WBC International title. Pressure and power won this one for Lara. He exerted nonstop pressure on local fighter Nxoshe who lacked the power to keep Lara out. Lara was going for quantity rather than quality in his work and leaving plenty of gaps for Nxoshe to score but the visitor came out on top in the exchanges despite a good effort from Nxoshe and Lara was a clear winner. Scores 117-111, 116-112 and 116-114 all for Lara. The Mexican had knocked out good level South African Nhlanhia Ngamntwini in July. He has a stoppage win over former IBF light fly champion Javier Mendoza and won and lost in fights with former WBO minimumweight champion Moises Fuentes so this was a big ask for former South African champion Nxoshe. Torremolinos, Spain: Super Middle: Ronny Landaeta (16-0) W PTS 12 Anatoli Hunanyan (8-3-1). Super Welter: Navid Mansouri (18-1-2) W TKO 2 Bogdan Mitic (21-11). Landaeta vs. Hunanyan Predictable win for Landaeta against late substitute Hunanyan in clash for the vacant European Union title. Landaeta dominated the fight all the way but Hunanyan fought hard enough to make it an entertaining twelve rounds. Both fighters were handicapped by a damp, slippery canvas that made it difficult to get a good platform to throw their punches. Scores 118-110 twice and 117-111 for Landaeta. Venezuelan-born Landaeta will now be hoping to challenge for the EBU title next year. Armenian-born Hunanyan came in as a late substitute after Spanish middleweight champion 15-0 Cesar Nunez was injured. Hunanyan was not up to the usual EBU standard as a challenger but he saved the show and did his job well in going ten rounds with big puncher Landaeta. Mansouri vs. Mitic Rotherham’s Mansouri extends his unbeaten run to 12 with stoppage of Mitic. The former undefeated English champion is now 11-0, 1 technical draw including a victory over then unbeaten Sam Sheedy. After only one fight in almost three years he is now fighting in Spain and this is his third win this years. Serbian Mitic suffered his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Rangsit, Thailand: Super Flyweight: Kongfah (24-1) W PTS 10 Mateo Handig (15-17 8A Kongfah keeps his OPBF title after unanimous decision over useful Filipino southpaw Handig. Scores 97-93 for Kongfah on all cards but Handig gave Kongfah plenty of problems along the way. Kongfah’s only loss was a seventh round knockout in 2015 to future WBC champion Daigo Higa. He has won ten fights since then but against very carefully selected opponents so the figures are meaningless. Way back Handig fought in an IBF eliminator but he has slipped away. He had a spell of eleven consecutive losses but had won twice against domestic opposition this year. Sheffield, England: Super Fly: Tommy Frank (9-0) W PTS 10 Adam Yahaya (18-3-1). Bantam: Nasibu Ramadhan (25-12-2) W TKO 5 Loua Nassa (11-2). Frank vs. Yahaya In a night of mixed fortunes for local fighters Frank comprehensively outpointed tiny Tanzanian Yahaya. Frank was much taller, 5’7” to the 5’1” of Yahaya, and also had a big edge in technical ability and was able to use a strong jab to control the fight against the southpaw visitor. He also worked hard to the body with Yahaya eventually tiring under the pressure. Frank staggered Yahaya with a right hook in the sixth and had him in trouble in the eighth with a left hook but Yahaya stayed the distance. Referee’s score 100-90 for Frank. The BBB of C Central Area champion will now be hoping for a shot at the Commonwealth title. First fight outside of Tanzania for Yahaya who was unbeaten in his last 16 fights but against very modest domestic opposition. Ramadhan vs. Nassa This one came out as a win for the away fighter. Nassa had lots of height over Ramadhan but the little Tanzanian southpaw just walked forward punching and giving Nassa no chance to use his better skills. A tiring Nassa was shaken by a couple of punches in the seventh spitting out his mouthguard to get some recovery time and then held and wrestled his way to the bell. It was only a temporary reprieve and a series of punches from Ramadhan in the seventh had Nassa in trouble and the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Ramadhan gets win No 13 by KO/TKO. He had lost 3 of his last 4 fights but the opposition had been very strong including a points defeat against former WBO bantam champion Paulus Ambunda. This is the second inside the distance loss in his last three fights for 22-year-old Nassa October 13 Newcastle, England: Super Light: Robbie Davies (17-1) W PTS 12 Glenn Foot (23-4). Light: Francesco Patera (20-3) W PTS 12 Lewis Ritson (17-1). Light Heavy: Joshua Buatsi (8-0) W TKO 1 Tony Averlant (26-11-2). Heavy: David Allen (15-4-2) W TKO 1 Samir Nebo (10-3-1). Cruiser: Craig Glover (9-1) TKO 8 Simon Vallily (13-2-1). Super welter: Antony Fowler (8-0) W TKO 5 Gabor Gorbics (26-13). Super Bantam Thomas Patrick Ward (25-0) W KO 1 Tom Tran (6-2). Light Heavy: Lawrence Osueke (6-0) W PTS 6 Charles Adamu (32-11). Light Heavy: Hosea Burton (22-1) W TKO 1 Saidou Sall (10-9-2). Davies vs. Foot Davies outpoints local fighter Foot to take Foot’s Commonwealth title and win the vacant British title. This one saw a lot of blood shed as both boxers were cut. Davies took the lead early with some snappy jabs and accurate counters on the oncoming Foot. Davies took the first two rounds but the second saw the Liverpool fighter showing blood on his nose but then more seriously he was cut over his left eye. Foot was trying to drag the better boxer into a brawl and was not always too careful with his head. As the cut worsened in the third Foot came into the fight more as he was rolling inside and work well to the body. Davies took over again in the fourth and fifth jabbing strongly and landing counters on the marching Foot. There was no way Foot was going to let his Commonwealth title go easily and there had also been some bed feeling before the fight. Foot put the pressure on again in the sixth to keep the fight close but he was also cut under his left eye. Despite Foot’s best efforts from the half way mark Davies began to pull away. He was managing to stay on the outside for much of the time and catching Foot with jolting counters. The rounds were close but Davies was doing enough to win them and although Foot never stopped marching in and pressing the fight the better skills of Davies were giving the Liverpool fighter dominance and he ended up a clear winner. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and 117-112 all for the new champion Davies. Having reversed his only loss in emphatic style with a stoppage of Pole Michal Syrowatka Davies will be looking for big fights in 2019. He has now relinquished the Commonwealth title he won here so it may be he will go for defences of his British title or for the European title. Foot was making the first defence of the Commonwealth title that he won in a war against Jason Easton in March but now he has to regroup and decided which path to follow next. Patera vs. Ritson Belgian Patera shocks the local fans and quite a few boxing pundits by outpointing Ritson to win the vacant European title. Ritson had blown away a number of very useful British fighters and he started out looking to get rid of Patera in the same fashion. His strong jab was jerking Patera’s head back and he had Patera on the retreat. Ritson was marching forward letting fly with hooks and uppercuts to the body. Patera showed some clever defensive work and scored with rapid body punches but it was assumed that he would go when Ritson really connected. In the third it was still a case of Ritson pressing but Patera was beginning to put together bunches of hooks and uppercuts whilst still on the back foot. Ritson did enough to take the fourth but Patera was standing and trading more and the scores at that point were 40-36 and 39-37 for Ritson but with the third judge seeing it 39-37 for Patera. The Belgian really came to life in the fifth. He was firing multi-punch cluster of hooks and uppercuts, He was finding plenty of gaps in Ritson’s defence and giving the local fighter a torrid time. Ritson had a better sixth scoring with his own jab and with thumping body punches but was again wide open to counters. Patera was still mostly on the back foot but in the seventh he again peppered Ritson with bunches of punches. Patera is not a big puncher but he was landing a lot more than Ritson and he took the eighth with thumping body punches. After eight the scores were 78-74 Ritson, 76-76 and 78-74 Patera. Ritson had a better ninth on the front foot scoring with left hooks and being able to walk through the lighter punches from Patera. The fight was poised to go either way and it went Patera’s way. Over the last three rounds he was sending flashing rights and lefts through Ritson’s defence and the British fighter had no answer to the Belgian’s hand speed, movement and accuracy and Patera swept the last three rounds. Scores 116-112 Ritson, 116-112 for Patera and 116-112 for Patera. The 25-year-old Patera proved a clever boxing resilient fighter with great hand speed. He had his tactics right in seeing out early pressure from Ritson and slowly upping his work rate to be strong over the championship rounds. He had lost a very close split decision to Sean Dodd in his only previous fight in Britain. He turned in an impressive performance in taking a split verdict over Edis Tatli in Finland to win this European title but was well beaten by Tatli in the return fight. For Ritson it was a case of don’t change what works but you better have a Plan B if doesn’t but he did not seem to have a Plan B. He had rolled over top level opposition but had no answer to the clever movement and fast, accurate combinations from Patera. He did not become a bad fighter overnight and at 25 he will have plenty of chances to get back to the top if he takes the right lessons from this loss. Buatsi vs. Averlant Impressive power show from Buatsi as he stops seasoned French campaigner Averlant. The tall Frenchman tried to use his longer reach to box on the outside but could not keep Buatsi away. Buatsi put Averlant down twice. The second knockdown came from a thudding left hook to the body. Averlant went down on one knee then half rose and went down again. He tried for a second time and was up but then dropped again and the referee stopped the fight. The 25-year-old Ghanaian born British Olympic bronze medallist has finished six of his fights by KO/TKO and was making the first defence of his WBA International title. Averlant, a former WBFederation champion, is now 2-3 in his last 5 fights losing on points to world rated Dominic Boesel and retiring after seven rounds against Anthony Yarde. Allen vs. Nebo The “White Rhino” tramples all over poor Nebo ending this one in 65 seconds. Allen landed a couple of body punches in the first few seconds of the fight and quickly had Nebo on the retreat. He took him to the ropes and dug in some more shots to the body. Nebo fired some punches in return but then backed to the ropes and Allen struck with a right and then a left hook to the body. Nebo dropped to one knee and was counted out. Second inside the distance win in a row for Allen following his crushing kayo of unbeaten Nick Webb in July. Allen has been brave enough to go up against Dillian White, Luis Ortiz and Tony Yoka but is sensibly now getting some less arduous fights before taking a leap up to the top level again. Syrian-born Nebo lost his first fight on a first round kayo but then went 10-0-1 in his next eleven before being stopped by unbeaten German hope Tom Schwarz in four rounds in February. Glover vs. Vallily Glover moves to seven inside the distance wins on the bounce as he stops Vallily in the eighth. It looked as though this would be over quickly as Glover floored Vallily with a right in the first. Vallily made it to his feet and to the bell but he had been badly hurt. Glover had Vallily rocking with a left hook in the second. Glover continued to boss the fight despite suffering a cut by his right eye. It continued downhill for Vallily when he lost a point in the fifth for a butt and shipped punishment in the sixth and seventh. In the eighth when a strong combination from Glover had Vallily floundering the fight was stopped. Impressive show from the Liverpool fighter who will be looking to challenge for the British title in 2019. Vallily’s only other loss was a stoppage against Mario Breidis and last time out in June he drew with unbeaten Arfan Iqbal for the English title making this an even more impressive results for Glover. Fowler vs. Gorbics Fowler takes a few rounds to catch up with the survival minded Gorbics but then ends it quickly. Fowler found a way past the high, tight guard of Gorbics and bombarded Gorbics who dropped under the barrage. He did get up but the referee halted the contest. Seventh win by KO/TKO for the Liverpool boxer. He has considerable amateur achievements behind him including twice winning the British Championships, getting gold at the Commonwealth Games, a bronze medal at the World Championships and competing at the Rio Olympics. He is ready to step up to stiffer domestic opposition. Hungarian Gorbics is 0-4 in fights in the UK. Ward vs. Tran This was just a keep ticking over fight for unbeaten Ward but he made it a waste of time. Instead of getting a few rounds of work the County Durham fighter ended it early. He dropped Tran with a right bringing blood leaking from Tran’s nose and followed that with a second knockdown from a left to the body and Tran was counted out. Ward, 24, has good domestic wins over James Dickens and Sean Davis and is No 4with the WBO so will be hoping to get a title shot in 2019. German Tran in way over his head. Osueke vs. Adamu Osueke is still finding his feet as a pro and Adamu had enough experience to get through six rounds. Osueke had a considerable reach advantage and a far superior skill set than the Ghanaian veteran. Osueke was able to slot home his jab and dealt easily with the crude rushing attacks and wild swings of Adamu on his way to winning every round. Referee’s score 60-54. As an amateur he was a three-time British champion and competed at the European Championships. Ghanaian Adamu competed at the Olympics way back in 2000 when he beat Britain’s Courtney Fry. A former Commonwealth champion at 41 he is okay against domestic opposition but is not good enough to test fighters such as Osueke Burton vs. Sall Burton made it a good family night. He is the uncle of Osueke and he got his job done in just in just 29 seconds finishing poor Sall with a body punch. The 6’4” 30-year-old former British champion moves to four wins on the road back after losing his title to Frank Buglioni in 2016. Fourth loss in a row for Frenchman Sall including a six rounds points loss to Joshua Buatsi in October. London, England: Bantam: Lee McGregor (5-0) W TKO 12 Thomas Essomba (8-5). Heavy: Michael Hunter (15-1) W TKO 10 Martin Bakole Ilunga (11-1).Light Heavy: Chris Billam Smith (7-0) W RTD 5 Robin Dupre (13-2). McGregor vs. Essomba McGregor wins the vacant Commonwealth title in only his fifth fight as little Essomba shows him how tough the pro game can be. McGregor had huge physical advantages and used his jab well in the first but Essomba was quick-handed and scored with a sharp left hook. The pace in this one was hot as both were looked to take control. Essomba hustled and bustled in the second with McGregor digging to the body with left hooks. McGregor chose to go inside in this round and they both cracked home uppercuts and hooks. McGregor’s cleaner work had him in front but in the fourth he went over and was given a count. He protested that he had tripped over Essomba’s right leg when avoiding a punch. The video showed that was what happened but it was understandable that the referee thought it had been caused by a punch and it was a 10-8 round for Essomba. The fight was a bit untidy in the fifth but again the hooks to the body from McGregor were connecting. It was close quarters stuff again in the sixth and seventh in what was an entertaining clash of styles. McGregor went inside again in the eighth and ninth but Essomba was scoring well with hooks and landed a couple of crisp uppercuts. McGregor had clawed back the 10-8 round and was in front but could not subdue the little Cameroon’s fighter. The tenth was a brutal round as they just stayed in the pocket and swapped punches. McGregor was getting the better of the exchanges and Essomba was showing signs of tiring but was still willing to stand and trade punches. In the last a fierce uppercut from McGregor saw Essomba stagger and then go down as McGregor landed a coupled more punches. The game Essomba was finished and just could not lift himself to beat the count. A great little fight that will have done McGregor a great deal of good for the questions it posed and the answers he gave. His other four fights had lasted less than nine rounds in total so this fight was a big step in his pro education. Former champion Essomba fought his heart out. Too often he has given away weight or taken short notice jobs to get fights and he showed here he is a flyweight who must be respected. Hunter vs. Ilunga Scots-based DRC fighter Ilunga loses his unbeaten tag as he is stopped by Hunter. Ilunga towered over Hunter and had a 43lbs weight advantage-or disadvantage as it turned out. Hunter was more mobile and quicker with his punches. He was buzzing around Ilunga and finding it was easy to hit the bigger man with jabs and straight rights. However his punches just bounced off Ilunga and Ilunga’s clubbing shots seemed to rock Hunter every time they landed. Hunter had to get inside score and get out again as their respective power was heavily in Ilunga’s favour. Ilunga was also tiring Hunter by leaning on him in the clinches and although Hunter was clearly outscoring Ilunga you felt that one big punch from Ilunga could end things. It came close to happening when a hefty left hook in the seventh had Hunter badly shaken with the bell coming just in time for the American. By the eighth Hunter was also cut over his right eye. A punch from Ilunga sent Hunter’s mouthguard flying in the ninth but Ilunga was looking exhausted and had now suffered an injury to his right shoulder. Hunter piled on the punches in the tenth and Ilunga was unable to hold him off. Hunter bombarded Ilunga with punches with the DRC fighter trying to punch back but only able to use his left. He did land one right hook but Hunter landed a booming right to the head and drove Ilunga stumbling to the ropes with a stream of head punches. As he pounded on Ilunga and with nothing coming back the referee stopped in and stopped the fight. The 32-year-old Hunter, the son of Mike “The Bounty” Hunter is really a cruiserweight. His only loss was on points against Oleg Usyk for the WBO title in April 2017 after which he moved up to heavyweight. In the 2012 Olympics he only lost on countback to Artur Beterbiev and he scored wins in amateur action over Andrew Tabiti, Oscar Rivas and Andy Ruiz. In his fight in June he knocked out 26-2 Igor Kiladze so this was a very risky choice of opponent for the inexperienced Ilunga. The Scottish-based Ilunga had less than 36 rounds as a pro behind him and it showed here. The brother of Ilunga Makabu Ilunga came over to Britain with his brother to act as a sparring partner for Ilunga’s fight against Tony Bellew and decided to stay. He is powerful and a big puncher but slow. Smith vs. Dupre Prospect Smith gets a useful stoppage win over former Commonwealth title challenger Dupree. The 6’3” Smith has an impressive build whereas Dupree looks nothing like a boxer is supposed to look. He is fleshy and looks soft-but isn’t. Smith used his reach well and boxed behind a strong jab. Dupree proved faster than he looks and showed he takes a punch well. A Smith jab staggered Dupree in the second and he was also hurt by a left hook late in the round. However he was finding gaps and scoring with some sharp counters. Smith worked the jab well again in the third with Dupree constantly on the back foot but surprising Smith some jabs and rights. A right uppercut brought blood from Dupree’s nose in the fourth as Smith upped his pace looking for a stoppage. Smith connected with heavy rights and lefts in the fifth and at the end of the round with blood dripping from his nose Dupree retired. Sixth win by KO/TKO for 28-year-old Smith who is ready for some stiffer tests. This was billed as a Commonwealth eliminator but it was not. Dupre came in as a late choice as he gets his second loss by KO.TKO. Mexico City, Mexico: Super Feather: Eduardo Hernandez (27-0) W TKO 2 Luis Diaz (23-4-1). Is Hernandez the next Munguia? He is certainly knocking over the opposition in the same manner that Jaime Munguia did. The youngster from Mexico City dismantled Colombian Diaz scoring three knockdowns before the fight was stopped. In the first Hernandez was pressing Diaz looking for an opening. That came late in the round when a left to the body and a right to the head sent Diaz tumbling to the floor. He got up and the bell saved him from disaster-for a short while. In the second Diaz was retreating behind his jab but when his back touched the ropes there was nowhere to go and two clubbing rights to the head put him over. He climbed to his feet but then went down on his hands and knees from a series of head punches and the referee immediately stopped the fight. The 20-year-old “Rocky” has amassed 21 wins in a row by KO/TKO. This was the fifth defence of his WBC Youth title. He is No 3 with the WBC but probably needs some sterner tests before fighting for the title, but that’s what people thought about Munguia when he came in against Sadam Ali. Diaz has a heavily padded record with his last six victims having only sixteen wins between them so no test for Hernandez here. Montreal, Canada: Super Light: Mathieu Germain (16-0) W PTS 10 Carlos Jimenez (14-9-1). Super Middle: Erik Bazinyan (21-0) W TKO 6 Francy Ntetu (17-3). Welter: Ghislain Maduma (20-3) W PTS 8 Diego Luque (21-6-1). Germain vs. Jimenez Germain gets his toughest test to date and has to settle for a split decision over Mexican Jimenez. The local fighter made a hesitant start under the pressure from Jimenez who looked to be in front after the first three round. A damaging left uppercut in the third sparked Germain into action and he swept the next three rounds with Jimenez’s work rate dropping. Jimenez came back to life in the eighth getting through with some sharp shots. Then it was Germain’s turn to rally and he was strong enough over the last two rounds to take the decision. Scores 99-91 and 98-92 for Germain and 96-94 for Jimenez with the first two scores looking harsh on Jimenez and the last looking too generous for Jimenez. “G-Time Germain, 29, holds on to his IBF North American title. Jimenez had won his last four fights including an upset victory over 27-0 Pedro Campa in October. Bazinyan vs. Ntetu Bazinyan continues on his winning way with stoppage of Ntetu. Bazinyan was forcing the fight hard over the first two rounds with Ntetu doing a lot of holding to ease the pressure. In the third it looked as though Ntetu was going to turn the fight his way as they traded punches in an exciting round. Bazinyan steadied things in the fourth when a combination took a lot of the fire out of Ntetu. From there Ntetu was too often finding himself on the ropes and taking punishment. Bazinyan pounded Ntetu in the fifth and with Ntetu trapped on the ropes floored him with an array of punches in the sixth. Ntetu made it to the vertical but was again on the ropes and sliding down under a succession of head punches when the referee stopped the fight. The Armenian-born Bazinyan, 23, was making the first defence of his WBO NABO title and wins the vacant WBA-NABA trifle. He has 16 wins by KO/TKO. A former Canadian Golden Gloves champion, Bazinyan’s parents brought him to Canada when he was 16 to avoid compulsory Army service and it is proving a wise decision. He is now No 6 with the WBO. Ntetu from the DRC won his first 16 fights but was brought down to earth by inside the distance defeats against David Bermudez and Marcus Browne. Maduma vs. Luque Maduma saves the night for DRC boxers as he takes a comfortable victory over Argentinian Luque. Maduma was by far the quicker with hands and feet and won every round. He had Luque in deep water in the fourth but the Argentinian did not fold. From the seventh the pace slackened with Maduma still in control and Luque not in any further bother. Scores 80-72 for Maduma on all three cards. Maduma lost two important fight against Kevin Mitchell in an IBF Eliminator in 2014 followed by a split decision defeat to Maurice Hooker in 2015, a result that looks a lot better now than it did at the time. He had two fights in 2016 but was then away from the ring for 20 months before returning with a win in June. Luque is a road loser now with overseas losses to Jack Catterall and in Canada in May to Mike Zewski on points. Salinas, CA, USA: Super Feather: Ruben Villa (14-0) W PTS 8 Miguel Carrizoza (10-4). Another solid performance from unbeaten former top amateur Villa as he wins in front of his home town fans. He outboxed a willing but limited Carrizoza all the way and won every round. Carrizoza tried hard but he just did not have the tools to match the classy southpaw boxing of Villa. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. As an amateur the 21-year-old Villa was National Golden Gloves champion in 2014 and 2015 and came close to derailing the Olympic hopes of Shakur Stevenson but instead Stevenson reversed a previous loss with victory in the final Trial. Villa was the designated alternate if Stevenson had been unable to box in Rio. Three losses in a row for Carrizoza all against unbeaten fighters. Villa Domenico, Argentina: Light: Gustavo Lemos (19-0) W PTS 10 Uriel Perez (17-4). “El Electrico” Lemos outpoints Perez in an entertaining ten rounder and is still IBF Latino champion. The local fighter set a fast pace and landed plenty of punches but without real power behind them. Perez was making the early rounds close but lost a point in the fourth for a low punch. The Mexican was on fire over the middle rounds eating into the lead Lemos had built but Lemos found his second wind and did enough to take the last three rounds and the decision. Scores 99-90, 98-91 ½ and 96-93. The 22-year-old Lemos was making the third defence of his IBF title. Perez had been in good form being 10-1 in his previous 11 fights with the loss being a split decision against useful Carlos Jimenez Brisbane, Australia: Super Light: Liam Paro (15-0) W RTD 7 Robert Tlatlik (22-2). Heavy: Demsey McKean (12-0) W TKO 6 Victor Oganov (32-6). 11 Paro vs. Tlatlik Brisbane southpaw Paro shines in his best win and toughest test so far. Paro was in charge all the way scoring constantly with stiff southpaw jabs and landing heavy lefts. He slowly broke Tlatlik’s resistance until Tlatlik’s corner pulled their man out of the fight at the end of the seventh round. The 22-year-old WBO No 7 has won ten of his last eleven fights inside the distance. German-based Pole Tlatlik loses inside the distance for the first time. Demsey vs. Oganov Australian champion Demsey (I keep wanting to put a P after the M) stops oldie Oganov in a very uneven match. Demsey won every round and dealt out considerable punishment but could not put Oganov down with the fight being stopped half way through the sixth round. Demsey makes it six wins by KO/TKO but at 6’6” to Oganov’s 5’9” and a 44lbs weight advantage it was difficult to see how the 41-year-old Russian-born one-time IBO super middle title challenger was ever going to stand a chance in this one. Vienna, Austria: Middle: Marcos Nader (20-1-1) W PTS 10 Dejan Milicevic (14-4). Nader breezes past Slovenian Milicevic to win the vacant Austrian title. Milicevic was knocked down a few times and rocked continually by right crosses from Nader. He managed to stay there to the bell even staggering Nader with a right during the contest. All three cards had Nader the winner at 100-89. After losing his European Union title to Emanuele Blandamura in 2014 the 28-year-old Spanish-born Nader competed with no success in the AIBA pro contests in 2015 going 0-2 and was then inactive until returning with a win last April. Three losses in a row for Milicevic, Herstal, Belgium: Super Feather: Faroukh Kourbanov (16-1) W PTS 8 Sylvain Chapelle (17-26-2). Kourbanov given eight good working rounds by French veteran Chapelle. The visitor fought hard but Kourbanov won clearly in the end. Chapelle kept walking Kourbanov down but the hand speed and movement of Kourbanov meant he was having to take punishment before he could work inside. Chapelle did well with uppercut and hooks when he did close on Kourbanov but he was being peppered with quick combinations in every round. Kourbanov does not have a big punch and that allowed Chapelle both to have some success and to last the distance. Scores 80-74, 78-74 and 77-75 for Kourbanov. The only loss suffered by the 26-year-old from Kyrgyzstan was a close verdict against experienced former WBC title challenger Devis Boschiero for the European Union title in May. He is No 6 with the EBU so could get another title shot next year. All of Chapelle’s 45 fights have gone the distance so he now has exactly 300 rounds of experience behind him. Chapelle did well when he could cut the ring off and on those occasions he was banging well to the body. Wolfhagen, Germany: Middle: Mario Jassmann (16-0) W TKO 6 Paata Varduashvili (34-17-2). Jassmann makes a successful second defence of his German International title with stoppage of Georgian Varduashvili. After three competitive and close rounds with the Georgian getting home some choice uppercuts Jassmann upped the pace and began to land some strong shots to the body. In the sixth he floored .Varduashvili and although the Georgian beat the count after a few more punches from Jassmann the referee halted the contest. Twelfth win by KO/TKO for the home town fighter but his opposition has been modest to less than modest and he is down at No 23 in the EU ratings. Of the 17 losses suffered by Varduashvili fifteen have been by KO/TKO. Accra, Ghana: Super Bantam: Wasiru Mohammed (9-0) W TKO 3 Isaac Sackey (22--1). Disgraceful scenes followed a controversial ending to this fight. Mohammed, much the bigger fighter was in control from the start. He was walking down southpaw Sackey who hardly ventured away from the ropes. Mohammed was doing all of the scoring with Sackey constantly holding and lucky not to be disqualified. On one occasion as he slid to the floor under and attack from Mohammed he clung on to Muhammed’s leg refusing to let go with Mohammed dragging him along the canvas trying to shake him loose. Mohamed was looking to nail Sackey with rights and he finally succeeded in the third. He drove Sackey to a corner and hammered home a right and left to the body and then landed a powerful right that knocked Sackey off his feet and down. It was a heavy knockdown but despite that Sackey immediately grabbed the ropes and pulled himself to his feet only to see the referee waiving the fight over. It was a ridiculously hurried action as the referee did not even wait to see what condition Sackey was in. Sackey’s corner men and supporters climbed into the ring. Some just to mouthed their objections but some to attack the referee who it was reported was struck by a chair. Muhammed’s supports also got in the ring to protect their man and the trouble rapidly spread to the crowd in a small scale riot. Disgraceful. It remains to be seen where the result will stand but there is no doubt that Mohammed was on his way to a win. Fight of the week (Entertainment): McGregor vs. Essomba a great little scrap Fight of the week (Significance): Zolani Tete’s win over Mikhail Aloyan puts the South African into the semi-finals of the WBSS Tournament and some big money fights. Terrence Crawford cleared the way for a huge fight with Errol Spence if it can be made Fighter of the week: Terrence Crawford a master at work Punch of the week: Plenty of these. The straight right from Shakur Stevenson that put Viorel Simion over was special as was the left hook from Angel Acosta that flattened Abraham Rodriguez but I go for the fearsome uppercut from Christian Mbilli which shattered Luis Pina. Upset of the week: Francesco Patera’s win over Lewis Ritson certainly shocked British fans and Mike Hunter was not expected to beat Martin Bakole Ilunga. Prospect watch: Evgeny Tischenko certainly has an impressive list of amateur titles so has to be watched and Rashidi Ellis looked brilliant in beating Saul Corral. By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Naoya Inoue crushes Juan Carlos Payano inside a round in the WBSS bantamweight tournament -Kiryl Relikh gets close decision over Eduard Troyanovsky to retain the WBA super light title and move into the semi-finals of the WBSS Tournament -Ken Shiro makes successful defence of his WBC light fly title with stoppage of Milan Melindo - Artur Beterbiev knocks out challenger Callum Johnson in IBF light heavy title defence but suffers shock knockdown on the way -Daniel Roman halts Gavin McDonnell in WBA super bantam title defence after a great little contest -Srisaket retains WBC super fly title with comfortable decision over Iran Diaz -Jack Catterall keeps on track for a world title shot with a decision over Ohara Davies in a disappointing fight -Tomas Rojas scores upset victory over Jhonny Gonzalez and Luis Nery returns with a win in Mexican action -Jessie Vargas and Thomas Dulorme fight to a draw and Jarrell Miller crushes Tomas Adamek on Chicago show World Title Shows October 6 Chicago, IL, USA: Super Bantam: Daniel Roman (26-2-1) W TKO 10 Gavin McDonnell (20-2-2). Light Heavy: Artur Beterbiev (13-0) W KO 4 Callum Johnson (17-1). Welter: Jessie Vargas (28-2-2) DREW 12 Thomas Delorme (24-3-1). Heavy: Jarrell Miller (22-0-1) W KO 2 Tomasz Adamek (53-6). Roman vs. McDonnell In a classic puncher vs. boxer clash just as the fight seemed to be going McDonnell’s way Roman finds a punch to end the contest in the tenth and retain his WBA title Round 1This was a fast-paced fight from the outset. At 5’5” Roman was giving away lots of height and reach to the 5’9 ½” McDonnell so he was moving in behind a high guard and throwing plenty of hooks to the body. McDonnell was circling the ring firing jabs and letting go rights but Roman just did enough to edge a close round Score 10-9 Roman Round 2 McDonnell was on the front foot for much of this one. He was working solidly behind his jab and landing some nice hooks. Over the latter part of the round he was staying in the pocket a little too long and Roman began to get through with hooks and just took another very close round. Score 10-9 Roman Roman 20-18 Round 3 McDonnell opened this round by scoring with a sharp left hook and a straight right. He continued to work well with his jab but Roman was getting through with hooks to the body and closed the round strongly to win this one. Score 10-9 Roman Roman 30-27 Round 4 This was proving to be a fight of the highest quality. The contrasting styles were producing an entertaining contest. No wild swings here with plenty of action and hardly a punch wasted. McDonnell took this round with excellent work with his jab and quick hooks inside and he held off a late surge from Roman that was becoming a feature of Roman’s tactics. Score 10-9 McDonnell Roman 39-37 Round 5 McDonnell was moving and jabbing and then going toe-to-toe with Ramon over the first two minutes of this round but Roman came on strong late. He scored with a series of uppercuts with McDonnell losing his mouthguard but bringing blood from Roman’s nose. Roman’s round but only just. Score 10-9 Roman Roman 49-46 Round 6 Roman’s round. McDonnell was busy, busy throwing lots of jabs and hooks but Roman was landing the harder punches. He landed a great left hook and followed that with an overhand right as he put McDonnell under strong pressure before the bell. Score 10-9 Roman Roman59-55 Round 7 Another close round with no sign of the pace dropping. McDonnell worked hard with his jab and had Roman on the back foot for much of the round as he drove forward firing hooks. Ramon once again came on strongly at the end landing some clubbing shots to the head to off-set McDonnell’s early work and steal the round. Score 10-9 Roman Roman 69-64 Round 8 McDonnell outboxed and outscored Roman in this round. He was working everything off the jab and getting home with quick bursts of punches to the body. This time it was McDonnell in charge over the last thirty-seconds catching Roman with a peach of a left hook, Score 10-9 McDonnell Roman 78-74 Round 9 Another round for McDonnell. The pace remained hot and the quality of punching from both men remained high but McDonnell was busier and more accurate and again it was he who finished the round with a flourish. Score 10-9 McDonnell Roman 87-84 Round 10 McDonnell was well on his way to winning the tenth and the fight seemed to be going his way. He had Roman on the back foot and he banged home hooks to the body. He was just doing too well and that made him confident enough to stand and trade heavy punches with Roman. Suddenly a short right from Roman saw McDonnell dip at the knees and Roman pounded him with head punches driving him across the ring and McDonnell went down on his hands and knees. In a confused way McDonnell got up and then dropped to his haunches again and when the eight count was completed the referee had a good look at him and stopped the fight. When he needed a punch Roman found it and he showed how he has grown into the role of a champion. This is the third defence of his title and win No 18 by KO/TKO. Naturally there is talk of unifications fights with Isaac Dogboe or Rey Vargas. McDonnell played his part in a high quality fight. His two losses have both come in world title fights as he dropped a majority decision to Rey Vargas for the vacant WBC title in February last year. He had fought his way back into contention with victories over unbeaten Gamal Yafai and former champion Stuart Hall and a third world title fight in 2019 is not out of the question Beterbiev vs. Johnson In his first fight for eleven months Beterbiev retains the IBF title in a short but explosive fight against Johnson that sees both fighter on the floor. Round 1 Both started confidently poking out jabs and throwing some testing rights. Johnson believed he had the power to win. He was taking the fight to Beterbiev and landed a couple of rights. In a frantic exchange a punch from Beterbiev had Johnson hanging on. He recovered and tried to take the fight to Beterbiev again but missed with a punch and went forward between the ropes. As he pulled himself back with his defence down he was floored by a right hook. He beat the count and the bell went before Beterbiev could do any more damage. Score 10-8 Beterbiev Round 2 Johnson still marched forward behind a high guard in second. He landed a right but as they traded punches the power shots from Beterbiev had Johnson hurt . He fired back and landed a booming left hook counter that sent Beterbiev back and down heavily. The champion was up quickly but on unsteady legs. Johnson spent too long looking for one more big punch and let Beterbiev off the hook. Score 10-8 Johnson Tied 18-18 Round 3 This round was a close-quarters battle. Johnson landed a right and another strong left hook. Beterbiev was working his jab and the firing clubbing head punches and got the better of the exchanges and Johnson was cut over his right eye. Score 10-9 Beterbiev Beterbiev 28-27 Round 4 Johnson was marching forward with Beterbiev on the back foot. Johnson landed a sharp right to the head and forced Beterbiev to a corner. As Johnson stood and traded punches two rights, the second to the top of the head, sent Johnson down on his back. He struggled to his knees but was counted out. The 33-year-old Montreal-based Russian has won all of his 13 fights by KO/TKO averaging less than four rounds per fight but that chin-checking left hook from Johnson almost caused an upset. He has no mandatory challenger as the first two slots in the IBF ratings are vacant and a fight with either WBO champion Eleider Alvarez or WBA champion Dmitry Bivol would be a big attraction. Johnson, also 33, obviously came with the belief that he had the power to win this one. It is a pity that the punch that floored Beterbiev came so late in the round but he paid the price for his aggression in the shape of counters from the big punching champion. He wants another shot at the tile. Vargas vs. Delorme Vargas and Dulorme end all even with Vargas letting the win slip away on a last round knockdown. The early rounds saw an unexpectedly quick starting Dulorme almost put Vargas down in the first with a hard left. Vargas got over that bit of trouble but in the second a clash of heads saw Vargas cut over the right eye. Vargas took a round to recover from those early mishaps but was finally rolling in the fourth stunning Dulorme with a right and then pouring on the punishment in a big round for the former WBO champ[ion. The fifth, sixth and seven were close rounds with both fighters having good spells and if one had success the other was quick to fire back. A punch from Dulorme reopened the cut over the right eye of Vargas in the eighth and worsened the injury which continued to leak blood. Vargas looked to be slightly ahead after nine and in the tenth he drilled Dulorme with a blazing right to the head and Dulorme dropped to one knee. Dulorme was up early and did not seem too badly hurt. Dulorme fought back hard over the eleventh but Vargas was in front going into the last. All he had to do was stay out of trouble but with just seconds remaining in the fight a right from Dulorme knocked him off balance and his glove touched the floor. That counted as a knockdown and a 10-8 round for Dulorme which gave him a draw,. Scores 113-113 twice and 115-111 for Vargas. The WBC Silver title remains vacant as Vargas sees his second fight in a row end up tied after his draw with Adrien Broner in April. Vargas is rated in the top three by all of the main sanctioning bodies and will probably get another big fight next year. For Dulorme, who dropped out of the ratings after losing to Yordenis Ugas in August last year, this result will give him a boost back into the top 15. Miller vs. Adamek Miller crushes Adamek in a mismatch. From the outset it was obvious that this was going to end early. The 41-year-old 6’1 ½” 227lbs Pole was dwarfed by the 6’4” 317lbs Miller. It was like David vs. Goliath but with David armed with a feather duster. In The first Adamek was able to come inside and land some punches to the body and he also landed a combination to the head. None of those punches registered with Miller and it was obvious that Adamek did not have to power to overcome the huge physical handicap. Miller was walking Adamek down and getting through with cuffing hooks. Fighting on the retreat Adamek was able to score with counters but a right from Miller shook him and already it looked a lost cause. Miller ended it in the second. He marched forward pouring hooks and uppercuts at a retreating Adamek. A right saw Adamek stumble and after Miller missed with a couple of punches he landed a right hook and Adamek dropped to one knee. He swayed as the referee counted and started to rise but before he was up as the count reached eight the referee waived the fight over. Now 18 wins in a row for the 30-year-old “Big Baby and 19 wins by KO/TKO. He has yet to be given a real test with Mariusz Wach and Johann Duhaupas the best known names in his list of victims. He is huge, strong and quicker than he looks and is No 2 with the WBA and No 3 with the WBO but will have to wait in line for a shot at Anthony Joshua. Adamek, a former WBC light heavy and IBF cruiser champion. has had a great career but he should end it now. Pak Kret, Thailand: Super Fly: Srisaket (47-4-1) W PTS 12 Iran Diaz (14-3-3). After a number of tough assignments Srisaket gets a less exacting fight as he easily outpoints a clever but light powered Diaz in the third defence of his WBC title. Round 1 Diaz had height and reach over Srisaket and the Thai marched forward from the first bell. He was ignoring defence to get inside and work on the challenger’s body. Diaz moved well and scored with sharp counters from both hands but it was Srisaket’s round Score 10-9 Srisaket Round 2 Three minutes of pressure from Srisaket. This time Diaz chose to stand and trade more. He again showed some nifty foot work and scored with some right but Srisaket was the heavier puncher and was finding the target with his southpaw lefts. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 20-18 Round 3 A good round by Diaz. He began by taking the fight to Srisaket and then went onto the back foot. Srisaket was ignoring his jab and leading with his left. Quick footwork by Diaz had Srisaket stretching with his punches and leaving himself open to counters. Score 10-9 Diaz Srisaket 29-28 Round 4 Srisaket upped the pace in this one. He kept driving forward leading with his left and digging punches home to the body. Diaz again showed good skills but a straight right just before the bell shook him. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 39-37 Round 5 Srisaket focused entirely on the body in this round. He was again leading with his right off his left foot and hardly using his left at all. He was finding Diaz an elusive target but sent the challenger stumbling back with a right to the head. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 49-46 Round 6 Srisaket continued to land with lefts to the body but it was an unimpressive show from the champion. He was throwing one punch at a time and good movement from Diaz had him looking crude and open to counters. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 59-55 Round 7 Three minutes of relentless pressure from Srisaket in this round. He was walking through Diaz’s jab and ignoring the challengers counters to score throughout the round with lefts to the body. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 69-64 Round 8 The pressure and the body punches were beginning to tell and Diaz slowed and he looked to be tiring. Srisaket scored with a couple of lefts to the head but Diaz was denied a genuine knockdown. As they traded in close he drilled Srisaket with a right uppercut to the chin. Srisaket slid sideways and then went down but it was ruled a slip. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 79-73 Round 9 Another round of Srisaket marching through Diaz’s punches to land with lefts. For once Srisaket threw a multi-punch combination and Diaz stood and punched with him in the first moment of sustained action in the fight. There was more controversy here as Srisaket went down again. As he moved forward a right from Diaz landed on his temple. That unbalanced Srisaket and his feet slipped from under him and it could very easily have been counted as a knockdown. Srisaket finished the round strongly again rocking Diaz with a left and the Mexican was now cut under his right eye. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 89-82 Round 10 Diaz was cut over his left eye in a clash of heads in this one. Srisaket was throwing more combinations and driving Diaz around the ring. He shook Diaz with a right/left/right combination and with blood dripping from both cuts a stoppage looked likely but Diaz kept punching and kept moving. Score 10-9 Srisaket Srisaket 99-91 Round 11 Heads clashed early in the round and Srisaket was given a warning. He continued to pile on the pressure but Diaz did not buckle. Heads clashed again with Diaz complaining to the referee. Lefts from Srisaket saw Diaz buckle at the knees twice but he kept moving and kept punching and outworked Srisaket over the last minute to take a close round Score 10-9 Diaz Srisaket 108-101 Round 12 After a low key start they stood and traded punches, Srisaket landed three heavy lefts but Diaz ended the fight driving Srisaket back just throwing punch after punch with Srisaket ducking, bobbing and weaving but not finding the space to counter but his early work just gave the champion the edge. Score 10-9 Srisaket. Srisaket 118-110 Official scores: 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108 for Srisaket. This was not an impressive performance by the Thai. Too often he was throwing just one punch at a time and the elusive Diaz made him look crude at times. It may have been a fight Srisaket had trouble getting enthusiastic over and there are much tougher jobs ahead for him. It is very strange that he was 1-3-1 in his first five fights and has now lost only one of his last 47 fights. Diaz showed plenty of skill and a willingness to trade but did not have enough power to keep Srisaket out and coming down from super fly may have been a struggle. October 7 Yokohama, Japan: Bantam: Naoya Inoue (17-0) W KO 1 Juan Payano (20-2). Super Light: Kiryl Relikh (23-2) W Eduard Troyanovsky (27-1).Light Fly: Ken Shiro (13-0) W Milan Melindo (37-3). Inoue vs. Payano Japanese “Monster” Inoue kicked-off the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) bantamweight tournament in spectacular style with a one-punch kayo of Dominican southpaw Payano. After some early sparring the first punch Inoue threw in anger was a thunderous straight right that laid Payano flat on his back out cold and with blood pouring from his nose. There was no way Payano was going to beat the count and the referee promptly waived the fight over. Inoue, 25, retained the secondary WBA title and put down a strong marker here for the other fighters in the WBSS bantamweight tournament with his fifteenth win by KO/TKO including seven in his last seven fights. He will now face the winner of the October 20 fight in Orlando between Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jason Moloney in the semi-final. First loss inside the distance for former WBA champion Payano. Relikh vs. Troyanovsky Belarusian Relikh just edges Russian Troyanovsky on a very close unanimous decision to retain the WBA super lightweight title and to move on the semi-finals of the WBSS tournament to meet either regis Prograis or Terry Flanagan. Round 1 Troyanovsky tried to user his longer reach to score at distance in the firat and was letting fly with some long rights landing a good one early. Relikh had more variety in his work coming forward quickly with hooks and uppercuts and hustling the upright Russian. Score 10-9 Relikh Round 2 Another round for Relikh. He took Troyanovsky to the ropes and clobbered him with two strong rights . He was getting his punches off first and and landed a heavy left to the head. Troyanovsky was sticking to the left jab/straight right tactics but seemed to almost panic when Relikh came forward quickly. His footwork was stilted and looks to have lost the poise that was a feature of his early career. Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 20-18 Round 3 After a quiet opening to the round relikh began to get past Troyanovsky’s jab and was scoring with short bursts of punches. Elikh sent Troyanvosky staggering back with an overhand right and Troyanovsky landed a nice right uppercut ba Relikh ended the round on the attack. Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 30-27 Round 4 Troyanovsky seemed to be settling into the fight. Relikh was still hustling and bustling but Troyanovky was finally managing to time Relikh’s attacks and scored with some crisp counters to take the round. Score 10-9 Troyanovsky Relikh 39-37 Round 5 Relikh stepped up the pace in this one. He was leaping forward and scoring with some punches with Troyanovsky looking busy but not landing puiunches. Late in the round Relikh connented with a couple of head shots and Troyanovsky was in trouble. Relikh piled on the pressure and won the round clearly. Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 49-46 Round 6 Troyanovsky won this one with his jab. He kept it in Relikh’s face throughout the round. Relikh was not forcing the fight as much and Troyanovsky was reading the signs and anticipating when Relikh was going to launch an attack allowing the Russian to either step back out of range or fire a counter. Score 10-9 Troyanovsky Relikh 58-56 Round 7 Troyanovsky relied on his jab again in this roun. It was jab and move, jab and move-and repeat. Relikh did a bit better than he did in the last round but was swinging wildly at times and Troyanovsky’s cleaner work gave him the edge. Score 10-9 Troyanovsky Relikh 67-66 Round 8 Jab.jab.jab. That tells you it was another round for the tall Russian. He kept the jab in Relikh’s face and when a frustrated Relikh lunged in he was swinging wildly and wide open to accurste coumnters. Relikh did kland the occasional punch but not enough. Score 10-9 Troyanovsky Tied 76-76 Round 9 Relikh needed to turn things around and he did. Early in the round he walked through Troyanovskys jab and hammered home hooks and overhand rights.Troyanovsky was pounded with a veriety of punches and looked befuddled and bewildered. He steadied himself but Relikh was again scoring with jarring punches at the bell. Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 86-85 Round 10 The pace slowed here. Troyanovsky had lost some of his accuracy and relikh some of his fire. A straight right that set Troyanovsky back on his heels followed by burst of hooks and straight rights by Relikh were enough to give him the round Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 96-94 Round 11 This was a very close round. Troyanovsky found the range with his jab again and Relikh hustled and bustled again. Neither really did enough to stamp themselves on the round. It could have been scored for either fighter or even a tied round but for me Relikh just did enough to edge it Score 10-9 Relikh Relikh 106-103 Round 12 Troyanovsky clearly took the last. He had more left in the tank and was coming forward landing left jabs and long rights. Relikh responded with some bursts o hooks but Troyanovsky ended the round with more long rights. Score 10-9 Troyanovsky Relikh 115-113 Official scores 115-113,115-113 and 115-113 all for Relikh The “mad bee” from Minsk was almost unknown before losing a very controversial decision to Ricky Burns for the WBO title in October 2016. Since then he has lost another very disputable verdict to unbeaten Rances Barthelemy and then outclassed Barthelemy in a return to win the vacant WBA title. He is very much an outsider in the WBSS Tournament but he is a very difficult opponent and can’t be discounted. Troyanovsky is now 38 and does not look the same fighter since his one round disaster against Julius Indongo in 2016. This one was very close but there are no return biuts in the WBSS so this may have been his last chance to become a champion again. Shiro vs. Melindo Japanese speedster Shiro proves too quick and slick for challenger Melindo and retains his WBC title for the fourth time as an injury ends this fight in the seventh round. Round 1 Shiro had a big advantage in reach and he used that to take the opening round. He was much quicker than Melindo and flitted around the static Filipino prodding his jab through Melindo’s guard and did not throw a single right in the first three minutes. Melindo was too small and too slow and could not land a punch. Score 10-9 Shiro Round 2 Melindo did better in this round. He was drawing the lead and then moving inside to counter and a right cross to snapped Shiro’s head back. Shiro was still dancing around Melindo but was coming up short with his jabs. Score 10-9 Melindo Tied 19-19 Round 3 Shiro was back in control in this round. He was more positive with his jab stabbing it into Melindo’s face. When Melindo dived forward and landed a right Shiro caught the Filipino with a lovely right hook and then landed a couple more rights. Over the remainder off the round Shiro was Score 10-9 Shiro Shiro 29-28 Round 4 Shiro tormented Melindo with his jab slotting it through Melindo’s guard throughout the round. With Shiro’s speed and long legs every time Melindo lunged forward Shiro only needed to take one step back to be out of range but still in position to counter with his longer reach. He was not going for power at this stage. Score 10-9 Shiro Shiro 39-37 Round 5 Shiro continued to work with his jab but was now mixing in more rights to the head Melindo had no answer to the jab of Shiro. The champion was also able to jump inside and land two or three punches and leap back out of distance before Melindo could counter. He was still not loading up on his punches but he did not need to. Score 10-9 Shiro Shiro 49-46 Round 6 Melindo came forward with more purpose at the start of this round but then Shiro took over and had his most dominant round so far. He was sitting down on his punches more and using the jab to set Melindo up for driving rights and hooks to the body with the fight totally one-sided with Melindo cut over his left eye. Score 10-9 Shiro Shiro 59-55 Round 7 Shiro rocked Melindo a few times with thudding rights in the early action. Melindo was being driven back and his defence was crumbling. Shiro kept drilling him with jabs and straight rights until the referee halted the action and asked the doctor to examine the cut over Melindo’s left eye and the doctor indicated the fight should be stopped. Official scores at time of stoppage 59-55 for Shiro from all three judges. The 26-year-old Shiro is a clever, quick-fisted fighter with a very long reach and classy footwork who will give any fighter in the light flyweights problems. Filipino Jonathan Taconing is his mandatory challenger but is even smaller than Melindo so will face the same obstacles when he gets his shot. Although only 30 former IBF champion Melindo has been in some tough fights and is looking a bit shop worn and lacked the speed to trouble Shiro. October 5 Bell Ville, Argentina: Cruiser: Dario Balmaceda (18-17-2) W KO 8 Mariano Gudino (12-2). Super Bantam: Javier Chacon (27-4-1) W TKO 9 Roman Reynoso (21-3-2). Balmaceda vs. Gudino Balmaceda wins the vacant South American title with a powerful show against home town fighter Gudino The local fighter edged the first round but in the second Balmaceda landed a fierce left hook and two rights that put Gudino down. He survived and had a good fourth and the fifth was close but a punch from Balmaceda had opened a gash on the forehead of Gudino. He survived a couple of inspections by the doctor. Balmaceda took over the fight from the sixth and in the eighth a left hook followed by a right cross put Gudino down again and he was counted out. The 34-year-old Balmaceda was blown away inside a round by unbeaten Italian Fabio Turchi in February but has now won three in a row. Gudino was coming off a points loss to Joel Tambwe Djeko in Belgium in May. Chacon vs. Reynoso After a slow start Chacon finally wars down and stops Reynoso. Over the early rounds with Chacon not working hard enough and having trouble finding the range Reynoso was able to build a small lead. Once Chacon finally got going he just punched too hard for Reynoso. He piled on the pressure with the referee giving Reynoso a standing count in the eighth. In the ninth a left hook drove Reynoso into a corner and he dropped to the canvas under a shower of punches. He got up but was dazed and actually reached out to touch gloves but Chacon hammered him with a left hook then unloaded a series of head punches and with Reynoso on his way down the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. The 37-year-old “Wasp” wins through to the final of a national super bantamweight competition. Chacon lost big fights against Jamie McDonnell for the secondary WBA bantam title in 2014 and in six rounds against Isaac Dogboe for the WBO International super bantam title in July last year. He had rebounded with a stoppage of 21-1-1 Claudio Echegaray in the semi-final of the national tournament in August.”220 Volts” Reynoso had lost only one of his lest twenty-five fights. Melbourne, Australia: Bantam: Mark Schleibs (10-0) W PTS 10 Robert Trigg (3-3-1). Local boxer Schleibs remains unbeaten and collects the Australian title with unanimous verdict over champion Trigg in an entertaining ten round fight. . Schleibs was the better boxer but Trigg pressed him hard forcing Schleibs to the ropes and cutting down his space. Schleibs dominated when the action was in the centre of the ring and his hard, accurate counters gave him the edge over most of the fight but Trigg fought hard to try to hold onto his title. Scores 100-90, 98-91 and 97-93 for Schleibs. Who had won his last four fights by KO/TKO and was going ten rounds for the first time. Trigg was making the first defence of the title and played a big part in making this an excellent Australian title fight. Northbridge, Australia: Light: Kye MacKenzie (20-1) W TKO 7 Mark Bernaldez (17-2). Super Light: Brandon Ogilvie (21-2-1) W TKO 5 Arief Blader (23-31-2). MacKenzie vs. Bernaldez Mackenzie wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title to continue his impressive run but has to come off the floor for victory. He put Filipino prospect Bernaldez down in the fourth but Bernaldez fought back to put MacKenzie down in the fifth. Mackenzie took control again and floored and halted Bernaldez in the seventh. The 26-year-old “Mr Frenzy” gets his sixth win as he rebuilds after a 2015 loss to Jack Asis for the IBO title. The Australian No 1 now has 17 wins by KO/TKO. Bernaldez suffers his second loss by KO/TKO. Ogilvie vs. Blader Ogilvie halts poor Indonesian in the fifth to keep busy. The 24-year-old “Brilliant” from Perth, the Australian No 2, has lost only once, on points, against George Kambosos in his last 18 fights. Nine losses in a row for Blader. Ghent, Belgium: Welter: Meriton Karaxha (20-5-2) DREW 10 Steve Jamoye (24-6-1). Middle: Kevin Ongenae (10-6-2) DREW 10 Kevin Vanderheyden (8-0). Light: Jean Pierre Bauwens (43-5-2) W PTS 6 Angelo Turco (8-10-2). Karaxha vs. Jamoye The BeNeLux title remains vacant after Karaxha and Jamoye finish all square. Scores 96-94 for Karaxha, 97-93 for Jamoye and 95-95. It was a good close fight and certainly worth doing again. Albanian-born Karaxha, the Belgian champion, has lost only one of his last eleven fights. Jamoye was coming off a first round kayo loss against Florin Cardos for the vacant European Union title in May but he is a scrapper and these two are well matched. Ongenae vs. Vanderheyden The Belgian title remains vacant after Ongenae and Vanderheyden also fought to a draw. Ongenae could and should have won this one. He was the better fighter on the night but he seemed to coast in some rounds and in a close fight that cost him the victory. Scores 96-94 for Ongenae and two scores of 95-95.After a run of eight wins Ongenae slipped badly losing both of his fights last year. Vanderheyden was moving up to ten rounds and facing his toughest opponent so far. This one could also go again. Bauwens vs. Turco Bauwens gets a very much needed win in front of his home support as he outpoints Turco. In his first fight for ten months Bauwens took a little while to get into his stride but was much too good for Turco and handed out a steady beating. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. The 30-year-old “Junior” is fighting his way back after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. The former Belgian and European Union champion was 37-1-1 at one stage but has fallen away from that form. Turco was 0-4-2 coming into this fight. Manzano, Italy: Super Light: Massimiliano Ballisai (22-5) W PTS 10 Luca Maccaroni (12-5-1). Fly: Mohammed Obbadi (17-1) W PTS 6 Llia Beruashvili (8-5). Ballisai vs. Maccaroni Ballisai retains the Italian title with comfortable points win over local boxer Maccaroni. Reacting to encouragement from the home crowd southpaw Maccaroni made a good start forcing the fight and often pinning Ballisai to the ropes over the first three rounds and looked to have moved into the lead. In the fifth the fight changed as Ballisai sent Maccaroni down with a right and controlled the fight from there. Maccaroni kept trying to get on the front foot but Ballisai outboxed and outlanded him the rest of the way. Scores 97-92 twice and 98-91 for “El Loco” Ballisai. The winner is a former undefeated national lightweight champion and European title challenger. He had a spell of three losses in a row against Edis Tatli, Yvan Mendy and Timo Schwarzkopf but came back to win the Italian title in May. Maccaroni was having his second shot at the national title. Obbadi vs. Beruashvili EBU No 2 Obbadi gets six rounds of useful work against Georgian. Obbadi used some clever footwork and fast attacks to cope with the longer reach of southpaw Beruashvili. The 25-year-old Moroccan-born Italian had Beruashvili badly shaken in the fourth but failed to finish him and had to go the full six rounds for a comfortable win. Scores 60-54 for Obbadi from all three judges. Obbadi’s only loss is a retirement against current WBC champion Cristofer Rosales in October last year. He is No 7(5) with the IBF. Beruashvili no real threat and suffers his third loss in his last four fights. Belfast, NI: Super Feather: Marco McCullough (21-4) W PTS 10 Ruddy Encarnacion (39-27-4). Super Bantam: Tyrone McCullagh (12-0) W PTS 10 Josh Kennedy (11-1). Welter: Paddy Gallagher (14-4) W TKO 3 Jay Byrne (7-6). Light Heavy: Steven Ward (9-0) W DISQ 3 Rolando Paredes (15-8-2).). Super Feather: Nathaniel May (20-1) W PTS 8 Ruslan Berchuk (12-9). McCullough vs. Encarnacion McCullough beats experienced Encarnacion but has to climb off the floor to win. McCullough boxed well on the back foot over the first half of the fight. Encarnacion scored with some powerful body punches but McCullough countered well and was edging the rounds. McCullough then began to lose his way too often standing and trading inside. A clash of heads shook McCullough in the sixth and Encarnacion was able to land a volley of punches. A big right from Encarnacion rocked McCullough in the seventh but the visitor lost some headway in the eighth when a left hook saw him dip with his glove toughing the canvas resulting in an eight count and a 10-8 score. Encarnacion knew he now needed a stoppage to win and in the ninth he floored McCullough with a right. McCullough beat the count but was in deep trouble and a stoppage looked possible but the Belfast man made it to the bell and then had a good last round. Scores 97-91, 96-92 and 95-93 for McCullough. The Belfast 29-year-old wins the vacant IBO International title. Inside the distance losses against Isaac Lowe for the Commonwealth title and Ryan Walsh for the British title derailed McCullough for a while but this is his fourth win on the bounce. “The Black Wolf” Encarnacion, a Dominican-born Spaniard, is a former European Union feather champion. He has taken plenty of short-notice fights in the other guys backyard but showed again here even at 39 he can be a dangerous opponent. McCullagh vs. Kennedy McCullagh comprehensively outboxes Kent’s Kennedy to win the vacant WBO European title. Kennedy fought hard all the way and never stopped rolling forward working the body trying to slow the Northern Island southpaw but McCullagh was much too quick and skilful. He opened a cut under the left eye of Kennedy in the fifth and continued to rake him with punches to head and body with Kennedy unable to do anything to change the pattern of the fight. By the end McCullagh was in total control and cruising and a clear winner. Scores 99-91, 99-92 and a too close 96-94 all for McCullagh. The 28-year-old “White Chocolate”, a former European bronze medallist, was coming off a good win over unbeaten Scott Joe Ham and collecting this title will see the WBO slip him into their world ratings. Kennedy, a former BBB of C Southern Area feather and English super bantam champion just met a better fighter on the night. Gallagher vs. Byrne Gallagher wins the BUI (Boxing Union of Ireland) title with win over Byrne in an unfortunate ending. There was plenty of action over the first two rounds with Gallagher just coming out on top and looking to have hurt Byrne with a body punch late in the second. In the third a clash of heads saw Gallagher emerge with a cut by his left eye. Gallagher fired back with a series of punches and suddenly Byrne was in trouble and went down. When he got up he was indicating that he has injured his shoulder and could not continue and the fight was stopped. In his last fight in April Gallagher had Brad Solomon on the floor before losing a split decision in the WBC welterweight tournament. Byrne has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights with all three losses coming in BUI title fights. Ward vs. Paredes “Quiet man” Ward gets win but again a disappointing ending. Ward was well on his way to victory over Mexican Paredes when the referee decided that the consistent head work from the Mexican was unacceptable and threw him out in the third round. The tall 28-year-old from Belfast was a top level amateur winning three Ulster championships and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. Paredes very much an in-and-out performer and this was one of his “out” efforts. May vs. Berchuk Australian “Cheeky” May has his first pro fight outside of his home country and outboxes Russian Berchuk. Referee’s score 79-73. May, 23, has won his last 16 fights but tragically lost his long time trainer Peter Stokes to cancer and must still be feeling that loss. Berchuk has lost 3 of his last 4 fights with all of the losses being against unbeaten boxers. Barnsley, England: Light: Robbie Barrett (17-3-1) W PTS 10 Matty Fagan (12-4). Light: Andy Townend (22-4) W PTS 8 Henry Janes (12-23-3). Fly: Kyle Yusaf (14-0) W RTD 6 Conor Blackshaw (6-3). Bantam: Josh Wale (27-9-2) W PTS 6 Rafael Castillo (14-47-3). Barrett vs. Fagan Barrett wins on all three cards to become IBF European champion. The local fighter was a big favourite but never really took control until very late in the fight. Fagan was competitive and made the fight close as both had good spells. The decisive moment came in the eighth. Barrett was beginning to take control and floored Fagan with a southpaw left. Fagan beat the count but the fight had slipped from his grasp and Barrett finished strongly to emerge a clear winner. Score 96-93 twice and a harsh 98-91all for the former British champion. Barrett won the British title by climbing off the floor twice to outpoint Scott Cardle in April last year. In his first defence in October he was stopped in seven rounds by Lewis Ritson, his only loss in his last 13 fights. Fagan was 6-2 in his last eight fights with the losses being on points against good opposition in Gary Buckland and Joe Murray. Townend vs. Janes As with Barrett vs. Fagan this one was also close until late. Townend was not in his best form and looked sluggish. Janes was very much in the fight with two rounds to go but a big right from Townend which put Janes down in the seventh really settled matters and with a good eighth Townend opened a gap in the points. Referee’s score 77-74 for Townend. The Barnsley fighter is now 15-1 in his last 16 fights losing only to world rated Thomas Patrick Ward. He stopped Jon Kays in three rounds in May last year in a fight for the vacant Commonwealth super featherweight title but failed to make the weight so could not win the title. He was ¼ lb under the super light limit here. Welshman Janes was 2-0-1 in his last 3 fights. Yusaf vs. Blackshaw The talented Yusaf wins the vacant English flyweight title as Blackshaw retires after six rounds. Yusaf made this harder than it needed to be by taking Blackshaw too lightly and letting himself be drawn into a brawl. He was not using his superior skills and it took an ear-bashing from his corner before he started to box on the outside from the fourth. From then he was in control and on the way to victory before Blackshaw retired with a hand injury. The Sheffield “Golden Kid” is No 8 bantamweight in the European Union ratings. Blackshaw, the European Union No 6 flyweight, had won his last 6 fights. Wale vs. Castillo With a fight for the vacant European title scheduled for 26 October this was a risky fight for Wale as injury could have scuppered that plan. However Wale dialled back on his usual aggression and Castillo was able to be in the fight more than he usually is. There was a cut but it was the Spanish-based Nicaraguan who was cut as Wale boxed his way to a win. Referee’s score 58-56 to Wale. Seven wins in a row for Wale who meets Frenchman Georges Ory for the vacant title in a very winnable fight Castillo is predictable-24 losses in a row. Tampa, FL, USA: Light Heavy: Radivoje Kalajdzic (24-1) W TKO 1 Alex Theran (20-3). Kalajdzic blows away Theran. A fired-up Kalajdzic quickly found the range and drilled Theran with a straight right. With Theran on the ropes a series of punches forced him to slump to the floor. He was up quickly but Kalajdzic wobbled him with a left and then piled on the punches until Theran dropped again and the referee immediately stopped the fight. All over in 70 seconds. “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic goes to 17 wins by KO/TKO. After amassing 21 wins in a row in a 2016 fight he had Marcus Brown on the floor before losing a split decision. After a good win over unbeaten Travis Peterkin in September 2016 he was inactive until returning with a win in July this year. Born in Bosnia Kalajdzic and his family fled to Serbia during the Bosnian war before eventually moving to the United States when he was seven. Colombian Theran was having his first fight for two years and looked very fleshy. All three of his losses have come by KO/TKO against good level opposition. Panama City, Panama: Super Feather: Pablo Vicente (13-1) W TKO 3Irving Berry (23-9-2). Super Feather: Orlando Mosquera (5-1-1,1ND) TEC DRAW 6 John Valencia(3-1-3 Vicente vs. Berry Cuban prospect Vicente too young and too talented for veteran Berry. Vicente handed out a steady beating to Berry until late in the third round when one of Berry’s seconds jumped into the ring and asked for the fight to be stopped. The 25-year-old Vicente’s only loss was on a very controversial split verdict against Marcos Villasana Jr in Mexico in July. In Cuba Vicente started out as 48kg fighter and won medals in the National Tournaments up to 60kgs before moving to Panama.. Former WBA featherweight title challenger Berry was 18-1-2 before losing to Jonathan Barros for that WBA title in 2010. He is on the down slope now being 1-6 in his last 7 fights but losses to Tomas Rojas, Jezreel Corrales, Jhonny Gonzalez and Kid Galahad are in the list of guys he has lost to in that run so no easy nights. Mosquera vs. Valencia The Panamanian title remains vacant after this fight ended in a technical draw. Both fighters suffered bad cuts in a clash of heads and were unable to continue so it went to the cards. Scores 58-56 for Mosquera and 59-55 for Valencia and one scores tied at 57-57 so they will have to do it all again. October 6 Leicester, England: Super Light: Jack Catterall (23-0) W PTS 12 Ohara Davies (18-2). Super Feather: Sam Bowen (14-0) W KO 4 Horacio Cabral (21-3). Super Feather: Archie Sharp (14-0) W PTS 10 Leon Woodstock (11-1). Heavy: Daniel Dubois (9-0) W PTS 10 Kevin Johnson (32-11-1). Middle: Mark Heffron (21-0) W TKO 4 Aryee Ayitey (15-8). Catterall vs. Davies Catterall retains the WBO Inter-Continental title with unanimous decision over Davies in a disappointing fight. The much anticipated clash failed to deliver as neither fighter looked willing to take too many chances and there was too much posing and not enough punching. Catterall boxed cautiously respecting the power of Davies but worked well with his southpaw jab and took both opening rounds but not by much. Davies came into the fight strongly in the third and fourth to even things up. Neither fighter was looking capable of opening a big gap in the scoring but Catterall had the better of what action there was in the fifth and rocked Davies with a hard left in the sixth. Davies clawed his way back into the fight with a good seventh but Catterall’s excellent work with his right jab saw him take the points in the eighth. It swung back to Davies in the ninth as he seemed to sense he was behind. Catterall made a big move by outscoring Davies over the tenth and eleventh to put himself in the driving seat. Davies put in a big effort in the last but in his aggression he was leaving gaps that Catterall was able to exploit to land accurate left counters and Catterall was a clear winner. Scores 115-113 twice and 118-110 with the last score looking too wide. The 25-year-old Catterall is No 2 with the WBO and champion Maurice Hooker defends the title against the No 1 Alex Saucedo on 16 November. That makes it fairly certain that Catterall will be in a position to fight the winner sometime in early 2019. Davies lost to Josh Taylor for the Commonwealth and WBC Silver titles in July last year but had re-established himself with wins over unbeaten Tom Farmer and 21-1 Paul Kamanga. He is better than he showed here in a fight where the styles did not meld and can rebuild again in 2019. Bowen vs. Cabral British champion Bowen impresses in stoppage of Cabral to win the vacant WBO International title. Bowen gave Cabral a torrid time in the first bundling forward and scoring with hurtful left hooks and uppercuts but the Argentinian used some clever upper body work to avoid much of the punishment. Cabral chose to stay inside in the second to deny Bowen leverage but Bowen was still the one doing the effective work. Bowen used his jab more in the third and also scored with a series of hooks and uppercuts. Cabral again showed some good defensive work but his own punches lacked power and Bowen rattled his chin with a straight right. Bowen had Cabral trapped on the ropes for much of the fourth. Cabral eventually worked his way off the ropes. Bowen drove him back there and leaped in with a vicious left hook to the body with Cabral dropping to the canvas in agony and being counted out. The 26-year-old “Bullet” gets his tenth win by KO/TKO. Cabral , the Argentinian No 4 lightweight, came in over the weight limit so could not have won the title but then he never looked likely to do so after the first bell. Sharp vs. Woodstock Sharp takes Woodstock’s WBO European title with close unanimous decision. There had been plenty of words exchanged between these two on Social Media and they turned those words into punches to produce an entertaining ten rounds. Sharp got a great start flooring Woodstock with a left hook in the first. Woodstock quickly recovered and in the second both fighters scored with some choice punches. There was a contrast in styles with Sharp taking the unorthodox hands down approach throwing punches from a variety of angles and Woodstock a more orthodox style using a stiff jab and quick straight rights. Sharp edged the second again scoring well with a left hook counter but Woodstock had a good third scoring well with his jab and landing a hard right cross. Woodstock started the third by banging home a couple of rights but Sharp dropped into an orthodox style and used his hand speed to repeatedly get through with jabs and swinging hooks. Sharp changed his tactics again in the fifth standing in front of Woodstock and outworking him inside. The rounds continued to be close and full of furious exchanges with both fighters having good spells. Woodstock pressed hard but in the end could not overcome the handicap of the knockdown in the first and Sharp’s taking the second which left him three points behind after two rounds. Scores 96-93 for Sharp from all three judges. The 23-year-old Sharp will now get a top 15 rating from the WBO which means in theory that he could fight for a world title in his next fight which shows how ridiculous this WBO policy is. Sharp is a very talented young fighter but miles away from being ready for something like that. Woodstock was making the first defence of the WBO European title and he has plenty of time to rebound from the loss. Dubois vs. Johnson Dubois outpoints veteran Johnson and goes past the fifth round for the first time. In a slow, disappointing fight Johnson did what he was there to do. He spent much of the fight on the ropes frustrating the young Dubois and never really threatening. Dubois tried to blitz Johnson over the first two rounds forcing Johnson to the ropes and bombarding him with hooks and uppercuts but Johnson covered up well and never looked in trouble. As the fight developed Dubois dialled back his efforts and paced himself as he realised he faced the longest fight of his short career. Johnson showed occasional signs of aggression particularly in the fifth but not many and spent more and more time against the ropes content to take what punishment Dubois handed out and focusing on making it to the final bell unhurt. A frustrated Dubois just could not find the punch to end the fight but the experience of going ten rounds was worth more than a meaningless inside the distance win. All three judges had it100-91for Dubois. At 21 the Londoner does not need to be rushed so there will probably be a few more learning fights to come. Johnson. 39, took both Vitali Klitschko and Tyson Fury the distance but has now lost 8 of his last 11 fights including three this year and losing to young prospect is his role now. Heffron vs. Ayitey Heffron racks up another win as he halts Ghanaian Ayitey in four rounds. Heffron floored Ayitey twice before the referee called the fight off. The 26-year-old “Kid Dynamite”, the WBC International champion, now has 17 wins by KO/TKO and is looking to challenge Jason Welborn for the British title in what will be a tremendous match. First loss by KO/TKO for former Ghanaian champion Ayitey. Tijuana, Mexico: Bantam: Luis Nery (27-0) W TKO 3 Jason Canoy (27-9-2), Filipino Canoy was never in with a chance here. Nery, the bigger man had Canoy down in the first thirty seconds of the fight with a straight right. Canoy made it to his feet but was badly shaken. Nery tried desperately to finish staggering Canoy a couple of times but Canoy was punching back at the bell. Nery was finding the lunging Filipino an easy target in the second but again a gutsy Cano was trying to come forward and throwing lots of punches. Nery was landing some heavy shots in the third and had Canoy in trouble a couple of times, Canoy kept trying to punch his way out of trouble but eventually a storming attack from Nery forced him to the floor. Canoy just beat the count but was driven to the ropes and was being pounded with punches. He was firing some of his own but when Nery landed a trio of head-snapping shots the referee stopped the fight despite Canoy’s protests. It was a good stoppage. The 23-year-old former WBC bantam champion is fighting his way back from disgrace after losing his title on the scales before beating Shinsuke Yamanaka in March. This fight was for the vacant WBC Silver title so that is a big step on the road back. Canoy suffers his first loss by KO/TKO and is now 3-4 in his last 7 fights. Mexico City, Mexico: Super Feather: Tomas Rojas (50-16-1,1ND) W PTS 12 Jhonny Gonzalez (66-11). Light: Isaac Cruz (15-1-1) W KO 1 Angel Chan (5-3-1). Rojas vs. Gonzalez Gonzalez risked his WBC No 4 rating in this contest between former champions and paid the price as Rojas used clever skills to outscore his fellow Mexican and win the majority decision. Southpaw Rojas boxed on the back foot countering the advancing Gonzalez and avoiding getting dragged into a close-quarters brawl. Rojas looked to have edged the first three rounds and in the fourth a clash of heads opened a bad cut over the right eye of Gonzalez. It was a good news/bad news scenario for Rojas. His opponent was cut but under the WBC rules the referee deducted a point from Rojas making the scores after four rounds 39-36 and 38-37 for Rojas and a dissenting 39-36 for Gonzalez. Over the next four rounds Gonzalez continued to force the pace but Rojas kept his boxing together and used sharp accurate jabs to just keep his nose in front. Gonzalez had closed the scores but only slightly to 77-75 and 76-75 for Rojas and 78-74 for Gonzalez. Over the last four rounds Gonzalez tried hard to overwhelm Rojas with pressure but Rojas seemed the fresher fighter and he withstood the pressure got the better of the exchanges and emerged a deserving winner. Scores 116-112 and 114-113 for Rojas and 114-114. The 38-year-old “Worm” Rojas, a former WBC super fly champion, was fighting four division higher than he had as champion/ He had lost two of his last three fights but a title fight in 2019 is not out of the question. Two-division champion Gonzalez, 37, had reeled-off eight wins in a row but may have blown his chance of another title shot with this defeat. Cruz vs. Chan “Pitbull” Cruz finishes Chan inside a round. The young local prospect had Chan under pressure from the start and late in the round he landed a hurtful left hook to the body that put Chan down and he was unable to beat the count. Cruz is now 10-0-1 in his last eleven fights including eight wins by KO/TKO. Chan was 5-0-1 in his last six fights. Baguio City, Philippines: Super Fly: Cris Paulino (19-3) W rtd 6 Jomar Fajardo (15-12-2). Southpaw Paulino wins the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council title as Fajardo gives up the fight after six rounds. Paulino had everything going for him. He was bigger, quicker, and more skilful and had the power. Fajardo kept marching forward but paid the price in the shape of strong left hand counters from Paulino. Paulino showed some classy foot work and was always in position to thread jabs through the defence of the advancing fellow-Filipino. Late in the sixth Paulino landed a series of chopping lefts to the head that staggered Fajardo and led to his retirement at the end of the round. Consecutive inside the distance losses to Koki Eto and Vic Darchinyan saw Paulino out of the ring for two years before returning in December 2017. This is his sixth win since then. Poor Fajardo has had a tough time and is 1-8-1 in his last ten fights. He caused something of a sensation when he held the then WBO minimumweight champion Francisco Rodriguez to a draw in a non-title fight in 2014 but that is just a faint memory now. Nosalowy Dwor, Poland: Cruiser: Krzys Wlodarczyk (56-4-1) W TKO 2 Al Sands (20-4).Middle: Fouad El Massoudi (15-11) W TKO 4 Patryk Szymanski (19-1). Wlodarczyk vs. Sands A slow first round saw Sands the more active throwing plenty of jabs and moving inside with hooks but he did not seem to have a lot of power. The better punches came from Wlodarczyk who landed a neat hook and a sharp uppercut. After an exchange of punches in the second Wlodarczyk drilled Sands with a strong left jab. Sands went back and down. He was up at the count of five and walked to a corner. The referee reached eight and wiped Sand’s gloves and indication the fight should continue but Sands dropped to his haunches and seeing that the referee stopped the fight. It looked as though the jab had given Sands a broken nose. The 37-year-old “Diablo” Wlodarczyk has won 7 of his last 8 fights beating 22-0 Noel Gevor and Olan Durodola but being knocked out by Murat Gassiev for the IBF title in October last year. He is preparing for the next WBSS cruiser series. The 31-year-old Minnesota-based “Haitian Temptation” Sands gets his second inside the distance loss in a row having been knocked out in two rounds by unbeaten Russian Yury Kashinsky in December. El Massoudi vs. Szymanski Frenchman El Massoudi gets an important win as he halts unbeaten Polish prospect Szymanski. El Massoudi had Szymanski on the floor in the first round. It looked to be from a punch but video evidence showed it was a combination of a clash of heads and a forearm that did the damage. Szymanski was badly shaken and never really recovered. The second was a close round but El Massoudi dominated the third rocking Szymanski badly with a right. In the fourth El Massoudi drove Szymanski to a corner and the Pole dropped to the floor under a storm of punches. The referee started the count but the towel came in from Szymanski’s corner. El Massoudi had lost 6 of his last 7 fights so this was a good night for him. Szymanski, 25, was a Polish and World Youth champion so big things were expected from him. It will be interesting to see how he recovers from this. Quebec City, Canada: Heavy: Dillon Carman (14-3) W KO 4 Simon Kean (15-1). Middle: Steven Butler (25-1-1) W TKO 3 Jordan Balmir (10-1).Super Light: Batyrzhan Jukembayev (14-0,2ND) W KO 7 Patricio Moreno (20-2). Carman vs. Kean This was intended to be another victorious night for Canadian heavy hope Kean but former national champion Carman tore up the script. Kean did enough to edge the first round but looked slow and poorly balanced. The first sign of things to come appeared in the second when a right from Carman sent Kean down. Kean beat the count then floored Carman in the third and cut him under his right eye. The fourth saw Carman taking advantage of Kean’s poor defence. He put Kean on the back foot and dropped a floundering Kean with a chopping right to the head. Kean tried to rise but never made it and was counted out. “Big Country” Carman ran up seven wins by KO/TKO, including a third round kayo of Donovan Ruddock, but lost his Canadian title when he was stopped in two rounds by Mladen Miljas in December. This win nets him Kean’s WBC Francophone and the vacant WBA-NABA titles. He has 13 wins by KO/TKO and only two of his fights have gone the distance. Kean, 29, had won his last seven fight by KO/TKO but against some poor opposituion and that had helped hide some basic flaws and he was found out here. He will be rebuilt slowly but this loss is a serious reality check. Butler vs. Balmir Comfortable win for Butler over Balmir. Butler took control immediately dominating from ring centre and slotting jabs through the defence of Balmir. In the second Butler began to unload with some hefty rights and opened a cut over the right eye of Balmir. Butler continued to pile on the punishment in the third and finished the fight in the fourth. He opened Balmir up with some jabs and then drove home a short right uppercut inside which sent Balmir reeling back off balance. His gloves touched the canvas and he was given a count. When the action resumed Butler pounced on Balmir landing a series of vicious hooks and uppercuts until the referee jumped in and stopped the fight. Butler, 23,wins the vacant WBC Francophone title. He has 23 victories by KO/TKO including a stoppage of experienced Carson Jones. He was stopped in seven rounds by Brandon Cook in January last year but has rebuilt with seven inside the distance wins and is No 6 with the WBO. This was too big a step up in quality of opposition for Balmir. Jukembayev vs. Moreno For the second fight in a row Jukembayev comes off the floor for a win. The Kazak southpaw found himself on the floor in the first round from a left to the head. He recovered and put Moreno down in the second. Jukembayev dominated the rest of the fight before putting Mexican Moreno down for the count with a body punch in the seventh. After a stumbling start that saw the 27-year-old Jukembayev’s first two fights end as No Decision due to cuts he has now won 14 on the bounce, 12 by KO/TKO. Fellow southpaw Moreno was having his first fight since taking a split verdict over Mauricio Pintor in March last year. This is his first loss by KO/TKO. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Middle: Marcelo Coceres (25-0-1) W PTS 10 Davi Eliasquevici (14-7-1). Coceres much too good for Eliasquevici. Coceres had lots of height and reach on his side and a far superior skill set. Eliasquevici kept marching forward fighting out of a crouch and was occasionally dangerous with some swinging hooks. Coceres was able to showboat dropping both hands, spearing Eliasquevici with jabs at distance and scoring with clubbing rights. Coceres came close to ending the fight in the eighth when he sent Eliasquevici down under a succession of head punches. Eliasquevici beat the count but the bell rang before Coceres could do any more damage. The local fighter breezed through the ninth and tenth for an easy victory. Scores 100-89 from all three judges for “El Terrible” who retains the WBO Latino title. The Argentinian No 1 has won 24 in a row. Eliasquevici is now 1-5 in his last six fights. Sydney, Australia: Middle: Wade Ryan (16-7) W TKO 9 Les Sherrington (37-12). 10 Southpaw Ryan wins the vacant OPBF title with stoppage of seasoned pro Sherrington. The 28-year-old local, the Australian No 3, gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. He is now 6-2 in his last 8 fights losing decisions to unbeaten Tim Tszyu and Commonwealth champion Mike Zerafa. Sherrington, 36, is on the slide and is 2-5 in his last 7 fights with all 5 losses by KO/TKO. Bruay-la-Buissiere, France: Bantam: Vicente Legrand (28-0) W KO 1 Khvicha Gigolashvili (18-29). Legrand just keeps in shape with a first round win over Georgian Gigolashvili but he may be in trouble. Legrand is scheduled to defend his European title against Andrew Selby in Newport, Wales on 27 October. However there must be a minimum period of 28 days between contests for someone fighting in a European title match and he has breached that rule. Gigolashvili has won only two of his last eight fights and the two wins were back home in Georgia. Traunreut, Germany: Light Heavy: Serge Michel (8-0) W TKO 3 Sheldon Lawrence (11-2). Heavy: Petar Milas (13-0) W KO 4 Mirko Tintor (14-2-1). Michel vs. Lawrence Michel wins the vacant WBC International title with stoppage of Trinidad & Tobago’s Lawrence. Michel “The Bavarian Sniper” took centre ring and worked his jab threading his left through gaps in the defence of Lawrence and getting home with some hard rights. Lawrence banged back in the second but was floored late in the round. He survived but was staggered early in the third and as Michel piled on the pressure and a right sent Lawrence stumbling the referee stopped the fight. The Russian-born German competed at the 2013 World Championships. He lost to Joshua Buatsi at the European qualifier for the Olympics but earned his place in Rio by coming second at the World Qualifier but then failed to medal. Lawrence had won his last five fights but Michel was just too good for him. Milas vs. Tintor Croatian Milas wins the vacant WBC Mediterranean title with fourth round kayo of Bosnian Tintor. Milas outboxed southpaw Tintor over the first three rounds. He was quicker and more accurate with his punches and showed good footwork to avoid the rushes of Tintor. A left hook floored Tintor in the forth and a volley of punches sent him down for the second time with the referee applying the full count. The 23-year-old Milas gets his ninth win by KO/TKO. He has a stoppage victory over Kevin Johnson and won a unanimous decision over Francesco Pianeta two months before Pianeta lost on points to Tyson Fury. The 6’4 ½” (194cm) Croat never took his boxing seriously as an amateur but is building nicely as a pro and has crept into the European Union ratings at No 18. Tintor had won his last seven fights. Wolfsburg, Germany: Middle: Patrick Wojcicki (12-0-1) W PTS 12 Sven Elbir (12-1).Super Welter: Abass Baraou (3-0) W RTD 2 Robert Maess (22-2).Middle: Denis Radovan (11-0) W TKO 1 Florian Wildenhof (29-6-1). Wojcicki vs. Elbir Wojcicki holds on to his IBF Inter-Continental title with close unanimous decision over German “Batman” Elbir. Over the early rounds Wojcicki outboxed the aggressive Elbir. Stiff, accurate jabs, some precise counters and good footwork blunted Elbir’s attacks. Wojcicki was switching his punches smoothly from head to body and looked well in control. Over the late rounds Elbir was able to get inside as Wojcicki slowed and was forced to stand and trade more. Elbir continued to march forward and was eating into Wojcicki’s lead but ran out of rounds. Scores 115-113 twice and 116-112 all for Wojcicki/ A deserving winner but he had to fight hard to hold onto that early lead. The 27-year-old Wolfsburg boxer will be looking to step up to challenge for the EBU or European Union title but due to the modest level of his opposition he is down at No 22 in the EU ratings. As an amateur he was German champion in 2009, 2010 and 2011and competed at both the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics. Elbir was in his first fight scheduled for more than eight round but showed good stamina and paced the fight well. Baraou vs. Maess Some are already tagging Baraou as the best prospect in German boxing. He added some substance to that description as he bounced the more experienced Maess off the floor a few time over the first six minutes and Maess corner pulled their man out of the fight at the end of the second round. The 23-year-old Baraou failed to qualify for Rio but in 2017 but won the gold medal at the European Championships beating Scott McCormack and Vincenzo Mangiacapre on the way to the final. He took bronze in the 2017 World Championships losing to Cuban Iglesias in the semi-final. This is the first defence of his German title which he won in his second pro fight. After 19 wins against modest opposition Maess is being found out and this is his second loss in his last three fights. Radovan vs. Wildenhof Radovan gets this one over quickly. In the first he was scoring well with his jab early and just before the bell a right hook to the head sent fellow-German Wildenhof down and he could not beat the count. The 25-year-old from Cologne gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. As an amateur he won German titles at every level from schoolboy to Seniors. Wildenhof was 6-1-1 in his last 8 fights but against mediocre opposition. Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Hironori Mishiro (6-0-1) W DREW 12 Masaru Sueyoshi (18-1-1). There was a Japanese title and an OPBF title on the line here but neither changed hands as these two fought savagely to a draw. The fight started badly for Mishiro when he was put down by a right hook in the first round. He recovered but Sueyoshi continued to score well with his jab and after four rounds was in front with two judges having it 39-37 and the third 40-36, all for Sueyoshi. Over the middle rounds Mishiro had his jab working and was banging home hooks to the body and began to eat into Sueyoshi’s lead. After eight rounds Sueyoshi was still in front on two cards at 78-74 and 77-75 with the third seeing it even at 76-76. Mishiro closed the gap by clearly winning the ninth and tenth only for Sueyoshi outscore him in the eleventh and two judges gave Mishiro the last to make it terribly close. Scores 115-113 Sueyoshi, 115-113 Mishiro and 114-114. Mishiro, a University Graduate and member of the Watanabe gym, holds on to his OPBF title in his first defence and Sueyoshi, the WBO No 7, keeps his Japanese title in his third defence. This was a tough, entertaining fight so hopefully there will be a return. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Feather: Jonathan Oquendo (28-5) W TKO 6 Jose Lopez (20-2-1). Oquendo continues his comeback with stoppage of “Wonder Boy” Lopez. The fight started badly for Oquendo as a right to the head floored him in the opening round. He was not badly hurt and took control of the fight from the second when he split open Lopez’s lip with a punch. Oquendo kept barrelling in forcing Lopez to the ropes and denying him punching room. Lopez was looking like a beaten man by the fourth and Oquendo landed some heavy shots in the fifth. Body punches in the sixth saw Lopez dropping his guard to block the shots but Oquendo switched to the head and with Lopez under fire and not throwing anything back the fight was stopped. Now 19 wins by KO/TKO for the 35-year-old Puerto Rican. He was goiung along well until loses to Wilfredo Vazquez Jr and Abner Mares derailed him. He rebounded with an upset victory over Jhonny Gonzalez in September 2015 and that landed him a shot at the WBA feather title three months later. He lost that fight on points to Argentinian Jesus Cuellar and was then inactive in 2016 and had only one fight in 2017 before returning with a win over Daulis Prescott in August this year. He hopes this victory over Lopez will get him a title shot against WBO champion Masayuki Ito. Neither he nor Lopez are in the ratings but let’s not forget where the WBO is based so a rating and a title shot in 2019 are quite possible. Some of the shine had worn off "Wonder Boy” Lopez in a draw and two losses against very modest opposition. Paisley, Scotland: Light: Ahmed Ibrahim (7-2-1) W TKO 5 Ryan Collins (13-3-2). Bantam: Scott Allan (9-3-1 W PTS 10 Gary Rae (8-1). Ibrahim vs. Collins Good win for Ibrahim as he floors in-form Collins in the fourth and the fight is stopped early in the fifth due to facial damaged suffered by Collins. The bad news for “The Black Assassin” Ibrahim is that he failed to make the weight so the BBB of C Celtic title remains vacant. Ibrahim makes it 4 wins in his last 5 fights with the defeat being against rated Ohara Davies. Collins was also on a good run with five wins and then two technical draws against unbeaten Charlie Flynn for this same Celtic title. Allan vs. Rae Minor upset as Allan takes unanimous verdict over previously unbeaten “Razor” Rae Allan was the busier fighter and outworked Rae. In his left uppercut he had the punch that made the difference. The former Scottish Area champion collects the vacant Celtic title partially living up to his nickname of “Title Taker”. Paisley’s Rae was moving up to ten rounds for the first time. Brooks, CA, USA: Super Middle: Ryan Bourland (16-2) W PTS 10 Jose Hernandez (19-5-1). Light: Joel Diaz Jr (24-1) W KO 1 Miguel Huerta (28-16-1). Bourland vs. Hernandez Bourland gets revenge win over Hernandez / When these two met over eight rounds in February Hernandez took the majority decision. This fight was every bit as close but this time Bourland came out the winner on a majority vote on scores of 97-93 twice and 95-95. That gives the 30-year-olf Bourland nine wins in his last ten fights. Hernandez’s win over Bourland was his seventh in a row but that streak was snapped in June with a loss against Mike Lee. Diaz vs. Huerta Diaz returns to the winning column with first round kayo of Mexican oldie Miguel Huerta. Diaz need a booster after being stopped in two rounds by Regis Prograis in June last year and this victory is a first step on the road to recovery. Huerta, 40, drops to nine losses by KO/TKO. He has now lost 6 of his last 7 fights but the quality of the opposition has been strong. The show featured a very touching salute to the memory of Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker Don Chargin who died last month. Don and his wife Lorraine were an iron fist/velvet glove partnership except that it was Lorraine who was the iron fist. Two great boxing people who I was proud to call friends. St. Petersburg, FL, USA: Light: William Silva (26-2) W TKO 9 Jose Forero (13-8-1). Brazilian Silva halts Panamanian Forero in nine rounds. The tall, 6’1”, Brazilian wins the vacant American Boxing Federation Continental Americas title with his fifteenth victory by KO/TKO. After winning his first 23 fights Silva was outpointed by Felix Verdejo in 2016. He scored a couple of low level wins and was then bounced on the canvas a few times and stopped in six rounds by Teo Lopez in his last fight in July this year. Forero has won only one of his last six fights. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Heavy: Darmani Rock (13-0) W KO 4 Pedro Rodriguez (23-6) Rock gets another win but is not on top form. The 6’5” Philadelphian looked to be carrying too much weight and made a slow start. From the second he began to land heavily to the body of the disgracefully overweight Cuban. Rock ended it in the third dropping Rodriguez with a right to the body and a left hook with Rodriguez going down and being counted out. Eighth win by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old Rock. As an amateur he was Youth Olympic Games and PanAmerican Youth champion and took gold medals at both the National Golden Gloves and US National Championships but failed to get through the US Olympic Trials for Rio. He was 275 ½ lbs here and has to be careful. Not everybody is a Jarrell Miller or Andy Ruiz who carry lots of weight but are still quick. Rodriguez was fat. He started out in 2010 as a cruiser weighing 188lbs but was 56lbs heavier for this fight. October 7 Renteria, Spain: Bantam: Sebastian Perez (10-0-1) W PTS 12 Jacob Barreto (10-2). Local fighter Perez wins both the European Union and Spanish titles with unanimous verdict over Barreto. The Basque fighter proved stronger and paced the fight better. His hard, accurate hooks gave him a definite edge and he came out on top on scores of 118-111, 117-111 and 115-113. The 22-year-old “Whip” will now have to give up one of the titles as he cannot hold a national title and a European title so the Spanish title will probably be vacant soon. Barreto had won his last nine fights but was well beaten here. Fight of the week (Entertainment): Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Johnson was explosive whist it lasted. Honourable mentions to Daniel Roman vs. Gavin McDonnell quantity with quality and Archie Sharp vs. Leon Woodstock a real scarp. Fight of the week (Significance): Naoya Inoue vs. Juan Carlos Payano which must have raised danger flags for the rest of the WBSS bantamweights. Fighter of the Week: Nana Inoue- chilling Punch of the week: Callum Johnson’s left hook that put Artur Beterbiev over was special as was mark Bowen’s left hook that destroyed Horacio Cabral but that one right from Inoue tops them all, Inoue straight right, Bowens left hook to the body Upset of the week: Dillon Carman’s kayo of unbeaten Simon Kean and Fouad El Massoudi stoppage of 19-0 Patrick Szymanski were unexpected as was the victory for Tomas Rojas over Jhonny Gonzalez Watch List: German hope Abass Baraou looks good even after just three fights. By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout) It was another busy weekend of fight action as 3 of the continents best talents took to the ring and neither of them disappointed. We begin at the Yokohama Arena where Naoya Inoue squared off against Juan Carlos Payano in the quarter-finals of the bantamweight World Boxing Super Series. Some had the opinion that Payano might go a few rounds but a single left right combination 70 seconds into the contest and the Dominican was laid out on the canvas giving Inoue his second first round win of 2018. It’s hard to know what other superlatives and adjectives that haven’t already been used to describe the 25-year-old, who continues to wreak havoc in the lower weights. Unfortunately we won’t see Inoue again until 2019 where he will meet the winner of the bout between Emanuel Rodriguez and Jason Moloney in the semi-final but few would bet against the Japanese wrecking machine from picking up the WBSS trophy. The card was shown on Fuji TV in Japan, DAZN in the US and free on the WBSS platforms in other territories including the UK and generated a massive buzz online with Inoue amongst the top trends worldwide on twitter, showing how his stardom continues to increase. The co-main event on this show saw WBC light flyweight titlist Kenshiro make the 4th defense of his belt against forma world champion Milan Melindo in what looked another stern examination for the home man. The first 2 rounds saw Kenshiro used his jab to great effect whilst Melindo had some success with the looping right hand. The champion began to up the pace in round 3 and his quick feet and darting in and out raids were causing the Filipino issues. Kenshiro poured on the pressure, reigning in right hands and body shots and a cut to the challenger only added to his woes. Any further success Melindo did have was quickly snuffed out as Kenshiro toyed with his opponent and the contest was stopped in round 7 due to the cut with Melindo looking like an old fighter by the conclusion. Coupled with his wins over Ganigan Lopez, Pedro Guevara and going back to his victories over Katsunori Nagamine and Kenichi Horikawa, Kenshiro really has built himself a very strong resume and in most people’s eyes is the number 1 light flyweight in the world which is no mean feat given the insane strength in depth at 108 lb. A December 30th return looks likely and it would be great to see the 26-year-old being given a world title defense in Kyoto and there are numerous fabulous fights for him for the foreseeable future. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai made the 3rd defense of his WBC super flyweight crown against Iran Diaz in Thailand. The bout headlined a One Championship card at the Impact Arena giving Srisaket major exposure at home. Not being a fan of MMA or never having viewed a One Championship show before, the whole event feel/crowd reaction was a real eye opener and nothing I’ve ever experienced before whilst watching boxing from Thailand. With the atmosphere at fever pitch and the crowd almost baying for blood Srisaket flew out of the blocks in the opening stanza, ripping home crunching body shots and it looked like we could have a short fight on our hands. To his immense credit Diaz showed a superb chin and the ability to keep taking the numerous punches to the torso from the champion. The Thai got sloppy and neglected his defense and was lucky not to have 2 knockdowns awarded against him in rounds 8 and 9. Having repeatedly hammered away at the body Srisaket tried to target the head in the last few rounds but he had to be content with a wide unanimous point’s verdict against the gritty Mexican challenger. It’s unclear what the next move of the hard hitting southpaw is but a rematch with Juan Francisco Estrada should happen sometime next year and there is also talk of a unification with IBF belt holder Jerwin Ancajas. It would also be great to see Srisaket fight in front of a raucous packed crowd at home once again as it could do wonders for future Thai boxers. Finally we had an unexpected brawl at the hall as Masaru Sueyoshi and Hirinori Mishiro battled to a 12 round split draw with both the Japanese and OPBF super featherweight straps on the line. Given Sueyoshi’s awkward style and Mishiro’s preference to fight at range this had the potential to be a bit of a stinker but after Sueyoshi began brightly Mishiro turned the tables, forcing Sueyoshi into a toe-to-toe scrap leading to a fantastic contest which hopefully will take place again in early 2019. Rising flyweight youngster Junto Nakatani dominated Shun Kosaka over 8 rounds to book himself a shot at the Japanese title next year and he’s certainly someone to keep an eye on going forward. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) By - George Delis (@Delisketo) Heavyweight: -Kyotaro Fujimoto (20-1): WBO #7 / WBC #18 The former K-1 champion debuted in 2011 and has had a successful run in the regional scene, currently holding the OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific Heavyweight belts while riding on a 15 fight winning streak. He defended his championships against Suthat Kalalek (12-10) on September 25. A match-up with Zhilei Zhang (20-0) would make much sense since he’s currently the WBO Oriental champion and he’s also ranked #6 by the WBO. Super Welterweight / Jr Middleweight: -Takeshi Inoue (13-0): IBF #2 / WBO #4 / WBA #13 / WBC #21 The undefeated 4-year veteran is climbing the division incredibly fast, managing to place himself at the top of the WBO/IBF rankings. A former Japanese title holder and now the unified OPBF & WBO Asia Pacific champion, may very well be only a few fights away from his first world title opportunity. Welterweight -Keita Obara (20-3): IBF #6 / WBO #15 The former Japanese/OPBF champion and world title contender, got his revenge on Alvin Lagumbay (10-3), after that shocking KO loss earlier this year, to regain the WBO Asia Pacific Welterweight championship, on August 9. Super Lightweight / Jr Welterweight: -Hiroki Okada (19-0): WBO #3 / WBA #4 / IBF #5 / WBC #10 One of brightest prospects in Japan right now, Okada has never lost a single bout in his entire career. A bona fide knock out artist (13 KOs), he held the Japanese crown for 32 months and defended it 6 times, before winning the WBO Asia Pacific championship from Jason Pagara (41-3) this past December. Okada’s latest victory came on September 14, against Cristian Rafael Coria (27-7), when he made his US debut. -Akihiro Kondo (31-7): IBF #4 Since losing to Sergey Lipinets (14-1) last year, Kondo has won his last 2 fights against the debuting Rikhit Thunritsa and Tatsuya Miyazaki (9-12). Lightweight: -Masayoshi Nakatani (17-0): IBF #5 / WBC #8 / WBO #12 Nakatani defended his OPBF Lightweight title, this past July, for the 10th time. A fight with Zaur Abdullaev (10-0) for the WBC Silver title or with Isa Chaniev (13-1) for the IBF Intercontinental/WBO International titles, would make much sense at this point of his career. -Nihito Arakawa (31-6): WBO #3 Former Japanese, OPBF and reigning WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight champion, Arakawa has been in many big fights through out his 14-year career. At 36, he is still looking for his second world title opportunity. Super Featherweight/ Jr Lightweight: -Masaru Sueyoshi (18-1): WBO #7 The 27 year old is steadily making his mark in Japan. Sueyoshi has been victorious in his last 15 outings and even won the Japanese title on October of 2017. Another successful year and we might see him challenging for a world title by the end of 2019/beginning of 2020. His next confirmed bout is on October 6, against OPBF champion Hironori Mishiro (6-0) for the Japanese & OPBF titles. Featherweight: -Satoshi Shimizu (7-0): IBF #4 / WBC #5 The 2012 Olympics Bronze Medalist made his pro debut on September of 2016 and has since then stopped every single one of his opponent, claiming the OPBF Featherweight crown in just his 4th pro fight. Shimizu successfully defended that belt against Shingo Kawamura (16-4) on August 17, for the third time. Shimizu might be looking for a fight with Gary Russell Jr. (29-1) for the WBC world title in the near future. -Shun Kubo (13-1): WBA #8 The former WBA Super Bantamweight world champion returned this April, after his TKO loss to Daniel Roman in 2017, and won his comeback fight against former OPBF Featherweight champion & world title challenger Hiroshige Osawa (33-5) making a huge impact on his Featherweight debut. -Reiya Abe (18-2): IBF #5 / WBC #20 The young Japanese lion, undefeated in his last 10 bouts, is steadily making his mark in the Featherweight division. Super Bantamweight / Jr Featherweight: -Tomoki Kameda (35-2): WBC #2 / WBO #7 / IBF #12 El Mexicanito has been undefeated since moving up a weight class. He will be facing the current EBU champion Abigail Medina (19-3) for the interim WBC world title, probably this November. -Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3): IBF #3 Iwasa lost his IBF world title to DJ Doheny (20-0) this past August. Whether he tries to reclaim his belt or retire, it’s unknown as of yet. - Shingo Wake (25-5): IBF #4 / WBC #7 The former OPBF champion and world title contender was in a war, this past July, with top ranked boxer Yusaku Kuga (16-3), from which he came out the victor as well as the new Japanese champion. The 12 year veteran has re-established himself at the top of the division as he is aiming for another shot at the big one. Bantamweight: -Takuma Inoue (12-0): WBO #4 / WBC #10 Takuma defeated the reigning OPBF Bantamweight champion Mark John Yap (29-13) via unanimous decision, in a WBC World title eliminator fight, on September 11. He is now set to face the winner of Rau'shee Warren (16-2) vs. Nordine Oubaali (14-0), in 2019. If the fight between Warren and Oubaali doesn’t materialize, then Takuma will go up against undefeated Thai boxer Petch Sor Chitpattana (48-0) for the title, this year. -Hiroaki Teshigawara (17-2): WBO #3 / WBC #18 Teshigawara knocked out former world title contender, Teiru Kinoshita (26-3) in June, to defend his WBO Asia Pacific crown. Recently he decided to move up a weight class and he will face Glenn Suminguit (21-3) for the vacant OPBF Super Bantamweight championship, on October 11. Super Flyweight / Jr Bantamweight: -Kazuto Ioka (23-1): WBA #2 Ioka outclassed the 2-time world title contender and accomplished amateur boxer McWilliams Arroyo (17-4), on September 8 in the States, to win the WBC Silver title. The former 3 division world champion is on a journey to conquer yet again another division and we could be seeing him challenging for a world championship sooner rather than later. -Koki Eto (23-4): WBC #6 / WBO #6 / WBA #7 The former interim WBA Flyweight World champion is currently ranked in the top 10 of the division. No news yet on what’s coming next for him. -Ryuichi Funai (30-7): IBF #3 / WBO #4 / WBC #10 / WBA #11 Funai knocked out Filipino standout and world title contender Warlito Parrenas (26-8), in impressive fashion this past June, to win the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title. It’s rumored that he could be facing Jerwin Ancajas (30-1*) for the IBF Super Flyweight World Championship in the future. -Sho Ishida (26-1): IBF #5 / WBO #5 / WBA #6 / WBC #13 Since losing to the WBA world champion Khalid Yafai (24-0) last year, Ishida has won both of his 2018 fights, against Ratchanon Sawangsoda (12-3) and Richard Claveras (18-5), via KO. Flyweight: -Masayuki Kuroda (30-7): WBC #2 / WBO #3 / IBF #4 The current Japanese Flyweight champion has been on a 6-fight winning streak and has defended his belt 5 times since 2017. Kuroda’s next challenge will be against the IBF Pan Pacific champion and former world title contender Komgrich Nantapech (24-5). The 2 fighters will collide in Thailand, on the 21st of November, in an IBF world title eliminator bout. -Junto Nakatani (16-0): WBC #4 / WBO #11 The unstoppable Japanese prospect has fought thrice in 2018 and has won all of his bouts, 2 of them via KO. His next opponent will be Shun Kosaka (15-4), on October 6, with the winner receiving a shot at the Japanese title next year. -Masahiro Sakamoto (13-1): WBO #4 Sakamoto has been on a 5 fight winning streak, all stoppages, including victories over Ekkawit Songnui (48-6) and Wicha Phulaikhao (60-10). The former WBO Asia Pacific champion will probably be in line for a WBO World title match, against Kosei Tanaka, in 2019. Light Flyweight: -Tetsuya Hisada (32-9): WBA #1 / WBO #3 / WBC #3 / IBF #4 The reigning Japanese Flyweight champion recorded a 4th successful title defense against Koki Ono (12-5) on July 16, thus improving his streak to 11 consecutive victories. Now as the #1 ranked Light Flyweight by the WBA, he is rumored to face Hekkie Budler (32-3) for the gold, probably in 2019. His next appearance will be on November 16. No confirmed opponent as of yet. -Hiroto Kyoguchi (11-0): WBA #2 / WBC #2 / IBF #5 The undefeated IBF Minimumweight World champion has decided to move up a weight class and is already sitting at the top of the division. Kyoguchi’s Light Flyweight debut took place on September 25, against top Indonesian boxer Tibo Monabesa (18-1), which ended with a TKO victory for the Japanese star. Much like with Hisada, a potential clash with Budler in the near future, could be possible. It’s also worth mentioning that the WBC has ordered a title eliminator between Kyoguchi and the reigning WBC International champion Jonathan Taconing (28-3). If this bout goes through, it’s still uncertain. -Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3): WBC #4 / WBA #4 / IBF #8 Despite losing his 2 world title to Budler, Taguchi is still ranked amongst the top Light Flyweights in the world and will, without a doubt, gain another crack at the gold in no time. There are rumors that Taguchi may move up to Flyweight and fight for a world title in December. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet though. -Reiya Konishi (16-1): WBA #5 / WBO #6 / IBF #10 / WBC #12 After losing a decision to Carlos Canizales (21-0), for the WBA world title, earlier this year, Konishi came back in July and knocked out Orlie Silvestre (11-4) to become the new WBO Asia Pacific champion. -Ryuji Hara (23-2): WBO #1 Hara has been the #1 ranked Light Flyweight by the WBO since January, despite having only competed once in this division against the debuting Seneey Worachina. Hara was set to face Angel Acosta for the world title on April 7 but an injury prevented him from stepping into the ring. Minimumweight: -Tsubasa Koura (14-0): WBC #3 / IBF #4 / WBA #9 / WBO #11 At only 23 years of age, Koura has already amassed 14 career wins, including 9 KOs, as well as the OPBF Minimumweight championship. He successfully defended his title, for the 3rd time, against Daiki Tomita (12-1) on September 29. A WBC world title match with Chayaphon Moonsri (51-0) in 2019 seems more likely at this point, especially after Moonsri’s recent request to fight in Japan. Koura is set to face Simphiwe Khonco (19-5) in a WBC title eliminator bout (date TBA). -Tatsuya Fukuhara (21-6): WBC #6 / IBF #13 Fukuhara has been victorious in both of his 2018 fights but he is going to need a few more wins if he wants challenge Chayaphon Moonsri again. -Shin Ono (23-9): WBO #6 / IBF #11 / WBA #12 / WBC #14 Ono made his first successful Japanese title defense against former world title contender Riku Kano (13-4) on August 24. By Marcus Bellinger (@marcusknockout) The last week has been a hectic one across Asia with major world title clashes, regional bouts and fighters looking to move onto bigger things whilst making a statement. The only place to start is in Nagoya where we got easily one of the best fights of the year and an all Japanese world title clash to savour as Sho Kimura defended his WBO flyweight strap against mandatory challenger Kosei Tanaka. Coming in there were questions about Tanaka’s ability to cope with the brute strength and amazing stamina of Kimura whilst the defending champion had to try to get to grips with the speed of the challenger. There was no scouting mission from either man as we had a war from the outset with Tanaka seemingly hurting Kimura a couple of times in the first quarter. Kimura was never going to wilt so easily and he managed to drag Tanaka into a tussle at close quarters. Eventually Tanaka boxed and moved effectively but his insatiable lust for a tear up kicked in as he hunted for the knockout which lead to a pulsating last 2 rounds. Tanaka won the majority verdict and showed a bit of everything, the ability to box which he’s always had and also the grit and chin to hold his own in the trenches against a big strong flyweight. With the win Tanaka became a 3-weight world champion in just 12 fights, equalling the feat of Vasyl Lomachenko and whilst this is highly impressive, the 23-year-old really needs to cement his spot at 112 lb and all the unifications are makeable. As for Kimura, a good rest is needed after just a couple of month’s gap between the contests with Froilan Saludar and Tanaka but he can certainly come again and would present real headaches for any of the other flyweight belt holders. Due to struggles in making the 105 lb limit Hiroto Kyoguchi vacated his IBF crown and moved up to the loaded light flyweight division and took on unbeaten Tibo Monabesa. It looked an intriguing contest on paper but the reality was that Kyoguchi ploughed his way through the Indonesian, flooring him 3 times on the way to a 4th round stoppage. Kyoguchi’s next bout is up in the air but the aim is a world title tilt almost certainly to be on a Watanabe show on New Year’s Eve with some salivating possibilities. Tsubasa Koura has been in the strawweight mix for the last year or so and is now ready to challenge for a world title and would have a great chance against any of the 105 lb titlists. The 23-year-old displayed his power against Jaysever Abcede, the stamina to go 12 rounds against a quality operator like Masataka Taniguchi and in his 3rd OPBF defense he showed the ability to outbox the undefeated Daiki Tomita. Koura’s next move isn’t known as yet and he isn’t affiliated with any of the big Japanese TV channels so all options are open for him. Over in California Jerwin Ancajas made the 6th defense of his IBF super flyweight strap but really failed to impress as he was held to a split draw by unheralded Mexican Alejandro Santiago Barrios. The challenger proved to be better than his record suggested but Ancajas should be dealing a lot better with these kind of opponents if he’s to mix it with the rest of the top fighters at 115 lbs. The Filipino southpaw is headed out to Thailand to view WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai’s 3rd defense against Iran Diaz and there is talk of a possible unification but Ancajas would be a significant underdog against the powerful Thai. The press in the Philippines have also suggested a bout with Japan’s Ryuichi Funai could be next but whoever his next foe is it’s clear that Ancajas needs to re-establish the buzz that he had coming into 2018. Finally in Quezon City on a card that was broadcast by ESPN5 4 talented Filipinos scored straight forward wins over overmatched Tanzanian visitors. It was great to see forma WBO bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales return after a 17 month absence as he blasted out Goodluck Mrema in the opening round and let’s just hope he can be nice and active as his inactivity have possibly contributed to his struggles making weight which saw him lose his world title on the scales. Another man who prevailed in the opening round was Reymart Gaballo with Julias Kisarawe being no match at all and a bout with Liborio Solis has been muted for November and this would really tell us how good Gaballo really is. Dave and Carlo Penalosa picked up 2nd and 3rd round knockouts respectively and should be moved up in levels soon. ESPN5’s introduction into boxing has been invaluable in giving exposure to Pinoy boxers and hopefully as the interest continues to grow we see more competitive matchups on these shows to test the many talented pugilists from the Philippines. (Image courtesy of boxmob.jp) |
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