We're back again with the latest in our look at commercials featuring Asian boxers and we again have a random selection ranging from food products to female clothing to a mobile phone operator, with a talking dog! Guts Ishimatsu - Softbank We need to start this by stating that we love Guts Ishimatsu and think adverts with him are consistently good. This one however is a little bit different to most with him involved. You won't see Guts here, but he is the man behind the talking dog! Kai, the dog in question, played the role of Otosan the star of a series of adverts for Japanese Mobile phone operator Softbank. The character, known as "Otosan", had various people doing the voice, including the legendary former Japanese boxer. The adverts were hugely popular with Japanese audiences saw the dog becoming a genuine star. Yoko Gushiken - SEC After hearing one of the most recognisable voices in Japanese boxing in one advert we now go to the most recognisable haircut in the country as we feature a commercial with Yoko Gushiken. The afro sporting Light Flyweight legend was in a number of adverts including this one for SEC, an elevator company in Japan. The advert was released in 2014 and is a nice bright, colourful one that is pretty memorable. A solid advert even if Gushiken's role in it is rather minor. Daisuke Naito - Wakasaimo Honpo In 2009 Japanese Flyweight Daisuke Naito was the WBC world champion and had seen his profile hitting massive heights thanks to his work with TBS and his 2007 win over Daiki Kameda. Due to his popularity he featured in a number of adverts, including this one for confectionery company Wakasaimo Honpo. The advert is one of the rare ones that used a then active professional boxer to do more than just have them boxing, and instead used Naito's popularity outside of the sport to help enhance the products reach and profile. Manny Pacquiao - Wonderful Pistachios Filipino star Manny Pacquiao has been in an incredible amount of adverts. Some are good, some are awful, Some are memorable, and some are just fun. This one is one of the more fun and memorable ones as we see Pacquiao busting a speed ball and sending Pistachio nuts everywhere. This is simple but very effective and we can only assume looked awesome if there was ever a 3-D version released, with the nuts firing at your face. One of the more interesting adverts with the "Pacman" involved. Tomomi Takano - Christian Skinny We started with a series regular and we'll end with another as we finish up with Japanese female star Tomomi Takano advertising for Christian Skinny, from Christian Co, which Takano has done a number of adverts for. The advert was part of a promotional where a discount was applied for buying several units. The advert does nothing special, though we do like the jingle. Simple but effective. Although simple the advert works to the strengths of the performance, with Takano having a great figure and long legs to really make the product look great here.
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By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Emanuele Navarrete scores two knockdowns but in the end needs a big last round to take the decision over Ruben Villa in their fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title. -Robin Krasniqi wins the interim WBA and IBO light heavyweight titles with kayo of Dominic Boesel -David Lemieux returns to the ring with a stoppage of Francy Ntetu and heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov blows away Dillon Carmen on the same show in Canada. -Matteo Signani retains the European middleweight title with dramatic stoppage of Maxime Beaussire -Liam Williams halts Andrew Robinson to keep on track for a shot at a version of the world middleweight title next year -Charles Conwell, Denys Berinchyk and Peter Kadiru all score wins World Title/Major Shows 9 October Las Vegas, NV, USA: Feather: Emanuel Navarrete (33-1) W PTS 12 Ruben Villa (18-1). Middle: Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (9-0) W KO 2 Gonzalo Gaston Coria (16-4).Middle: Lorenzo Simpson (9-0) W PTS 8 Sanny Duversonne (11-0-2). Super Light: Elvis Rodriguez (10-0-1 Cameron Krael (17-17-3). Navarrete vs. Villa Navarrete wins the vacant WBO title but after scoring two early knockdowns a great comeback by Villa meant that the 25-year-iold Mexican needed to win the last round to win the fight Round 1 Southpaw Villa was working his jab early with Navarrete just pushing out punches with his languid style. Villa was busier and quicker and looked confident until an almost casual but well hidden left hook from Navarrete that came up inside Villa’s right toppled him onto his backside. Villa was up at four and when the action resumed had no trouble evading the crude efforts of Navarrete to land another punch. Score: 10-8 Navarrete Round 2 Navarrete changed to southpaw in the second and connected with a long left. Villa was boxing carefully not committing himself. Navarrete switched back to orthodox and was connecting with long rights. Villa was confident enough by the end of round to launch some attacks of his own but Navarrete was dangerous with big swinging punches. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 20-17 Round 3 Villa boxed cleverly in the third. He was circling Navarrete stabbing him with right jabs and occasionally stepping in to connect with a left. Navarrete was looking crude as he missed wildly at times leaving himself open to counters and was frustrated by Villa’s quick footwork. Score: 10-9 Villa Navarrete 29-27 Round 4 Navarrete stepped up his pace in the fourth trying to cut off the ring. He was still not quick enough but there was danger in every punch he threw. Villa made the mistake of standing and trading punches with Navarrete and as Villa threw a left a solid left hook to the head from Navarrete arrived first which saw Villa go down on one knee. Villa was up immediately but more shaken than by the first knockdown. However he held and moved to the safety of the bell. Score: 10-8 Navarrete Navarrete 39-35 Official Scores: Judge Tim Cheatham 38-36 Navarrete, Judge Max DeLuca 39-35 Navarrete, Judge Patricia Morse Jarman 39-35 Navarrete Round 5 Navarrete chased Villa throughout the round. He was missing lots but also landing some solid hooks from both hands and Villas did well to absorb a heavy right. Villa was moving and jabbing but there was no power in his punches and he was busy keeping out of trouble. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 49-44 Round 6 This was the closest round so far. Villa was into the groove with his jab and again his constant movement was frustrating Navarrete. Gradually through the round Navarrete began to get closer and was scoring with the better punches late to take the round. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 59-53 Round 7 Good boxing from Villa. He was threading jabs through the porous defence of Navarrete and looked in control until a punch from Villa landed on the back of Navarrete’s head. An enraged Navarrete drove forward throwing punches with a right to the side of the rocking Villa. Villa waited out the storm and then took the fight to Navarrete and outscored him. Score: 10-9 Villa Navarrete 68-63 Round 8 A classy round from Villa. Plenty of movement constantly changing direction leaving Navarrete swishing air then darting in with two or three quick punches and out. Again Navarrete became frustrated and was leaving gaps as he lunged forward and threw wild punches and Villa took advantage of those gaps to bang home counters. Score: 1O-9 Villa Navarrete 77-73 Official Scores: Judge Tim Cheatham 76-74 Navarrete, Judge Max DeLuca 77-73 Navarrete, Judge Patricia Morse Jarman 77-73 Navarrete Round 9 Navarrete tried to up his pace in the ninth but just could not pin down the speedy Villa who was continually finding his way past Navarrete’s guard and easily dodging Navarrete’s telegraphed swings. Navarrete tried to finish the round strongly but it was Villa coming forward and landing Score: 10-9 Villa Navarrete 86-83 Round 10 Now Villa’s confidence was way up. He was flitting around Navarrete piercing his guard with jabs and then choosing his moment to stand and punch with Navarette before dancing away from Navarrete’s clumsy swings. Score: 10-9 Villa Navarrete 95-93 Round 11 Excellent boxing from Villa and now he was willing on occasion to take the fight to Navarrete. He was also making Navarrete pay with counters every time the Mexican lunged forward leaving an opening and he ended the round by sending Navarrete to the ropes with a left. Score: 10-9 Villa Tied 94-93 Round 12 Navarrete needed this round and he won it clearly. Villa fought as though all he had to do was survive to emerge the winner so he never threw enough punches. Navarrete hunted him down for the full three minutes connecting with hooks from both hands as Villa scampered around the ring and it was clearly Navarrete’s round. Score: 10-9 Navarrete Navarrete 114-112 Official Scores: Judge Tim Cheatham 114-112 Navarrete, Judge Max DeLuca 114-112 Navarrete, Judge Patricia Morse Jarman 115-111 Navarrete Navarrete becomes a two division champion and opens the door to some tasty fights at featherweight against other champions Josh Warrington, Leo Santa Cruz and Gary Russell but he nearly threw this one away. He does everything wrong and his footwork is almost comical but his power has usually been enough to see him through. Villa was a big outsider in the betting but he fought back magnificently to claw back the points from the two knockdowns and only poor tactics in the last round cost him an unlikely victory. Alimkhanuly vs. Coria I am starting to wonder if the gyms are empty in Kazakhstan because every time you turn around there is another top level Kazak fighter knocking people over. Alimkhanuly is certainly top level and his knockout of Coria was frightening. He was hunting down Coria in the first of this clash of southpaw and floored him with a counter straight left. It wasn’t a heavy knockdown and Coria was able get up and survive a few other hefty shots in the round. In the second Coria walked onto a right hook that staggered him. He boxed his way out of trouble and seemed to be settling to do some good work when a left hook sent him tottering back. Alimkhanuly landed a couple of hook and then a thunderbolt of a left that sent Coria flying to the canvas face down half out under the bottom rope. The referee started to count and then saw it was pointless and waived the fight off so that Coria could get some attention. The 27-year-old Kazak wins the WBO Global title (whatever that means). He has yet to meet a name fighter but has impressed in knocking out both 27-3-3 Stuart McLellan and Albert Onolunose. He is already rated WBO 4/WBC 9/IBF 11 (9)/WBA 15. His amateur achievements include gold medals at the World Championships, the Asian Championships the Asian Games and the Kazak Championships. First inside the distance loss for Coria but he looked fragile every time Alimkhanuly landed a punch. Simpson vs. Duversonne Simpson skills too good for a competitive but outboxed Duversonne. Some nice, tidy boxing from both in the first with Simpson’s hand speed just giving him the edge. Duversonne was waiting too long to throw his punches in the second and Simpson was more active connecting with right hooks to the head and lefts to the body. Duversonne pressed hard in the third and fourth but just could not find the target as Simpson continued to work to the body and displayed some classy defensive moves. Simpson had the fifth well in hand until just before the bell a right from Duversonne knocked him off balance and he put a glove on the canvas. Simpson was more embarrassed than hurt and the bell went as the count was completed. He outboxed Duversonne over the sixth and just had the edge in a competitive seventh as Duversonne attacked hard. Simpson stood and punched with Duversonne early in the eight and then went back to his boxing on his way to victory. Scores 78-73 twice and 79073 all for Simpson. The 2o-year-old “Truck” Simpson carries with him some outstanding achievements as an amateur winning the US Silver Gloves a record equalling six times-one more than Oscar De La Hoya managed. He is an example of boxing being a youngster’s saviour. Simpson comes from Park Heights one of the most dangerous and deprived areas of Baltimore. His grandfather is in prison and his father was murdered when Simpson was just four. Sanny Duversonne is also another man with a past finding his way thanks to boxing having spent three years in prison in Florida for burglary. He had scored ten straight wins before this loss. Rodriguez vs. Krael Dominican southpaw Rodriguez racks up another quick win. Neither fighter committed himself to offence in the first with Rodriguez the more active with his right jab. After working patiently with his jab early in the second Rodriguez finally began to put together some combinations over the closing minute and immediately Krael looked uncomfortable as he had to absorb some hefty hooks to the body and was staggered by a right to the head. In the third a clubbing right to the side of the head sent Krael down on his rump. He made it to a kneeling position but no further and was counted out. All of Rodriguez’s wins have come inside the distance and the draw is a technical one. He looks ready to move up to tougher tests. Only the second inside the distance loss for Krael. 10 October Magdeburg, Germany: Light Heavy: Robin Krasniqi (51-6) W KO 3 Dominic Boesel (30-2). Heavy: Peter Kadiru (10-0) W PTS 10 Roman Gorst (6-1). Cruiser: Roman Fress (11-0) W TKO 2 Daniel Venci (11-7). Light: Nenad Stancic (8-0) W PTS 8 Andrea Sito (5-1-3).Middle: Anatoli Muratov (22-2-1) DREW 8 Siarhei Huliakevich (43-13-2). Super Welter: Edison Zani (6-0) W TKO 2 Bronislav Kubin (20-26-2). Krasniqi vs. Boesel Krasniqi ignores the odds and gets a career saving win as he kayos Boesel in the third round. The first two rounds were fairly even Boesel looked to have just edged the first and Krasniqi evened things up by shading the second. In the third Boesel turned up his aggression pressurising Krasniqi but he went down from a hard Krasniqi right hook. It was a punch but the referee missed it and treated it as a slip denying Boesel the recovery time an eight count might have given him. Krasniqi knew his punch had shaken Boesel badly and he stormed into Boesel landing two heavy rights to the head which sent Boesel down on his back and after the referee started to count he quickly realised Boesel was not getting up and ended the fight. Huge win for the Kosovon-born 33-year-old Krasniqi. He wins both the WBA interim and IBO titles in his third shot at a world title. He had lost to Nathan Cleverly and Juergen Braehmer in earlier title challenges. Winning these titles now could lead to some career best pay days for Krasniqi but he confirmed there is a return clause in the contract and Boesel has said he will enforce it. Big blow for Boesel who apart from losing his two titles will also lose his No 1 ranking with the WBA. He had rebuilt steadily after an eleventh round stoppage loss to Karo Murat for the European title in 2017 with wins over Enrico Koelling and Sven Fornling. Kadiru vs. Gorst Kadiru moves up to ten rounds for the first time and wins the German title with convincing points victory over unbeaten Gorst. Kadiru used his height and longer reach to take control of the centre of the ring and box on the outside. Kadiru controlled the action over the first three rounds and it was the fourth before Gorst finally made some headway but even then the quicker Kadiru outscored him and had no trouble holding off Gorst’s occasional counter attacks. There were too many clinches for it to be an exciting scrap. Kadiru found the target a few time with his uppercuts and scored with good rights late in the fight but never really had Gorst in any kind of trouble and had to settle for a victory on points. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 for Kadiru. The 23-year-old from Hamburg is progressing steadily but not spectacularly. Gorst was making the first defence of the national title and Kadiru was a big step up from the quality of his previous opposition. Fress vs. Venci Fress massacres Czech oldie Venci. Fress dropped Venci twice in the first round and twice more in the second and the fight was stopped. The 6’3”-yet another Kazak-born fighter- was defending the German International title and registers win No 6 by KO/TKO. He is a former German Under-17 and Under-21 champion and competed for Germany at the World Youth and World Senior championships. The 41-year-old Vance was having only his second fight since March 2018. Stancic vs. Sito Stancic wins the vacant WBC Youth title with victory over Sito. Stancic boxed well through the first three rounds then floored Sito in the fourth. He continued to outscore Sito over the second half of the fight before dropping Sito again in the last but could not put the Italian away. Scores 80-70 twice and 99-91 for 21-year-old Stancic. He is a former German Youth champion and winner of bronze a medal at the German championships in both 2015 and 2016. First eight round fight for both fighters and first fight outside Italy for Sito Muratov vs. Huliakevich After a promising start Muratov fades and only gets a split draw against seasoned veteran Huliakevich. In his first fight for thirteen months Muratov looked to be on his way to victory after taking the first two rounds and dropping Huliakevich with a right in the third. Huliakevich didn’t crumble but fought back hard over the remainder of the fight and clawed back Muratov’s early edge to get a deserved draw. Scores 77-75 Muratov, 76-75 Huliakevich and 76-76. Kazak-born Muratov had scored 14 wins on the bounce before his spell of inactivity. Belarusian Huliakevich, 39, is now 1-10-1 in recent outings and has been a pro for 17 years. Zani vs. Kubin Zani controlled this one from bell to stoppage. His pressure tactics saw the experienced Kubin constantly stuck against the ropes. Two knockdowns scored by Zani in the second brought the referee’s intervention. Southpaw Zani, 23, was moving up to six rounds for the first time. Albanian Zani whose idol is Roy Jones was a star performer for Hamburg Giants in the Bundesliga, He left Albania in 2014 to escape a blood feud involving his family. He is not yet a naturalised German citizen although he was German Amateur champion in 2016. Fourteenth inside the distance loss for Kubin. 7 October Uncasville, CT, USA: Super Welter: Charles Conwell (13-0) W KO 9 Wendy Toussaint (12-1). Welter: Janelson Figueroa (16-0) W TKO 1 Nicklaus Flaz (9-2). Welter: Brandun Lee (20-0) W TKO 1 Jimmy Williams (16-4-2,1ND). Conwell vs. Toussaint Conwell breaks down and finally wins on a count out over Toussaint. From the start Conwell was taking the fight to the taller Toussaint coming forward in a crouch and behind a high guard leaving Toussaint with not much of a target. Toussaint’s jab was not strong enough to deter Conwell so Conwell was working to the body with hooks from both hands. Toussaint kept throwing counters but was never able to get on the front foot enough. He was being hurt by vicious left hooks to the body from Conwell and was fighting without conviction. Conwell really didn’t alter his pace much and it was a well executed methodical breakdown of Toussaint. For a spell over the middle rounds Toussaint moved well and jabbed well but was under pressure all the time and Conwell was winning the rounds. Despite injuring his right in the seventh Conwell ended it in the ninth. Toussaint was looking confident and coming forward more. There were danger signs in a couple of uppercuts from Conwell and then he connected with a sickening right uppercut that had Toussaint backing away and then going down on one knee. He stayed there on one knee and was counted out. Tenth victory by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old from Cleveland and the second defence of his USBA title. In the amateurs he won the National Golden Gloves and after losing is first bout in the US Olympic Trials he fought back to win the Trials and also won the Americas Trials but lost to India’s Vikas Krishan in the preliminary rounds in Rio. He is currently No 9 with the IBF. Haitian Toussaint was in his first ten round fight and whilst he showed some good skills lacked the punch to hold off Conwell. Figueroa vs. Flaz Impressive performance from Figueroa (Bocachica) as he blows away Puerto Rican Flaz inside a round. Figueroa dropped Flaz early but it was not a heavy knockdown. The next one most certainly was as a thunderous right cross buckled Falz’s legs before a left hook sent Flaz crashing to the floor propped up against the ropes. He managed to beat the count but looked unsteady. When the action resumed Figueroa connected with three left hooks and a right and as Flaz started to go down the referee stepped in and waived the fight over. The 21-year-old is Detroit born with Puerto Rican parents. He has won eleven by KO/TKO and has been very much under the radar until now. His father has posted a video of Figueroa flooring a 15-year-old Teo Lopez with a right cross and Figueroa also beat kayo specialist Brandun Lee (see below) in the amateurs. Flaz had won his last four fights. Lee vs. Williams Williams looked a reasonable test against “Kayo Kid” Lee but was blasted out in just 94 seconds. Lee came out firing and drove Williams to the ropes and bombarded him with punches. Williams sagged to where he was sitting on the middle rope and as it was holding him up he was given a count. After the count a fearsome right from Lee put him down on his back. Somehow Williams made it to his feet at four and he convinced the referee he was capable of continuing. A pile-driver of an overhand right from Lee then dropped him on his back suspended over the ropes with his upper body hanging half outside the ring and the referee just waived the fight off. Lee, 21, has impressive statistics with his total of first round wins already standing at twelve and having won his last eleven fights inside the distance. He is a four-time US National Junior champion. The only other fighter to have beaten Williams inside the distance is WBA title challenger Abel Ramos Mandaue City, Philippines: Light Fly: Christian Araneta (18-1) W PTS 10 Richard Rosales (14-13-2). Feather: Peter Apolinar (12-1) W PTS 10 Jetro Pabustan (30-8-6). Light Fly: Mark Vicelles (12-0-1) W TKO 4 Junuel Lacar (8-6-3). Araneta vs. Rosales Prospect Araneta returns to action and returns to the winning column with wide points victory over experienced Rosales. Southpaw Araneta floored Rosales in the fifth and sixth on the way to taking the decision on scores of 99-89 twice and 100-88. The 25-year-old from Cebu City suffered his first loss in September last year on a fourth round retirement against 20-1 Daniel Valladares. No disgrace there as in February this year Valladares fought a technical draw with Pedro Taduran for the IBF minimumweight title. Rosales has tasted defeat in 7 of his last 8 fights but all against good level opponents. Apolinar vs. Pabustan Apolinar extends his winning run to seven as he outpoints southpaw Pabustan, Scores 98-92 twice and a closer 96-94. He had won 6 of his last 7 inside the distance so this gave him some useful ring time. Pabustan, 30, lost on a technical decision in a challenge to Pungluang for the WBO bantam title in 2017. Vicelles vs. Lacar “Thunder” Vicelles lived up to his nickname as he overpowered Lacar flooring him in the second, third and finally the fourth round. With Lacar under pressure and not punching back the fight was stopped. Southpaw Vicelles, 24, gets his sixth inside the distance win. Lacar was 1-4-2 going in and this is loss No 4 by KO/TKO. 8 October Lesniki, Ukraine: Light: Denys Berinchyk (14-0) W RTD 7 Viorel Simion (22-4). Super Middle: Maksym Bursak (37-6-2) W PTS 8 Dmytro Semernin (14-7-1). Welter: Mishiko Beseli (21-1) W PTS 8 Vasyl Kurasov (12-6). Berinchyk vs. Simion There is no time for boredom when Baranchyk fights in fact even before the first bell. A master of dramatic entrances this time Berinchyk flew down by wire from the roof to the centre of the ring on a chairlift. Nothing boring in the ring either as he outclasses experienced Simion and forces an eighth round retirement by the Romanian. Berinchyk’s speedy movement and fast hands were just too much for Simion. Southpaw Berinchyk was constantly changing direction and angles for his punches. He was stepping past Simion then connecting with a series of hooks and then bobbing and weaving around Simion’s punches and peppering him with jabs and rattling him with hooks from both hands. Simion stuck to his task but was hardly ever able to land a clean punch on Berinchyk. In the sixth Berinchyk drove Simion to the ropes with a series of punches and Simion dropped to his haunches. He made it to his feet just as the bell rang. Unusually the referee penalised Simion a point when his corner took too long to fix a loose glove tape but it made no difference. Berinchyk pounded on Simion until a succession of hard head shots saw Simion go down again. Simion beat the count and there was only time for him to be rocked by a strong combination before the bell went and Simion retired. Fourth defence of the WBO International title for the 32-year-old Ukrainian but just 14 fights in five year as a pro, only one minor appearance outside Ukraine and only moderate level opposition has resulted in a much lower profile than his ability deserves. He is No 4 with the WBO and I would give him a good chance against any other lightweight except Vasyl Lomachenko, Teo Lopez and Gervonta Davis but time is running out for him. As an amateur he won silver medals at the world championships and the London Olympics and beat a number of guys who are top professionals now. Simion, 38< was also a top amateur competing at the 2004 Olympics. He made a good start as a pro going 21-1 before a points loss against Scott Quigg in 2017 and a one round destruction by Shakur Stevenson in 2018 ended his ambitions and he looked an old man here Bursak vs. Semernin Former undefeated European champion Bursak keeps his very very faint chance of another world title shot alive as he outpoints Semernin. Bursak pressured Semernin for most of the fight and was in control. Tall southpaw Semernin fired back hard enough to make Bursak work for the whole eight rounds but without ever being threatening. Scores 79-73 twice and 79-74 for Bursak. The Kiev fighter has lost to Gilberto Ramirez for the WBO super middle title and Zac Dunn for the IBO title but he boosted his standing in a thrilling battle with David Lemieux in December which saw both fighters on the floor with Lemieux winning a split decision. Beseli vs. Kurasov Despite his impressive record Georgian-born Beseli is no world beater and he struggled here to get past young Ukrainian Kurasov. Scores 78-74 and 77-76 for Beseli and 77-75 for Kurasov. Beseli went 18-0 at the start of his career before losing on a sixth round stoppage against Dominican Kelvin Dotel and it has been strictly low level fights since then. Kurasov has now lost 5 of his last 7 fights. Tokyo, Japan: Super Bantam: Hiroaki Teshigawara (22-2-2) W TKO 6 Shingo Kawamura (16-6-4). Teshigawara a class above Kawamura and halts him in six rounds. Boxing coolly Teshigawara found the range early with lead rights and was getting in landing his punches and getting out before Kawamura could fashion any good counters. After four rounds all three score cards read 40-36 for Teshigawara. He continued to dominate the action in the fifth and floored Kawamura with a volley of punches in the sixth. Kawamura got up but was taking punishment when the referee pulled Teshigawara off to save him. Second defence of his OPBF title for Teshigawara who has scored nine inside the distance victories in his last ten fights. He is No 3 with the IBF but with positions 1 and 2 vacant he is their highest rated fighter but can’t go to No 1 or 2 because he has not beaten a rated fighter. Second shot at the OPBF title for Kawamura who was 0-2-3 before this fight. 9 October Roosdaal, Belgium: Super Light: Mohamed El Marcouchi (25-2) W PTS 6 Angelo Turco (8-17-2). With El Marcouchi having height and reach plus hand speed and quicker movement this fight was only going to end with El Marcouchi the winner with the only question being whether Turco could stay the distance. El Marcouchi used his jab to put Turco on the back foot from the start and the centre of the ring was a place Turco rarely visited. El Marcouchi is not a big puncher but he found plenty of gaps for straight rights and worked the body well with Turco occasionally darting forward trying to get close enough to cause El Marcouchi problems. El Marcouchi stepped up his work rate over the fourth and fifth as Turco tired but Turco found something left in the tank and they traded punches throughout the sixth. This was original to be an eight round fight but was then reduced to six with El Marcouchi winning every round. The 32-year-old Miami-based Belgian suffered his only loss when he was disqualified against Mexican Samuel Gonzalez in December 2018 and has now rebounded with five wins. At 5’5 ½” Turco is used to being the smaller man. With this loss he is now 0-11-2 in his last 13 fights. Dubai, UAE: Light: Maxi Hughes (22-5-2) W PTS 10 Viktor Kotochigov (12-1). Super Light: Hovhannes Bachikov (1-0) W PTS 8 Samuel Gonzalez (22-7). Hughes vs. Kotochigov Second good win in a row for Hughes as he takes unanimous verdict over unbeaten Kazak Kotochigov and relieves Kotochigov of the prestigious WBC International title. A confident Kotochigov was coming forward taking the fight to Hughes but the more experienced southpaw stayed cool and moved well and countered well. Hughes changed tactics in the second bringing the fight to Kotochigov staggering him with a straight left and then scoring repeatedly with more lefts to head and body. Hughes had a big third dropping Kotochigov heavily with a left hook and a stoppage looked close as he drove Kotochigov along the ropes showering him with hooks until the bell. Hughes had the better of the exchanges in the fourth but Kotochigov had steadied himself and was back in the fight. The fifth was close although Hughes was still landing the harder punches and Kotochigov had a swelling under his left eye. From the sixth Kotochigov upped his pace and put more pressure on Hughes and by the seventh he was slowly making inroads into the substantial lead Hughes had built over the first half of the fight. Hughes was countering well and was more accurate with his punches although holding more and he did enough to maintain his early advantage despite a strong finish from Kotochigov. Scores 97-92, 96-93 and 95-94 for Hughes. This victory and his upset win in August over Jono Carroll could see Hughes replacing Kotochigov in the WBC ratings. Kotochigov fought hard but his limitations were evident as he didn’t have the skill or experience to match Hughes. Bachikov vs. Gonzalez This fight for Bachikov marks the launching of another elite level amateur into the professional ranks. The Armenian was given an stern test for his professional baptism as Gonzalez has a good chin and plenty of experience as well as occasionally overturning the form book. Bachikov looked strong and showed a nice variety of punches but did not look anything very special as he ground out his victory. Scores 80-72 from the three judges for Bachikov. He had ten years of moderate amateur success before breaking through by winning gold medals at the 2017 European Championships and the 2019 European Games. Additionally he twice collecting bronze medals at the World championships and representing Armenia at the 2016 Olympics. Gonzalez had won 7 of his last 8 fights. Kissimmee, FL, USA: Super Bantam: Saul Sanchez (14-1) W TKO 1 Daniel Lozano (15-10-1). Sanchez steam rollers a badly faded Lozano with three knockdowns in the opening round. Sanchez blasted Lozano with a series of heavy hooks and a body shot sent Lozano back into a corner and he dropped to one knee. After the count Sanchez again connected with some savage punches with Lozano again forced to take a knee. A couple of hard rights to the head saw Lozano dip with his knee clearly touching the canvas but the referee decided it was not a knockdown which cost Lozano any chance of a recovery as Sanchez pounded him with punches until he again dropped to a knee and the fight was stopped. Californian Sanchez, 23, collects the vacant WBA Fedecentro title with his eighth inside the distance finish. Lozano looked close to a world title fight when he beat Jonathan Vidal in 2014 but a loss to David Carmona blew that chance. His recent form is 0-6-1 and although the opposition has been tough he is only headed in one direction. 10 October Shawinigan, Canada: Heavy: Arslanbek Makhmudov (11-0) W TKO 1 Dillon Carman (14-6). Super Middle: David Lemieux (42-4) W KO 5 Francy Ntetu (17-4). Super Middle: Lexson Mathieu (9-0) W KO 1 Tim Cronin (12-5-2). Makhmudov vs. Carmen With Makhmudov having won all of his fights inside the distance and Carmen having suffered five losses by KO/TKO the only question here was how long Carmen would last. How about 27 seconds! As Makhmudov came forward Carmen landed a glancing right to the head but was then forced back to the ropes. Makhmudov landed a light jab and then a stiffer half jab/half hook that snapped Carmen’s head back and Carmen went down. He started to rise and then dropped to a knee. When did get up he put his gloves on the referee to steady himself and then stood with his head bowed. The referee had a good look at him and decided to stop the fight at which point Carmen came to life and started protesting vigorously but the fight was over. The 31-year-old 6’ 5 ½” Montreal-based “Russian Lion” was making the second defence of the NABF title. He gets his eighth first round win but is currently unrated due to the lack of quality of his victims. Third inside the distance defeat in a row for former Canadian champion Carmen having been knocked out by Evgeny Romanov in 113 seconds and stopped by Simon Kean in three rounds. Makhumudov’s jab will not be one of the candidates for “Punch of the Week” Lemieux vs. Ntetu In a patchy performance Lemieux stops Ntetu in the fifth round. Lemieux was his normal fierce self in the first two rounds getting past the longer reach of Ntetu and forcing him to the ropes where he drove straight rights to the head through the guard of Ntetu and connected with solid body punches. Ntetu did a bit better in the third not spending so long on the ropes and finding time to land some counters of his own. Lemieux was raging again in the forth with Ntetu again having problems getting away from the ropes. Lemieux punished him with series of punches to head and body. Later in the round he rocked Ntetu with a couple of left hooks driving Ntetu along the ropes. As Lemieux followed him he walked onto a hard right counter that knocked him down. It was clearly a punch but the referee missed it and treated it as a slip. A right to the head in the fifth had Ntetu sliding along the ropes and down. He got to his feet but stayed against the ropes and Lemieux landed a left hook and a right that sent Ntetu down again and the referee stopped the fight. Lemieux looked fleshy and was fighting at his heaviest weight in his career but his power saw him through. Since being outclassed by Billy Joe Saunders in a WBO middleweight title fight in 2017 Lemieux has scored four wins over good level opposition but had to get off the floor twice in his split decision victory over Maksym Bursak in December. He is rated WBC 3/WBA 4/WBO 5 in the super middles a division which is in suspended animation right now waiting to find out what will happen with Saul Alvarez. With his exciting style there is always a chance Lemieux might get a shot at one of the other titles. After suffering inside the distance losses against David Benavidez, Marcus Brown and Erik Bazinyan Ntetu was inactive throughout 2019 and this was his first fight for two years. Mathieu vs. Cronin Mathieu continues to build his reputation as he puts away Cronin in the first round. Mathieu went after Cronin from the start driving him to a corner and then unleashing an array of punches until two left hooks to the body saw Cronin sag to the floor. Mathieu collects the vacant NABF title with win No 8 by KO/TKO. He looks a real talent. The 6’2” Cronin is 1-4-1 in his last six fights and this is the second time he has been stopped. Caen, France: Middle: Matteo Signani (30-6-3) W TKO 2 Maxime Beaussire (29-3-1). This looked a risky fight for Signani as he was putting his European title on the line against Beaussire in front of Beaussire’s home fans and was facing a challenger with an impressive looking record. As it turned out it was an easy night for the Italian. Beaussire attacked strongly in the first rolling forward pumping out punches and having some success. Signani was mainly on the back foot but he was scoring with some accurate counters on the advancing Beaussire. The challenger was again plunging forward in the second. He was able to score with hooks inside but was leaving himself open to counters. Beaussire ignored the warning signs and as they came out of a clinch Signani had some punching room and he landed a perfect left hook which sent Beaussire down face first. He rolled over and somehow climbed to his feet and tried to indicate to the referee that he was able to continue. That did not fool the referee who waived the fight off and was quick enough to catch the Frenchman as he staggered along the ropes and was about to collapse in a corner. Major success has come late for the 41-year-old Italian. He is a former Italian and EU champion who had lost a split decision to Emanuele Blandamura before winning this title at the second attempt. His mandatory challenger is Martin Murray which should produce a good payday and he is rated No 10(8) by the IBF. This was Beaussire third attempt to win a European title having lost to Zakaria Attou for the EU title and Sergio Garcia for the EBU title with both fights at super welter so moving up a division has not helped. Kempton Park, South Africa: Super Welter: Brando Thysse (13-2-1) W KO 3 Boyd Allen (5-1-1). Super Welter: Roarke Knapp (10-1-1) W TKO 2 Tristan Truter (8-3). Super Light: Jabulani Makhense (10-0,1ND) W KO 1 Eric Kapia (22-4-2). Cruiser: Lebogang Mashitoa (8-1) W PTS 10 Keaton Gomes (6-2). Thysse vs. Allen Thysse produces a classic left hook to end a fight that was not by any description a classic. With Thysse having height and reach over Allen it was natural that Allen would try to get inside to work. Unfortunately too often Allen got inside and held and wrestled. Thysse did what clean work there was but found it hard to escape Allen’s clutches. Just seconds before the end of the third round Thysse finally saw a gap. Probably excited at the opening he did a little hippy jig and then belted Allen with a peach of a left hook. Allen went down heavily but climbed up unsteadily and drifted to a corner. The referee had a good look at Allen and rightly decided to stop the fight. Thysse therefore emerges as the winner of Rodney Berman’s 4@War tournament. A very profitable night for Thysse as he gets 60% of the $46,000 dollar prize, plus a diamond ring and the WBA and IBO Pan African Belts and equally important revenge for a split decision loss to Allen in May last year. Allen, formerly a MMA fighter, complained that the referee did not ask him to step forward after the count but it had been a heavy knockdown. Knapp vs. Truter In a battle for third and fourth place in the 4@War tournament Knapp blasts out Truter in the second round. Truter knew Knapp was a puncher and successfully boxed his way through the first round using his longer reach to fight at distance. The longer reach did not save him. In the second Knapp set Truter up with a hard left hook then put together a succession of punches that had Truter reeling and waving his arms erratically before a booming right that sent Truter to the floor with the referee not needing to count. The 22-year-old Knapp was knocked out in seven rounds by Thysse in the semi-finals of the tournament but he has skill and power and will make progress from here. The 4@War tournament has been a downer for Truter-literally. He had a seven bout winning streak when he was stopped in the tenth round by Boyd Allen in his semi-final and was crushed even earlier by Knapp here. Makhense vs. Kapia Makhense continues his winning ways with an impressive first round destruction of DCR’s more experienced Kapia. He floored Kapia for the first time with a right and a left to the top of Kapia’s head. The second came from a punch that landed on the back of Kapia’s head and luckily Makhense missed with two punches when Kapia had his knee on the floor. Makhense looked to have scored another knockdown but that was not counted and then he drove Kapia to the canvas with a succession of punches and the referee stopped the fight as Kapia fell to his knees. Fifth early win for Makhense a former Commonwealth Youth Championships bronze medal winner. He is No 1 in the South African ratings and holds both the WBA Pan African and IBF Continental titles. One to follow. Kapia went 18-0-1 when he first turned pro but life gets tougher the higher you climb. Mashitoa vs. Gomes The last time these two met Gomes probably felt hard done by as he lost a split decision but from the scores it looked as though the judge who voted for Gomes might have been having an off day. No such complaints this time. In a scrappy match southpaw Mashitoa boxed rings around Gomes being too quick and too busy never giving Gomes the chance to make use of his reach advantage. Gomes was docked a point for holding but it was not a factor in the scoring as Mashitoa won widely on the cards. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92 for Gauteng champion Mashitoa. London. England: Middle: Liam Williams (23-2-1) W KO 1 Andrew Robinson (24-5-1). Heavy: Nathan Gorman (17-1) W PTS 10 Richard Lartey (16-2-1). Super Middle: Willy Hutchinson (13-0) W TKO 1 Jose Fandino (15-8). Williams vs. Robinson Williams retains the British title with first round win over Robinson. This one was almost over when they cracked heads together at the start of the fight. There was a suspicion that it was more a butt from Williams than an accident. Both fighters were cut. Robinson was cut over his left eye and seemed dazed. Williams might have had in mind his cuts loss to Liam Smith. On this occasion his cut was high on his hairline but to rule out any chance of cuts becoming a factor Williams blitzed Robinson who still looked dazed. Williams connected with a couple of head punches and then drove home a left hook to the body that sent Robinson down and he was rising when he was counted out. The 28-year-old Welshman has scored victories over Mark Heffron, Karim Achour and 26-1-1 Alantez Fox. He is rated No 2 by the WBO and No 3 by the WBC so can look forward to a title fight in 2021. Robinson scored an excellent win last year when he travelled to Poland and outpointed 41-0-1 Damian Jonak. Gorman vs. Lartey Gorman returns with a win as he decisions Lartey in a poor contest. Gorman looked slow and it was obvious from his career highest weight of 273 ¾ lbs that he was not in top shape. Luckily Lartey was also at his career highest of 256 ¼ lbs so there would be no fancy footwork in this fight. Gorman was able to control the fight with his jab with Lartey lacking the tools to really compete and the pace of the fight was pedestrian. Neither fighter was seriously inconvenienced and there was an excess of holding which made a dull fight ever duller but the important thing for Gorman was a win and some ring time. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-92 for Gorman, first fight for Gorman since a fifth round kayo loss against Daniel Dubois in July 2019. He will improve on this with a bit more activity. Lartey was knocked out by Dubois in four rounds in April 2019 so had 18 months of rust to shake. Hutchinson vs. Fandino Scot Hutchinson wastes no time in disposing with Spanish visitor Fandino. After a quick scan to see what Fandino brought to the fight Hutchinson cut loose. He put Fandino down with a bunch of punches and although Fandino got up another fierce attack from Hutchinson had Fandino dazed and on shaky legs and the referee stopped the action. Nine wins by KO/TKO for the tall Scot and the second time in a row he has ended a fight within the first three minutes. Spaniard Fandino was knocked out in seven rounds by Sergio Martinez in Martinez’s return to the ring in August. Mecklenburg, Germany: Super Middle: Sebastiano Lo Zito (20-1) W PTS 10 Frane Radnic (11-18). Southpaw Lo Zito “The Sicilian Stallion” comfortably holds onto his German International title with unanimous decision over Croat Radnic. Lo Zito’s record is heavily padded and not a reflection of his ability. Croatian champion Radnic is even worse than most of Lo Zito’s victims having lost his last 18 fights now but usually goes the distance with only four losses by KO/TKO Fight of the week (Significance): Navarrete’s win over Ruben Villa was the big fight of the weekend Fight of the week (Entertainment): Nothing stood out Fighter of the week: Robin Krasniqi for resurrecting his career with victory over Dominic Boesel Punch of the week: So many to choose from. Brandun Lee and Janelson Figueroa both flattened their opponents with real thunderbolts and the left hook from Andre Thysse that dropped Boyd Allen was a beauty as was the left hook from Matteo Signani that ended Maxime Beaussire’s hopes of a European title but I go for the driven left from Zhanibek Alimkhanuly that destroyed Gonzalo Coria. Upset of the week: Robin Krasniqi was not expected to beat Dominic Boesel Prospect watch: Welterweight Brandun Lee 20-0 is worth following to see Observations Good to see boxing return in the Philippines as they utilise the “bubble” that has worked so well elsewhere. Rodney Berman has brought boxing back in South Africa so another good sign A welcome also to the show in Shawinigan Canada which was the first show since COVD-19 stopped the sport there. All of the boxers had been in isolation for two weeks before the October 10 card. Encouraging for German boxing that the TV coverage of Krasniqi vs. Boesel, the first televised German boxing for some time drew 2.5 million viewers and a crowd of 2000 attended the show in Magdeburg. There was also a good crowd for the European title fight in Caen, France. Not all good news on the virus front as the French heavyweight title fight in Paris between Newfel Ouatah and Nicolas Wamba was cancelled due to a member of Wamaba’s team testing positive for the virus. Nothing boring about Denys Berinchyk. His acrobatic-like high wire chairlift ride from roof to ring centre is just one more of his exotic ideas. He once came to the ringside on a horse and appeared in the Ukrainian TV show Dancing with the Stars. And he can fight-honest! Berinchyk was not the only one making a dramatic entrance at the weekend as Maxime Beaussire wore a steel helmet and was accompanied into the ring by a procession of knights in armour to celebrate Normandy heritage. Unfortunately Italian Matteo Signani ruined the party by stopping Beaussire in two rounds. The father of welterweight Janelson Figueroa certainly got his unbeaten son some attention as he released a video of Janelson flooring Teo Lopez with a powerful right in a spring session. Lopez’s father protested that Teo was a teenager at the time but a knockdown is a knockdown In this age of macho nicknames it was lovely to see Maxi Hughes shorts emblazoned with “Grandad”. Now that’s family. Sometimes the best fights are the very small hall bouts that only a handful of people see. The ones fought away from TV cameras. Other times we get in world title bouts that go massively over-looked, and years on need fans to essentially rediscover them, despite the fact they are fought at a very high level. Today we look at one of those lost world title bouts in out latest Closet Classic. It was a bout from 1987 that many fans won't have seen, but they should! The Fight Takuya Muguruma (25-1-1, 19) vs Chan Young Park (24-3-2, 7) In one corner was WBA Bantamweight champion Takuya Mugurma, a Japanese fighter from Osaka who had been on a bit of a tear. No one would saw Muguruma was the best fighter out there but he had gone unbeaten since a split decision loss, in Korea, to Youn Kap Choi. That bout had followed a draw with Eiji Oyama. Following those two marks on Muguruma's record he had refused to let the judges get involved in his fights, scoring 7 straight T/KO's, including a 5th round KO of Azael Moran for the WBA Bantamweight. Although he had originally fought at 122lbs Muguruma dropped down in weight to win the WBA Bantamweight title, and was looking like a man in great form. Chan Young Park had had a strange career up to this point. He was 7-2-2 after 11 bouts, and that had included a loss to former world champion Shoji Oguma, when Park was just 18. He had rebuilt from that going 17-1, with his only loss coming to Khaosai Galaxy in 1983, when Park was just 20 years old. The losses to Galaxy and Oguma helped shape Park into becoming a very good young fighter, and he had reeled off 10 wins to earn a shot at Muguruma and the WBA Bantamweight title. He was still some what lacking a big win before this bout, but he did have decent victories over Neptali Alamag and Ernie Cataluna, who were solid regional level fighters. Despite being a bout for a world title this wasn't going to be a bout that had much attention. It was between two Asian fighters who really hadn't proven themselves as world class fighters. It was the first defense by Muguruma and the first world title bout by Park, not a bout featuring a top name, or between two proven fighters. What we ended up getting however, was something a little bit special. From the early moments it was clear Muguruma wasn't expecting Park to be able to take his power. The Japanese champion pressed forward through out the round and landed some huge shots, including a massive right hand in the first minute. Park took it well, and tried to respond, but was often found being backed up by the power and aggression of Muguruma. Muguruma was intent on not letting Park settling early and continued to aggressively press in round 2. To his credit Park tried to spoil when he needed to, and elected to fight fire with fire and and when he felt comfortable doing so. Despite being backed up it was Park landing the cleaner shots for the most part, and showing himself to be a smart fighter against the aggression of Muguruma. With the first 2 rounds being violent, and with Muguruma putting some much into them, he seemed to begin to slow a touch in round 3. It wasn't massively noticeable, and he was still full of fire, but his aggression was being blunted just a touch easier. With that happening Park was beginning to stand his ground a bit more, and even forced the champion back a time or two as he began to pick up his pace. Muguruma went down part way through the round, but that was from a nasty clash of heads, rather than a punch. We now had some controversy as Muguruma got time to recover, just as it had began to look like he was slowing. On the restart Muguruma still seemed a little hazy but quickly found his focus and range. Sadly for the champion the short break didn't really affect Park at all, and the Korean continued to land the better shots. In the middle rounds Muguruma's face was beginning to look a mess, with some clear swelling around the eyes, he was however not deterred and continued to throw shots, despite the amount of punishment he was taking. Park continued to be the smarter fighter, clinching, countering, out boxing and out thinking Muguruma, but the champion seemed to be spurred by something else, and in round 6 he began to land some huge shots as the two men found themselves trading. By now the bout was taking on a life of it's own. With both men digging in deep and unloading huge bombs on each other it was becoming obvious that this wasn't going to go the distance. The real question however was regarding who was going to stop who. Was Park going to take out the determined, though crude, champion or was the power and aggression of Muguruma going to break down Park? We'll leave that to you to enjoy. Whilst it can be hard to REALLY know whether a bout ruined a fighter, we wouldn't be surprised if this helped speed up the retirements of both men. Both took a lot of punishment here, and it's quite possible that neither man was ever quite the same afterwards. This was brutal, punishing, and fantastic 2-way action, well worthy of 50 minutes of any fight fans time! By Eric Armit
Highlights: -Jose Zepeda knocks out Ivan Baranchyk in a Fight of the Year candidate that features eight knockdowns in five wild rounds -Gabriel Floes outpoints Ryan Kielczewski for win No 19 -Filipino featherweight Mark Magsayo goes to 21-0 with victory over Rigoberto Hermosillo -Joshua Buatsi retains the WBA International title with stoppage Marko Calic -Former WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket stays busy with second round victory over Filipino Jomar Fajardo -Usman Wazeer stops Indonesian Boido Simanjuntak to win the vacant Asian Boxing Federation welterweight title in Islamabad in Amir Khan’s inaugural boxing promotion in Pakistan World Title/Major Shows 3 October Las Vegas, NV, USA: Super Light: Jose Zepeda (33-2,2ND) W KO 5 Ivan Baranchyk (20-2). Light: Gabriel Flores Jr (19-0) W PTS 10 Ryan Kielczewski (30-5). Heavy: Guido Vianello (7-0-1) W Kingsley Ibeh (5-1-1). Feather: Duke Ragan (2-0) W PTS 4 John Moraga (1-2). Zepeda vs. Baranchyk Zepeda knocks out Baranchyk in the fifth round after a truly thrilling battle that saw eight knock downs in a fight would have electrified a stadium full of fans and provided an unforgettable fifteen minutes of drama. A candidate for Fight of the Year. Baranchyk does not have a reverse gear so he was taking the fight to Zepeda jabbing strongly and throwing right crosses going for power rather than accuracy. Just two minutes into the round he connected with a right that sent Zepeda back off balance and he went down on his haunches. He used his right glove to make sure he did not go all the way down and so was given a count. Zepeda did not look badly hurt but a left hook from Baranchyk put him down again. He was up quickly and the bell went when the eight count was completed. Early fireworks and a great start for Baranchyk with more to come. Baranchyk started the second by throwing a punch so wildly that he lost his balance and had to put his gloves on the canvas but it was not a knockdown. An over-exited Baranchyk was lunging forward swinging with wide punches and a counter left to the head from Zepeda dropped him. When he got up he looked a little shaky. He floundered back as Zepeda followed him landing hooks to the head and this time it was Zepeda who walked onto a counter right and was put down. He was quickly and again did not look in trouble. Only half way through the second and already four knockdowns! Zepeda boxed his way through the rest of the round with Baranchyk still flying in wildly. Zepeda was boxing carefully in the third. It is as well there was no audience as some of Baranchyk’s swings would have decapitated the first ten rows. His carelessness saw him wide open and three consecutive lefts from Zepeda dropped him and opened a cut over the Belarus fighter’s left eye. After the count Baranchyk was a little more cautious and Zepeda connected with some strong straight lefts. Baranchyk was hounding Zepeda in the fourth driving forward and getting through with some solid shots. Zepeda was looking to counter and just before the end of the round Zepeda landed a strong left hook the put Baranchyk down on his back for knockdown No 6 in the fight. Baranchyk beat the count but he was now showing heavy bruising under both eyes. The bell went to end to round before either could throw another punch. Baranchyk continued his aggression throughout the fifth. Zepeda was finding gaps for powerful counters but as Baranchyk came forward he landed a strong right that sent Zepeda flying back into a corner and almost down. The referee decided the ropes had held Zepeda up so he saw it as knockdown No 7 and applied a count. When Baranchyk launched his next attack Zepeda met him with a right to the body and a thumping left to the head that sent Baranchyk to the floor and he was counted out on his back. It was almost five minutes before they lifted Baranchyk to a stool and six before he could stand after such a savage battle. Going into the fight Zepeda was rated No 2 by the WBC 2 and No 3 by the WBO but not in the top 15 by the IBF or WBA. With WBC/WBO champion Jose Carlos Ramirez ordered to face Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor just having successfully defended the IBF and WBA titles- and aiming for a unification fight with Ramirez- Zepeda will have to wait for his title shot until sometime next year. In the mean time he picks up the WBC Silver title with this win. If he does get that title shot he will be hoping for a change of luck having lost to Terry Flanagan for the WBO light title due to a dislocated shoulder and been beaten by Ramirez on a majority decision for the WBC title in February 2019. Former IBF champion Baranchyk had lost his title against Josh Taylor in May last year but in October stopped Gabriel Bracero and was No 4(3) with the IBF. It will take him some time to recover from this punishing contest but he will be back. They weren’t needed but at the end of the fourth round all three scorecards had Zepeda in front 37-35. What a pity there was not an audience there to see these two warriors provide such a memorable contest. Flores vs. Kielczewski Imperious boxing display from young Flores as he outboxes experienced Kielczewski all the way. The blistering hand speed of Flores had Kielczewski’s face a deep red in the first minute of the fight/ It was all looking too easy until a left hook from Kielczewski sent Flores staggering back to the ropes. He was rocked again by a right but then settled down to cautiously outbox Kielczewski for the rest of the round. After a close second Flores took charge of the fight from the third. Kielczewski had no real answer to the movement or hand speed of Flores who was firing multi-punch combinations to head and body. Kielczewski was trying to walk down Flores but he was just not quick enough to cut off the ring. He ended up just tracking Flores around the ring not letting his punches go and when he did he usually ended up swiping air. Flores ended the fourth with a flourish connecting with a volley of punches and used a range of precise shots to dominate the fifth and rocked Kielczewski with an uppercut in the sixth. The pace dropped in the seventh with the punch output from Flores fading away but he connected with a short left hook that was the best punch in the round. Flores boxed on the back foot throughout the eighth spearing Kielczewski with jabs and short bursts of punches and then changed tactics in the ninth coming forward and slashing Kielczewski with well-timed combinations and connecting with a crunching right cross. Flores eased his way through the tenth getting his punches off first and using speedy footwork to leave Kielczewski always a pace or two behind. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92. Another sparkling performance from the 20-year-old from Stockton. He has not yet figured in the ratings but must do soon and is aiming for a title fight next year. If there is a concern it is that as the level of his opposition has improved his inside the distance wins have faded away. This is his sixth points win in a row so he may have to sit down on his punches more to find the power he will need against higher quality opposition. Kielczewski “the Polish Prince” has already experienced the difference when the opposition gets tougher. He was 22-0 at the start of his career but losses to Miguel Flores, Frank De Alba and Tommy Coyle have injected some reality into his hopes. Vianello vs. Ibeh Vianello remains undefeated but it was a close thing here as he fought a majority draw against the 38lbs heavier Ibeh. The Phoenix-based Nigeria had early encouragement when Vianello was cut over the left eye in the first round. From there this developed into a gruelling contest with both fighters showing signs of battle by the end. Vianello just did the cleaner work and probably just deserved the decision but it was close enough for no argument. Scores 57-57 twice and 59-55 for Vianello. A disappointing show by the highly touted Italian prospect. Ibeh had won his last four fights including reversing his only loss. Ragan vs. Moraga Ragan gets in four rounds of work against late substitute Moraga. The hot young prospect was cut by one of many head butts from Moraga but was always in control. Scores 40-36 from the three judges. Ragan’s first fight lasted less than two minutes so Moraga, who only took the fight at three days notice, did what he was paid to do. Los Angeles, CA, USA: Feather: Mark Magsayo (21-0) W PTS 10 Rigoberto Hermosillo (11-3-1). Welter: Paul Kroll (8-0) W PTS 10 Lucas Santamaria (11-2-1). Magsayo vs. Hermosillo Magsayo, rated one of the best young fighters in the Philippines, take a split decision over Hermosillo. This was a case of power vs. quantity as the busy Hermosillo threw more and landed more but the harder punches from Magsayo impressed two of the judges enough for them to score for him. A punch from Magsayo opened a cut over the right eye of Hermosillo in the first round but it was never really a factor in the fight. Mexican southpaw Hermosillo took the fight to Magsayo early working well to the body but Magsayo was finding the target with heavy rights. Hermosillo shrugged those off and stayed busy continuing to drive forward into hard counters from Magsayo. The fight looked even until the closing rounds. In the ninth a left hook from Magsayo staggered Hermosillo and Magsayo then built on that to also take the last to emerge the winner. Scores were nowhere near in agreement at 100-90 and 96-94 for Magsayo and 96-94 for Hermosillo. Magsayo, 25, the WBC No 4, had not fought since August last year when he outclassed former WBO bantamweight Pungluang so he will be aiming to do better next time out. Third loss in a row for Hermosillo, all against unbeaten fighters. Kroll vs. Santamaria Kroll continues his winning ways with a hard earned points victory over Santamaria. Kroll made a good start but was in trouble in the second when a vicious left to the body almost cut him in half. He retreated in agony and Santamaria tried desperately to end the fight but failed. Kroll recovered and got back in the fight but was having trouble with the busier Santamaria who was constantly switching guards. Kroll’s pressure and heavy right hand punching gave him the edge over the later rounds and he came out a clear winner although the scores of 99-91 twice and 96-94 for Kroll looked a little harsh on Santamaria. Philadelphian Kroll, 25, won the US Olympic Trials for Rio but then lost out at the Americas, WSB/APB and World Qualifiers so no trip to Rio. Santamaria was coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over 22-1 Mykal Fox in August. 4 October Milton Keynes, England: Light Heavy: Joshua Buatsi (13-0) W TKO 7 Marko Calic (11-1). Middle; Linus Udofia (16-0) W TKO 9 John Harding (8-2-1). Heavy: Alen Babic (5-0) W TKO 3 Niall Kennedy 13-2-1). Buatsi vs. Calic Buatsi breaks down and halts Calic in seven rounds. Lots of tentative jabs in the first round with Calic also firing overhand rights but not connecting and Buatsi just having the edge. Over the second and third Calic began to find the target regularly with right crosses and Buatsi was under fire for much of those six minutes which gave Calic a lead in the points. Buatsi was throwing more punches over the fourth and in the fifth two huge rights to the head from Buatsi had Calic in deep trouble on the ropes. He almost went down clutching Buatsi and covering up to survive. Calic was still trying his luck with rights in the sixth and fighting in short bursts but he was fading badly and now Buatsi was in control. Calic’s work rate dropped and the snap had gone out of his punches. Two heavy rights sent Calic back across the ring at the start of the seventh. More rights saw Calic buckle at the knees and touch the canvas with his gloves. After the count Calic looked very reluctant to continue and as Buatsi pinned him against the ropes the towel was being waived from Calic’s corner. Fifth defence of the WBA International title and eleventh win by KO/TKO for the 27-year-old Ghanaian-born Buatsi. He was vulnerable to Calic’s rights early but in the end proved too strong for the Croatian. He is rated WBA 2/IBF 3(2)/WBC 12/WBO 14 but that is not necessarily in his best interests. He has yet to face any rated opponent and it is a huge leap from foes such as Ryan Ford and Calic to Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Box Rec has him No 20 in their ratings. He has not fought anyone in the EBU top 20 and yet as No 2 if things went his way he could find himself the mandatory challenger to Beterbiev before he has another fight. Calik’s opposition has been strictly low grade but he looked dangerous over the first three rounds before coming apart. Udofia vs. Harding Udofia scores late stoppage victory. Harding used a quick accurate jab to take the first round but then the pressure and some heavy body punches from the stronger Udofia saw Harding falling behind. Udofia continued to dominate the action and Harding began to tire. Harding flared back into life in the eighth and started the ninth well but a right hook put him down. He made it to his feet and looked ready to continue but the referee stopped the fight. British-based Nigerian Udofia retains the English title with his eighth stoppage victory. Harding was having his second try at the English title having been stopped in eight rounds by Jack Cullen last year. Babic vs. Kennedy Babic saves the night for Croatia as he floors Kennedy on his way to a third round victory. Babic has won all of his fights by KO/TKO taking less than ten rounds to do so. At 6’1” and weighing 199 ¼ he is really a cruiserweight. A bad result for Irishman Kennedy as it is his second inside the distance loss in a row having been halted in five rounds by Devin Vargas in August last year. 30 September South Kirby, England: Super Light: Ohara Davies (22-2) W PTS 10 Tyrone McKenna (21-2-1) . Light Heavy: Serge Michel (11-1) W TKO 4 Liam Conroy18-6-1). Cruiser: Steven Ward (13-1) W PTS 6 Jone Volau (5-6). Davies vs. McKenna Davies wins the MTK Golden Contract super lightweight final and lifts McKenna’s WBC International title with a majority verdict. As expected Davies was taking the fight to McKenna early with southpaw McKenna boxing on the back foot and countering. Davies connected well with rights over the first two rounds but McKenna was doing some good defensive work and slotting home counters. There was plenty of back and forth action over the fourth and fifth with Davies landing the harder punches. McKenna was on the front foot in the sixth and scoring well but suffered a cut on his right eyelid. Most of the rounds were very close with a just a punch or two making the difference. Davies went down in the ninth but it was a slip and not a knockdown and Davies just did enough in the end to deserve the decision. Scores 96-94 twice for Davies and 95-95. Since losing to Josh Taylor in 2017 Davies has won 7 of his last 8 contests with the loss a close decision against WBO No 1 Jack Catterall. McKenna had also lost a close fight to Catterall and then gone on to score five victories but he looked fortunate to get the decision over Mohamed Mimoune if the semi-final of the MTK tournament. Michel vs. Conroy Michel earned his place in the MTK light heavyweight tournament final with a stoppage of Conroy. Michel just had the edge in the first two rounds and connected with a right counter late in the third that saw Conroy drop to one knee. He managed to survive but the fourth was painful. Conroy tried to make amends for the count by taking the fight to Michel and as he stormed forward a right to the head floored him heavily. He made it to his feet but when he again tried to rush Michel he was put down by an uppercut and the fight was stopped. Michel “The Bavarian Sniper” was born in Russia but is now a German citizen. He was a top flight amateur beating world rated Tyrone Zeuge and competing at both the World Championships and the 2016 Olympics. He lost on a kayo to Canadian Ryan Ford but won a convincing victory over unbeaten Tommy Philbin in the quarter-finals of the tournament. He will now face Ricards Bolotniks in the final. Former English champion Conroy had lost to Joshua Buatsi and Steven Ward but outpointed Andre Sterling in his quarter-final. Ward vs. Volau Ward starts his rebuilding project with a points win over inexperienced Fijian-born Volau. It looked as though Volau made the better start and took the first round. From there the superior boxing of Ward saw him sweep the remaining rounds. Referee’s score was 59-55 for Ward. In the amateur he was a five-time Irish champion and won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. Things seemed to be going along nicely when he took a technical decision over Liam Conroy for the WBO European title which landed him a world rating. Unfortunately the roof fell in when he was floored three times and stopped in the first round by Ricards Bolotniks in the quarter-finals of the MTK tournament. At 30 it will be an uphill battle. Fifth loss in a row for Volau. 2 October Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Kenichi Ogawa (25-1-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Kazuhiro Nishitani (21-5-1). Super Fly: Hayate Kaji (15-0) W PTS 8 Hiroki Yajima (9-9-3). Ogawa vs. Nishitani Ogawa continues his drive towards another world title shot as he outpoints Nishitani in a war that saw both fighters on the canvas. Ogawa was putting pressure on Nishitani over the first two rounds but a left hook from Nishitani in the third floored Ogawa. He beat the count but was badly shaken and had to clinch to survive. Ogawa rebounded and floored Nishitani with a right in the fourth and then again took control. Nishitani remained dangerous with left hooks and had a good eighth but Ogawa’s faster hand speed gave him the edge over the last two rounds. Scores 97-91 for Ogawa on the three cards. Ogawa was briefly a world champion. Back in 2017 he outpointed Tevin Farmer to win the vacant IBF title but both his A sample and his B sample tested positive for a banned substance so his win was changed to a No Decision and he was fined 20% of his $70,000 purse and banned for a year. Since returning he has scored two wins in low level outings and then his fight in December with Joe Noynay ended in a technical draw. He is No 3 with the IBF but since the No 1 spot is vacant he is effectively the second highest rated fight by them. Nishitani, the Japanese No 3 and a former undefeated Japanese lightweight champion, had won his last six fights. Kaji vs. Yajima Japanese prospect Kaji floors a gutsy Yajima twice on the way to a wide unanimous decision. It looked like being an early night when Kaji put Yajima down in the first. Yajima made it to his feet and fought hard enough to win a couple of rounds but was in deep trouble at the end. He was floored again in the seventh and lost a point for holding as he strove to keep his record clear of any inside the distance losses. Scores 78-70 twice and 79-69 for Kaji. The Teiken gym fighter was All-Japan Rookie (newcomer) of the Year in 2015 and is No 2 in the Japanese ratings. Yajima has suffered 4 defeats in his last 5 fights. Wielk Kleniz, Poland: Cruiser: Nikodem Jezewski (19-0-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Marek Prochazka (9-3-1). Jezewski returns to the ring and collects the vacant Polish International title with a unanimous verdict over Czech Prochazka. Jezewski made his traditional aggressive start mixing his punches well and finding gaps for his body punches. Czech Prochazka showed a sound defence but was unable to put much pressure on Jezewski due to the longer reach of the Pole. The visitor scored well in the eighth and it became apparent that Jezewski had injured his right hand and he used it sparingly over the last two rounds. Scores 99-91 twice and 97-93 for Jezewski. Despite his impressive statistics the 29-year-old Pole has not yet made any real impact. Prochazka, a former Czech title challenger, has yet to lose inside the distance and his defensive work kept that type of loss off his record. Kissimmee, FL, USA: Feather: Dennis Contreras (23-10-1) W KO 6 Carlos Flores (20-1). Super Feather: Hairon Socarras (23-1-3) W TKO 3 Julio Buitrago (13-24,2ND). Contreras vs. Flores In a clash of two Mexicans Contreras shows how misleading records can be as he knocks out previously unbeaten Flores in six rounds. Contreras went after Flores from the outset and Flores was forced onto the back foot. He showed some neat movement and quick, accurate punches to outscore Contreras in the second and third but no real power and just could not halt the forward march of Contreras. From the fourth it was man against boy as Contreras relentlessly walked through the punches from Flores connecting with hard shots to head and body. He bombarded Flores with head punches late in the fifth with only the bell saving Flores. He then ended it in dramatic fashion in the sixth. A huge left uppercut followed by a right to the chin sent Flores to the canvas and he was counted out. Contreras retains the WBA Fedecentro belt after having turned his career around. A run of 1-8-1 in 10 fights saw him considered as guy on his way to nowhere. However in his last three fights he has defeated unbeaten 12-0 Fernando Garcia, stopped 20-2-1 Belmar Preciado and now the 20-0 Flores so combined records of 52-2-1. Flores, 20, has a heavily padded record with 13 of his victims never having won a fight and all the others having negative records. Socarras vs. Buitrago Socarras given an easy task as he starts to rebuild after his first pro loss. After three one-sided rounds Buitrago’s team threw in the towel pulling their man out. Cuban Socarras gets his fifteenth win by KO/TKO. He was brought down to earth when he clashed with Ryan Walsh in October last year in England being halted in nine rounds. Poor Nicaraguan Buitrago has won just 2 of his last 22 fights and to make matters worse he turned pro as a minimumweight so has put on 26lbs since those days. 3 October Brussels, Belgium: Light Heavy: Oscar Ahlin (19-2) W TKO 2 Achilles Szabo (25-25). Super Welter: Nabil Messaoudi (1-0) W KO 1 Samuil Dimitrov (2-10-1). Ahlin vs. Szabo Ahlin overwhelms a poor Szabo for a second round stoppage victory. With Szabo’s record this was never going to last long and Ahlen nearly ended it with a knockdown in the first. Szabo made it to the bell but was put down three more times in the second and the fight was stopped. The 30-year-old Swedish “Golden Boy” now has 17 inside the distance wins but his opposition has been mainly sub-standard and losses to Bernard Donfack and Patrick Mendy puts his record into context. Hungarian Szabo suffers loss No 13 by KO/TKO and his sixth defeat in his last seven fights. Messaoudi vs. Dimitrov Former top amateur Messaoudi makes his first professional bout a brief one as he uses just one left hook to put Bulgarian Dimitrov down and out in the opening round. All over in 30 seconds including the count. The 22-year-old 5’10” Messaoudi represented Belgium at both the European Under-22 championships and the European Championships. Seventh loss by KO/TKO for 21-year-old Dimitrov. He is a southpaw but when you are only around for 30 seconds that counts for nothing. Plovdiv, Romania: Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (20-2) W KO2 Frank Bluemle (16-9-2). Super Welter: Yosif Panov (18-3) W TKO 6 Moussa Gary (10-3-2). 6 Dinu vs. Bluemle Another easy win for Dinu as he floors German Bluemle twice the second time for a count out. Dinu was just too big for the German who did not put up much of a fight. The 34-year-old 6’5” Romanian won his first 18 fights before getting too ambitious and paying for it with inside the distance losses to Jarrell Miller and Kubrat Pulev. Bluemle way down the hill with seven quick defeats in his last nine fights. Panov vs. Gary “Viper” Panov extends his winning run to sixteen with victory over Gary. The fight went longer than expected but it ended in the sixth when a booming straight right floored Gary. He scrambled around trying to rise but the towel came in from his corner and the count was stopped. After three early losses when fighting in Scotland the 24-year-old Bulgarian has stuck to non-threatening opposition mainly in Bulgaria. Frenchman Gary was 9-0-2 at the start of his career but is 1-3 since then with this being his first loss by KO/TKO. Tokyo, Japan: Super Welter: Hironobu Matsunaga (17-1) W TKO 7 W Yuto Shimizu (14-5-2).Super Bantam: Ryohei Takahashi (19-4-1) W PTS 8 Kyohei Endo (3-4). Matsunaga vs. Shimizu Matsunaga holds on to the national title with stoppage of Shimizu. Although Shimizu had height and reach over Matsunaga he just could not cope with the aggression of the champion who was getting inside and connecting with southpaw right hooks. Although Shimizu found the target with straight rights by the fifth he was bleeding heavily from the nose and was down 50-45, 49-45 and 48-47 on the cards. Matsunaga continued to score heavily in the sixth and opened a cut over Shimizu’s left eye in the seventh. Shimizu had nothing left and a series of punches from Matsunaga brought the referee’s intervention. Tenth win in a row for Matsunaga and his eleventh win by KO/TKO. He was making the second defence of the title. He overcame an orbital fracture under his left eye and a detached retina before finally winning the Japanese title in May last years. First inside the distance loss for Shimizu, the Japanese No 1, who was having his second shot at the title. Takahashi vs. Endo Former IBF title challenger Takahashi gets a win but has to climb off the canvas. They fought on fairly even terms over the first two rounds but Takahashi put Endo down with a left hook in the third. He also took the fourth and fifth. Endo knocked Takahashi down in the sixth but Takahashi recovered and over the last two rounds although under pressure his better skills made him a clear winner. Scores 77-74 from each judge for Takahashi. He gets his third win since being stopped in eleven rounds by JT Doheny in a challenge for the IBF title. The inexperienced Endo did well to last the distance. Islamabad, Pakistan: Welter: Usman Wazeer (4-0) W TKO 4 Boido Simanjuntak (24-55-3). Big event but a poor fight on Amir Khan’s first promotion in Pakistan as local fighter Wazeer stops veteran Indonesian loser Simanjuntak in the fourth round. This was a slow paced fight with young Wazeer boxing behind his jab and putting together some combinations with Simanjuntak only really going through the motions. Simanjuntak traded punches occasionally but body punches from Wazeer had him hurt in the third. In the fourth it was clear that Simanjuntak had finished for the night and he stood against the ropes allowing Wazeer to throw punches to head and body without reply and then slumped to the canvas with the referee immediately stopping the fight. The Abu Dhabi-based “Asian Boy” Wazeer, 20 wins the vacant Asian Boxing Federation title. Difficult to make any judgement on him as his previous experience consists of three four round fights, one in Dubai and two in the Philippines and Simanjuntak was no sort of test. Obviously the hope is that Amir Khan promoting there will build more local fighters but the pro sport could hardly even be described as grass roots there. Simanjuntak was as careful a choice as you could get. The 36-year-old Indonesian southpaw has lost inside the distance 24 times and is now 1-21-1 in his last 23 fights. Bang Phun, Thailand: Bantam: Srisaket (49-5-1) W TKO 2 Jomar Fajardo (17-18-2).Light: Apichet (7-0) W PTS 8 Musheg Adolan (7-2). Srisaket vs. Fajardo Former WBC super fly champion Srisaket (Wisaksil Wangek) wins his second fight since boxing resumed in Thailand. His opponent Filipino Jomar Fajardo showed courage beyond the call of duty as he took serious punishment before his team pulled him out during the second round. Fajardo was trapped on the ropes and being battered by hooks and uppercuts with the referee showing no sign of stopping the pounding until Fajardo’s second climbed in the ring. The Thai had a real struggle before getting the decision over Amnat Ruenroeng in August but looked sharp here. He is 1-1 in two battles with WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada and as he is No 1 with the WBC he must be in line for a third fight next year. Fajardo much too brave. He is now 2-7 in his nine most recent contests with sixth of the seven losses by KO/TKO. Apichet vs. Adolan Apichet remains unbeaten as he takes a majority verdict over Adolan but looks very lucky to do so. Apichet had to survive two counts, one in the second and one in the third to take the decision. Scores 76-74 twice for Apichet and 75-75. He remains WBC Asian Boxing Council champion. Third time Apichet has been lucky to stay unbeaten having twice scored very narrow victories over former WBA and WBO title challenger Chonlatarn. Adolan, an Armenian-born Thai-based Russian, is a former Muay Thai boxing trainer and had won his last seven fights by KO/TKO. Fight of the week (Significance) Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk which puts Zepeda in line for a title shot Fight of the week (Entertainment) Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk= 8 knock downs! Fighter of the week: Jose Zepeda for coming off the canvas four times to beat Baranchyk Punch of the week: The left from Zepeda that scored the eighth knockdown and ended his war with Baranchyk Upset of the week: Mild upset as Dennis Contreras stops 20-0 Carlos Flores and Kingsley Ibeh fight to a draw with prospect Guido Vianello Prospect watch: No special one this week Observations Some excitement over Amir Khan’s first promotion in Pakistan and hopes for a growth of professional boxing there. We have already seen boxing start up in a small way in Vietnam but cautious optimism needs to be observed. Boxing was going to explode in China when Zou Shiming turned pro but now they have just one champion in Can Xu, the holder of the secondary WBA featherweight title, and in China there is now only the occasional nursery show. It was also hoped that Vijender Singh would kick-start professional boxing in India but very little has happening there. It will be just as hard to build a following in Pakistan. Strange how a boxer can find unexpected form. Take the case of Dennis Contreras. The Mexican featherweight had a run of very bad form going 1-8-1 in ten fights from there he was won three fights in a row against opponents with combined records of 52-2-1. Quite a change. Eight knockdowns in a fight is pretty unusual but by no means a record. If we ignore everything before 1950 the record is held by Howard King vs. Hans Friedrich in Reno in May 1955 which saw 15 knockdowns in a fight that went the full ten rounds with Freidrich on the floor 14 times and losing the decision A few weeks ago in this series we covered a foul fest that saw the right guy winning a clear decision. That was a bout where the man committing the fouls managed to rile everyone up, and whilst he had fouled through out the bout it was really a final round melt down that highlighted the contest. Today we look at a different type of foul fest. One where the fans are well and truly behind the man breaking the rules, and where the man breaking the rules, is getting away with it. Amazingly this isn't just a foul fest, but also a bout where the judges seem to be in on things as well, with some questionable score cards, a referee that seems scared to take points and a local favourite who seems to know he can get away with anything. Amnat Ruenroeng (13-0, 5) vs McWilliams Arroyo (15-1, 13) Before we get to this bout we need to get to the back story of this one and go back to 2013. That was the year that Moruti Mthalane twice saw bouts with Silvio Olteanu fall through. After those bouts collapsed Mthalane was ordered to take on the then unknown Thai Amnat Ruenroeng, who had been a good amateur but done nothing as a professional. The purse bid for Mthalane Vs Ruenroeng was pathetic, but their was no money in the bout. As a result Mthalane gave up the belt, rather than travel to Thailand for pittance. In December 2013 McWilliams arroyo was also having problems. He had seen his scheduled bout with Rocky Fuentes be delayed, then was cancelled all together in January 2014 when Fuentes failed to get a visa. That was supposed to be a world title eliminator. With those bouts falling through we ended up getting a make shift bout in January 2014 that saw Amnat defeat Fuentes for the IBF Flyweight title, in a bout that was put together on very short notice. It wasn't a great bout, but was a big win for the Thai who was now the new world champion. Amnat followed that up by travelling to Japan and beating Kazuto Ioka, in a massive win. Having seen his bout with Fuentes fall through Arroyo would fight in June 2014, in an IBF Flyweight world title eliminator, where he beat Froilan Saludar to set up a clash with Amnat for the title. So overall it took us around 10 months to get to this bout but we got there in the end....and the wasn't worth it. At all. The bout started slowly, both men trying to figure out what the other hand and eased their way into the contest. There was nothing spectacular to begin with, as both men pumped out their jabs. It looked like Arroyo was the stronger fighter whilst Amnat was the slightly quicker, but there wasn't much in it at all early on. Amnat probably did enough to the take first round but did better in rounds 2 and 3 as he established an early lead. Then the bout started to fall apart. Arroyo had a very good round 4, as Amnat began to try and protect his lead, rather than extend it. He began holding, excessively. Every few seconds in round 4 the Thai smothered, held and did his best cuddly octopus impression. The holding didn't really help slow down Arroyo's pressure and the challenger's success grew, dropping Amnat in round 6 to completely get rid of Amnat's early lead. It was following the knockdown that the bout totally fell apart. The clinching became more and more regular, with Amnat trying to sap the ambition and fire out out of Arroyo. Referee, Pat Russell, repeatedly told Amnat to stop, but didn't take any points from the Thai. In fact not only did he refuse to take points but it wasn't until round 10 that he even gave a firm warning. Even after the warning the messy tactics, holding, spoiling and wrestling continued from Amnat, who was warned but never saw a point being taken. After 12 rounds the bout could have gone either way. Arroyo defintely tried to make the fight, and had real success in the middle of the bout, but the good start by Amnat and the ugly frustrating end of the bout saw him neutralise Arroyo well. But it had been completely ruined by the holding, poor refereeing of Pat Russell and the refusal to take points, in an effort to clean things up. When we went to the judges the they all turned in scores of 114-113, twice, to Amnat and once to Arroyo to give Amnat the decision. It wasn't a terrible score, but certainly seemed to be influenced by the judges and location of the fight. A single point deduction, which is the least we would have expected, would have seen the turn in a split draw but in reality Amnat could have had 2 or 3 points taken for the repeated holding. Annoying had we managed to avoid all the clinching, and the very messy portions of the fight, this would have been a brilliant fight. There was a lot of exciting back and forth to talk about, but that was massively over shadowed by the negativity of Amnat between the exciting bursts of action. Rather notably this wasn't the only controversial bout featuring Amnat, and we will certainly be discussing a much more controversial bout in the future. Though that's for the next future Controversial Clashes! By Eric Armit
When I first began to pick up whispers of Conor McGregor dabbling in boxing again I hoped it would be a case of smoke but no fire. Just McGregor keeping himself in the public eye. When McGregor then started to talk about a fight with Manny Pacquiao there was more smoke but it was coming out of my ears. Surely Pacquiao would not lower himself to participate in such a farce and an insult to boxing in the way that Floyd Mayweather had. Then McGregor started to claim that he would be fighting Pacquiao in the Middle East next year. Was there really a fire under that smoke after all? Surely Pacquiao would come out and make a statement rubbishing talk of fighting McGregor. Well Pacquiao certainly made a statement but it read more like an opening gambit in a negotiation. He was interested in sharing the ring with McGregor, but only on the condition that his own promotion company MP Promotions co-organised the event. So no denial and instead more wood on the fire. That remark regarding the co-organising says it all. If the money is right the fight will happen. At 41 Pacquiao has very few fights left in him. One, two at the most. Right now if he walks away his legacy is obviously assured with no qualification tagged on the end. Over a 22 year period from winning the WBC flyweight title in 1998 to currently holding the WBA welterweight title he has won ten version of a world title in six different divisions and earned millions of dollars yet it seems that is not enough. Yes fighting McGregor will be very richly rewarding in money terms but it will add nothing to his boxing legacy-it certainly has not done so for Mayweather-and horror of horrors what if he actually lost? Forever his legacy would have that qualification on the end “great, great fighter-but he lost to McGregor”. What a terrible way that would be to end his great career. Obviously as it will add nothing to his legacy he is doing for the money and if he was going to donate a large part of his purse to help his fellow-countrymen as he has done in the past that would temper some of my misgivings but at the same time if he does not fight again until he fights McGregor and then retires that would be a slap in the face for real professional fighters in the WBA ratings such as Yordenis Ugas, Vergil Ortiz, Mikey Garcia or others the WBA not have in their ratings such as Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia. Forget Errol Spence and Terence Crawford they would be too good for a 41 year Pacquiao. I can hear the WBA rubbing their hands at the sanction fee that would come their way even if it meant approving a guy to fight for their title who had lost the only boxing match he had. I guess that would just be business as usual for them. Will a TV company take Pacquiao vs. McGregor will it sell? Of course there are still million of idiots out there who love a circus. With Saul Alvare’s legal team resubmitting his action against DAZN and Golden Boy things are getting messy. The WBC have ordered Alvarez to fight the No 2 in their latest rankings Avni Yildirim. Alvarez is not their champion of course. He has never won their super middleweight title-he holds the secondary WBA title- but he is the WBC “Franchise champion”-what rubbish. However since Alvarez is in a legal battle with his paymasters DAZN he cannot go ahead with the Yildirim fight unless a settlement is made in his case against DAZN and Golden Boy. The WBC originally called for purse bids by 23 September. DAZN was reported to have offered Alvarez $20 million for the Yildirim fight which is a lot less than called for under their contract. The date for purse bids has now been pushed back to 6 October but it seems to me that until there is a judgement on his contract dispute Alvarez is not a free agent. That would mean him withdrawing his name from the WBC instructed fight with Yildirim and the WBC nominating someone else to fight for the vacant title. A Gordian knot that need to be cut. It looks likely that Naoya Inoue’s title defence against Australian Jason Moloney is on for October 31 in Las Vegas. Naoya’s IBF and WBA bantamweight titles will be on the line. Moloney’s only defeat is a split decision against Emmanuel Rodriguez for the IBF title which was also part of the WBSS bantamweight tournament. The feisty little Australian comes to fight so it should provide plenty of entertainment. If Inoue comes through that then hopefully a unification fight with John Riel Casimero will follow. The fight was talked about last year but Casimero had visa problem but as he fought in Connecticut last week that should not be a barrier. You can’t trust these little guys. Julio Cesar Chavez and Jorge Arce fought an exhibition and it seems that Arce ended up ambushing Chavez by taking it a lot more serious than Chavez thought he had agreed. No harm done. This was a good example of two veterans fighting as Chavez was donating the money he was paid to a clinic for addiction treatment and Arce towards providing low cost housing for people in his area. One star female boxer and one newcomer fought at the weekend. Tony Yoka is always under pressure to win as his wife Estelle Mossely is the IBO world female lightweight champion and she outpointed Aurelie Froment on the undercard to Yoka’s win over Johann Duhaupas last Friday. Mossley also won a gold medal at the Rio Games so there was even pressure there on Tony. The other female boxer was a total newcomer. Young Jaromira Konecny won her first amateur fight last Friday. She is the 14-year-old daughter of Lukas the former interim WBO and European super welterweight champion who also promoted the show. Jaromira your dad is a former World and European champion and competed at the Olympics and your late granddad Milan was Czech light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion-no pressure there Jaromira honest. I saw where Floyd Mayweather Jr has offered to help train Deontay Wilder for his third fight with Tyson Fury. I find it difficult to envisage what a fleet and fast Mayweather could teach a 6’ 7” Wilder. A bit like an antelope teaching a rhino to dance. I suppose he could insert some rhythm into Wilder’s work. Along the lines of –you put left jab in, your left jab out, your left jab in and you shake it all about. No stop it Eric you’re just being silly. Good card building for the Leo Santa Cruz vs. Gervonta Davis WBA title fight (s) which will see typical WBA confusion. The fight will be for the secondary WBA lightweight title held by Davis (the real champion is Vasyl Lomachenko) and the WBA super featherweight title held by Santa Cruz-who also holds their featherweight title. Davis will have to make 130lbs for the fight so that both titles can be on the line for both fighters. The show will be before a live audience for the first time since the pandemic struck. Mario Barrios will defend the WBA secondary super lightweight title against Ryan Karl and Regis Prograis and Diego Maldonado will also appear in fights on the show. Only 16 days until Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teo Lopez. The IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight titles (that’s the real titles)will be on the line in what promises to be a great clash of experience against youth and power. In one of the supporting fights super middle Edgar Berlanga will be going for first round KO/TKO win No 15 in a row. The record is held by Tyrone Brunson with 19. Brunson went downhill after his 19 wins and is 9-8-2 since then but with Top Rank guiding him I can’t see that happening to Berlanga but I feel he might settle for a second round win to get that pressure of the record off his back. I really do despair of the WBA no matter how low they go they can still go lower. They must give their Board of Governors limbo dancing lessons in fact they must be aces at it. The most recent disgrace is their No 8 cruiserweight Rafael Murphy. He is rated above former world champion Krzys Wlodarczyk. His “achievements” his last four fights sre that in his only fight in 2017 he was stopped in five rounds by Hugo Trujillo. Trujillo’s record was 2-0-1. In his only fight in 2018 he beat Juan Reyna who was 6-9-1 and had won only one of his last 9 fights. In May 2019 he beat Oswaldo Ortega who was 3-11 and in August he outpointed 11-20 Larry Pryor over four rounds. Going into the Murphy fight Pryor was 1-6 in his last 7 fights with the win being a four round points victory over someone with a 3-18-1 record. The win over Pryor suddenly saw Murphy enter the WBA ratings at No 8. I don’t want to be unfair to the WBA so please WBA work with me here advise of one honest reason for Murphy to be rated at all let alone No 8 in the world. Box Rec rates him No 175 and that seems generous. Undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) straw world champion Wanheng Menayothin will be making the thirteenth defence of his title, against his compatriot, Petchmanee CP Freshmart, on November 27, in a city to be announced. At 34 he could have a few more fights in him. He is 54-0 and if he finally retires undefeated he will be No 1 in the all-time list of world champion who have retired after winning all of their fights and second in the all-time list of world champions to retire undefeated behind Jimmy Barry who was undefeated in 68 (including ten draws) but I can’t see him hanging around to beat Barry’s record. Floyd Mayweather with 51-0 is second in the list of world champions to have won all their fights and Rocky Marciano is third on 49-0. Boxing continues to ease its way back from the pandemic. Boxing returns to Namibia on 7 November but with no fans in attendance, There will be two separate shows one starting at 15.00 hours featuring world rated Namibians Jeremiah Nakathila the WBO No 3 super featherweight and WBO No 6 welterweight Mikka Shonena with Harry Simon Jr also on the 15.00 show. The second show will start at 21.00 and topping the card will be former WBO middleweight title challenger Walter Kautondokwa. The show will have TV coverage which makes it viable-just. Certain styles of fighters gives us more great fights than others. Styles that are safety first tend to provide very few great fights and very, very, few closet classics. Fighters like John Ruiz will never feature in anyone's lists of great fights, despite the success they had. Fighters who let their hands go, like fight at mid range, if not closer, and set a high work rate make for great fights to watch. Likewise fighters who have serious power and suspect chins can also make for great fights. Today we look at a fantastic bout from 1986 between two men who had similar styles that revolved around high volume output and standing at a close distance. Essentially matching each other in terms of styles. The fight Myung Woo Yuh (21-0, 5) vs Mario Alberto Demarco (20-2-4, 8) I Korean great Myung Woo Yuh is widely regarded as one of Korea's greatest ever fighters. He, along with fellow Korean Jung Koo Chang, controlled the Light Flyweight division in the 1980's. Yuh won the WBA Light Flyweight title in late 1985, beating Joey Olivo by split decision, and made his first 2 defenses by mid 1986. After a 5 month break Yuh took on his third challenger, Mario Alberto Demarco. We'll talk more about Demarco in a moment, but for now we'll go on to talk about Yuh in more detail. The Korean had debuted in 1982, aged 18, and had raced through bouts. He had somehow managed to fit in 12 bouts in his first year as a professional, winning all 12 by decision. He began to step up his competition in 1984, winning the OPBF title, before having an amazing fight with Oh Kong Son in 1985, before later winning the WBA title. He had been a whirlwind of action in the ring, with an ultra-high volume style, and despite being a high volume fighter he was also technically sound. Like Chang he picked great punches, and seemed to land clean time and time again. He could be hit, but landed so much more than he took due to his all action style. Oh and when he took one, he fired back, rarely showing signs of ever being hurt. Mario Alberto Demarco was an Argentinian who is sadly all too forgotten now a days. He fought right through the 1980's and despite mostly fighting at home he really could have done so much more with his career. He had been crowned both the South American and Argentinian Light Flyweight champion and had been unbeaten since a 1983 loss to Adrian Daniel Roman, reeling off a 14 fight unbeaten run since then. Like Yuh it's fare to say that Demarco wasn't a puncher, but like Yuh he was real tough, let his shots go in clusters and could fight fire with fire. He wasn't as technically proficient as Yuh but was similar to the Korean in terms of style and mentality. He was going to out fight opponents, not out box them. When you have two guys who have aggressive, volume based styles and the ability to take a shot you get something special. And we got something special here. From the very early seconds we got action. Both men took a moment to figure out what the other had, before Demarco began to force Yuh backwards. Yuh wasn't as effective on the back foot as he was on the front foot, but the strength and physicality of Demarco was forcing him back early on. Yuh, realising he was in with a fellow aggressive bull began to try fighting fire with fire and round 2 was something special as the two men spent much of the round trading shots inside. Again it was Demarco who seemed to get the better of, but the round was much closer than the first, with Yuh avoiding a good number of Demarco's blows to get his own off. From here things began to develop into something very special. Bout that start with the tempo this one did don't tend to go the distance, and don't tend to remain as hotly contested. This did. Round after round we saw thrilling exchanges, and even when action got sloppy it was little more than a mild respite between some great 2-way action. That action continued, round after round, to excite a rapturous crowd in what will go down as one of the greatest bouts ever to take place in Korea. If you like intensity in your fights, amazing back and forth action, and real excitement then this is one for you to enjoy, with in what a truly breathless war of attrition, heart, energy and desire. An amazing fight and a great chance to see exactly why Yuh was such a big fan favourite in Korea in the 80's. |
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