December 18
Bilbao, Spain: Welter: Kerman Lejarraga (13-0) W TKO 2 Kim Poulsen (27-3). Lejarraga was coming forward behind a stiff jab with Dane Poulsen on the back foot and just throwing an occasional light jab. Lejarraga moved in quickly and a left hook to the head saw Poulsen stagger and then go down on his knees. Lejarraga tried to finish it scoring with left hooks to the body but Poulsen made it to the bell. In the second a right to the head put Poulsen down again. He tried to fight back but when another a left and right and then a left hook put Poulsen down again the fight was stopped. Hometown fighter Lejarraga just punched too hard for Poulsen and now has 10 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. After an early career loss the Dane then had a run of 23 wins before being stopped by Anthony Yigit in February. Nykoping, Sweden: Light Heavy: Erik Skoglund (24-0) W PTS 10 Derek Edwards (27-6-1). Super Light: Anthony Yigit (16-0-1) W RTD 3 DeMarcus Corley (42-26-1). Super Middle: Oscar Ahlin (13-0-1) W KO 1 Varazdat Chernikov (10-4). Heavy: Otto Wallin (14-0) W PTS 6 Samir Kurtagic (12-8). Skoglund vs. Edwards Skoglund gets wide unanimous verdict over Edwards. From the outset the Swede tried to use his height and reach to keep Edwards out and that worked for the first round. Edwards determinedly bored his way inside in the second and had some success but Skoglund showed he could fight inside as well and was getting the better of the exchanges. Skoglund continued to boss the action scoring with counters and had Edwards badly hurt with a right uppercut in the sixth. Edwards clung to Skoglund and dragged the Swede down with him so that it was not registered as a knockdown. Skoglund kept control of the fight outscoring Edwards the rest of the way scoring well with both hands and having Edwards in trouble on a couple of occasions on his way to a wide decision. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92. With Edwards win over Badou Jack this counts as the best win so far for the tall 24-year-old Swede who is rated IBF 4 (3)/WBO 9/WBC 12 but is by no means ready for Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson. Edwards “The Black Lion” , 36, is still a name even though since his shock first round win over Badou Jack in February last year he has now lost three in a row to Andre Dirrell, Gilberto Ramirez and Skoglund. Yigit vs. Corley Yigit continues to progress as he forces Corley to retire after three rounds. The youth and speed of Yigit was just too much for Corley as he moved around changing angles and firing home southpaw right leads and hard lefts. Corley was able to get through with enough punches to show that Yigit still has some work to do. The Swede continued to score freely in the third but it was a surprise when Corley retired at the end of the round as he had not seemed to be badly hurt. After an early career draw with Brit Tony Pace Yigit has now won 11 fights on the bounce including victories over fellow Scandinavians Kasper Bruun and Kim Poulsen. He is No 14 with the WBC but right now more relevant might be his status as mandatory challenger to Spanish EU champion Sandor Martin who is 15-1 and has his own ambitions. At 41 Corley is way past his best and this is his fourth loss in a row but he is still a “name” and can teach the young guys a few things. Ahlin vs. Chernikov Swedish “Golden Boy” Ahlin gets back in the winning column with a one punch kayo of Chernikov. The Russian came out hustling and forced Ahlin into a corner. As he tried to attack the cornered Swede he was hammered by a wicked left hook to the chin and was put down and out after just 94 seconds. Last time out in May Ahlin, 26, lost his unbeaten label when he was outpointed by modest Bernard Donfack but now has 11 wins by KO/TKO. Chernikov, 24, was 5-1 in his last six bouts the last fight in that sequence saw him knocked out in ten rounds by Gevorg Khatchikian in October. Wallin vs. Kurtagic Wallin wins an uninspiring fight over Austrian-based Serb Kurtagic. Wallin made a promising start and looked as though he might even get Kurtagic out of there in the first but Kurtagic is a survivor who has yet to lose a fight by KO/TKO and a low punch from Wallin gave him time to recover. Wallin won every round but anytime he had Kurtagic hurt the Serb held or found another way to stay in the fight and as Wallin got frustrated there was little real action. Wallin did have Kurtagic unsteady in the fifth but the Serb again held to get out of trouble. The referee finally took a point off Kurtagic in the last round for holding. Scores 60-53 from all three judges. The 25-year-old Swedish southpaw will have better nights than this. Kurtagic, 39, was having his first fight since losing on points over eight rounds to Mariusz Wach in October last year. Santa Fe, Argentina: Super Feather: Jonathan Barros (40-4-1) W PTS 10 Pablo Barboza (24-8). Former holder of the secondary WBA feather title Barros returns to action with a win. Over the first five rounds Barboza did enough to keep the fight fairly even but from the sixth the fitter and stronger Barros took control using his jab and body punches to erode the resistance of Barboza and sealed the win by flooring Barboza with a right in the ninth. Barboza managed to get up and last out that round and the tenth but was a clear loser. Scores 97-92 from all three judges. The 31-year-old “Yoni” from Mendoza lost his WBA title to Celestino Caballero in 2011 and then in 2012 lost successive fights to Juan Carlos Salgado for the IBF super feather title and to Mikey Garcia. This was his first fight since October 2014. “Bad Boy” Barboza, 30, the Argentinian lightweight champion has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Thabong, South Africa: Super Fly: Doctor Ntsele (18-8-1) W TKO 1 Teboho Setseke. Ntsele retains his provincial title with first round kayo of Setseke. A body punch did the business for the former South African flyweight champion who breaks a three bout losing run and gets his twelfth win by KO/TKO.
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December 18
Charleroi, Belgium: Cruiser: Ryad Merhy (18-0) W KO 6 Sylvera Louis (7-4). Heavy: Herve Hubeaux (23-1) W PTS 10 Gogita Gorgiladze (26-10). Welter: Mouhamed Sder (9-2-2) W PTS 10 Imad Azaroui (8-1). Merhy vs. Louis Merhy continues unbeaten as he lifts the vacant WBC International Silver title with kayo of Canadian Louis. Merhy made a good start scoring with a long right to the head and following that up with a succession of body punches making it an uncomfortable first round for Louis. Merhy kept up the pressure in the second with hooks and uppercuts and used double and triple jabs to take the third. He had Louis shaky in the fourth with the Canadian only just lasting to the bell. Louis had good spell at the start of the fifth but by the end of the round he was again taking hard punches to head and body. It was all over in the sixth as Merhy took Louis to the ropes and finished him with a right to the head that put Louis down and out. The 23-year-old Ivory Coast-born Marhy makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO including 6 quick finishes in his last 7 fights. Louis, 33, had a good win in October last year over Didier Bence for the Canadian title but lost his title as he was then inactive for a year before returning with a low level win. Hubeaux vs. Gorgiladze Belgian Hubeaux has no trouble outpointing young Georgian. Scores 100-90, 99-90 and 99-91. The 23-year-old Hubeaux has now won his last 12 fights and reversed his only loss. His opposition has not been strong so he is not in the EBU ratings but is No 19 in the EU ratings. Gorgiladze has a typical Georgian record-wins at home loses away and he normally fights at cruiser. Sder vs. Azaroui Sder overcame a slow start to win the decision in a close fight which could have gone either way. Azaroui took the first two rounds but Sder floored him with a body punch in the third which proved to be the defining moment in the fight. The remaining rounds were all close with the knockdown just making the difference. Scores 96-95 and 95-94 for Sder and 95-95 giving Sder the vacant WBC Francophone title on a majority decision. The 28-year-old Sder is 4-0-2 in his last 6 fights. Both fighters were in their first ten round fight and they could go again. Helsinki, Finland: Heavy: Robert Helenius (22-0) W PTS 12 Franz Rill (11-1). Helenius wins the vacant European title with wide points victory over late substitute Rill. This was a poor match on paper but Rill was available when champion Erkan Teper suffered a hand injury (or his drug test failure was known) and could not go through with the defence of his title so to save the show standards were allowed to drop. Helenius nearly made it an embarrassing match when he floored Rill after just 11 seconds. The German had scored with a good jab that snapped Helenius’s head back but as he moved inside Helenius landed a chopping right which put him down on his knees and threw one whilst Rill was down. Rill got up and with Helenius just looking to land a big punch. Despite giving away a lot in height and reach Rill was able to score repeatedly with his jab and looked safe until the last ten seconds of the round when Helenius forced him to a corner and unloaded heavy punches to head and body. In the second Helenius was again not using his jab but just looking to land a fight finishing punch and Rill was finding it easy to get through the Finn’s guard with jabs. Helenius lets hands go more in third and every time he landed he shook Rill, but too often his rights were telegraphed and again he was open time and again to Rill’s jabs. Helenius was walking Rill down in the fourth actually using his jab on occasion but Rill stayed out of trouble until the end of the round when a right to the head put him down. He was up quickly but the bell went just as the referee completed the eight count The pattern of the fight stayed basically the same until Rill tired and Helenius was able to score with some of heavy punches. A left to the head hurt Rill in the seventh and over the closing rounds Rill went into survival mode and he never really looked to be in trouble again in the fight. Scores 117-109 twice and 118-109. The 31-year-old Swedish-born Finn also wins the vacant IBF International title. Hand and shoulder injuries saw Helenius inactive from March 2013 until March this year which cost him his European title and this is his third win since returning. The absence of any injury is this fight is a bonus but he did not look impressive not letting his punches go, getting caught with too many jabs and looking slow. However he had been unwell leading up to the fight and had breathing difficulties due to his flu-type symptoms and he retains his power but will need better tests than this. With the news of a positive test by Teper after the David Price fight that opens the door for Derek Chisora to step into the mandatory position and get a chance to gain revenge for a controversial split decision loss to Helenius in a European title fight in 2012. Rill did his best and used a sharp jab early to be competitive but he came in at short notice and had never even been in a ten round fight let alone a twelve round one. Labasa, Fiji: Light Heavy: Joseph Kwadjo (22-10,1ND) W TKO 3 Opeti Tagi (17-13). Kwadjo gets second win in his adopted home. Tagi made a promising start in the first but Kwadjo put him down at the end of the round. In the second Kwadjo again got through with his punches and in the third a straight right floored Tagi again and the fight was stopped. Now 18 wins by KO/TKO for the 30-year-old Ghanaian. Eleven losses by KO/TKO for FijianTagi. Caltanissetta, Italy: Super Middle: Valerio Rinaldi (9-1) W TKO 3 Luciano Lombardi (19-13-4,1ND). Rinaldi wins the vacant Italian title with stoppage of Lombardi. Rinaldi opened fire in the first landing to head and body and already had Lombardi on shaky pins. In the second Rinaldi was landing heavy rights with Lombardi’s attempts at counters wide of the target. In the third Lombardi had a brief moment of hope as a right had Rinaldi dipping at the knees but a punch from Rinaldi sent Lombardi stumbling into the ropes. The referee started to give Lombardi and eight count but then had a hard look at Lombardi and stopped the fight. Now six wins by KO/TKO for 28-year-old Rinaldi. Only one win in his last five fights for Lombardi and his sixth unsuccessful attempt to win the national title. Tlalnepantla, Mexico: Super Welter: Pablo Cesar Cano (29-4-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Silverio Ortiz (34-16).Light: Cristian Mijares (53-8-2) W KO 7 Cristian Arrazola (18-10-2). Bantam: Edgar Jimenez (21-11-2) W KO 6 Humberto Morales (14-13-4,1ND). Welter: Ivan Alvarez (22-5) W PTS 8 Juan Orozco (7-1-2). Cano vs. Ortiz Cano gets unanimous decision in an exciting and eventful scrap. The bout was a catchweight with Cano being the naturally bigger man and Ortiz fighting above his usual weight division. Cano was also more accustomed to fighting in the thin atmosphere with his home town being 2,000 mts above sea level. Cano edged the first and in an exciting second a low punch from Cano had Ortiz down who was given time to recover but Cano was cut on his right eyebrow by a butt for which Ortiz lost a point. It looked all over in the third as Cano put Ortiz down twice but this is Mexico and Ortiz got up each time and continued to exchange punches to the bell. In the sixth blood was seeping out of the cut over Cano’s right eye and although under pressure he got a break as he slipped on a wet area of the canvas and Ortiz landed a punch whilst Cano was down which cost the Yucatan boxer another point. The seventh was a desperate round for Cano as his cut was bleeding and affecting his vision. Ortiz attacked again and again with a bruised and battered Cano in trouble at the bell. Ortiz seemed to have punched himself out and Cano was able to regain control in the eighth and overhand right put Ortiz down. He claimed it was a slip but Cano had him in trouble before the bell interrupted his attacks. Cano had Ortiz retreating in disarray in the ninth landing heavy rights to the head with Ortiz ducking and diving to avoid the fire storm. The moment the bell went Cano turned away but Ortiz threw a punch as Cano had his back turned. He was not punished but litter was thrown into the ring by the home fans in protest. Still bleeding heavily Cano boxed defensively in the last to emerge a clear winner. “ El Demoleder” Cano, 26, a former interim WBA super light champion who lost a split decision to Paul Malignaggi for the WBA welter title was having his first fight since tested positive for a banned substance after outpointing Juan Carlos Abreau in February. The 33-year-old “Chamaco III” Ortiz, yes there were two other Chamaco’s from the clan who fought as pros, was 14-2 in his last 16 fights and can give anyone problems on his night. Mijares vs. Arrazola Fighting up at lightweight Mijares just too much for modest Arrazola and scores knockout in the seventh. The agreed contract weight was 132lbs (60kg). The 34-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBC champion has 26 wins by KO/TKO and has won 5 of his last 6 fights with the loss being to Leo Santa Cruz for the WBC super bantam title. Fellow-Mexican and fellow-southpaw Arrazola was 9-0-1 in his last 10 fights Jimenez vs. Morales Jimenez gets win with sixth round knockout over reasonable level opponent Morales. The 23-year-old from Mexico, a former national flyweight champion, was coming off a career best win on points over unbeaten Ivan Morales (28-0) and had gone from five losses in a row to 6-1-1 in his last 8 fights. Morales, 26, was 4-1-2 in his last 7 fights but was coming off a seventh round kayo loss to Alejandro Hernandez for the Mexican super bantam title. Alvarez vs. Orozco With unanimous decision over Morales southpaw Alvarez makes it 9 wins in a row mostly against good level opposition but too big a step up for Orozco. Merida, Mexico: Super Feather: Miguel Berchelt (28-1) W TKO 3 Rolando Giono (17-7,1ND). Super Welter: Juan Macias Montiel (19-2-1) W TKO 3 Ivan Montero (19-1). Super Feather: Eduardo Torres (19-0) W TKO 3 Miguel Angel Gonzalez (22-7-1). Berchelt vs. Giono Bechtel blows away Panamanian Giono in three rounds. Berchelt was scoring well to head and body in the first. In the second Giono launched wild attacks trying to get into the fight. He forced Berchelt onto the back foot but was leaving himself open to counters with Berchelt finishing the round strongly. In the third Berchelt was getting through with hooks to head and body but Giono tried hard to fight back. That resistance ended when a hook put Giono down. The Panamanian got up but Berchelt took him to the ropes and unleashed a barrage of punches with the referee stopping the fight. The 24-year-old “Scorpion”, the WBO No 1, makes it 25 wins by KO/TKO. Giono, 28, lost last time out on a tenth round stoppage against Emanuel Lopez for the interim WBA title and has twice taken Jezreel Corrales to a split decision. Montiel vs. Montero Montiel springs a big surprise as he stops unbeaten Montero. There was plenty of action in an even first round. In the second after Montero scored with some hard punches Montiel sent out the danger signals to Montero with a punch that shook him. Early in the third a right cross from Montiel crashed into Montero’s head and he went down heavily. Montero made it to his feet and was allowed to continue but after a couple more punches from Montiel the referee decided that was too shaken to continue. “Juanito” Montiel now has 19 wins by KO/TKO. His only loss in his last 18 fights is a split decision against Alejandro Barrera (26-2). “Terrible” Montero had scored good wins this year over Michael Rosales and Ramses Agaton. Torres vs. Gonzalez Torres remains unbeaten with impressive stoppage of Gonzalez. In his first fight for ten months Torres was not really rolling over the first two rounds and Gonzalez was using his experience to outbox the local fighter. Torres exploded in the third taking Gonzalez to the ropes and putting Gonzalez down with a head-snapping uppercut. The referee immediately stopped the fight although it looked a too hasty stoppage Gonzalez was badly shaken. The 28-year-old “Lalo” Torres makes it eleven wins by KO/TKO. Gonzalez had won 5 of his last 7 fights and this is only his second loss by KO/TKO. Moscow, Russia: Super Feather: Vyacheslav Gusev (21-3) W Cosmas Cheka (15-4-4). Gusev wins the vacant IBF International title with unanimous decision over Cheka. The Russian was a good winner but Cheka is a skilled fighter and the fight was closer than the scores indicated. Scores 118-110, 117-111 and a more reflective 115-113. The little 30-year-old Gusev has only lost to good opposition including Juan Carlos Burgos and Gary Russell. Tanzanian Check, 25, was 11-1 in his last 12 fights including an upset victory over Thai Thewa. Managua, Nicaragua: Light Fly: Felix Alvarado (22-2) W TKO 2 Yader Cardoza (18-8-1). Alvarado finishes Cardoza in this all-Nicaraguan contest. Alvarado was winning the fight all the way and in the fifth round a left hook to the body put Cardoza down and he could not recover. Alvarado goes to 19 wins by KO/TKO. After winning his first 18 fights he then lost back-to-back contests against Kazuto Ioka for the WBA light fly and Juan Carlos Reveco for the WBA light fly title. This is his fourth win by KO/TKO since then. Cardoza must feel he is improving as he only lasted three rounds with Alvarado in 2010. December 18
Manchester, England: Middle: Billy Joe Saunders (23-0) W PTS 12 Andy Lee (34-3-1) W . Super Welter: Liam Smith (22-0-1) W TKO 7 Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly (16-1). Super Welter: Liam Williams (13-0-1) W TKO 2 Kris Carslaw (22-6). Super Fly: Paul Butler (20-1) W TKO 6 Silvio Olteanu (15-9-1). Super Light: Jack Catterall (14-0) W TKO 3 Noe Nunez (15-3-1). Middle: Tommy Langford (15-0) W TKO 5 Robert Swierzbinski (15-5-1). Light Thomas Stalker (10-1-3) DREW 10 Craig Evans (14-1-2). Super Feather: George Jupp (13-2) W PTS 10 Mitchell Smith (13-1). Super Feather: Vijender Singh (3-0) W TKO 2 Samet Hyuseinov (7-8). Saunders vs. Lee Saunders wins the WBO title with majority verdict over champion Lee. Both started cautiously probing with their southpaw jab. Lee landed a long range right but at the end of the round Saunders made Lee’s legs quiver slightly with a sharp right hook. Lee had height and reach over Saunders but it was thought it would be his power that would divide the fighters so that right hook was a significant sign saying that Saunders was also a puncher. Both were cautious in the second each looking to draw the other into an error and capitalise with a hard counter. Both managed to get home good lefts with Lee holding his right lead glove higher than in the first round looking to pull the trigger. A confident Saunders did a little dance at the end of the round. Lee missed with two big lefts in the third and when he missed with another one he left himself open and Saunders came up inside with a right hook that sent Lee crashing to the canvas. It was a heavy knockdown but Lee was up at six and ready to go on after the eight count. He tried to get inside and hold but Saunders pushed him off landing four punches none of which connected cleanly as Lee dropped down on his haunches putting his gloves on the canvas to stop himself going all the way down. Lee got up whilst Saunders was baying to the crowd thinking he had the fight won but Lee got up and although Saunders landed some more punches he ducked and dived and lasted to the bell. In the fourth and fifth Lee had recovered and it went back to some cagey sparring with neither taking any chances both being wary of the others power and it was tense but not exciting. The sixth saw hardly any action with Lee probing with his jab but usually falling short. He threw and landed few punches and Saunders did even less. Saunders had a much better seventh out-jabbing Lee despite the Irishman’s edge in reach and getting through with some lefts. Lee was more active in the eighth but the respect each had for the others power meant neither was committing himself and it was a case of both jabbing and feinting with only the occasional punch landing which made it hard to score the rounds. Both did a bit of dancing in the ninth to show they were still full of energy and when Lee managed to land a rare left clipping Saunders on the jaw Saunders mimicked being hurt. Again you could count the punches landed on one hand but Lee probably did just enough to edge it. Saunders was letting the champion back into the fight but was still well in front. Saunders took the tenth landing a good left early and then a right and snapping out his jab. Lee landed a body punch on the bell which was the first real body punch of the fight. There was a little more action in the eleventh but even though Lee must have felt he was behind there was little real fire and an absence of any heated exchanges. The tactics in the last round said it all with Lee throwing more lefts than he had all fight, but missing with most of them, and Saunders constantly moving and just looking to stay out of trouble. Scores 115-113 and 114-112 for Saunders and 113-113 which seems to indicate that the third round, be it 10-8 or 10-7, was the difference between the fighters. Not a great fight but an important one and a huge win for the 26-year-old Saunders. Also a great few weeks for the traveller community with two world champions in Tyson Fury and Saunders. Saunders is not ready for Gennady Golovkin but as he was the mandatory challenger he can pick his next opponent and see how things develop but has ruled out a return with Chris Eubank Jr saying Eubank needs to earn the chance. Lee, 31, obviously wants a return. This was really his first defence as a defence against Peter Quillin turned into a non-title bout when Quillin failed to make the weight. Lee might have to wait for a chance for revenge Smith vs. Kelly As expected Smith proves too strong for Kelly and retains his WBO title. Kelly was competitive early but the strength of Smith and his thudding body punches finally proved too much for the challenger. Kelly’s only chance was to keep Smith on the outside and he had some success with good work with his jab, but Smith was waging a war of attrition inside. The champion turned up the heat with each successive round and since Kelly could not keep him out with his jab and was out-powered on the inside it was obvious just a matter of time before Smith broke down the Manchester-born fighters resistance. In the sixth a desperate Kelly was deducted two points for a blatant butt. He was on the floor in the seventh and although no count was given he had no resistance left and his corner sensibly threw in the towel to save their man. The 27-year-old “Beefy” was making the first defence of the title he won with a victory over John Thompson in October. Whilst a total of 12 wins by KO/TKO in 23 fights may not seem impressive Smith has now won his last seven bouts inside the distance which shows a growing power even against tougher opposition. Kelly is a good young fighter with talent but was not really in Smith’s class and jumped from nowhere to No 8 with the WBO for winning their Inter-Continental title against a fighter who had won only one of his previous five fights. Kelly can come again. Williams vs. Carslaw Williams makes this look easy as he halts Scot Carslaw in two rounds, Williams indicated he did not intend sticking around for long as he floored Carslaw with a combination in the first round. Carslaw came out in the second trying to take the fight to Williams but ran onto a ramrod stiff jab which had enough power to put him down and the referee waived the fight off without a count. Williams was having his first fight since November 2014 having been side-lined with an injury. The victory gives the 23-year-old Welshman 8 wins by KO/TKO and the British title to go alongside his Commonwealth title. The draw on his record was a technical one due to his opponent being cut. Carslaw, 31, had been in with some good class opposition and won his last four fights. This is the first time he has been beaten on KO/TKO. Butler vs. Olteanu Butler stops game little Romanian Olteanu in six rounds to win the vacant WBO European title. The “Baby Faced Assassin” was in charge from the beginning and only the bravery of Olteanu kept him in the fight as Butler was just too quick for the aging Romanian. Butler had Olteanu in trouble a couple of times but Olteanu stayed in the fight although he soaked up a lot of punishment in a one-sided fourth round. Despite that he actually seemed to have recovered in the fifth and was able to land some nice counters on the young Brit. In the sixth a wicked left hook to the body put Olteanu down. He was up and ready to continue after the eight count but another series of punches saw the referee stop the fight. Olteanu protested but Butler is a finisher and this fight could not have lasted much longer. The former undefeated 27-year-old IBF bantam champion now has 11 wins by KO/TKO. His only loss was an inside the distance defeat against Zolani Tete in a challenge for the IBF super fly title. Tete has also joined Frank Warren but it would make sense to keep them apart. Olteanu, 37, a former European Champion, lost a controversial split decision to Daiki Kameda for the WBA flyweight title in Japan in 2010 and suffered majority decision losses to Wilbert Uicab and Armando Santos in Mexico so breaks have been hard to come by for the little Spanish-based craftsman. Catterall vs. Nunez Catterall continues to do the business but Mexican Nunez came to fight. Catterall looked comfortable winning the first round behind his southpaw jab and straight lefts. That changed in the second as Nunez came storming forward and landed some good punches which split open a cut on the lip of the Chorley fighter. Nunez tried to take the fight to Catterall again in the third but Catterall had found his range and a straight left forced Nunez back into the ropes. Catterall followed-up with some brutal head punches and the referee halted the fight to save Nunez. The 22-year-old local “El Gato” was making the second defence of his WBO Inter-Continental title and makes it 9 wins by KO/TKO. Nunez, 28, had won 6 of his last 7 fights and this is first loss by KO/TKO. Langford vs. Swierzbinski Langford also makes a successful second defence of his WBO Inter-Continental title. Langford took the first round impressively with the use of his jab, uppercuts and hooks to the body. He looked to have scored a knockdown with a right in the second but it was not counted but his body work was weakening the Pole. Langford dominated the third with more damaging work with his jab and body punches. In the fourth further pressure from Langford saw Swierzbinski forced to go down on one knee to get a break from the punishment. Langford went straight back to the attack and his eagerness saw him catch a couple of punches from Swierzbinski but he shrugged them off and put Swierzbinski down with a right. The Pole made it to the bell but was wilting under body punches from Langford in the fifth when the referee stopped the fight. Langford continues to impress and gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for the Pole but the other two losses have been to David Lemieux and Chris Eubank Jr so no shame there. Stalker vs. Evans A second draw shows how well matched these two are. Last time the feeling was that Stalker may have been unlucky not to walk away with the victory but this time although it was close a strong finish from Evans seemed to have turned things his way. Stalker had built a lead but despite suffering a cut over his right eye in the ninth round Evans did enough to close that gap and put his nose in front but it was even closer than their first fight. Scores 96-94 for Evans, 96-94 for Stalker and 95-95. Stalker, 31, a long-time top amateur just has not been able to get any traction as a pro and this is his third draw in a row. Blackpool-based Welshman Evans, 26, lost a decision to Scott Cardle for the vacant British title in May and is prone to cuts but is a talented boxer who can come again. Jupp vs. Smith There are no certainties in boxing as Jupp proved with hard-fought win over WBO rated Smith. Jupp had his jab working effectively from the outset and it was the fight winning punch for him as with Smith being unable to out-jab Jupp he had to get inside to work the body. Smith kept the bout close with his inside work but Jupp was busier and more active with Smith not really letting his punches go and too often loading up on his punches whereas Jupp was constantly scoring with his jab and also with left hooks. The middle rounds were all close with Smith trying to up his work rate but Jupp was edging them on accuracy and using good footwork and a solid defence to block many of Smith’s punches. By the last Smith needed a knockout but he had never come close to having Jupp in trouble in the fight and Jupp ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 98-94, 97-93 and 96-94. The 25-year-old Jupp has now won his last 9 fights and has twice had experienced of full ten round fights but he is not a noted puncher and the opposition had not been strong. This is a huge win for Jupp as he lifts Smith’s WBO Inter-Continental title and as Smith was rated a much too high No 4 with the WBO it will be interesting to see what they do with the ratings of both fighters. This will get Jupp some good paydays which is the least he deserves. Smith, 23, had wins over much better opposition on paper in Cristian Palma and Dennis Tubieron but they were both coming off loses so Smith’s rating is based on his winning the WBO Inter-Continental title rather than the quality of his opposition and if you ignored the daft WBO rating this was a contest between two promising young largely untested fighters and on that basis was perhaps not a huge upset. Smith is just 23 so he can and will rebound from this. Singh vs. Hyuseinov Singh gets his third win with stoppage of reluctant Bulgarian. Singh worked him over in the first round and at the start of the second round he cornered Hyuseinov and unloaded a series of punches that saw the referee halt the fight. Three wins by KO/TKO in three fights for the 30-year-old former star of Indian boxing. Hyuseinov is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. December 18
Verona, NY, USA: Heavy: Luis Ortiz (24-0,2ND) W TKO 7 Bryant Jennings (19-2). Super Feather: Nicholas Walters (26-0-1) DREW 10 Jason Sosa (18-1-4). Super Welter: Gabriel Rosado (22-9,1ND) W PTS 10 Joshua Clottey (39-5). Light Heavy: Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (15-0) W PTS 10 Yunieski Gonzalez (16-2). Middle: Steve Martinez (16-2) W TKO 2 Jorge Melendez (29-6-1). Light: Yuriorkis Gamboa (25-1) W PTS 10 Hylon Williams Jr (16-2-1).Super Middle: D’Mitrius Ballard (11-0,1ND) W PTS 6 Fabiano Pena (14-4-1). 19 Ortiz vs. Jennings Ortiz stops Jennings to retain his interim WBA title and put himself in line for fights with the other title holders. Both started fast with Jennings looking to get inside and work the body of the older southpaw. Ortiz scored with a good right hook and that was followed by a left that saw Jennings retreat to the ropes where Ortiz worked him over with body punches. Jennings managed to get off the ropes but Ortiz knew he had him hurt and was stalking Jennings. Near the end of the round a left again had Jennings hurt and in trouble and Ortiz landed two hard left hooks to the body just before the bell. Jennings had a better second round as he moved inside to deny Ortiz punching leverage and although rocked by a right inside he probably edged the round. Jennings was using the same tactics in the third but was hurt by a left uppercut and then sent reeling into the ropes by an overhand right and a left hook and momentarily had his back turned to Ortiz. He again managed to escape off the ropes but was having trouble getting past the right jabs of Ortiz. By the end of the round Jennings had found his way inside and landed some good punches of his own with Ortiz not working inside and getting a warning for pushing Jennings back but it was Ortiz’s round. In the fourth Jennings was able to get inside again and was throwing uppercuts and hooks of his own. In the fifth Ortiz came out dancing on his toes ad stabbing out his jab and inviting Jennings to come forward. Jennings was doing well until he did come forward walked onto a left uppercut which shook him but Ortiz did not press his advantage. Ortiz was boxing again in the sixth dominating the action with his jab and Jennings was not able to work inside. Ortiz had taken the fifth and sixth rounds but Jennings had the better of the first two minutes of the seventh bulling forward against a retreating Ortiz and scoring with a thudding right to the chin. That all changed when Ortiz landed a wicked right uppercut followed by a left uppercut that put Jennings face down on the canvas. Jennings got up but Ortiz staggered him with another left that had Jennings tumbling into the ropes and the referee stopped the fight. Cuban Ortiz “The Real King Kong” showed good skills and impressive punching power. Every time he landed cleanly with his left Jennings was hurt and the punch that marked the beginning of the end was an equally impressive right uppercut. Where the 36-year-old Ortiz goes from here I am not sure. Tyson Fury is tied into a return match with Wlad Klitschko and the secondary WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev has a defence lined up against Lucas Browne in March. Deontay Wilder is making yet another voluntary defence this time against Pole Artur Szpilka and then hopefully the WBC will finally stop screwing Alex Povetkin and insist Wilder makes an overdue mandatory defence. The vacant IBF title is to be decided between Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin next month. Because he is the interim WBA champion none of the other bodies have Ortiz rated and with WBA No 2 Browne and No 3 Klitschko tied-up who knows No 4 Shannon Briggs might get a title shot-unfortunately. Jennings, 31, just met a better fighter on the night. He has an inside the distance win over Szpilka and a points victory over Mike Perez with his only losses being on points against Klitschko and this one to Ortiz. He is a possible opponent down the line for any of the other champions or even Anthony Joshua in late 2016/2017. Walters vs. Sosa Walters has his first fight at super feather and looks very unlucky to have to settle for a majority draw against Sosa. Walters had the skill to win this on boxing alone but he seemed to want to prove he was just as strong at the new weight and spent more time than he needed to do fighting inside. After a feeling-out first round there were constant exchanges making it an exciting fight and although many rounds were close and Sosa was throwing lots of punches the sounder defence and the cleaner, more accurate and heavier punches were coming from the Jamaican. This was not a battle of jabs but of hooks and uppercuts inside. Sosa was setting himself a fast pace with his busy, busy style but that and the body work from Walters eventually had Sosa fading a bit over the last three rounds. Walters landed a sharp right inside in the fifth which had Sosa stumbling a couple of steps but he banged back with a couple of rights to the head but his punches lacked the power of the Jamaican’s. Walters landed some thudding body punches in the seventh and scored with a hard right to the head at the end of the eighth. They battled toe-to-toe in the ninth and Sosa landed some nice rights as they just threw caution out of the ring and banged away. It was the same in the tenth as two tired warriors slugged it to the bell. Walters seemed to have the edge in the last round and the fight but the judges saw it differently. Scores 95-95 twice and 96-94 to Sosa. The former unbeaten WBA feather champion looked to have won this one clearly and although Sosa was the busier the CompuBox statistics had Walter landing 281 punches to 168 for Sosa. He may need a couple more fights but the 29-year-old Jamaican is a big threat to any super feather. Camden’s Sosa, 27, is now unbeaten in his last 17 fights but against a much lower level of opposition. However, he showed he belonged up with the rated guys in the division and this showing will have given him a much higher profile. Rosado vs. Clottey Rosado outworks Commey to win a fight which neither fighter could afford to lose if he was to remain in with a chance of a title fight somewhere in the future. This was close over the first three rounds with Clottey being more aggressive and probably just getting the better of the action but then Rosado started to edge the rounds. Clottey was methodical with Rosado more fluent and fluid. Neither was capable of hurting the other but Rosado was making use of his strength to force the fight. There was never much in it with Rosado just doing enough to cancel out the early work of Clottey and with a strong tenth round doing enough to be a deserving winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 all for Rosado. The 29-year-old “King” had lost three tough fights in a row against Peter Quillin for the WBO title, Jermell Charlo and David Lemieux and this was his first fight since losing to Lemieux in December last year. Former WBA welter champion “Grand Master” Clottey, 38, is not the force he was in 2008/2009 when beating Zab Judah and taking Miguel Cotto a split decision. He showed he was still a player last year with a win over Anthony Mundine but if continues his role may just be that of a scalp for the up and coming prospects. Shabranskyy vs. Gonzalez With both fighters having a high percentage of inside the distance wins this one might have been expected to end early but after ten close round of action they both showed they also have a good chin. These two went straight to it with Gonzalez rumbling forward throwing sweeping hooks focusing on the body and the taller Shabranskyy using his extra reach working behind his jab slotting in straight rights and mainly head hunting. Gonzalez was wild with his swinging punches early with Shabranskyy finding openings but a solid right in the first did not even make Gonzalez blink. Neither fighter was interested in fighting inside and they were both willing to stand in the pocket and let their punches go with huge shots flying in both directions. In the third Shabranskyy had Gonzalez on the ropes and looked to have hurt him with a series of head punches with Gonzalez again swinging wildly in furious spurt of action. Gonzalez worked his way off the ropes only for a left jab and a right cross from Shabranskyy to send him back there and for a few seconds it looked as though Gonzalez might crumble. Instead he banged back but again was mainly swishing air. Just before the bell they again just stood and pitched bombs. No one was interested in digging trenches. Shabranskyy seemed to have tired himself in that frantic third round and Gonzalez was able to get into the fight with a bit more success and was blocking Shabranskyy’s jab with a high guard. Shabranskyy was still doing the cleaner scoring with his jab/straight right and working the body a bit more but Gonzalez kept coming. The Cuban landed a big right in the sixth but Shabranskyy took it well and in the seventh Shabranskyy was given recovery time after a low punch from Gonzalez. The Cuban scored with some clubbing shots before they again ended the round like a couple of Friday night drunks swinging away. An amazing last round saw Gonzalez scoring early with a four punch combination but with 20 seconds left Shabranskyy landed a thunderous right and Gonzalez was almost out on his feet as Shabranskyy piled in more punches only for Gonzalez to stagger forward swinging to the bell. Scores 98-92 and 97-93 for Shabranskyy and 95-95. For me the middle score was the most accurate but it was a pity either had to lose as these two gave everything for the full three minutes of every round. Ukrainian Shabranskyy, 28, lived up to his “Lion Heart” nickname and although Gonzalez marked a big step up from his previous victims he showed he is ready to face some tough opposition. Gonzalez, 30, had shown his quality in losing to Jean Pascal in July with all three judges scoring it 96-94 to spark some controversy. With a little bit more composure and accuracy he might just have won this one. Martinez vs. Melendez This was a case of the biter bit as big puncher Melendez is blown away inside two rounds. Despite it being his first fight for a year Martinez was sharp and landed a hard combination at the end of the first round that had “Destroyer” on shaky pins. Martinez knew he had shaken Melendez and went right after him in the second. A left hook put Melendez down. He was up quickly but in a bad way and a succession of unanswered punches brought the referee’s intervention. The 25-year-old from the Bronx has 12 wins by KO/TKO and made the perfect recovery from a loss to Chris Pearson in his fight last December. Puerto Rican Melendez, 26, was in the ratings when he had a 13-0 run with 12 wins by KO/TKO but is now 3-4 in his last 7 fights. Gamboa vs. Williams Gamboa and Williams had rust to shed as Gamboa returns with a win. The Cuban was just that bit quicker and more accurate and within the first ten seconds of the fight he made Williams stumble with a short left hook. Williams recovered and showed a good jab to keep himself out of trouble for the rest of the round. Williams scored with a sharp right in the second but Gamboa was showing plenty of head movement and lateral shifts with Williams often swishing air. Williams was the one coming forward but Gamboa’s movement was making it difficult for Williams to find the target and meanwhile Gamboa was shifting about changing angles and getting his punches off first. There were some wild exchanges in the fourth but Gamboa was in charge. Over the late rounds Gamboa’s work rate dropped and Williams had a bit more success but never enough to endanger Gamboa or change the pattern of the fight and Gamboa got in ten good rounds of work. Scores 98-92 twice and a too close 96-94 all for Gamboa. The 34-year-old former IBF and WBA feather and interim WBA light champion was having his first fight in 13 months and although he is not the force he was he is still a class fighter who needs to be more active. He was 133lbs for this one so he could go up or down. Williams, 25, won his first 15 fights before losing to Rances Barthelemy in 2012. He had almost three years out before returning with a draw against Jason Litzau in August. Ballard vs. Pena Ballard remains unbeaten as he wins every round against Pena. No real excitement as Ballard outboxed the Los Angeles-based Brazilian but never really had him in any trouble. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. A flat end to the year for the 22-yeear-old from Maryland but he does not need to be rushed. Pena is 3-3 in his last six fights but has usually been stopped quickly by the prospects he has faced. December 18
East London, South Africa: Super Fly: Gideon Buthelezi (17-5) W PTS 12 Makazole Tete (14-2-1). Light: Mzonke Fana (37-9) W TKO 8 Xolani Mcotheli (13-3). Bantam: Lwandile Sityatha (21-3-1) W PTS 12 Ernesto Saulong (18-2-1). Super Fly: Zolani Tete (22-3) W PTS 12 Jether Oliva (23-4-2). Welter: Ali Funeka (37-5-3) W TKO 4 Gideon Agbosu (12-3). Super Feather: Aphiwe Mboyiya (12-2-1) W TKO 7 Abraham Osei Bonsu (10-1-1). Buthelezi vs. Tete Buthelezi takes the unbeaten tag from Tete and wins the vacant IBO title to become a three division champion. Tete had weight problems and it showed as he was tentative and after a decent first round allowed Buthelezi to boss the fight. Buthelezi simply outboxed a sluggish Tete being too quick of hand and foot and Tete never seemed to have a plan for dealing with Buthelezi’s southpaw stance. The fight was one-sided with Tete unable to raise his game despite the exhortations from his brother at ringside. His performance was so insipid that despite fighting in front of his own crowd over the late rounds it was Buthelezi who was getting all of the cheers. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and a very strange 116-113 which was way too generous to Tete. Buthelezi, 29, is one of the lower profile boxers in South Africa despite having won IBO titles at minimumweight and light flyweight and being the only fighter to have beaten Hekkie Budler. When he challenged for the WBC fly title in 2011 he was destroyed in two rounds by Adrian Hernandez and he lost his IBO super fly title with a one round kayo loss to Edrin Dapudong in 2013. He bounced back in December 2014 with a win over world rated Namibian Immanuel Naidjala, but lost a split decision to Lwandile Sityatha for the IBO super fly title in July. Tete, the brother of Zolani, was unbeaten going in but may have been weight weakened so he can bounce back from this. Fana vs. Mcotheli Former IBF super feather champ[ion Fana gets his career off the rocks with a stoppage of Mcotheli in eight rounds for the interim WBO Africa title. The 42-year-old “Rose of Khayelitsha” won the IBF title twice but on the second occasion just gave it up without making any effort to defend it. He had scored a good domestic win over Sipho Taliwe in October but last month was beaten on points by Tunisian Hedi Slimani for the ABU title in Belgium so could not afford another loss. Local fighter Mcotheli, the SABC No 4 lightweight had won his last two fights inside the distance and his other losses had been to very good opposition in Jasper Seroka and Malcolm Klassen. Sityatha vs. Saulong Sityatha wins the vacant WBO International title with unanimous decision over Filipino Saulong. The South African was shaken by a big right hook in the first round but quickly recovered and took control with a stiff, accurate jab and plenty of lateral movement leaving the aggressive Filipino swishing air. After that brief success in the first Saulong was never really in the fight and when a straight right to the jaw dropped him in the seventh it looked like the end but he survived. Saulong came out swinging in the eighth but in vain as over the remaining rounds the defensive skills and fight controlling jabs from Sityatha made it one-sided. Scores 118-109 twice and 119-109 for Sityatha. The South African gave up his IBO super fly title due to problems making the weight. He is 11-1-1 in his last 13 fights. Saulong had won the WBC International title in May and was No 13 with the WBO. Tete v. Oliva Tete saved the night for the family with a comprehensive unanimous verdict over Oliva to win the vacant WBO African title. The brilliant former undefeated IBF champion won ever round as he outboxed and out fought a good level opponent all the way. He had Oliva down from a left hook in the fourth but the Filipino has only lost inside the distance once and had taken Moruti Mthalane to a split decision for the IBO fly title last year. There was never a chance he would get anywhere near a share of the decision here as he took a one-sided beating but stayed the course although he was probably helped in that achievement by the fact that Tete was carrying a shoulder and hand injury into the fight. Scores 120-107 twice and 120-108. The 23-year-old Tete gave up his IBF title rather than defend it for a small purse and has been removed from their ratings and is rated WBC 6/WBA 12 and would give either Carlos Cuadras or Kohei Kono a tough night. This was the first time the Tete brothers have appeared together on the same show. Oliva, 28, was unbeaten in his first 18 fights until he lost to Ulises Soto for the IBF light fly title in 2011 Funeka vs. Agbosu Funeka gets another inside the distance victory as he halts Ghanaian Agbosu in four rounds. For the vacant WBO Africa title. The former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight title challenger now has 30 wins by KO/TKO. It seems incredible to think that the 37-year-old 6’1” (185cm) fighter was a flyweight when he turned pro in 1995. He had no luck in three world title fights losing a majority decision to Nate Campbell for the three titles, fought a draw with Joan Guzman for the IBF title and in the return match lost a split decision. Plenty of controversy as well of course as Campbell failed to make the weight for their fight and Guzman failed to make the weight in their second fight with Funeka also serving a ban for using a banned substance. This wins saves his career which looked over when he lost his IBO welter title being floored four times and stopped in five rounds by lowly rated fellow-South African Tsiko Mulovhedzi in July. Records show Agbosu was having his first fight since November 2013 but a problem with records from Ghana means that not all results are being reported widely. Mboyiya vs. Bonsu Former South African feather champion Mboyiya gets his fourth victory in a row with stoppage of unbeaten Ghanaian fighter Bonsu and wins the vacant WBO Africa title. The Eastern Cape southpaw now has six wins by KO/TKO. Only the second fight in two years for Bonsu. Indio, CA, USA: Feather: Joseph Diaz (19-0) W TKO 2 Hugo Partida (21-7-2). Feather: Andrew Cancio (16-3-2) W TKO 8 Rene Alvarado (23-6). Diaz vs. Partida Diaz crushes Partida inside two rounds. The unbeaten southpaw put pressure on Partida from the first bell scoring with good body shots and keeping on top of Partida who was too busy fending off Diaz’s punches to mount any offensive of his own. In the second Diaz caught Partida early with a right that had the more experienced Mexican hurt. He slammed home a series of southpaw lefts and with Partida caught on the ropes and shipping punishment the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old “JoJo” wins the vacant NABF title and although not yet rated he is ready to step up to much tougher opposition. Fourth loss by KO/TKO for Partida and third loss in a row. Cancio vs. Alvarado Cancio continues his seesaw series of fights with stoppage of Alvarado. Over the first four rounds Alvarado was doing the better work being more accurate with his punches and blocking most of those coming from Cancio as they fought toe-to-toe. In the fifth a left hook from Cancio unhinged Alvarado’s legs and he floundered around the ring with Cancio in pursuit but when Cancio was unable to capitalise on his success Alvarado was banging back at the end of the round. The intensity dropped in the sixth and seventh with Alvarado recovered and Cancio looking to have tired himself with his attacks in the fifth. In the eighth Cancio again landed a heavy left hook and again Alvarado was badly shaken and as more punches from Cancio landed the referee gave Alvarado a standing count. When the count was over Cancio again unleashed a volley of punches and the referee stepped in to save Alvarado. Cancio, 27, was having his first fight for 20 months. In a four-fight sequence he had beaten Rocky Juarez, lost to Rene Gonzalez, beaten Jerry Belmontes and then lost to Ronnie Rios so this win sees him on the top of the seesaw sequence. Nicaraguan Alvarado, 26, a former WBC Silver champion loses by KO/TKO for the first time having gone ten rounds with Diaz in July. He is also on a switchback going W,L,W,L,W,LW,L in his last 8 fights. Las Palmas, Canary Isles, Spain: Welter: Nabil Krissi (10-0) W KO 1 Ignacio Mendoza (40-12-2). Light: Jerobe Santana (10-0) W PTS 6 Kakhaber Avetisian (42-34-1). Krissi vs. Mendoza Krissi finished off experienced Mendoza in first. After shaking Mendoza with a head punch late in the end of the round he ended the fight with a body punch that put Mendoza down and he was unable to beat the count. The local “Sultan”, 31 has five sins by KO/TKO. This was supposed to be his first ten round fight. Colombian-born Mendoza who has mixed in good company in the past drops to six losses by KO/TKO and is 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Santana vs. Avetisian Santana makes it a local double with a unanimous verdict over Georgian Avetisian. Santana won every round and had Avetisian in trouble a few times but lacked the power to finish the fight early. The 23-year-old Santana gets his seventh win in 2015. For Avetisian it is his twelfth fight of the year, 5 home wins and 7 away losses December 18
Las Vegas, NV, USA: Light: Rances Barthelemy (24-0,1ND) W PTS 12 Denis Shafikov (36-2-1). Cruiser: Isaiah Thomas (15-0,1ND) ND 3 Murat Gassiev (22-0,1ND). Light: Gervonta Davis (14-0) W KO 9 Luis Sanchez (17-5-1). Middle: Brian Castano (11-0) W PTS 8 Aaron Garcia (15-5-1). Light: Mickey Bey (22-1-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Naim Nelson (12-1-1). Super Welter: Ishe Smith (28-8) W PTS 10 Tommy Rainone (24-7-1). Super Welter: Eric Walker (12-0) W PTS 8 Chris Pearson (13-1,1ND). Super Middle: Ronald Gavril (15-1) W TKO 3 Mariano Hilario (13-5) Barthelemy vs. Shafikov Barthelemy wins the vacant IBF light title with unanimous decision over Shafikov. The physical size of the boxers, Barthelemy 5’11” (180cm) and Shafikov 5’5” (165cm) dictated the tactics as Shafikov had to get inside the Cuban’s reach advantage. It is something that the little Russian is used to and he employed his usual tank-like approach rumbling forward to try to start a brawl. Over the first six rounds he had quite a bit of success as Barthelemy chose not to use those advantages but to fight the fight Shafikov wanted. That made it a close contests but Barthelemy introduced a game-changer when he opened a bad cut over Shafikov’s right eye. The cut bleed profusely with Barthelemy targeting it and Shafikov had to survive a doctor’s inspection in the eighth. Barthelemy’s confidence grew and he boxed more and by the ninth was starting to showboat winding up his punches but Shafikov kept pressurising and had a good round. Over the tenth and eleventh Barthelemy was finally using his longer reach to pop Shafikov with jabs and hooks and the Cuban danced through the last round to a clear victory but one that was closer than the scores indicated. Scores 116-112 twice and 119-109. The 29-year-old “Kid Blast” had relinquished the IBF super feather title due to problems making the weight and had established his lightweight credentials with a win over former champion Antonio DeMarco. “Djingis Khan” Shafikov loses in a world title fight for the second time having been outpointed by Miguel Vazquez for the WBC light title in February last year. He had scored three wins since then including a victory over Rustam Nugaev in an IBF eliminator. Thomas vs. Gassiev No real benefit to either Thomas or Gassiev in this technical draw. Neither fighter landed a real punch in the first which saw the taller southpaw Thomas backing around the ring with Gassiev just tracking him but not cutting him off. Gassiev was more aggressive in the second getting inside and trying to land some rights but Smith was tying him up. They both scored with some shots Gassiev with rights and Thomas with southpaw lefts. In the third Gassiev was getting past Thomas’s jab and working inside. As the round came to an end Gassiev had taken Thomas to the ropes. He landed two thudding rights to the head but he had been swinging them on the bell and the second landed late. Thomas decided he could not continue and as it was ruled that Gassiev had not intentionally hit late and there had only been three rounds completed the fight was ruled a No Decision. Russian “Iron” Gassiev, 22, looked to be getting on top at the stoppage with Thomas lacking the power to keep him out. It broke Gassiev’s run of inside the distance wins at seven. Detroit’s Thomas, 26, was coming off a good win over Jordan Shimmell. Davis vs. Sanchez Davis marches on with ninth round win over Sanchez. Davis had his manager Floyd Mayweather Jr. leaving his seat and coming to his corner in the fight shouting advice. Davis had the power and made a good start hurting Sanchez in the third but the gutsy Sanchez hung in there taking the punishment and fighting hard to stay competitive. Davis broke his resistance in the eighth with an uppercut that put Sanchez down. The Mexican got out of the round but Davis jumped in with a short left hook in the ninth putting him face down on the canvas and the fight was waived off before the count was completed. The 21-year-old “Baltimore Tank”, a former NGG and PAL champion, has 13 wins by KO/TKO and this is the first time he has had to go past the sixth round for a win. He was coming off a win over former IBF feather champion Cristobal Cruz. Sanchez had won a decision over unbeaten Adan Mares in April but was knocked out in six rounds by Michael Perez in July. Castano vs. Garcia Argentinian prospect Castano gets wide unanimous decision over Garcia. Castano was giving away height and reach but fought in his usual all-out aggression tactics. He had Garcia in bad trouble in the second but injured his right hand in the third and was only able to make limited use of it. Garcia took advantage and was more competitive but Castano’s aggression was forcing Garcia to fight toe-to-toe and left hooks to the body from Castano helped him keep control of the fight. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72. Castano, 26, a former South American Championships gold medallist and WSB fighter, is considered the best prospect in Argentina. Chicago-born Mexican Garcia, 22, had lost only one of his last eleven fights but against modest opposition. Bey vs. Nelson Bey has his first fight in 15 months and registers a wide unanimous verdict over Philadelphian Nelson. Bey was much too good for Nelson and won by the wide margins of 100-90 twice and 99-91. Bey, 32, the former undefeated IBF light champion relinquished his title rather than fight his mandatory challenger Shafikov. He has dropped out of the ratings due to inactivity so this was one fairly easy step on the way to a championship fight. Nelson, 25, was having his first fight since September 2014. Smith vs. Rainone Smith was another former champion working his way back. Rainone was a good opponent on paper but Smith was just too quick and skilful and won every round. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. The 37-year-old for IBF super welter champion is No 10 with the WBC but dropped out of the other ratings after losing a majority decision to Vanes Martirosyan in September. New Yorker Rainone has yet to lose inside the distance and his only loss in his previous nine fights was to Dusty Hernandez Harrison. Walker vs. Pearson An upset here as Walker just proved too tough for unbeaten southpaw Pearson. Walker knew he did not have the skill to match Pearson so he set a high work rate and just kept the pressure on Pearson all of the way making for an exciting scrap. Walker had Pearson in trouble in the fourth only for Pearson to survive and bang back hard in the fifth. Walker was going for quantity whilst Pearson seemed to be looking for one big punch to turn things around but it never came. Walker had another impressive round in the seventh to stall any attempt from Pearson to stage a strong finish and Walker was a clear winner. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74 all for Walker. A huge contrast in how these two boxers got where they are. Pearson came through the amateur ranks winning various titles including the US national Championships and a spell in the WSB. Walker 32, leaned to box in prison during a 13 year sentence which saw him inside from the age of 16 to 29 and been very much under the radar. This was both his first eight round fight and a big step up in the level of opponent. Pearson, 25, can learn from this and come again. Gavril vs. Hilario Gavril too young and strong for Dominican-born Hilario. Gavril took the first two rounds before cornering Hilario in the third and putting him down with a quick combination rounded off with a body punch and the referee stopped the fight. The 29-yeart-old Romanian gets his eleventh win by KO/TKO and his fourth victory since losing his unbeaten record to Elvin Ayala in March. Spanish-based Hilario, a former EU champion, has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Malvern, Australia: Super Bantam: Jason Moloney (5-0) W TKO 6 Markquil Salvana (9-1). Bantam: Anthony Maloney (5-0) W TKO 4 Roberto Lerio (16-23-1). Moloney vs. Salvana Good night for the Moloney twins as they both collect titles. Jason used his jab to control the fight and it also had the unbeaten Filipino’s right eye gradually closing. By the end of the fifth round Salvana was fighting with his vision severely restricted and his corner retired him. Jason, 24, wins the vacant WBA Oceania title and gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. He is rated No 3 by the ANBF and was a quarter-finalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Salvana, 19, needs more experience but can only improve. Maloney vs. Lerio Andrew wins the vacant Australian title with fourth round stoppage of experienced former Australian champion Lerio. Third win by KO/TKO for Andrew who was a gold medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Now six losses in a row for Australian-based Filipino Lerio Cartagena, Colombia: Feather: Miguel Marriaga (22-1) W TKO 3 Luis Zambrano (10-8,1ND). Super Bantam: Luis Melendez (45-10-1) W TKO 4 Yurley Barrios (0-5). Marriaga vs. Zambrano Easy win for Marriaga. He spent two rounds just boxing with Zambrano but when he let his punches go in the third a body punch followed by a right to the head ended the fight. The 29-year-old local “Scorpion” gets his second victory since losing to Nicholas Walters for the WBA feather title in June. Fellow-Colombian Zambrano now has six losses in a row by KO/TKO. Melendez vs. Barrios Disgraceful match sees Melendez halt poor Barrios in the fourth. The 36-year-old former WBA super fly and IBO bantam challenger has won 11of his last 12 fight and there is a mixture of matches as bad as this and some much more competitive. Barrios now has 4 losses by KO/TKO. Le Mans, France: Middle: Patrice Sou Toke (22-4) W PTS 12 Nordine Arik (14-4-2). Visitor Toke wins vacant ABU and WBC Francophone titles with unanimous decision over Le Mans–based Moroccan fighter Arik. In a close fight a knockdown scored by a Toke left uppercut in the fourth which put Arik down heavily for the first time in his career made the difference. Scores 114-111 twice and 113-111 all for Toke who finally wins the ABU title at his third attempt. Arik, 34, a Frenchman based in Qatar was trying to rebound from a split decision loss to Damien Martin for the national title. Ratingen, Germany: Light Heavy: Avni Yildrim (8-0) W KO 1 Janne Forsman (21-3). Welter: Selcuk Aydin (28-3) W RTD 5 Nodar Robakidze (15-16-3). Yildrim vs. Forsman Yildrim destroys Finn Forsman inside a round. After some brief sparring Yildrim dug a left hook into Forsman’s side and the Finn went down in agony writhing on the canvas and the referee just waived the fight off. Turk Yildrim, 24, wins the WBC Eurasia Pacific title and retains his WBC International Silver title. He goes to 5 wins by KO/TKO and is No 14 with the WBC. Forsman was halted in two rounds by Brit Ovill McKenzie but that was his only loss in his last 10 fights. Aydin vs. Robakidze Aydin gets win on his first bout for eleven months. From the outset he was forcing the young Georgian onto the back foot with a stiff jab. Robakidze tried to counter when he could but he did not have the power to push Aydin back. In the second Aydin was using hooks and uppercuts on the inside and tracking the retreating Robakidze around the ring fighting at a walking pace. Robakidze was trying to come forward in the third and stay off the ropes and as a result did a bit better. Aydin was back in control in the fourth thumping left hooks to the body and thudding rights but ended the round with a small cut on his right eyelid. The fifth was brutal as Aydin just marched Robakidze around the ring landing left hooks to the body and clubbing head punches and Robakidze retired at the end of the round. First fight for the former WBC Silver champion since losing in eleven round against Viktor Postol in April last year. Robakidze, 21, showed real guts but gets his seventh loss by KO/TKO. Mexicali, Mexico: Super Bantam: Hanzel Martinez (23-2) W KO 4 Jose Silveria (16-19). Martinez overcomes a bad start to kayo Silveria in a short war. In the first round Silveria went on the attack and had Martinez on the back foot and to add to Martinez’s problems a clash of heads saw Martinez suffer a bad cut. In the second a right from Martinez put Silveria down only for Silveria to get up and score a knockdown of his own and when the eight count was completed Martinez was again hurt and only just survived to the bell. In the third Martinez took over with a series of body punches and in the fourth a combination put Silveria down and he could not beat the count. The 24-year-old “Rude Boy” from Tijuana won his first 19 fights before losing to Alejandro Gonzalez (17-0-2) in 2013 and his second loss was on points against Alexis Santiago in 2014. This is his third win since then and win No 18 by KO/TKO. Silveria, 36, has now lost 10 of his last 11 fights Budva, Montenegro: Super Middle: Nikola Sjekloca (30-4) W KO 1 Ivan Jukic (22-7). Serb-born local Sjekloca gets this one over early. A right hook to the head followed by a body punch put Jukic down and he did not beat the count. The 37-year-old Sjekloca won his first 25 fights but is 4-4-1 in his last nine including a loss to Sakio Bika in a WBC eliminator and defeats against Arthur Abraham, Callum Smith and unbeaten Tyrone Zeuge. Croatian Jukic, 34, now has six losses by KO/TKO including one round blowouts by both Chris Eubank Jr and Frank Buglioni. Tlalinepantla, Mexico: Light: Sergio Torres (26-8-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Ivan Lopez (5-9). Torres gets majority decision but is a given a tougher than expected fight by less experienced Lopez. This was a typical second level Mexican fight with both fighters parking their defence in the corner and just fighting hard for round after round. Torres was looking to wear Lopez down with straight lefts and left hooks to the body. Lopez surprised by taking the punishment and just firing back hard in every round keeping the verdict in the balance to the last bell. Scores 96-93 and 96-95 for Torres and 95-95. The 28-year-old “Tama” a former interim WBC Fecarbox champion, is 6-2 in his last 8 fights. Lopez, having his first ten round fight put on a good show. Uitenhage, South Africa: Minimum: Siphosethu Ncisane (8-1 W KO 11 Ndikho Magadaza (6-7). Local fighter Ncisane wins the vacant World Boxing Federation International title with late stoppage of Magadaza. The fight was close until Ncisane’s power brought the end. Fifth win by KO/TKO for Ncisane who jumped straight from six round fights to twelve. He was rated No 6 by the SABC. “Mini Cooper” Magadaza was having his first fight since September last year. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his latest weekly review. Unfortunately given the huge size of it we have had to post it in several parts
December 17 Paris, France: Super Welter: Cedric Vitu (43-2) W PTS 12 Roberto Santos (23-8-3). Super Light: Franck Petitjean (15-4-3) W PTS 10 Renald Garrido (15-12-1). Light: Marvin Petit (17-1-1) W PTS 10 Sylvain Chapelle (15-22-2). Cruiser: Arsen Goulamirian (13-0) W TKO 6 Isossa Mondo (6-9). Vitu vs. Santos Vitu retains the European title with a majority verdict over Spaniard Santos. The pattern of the fight was decided by the styles of the fighters. Southpaw Vitu had the better boxing skills and Santos had an all-out aggressive approach. Vitu was able to score with his jab and block punches from Santos but it was always close. Santos got through with some good punches in the second and despite his skills Vitu lacked the punch to keep Santos out for long. As long as Vitu stayed off the ropes and worked in centre ring he was winning the fight but Santos was constantly marching in behind a high guard and working inside. Vitu kept out of trouble long enough and was the more accurate puncher doing just enough to deserve the decision. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-115. Vitu, 30, was making the first defence of the title he won with an impressive eleventh round stoppage of previously unbeaten Orlando Fiordigiglio in June. He lost on a spliot decision against Sergey Rabchenko for the same European title in 2012, his only loss in his last 26 fights. He is rated IBF 11(10)/WBC 12. Santos, 34, “The Benidorm Tiger”, a former Spanish super middle and EU middle champion had added the EU super welter title with a win over Frenchman Zakaria Attou in April. Petitjean vs. Garrido Petitjean makes it three defences of his French title and by coincidence his third win over Garrido. No time for study here as being used to each other’s style they started straight in with all-out war which suited Garrido. Southpaw Petitjean had his jab working in the second and despite constant pressure from Garrido he was picking up points with his mobility and smart boxing. Over the late rounds as Petitjean tired Garrido was able to take him to the ropes more but never quite able to do enough to catch up on the lead Petitjean’s skills had built. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Petitjean. The 27-year-old Petitjean is 4-0-1 in his last 5 fights and had previously outpointed Garrido over four and six rounds. He is domestic level but will struggle if he moves up. “Le Lion” Garrido had beaten Brit Bradley Saunders on a disqualification in September but is now 4-5 in his last 9 fights. Petit vs. Chapelle Petit wins the vacant French title with unanimous decision over experienced Chapelle. Petit had height and reach over Chapelle but was often forced to stand and trade. Petit was able to use his jab to stem Chapelle’s attacks over the early rounds and and scored with hard left hooks in every round. Chapelle had a good seventh round as he landed with clean punches from both hands but Petit boxed his way to a convincing win but it was closer than the decision he scored over Chapelle in the final of the French Boxing League in 2012. Scores 98-92 twice and 97-93. Petit, 24, becomes French champ[ion for the second time. He lost his title to Yvon Mendy on a close decision in 2013 with two judges giving the decision to Mendy 96-94 which looks a good performance in view of Mendy’ s win over Luke Campbell. Chapelle, 29, is 1-6 in his last 7 fights but the opposition has been tough. This is his fourth unsuccessful attempt to win a French title. Goulamirian vs. Mondo Goulamirian uses his superior strength and punch to wear down game Mondo. Goulamirian was forcing the fight but Mondo showed good defensive skills. Goulamirian was winning the rounds with his aggression and pressure and had Mondo under fire in the sixth when the referee stopped the fight but it was a disputed stoppage. The 28-year-old Armenian-born “Fire” Goulamirian now has 7 wins by KO/TKO. Mondo, 36, is 2-4 in his last 6 fights. Panama City, Panama: Super Welter: Shane Mosley (49-9-1,1ND) W TKO 10 Patrick Lopez (23-6). Super Fly: Luis Concepcion (34-4) W PTS 12 Herman Marquez (39-7-1). Super Feather: Jezreel Corrales (19-1,1ND) W RTD 11 Juan Antonio Rodriguez (28-6). Super Bantam: Liborio Solis (23-3-1) W PTS 9 Jonathan Baat (30-7-4). Feather: Bryan De Gracia (17-0-1) W PTS 9 Alejandro Palmero (7-3-1). Mosley vs. Lopez Mosley gets stoppage in the last round but shows his age. In the first round a clash of heads had Mosley complaining to the referee and dabbing at a cut over his right eye. Mosley was pressing the fight throwing power punches with southpaw Lopez showing some slick skills and good upper body movement but their heads clashed again before the end of the round. In the second the referee stopped the action to have the doctor examine Mosley’s injury but the fight continued with Mosley probably worried about the cut firing a salvo of punches and flooring Lopez with a left hook. Lopez was up immediately but was shaken badly again just as the round ended. In the third and fourth Lopez started to get into the fight scoring with long straight lefts as Mosley already looked to be tiring and was getting caught with punches he would have blocked at his peak. Mosley showed he still has the punch as he shook Lopez again at the end of the fifth. They action slowed in the sixth but the seventh, eighth and most of the ninth were won by Lopez. He was getting through with his right jab and long lefts and had Mosley backing up and looking tired. Just before the bell to end the ninth Mosley landed two big rights but Lopez, although shaken, took them well. Lopez made the better start to the tenth sending Mosley staggering back with a right to the top of his head and again he had Mosley backing up. The beginning of the end was a short left to the chin inside which sent Lopez staggering back into a corner and down. He was up quickly and Mosley pounced on him landing a series of head punches which put Lopez down on his knees. He was up quickly but a left hook again floored him. He made it to his feet and the referee had a long look at him making him walk out of the corner and along the ropes before wiping his gloves but another attack from Mosley saw Lopez slump to the canvas for the fourth time and the fight was waived off. The 44-year-old former world champion shows he still has a punch as he moves to 41 wins by KO/TKO. Mosley had one fight in 2011, one in 2012, 2 in 2013, was inactive in 2014 and just had the one fight this year in August when he beat Ricardo Mayorga. He may have power but he was slow and looked vulnerable. Venezuelan Lopez, 37, was having only his second fight in three years and his first for 13 months but once he was rolling he was in this one until he got nailed. Concepcion vs. Marquez Home fighter Concepcion gets wide unanimous decision over Marquez for a measure of revenge for two stoppage losses. The was to be a defence of his interim WBA title but Marquez failed to make the contract weight and it went downhill for him from then. Although both started cautiously it was a one-sided fight with Marquez doing well to last the distance. Concepcion was in command from the start and won every round. He floored Marquez in the fifth but the bell came to the Mexican’s rescue. Marquez had rocky spells in other rounds but lasted the distance. Scores 120-107 twice and 120-109. The 30-year-old “Nica” lost twice inside the distance to Marquez in WBA flyweight title fights, the first a wild eleventh round slug fest and the second saw Concepcion down three times and out inside a round. so sweet revenge. He feels he has added some skills to his power and is looking for a fight with Kohei Kono for the full WBA title. Marquez, 27, said he had only nine days notice for the fight and thought they should clash for a fourth time but recent inside the distance losses to Giovanni Segura, McJoe Arroyo and Juan Francisco Estrada shows he may no longer be the force he was. Corrales vs. Rodriguez Corrales continues to impress and looks to be the coming fighter in Panama as he wins the interim WBA title. His skills, hand speed, accurate combinations and solid defence meant that Mexican Rodriguez was never in with a chance in this all-southpaw contest. Even though not winning any rounds Rodriguez was competitive until the fourth round and then was gradually beaten down and retired at the end of the eleventh round. The 24-year-old “El Invisible” is a highly skilled fighter with great moves and great hand speed. He lost his second pro fight and is 18-0 with one No Decision. The ND was a fight he won but the ND came about because he tested positive for Marijuana. Rodriguez, 27, had lost just 2 of his last 14 fights on points to Billy Dib and Javier Fortuna, and had wins over Marco Antonio Lopez (22-1) and Yenifel Vicente (15-1-2). Corrales is one to watch. Solis vs. Baat Former undefeated WBA super fly champion Solis gets wide unanimous decision over Japan-based Filipino Baat. Both fighters were giving their best but the dominance of Solis meant it did not really spark and the crowd were disappointed in the match. Scores 90-81, 89-82 and 89-83 for Solis who wins the vacant WBA Fedecaribe title. Now 13 wins in a row for 33-year-old Solis. His term as WBA super fly champion came to an end in 2013 when he beat IBF champion Daiki Kameda in what was to be a unification match but fell apart when Solis failed to make the weight. He is WBA No 3 and bantam looking for a fight with either full champion Juan Carlos Payano or secondary title holder Jamie McDonnell. Southpaw Baat, 35, was 5-1-1 in his last 7 fights with the loss being to former IBF super fly champion Rodrigo Guerrero. De Gracia vs. Palmero As far as Panamanian prospects are concerned De Gracia is next in line behind Corrales. The Panamanian champion comprehensively outpointed Mexican Palmero winning a wide unanimous decision and retained his WBA Fedecaribe title. The 22-year-old De Gracia was held to a draw in his first pro fight so now has a 17 bout winning streak including a sixth round kayo of former world title challenger Manuel Vides and is rated WBA No 9. Scores 90-81 twice and 90-82. Palermo really just a Mexican prelim fighter. The Past Week In Action 2 December 2015
November 25 Hialeah, FL, USA: Super Welter: Erislandy Lara (22-2-2) W TKO 3 Jan Zavcek (35-4). Heavy: John Wesley Nofire (19-0) W TKO 4 Yasmany Consegura (17-3). Middle: Daquan Arnett (15-1) W TKO 1 Yudel Johnson (17-3).Bantam: Emmanuel Rodriguez (14-0) W TKO 7 Eliecer Aquino (17-2-1). Lara vs. Zavcek Lara retains his secondary WBA and his IBO titles with injury stoppage of Zavcek. Both fighters were probing with their jabs with Zavcek just a little livelier but a punch from Lara had him stumbling back into the ropes and Lara unleashed a flurry of punches some got through some were blocked. Zavcek got back into centre ring and there were just spasmodic exchanges with Lara quicker. The controlling punch in the second round was the southpaw straight left of Lara, He constantly slotted it through the centre of Zavcek’s guard and with just a few seconds remaining in the round another of those lefts sent Zavcek stumbling back across the ring but the bell went before Lara could add to his success. In the third Lara drove Zavcek to the ropes with a left and scored with a couple of quick combinations. A left snapped back Zavcek’s head and when he came forward to get off the ropes he suddenly pulled away indicating an injury to his right neck/shoulder. He indicated he could not continue and looked in some pain and the fight was stopped. The 32-year-old Lara looked quick and slick and was really just getting into his stride at the stoppage. “The American Dream” lost a split decision to Saul Alvarez in July 2014 when neither of them held a title but his style is one that Alvarez would probably prefer to avoid so Lara may have to look elsewhere for a big fight. Former IBF welter champion Zavcek, 39, is not as quick as he was and was getting a boxing lesson but the loss was unfortunate. Nofire vs. Consegura Practically unknown Nofire did not live up to his name as he forced Consegura out of the fight at the end of the third round. The big Oklahoman, 6’6” (198cm) had plenty of height and reach over the 6’1” (188cm) Cuban and Consegura never really had a workable game plan to overcome this. Nofire was not snapping the jab but even then Consegura was trying to rush in and then not really doing much inside which made it an untidy fight for two rounds. In the third Nofire was finally countering Consegura effectively and making him pay for his reckless rushes. Near the end of the round he shook Consegura badly and belaboured him in a corner until the bell saved the Cuban and his corner pulled him out of the fight. The 29-year-old Nofire was a Regional Golden Gloves champion and competed at the 2010 National Championships but was eliminated in the preliminaries. Since turning pro he has been fighting in the boxing backwoods against the usual suspect and in theory this was a stiff test but he gets win No 15 by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. Consegura, 31, has suddenly hit the skids. After 17 wins in a row he now has three losses by KO/TKO in succession. The other two loses were a step up for Consegura in Dominic Breazeale and Artur Szpilka but this loss to Nofire was a very disappointing performance, Arnett vs. Johnson This one definitely an upset as Cuban Johnson had been rebuilding after losing his world rating after a defeat against Willie Nelson back in 2012 and then dropping a decision to Jorge Cota in August this year. Arnett floored Johnson early then kept up the pressure. He backed the Cuban into a corner and landed a couple of punches. Johnson tried to storm out of the corner and landed a decent left hook but two rights put the Cuban down and the fight was over. Big win for the 23-year-old from Winter Park as he makes it 9 victories by KO/TKO.. His only loss was on points against then unbeaten Eddie Gomez in January 2014 and this is his fourth win since then. As an amateur he was US Junior champion, and US National bronze medal winner. The danger signs were there for Johnson in the Cota fight as Cota had him down twice. Rodriguez vs. Aquino Rodriguez displays speed, skill and power in stoppage of Aquino. These two went at it hard from the first both showing good skills and throwing bombs to head and body. They looked well-matched but Rodriguez was the quicker and harder puncher throwing and landing more than Aquino. Neither was bothering about defence and they both stood in the pocket and were both landing and absorbing heavy punches to head and body. Rodriguez showed blistering hand speed particularly with his left hooks to the body. The action was red hot in the third when suddenly Rodriguez nailed Aquino with a thunderous right to the chin. He was up at five and ready to continue after the mandatory count. Rodriguez let go punch after punch and a still shaky Aquino was swinging wildly to ride out the storm to the bell. Rodriguez continued his impressive two-handed attacks in the sixth and seventh with Aquino still trying to stand and trade and getting the worst of things. In the seventh Aquino lost his gumshield and was deducted a point. Rodriguez landed a hard right hook to the head and slammed home a left jab that had Aquino staggering back. He came forward trying to punch his way out of trouble and got Rodriguez’s attention with a sharp right uppercut. He was in trouble again from a right from Rodriguez and then shaken by a series of hooks and uppercuts which sent him staggering back again and the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old Puerto Rican looks class. He retains his WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino titles, makes it 5 wins in a row inside the distance and his 11th in total. The brilliant young prospect won a god medal at the World Youth Olympics and a silver at the World Youth Championships both in 2010 however by the end of that year it looked as though his boxing days were over. He was involved in a road accident that resulted in his suffering second degree burns over 66% of his body but he fought back from that and despite some setbacks he was back in competition by September 2011. Dominican Aquino, 28, had an 18 bout unbeaten run snapped when he lost to unbeaten Adam Lopez in July so now it is two losses on the bounce. Hammond, IN, USA: Super Middle: Mike Jimenez (19-1,1ND) W KO 1 Dezi Ford (24-30-2). Super Light: Ed Brown (15-0) W TKO 3 Gilbert Venegas (12-20-4.1ND). Light: John Joe Nevin (7-0) W PTS 6 Greg Coverson (3-15-3). Jimenez vs. Ford It took only 92 seconds for Jimenez to dispose of poor Ford who should never have been allowed in the ring. A left hook to the body from Jimenez saw Ford go down and he could not get up. “Hollywood” Jimenez goes to 13 wins by KO/TKO. The only loss for the 28-year-old from Chicago was a stoppage against Jesse Hart in May and this is his second win since then. He was stopped in seven rounds by Derrick Findley in 2013 but Findley tested positive for a banned substance. Ford was a late substitute when Ghanaian Thomas Awimbono could not get a visa but even as a late substitute letting Ford into the ring was a disgrace. Ford is 47-years-old and his last fight was in October 2010 when he was also beaten inside a round and that 2010 loss was his fifteenth in a row. Brown vs. Venegas “Bad Boy” Brown pads his record with another inside the distance win. The Chicago prospect made a slow start but exploded in the third first stunning and then flooring Venegas with big rights. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for 24-year-old Brown who was a quarter-finalist at both the 2010 and 2011 NGG’s.Venegas,38, drops to 6 losses by KO/TKO and 11 losses in a row. Nevin vs. Coverson Nevin builds a few more rounds into his short pro career as Coverson takes him the full six episodes. In his second fight in eleven days the former star of Irish amateur boxing found Coverson an easy fight but a rough fighter. Nevin worked behind his jab and Coverson was an easy target for body punches but despite flooring Coverson in the fourth round Nevin could not put the gutsy Detroit fighter away. As with Emmanuel Rodriguez Nevin had to overcome serious injury having both legs broken in an attack on him at his home last year. The 26-year-old from Mullingar is yet another outstanding amateur to have turned pro. He won a gold medal at the European Union Championships, a silver medal at the European Championships, two bronze medals at World Championships, competed at the 2008 Olympics and at the 2012 Olympics beat Oscar Valdez and Cuban Lorenzo Alvarez but lost in the final to Luke Campbell. Southpaw Coverson, 36, is the son of Greg “Candy man” Coverson who fought from 1976 to 1983 and finished with a 33-2 record. Coverson Senior won his first 32 fights but lost on points to Hector Camacho and was stopped by Howard Davis Jr and retired. The son is nowhere as good as his dad was. Boston, MA,USA: Cruiser: Chris Traietti (20-3) W TKO 1 Adam Collins (13-11,1ND). Traietti continues his run of inside the distance as he blows away Collins in the first round. The local fighter put Collins down with a right to the head. When Collins got up and the action continued another right put Collins down for the second time and Traietti ended it with a left hook flooring Collins for the third time. The 30-year-old Traietti was beaten in two rounds by Edwin Rodriguez in 2011 but has rebounded with 10 wins in a row. Collins, 39 , has lost 9 by KO/TKO. Erie, PA, USA: Bantam: Antonio Nieves (15-0-1 W KO 1 Lorenzo Trejo (35-32-1) “Carita” Nieves fed an easy one in Mexican veteran Trejo. Nieves was just too quick for Trejo who after trying a few punches and tasting some incoming from Nieves went into survival mode. That did not save him as a body punch from Nieves put him down. The Mexican seemed to have injured his arm and just sat out the count. Cleveland’s Nieves now has 7 wins by KO/TKO. The 28-year-old won bronze medals at the NGG’s and the US National Championships and then a silver at the NGG’s but he lost out at the US Olympic Trials. Trejo, 38, a 20 year pro and a former challenger for the WBC Minimum and Light fly titles, now has 19 losses by KO/TKO. November 27 Recero, Argentina: Super Welter: Marcelo E Coceres (19-0-1) W TKO 1 Cesar H Velez (18-10-1). This one was a mismatch. Coceres was almost a head taller than Velez and had a big edge in reach. As Velez tried to come forward Coceres was knocking him back with a stiff jab. Velez managed to land a left hook but the a right from Coceres drove him to the ropes and Coceres forced him around the ring with hooks and uppercuts. Coceres threw a series of punches with Velez bending in half to escape. The referee gave Velez a warning for ducking too low and as the fight restarted Velez walked onto a jab and went down he claimed he had slipped but was given a count. Coceres took Velez to the ropes and unloaded left hooks and overhand rights and the referee stepped in and gave Velez a standing count. When the count was completed Coceres again forced Velez to the ropes and landed 4 or 5 rights. The referee jumped in to stop the fight just as Velez was throwing a counter and Velez protested the stoppage. The 24-year-old “El Terrible”, the FAB No 3, has 11 wins by KO/TKO and this was his fourth defence of his IBF Latino title and had won 7 of his last 9 fights inside the distance. Now 6 losses by KO/TKO for Velez. Sydney, Australia: Super Welter: Ahmed Dib (17-0) W PTS 8 Mark Dalby (4-10). Light: Billel Dib (18-1) W KO 4 Sayan (14-17). Light: Luke Jackson (10-0) W TKO 6 Thongchai (6-6). Dib vs. Dalby Dib returns to action with comfortable points victory over fellow-Australian Dalby. The tall 25-year-old member of the boxing family won on scores of 80-72 twice and 78-74. Only the second fight this year for the ANBF No 5. Now 6 losses on the bounce for 37-year-old Dalby. Dib vs. Sayan A family double here as brother Billel knocks out poor Thai opponent Sayan in four rounds. The 26-year-old ANBF No 3 has won his last 9 fights and reversed the only loss on his record. Sayan is 2-15 in his last 17 fights including 8 losses by KO/TKO in his last 9 so a very predictable result. Another member of the Dib family made his pro debut on the show with a win. Jackson vs. Thongchai Australian champion Jackson halts another poor Thai opponent in six rounds. This was the first southpaw opponent Jackson has faced since coming out of the amateurs. The 2012 Olympian has 5 wins by KO/TKO. Thongchai has lost 5 of his last 6 fights with all of the losses by KO/TKO so another poor match. Bangkok, Thailand: Fly: Inthanon (28-7-1) W KO 7 Ichal Tobida (12-18). Over the first three rounds the visitor was under heavy pressure but kept banging back in a competitive contest. Inthanon was going to the body more over the next three rounds and put Tobida on the floor in the sixth. Tobida got up and survived to the bell but only briefly as in the seventh Inthanon floored Tobida heavily and the fight was called off without a count being needed. Now 17 wins by KO/TKO for the 28-year-old southpaw who is 8-0-1 in his last 9 fights. Indonesian Tobida has lost 7 of his last 8 fights, 6 by KO/TKO. Scanndicci, Italy: Super Feather: Mario Pisanti (16-2-1) W PTS 10 Angelo Ardito (8-5-2). Super Welter: Orlando Fiordigiglio (23-1) W TKO 2 Istvan Kiss (22-22). Pisanti vs. Ardito Pisanti makes successful first defence of his National title with split decision over Ardito. It was not an inspiring fight with too much holding and too little punching. Ardito was trying to force the fight but southpaw Pisanti was blunting Ardito’s attacks with a sound defence, despite sometimes dropping his hands to tease Ardito and he also showed better stamina. Ardito managed to get close over the middle rounds but Pisanti had paced the fight well and tied-up the decision with a strong finish. Scores 96-94 and 96-95 to Pisanti and 96-94 for Ardito. Pisanti had lost his Italian feather title in October last year, his only loss in his last 13 fights, but then collected the super feather title in July. Ardito, 37, a former Italian champion, was 3-0-1 in his last four fights. Fiordigiglio vs. Kiss Fiordigiglio gets second round win over late notice Hungarian. After a quiet first round Fiordigiglio landed a thunderous right uppercut that put Kiss down heavily. He did well to make it to his feet but was still unsteady at the end of the standing count and the fight was stopped. Second win for 31-year-old Fiordigiglio, since losing on an eleventh round stoppage against Frenchman Cedric Vitu for the vacant European title In June. He is a former European Union and WBC International champion,. Kiss, 23, has lost 13 times by KO/TKO. Mexico City, Mexico: Fly: Ariel Guzman (10-3-3) W PTS 8 Armando Torres (21-16). Guzman wins on unanimous decision in minor upset. This was a battle of exchanges and clashes from the start. Guzman had a slight edge but after heads banged together in the early action Guzman had a cut by his left eyebrow. When heads clashed again in the third the referee deducted a point from Torres. They battled toe-to-toe in the fifth with Guzman flooring Torres with a body punch and then Torres putting Guzman down with a right to the head. Over the last three rounds Guzman decided to box and from then he was more accurate and Torres missed more. Scores 79-72, 79-73 and 79-74 all for Guzman. The winner is now 2-2-2 in his last 6 fights. Torres, the nephew of former WBC champion German, has lost his last 4 fights. Cancun, Mexico: Super Light: Roberto Ortiz (33-1-1) W KO 9 Nestor Garcia (21-10). Super Bantam: Hairon Socarras (14-0-2) DREW 8 Marco Chable (6-13-3). Super Feather: Miguel Angel Gonzalez (19-2) W PTS 8 Jesus Quintero (16-12-3). Light: Robert Manzanarez (32-1) W TKO 8 Cristian Lopez (16-6-1) Ortiz vs. Garcia Ortiz gets his second win in 2015 with stoppage of game Garcia. Ortiz had the power and experience and landed heavy punches in each round frequently having Garcia in trouble. Garcia took the punishment and stayed in the fight willing to trade. Finally in the ninth a body punch from Ortiz had Garcia in too much pain to continue and the fight was stopped. The 29-year-old “Massa” from Torreon goes to 25 wins by KO/TKO. He had his unbeaten streak broken at 32 with a second round stoppage loss to Lucas Matthysse in September. Garcia is 6-6 in his last 12 fights. Socarras vs. Chable Good fight but poor result for Cuban Socarras. There was plenty of action in every round with both trading and bringing the crowd to its feet time and again. In the end the judges could not separate them and the fight ended in a draw. Socarras,22, remains unbeaten but has a 10 bout winning streak ended but disappointing that he could not get a win over Chable who came in at short notice and was 2-13-1 in his last 16 fights. Gonzalez vs. Quintero Gonzalez gets win but has to climb off the floor. Gonzalez was cruising to victory but in the third found himself on the floor from a left cross. He got up survived the round and was again the boss over remaining five round and took the unanimous decision. The 20-year-old “Miguelito” has lost only one of his last 9 fights and that was a split decision against Abner Mares in December. This is his third win since then. Quintero also a late entrant is 1-4-1 in his last six fights. Manzanarez vs. Lopez Manzanarez extends his current run of wins to 10 with stoppage of Lopez. The fight was uninspired with Manzanarez on his way to a routine points victory when a straight left in the eighth looked to have seriously damaged Lopez’s nose and he was unable to continue. Still only 20, “Tito” has already been fighting for more than five years and has 26 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to Alejandro Barrera in 2012 but has won 10 in a row since then, 8 by KO/TKO, including a revenge win by knockout over Barrera. “Poison” Lopez was having only his second fight in almost four years and gets his third loss by KO/TKO. Rzeszow, Poland: Welter: Przemyslaw Runowski (10-0) W PTS 10 Felix Lora (18-20-5). Light Heavy: Marek Matyja (11-0) W PTS 8 Bartlomiej Grafka (15-19-1). Cruiser: Michal Cieslak (11-0) W TKO 2 Hamza Wandera (18-9-3,1ND). Runowski vs. Lora Runowski gets split decision over unpredictable Lora. Over the early rounds Lora picked up the points with a good work rate and more accurate punching. From the half way mark Runowski was on top as Lora tired and the Pole was able to score well with rights over Lora’s low left. Lora kept pressing but Runowski showed a tight defence and although not throwing as many punches was more accurate and seemed to have done enough to be a clear winner but he had to settle for the split verdict. Scores 98-92 and 97-93 for Runowski and 97-95 for Lora. The 21-year-old Pole was in his second ten round fight and this was a good leaning fight. Spanish-based Dominican Lora a former WBO European champion has lost his last nine fights but has scored a couple of upsets in other visits to Poland. Matyja vs. Grafka Matyja wins unanimous decision over fellow-Pole Grafka in a good, competitive fight. Matyja was using his better skills and hand speed with Grafka really looking to win with one big punch. Matyja was working his trade mark left hook to the body with Grafka slinging hooks and always dangerous but apart from a hard right in the last round inaccurate. It later turned out that Matyja had injured his right hand early in the fight so it was a good performance. Scores 78-74 twice and 78-75. Fourth win in the year for the 24-year-old Matyja. Despite his negative record the 27-year-old Grafka was coming off a useful points win over Pawel Glazewski (23-4). Cieslak vs. Wandera Cieslak has no trouble polishing off Wandera. The unbeaten Pole had Wandera hurt with a right in the first with the bell going before he could finish the job. In the second Cieslak landed a series of body punches which quickly saw Wandera wilt and he was trapped on the ropes and taking punishment when his corner threw the towel into the ring to save their man. The 26-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Cieslak, twice a silver medallist at the Polish Championships, has won 7 of his last 8 fights by KO/TKO. Ugandan southpaw Wandera was having his first fight for 11 months and only his second fight in over two years. He has six losses by KO/TKO. Barnaul, Russia: Super Middle: Dmitry Sukhotsky (23-4) W PTS 12 Apti Ustarkhanov (11-2-2). Super Welter: Pavel Mamontov (11-2-1) W PTS 10 Oscar Roberto Medina (26-12-2). Sukhotsky vs. Ustarkhanov Home town fighter Sukhotsky gets win on the basis of a late knockdown. It was a hard, close fight with the result in the balance until the eleventh when Sukhotsky floored Ustarkhanov at a time when the visitor was ahead on two cards. Scores 116-111 and 114-113 for Sukhotsky and 116-111 for Ustarkhanov. The 34-year-old “Hunter” wins the WBC Russian and Slovenian title. He lost a points decision to Juergen Braehmer for the WBO light heavy title in 2009 and was knocked out in two rounds by Adonis Stevenson in a challenge for the WBC light heavy title in December 2014. In August he lost an upset decision to Dilmurod Satybaldiev (8-1) so needed to win this one. Chechen Ustarkhanov,25 was going twelve rounds for the first time. He was 9-0-1 in his last 10 fights. Mamontov vs. Medina Mamontov gets a split decision over Argentinian Medina. These two had fought each other in November last year and although Mamontov got the unanimous decision it was a close fight and this ended the same way. Scores 98-92 and 96-94 for Mamontov and 97-93 for Medina who looked unlucky. Since losing his first pro fight the 32-year-old local fighter has gone unbeaten with 11 wins and 2 draws. Moreno, 34, had been living in Siberia and fighting in Russia since his loss Mamontov and is 2-5 in his 7 fights this year. And naturally he thinks they need a third fight to settle things. Khayelitsha, South Africa: Light Fly: Mfundo Gwayana (19-9-3) W PTS 12 Dalisizwe Komani (14-7-1). Super Welter: Nkululeko Mhlongo (17-4) W PTS 12 Christiano Ndombassy. Gwayana vs. Komani Southpaw Gwayana wins the vacant WBFed Inter-Continental title with unanimous decision over fellow-countryman Komani. In an eventful scrap which saw both fighters on the floor Gwayana won on scores of 116-113, 115-110 and 116-109. Former South African light flyweight champion Gwayana, a 16 year career veteran, needed the win after losing 3 of his 4 previous fights. Komani had won 9 of his last 10 fights but had never gone twelve rounds before Mhlongo vs. Ndombassy Mhlongo adds the interim WBA Pan Pacific title to his collection with a unanimous decision over Angolan novice Ndombassy. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Mhlongo is the South African and WBFed Inter-Continental champion and has won 6 of his last 7 fights. Not enough reliable information on Ndombassy to comment. Santa Ponsa, Baleares, Spain: Super Welter: Jose Del Rio (19-6) W KO 1 Alan Casillas (5-10). Former Spanish welter champion Del Rio ends this one quickly. The Spaniard came out throwing hard combinations. Casillas tried to trade but was out-gunned, floored and counted out, First fight for Palma fighter Del Rio since being kayoed in two rounds by Italian Orlando Fiordigiglio in a fight for the European Union title in January. Six losses in a row for Spanish-based Mexican Casillas. East London, South Africa: Feather: Macbute Sinyabi (27-4) W PTS 12 Oscar Chauke (36-11-3). Sinyabi vs. Chauke In a clash of former South African super bantamweight champions Sinyabi collected Chauke’s national featherweight title with a points victory. It is Sinyabi’s third win over Chauke and he has won 7 of his last 8 fights with his loss being to Lusanda Komanisi for the vacant IBO title in July last year. Chauke. 35, was making the third defence of his title but was coming off tenth round kayo loss to Tshifihiwa Munyai in September in Preston. November 28 Dusseldorf, Germany: Heavy: Tyson Fury (25-0) W PTS 12 Wladimir Klitschko (64-3) . Super Light: Robert Tlatlik (18-0) W TKO 10 Said Rahimi (9-3). Super Feather: Jono Carroll (9-0) W PTS 10 Miguel Gonzalez (13-4). Fury vs. Klitschko Ok get me a dunces cap. I never thought Fury could do this but I was completely wrong as Tyson went in with a game plan, executed it to perfection and won one the biggest upsets in recent memory snapping an 11 ½ year, 22 bout unbeaten streak and doing it in the champion’s back yard to lift the IBF, WBA and WBO titles. It was great achievement but not a great fight with both fighters showing low levels of punches thrown and landed but with Fury the clear winner as his tactics took away Klitschko’s usually dominant jab and had the champion hesitant and confused. There was very little action in the first with what was landing coming from Fury in the shape of a strong jab. In the second Klitschko finally had his jab working but not a lot. He started the round stronger but Fury ended the round with a good combination to Klitschko’s head. Fury was in mind game mode in the third letting his hand lie down his thighs and switching to southpaw and urging Klitschko to come forward and in a low scoring round again what useful work there was was coming from Fury, Klitschko had slight the better of the fourth landing a right his best punch so far. After four rounds most had Fury comfortably in front but on the official score cards two judges had it 38-38 and one had Fury ahead 39-37. In the fifth a clash of heads saw Klitschko cut under his left eye and again the better work came from Fury and this was the first round in the fight that all three judges agreed on giving it to Fury. That pattern continued in the sixth with Fury scoring with his jabs to again get the points as agreed by all on the judges. Fury dominated over these middle rounds as he was out-throwing and out-landing Klitschko who seemed fazed by the tactics of Fury and was not letting his hands go and the fight was going away from him with the official scores at the end of the eighth round 77-75 twice and 78-74 all for Fury. Klitschko needed to try to change the pace and pattern of the fight and looked to have hurt Fury with a right in the ninth but Fury replied with a left hook and at the end of the round Klitschko was cut on his forehead. The tenth went to Fury as he scored well to the body and with two rounds to go the Ukrainian needed a knockout to retain his title. Fury was winning the eleventh with Klitschko cut again but the challenger had been warned previously about punches to the back of the head and when he did it again the referee deducted a point turning what all three judges had given as a 10-9 to Fury into a 9-9. Klitschko finally woke up in the last round getting home with a big right but instead of capitalising on that success he let himself get involved in clinches and as the bell went it was obvious his status was about to change form champion to former champion. Scores 115-112 twice and 116-111 all for Fury. The 27-year-old member of the Traveller community had walked the talk and you can be sure that his reign, however long it last will be interesting and eventful and on this night he illustrated the strength of an absolute confidence in one’s ability. Klitschko never turned up. He was outthought and outboxed and looked all of his 39 years against an opponent he never figured out. The CompuBox stats show that neither fighter really threw or landed that many punches with Fury throwing a total of 371 and landing 86 and Klitschko throwing 231 and landing just 52 meaning he landed an average of only four punches around but this was not about entertainment it was about winning and that’s what Fury did. Tlatlik vs. Rahimi Tlatlik wins on late stoppage. From the opening bell it was the neater boxing of Tlatlik against the aggressive wild swinging hooks of Rahimi. Tlatlik had his jab working well and that together with occasional rights saw him sweep the first three rounds. Rahimi had a better third as he was ducking under Tlatlik’s jab and slamming hooks inside. Tlatlik managed to kee4p Rahimi and clearly took the sixth. The seventh had some controversy. Rahimi shook Tlatlik with a right early in the round and Tlatlik was in trouble trying to hold and looking disorganised for the first time. Rahimi kept swinging but some of his shots were low. Near the end of the round he landed a very low left hook and then a quick right to the chin as Tlatlik was backing away in pain from the low punch. The referee stopped the fight, warned Rahimi and gave Tlatlik time to recover which got him out of the round without any more punishment. Going into the last Tlatlik had a good lead and Rahimi was storming forward just swinging wildly. The was leaving plenty of gaps and Tlatlik caught him with a left hook that staggered Rahimi who missed with a wild hook and took a left to the chin and was toppling forward when caught with a right. He got up and after the count was caught with a couple of head punches which made him stumble and the referee stopped the fight. The 27-year-old Essen-based Pole, a former German Under-21 champion and one of two pro brothers, gets his twelfth win by KO/TKO. Afghani Rahimi, 33, gets his second loss by KO/TKO but this was the first time he had gone past the sixth round. Carroll vs. Gonzalez Carroll gets wide unanimous decision over limited Honduran. The stocky Irish southpaw was giving away a lot in height and with his muscular arms even more in reach. It was of no consequence as Gonzalez had no idea of how to make use of either advantage. Carroll was able to out jab and out manoeuvre the taller man with Gonzalez having no idea of how cut the ring off and just padding after Carroll who was firing quick combinations and getting away before Gonzalez could counter. Carroll did not seem to be looking for a knockout and Gonzalez lacked the power to inconvenience the Irishman. Scores 100-90, 100-92 and 99-91 all for Carroll. The 3-year-old “Celtic Warrior” was in his first ten round fight so some experience at pacing a contest. Gonzalez, 29, was never in the fight. Quebec City, Canada: Super Middle: James DeGale (22-1) W PTS 12 Lucien Bute (32-3). Light Heavy: Eleider Alvarez (19-0) W PTS 12 Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2). Super Welter: Adrian Granados (17-4-2) W TKO 8 Amir Imam (18-1). Heavy: Oscar Rivas (18-0) W KO 2 Joey Abell (31-9,2ND). Super Light: Yves Ulysse (10-0) W TKO 5 Randy Lozano (10-8-2). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (14-0) W TKO 6 Manuel Pucheta (38-11). Super Welter: Sebastien Bouchard (11-1) W TKO 2 Giuseppe Lauri (55-18). Super Welter: Custio Clayton (5-0) W TKO 2 Ivan Pereyra (20-6). DeGale vs. Bute DeGale gives top class performance in retaining his IBF title in Bute’s backyard. Both fighters got something out of this fight. DeGale another outstanding performance away from home and Bute the assurance that he is still a top flight fighter with a future as he went 12 hard rounds, stayed the distance well and was only let down by a slow start. DeGale came out of the blocks fast taking the fight to Bute firing home quick combinations and effortlessly switching guards. Bute was getting home with some punches but over the first three round DeGale was the busier and more accurate. It was the fourth before Bute picked up the pace focused more on body punches and started backing the champion up and eating into DeGale’s lead. In the fifth a clash of heads saw DeGale suffer a cut over his left eye and it was to trouble the Londoner on and off over the rest of the fight as it affected his vision. The sixth, seventh and eighth rounds saw plenty of action and were close enough to be scored either way but the cut over DeGale’s left eye was trickling blood again. DeGale needed to change the flow of the fight and he did that by clearly winning the ninth round with a selection of hooks and uppercuts. Bute tried to force things in the tenth and had a good round but DeGale had a better one. The last two rounds saw quality action from two excellent boxer/fighters as they both found gaps in the others defence and battled away for the three minutes of each round with the crowd on its feet with excitement particularly in an electrifying twelfth , It seemed to have been a close fight with DeGale a close but clear winner. The scores said something else as they came out for DeGale at 117-111 twice and 116-112. The 29-year-old former Olympic gold medallist was making the first defence of his title and as some fighters do is growing into the title and improving with every fight. Bute, 35, had to deal with whispers that he was on the slide after losses to Carl Froch and Jean Pascal and he did that emphatically here with the wide scores not reflecting how well Bute fought and how hard DeGale had to fight to hold onto his title. Alvarez vs. Chilemba If it wasn’t for bad luck Chilemba would have no luck at all. Colombian Alvarez just did enough to take this fight on a majority decision but it was mighty close and Chilemba has failed to get the decision in the two split draws on his record. In a pattern similar to the DeGale vs. Bute fight Alvarez took the first round outworking Chilemba and pocketing the round. The second and third were close but again Alvarez seemed to have just done enough to edge them. It was the fourth before Chilemba began to assert himself when he seemed to have just edged some fiery exchanges only for Alvarez to get back on top in the fifth and sixth. Chilemba then rebounded with some nice touches and a good body attack with Alvarez tiring and only really active in short bursts. Alvarez had built a lead over those early rounds but Chilemba was getting stronger and eating into that lead. Alvarez was impressive in those short spells of activity with more power in his punches and a higher level of accuracy but Chilemba was working harder and throwing more to compensate for his lack of accuracy. The fight was too hard to call over the last two rounds and both fighters went all out for the win with Alvarez crucially seeming to do enough to edge the last round. Scores a way-out 118-110 and a more reflective 115-113 for Alvarez and 114-114 showing that if he could have taken that last round Chilemba would have got a draw. “Storm” Alvarez, 31, retains his WBC Silver title and is now in line for a shot at WBC title holder Adonis Stevenson and since both fighters are promoted by Yvon Michel it should happen. He has skill and power and could give Stevenson problems with his counter-punching style. “Golden Boy” Chilemba, 28, had lost only one of his last 19 fights, a points loss to Tony Bellew, and come up short in draws with Bellew and Thomas Oosthuizen. He is a quality fighter and will be back looking for a title fight in 2016. Granados vs. Imam Late choice Granados gets off the floor to get huge upset win over WBC No 1 Imam. Granados came out quickly in the first trying to duck inside the reach of the much taller Imam to work. He was able to take Imam to the ropes but not able to land anything effective. Imam landed some hard rights and suddenly Granados was hurt and on the back foot retreating and trying to avoid the right and get inside. He was unsuccessful as Imam met him with a solid jab and then fired a hard, fast straight right and Granados went down on his back. He was up immediately but with Imam still throwing bombs it looked likely that Granados would not last the round. He took some punishment but at the bell was trading punches and looked to have recovered. In the second Granados was swarming all over Imam denying him room to get leverage on his punches taking him to the ropes and working away with hooks and uppercuts from both hands. Imam was allowing himself to be dragged into a brawl and his punches seemed to have lost their sharpness. He kept trying to walk Granados onto that right hand again but the pattern was that even in mid-ring Imam just could not shake Granados loose. By the fifth round Imam was resorting to stiff- arming Granados to keep him out but Granados just brushed it aside. Imam tried briefly to jab and move in the sixth but then took Granados to the ropes which exactly where Granados wanted the fight to be. In the seventh Granados was walking through Imam’s punches and firing a constant stream of thudding rights. In the eighth a right sent Imam back into the ropes and Granados fired a stream of punches. Imam escaped briefly but Granados pursued him banging away with both hands with Imam almost folded in half and taking head shots when the referee stopped the fight. With Imam No 1 with the WBC this is a huge victory for 26-year-old Granados as he lived up to his “Tiger” nickname. He has a good draw with Kermit Cintron on his record but suffered back-to-back losses to Felix Diaz and Brad Solomon which put him back to square one. This is his fourth and most important win since then. Disaster for Imam who could to be said to have folded literally under the pressure. Wins over Yordenis Ugas, Santos Benavides, Fidel Maldonado and Walter Castillo had seen him rated highly and at 25 he has plenty of time to rebound but the manner of the loss was worrying. Rivas vs. Abell Rivas blows away Abel in two rounds. Not too many punches landed in the first round as Abel circled the ring prodding out a few southpaw jabs and Colombian Rivas looked awkward as he lunged in with wild rights. Rivas’s corner had told him to move in closer and not swing such wide punches. That worked immediately as he crowded Abell back to the ropes and landed punch after punch to head and body. A couple punches crashed into the side of Abell’s head and he slumped to the canvas against the ropes. After starting the count the referee could see Abel was not going to get up and he waived the fight off without completing the count. The 28-year-old “Kaboom” is slow and no stylist but he has real power with 13 wins by KO/TKO. This is his seventh win in a row inside the distance with only one opponent lasting more than three rounds. He was a very useful amateur scoring wins over Kubrat Pulev, Mike Wilson, Didier Bence and Andy Ruiz but has yet to be really tested as a pro. “Ice” Abel, 34, now has 9 losses by KO/TKO. He had back-to-back losses to Pulev and Tyson Fury and then took 14 months out before returning earlier this year and scoring two wins. Ulysse vs. Lozano Ulysse cuts and stops Lozano. The Montrealer was on to Lozano from the start hunting the Mexican down and scoring freely. Things went from bad to worse for Lozano in the second when he suffered a bad cut. Ulysses was lacking some sharpness due to an elbow injury suffered in training for which he had a couple of cortisone injection in the days leading up to the fight. Despite that Ulysses caught up with Lozano in the fifth and floored him with a right. Lozano got up but was soon down again from an uppercut. The third knockdown came along and the referee had seen enough. The 27-year-ols Ulysses was Canadian amateur champion in 2011 and 2012, competed at the World Championships in 2011 and 2013 and was a quarterfinalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he beat Frederic Lawson but lost to Brit Bradley Saunders. He is making good progress but has surgery coming up on that elbow. Lozano who came in late now has 7 losses by KO/TKO and is 2-5 in his last 7 fights Dinu vs. Pucheta Dinu gets win over eccentric Pucheta. The big Romanian had height and reach over his Argentinian opponent and Pucheta seemed to have decided from the start that he was not going to win. Pucheta is old in boxing terms and fat in any terms. It was difficult for Dinu to look good but he did his job. He put Pucheta down twice in the third with Pucheta egging him on to do his worst. Pucheta was just looking to survive and that’s why Dinu could not end it earlier, but after another knockdown in the sixth Pucheta’s corner pulled their man out to save Pucheta and the fans from further punishment. The 29-year-old 6’5” (196cm) Dinu has won 8 of his last 9 fight by KO/TKO. After winning a gold medal at the World Cadet Championships Dinu went on to win the Romanian title and to compete at the European and World Championships so good amateur credentials. Pucheta 44 and 6’0” (183cm) now has 5 losses by KO/TKO and is No 4 with the FAB ratings Bouchard vs. Lauri It was a bad night for oldies as Italian Lauri was halted in two rounds by Bouchard. The Canadian dropped Lauri at the end of the first round and ended the fight with a blitz at the start of the second. The 28-year-old from Quebec won his first eight fights before dropping a decision to then unbeaten Frankie Galarza. This is his third win since then. Lauri, a former European Union and WBA International champion, is now 39 and 2-9 in his last 11 fights. Clayton vs. Pereyra Clayton wipes out Mexican Pereyra inside two rounds. The Canadian Olympian floored Pereyra right at the bell to ends the first. The Mexican came out for the second but not for long as Clayton was right on him and scored two more knockdowns to finish the fight. The 28-year-old from Nova Scotia was Canadian amateur champion in 2009. 2010 and 2012, competed at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Olympics he beat currently unbeaten pros Oscar Molina and Cameron Hammond and came close to a medal drawing 14-14 with Fred Evans in the quarter-finals but losing on judges counts. He is one of the top prospects in Canada. Pereyra has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights but in June went the distance against Clayton’s old amateur foe Mian Hussain. Dallas, TX, USA: Super Welter: Jermall Charlo (23-0) W TKO 4 Wilky Campfort (21-2). Welter: Errol Spence (19-0) W TKO 5 Alejandro Barrera (28-3). Super Welter: Erickson Lubin (13-0) W KO 2 Alexis Camacho (21-6). Super Light: John Molina Jr (28-6) W TKO 3 Jorge Romero (24-10). Cruiser: Steve Lovett (15-0) W DISQ 2 Sam Miller (29-13). Charlo vs. Campfort The first round saw hardly a punch thrown as they circled each other just probing with jabs. Charlo had minimal edges in height and reach but was more upright in his style which made the height difference look more. In the second Charlo was letting his hands go more and hurt Campfort with a short right. Campfort tried to come forward and Charlo nailed him with a thumping left jab and straight right that sent him down. He was up quickly and continued to press the fight with Charlo not really trying to build on that knockdown but a double jab from but Charlo sent Campfort back a couple of steps with a double jab at the end of the round. In the third Charlo landed a swinging left to the side of Campfort’s head and a right uppercut through the middle of Campfort’s guard and the challenger was down again. This time when the eight count was over Charlo was letting his hands go landing a series of combinations and it looked as though Campfort might not make it through the round. However he re-grouped and was rumbling forward at the bell but without really doing any useful scoring. In the fifth Charlo landed a straight right then a left uppercut and then a right which sent Campfort back to the ropes dabbing at his right eye. As Charlo followed Campfort to the ropes he went down on his knees still dabbing the eye. He got up but indicated his vision was affected and he could not continue and the referee stopped the fight. The 25-year-old Texan was making the first defence of his IBF title and put on an impressive show as he collected win No 18 by KO/TKO, but there are tougher fight out there for him. Haitian Campfort , 31, was unbeaten in 20 fights going in but the opposition had not been strong and he suddenly got his IBF rating at a time when he had not fought for almost six months. He tried hard here but the statistics showed he hardly landed a punch and was in over his head. Spence vs. Barrera Spence impresses in front of his home crowd with break down and stoppage of useful Mexican Barrera. The Texan southpaw was coming forward in the first with Barrera, who had the longer reach, not find the target with Spence using good movement, coming underneath and scoring with body shots. Barrera just could not establish his jab and early in the second Spence had him wobbling with a right hook to the chin. Barrera escaped and tried to throw a few punches of his own but his range finder was off and Spence hurt him with another right. Late in the round a right snapped Barrera’s head back and he was under pressure at the bell. Barrera started the third throwing more punches and backing Spence up at times but he was out of distance and wild with them allowing Spence to bang home straight lefts. In the fourth Spence was taking his time picking Barrera apart with sharp combinations not wasting a punch and he landed two good straight lefts to end the round. In the fifth Spence took Barrera to a corner and slammed home a left and right to the body with Barrera slumping to his knees. Barrera got up but Spence jumped on him and a four punch combination to head and body saw Barrera going down again as the referee stepped in to stop the fight. The 23-year-old Spence moves to 16 wins id with 9 inside the distance wins in his last 10 fights and with useful names such as Sammy Vargas, Phil Lo Greco and Chris van Heerden all failing to last the distance. He is rated WBC 10/WBA 10/IBF 10(8)/WBO 13. He needs a few more fights and will then be ready for some of the big names in the division. Barrera, 29, suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. He has wins over Abner Lopez, Juan Maciel Montiel and Jose De Jesus Macias but Spence was a different class. Lubin vs. Camacho Lubin too hot for Camacho who is down in the first and out in the second. . Southpaw Lubin was stalking Camacho in the first. Camacho was trying a couple of long rights but Lubin backed him into a corner and shook him with a right hook. He followed Camacho along the ropes and a right hook put Camacho down. He was up at three and after the eight count Lubin continued to stalk Camacho around the ring. Late in the round he again cornered Camacho and unloaded combinations to head and body and with Camacho wilting until he was saved by the bell. Lubin finished it in style in the second with a stunning overhand right that crashed onto Camacho’s jaw and put him down on his back. He managed to sit up but just stayed there until the count was completed. The tall 20-year-old southpaw from Orlando, a former NGG champion, looks better every time he fights. No big tests yet but useful wins over Norberto Gonzalez and Orlando Lora. Austin-based Mexican Camacho, 34, was having his first fight for 14 months and was never in with a chance. Molina vs. Romero Molina returns refreshed and punches too hard for Romero. After dominating the first two rounds Molina was unloading heavy combinations on Romero in the fourth when the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. First fight for the 32-year-old Californian since he lost three tough fights in a row against Lucas Matthysse-a brutal beating-Humberto Soto and in March this year to Adrien Broner but he is looking for a chance to erase the memory of his loss inside a round to Antonio DeMarco in a WBC title fight in 2012. Now 6 losses in a row for the once promising Romero. Lovett vs. Miller Lovett gets painful win over Miller. Lovett was boxing well enough in the first but Miller seemed to think that the Australian’s waist started at his knees and was throwing low shots from the start. After deducting three points from Miller and seeing the danger of things progressing from circum to castration the referee disqualified him. Lovett, 30, is a former Australian amateur champion and is 9-0,1ND since moving to the USA. Miller has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but had never been disqualified so perhaps he was just feeling a little low. Sendai, Japan: Light Fly: Yu Kimura (18-2-1) W PTS 12 Pedro Guevara (26-1-1). Super Fly: Carlos Cuadras (34-0-1) W PTS 12 Koki Eto (17-4-1). Kimura vs. Guevara Kimura pulls off upset victory to lift Guevara’s IBF title. Guevara was favourite in this one and that looked a good pick as he used rapid and accurate jabs and plenty of movement to outbox the less skilful Japanese challenger. After four rounds Guevara was ahead on all three cards 39-37 twice and 40-36. It looked an even better choice after Guevara shook Kimura with big right in the fifth. Guevara piled on the pressure looking for the finish but Kimura survived the round. Up to now Kimura had been trying to box with Guevara but that was not working so from the sixth he changed his tactics and began to close the distance, put on more pressure and work the body more. It worked to an extent as after eight rounds he had closed the gap in the points slightly as they stood at 79-73 and 77-75 and 76-76. It rested on the last four rounds and Kimura swept the closing rounds constantly putting Guevara under pressure with the champion’s work rate dropping and his title with it. Scores 115-113 twice for Kimura and 117-111 for Guevara. The 32-year-old new champion, a former undefeated Japanese champion, had lost only one of his last 15 fights but his opposition had been mainly low level domestic opposition. Guevara had impressed in knocking out Akira Yaegashi in seven rounds in Japan in December and in two defences during 2015 but he let his title slip away here with a poor finish. Cuadras vs. Eto Cuadras got a win for Mexico as he used superior skill, speed and movement to box his way to a clear unanimous decision and retain his WBC title. Despite Eto having reach and height over Cuadras the champion was able to get in land his punches and out before Eto could counter. Eto kept trying to force the fight but Cuadras was able to manoeuvre him onto the ropes and work inside with Eto not having space to use his physical advantages, Eto’s defence was not too sound and Cuadras was able to slot home accurate shots in round after round of intelligent boxing. At the end of the fourth the scores clearly showed the dominance of Cuadras as they stood at 40-36 for the Mexican on all three cards. He continued to use his speed to score inside and outside although an overhand right from Eto had shaken Cuadras in the sixth and he had been more cautious in the seventh and eighth. At the end of the eighth Cuadras had a winning lead and after that right from Eto in the sixth he went into his shell and fought a much more defensive fight not fighting on the inside but moving more and punching less. Even then his speed allowed him to outscore Eto over the closing rounds. Scores 117-111 twice and 116-112 all for Cuadras. The 27-year-old “Principe” was making the fifth defence of his title and with his blend of skill and power will be hard to beat. Eto also 27 a former interim WBA flyweight champion had done little of note since losing his title to Yodmongkol in November 2013 and just could not match the skills of the champion. Venado Tuerto, Argentina: Super Bantam: Javier N Chacon (21-3-1) W TKO 9 Isaias Luques Castillo (16-4). Chacon comes from behind to halt Luques Castillo. Over the early rounds Luques Castillo used his height, reach and long jab to build a lead. Chacon was dangerous with his wild attacks but not accurate. Eventually Chacon’s pressure found Luques Castillo spending more and more time on the retreat and being shaken by rights from Chacon Luques Castillo tried to fight back with quick combinations of hooks and uppercuts but he lacked the power to match Chacon. In the ninth with blood trickling from a cut over his right eye Chacon sent Luques Castillo tumbling into the ropes with a hard left. Luques Castillo was being driven along the ropes with Chacon chasing and landing with heavy swipes that put Luques Castillo over and the referee stopped the fight. Chacon, 34, wins the interim WBC Latino title. He lost to Anselmo Moreno for the WBA bantam title in March 2014 and to Jamie McDonnell for the secondary WBA title in November but last time out had a good draw with Roberto Domingo Sosa in July. He was FAB No 2 at bantam: Luques Castillo, the FAB No 1 bantam was making the second defence of his interim WBC Latino title and gets his second loss by KO/TKO. Mansfield, Australia: Light Heavy: Trent Broadhurst (17-1) W KO 8 Rob Powdrill (6-2). Super Welter: Rocky Jerkic (12-0) W TKO 8 Shannon King (9-2). Light: Darragh Foley (8-1) W KO 1 Miles Zalewski (5-1). Cruiser: Jai Opetaia (3-0) W PTS 6 Randall Raiment (2-2). Broadhurst vs. Powdrill Experience and better skills win this one for Broadhurst. He used a stiff, accurate jab to keep Powdrill on the back foot. Powdrill had shown how dangerous he was with a 21 seconds blow-out of hot prospect Damien Hooper but Broadhurst never gave him a chance to use that power. Broadhurst bossed the action with that jab and hooks to the body. In the seventh a couple of those hooks strayed low and Broadhurst was deducted a point but it made no difference. In the ninth anther stiff jab from Broadhurst put Powdrill on the back foot and a peach of a right uppercut and a left hook to the body had Powdrill retreating along the ropes. He stopped and tried to fire off a punch but Broadhurst banged home two right to the head and Powdrill went face down on the canvas. He managed to turn over but only managed to turn over on his back and the referee waived the fight over without taking up the count. The 27-year-old scaffold worker makes it 11 wins by KO/TKO and wins the vacant IBF Pan Pacific title. His only loss was a knockout against Robert Berridge in 2011 and he has won 10 fights since then, 7 by KO/TKO. Powdrill, 31, suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. Jerkic vs. King Jerkic pulls this one out of the fire to win the Australian title from champion King in an exciting but untidy fight. Jerkic had the superior skills and with King swinging wildly he was able to stay on the outside and pick up the points. Both indulged in some rough stuff with the referee having his work cut out to control the fight. Gradually King came into the fight and despite having soaked up quite a bit of punishment he began to take over as Jerkic seemed to tire. After seven rounds King was ahead on two cards but Jerkic took it out of the judges hands by flooring King twice with big rights and forcing the stoppage. The 27-year-old new Australian champion showed he had power to go with his skills and has now won 7 of his last 8 fight by KO/TKO. King just kept coming and coming no matter how much punishment he took and the 37-year-old “Shaggy” is a popular fighter but not active enough with just two fights in 14 months. Foley vs. Zalewski Minor upset as Foley kayos unbeaten Zalewski to win Australian title. It took the 27-year-old Kent-born Irish fighter just 2:20 of the opening round as he gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. He had shown his potential last month with a stoppage of Australian hope Valentine Borg. Zalewski was making the first defence of his Australian title Opetaia vs. Raymen Former Olympian Opetaia settles for going the distance. The highly-touted southpaw prospect suffered an early injury to his left hand but still managed to floor Raymen in the third. After that he just boxed his way to a comfortable victory . Scores 60-54 twice and 60-53. The 20-year-old 6’4” (194cm-although the official Australian information for the Olympics gave his height as 182cm) was Australian champion at Schoolboy, Junior and Senior level and won a gold medal at the 2011 World Junior Championships. One to watch whatever his height. Rayment, a former mixed martial arts competitor just really a four round fighter. Dartmouth, Canada: Super Bantam: Tyson Cave (28-3) W TKO 2 Walter Rojas (24-8-1). Feather: Joey Laviolette (3-0) W TKO 2 Larami Carmona (1-2). Cave vs. Rojas Cave takes care of business in less than 5 minutes with stoppage of Rojas. Cave was much too good for the Argentinian. The first round did not feature much action with Cave just seeing what Rojas brought to the table. In the second an already frustrated Rojas signalled for Cave to stand and trade punches-big mistake. A hard accurate shot to the chin from Cave put Rojas down and he never really recovered from that punch. Rojas got up and tried to punch his way out of trouble only to be floored again. Once again the Argentinian got up but a thumping punch to the head sent Rojas out under the ropes. He tried to rise but collapsed again and the referee waived the fight over so that Rojas could get medical attention. The 34-year-old Cave “The Prince of Hali”-that’s Halifax Nova Scotia-makes it 11 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to Oscar Escandon for the interim WBA title in December and this is his fourth low level win since then. He is rated No 4 by the WBA. This fight was for a version of the WBU title, as there is more than one WBU I don’t know which one and don’t really care too much, but understandably Cave was happy to have won a “world” title in front of his fans and family and now naturally he wants Carl Frampton or Scott Quigg. Rojas,28, came in at very short notice when the original Mexican opponent had a visa problem, and suffered his third loss in a row by KO/TKO with the other two being first round losses. He does not do distance fights as only 2 of his 33 fights have gone the distance with him losing 8 of them by KO/TKO. It was not his night as they played the Mexican anthem for him instead of the Argentinian one-insult and injury. Laviolette vs. Carmona Former Canadian amateur champion gets his third inside the distance win. The local fighter put Carmona down three times before the referee halted the match in the second round. The 27-year-old Laviolette is a four-time Canadian amateur champion. He turned pro in 2012 after failing to qualify for the Olympics but after his first fight suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and one thing led to another and he drifted away from the sport for three years before returning with a win in July this year. Second quick loss in a row for Carmona. Turin, Italy: Super Light: Andrea Scarpa (19-2) W PTS 12 Lyes Chaibi (14-9-2). Heavy: Carlos Takam (33-2-1) W PTS 8 Geroge Arias (56-15). Super Middle: Hadillah Mohoumadi (20-3-1) W TKO 1 Ericles Torres Marin (8-7-1). Heavy: Matteo Modugno (18-0) W TEC DEC 5 Ivica Perkovic (21-29). Light Heavy: Orial Kolaj (16-5) W TKO 4 Bela Juhasz (12-5). Scarpa vs. Chaibi Scarpa wins the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title with unanimous decision over French southpaw Chaibi. The Frenchman made an aggressive start and although giving away height and reach had his right jab working well and was getting through with some light but scoring punches and took the first three rounds. Scarpa began to find the rang with his right late in the third. Chaibi was still forcing the fight in the fourth but a right counter from Scarpa had him badly shaken. The Frenchman recovered in the fifth and was again marching forward and they exchanged body punches in what was becoming a testing and entertaining fight. Scarpa had Chable shaken by a counter at the start of the sixth but Chaibi showed a good chin and although he took punishment again in the seventh was still dangerous. Chaibi kept rolling forward in the eighth and ninth ignoring the incoming fire but was hurt by another right in the ninth. Scarpa’s face was a mask of blood from cuts but he had Chaibi hurt and pinned to the ropes in the tenth. Chaibi bounced back to have a good eleventh leaving the fight in the balance. Scarpa needed a big last round to be sure of the decision and he again got home with a big right and this time Chaibi was badly hurt and a stoppage seemed possible but Chaibi made it to the bell. Scores 116-111, 115-112 and 115-113 all for Scarpa but only the last two scores really reflected how the action panned out. The 26-year-old local, the Italian champion, went 1-2 in his first 3 fights so is now on an 18 bout winning streak and is No 9 with the EBU. Chaibi, 32, was 5-6-2 in his last 13 fights but fought much better than expected. Takam vs. Arias Takam gets eight rounds of work against Brazilian oldie Arias as he cruises to a unanimous decision. The French-based fighter from Cameroon varied his work over the first round using the jab and then getting inside and working the body. Arias tried to force the fight in the second but Takam was too skilful and handled the Brazilian’s attacks easily. Takam turned the heat up in the third with Arias forced to take a standing count and as the Brazilian tired over the closing rounds Takam even had time for a bit of show-boating on his way to the victory. Takam had a good run with wins over Mike Grant and Tony Thompson but in October last year was knocked out in ten rounds by Alex Povetkin. He has three wins this year including a kayo of Michael Sprott in June. I was going to say that Arias, 41, was a shadow of the fighter who lost to Johnny Nelson for the WBO cruiser title in 2011 but since he now weighs about 40lbs heavier than he did then I will say he is past his best. Mohoumadi vs. Marin Just some Christmas money for European champion Mohoumadi. He started in his usual whirlwind fashion and just overwhelmed the inexperienced Hungarian southpaw . The 35-year-old Frenchman, a human dynamo, lost on points to James DeGale in a challenge for the European title in 2012 but has won his last 6 fights the last five of those by KO/TKO. Marin, 39, is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Modugno vs. Perkovic Italian champion Modugno gets technical decision over yet another oldie in Croatian Perkovic. Modugno was on his way to a points victory when a clash of heads left the Italian fighter with a bad cut and the fight went to the cards with Modugno the clear winner. The 6’6 ½” Milanese fighter remains unbeaten but has yet to face any real tests and is rated No 10 by the EBU. Perkovic, 41, has lost 8 of his last 9 fights. Kolaj vs. Juhasz The Albanian “Eagle” Kolaj stops Hungarian Juhasz in four rounds. The Rome-based fighter, is Italian champion and after a 5-5 start to his career has now won 12 in a row and is No 14 with the EBU. Juhasz, 28, lost to Brit Miles Shinkwin June but then had three low level wins back home. Tequisquiapan, Mexico: Welter: Carlos Ocampo (17-0) W PTS 10 Jorge Paez Jr (39-7-2,1ND) W. Bantam: Emanuel Navarrete (12-1) W KO 3 Ricardo Roman (9-8-3). Ocampo vs. Paez Ocampo gets his best win so far with wide unanimous verdict over experienced Paez. Over the first four rounds Ocampo surprised by standing and trading with Paez and getting the better of the exchanges. Ocampo then changed his tactics and began to move more and outbox Paez. Paez kept pressing and had some success but was tiring and Ocampo cleverly then moved back inside and then over the eighth and ninth started to box again and a desperate last round attack by Paez was too little too late. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92 all for Ocampo. The young fighter from Ensenada was coming off a good win over Jhonny Navarette in August but Paez is by far his biggest scalp. Paez, 27, had lost to Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA title in May but bounced back with a points victory over Daniel Echevarria (18-0) in August so it looked to be a big ask for Ocampo. Navarrete vs. Roman “Cowboy” Navarette extends his winning streak with kayo of Roman. Navarette had Roman down in both the first and second rounds before scoring the knockout in the third. The 20-year-old from Mexico City has won his last 7 fights 6 of them by KO/TKO. Roman going the other way with only one win in his last 9 fights, Outapi, Namibia: Feather: Gottlieb Ndokosho (16-4,1ND) W Francis Miyeyusho (41-13-2). Ndokosho wins the IBF African and Persian Gulf title with close decision over Tanzanian Miyeyusho. This one had a dramatic start with Ndokosho flooring Miyeyusho inside the first minute of the first round. The Tanzanian southpaw got up and shocked the locals by flooring Ndokosho before the round ended. Miyeyusho seemed to recover better and over the next four rounds built a good lead. From the sixth to the eighth Ndokosho’s body attack helped him get back into the fight and over the remaining four exciting rounds he did enough to convince the judges that he had won Scores 115-110, 114-111 and 114-113 for the local fighter with Miyeyusho’s trainer adamant that his fighter had been robbed. The 36-year-old Ndokosho was having his first fight since losing his IBF Inter-Continental title on a wide unanimous decision to Oscar Chauke in February. Former CBC title challenger Miyeyusho,35, has lost a lot of fights on the road . Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines: Super Fly: Arthur Villanueva (28-1) W PTS 12 Victor Mendez (19-3-2). Super Feather: AJ Banal (34-2-1) W TKO 3 Emilio Norfat (25-7). Super Fly: Milan Melindo (33-2) W PTS 10 Victor Olivo (9-1). Super Fly: Rocky Fuentes (39-8-2) W KO 2 Afrizal Tamboresi (11-4). Fly: Kevin Jake Cataraja (2-0) W TKO 4 Ellias Nggenggo (10-9-3). Villanueva vs. Mendez Villanueva wins the vacant WBC International title with a split decision over Mexican Mendez. Villanueva made a fast start being more aggressive than in other fights and scoring with southpaw rights and some choice uppercuts. Mendez took the punches well and used his longer reach to work outside and get home enough rights of his own to be in the fight. Villanueva was more successful at getting inside over the middle rounds although at distance his timing and accuracy were off. Villanueva had Mendez in trouble in the ninth but other than that seemed to think he was way out in front and tended to coast over the late rounds which almost cost him the fight. Luckily he had built enough of a lead to have a cushion. Scores 117-111 and 116-112 for Villanueva and 115-113 for Mendez. Villanueva “barely” made the weight for this one. He was over at the first weighing but stripped off his underpants and that was enough to get him inside the limit. This is the first fight for the 26-year-old “King Arthur” since losing on a technical decision to McJoe Arroyo for the vacant IBF title in July. The 22-year-old “Spock” Mendez-he resembles the famous Star Ship Vulcan-had been meeting a much lower level opposition but had won his 5 fights this year. Banal vs. Norfat Banal floors Norfat early but then gets a cut before ending things in the third. “Bazooka” knocked Norfat over with one of his bombs, a southpaw left, just after the bell to start the opening round. Tanzanian Norfat did well to get up and last the remaining time. In the second a clash of heads saw Banal suffer and injury to his left eye in a clash of heads and the injury quickly ballooned up to virtually close Banal’s eye. He came out firing in the third and a right hook to the side of the head put Norfat down he got up but Banal showered him with punches until the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Banal makes it 23 wins by KO/TKO. He has lost his two biggest fights being knocked out by Rafael Concepcion for the interim WBA super fly in 2008 and to Pungluang on a ninth round stoppage in 2012 for the vacant WBO bantam title. He took nine months out after that defeat and has acquired six wins since then but has a long way to go to another title shot. Norfat, 26, “Prince Kilimanjaro” suffers his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Melindo vs. Olivo “Method Man” Melindo gets a less than impressive split decision over Mexican novice Olivo. Melindo edged the first round but was rocked badly by punches from Olivo in the second and third rounds. Melindo managed to find some punching space in the fourth but lacked the power to keep Olivo from getting inside and the Mexican did well over the middle rounds. Melindo had Olivo badly hurt with a right in the eighth but Olivo’s punches had caused swelling around both of Melindo’s eyes. With only one ten round fight behind him Olivo seemed to tire over the last two rounds allowing Melindo to steal the verdict. Scores 96-94 twice for Melindo and 96-94 for Olivo. The 27-year-old Melindo’s losses have been in world title shots against Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBA/WBO flyweight titles and Javier Mendoza for the IBF light fly title. This was his first fight since losing the technical decision to Mendoza in May. He is rated WBO 4/IBF 5 (3)/WBC 8. Olivo, just 19 was brought in as a very late notice substitute and was taking a huge step up in class and distance in this fight as his previous experience consisted of seven four round fights, one six round, and one ten, so to have taken Melindo to a split decision in Melindo’s home town indicates a lot of potential. In addition he had to take off quite a bit of weight having fought at 121lbs in July but he got down to 113 for the fight and his mobility posed problems for Melindo Fuentes vs. Tamboresi “Road Warrior” Fuentes is a few classes above relatively inexperienced Indonesian. After taking the first round Fuentes put Tamboresi down and out with an overhand right and a left uppercut. The 29-year-old local now has 21 wins by KO/TKO. The former OPBF champion had a 15 bout winning streak snapped as he suffered defeats against Amnat Ruenroeng in January 2014 for the vacant IBF fly title and in November to Roman Gonzalez for WBC title. This is his first fight since that November loss to Gonzalez. Tamboresi was coming off a points loss against Brad Hoare in Australia in May. Cataraja vs. Nggenggo Cataraja may be a name to keep an eye on. The former top amateur had Nggenggo retreating and under pressure all the way. A wicked right to the ribs put Nggenggo down in agony in the first but the Indonesian made it to the bell. Cataraja always looked as though he would finish this inside the distance but in the end it was a cut on the left eyebrow of Nggenggo which saw the doctor recommend the fight be stopped. Still only 20 Cataraja is considered a can’t miss prospect. Nggenggo could not complain about losing on a cut as it was a cut caused by a punch that gave him his biggest when he beat world rated Merlito Sabillo in November last year. East London, South Africa: Light: Xolisani Ndongeni (20-0) W TKO 9 Jasper Seroka (26-5). Feather: Simpiwe Vetyeka (28-3) W KO 4 Rodolfo Puente (16-2-2). Minimum: Siyabonga Siyo (10-0 W PTS 10 Ronie Tanallon (8-2-1). Super Bantam: Mzuvukile Magwaca (17-1-1) W TKO 2 Raul Medina (26-17-3). Ndongeni vs. Seroka Ndongeni wins vacant IBO title but fails to impress on the night. The talented local fighter started brightly taking the early rounds but Seroka just kept plugging away and was soon outworking Ndongeni and turning the fight around. Seroka had got his nose in front and with Ndongeni not using his superior skills or usual forceful jabbing the fight was getting away from him. His trainer Colin Nathan read Ndongeni the riot act at the end of the eighth round which stung Ndongeni into action. He stormed out for the ninth driving Seroka to the ropes with a succession of hard, accurate combinations and with Seroka not fighting back the referee stopped the fight. Seroka’s corner protested the stoppage but Seroka was badly hurt and just taking punishment. Strangely after eight rounds Ndongeni was in front 78-74 on two cards and 79-73 on the third so comfortably in front but the perception was that he was fading. Ndongeni gets his tenth win by KO/TKO and it was explained that he had injured his right shoulder nine days before the fight and had troubled him more the longer the fight went. He remains one of the top prospects in South Africa. Seroka, the South African super feather champion, had won his last five fights including good wins in domestic action against Joey Stiglingh, Ashley Dlamini and his No 1 challenger Koos Sibiya. Vetyeka vs. Puente The former WBA and IBO feather champion showed he is still a force as he was a class above Colombian Puente despite the South American superficially impressive looking statistics. Vetyeka had no trouble dealing with the erratic attacks of Puente and outboxed him over the first three rounds before putting him down and out with a head shot in the fourth. The 34-year-old Vetyeka retains his WBA International title. He still does not get the recognition he deserves for stopping Chris John in 2013 to snap the Indonesian’s unbeaten streak at 53 fights. Vetyeka lost his WBA title to Nonito Donaire on a technical decision in May last year but got a good win over Arturo Santos Reyes in December. This is Vetyeka.s first fight in 2015 but low levels of activity are the norm with the South African who has never fought more than twice in any year since 2007. Puente lost his first pro fight so was unbeaten in 18 fights going in but this is his first fight outside Colombia and his first real opponent. Siyo vs. Tanallon Siyo remains unbeaten with unanimous verdict over Filipino southpaw Tanallon. The talented but light punching Eastern Cape boxer had to climb off the floor in the seventh round but was never in any real danger of losing. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-91. The South African No 1 shows plenty of promise. The 22-year-old Filipino “Ultimate Warrior” holds the Philippines Boxing Federation title and is rated No 8 light flyweight by the GAB. Magwaca vs. Medina “Old Bones” Magwaca is much too good for Argentinian veteran Medina. Magwaca was in top form and dished out enough punishment for the referee to feel the need to save Medina from too much punishment just as the Argentinian’s corner were about to pull their man out. Don’t let the “Old Bones” nickname fool you Magwaca is a promising fighter with real talent. His only loss is to another rising star in unbeaten Makazole Tete and he has good domestic wins over Lwandile Sityatha the current IBO super fly champion, Mfundo Gwayana and Mexican Jose Santos Gonzalez (22-2). The 36-year-old Medina, a former Argentinian and South American champion, is well down the slope with 8 losses in his last 9 fights but this is the first time he has failed to last the distance in a fight in nine years. Brabant, Belgium: Middle: James Hagenimana (4-4) W KO 6 Mohammed Sidi Slimani (7-7-1). Hagenimana wins the Belgian title with kayo of Silimani. There was not much between these two over the first three rounds but in the fourth a right uppercut/left hook combination from Hagenimana put Slimani down but he got up took the eight count and saw out the round. Silimani was down again in the fifth but it was rightly rules a slip but he is under pressure. In the sixth Hagenimana a body punch from Hagenimana again floors Slimani and although he bravely climbed to his feet his corner threw in the towel but the referee complete a ten count. Now three wins by the local “Black Dragon Hagenimana who had knocked Silimani out in one round when Hagenimana had his first pro fight. Silimani, 35, is now 2-5 in his last 7 fights. Suzhou, China: Heavy: Peter Graham (10-3-1) W TKO 4 Alphonce Masumbuko (12-4-1). Cruiser: Shunkai Xia (6-0) W TKO 1 Amour Mzungu (7-4-1). Graham vs. Masumbuko Graham wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title with stoppage of Tanzanian. Masumbuko had no chance of winning this one on physical measurement alone. He was a 5’9” (175cm) 220lbs (100kg) fighter facing a 6’6” (198cm) 250lbs (113kg) fighter. His only chance was to get inside and although he marched forward he was just soaking up jabs and body punches. Graham floored the Tanzanian twice in the third and after another knockdown in the fourth the fight was stopped. Australian champion Graham gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. He is 40 and initially turned pro in 2000. He lost his first three fights but then went 6-0-1 in his next seven before disappearing from the scene in November 2002. He did not return until 2012, almost 10 years later but this is only his fourth fight in over three years so is unbeaten in 11 fights. Masumbuko (he fights as Mchumiatumbo), 28 began his career with 10 wins and a draw and has gone downhill from there Xia vs. Mzungu Xia retains the WBO China Zone title with 104 seconds wipe out of another Tanzanian with no hope of winning. A left hook to the body and a straight right put Mzungu down and out cold with the referee not counting but getting Mzungu medical attention and he quickly recovered. Xia, 23, gets his third win by KO/TKO. Poor Mzungu had even less chance of winning than Masumbuko. The dimension were similar to the Graham fight at 5-9” (175cm) against 6’4” (193cm) but to make it far worse Mzungu is 44-year-old and had been knocked out in 91 seconds in his last fight in March. The WBO are obviously quite happy to sanction this sort of dangerous mismatch and they would share equal blame with the local officials if something bad happened. Manila, Philippines: Super Feather: Randy Braga (17-1-1) W TKO 2 Jilo Merlin (13-25-2). Elorde Gym fighter Braga gets his fourth win by KO/TKO as he floors Merlin in the first and forces the stoppage in the second. The 27-year-old southpaw, the GAB champion, gets his second win since suffering his sole loss on a split decision against Macbute Sinyabi in South Africa for the IBO Inter-Continental title. Merlin has lost his last 10 fights so obviously no magic from him. General Santos City, Philippines: Super Fly: Mark Antonio Geraldo (32-6-3) W TKO 6 Jelbirt Gomera (10-0). Experience triumphed here as Gerald halted the unbeaten run of Gomera. Geraldo floored Gomera heavily in the second but the youngster got up and fought back. Geraldo suffered a bad cut over his right eye before scoring two knockdowns in the sixth to finish the fight. Southpaw Geraldo, 24, was coming back from tough points losses to McJoe Arroyo in an IBF eliminator and Takuma Inoue for the OPBF title so could not afford another defeat. Gomera, just 19, has the talent to come again. Olivos, Argentina: Super Light: Matias E Gomez (34-2) W TKO 5 Martin Escobar (15-3). Both of these fighters are big punchers so it came to who struck first and Gomez won the race. He floored Escobar in the first and like the experience so much that he put him down six more times. He scored another knockdown in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth to finish the fight. Only the third fight in over three years for Gomez who was once looked on as a big prospect. He won his first 29 fights, 28 by KO/TKO but then suffered back-to-back losses on the road in 2013 to Thompson Mokwana and Andrey Klimov. Fellow-Argentinian Escobar had won his last 10 fights in a row by KO/TKO including 5 in the first round. November 29 St. Petersburg, Russia: Middle: Igor Selivanov (11-0) W PTS 8 Kassim Ouma (28-9-1). Young Russian hope gets a name on his record as he takes a wide unanimous decision over former IBF super welter champion Ouma. He had Ouma rocking a couple of times but never managed to close the fight out. Scores 80-72 twice and 78-75. The tall 21-year-old Ukrainian-born Selivanov is being brought along carefully and this is his first win over a “name” fighter. Ugandan southpaw Ouma, 36, was having his first fight in two years and only his third in over four years. December 1 Kempton Park, South Africa: Welter: Paul Kamanga (18-0) W TKO 5 Roman Zhailauov (15-2). Super Light: Warren Joubert (23-4-5) W PTS 8 Jason Bedeman (18-4-3). Kamanga vs. Zhailauov Kamanga gets off the floor to halt Zhailauov. Things looked to be going badly for Kamanga when he was floored by a left in the second round but he had been doing some substantial scoring of his own before that. He had been boxing on the outside with Zhailauov dangerous with left hooks when he got inside. Kamanga’s work paid dividends in the third when a punch stated a rapidly growing swelling under the right eye of Zhailauov. Both continued to land hard punches in the fourth with Kamanga getting home the harder shots. Zhailauov survived a doctor’s inspection in the fourth but with his right eye closed was shipping heavy punishment in the fifth when the fight was halted. Tenth win by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old DRC-born Kamanga who already has wins over Kaizer Mabuza and Jason Bedeman and looks to be one for the future. Zhailauov, 21, currently based in South Africa, had lost a split decision to Thompson Mokwana in September and gave Kamanga a good test until the injury. Joubert vs. Bedeman This was an important fight for both men as they were both coming of losses and did not want to slip any further. As a result it was a real war which could have swung either way but in the end Joubert got a close but deserved decision. Scores 77-75 twice and 77-76. “The Warrior” Joubert has been a pro for 11 years but only won his first South African title in April. Unfortunately he only held it for just over three months losing it to Grant Fourie in July. “Badman” Bedeman has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights but the other two losses were to class opposition in Ali Funeka and Kamanga and at 25 he can rebuild. Bedeman Badman 25 has now lost 3 of 4 but is young enough to rebuild with the other losses to Ali Funeka and Kamanga The Past Week In Action 24 November 2015
November 20Las Vegas, NV, USA: Super Middle: Gilberto Ramirez (33-0) W PTS 10 Gevorg Khatchikian (23-2). Welter: Konstantin Ponomarev (29-0) W PTS 8 Ramses Agaton (17-3-3).Light: Saul Rodriguez (19-0-1) W TKO 1 Ivan Najera (16-2). Super Feather: Toka Kahn Clary (17-0,1ND) W RTD 2 Sergio Lopez (19-10-1). Super Feather: Casey Ramos (21-0) W PTS 8 Adones Aguelo (24-13-2). Light Heavy: Olek Gvozdyk (8-0) W TKO 3 Cleiton Conceicao (22-7-2). Ramirez vs. Khatchikian Ramirez stays on track for a world title shot with a wide unanimous decision over the strong and awkward Khatchikian. The tall Mexican was coming forward behind his southpaw jab and forcing Khatchikian on to the back foot. Khatchikian had a bag of tricks as he moved around with his hands at his thighs with exaggerated upper body movement then leapt in with wild swings. Over the first three rounds although Ramirez was doing most of the scoring as he hunted down the retreating Khatchikian he was getting caught too often with those wild rights. From the fourth the Mexican stepped-up the pace and began to bombard Khatchikian with hard right hooks to the body. Khatchikian had been trying to box in spurts but now Ramirez was forcing him to keep on the move and under pressure for three minutes in every round. Despite his domination of the fight Ramirez never really managed to shake Khatchikian or get him in serious trouble and Khatchikian was again getting through with the occasional rights. Ramirez turned the heat up even more over the ninth and tenth but Khatchikian took the punishment and made it to the final bell. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91 for Ramirez. He retains his NABF and WBO International titles and is rated WBO 1/WBC 2/WBA 2/IBF 3(2). If he goes for the WBO title it will be interesting to see whether there is enough money on offer to tempt Arthur Abraham to fight outside Germany. Dutch-based Armenian Khatchikian, the EBU No 12, had lost in eleven rounds against James DeGale in a fight for the WBC Silver title in March 2014 and had then won three low level fights in Holland. Ponomarev vs. Agaton Ponomarev needs strong finish to get by tough Mexican southpaw on a majority decision. Agaton was having his second fight in less than a week and that may have been a factor in how this fight panned out. Over the early rounds Ponomarev had his hands full and as he tried to press the fight he was constantly being caught with sharp counters from Agaton. His work rate was helping him edge the rounds but it was not until the half way mark that he took control as Agaton tired and Ponomarev pulled away to get the deserved decision. Scores 79-73 twice for Ponomarev and 76-76. The tall 23-year-old Russian “Talant” has victories over Cosme Rivera and Steve Claggett and was coming off his best win so far a decision over Mike Zewski (26-0). He is rated WBC 7/IBF 8(7)/WBO 14. Agaton had halted Jhonny Navarrete on 14 November and now falls to 9-2-3 in his last 14 fights. Rodriguez vs. Najera Rodriguez blasts out Najera inside a round. Najera was coming forward behind a high guard with Rodriguez on the back foot. Rodriguez gave an early indication of what was to come when he shook Najera with a right. Najera kept pressing but was out of range with his punches. They exchanged hooks and then Rodriguez landed a stiff left jab and a straight right. Najera kept coming but a right to the body and a left hook to the chin put him on the floor. He got up but was on wobbly legs. The referee had a hard look at him and there was already a swelling under Najera’s left eye and when the action restarted a right to the head put Najera down again with the referee immediately waiving the fight over. “Neno” Rodriguez, 22, now has 14 wins by KO/TKO. No big names in there yet but he shows real promise and is ready for bigger fights. Texan Najera had gone the full ten rounds with hot Puerto Rican hope Felix Verdejo but it is not a very valid comparison as Vallejo injured a hand early. Clary vs. Lopez Clary just too much for Lopez. The Liberian-born Top Rank prospect did not resemble his “T Nice” nickname in any way in this one. He had the skill and power to hand out a solid beating to Lopez over the six minutes this lasted. Lopez did well to come through a fiery first round but was dropped by a right in the second. He made it to the vertical position but was badly rocked again at the end of the round and his corner pulled him out of the fight in the interval. The 23-year-old southpaw goes to 11 wins by KO/TKO. Mexican Lopez had a couple of useful results in a win over Victor Betancourt (16-0) and a draw with Joksan Hernandez but had been knocked out in four rounds by Alejandro Luna in August. Ramos vs. Aguelo Ramos showcases his excellent skills but also his lack of power. Aguelo had been in with some quality opposition and took the fight to the young Texan “Wizard” but with little success. Ramos was too quick busy and accurate and hardly let Aguelo into the fight as he boxed his way to a wide unanimous verdict. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. The 26-year-old from Austin has wins over reasonably testing opposition in John Jackson and Daniel Evangelista but has had to go the distance in 13 of his last 14 fights and has just 5 wins by KO/TKO. He may need to find some power as he moves up. Filipino Aguelo, 27 is 4-5 in his last 9 fights but in Nery Saguilan, Sergio Thompson, Adrian Estrella and Will Tomlinson he has been in with a much higher quality of opponent than Ramos. The losses to Saguilan and Thompson were close fights and the verdict in the Tomlinson fight was a majority one so on reflection a good performance for Ramos. Gvozdyk vs. Conceicao Ukrainian Olympian just punches too hard for Brazilian veteran Conceicao. Gvozdyk controlled the first two rounds with a power show that indicated an early finish. Conceicao managed to get through those rounds-just-but it was all over in the third. Gvozdyk floored Conceicao with a body punch and although Conceicao made it to his feet he went down again quickly when Gvozdyk handed out some more punishment. The tall 28-year-old Gvozdyk won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics finishing even on points but losing on judge’s count back. He also competed at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. He now has six wins by KO/TKO. Conceicao, 36, went the distance in losing to Sean Monaghan in May and then went home to get a couple of easy wins. Panama City, Panama: Heavy: Guillermo Jones (40-3-2) W PTS 10 Daniel Cota (17-6-1). Welter: Aristides Quintero (20-5-1) W TKO 6 Jose Miranda (13-15-3). Bantam: Edgar Valencia (8-1-1,1ND) W TKO 2 Javier Coronado (7-17-2). Jones vs. Cota Drug cheat Jones returns to action with easy points win over Mexican Cota. Now up at heavyweight the former WBA cruiser champion handed out steady punishment but Cota did his job and went the distance. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-91. Now 43 Jones was twice stripped off his WBA title for testing positive for a banned substance and this is his first fight since May 2013. Cota a safe pick for Jones. He was knocked out in three rounds by Deontay Wilder in 2011 and then had another inside the distance loss in August 2014 which was his last fight before this one. Quintero vs. Miranda Quintero gets back to winning ways with stoppage of Miranda. After a 4-4-1 start to his career Quintero, 24, ran up 15 wins in a row, 13 by KO/TKO before losing in one round against Azael Cosio in April. Fellow Panamanian Miranda, 36, drops to 9 losses by KO/TKO. Valencia vs. Coronado Southpaw prospect Valencia halts poor Coronado in two rounds of a non-title fight. Valencia, the national champion, was good class amateur representing Panama at the Central American Games. He has 3 wins and a No Decision in his last 4 fights. Six losses on the bounce for Coronado. Temuco, Chile: Feather: Cristian Palma (20-10-1) W PTS 10 Luis Dee (4-3-1). Palma retains the national title with unanimous decision over Dee. “Tiger” Palma made his usual aggressive start with Dee determined to work on the back foot and counter punch his way to victory. It was close over the opening rounds but Palma was landing more and harder punches. He was looking for a knockout over the closing rounds but Dee became even more survival minded and was happy to have gone the distance as he had never gone ten rounds before. The 30-year-old Palma is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights but the losses have been on the road against top flight opposition including Paulus Ambunda and Mitchell Smith. One of the wins was over Luis Parra for the Chilean title. Dee was 2-0-1 in his last 3 fights but out of his depth against the experienced Palma. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Middle: Conrad Cummings (7-0-1) DREW 10 Alfredo Meli (11-0-1). Feather: Marco McCullough (14-2) W PTS 10 Sergio Prado (11-6-1), Light: Pat Hyland Jr (9-0) W PTS 6 Virgile Degonzaga (11-11-2). Welter: Paddy Gallagher (9-2) W TKO 4 Tomas Bartunek (3-4). Cummings vs. Meli The BBB of C Celtic title remains vacant after these two fought to a majority draw. “Dynamite” Cummings was fast out of the blocks flooring Meli with a left inside the first minute of the fight. However, Meli was not badly hurt and boxed his way to the bell. Cummings took the second after staggering Meli with a right but by the third Meli had seen out the storm and was outboxing Cummings. Meli was using his southpaw skills to box on the outside and as Cummings continued to advance Meli was spearing him with right jabs and combination punches. The fight was getting messy with Cummings getting warnings for holding and low blows from his frustration of not being able to pin down the clever Meli. The fast pace began to tell on Meli and Cummings was able to close the gap in the seventh and eighth. The ninth saw the referee deduct a point from both boxers for holding and Cummings closed the round strongly having Meli pinned on the ropes and hurt. Cummings was much the fresher in the last and staged a storming finish but it was not quite enough to cancel out the work Meli did in the middle rounds and the judges differed on how they saw it. Scores 95-92 for Cummings, 96-93 for Meli and 94-94. The 24-year-old Cummings dropped out of university to follow a boxing path. He was a top amateur who fought for the Mexican Guerreros in the WSB and had wins as an amateur over Esquiva Falcao and Cuban Carlos Banteur. Meli, 25 was also a high class amateur representing Ireland as an amateur fighting out of the famous Immaculata Boxing Club in Belfast. This one was so close that neither deserved to lose their unbeaten tag. McCullough vs. Prado McCullough continues his rebuilding process with wide decision over a game and dangerous Prado. The Spaniard started well hurting McCullough with a hook in the first and although McCullough did enough to win the round it made him a little more cautious. Prado also started the second brightly before the better boxing of McCullough was enough to let him pocket that round too. Over the next four rounds McCullough was in total control being busier and more accurate with his work. Prado showed some good defensive work and tried switching guards but McCullough always had the answer. McCullough had Prado hurt with a right in the seventh but the Spaniard again showed his power with some hard punches in the eighth but as he tired McCullough had him under increasing pressure over the last two rounds. Referee’s score 100-90. The 25-year-old from Belfast, a former top amateur, suffered a shock defeat when being knocked out inside a round by Hungarian journeyman Zoltan Kovacs in July but he is back on track with two wins since then. Prado, 32, is a former Spanish and EU champion at super bantam who lost on points to Kid Galahad for the EBU title in March last year and lost on points to unbeaten Dane Dennis Ceylan in June. Hyland vs. Degonzaga “Hylo” continues unbeaten as he outboxes Frenchman Degonzaga. Hyland had the better skills but Degonzaga was dangerous at times. Hyland was slotting home jabs and making good use of a sharp left hook to dominate every round but Degonzaga landed heavy shots in the third and had Hyland cut in the fifth. Hyland took the punches and his speed and accuracy saw him edge even those rounds. Degonzaga tried to drag Hyland into a slugging match in the sixth but the young Belfast fighter showed he could fight just as hard inside and finished strongly. Referee’s score 60-54. Good, testing six rounds of work for the 25-year-old Belfast fighter. Degonzaga after a run of bad results had been unbeaten in his last three fights. Gallagher vs. Bartunek Gallagher too good for inexperienced young Czech. The Belfast fighter handed out a steady beating landing stinging left hooks that had the Czech’s face visibly marked and had him almost out of the fight by the second. Gallagher put Bartunek down with a body punch in the third but got careless and was caught with a counter that had him holding to the bell. In the fourth a right put Bartunek down and although he made it to the vertical the follow up attack from Gallagher saw the fight stopped. The 26-year-old “Pat-Man” gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. Both of his losses have come in Prizefighter Tournaments and he has won his last 4 fights. Now 4 losses in 4 visits to the United Kingdom for 18-year-old Bartunek. Houghton-le-Spring, England: Super Bantam: James Dickens (21-1) W PTS 12 Martin Ward (22-3-1). Super Bantam: Thomas Patrick Ward (16-0) W PTS 6 Rey Cajina (14-30-5). Dickens vs. Ward Dickens retains British title with split decision over local fighter Ward in this all-southpaw scrap. This was a close battle all the way with Ward bravely fighting through numerous cuts and staging a late surge but just coming up short. Ward actually got into his stride first doubling up on his jab and slotting home good rights in the first with Dickens getting home with a couple of rights. Ward also took the early part of the second but then Dickens found his range by the end of the round to edge it. The third saw Ward suffer two cuts as heads clashed and although he was busier Dickens was landing the heavier punches. Ward came back with his jab to take the fifth and sixth but then Dickens took the seventh and eighth and Ward the ninth with the fight swinging to Dickens in the tenth. By now Ward had cuts over both eyes and another one high on his head which were hampering his work. He staged a strong finish in the last two rounds to make the fight so close it could have gone either way. Dickens had landed the harder punches but Ward had been busier. In the end the judges scored it 116-113 and 115-114 to Dickens and 116-112 to Ward. Liverpool’s “Jazza was making the first defence of the title he won by beating Josh Wale in a good fight in March. His only loss is a tenth round stoppage by Kid Galahad for the vacant British title in 2013. He is the mandatory challenger to Gavin McDonnell, for the EBU title which would be another excellent match. Ward, 27, is 14-2-1 in his last 17 fights with the other loss being to current IBF champion Lee Haskins and the draw being a technical draw in a fight against Stuart Hall for the IBF title in 2014 when Ward was also cut again. He is a talented fighter and can go on to win a title. Ontario, CA, USA: Super Light: Giovanni Santillan (18-0) W TKO 2 Rosbel Montoya (16-6-1). Bantam: Carlos Carlson (20-1) W PTS 8 Jose Estrella (14-9-1). Santillan vs. Montoya Santillan demolishes Montoya inside two rounds. Southpaw Santillan nearly finished it in the first. He floored Montoya early with a body punch and then put him down again at the end of the round and the bell went as Montoya made it to his feet. Santillan jumped on Montoya at the start of the second and after another knockdown Montoya’s corner team signalled to the referee to stop the fight. The 23-year-ol Santillan the “Gallo de Oro makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. He needed to be impressive after just scraping by on a majority decision in his last fight. Montoya’s best result was an upset decision over Filipino Jason Pagara in Cebu City in 2011 but he has lost his last 4 by KO/TKO with Pagara, now the WBO No 1, getting revenge with a stoppage win in 2012. Carlson vs. Estrella Carson makes it 20 wins in a row as he outpoints Estrella. After a slow first round Carson used his jab to keep Estrella on the back foot and was looking to take Estrella to the ropes where he could work away to the body. Carson clearly took the second and third but Estrella had a better fourth round. The fifth saw Carson back in charge and Estrella back on the ropes. There were a few head clashes but neither fighter was cut and with the fight becoming one-sided Estrella did well to last the distance. Scores 79-73 from all three judges. Carson, 25, hails from Tijuana but has become a big attraction at the Double Tree Hotel in Ontario. He is rated No 13 by the WBC but how a fighter who has never fought anything but 6 and 8 rounds fights and never beaten a rated fighter can be rated No 13 in the world escapes me. “Hollywood” Estrella, also from Tijuana, has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights but those who have beaten him have had total records of 51-1 when they scored their respective wins. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Feather: Horacio Garcia (30-1) W TKO 2 Raul Hidalgo (24-14). Super Bantam: Diego De La Hoya (13-0) W PTS 8 Giovanni Delgado (15-4). Welter: Alan Sanchez (17-3-1) W TKO 6 John Karl Sosa (13-1). Super Bantam: Erik Ruiz (15-4) W PTS 8 Roy Tapia (11-1-2). Middle: Jason Quigley (9-0) W PTS 4 Marchristofer Adkins (6-2). Garcia vs. Hidalgo Mexican “Violento” Garcia gets quick win in his first fight in the USA. Garcia made his usual aggressive start and Hidalgo was under pressure throughout the first round. In the second Garcia drove Hidalgo to the ropes and bombarded him with hooks and uppercuts until the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. The 25-year-old big puncher from Guadalajara makes it 22 wins by KO/TKO. He had his 29 bout winning streak broken in May when he lost a wide verdict to former WBC bantam and feather champion Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan. Hidalgo, also Mexican, is 5-5 in his last 10 fights but the total records for those 5 that beat him add up to 83-1 so no easy ones for Senor Hidalgo. De La Hoya vs. Delgado De La Hoya gets another win. The young Mexican prospect showed excellent skills as he boxed on the back foot drawing Delgado in and scoring with hard counters. He was quicker and slicker than Delgado working well to head and body. Delgado never stopped trying. His pressure kept the bout interesting and he had more success in the later rounds but could never match the movement and hand speed of De La Hoya. Scores 79-73 from all three judges. The 21-year-old “Golden Kid” from Mexicali, a cousin of Oscar, has good wins over Manuel Roman and Jesus Ruiz. Delgado, 24, who Diego had sparred with in the past, is 3-4 in his last 7 fights. Sanchez vs. Sosa Sanchez had bid advantages in height and reach and he used them to soften Sosa up and eventually take away his unbeaten tag. At 6’1” (185cm) Sanchez was able to use his jab to keep Sosa on the outside and force him back. The main danger for Sosa came not so much from Sanchez’s jab but from the right counters he was catching the Puerto Rican with as he tried to work his way inside. Sanchez had built a good lead when one of the right counters nailed Sosa in the sixth. Sosa went down heavily and was badly shaken. Sosa made it to his feet but follow-up attacks from Sanchez saw Sosa go down twice more and the referee stopped the fight. The 24-year-old Sanchez has lost only once in his last 13 fights and that was on points against Luis Collazo in 2013. This is his fifth wins since then including a victory over Eddie Paredes. Back to the drawing board for Sosa. Ruiz vs. Tapia Another unbeaten fighter suffered his first loss here as Ruiz staged a strong finish to get the split decision over Tapia. There was never much between the two in a hard fought match. Tapia made the better start working inside but the rounds were close with both landing hard punches in an exciting scrap with Tapia just having his nose in front after six rounds. However his face was showing the marks of the work from Ruiz and over the seventh and eighth Ruiz did enough to win the rounds and the decision. Scores 77-75 twice for Ruiz and 77-75 for Tapia. Oxnard-based Ruiz,24, had lost 3 of his last 4 going in but the losses were to quality opposition in Jessie Magdaleno, Manuel Avila and Daniel Roman who between them had total records of 51-2-1 and two of those fights went the full ten rounds giving Ruiz an experience edge over Tapia who had never gone past six rounds before. Tapia, also 24, had wins over experienced opposition in Luis Maldonado and Juan Luis Hernandez so he can come again. Quigley vs. Adkins Irish star hope Quigley has to go the distance for the first time to outpoint Adkins. The Irish fighter was in charge most of the way but in the third a clash of heads saw him suffer a bad cut over his left eye. That encouraged Adkins who pressed Quigley hard over the last round but could never match the quality of the former amateur stand-out. Scores 40-36 twice and 39-37. Quigley, 24, who won gold at the European Championships and a silver at the World Championships, is an outstanding prospect. Big step up in quality for Adkins. He had won his last six fight including a victory over Shane Mosley Jr New York, NY, USA: Super Feather: Chris Galeano (10-0,1ND) W PTS 10 Shawn Cameron (10-1). Super Welter: Carlos Garcia (10-14-1) W TKO 1 Patrick Day (11-2-1). Middle: Artur Akavov (15-1) W TKO 2 Freddy Lopez (9-3). Middle: Francy Ntetu (16-0) W PTS 8 Oscar Riojas (9-3). Galeano vs. Cameron Galeano gets unanimous verdict in competitive match against fellow southpaw Cameron. Over the first three rounds Cameron was giving as good as he was getting forcing the fight against the better boxing and getting through with enough to edge slightly in front. Galeano stepped up his work from the third and was timing his counters better making Cameron pay for his aggression with fast accurate shots. There was nothing Cameron could do to match Galeano’s boxing and he became wild in his attacks which just made the job easier for the classy Bronx southpaw and Galeano ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. The 22-year-old was twice New York Golden Gloves champion and US National champion in 2013 but failed at the Last Chance Qualifier for a place at the US Trials for the 2012 Olympics. He had a bad start as a pro being floored twice and outpointed by David Rohn only for Rohn to test positive for a banned substance so the decision was changed to ND. Cameron, 33, also a New York Golden Gloves champion, served two tours in Iraq with the US Army. Both were up at ten rounds for the first time. Day vs. Garcia Day beat Galeano in the amateurs but is struggling as a pro. Puerto Rican Garcia landed a massive right which had Day in deep trouble and he kept firing until the referee stopped it to save Day. All over in 79 seconds. Garcia was 3-7 in his previous ten fights so did not seem to pose a threat to Day but 8 of his 10 wins have come by KO/TKO. Not sure where Day goes from here. At one time he was the No 1 rated amateur in the US in his weight division so big things were expected. His other loss was to unbeaten Alantez Fox but this one is more difficult to explain away. Akavov vs. Lopez Russian southpaw Akavov impresses in stoppage of Lopez. The solid built Akavov established his jab early and then began to unload his power shots. Lopez quickly crumbled and was floored with a left to the body in the second. He got up but was in no condition to continue. Akavov, the WBFoundation and WBO European champion has six wins by KO/TKO. Lopez only returned to the ring in March after almost six years away and is 2-2- since his comeback. Ntetu vs. Rojas DRC-born Canadian Ntetu makes heavy work of getting past Texan Rojas on a split decision. Ntetu had the skill but did not make full use of it letting Rojas brawl him out of his comfort zone. He hurt Rojas late in the fight but won the decision without impressing. Scores 77-74 and 76-75 for Ntetu and 76-74 for Rojas. Ntetu, 33, beat now world rated Schiller Hyppolite back in 2012 but has not really built on that win. Rojas has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Cordoba, Argentina: Light Heavy: Walter Sequeira (17-2) W KO 1 Evert Bravo (21-5-1). Super Light: Xavier Luques Castillo (15-4) W TEC DEC 5 Damian Yapur (11-3-2). Sequeira vs. Bravo Sequeira overwhelms Bravo in 70 seconds including the count. Colombian Bravo was taller and tried to work on the outside. Sequeira tracked him around the ropes until he trapped Bravo in a corner. A couple of left hooks rattled Bravo and then Sequeira unleashed a barrage of punches and Bravo slumped to the canvas. He took the ten count on one knee making no effort to rise. The 28-year-old Argentinian No 1 retains his WBC Latino title. He now has 12 wins by KO/TKO and after losing his first pro fight is now 17-1 in his last 18. Bravo, 30, lost inside the distance to Tommy Oosthuizen for the IBO super middle title and after being stopped in three rounds by Roberto Bolonti in May 2012 was inactive for almost three years before returning to action this year with three low level wins in domestic fights. Castillo vs. Yapur Castillo gets split technical decision over Yapur. The fight never really caught fire with Castillo doing just enough work with his jab to edge the first and Yapur just edged the second. Castillo had the better of the third and fourth but a clash of heads in the fourth as Castillo closed in recklessly opened a bad cut on Yapur’s right eyebrow. The referee examined the injury but said the fight could continue but early in the fifth the cut was still bleeding profusely and the referee stopped the fight and it was decided on the scorecards with the fifth round being scored. Scores 49 ½-47 ½ and 49-48 ½ to Castillo and 49-48 ½ to Yapur. Argentinian champion Castillo, 27, wins the vacant WBA Fedebol title. He has won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss being a majority verdict against Josh King in Australia in September last year. Yapur had a 5-0-2 run but has now lost two in a row. Santiago, Chile: Super Fly: Miguel Gonzalez (23-1) W PTS 11 Luis Lazarte (52-12-2,1ND). Super Feather: Luis Parra (4-4-1) W PTS 10 Juan Jimenez (5-2). Gonzalez vs. Lazarte Gonzalez just too young, too quick and too big for experienced Lazarte and wins unanimous decision to collect the vacant WBA Fedebol title. Gonzalez stuck to his game plan using his reach and height to box on the outside with the smaller Lazarte unable to bring Gonzalez to the brawl. If anything Gonzalez was showing Lazarte too much respect and taking no chances. Although doing enough to take a couple of rounds a frustrated Lazarte was doing too much holding and too much talking. He was not just directing his remarks at Gonzalez but also at the supporters of the Chilean but again Gonzalez continued to box calmly and was a clear winner. Scores 108-101 twice and 107-103 ½. The 26-year-old “Needle” lost a wide unanimous decision to Brit Paul Butler in September 2013 but has now won six on the bounce and is rated No 13 by the WBA. Former IBF light fly champion Lazarte, 44, lost to John Riel Casimero for the WBA interim title in February 2012 in his home city of Mar del Plata a fight which was marred by disgraceful tactics by Lazarte and a full scale riot. Lazarte was then inactive until July 2014 and had won three domestic victories since then. Parra vs. Jimenez Parra wins the vacant national title with unanimous decision over Jimenez. An exciting contest saw both fighters on the canvas but “Little Engine” Parra was a clear winner. He used his better boxing to outclass Jimenez. When he lost to Jimenez in August he had allowed himself to be drawn into toe-to-toe trading which suited Jimenez better. Scores 97-91 twice and 98-90. Good win for the 28-year-old Parra as he had gone 1-4-1 in his previous six fights. Kampala, Uganda: Super Light: Hamza Sempewo (13-5) W PTS 12 Abdallah Ruwanje (4-3-1). Sempewo too good for inexperienced Tanzanian and wins the East & Central African title with wide unanimous decision. Scores 119-109 from all three judges. Good win for Sempewo as he rebounds from inside the distance loss in August. Ruwanje keeps his record of not losing inside the distance his other two losses have been to useful opposition in Cosmas Cheka and Solomon Bogere. November 21 Las Vegas, NV, USA: Middle: Saul Alvarez (46-1-1) W PTS 12 Miguel Cotto (40-5). Super Feather: Francisco Vargas (23-0-1) TKO 9 Takashi Miura (29-3-2). Feather: Ronny Rios (25-1) W PTS 10 Jayson Velez (23-1-1). Super Bantam: Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0) W PTS 10 Drian Francisco (28-4-1). Feather: Alberto Machado (12-0) W TKO 1 Tyrone Luckey (8-5-2). Fly: Jose Martinez (16-0) W PTS 8 Oscar Mojica (8-1). Heavy: Zhilei Zhang (6-0) W PTS 4 Juan Goode (6-3). Alvarez vs. Cotto Alvarez gets huge win as he collects the vacant WBC middleweight title with unanimous decision over Cotto. Both were cautious at the start but as the action picked up in the first round Alvarez lands a hard combination to the body to take the round. The second was very close as Alvarez opens with a left to the body and Cotto with an overhand right. The Puerto Rican is staying away from the ropes and showing good movement and he looks to have evened things up. Alvarez has a good third as he scores with lefts and rights to the head with Cotto sticking to his jab and throwing lots of punches but with little accuracy. Cotto rebounds to take the fourth and even it looks to be 2-2. Cotto is using his jab again and although he has to absorb some hard rights from Alvarez he ends the round strongly. The fifth is too close to call. Alvarez lands the best punch of the round a left hook but Cotto shows good skills slipping punches and countering and by the end of the round Alvarez has a bruise showing under his right eye. The sixth was also close with Alvarez getting through with an overhand right and Cotto again jabbing to good effect but it is obvious that Alvarez has the greater power. He is throwing less but those that do land are power shots. Alvarez collects the seventh as he snaps Cotto’s head back with a right and gets through with a big right uppercut. Cotto is sticking to his boxing but just not landing enough. The eighth is a great round the best of the fight and a candidate for Round of the Year. War breaks out as they go toe-to-toe which suits Alvarez. They both bang home hard punches Alvarez scores with hooks and uppercuts but Cotto is staying with him and firing back but Alvarez is landing more and again his power shows. Cotto fires back with a thumping left to the head but it is Alvarez’s round. The pace drops a little at the start of the ninth as they both recover from their efforts. Eventually Alvarez carries on the momentum he built in the eighth and Cotto finds it hard to keep him out. Again the Mexican is landing the heavier punches and although Cotto is countering he just does not have the same power. Cotto shows his champion qualities as he fires back to win the tenth. Alvarez is warned for a low blow and the quick accurate jabbing from Cotto makes the difference. The eleventh is close but again the better boxing of Cotto just outweighs the power of the young Mexican. Alvarez puts in the stronger finish as they stand in ring centre and battle head to head in the last. Cotto is showing a cut over his left eye but too late to be of any significance. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 all for Alvarez the new WBC champion. As for the scores Alvarez won the fight but even the 117-111 score does not do full justice to the efforts of Cotto and I can only assume that where the rounds were close the judges went for the power shots of Alvarez over the lighter shots from Alvarez. Whilst the fight did not quite live up to all expectations it was a tough exciting scrap between two great professionals and a clear indication that the sport does not need Floyd Mayweather Jr. This was one where the fight was a fight and not a spectacle. A condition of the WBC agreeing to the fight was that the winner had to face Gennady Golovkin and Alvarez has said he is willing to do that but the contract for the fight with Cotto included mutual return fight clauses and there was also talk of whether Alvarez might want to try to get revenge against Mayweather, the only fighter to have beaten him, so we will have to see what develops. Irrespective at just 25 Alvarez has already assured himself of a place in the Hall of Fame and has plenty of years left to build his profile further still. At 35 Cotto’s future is uncertain. There is no talk of retirement and since both he and Freddy Roach thought he won the fight there is no reason for him to talk retirement. He is a big name and there are still big fights out there for him. Vargas vs. Miura A cut and battered Vargas pulls this one out with a vicious attack in the ninth round to win the WBA title. In the first southpaw Miura was coming forward probing with his jab but Vargas banged home a straight right that saw Miura’s legs stiffen and he stumbled back against the ropes. Vargas followed in trying to capitalise on the early success and Miura had to duck and hold as Vargas landed more rights. When Miura did hold inside Vargas still managing to score with rights and the champion must have been happy to hear the bell but on the plus side for him was that Vargas had collected a small cut under his right eye. Miura came out aggressively in the second but again it was Vargas doing the eye-catching scoring early with his rights. Miura got a warning to watch his head and the cut under the right eye of Vargas had worsened. The Japanese fighter came on strong at the end of the round scoring with southpaw left hooks to the body. Vargas started the third well with short rights but Miura was forcing him back and drawing him into a brawl. Miura was getting home hooks to the body but Vargas ended the round boxing cleverly and spearing the oncoming champion with jabs and straight rights. Vargas tried to box again in the fourth but Miura was hunting him down and scoring with a series of strong straight lefts. He scored with a peach of an uppercut and then threw a straight left that smacked into the face of Vargas and put him down. Vargas was up quickly but there was blood dripping from the cut under his right. Luckily the bell went just as Miura had Vargas in a corner and was about to try to finish things. Miura was again coming forward in the fifth and sixth with Vargas boxing on the back foot and countering. The Mexican was landing hard right counters and was more accurate but Miura was relentless coming forward throwing right hooks and straight lefts and was bossing the fight. The eighth saw Vargas trying to come forward more and he constantly pierced Miura’s guard with precise right. Miura still kept coming just walking through the punches and landing right/left combinations. Suddenly a straight left from Miura landed flush on the face of Vargas which sent the Mexican staggering backwards to the ropes badly shaken and Miura had the challenger trapped in a corner and battering away at his defences as the bell went. At the start of the ninth Vargas was behind on two cards, the right side of his face was a mess and he looked like a boxer in trouble. In the first exchange of punches Vargas landed a left uppercut and then a straight right and Miura buckled at the knees and pitch down sideward’s to the floor landing on his back. He tried to scramble to his feet but again fell forwards to the floor. He made it to his feet at the second attempt holding his arms above his head to show he was ready to continue. He stepped forward and grabbed Vargas and wrestled him across the ring holding on fast. Vargas fired punch after punch as Miura staggered under the storm and then again grabbed Vargas and wrestled him across the ring, Miura tried to fire back but it was on pure instinct and as Vargas slammed home punch after punch the referee stopped the fight. The 30-year-old “El Bandito” had pulled off a great come-from-behind win in a fight which featured action for every minute of the nine and a bit rounds. A contender for Fight of the Year”. Vargas had earned his title shots with wins over Brandon Bennett, Jerry Belmontes, Abner Cotto, Juan Manuel Lopez and Will Tomlinson. He did not turn pro until he was 25 due to a long and successful time as an amateur when he competed at the Olympic Games, World Championships and Pan American Games. Miura, 31, was making the fifth defence of his title. He had beaten Mexican Gamaliel Diaz, to win the title, and made defences again other Mexicans in Sergio Thompson, Dante Jardon and Edgar Puerta making him the scourge of Mexican feathers but despite Miura’s magnificent effort here Vargas got one back for his country. Rios vs. Velez. Once again a fighter has to come from behind for the win as Rios takes away the unbeaten label of Puerto Rican Velez and collects the vacant WBC Silver title. Velez outboxed Rios early letting the Californian come forward and spearing him with jabs and scoring well to the body. Rios landed a very low right but escaped without a warning. Rios turned up the heat in the second but again went low and this time was warned. The pattern was pretty well set with Velez boxing on the retreat and Rios aiming to get inside and land with hooks from both hands. Clever boxing and accuracy were allowing Velez to build a lead and in the fifth after a couple of low punches the referee deducted a point from Rios. The fight was changing as Rios began to walk through Velez’s punches which lacked any real snap and was able to work in close with hooks to head and body. Velez found himself under constant pressure and being denied the room to work his jab forcing him to stand and trade and go off his game plan. Rios kept up the pressure in the eighth with Velez spending much of the time with his back against the ropes trying to fend off the persistent attacks of Rios who scored with some good left hooks late in the round. Velez had a slightly better ninth trying to stay off the ropes and get his jab back into play moving more and scoring with some hooks and uppercuts as Rios advanced but Rios persisted and Velez had to stand and trade but landed a couple of good rights inside as the round ended. Both fought with fire in the last and both had some success. Velez was scoring with his jab and straight rights and Rios was again throwing plenty of hooks and uppercuts and looking the winner. Scores 97-92, 96-93 and 95-94 all for Rios. Rios, 25, won his first 23 fights before suffering an upset loss when he was floored and stopped by Robinson Castellanos in five round in October last year. That loss cost him his world rating but this win should see him listed again. “La Maravilla” Velez, 27, had a similar record winning his first 22 fights before being held to a draw in November by Evgeny Gradovich in a challenge for the IBF title. He was rated WBC 2/IBF 5(3)/WBA 7/WBO 10 but will now tumble down in all of those lists. Rigondeaux vs. Francisco The Cuban master promises much but fails to deliver. Rigondeaux was streets ahead of Filipino Francisco in speed and skill and never really let Francisco get into the fight. Things looked promising when a long left from Rigondeaux sent Francisco staggering back but it was a false dawn and Rigondeaux reverted to type. He was too quick for Francisco threading right jabs home and punishing any error the Filipino made. Francisco could not figure out a way to deal with Rigondeaux and often just stood in front of the Cuban waiting for the chance that never came. With Rigondeaux boxing carefully and picking his punches and Francisco not finding any kind of target the action, or lack of it, had the crowd restive and booing early. Despite realising he was doing his reputation no good by another brilliant but boring display Rigondeaux never took any chances and easily boxed his way to the wide unanimous decision with two judges giving him all ten rounds and one actually finding three rounds to give to the Filipino. Scores 100-90 twice and 97-93. The 35-year-old “Jackal” had been stripped off his WBA and WBO super bantam titles just a few days before the fight for inactivity although other champions had been given more leeway by both bodies. He had also been released by Top Rank and had a new promoter but it was the same old Rigondeaux. Too good for his own good and too old to change. Francisco, 33, was pulled off a show in the Philippines so was fit and but not quite ready for the skills of Rigondeaux. The former interim WBA super fly champion suffered a crushing one round loss against fellow Filipino Jason Canoy in May and is trying to rebuild but despite the short notice it was an opportunity he could not turn down Machado vs. Luckey Machado again displays impressive power as he crushes Luckey inside a round. A left put Lucky down the first time and although he made it to his feet Machado hunted him down and floored him again with a left/right combination. Luckey made it to his feet but there was no way Machado was letting him off the hook and he was punishing him in a corner when the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old Puerto Rican southpaw is certainly living up to his “El Explosivo” nickname. The tall, 5’10” (178cm) puncher now has 10 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in a row and the last two both being first round finishes. “Hands of Stone” Luckey must have loaned his gloves to Machado. He had scored three wins and a draw in 2015 but could not take the power punching of Machado. Martinez vs. Mojica Puerto Rican hope Martinez remains unbeaten with points win over Mojica. Martinez fought a smart fight but Mojica contributed to his own defeat. Mojica had height and reach over Martinez but never used them and chose to fight inside. A slow first round saw them both trading body punches with not much between them. Martinez had a big second when after outboxing Mojica he had the Texan badly shaken with an uppercut. The third also went to Martinez as he landed some heavy head punches and he took the fourth by switching his focus to the body. Mojica was scoring with some of his own shots but not enough. The fifth saw Mojica’s work rate drop and Martinez was scoring well to the body. It swung the other way in the sixth as Martinez seemed to tire and Mojica was able to make the rounds much closer. Martinez was fresher in the last and dominated the action. Scores 78-74 for Martinez from all three judges. The 23-year-old “Chiquiro” from the Cotto stable is the WBC Latino champion and was coming off a knockout win over experienced Armando Vazquez in August. Mojica, 23, had been meeting a lower level opposition and sometimes struggling to get his wins. Zhang vs. Goode “Big Bang” Zhang gets a shock as Goode deposits him on his backside in the fourth. The 6’6” (198cm) Chinese fighter had 5” in height and 20lbs in weight over Goode but his technique is very basic and does not include a useful jab or much footwork. Goode had to lunge in with his attacks and Zhang showed some powerful hooks and uppercuts as Goode came forward busting open Goode’s nose. Zhang was boxing his way to a comfortable if laboured win when Goode leapt in with a right in the fourth round that knocked Zhang over. He was up quickly and was able to clinch and wrestle until his head cleared and by the end of the round he was again catching Goode with hooks although both Zhang and Goode looked exhausted by then. Scores 38-37 for Zhang from all three judges. Although the winner of an Olympic silver medal and two World Championship medals at 32 he is not going to get much better so not likely to go far as a pro. Goode, 31, won his first 5 fights by KO/TKO but has lost his last 3 on points. Manchester, England: Light: Anthony Crolla (30-4-3) W KO 5 Darleys Perez (32-2-1). Super Light: Tyrone Nurse (32-2-1) W PTS 12 Chris Jenkins (16-1-1). Bantam: Ryan Burnett (12-0) W PTS 12 Jason Booth (38-14). Fly: Charlie Edwards (6-0) W TKO 6 Phil Smith (6-2). Feather: Isaac Lowe (11-0-1) DREW 10 Ryan Doyle (11-1-1). Super Welter: Brian Rose (28-3-1) W PTS 8 Ruslans Pojonisevs (16-37-1). Crolla vs. Perez An emotional night in Manchester as Crolla completes his fairy tale recovery from serious injury to fulfil his dream of becoming a world champion as he destroys Perez with one punch to lift the WBA crown. The opening two rounds were close with Crolla taking the first as he established his jab and scored with a good overhand right. In the second Perez was finding the target with his own jab catching Crolla as he came forward and although Crolla scored with some uppercuts Perez probably just edged it. Perez was quick with his jab again in the third but Crolla scored with a hard body punch and ended the round with a flurry of punches to take that one. Perez was boxing well in the fourth finding gaps to slot home his jab but he was showing a slight swelling by his right eye and again Crolla finished the round with a flourish. It was shaping up to be another close fight but in the fifth Crolla forced Perez to the ropes with a couple of stiff jabs and then landed a sickening left to the body. Perez went down slowly to his knees and as the count proceeded slumped further with his head touching the canvas and he was still in that position when the count was completed. Great win for 29-year-old “Million Dollar” Crolla and that nickname must reflect on how he felt on winning. He had come close when they first met in July but that ended as a majority draw. This time Crolla did not leave it to the judges and scored what must be the most popular win in British boxing this year. Colombian Perez, 32, had never failed to last the distance in any fight before this and he again showed his excellent skills and the courage to twice enter the lion’s den but that body punch was just too much for him. Nurse vs. Jenkins Nurse wins vacant British title on unanimous decision over Jenkins. They had clashed on the same shows as the first Crolla vs. Perez fight and their contest also ended as a majority draw as did the main event. Jenkins edged a slow first round and used his superior strength to have Nurse fighting with his back to the ropes in the second and land a good left/right combination with Nurse already showing a bruising on the left side of his head. In the third Nurse used his better skills to score with counters and Jenkins was suddenly cut up on his forehead from an accidental elbow from Jenkins and the cut bled heavily. Nurse got into his stride in the fourth using his quicker hands and some good lateral movement to outbox the Welshman. The cut on Jenkins head was bleeding again but just when things were looking good for Nurse Jenkins exploded with a right that put Nurse down. He beat the count but was taken to the ropes as Jenkins tried to repeat his success but Nurse was fight back by the bell. The knockdown had given Jenkins a boost and in the sixth he kept the pressure on making Nurse fight inside. Nurse worked himself some space in the seventh and caught Jenkins with a right counter late to take the round. Both seemed to tire in the eighth and ninth but Nurse just did enough to pocket the rounds and probably edge in front. In the tenth Jenkins was fighting under the handicap of the cut on his forehead running blood down to affect his vision and was also cut over his left eye. He suffered another cut but this one over his right eye but by sheer aggression he shut down Nurse’s work and edged the round. The eleventh was a round fought by two very tired boxers and it was untidy and close enough to go either way. Nurse just did enough to take the twelfth as he kept his boxing together and scored with good counters. Scores 115-112 twice and 116-111all for Nurse. The tall 25-year-old Nurse wins the vacant British title. His losses have come in a three round Prizefighter Tournament and a majority decision to Dave Ryan for the vacant CBC title in October last year. He was down twice in the fight against Ryan and had to climb off the floor in this one. He has abundant skills but is not a big puncher. “Rok’nRolla” Jenkins, 27, has cause to feel he was unlucky as this was a very close fight but the former star of the Welsh amateur team will be back fighting for a title in 2016. Burnett vs. Booth Burnett wins vacant British title as he takes every round against veteran Booth. A feel out first round comes to a dramatic end as an overhand right from Burnett puts Booth on the floor. Booth gets up and sees out the round but it is a poor start for him. It does not get much better as Burnett has both skill and power and has an old head on young shoulders as shows patience and clever tactics. Booth also knows a few tricks and tries to stay off the ropes and tie Burnett up whenever he can. Booth is rocked in the fifth and again in the eighth but never seems in danger of a stoppage. Over the late rounds Burnett starts switching guards and time and again lands spiteful combinations working the body. Booth has nothing with which to change the flow of the fight but he sticks in there taking the punishment, countering when he can. Burnett is showing the full range of his arsenal and it is impressive as he works the jab, throws in hooks and uppercuts and focuses on the body although Booth shows a good defence after that first round shock. At the end it is a one-sided fight with Burnett winning 120-107 on all three cards. The 23-year-old from Belfast also holds the WBO European title. He was inactive for a year between November 2013 and November 2014 but has been very active since then this being his sixth fight of the year. He won a gold medal at the World Youth Olympics and a silver at the World Youth Championships and is yet another outstanding talent from Belfast. Booth, 38, first won the British and CBC fly titles back in 1999 and in 2003 won the IBO super fly title. He was also CBC champion at bantam and British and CBC champion at super bantam losing a majority decision to Steve Molitor for the IBF title in 2010. He was coming into this fight off a good win over Jason Cunningham. This was his 25th fight for a major title so a very distinguished career which may not be over yet. Edwards vs. Smith Edwards retains his English title with stoppage of Smith. The former top amateur continues to show progress. The early rounds were fairly even with Edwards showing some vicious uppercuts. Edwards had done enough to take the five completed rounds and then ended it in the sixth with a stunning right hook that put Smith down and led to the stoppage. The 22-year-old from Surrey, twice an ABA champion and a European Championships bronze medallist, has real talent. Smith 29 has been plagued by inactivity and although he had his moments here was never really in with a chance. Lowe vs. Doyle Lowe holds on to his English title with split draw against Doyle. The challenger made a good start using his superior strength to boss the exchanges and landing the hard punches. Just when it looked as though the title was going to change hands Lowe got into his stride blocking or avoiding Doyle’s punches and using his speed and better skills to scoop the closing rounds and save his title. Scores 97-93 for Lowe, 96-95 for Doyle and 95-95. The 21-year-old “Westgate Warrior” came close to losing his unbeaten tag in the entertaining fight and Doyle certainly deserves a second shot. Rose vs. Pojonisevs Just eight rounds of useful work for Rose as he takes every round against Latvian loser whilst he waits for a big fight. Referee’s score 80-72. First fight for former WBO title challenger Rose since his revenge win over Carson Jones in August. Ten losses in his last eleven fights for Pojonisevs. Hannover, Germany: Super Middle: Arthur Abraham (44-4) W PTS 12 Martin Murray (32-3-1). Super Middle: Eduard Gutknecht (29-3-1) W KO 4 Arman Torosyan (16-2-1).Light Heavy; Deion Jumah (6-0) W PTS 6 Fabrizio Leone (6-8). Abraham vs. Murray Once again Abraham stages a strong finish to retain his title and once again Murray come up painfully shots in a title fight. Murray started well and Abraham got his usual slow start. Murray took control of ring centre and was busier and more accurate in the first round. Abraham was trying to come forward behind his trade mark high guard but Murray was strong and had Abraham on the back foot doubling up his jab and scoring with some choice left hooks. Murray had taken each of the first two rounds and after landing his best punch of the fight so far in the third, a left hook, he did enough to be 3-0 ahead with 9 to go. After a slow start to the fourth Abraham picked up the pace and for once had Murray going back and probably just edged the round. Abraham also took the fifth just edging it as Murray was forced into holding a bit more and Abraham got through with a hard left hook. The pattern continued with the sixth a close round. Murray was still showing good skills and trying to work the body but again Abraham landed a couple of rights to nick the round. Murray was firing early in the seventh throwing some solid combinations but as Abraham fired back Murray was warned for holding and Abraham closed the round rocking Murray with a right, his best punch so far. Drama in the eighth as Murray looked to take control with hefty combinations and with Abraham firing back. A huge overhand right from Murray staggered Abraham and he was forced to hold onto the ropes to steady himself and badly shaken for the first time in the fight. The champion had recovered by the ninth and although Murray started the round brightly Abraham craftily put in a strong finish to the rounds to impress the judges probably just doing enough to take it putting him in the lead. In the tenth Abraham was again marching forward behind his high guard but this time Murray staged the stronger finish to close the gap somewhat. The eleventh was the best round so far with more exchanges with both landing hard punches and Abraham landing a hard right. Murray clinched-once too often-and the referee deducted a point from the British fighter turning what was marginally a 10-9 round for Abraham into a 10-8. With the fight close both fighters went all out in the last round Murray has some success when he took Abraham to the ropes but Abraham seemed the fresher and with the crowd behind him he ended the round strongly. Scores 116-111 and 115-112 for Abraham and 115-112 for Murray. “King Arthur”, 35, was making the fifth defence of his WBO title and is 18-3 in his world title fights. He again showed his expertise in pacing a fight and being behind early is situation normal for him. This is only the second time he has been held to a split decision, the other one being a win over Robert Stieglitz and he has only fought outside Germany twice in title fights. Murray, 33, just can’t get a break. His three losses have all been in world title fights with a split draw against Felix Sturm in Germany, a disputed points loss against Sergio Martinez in Argentina and a brave effort against the deadly Gennady Golovkin. He would certainly have a fair chance of beating WBC champion Badou Jack and WBA secondary champion Fedor Chudinov but naturally he does not want to go into another fight where his opponent has home advantage but a fight with IBF champion James DeGale would be a big fight in Britain. Gutknecht vs. Torosyan Gutknecht continues his run of wins at super middle with stoppage of late replacement Torosyan. The opening round was untidy with both fighters being warned for various infringement and the only real action in the round a left/right combination from Gutknecht which sent Torosyan reeling back and down. He was up immediately claiming he had been pushed but the referee applied the eight count and then the bell went. Early in the second a right from Torosyan staggered Gutknecht and knocked him into the ropes. He was in deep trouble and on shaky legs but an overanxious Torosyan only succeeded in bundling Gutknecht into a corner. The ropes kept Gutknecht up. He was still very shaky and he ducked inside and drove Torosyan across the ring and pushed him to the floor. By the end of the round Gutknecht had survived the crisis and was slamming home hard right crosses with Torosyan the one in trouble. In the third the fight suddenly became one-sided. Gutknecht was firing hard jabs through Torosyan’s guard and following up with rights to the head and Torosyan was looking a beaten man. Gutknecht continued the punishment in the fourth and after a series of punches Torosyan just knelt in a corner and after starting the count the referee waived the fight over. The Kazak-born Gutknecht, a former EBU light heavy champion, had lost big fights to Robert Stieglitz for the WBO super middle title, Juergen Braehmer for the EBU light heavy title and to Russian Dmitry Sukhotsky. He then had a disappointing draw with Argentinian novice Pablo Sosa (3-3-2). After that draw with Sosa he moved back down to super middle and this is his fourth win since the move. All going well but for that spell in the second round he was lucky that Torosyan did not capitalise on his vulnerability. Gutknecht was to have fought Tyrone Zeuge but when Zeuge pulled out sick Torosyan came in at very short notice. The Armenian-born fighter was coming off a points loss to Nuhu Lawal Juma vs. Leone Juma gets a win for Britain on the show. The showy 26-year-old London southpaw boxed his way to an undemanding unanimous verdict over poor Italian opponent Leone. He constantly had Leone stuck on the ropes but did not seem to have the power to seriously hurt Leone which allowed him to get out of trouble and take the fight inside. Juma showed plenty of skill boxing with his lead hand on his thigh and firing a variety of hooks and uppercuts but the fight never caught fire and Leone never looked in trouble. Scores 60-54 for Juma from all three judges. Only the third fight in almost two years for Juma who needs to be more active. Leone has lost his last seven fights all on points. Sydney, Australia: Middle: Dwight Ritchie (13-0) W PTS 10 Ryan Waters (22-5-2). Ritchie stays unbeaten and retains his Australian title with wide unanimous verdict over returning Waters. The 23-year-old “Fighting Cowboy” dominated the fight from start to finish with Waters having to survive a doctor’s inspection of a bad cut near his left eye in the fourth round and despite this being his first fight for almost four years he fought hard all the way with Ritchie just too young and fit for him. Scores 99-91 twice and 100-90. The 23-year-old Ritchie had four wins scratched off his record as he was under age when he had the fights. Waters a former Australian super welter champion last fought in December 2011. Ontario, Canada: Super Welter: Brandon Cook (16-0) W TKO 5 Rafael Sosa Pintos (50-13). Feather: Tyler Asselstine (15-2) W PTS 6 Diego Sanaco (21-20-5). Cook vs. Pintos Cook keeps his WBA Inter-Continental title as he halts Pintos in five rounds. Cook was walking Pintos down from the start. The visitor had good skills showing good movement and a quick jab but lacked the power to keep Cook out. The Canadian kept hunting and weakening Pintos with body shots and ended it in the fifth. Cook hurt Pintos with two left hooks to the body and then drove him across the ring and landed another left hook and a right uppercut. Pintos slumped to the floor but was up quickly and took the eight count. Cook got home with another two left hooks and Pintos went down but this time it was a slip. Cook then backed off and Pintos had a brief moment of coming forward and throwing some punches but then Cook backed him up to the ropes and another left hook put Pintos down. The referee started the count but then stopped and waived the fight over. The 29-year-old “Bad Boy” moves to 10 wins by KO/TKO. Uruguayan Pintos, 35, now has six losses by KO/TKO. Asselstine vs. Sanaco Southpaw Asselstine returns with a win as he comfortably decisions Argentinian Sanaco. The Toronto boxer won every round against his very limited opponent. Scores 60-50 twice and 58-52. This is Asselstine’s first fight since losing on points against Joel Diaz in May last year. Sanaco, 36, is 4-9-1 in his last 14 fights. Helsinki, Finland: Light: Edis Tatli (26-1) W TKO 3 Ramaz Bebnadze (16-3). Super Welter: Jussi Koivula (19-2-1) W TKO 3 Zoran Didanovic (17-27). Tatli vs. Bebnadze EBU champion Tatli returns to action with a stoppage of elderly Georgian. Tatli easily took the first two rounds and then stopped Bebnadze with just one second left in the third round. The Kosovo-born Finn, 28, lost a majority decision to Richar Abril for the WBA title in September last year. He was No 6 with the WBA at the time of his challenge and despite wins in January and his victory over Yvon Mendy for the EBU title he has disappeared out of their rating completely. Bebnadze, 38, has a typical Georgian record of only three fights outside Georgia which have all ended on a loss by KO/TKO. Koivula vs. Didanovic Similar outcome with Koivula’s fight. The Finn took the first two rounds and then floored and halted his ancient Serbian opponent in the third. Since having his 13 fight winning streak ended by a stoppage loss to Lukasz Maciec in 2013 Koivula has struggled to find form putting on a disappointing performance when losing to Marcello Matano in Italy and only getting a split draw with Russian Artem Karasev (7-19-1) in his last fight in August. Didanovic, 43, has lost 7 of his last 8 fights Manzano, Italy: Cruiser: Maurizio Loviglio (20-11) W TKO 12 Leonardo Bruzzese (14-2). Cruiser: Nicola Pietro Ciriani (13-1) W PTS 10 Simone Federici (7-1). Light: Massimiliano Ballisai (20-2) W TKO 4 Laszlo Fekete (13-10-2). Loviglio vs. Bruzzese Loviglio wins the vacant EU title with late stoppage after an exciting scrap that saw both fighters on the floor. Over the first three rounds Loviglio was able to box on the outside and keep out the aggressive charges of Bruzzese. In the fourth Bruzzese’s right comes into play and Loviglio is under pressure. In the fifth a right from Bruzzese followed by a left hook puts Loviglio on the floor. Loviglio gets up and manages to survive to the bell. In the sixth Bruzzese seems to have punched himself out trying to end it in the fifth but just as he is getting back into his stride a Loviglio left hook puts Bruzzese down and it is then his turn to get up and survive. Both fighters seem to tire in the seventh with Bruzzese just doing enough to win it but Loviglio constantly has Bruzzese trapped on the ropes over the next three rounds and he shakes Bruzzese with rights in the eleventh. In the last a left hook has Bruzzese stumbling on unsteady legs and the referee stops the right. The 33-year-old “Angel” from Turin wins the EU title at the second attempt having been floored twice and disqualified in his previous attempt in September last year. Argentinian-born Bruzzese, 32, had lost his Italian title to Loviglio on a tenth round stoppage in 2013. Ciriani vs. Federici Hometown fighter Ciriani wins the vacant Italian title in poor contest against Federici. It was a bad tempered fight with very little clean action. Federici younger and stronger was in the fight early having a good second round but his attacks were crude and from the middle rounds onwards Ciriani with better skills did what scoring there was and took the title. Scores 97-93, 97-94 and 96-94. Ciriani’s only loss is on points against Mirco Ricci for the vacant Italian light heavy title in March last year. This is his fourth win since then. First time past the sixth round for Federici and at 22 he will almost certainly challenge for the title again. Ballisai vs. Fekete Just a keep busy title for Italian champion Ballisai as he halts Hungarian Fekete in four rounds. The 30-year-old former EU champion from Turin gets his fourth win in a row, Fekete, 22, now has 7 losses by KO/TKO. Rotherham, England: Middle: Lewis Taylor (18-1-1) W TKO 5 Jez Wilson (12-3-1). Super Welter: Sam Sheedy (16-1) W TKO 1 Frank Dodze (18-9). Taylor vs. Wilson Yet another English champion gets a win and keeps his crown. As expected it was the challenger Wilson who came out firing and Taylor suffered a cut over his left eye within the first three minutes. Wilson continued to press but with Taylor using his edges in height and reach he came into the fight and was breaking Wilson down. A shot to the chin in the fourth put fireman Wilson down and his trainer Glyn Rhodes stepped up to the ring to signal the end for his man. The 25-year-old Taylor, the EU No 10, took world rated Eamonn O’Kane to a close majority decision in May so this a good rebuilding step. Wilson, 36, had to recover from having his jaw broken in two places in a fight against John Ryder in April last year. He returned with a win in September but may now retire. Sheedy vs. Dodze Sheedy disposes of Ghanaian in the first round. The Sheffield southpaw finished this one in just two minutes so no real test. Sheedy, 27, was having his first fight since losing a split decision to Navid Mansouri for the English title in July. This is his fourth win by KO/TKO. Dodzi’s record misleading as from his last 15 victims 11 had never won a fight and 3 had negative records. November 22 Osaka, Japan: Super Welter: Takayuki Hosokawa (28-10-4) W PTS 12 Dennis Laurente (49-7-5). Super Bantam: Hinata Maruta (1-0) W PTS 6 Jason Canoy 24-6-2). Hosokawa vs. Laurente Hosokawa wins OPBF title with paper thin split decision over Filipino veteran Laurente in a battle of two southpaws. Laurente was pressing the action but Hosokawa was boxing well behind his jab and had a two point lead by the end of the fourth round. Laurente kept pressing and closed the gap fracturing Hosokawa’s jaw in the sixth but the Japanese fighter showed guts and kept his game plan going and just deserved the narrow decision. Scores 115-113 and 115-114 for Hosokawa from the two Japanese judges and a totally ridiculous 118-110 to Laurente from the Filipino judge. The 30-year-old Hosokawa is now 10-1-1 in his last 12 fights but the jaw injury was serious enough to put a question mark over his future. Deposed champion “Mr Humble” Laurente, 38, is a class fighter turning pro back in 1994 and winning a hatful of titles including the GAB light/PABA light/OPBF light/GAB welter/ABC super welter and OPBF super welter. He deserves a return match or a shot at the title if it becomes vacant Maruta vs. Canoy I don’t know where they get them from but here is another Japanese star of the very near future. The much taller Maruta used a sharp jab and straight rights to outbox and bloody the world rated Filipino. Canoy fought aggressively and did enough to make it a close fight but was cut over both eyes, floored with a body punch in the third round and a clear loser. Scores 59-54, 59-56 and 58-55 all for the 18-year-old prospect a bronze medal winner at the Asian Junior Championships. Canoy, rated IBF 10(8) had floored Drain Francisco three times and stopped him inside a round in his last fight in May so a huge step for a fighter having his first pro contest. Kumamoto, Japan: Minimum: Tatsuya Fukuhara (16-4-5) W PTS 10 Hiroya Yamamoto (9-4). Fukuhara wins the vacant JBC title with unanimous decision over Yamamoto. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-94. The local southpaw did well considering he broke a rib in training a month before the fight. Yamamoto was having his second shot at winning the title. The Past Week in Action 16 November 2015
November 13 Biloxi, MS, USA: Light Heavy: Edwin Rodriguez (28-1) W TKO 3 Mike Seales (19-1). Light Heavy: Thomas Williams Jr (19-1) W TKO 2 Umberto Savigne (12-3,1 ND). Welter: Bryant Perrella (12-0) W TKO 1 Chaquib Fadli (13-6).Super Welter: Alantez Fox (18-0-1) W TKO 4 Todd Manuel (10-10-1). Cruiser: Radivoje Kalajdzic (21-0) W KO 1 Fabio Garrido (28-5-1). Middle: Fernando Guerrero (28-3) W TKO 7 Daniel Souza Santos (14-9). Rodriguez vs. Seales Rodriguez gets off the floor to stop Seales in an exciting fight of spills and thrills. Rodriguez came out firing forcing Seales across the ring and letting go big swinging rights. Seales tried to fire back but after just 26 seconds a right from Rodriguez sent Seales stumbling along the ropes and down on his knees. It really looked as though he had stumbled when trying to duck out of the corner and he was up immediately and took the standing eight count (although the rules summary had said there was no standing eight count!) . Rodriguez charged forward throwing wild right swings and walked onto a short right which put him down-and the round was not yet one minute old. Rodriguez took his time getting up at eight. Both used their jabs for a while but Rodriguez was again throwing rights from way back and paid the price as with just 13 seconds left in the round he threw a wide right that landed but Seales had launched a right a split second earlier and on a shorter trajectory which crashed on to Rodriguez’s to the jaw. The punch spun Rodriguez right around and he ended face down on the canvas. He started to get up but almost fell into the ropes and was obviously badly shaken. He was up at six and after the eight count was completed the bell went. Rodriguez seemed to have recovered at the start of the second and both were a bit more cautious but that did not last long and soon Rodriguez was swinging the right again with Seales looking to counter . Rodriguez drove Seales into a corner and bludgeoned him to the floor with an overhand right. Seales went down by the ropes on his side and had trouble getting up and was on wobbly legs. Rodriguez managed to trap Seales on the ropes and batter away but Seales was throwing the occasional punch and lasted to the bell. Rodriguez drove Seales to the ropes at the start of the third and then crashed home an overhand right and Seales pitched forward into the ropes and down on his back on the canvas. Somehow he managed to pull himself up but he was in a bad way and the fight was stopped. Not quite Hagler vs. Hearns but an explosive three rounds. Now up at light heavy this is the fourth win for the Dominican-born 30-year-old “La Bomba” since losing a wide decision against Andre Ward for the WBA super middle title in 2013. Seales, 33,had spent his career fighting in prelims in boxing backwoods and this was his first ten round fight. For a while in that wild first round he was a punch away from a major upset and perhaps now he might get some better level work. Williams vs. Savigne This one was only slightly less eventful as Williams gets off the floor to stop Savigne in two rounds. Williams was the first to go down but he was up quickly and not badly hurt. Later in the round he returned the compliment flooring the Cuban and being in charge as the round ended. William’s continued that dominance in the second round flooring Savigne for a second time. Savigne beat the count but was trapped on the ropes with incoming fire and no defence and the fight was stopped. Twenty-eight-year-old Williams was flying high when he stopped Cornelius White in one round in January 2014 but his stock nose-dived whet he seemed to quit after five rounds against Gabriel Campillo in August. He had returned with a low level win over Mike Gbenga but this was a much more impressive performance. Savigne, 36, suffers his second inside the distance loss in a row having been beaten by the undefeated Craig Baker in February. The No Decision came when Savigne tested positive for a banned substance in a fight in 2013. Perrella vs. Fadli Perrella waste no time as he disposes of Frenchman Fadli inside a round. Body punches accounted for two knockdowns and it was over in 90 seconds. A body punch had Fadli draped on the ropes in agony and since he was supported by the ropes the referee applied an eight count. After the count Perrella jumped on Fadli again and unleashed a barrage of punches that saw the referee stop the fight, The 26-year-old from Florida has won his last 9 fights by KO/TKO including 5 inside the first round. He just failed to get though the final US Olympic Trials but has impressed as a pro. Fadli was coming off back-to-back losses to Lenny Daws and Anthony Yigit but he can be an awkward customer if allowed to hang around. Fox vs. Manuel Fox extended his winning run with stoppage of Manuel. With his huge reach advantage the very tall “SlyAza” was able to score easily in every round flooring Manuel in the third and forcing his corner to retire their man at the end of the fourth. At 6’5” (196cm) the 23-year-old from Maryland is just too tall for 160lbs but seems to make the weight okay. He was US Under-19 champion at 152lbs (69kg) so weight does not seem to be a problem for him. Manuel was a very late substitute. He has lost 6 in a row but in there is a majority verdict loss to Freddy Hernandez in August. Kalajdzic vs. Garrido “Hot Rod Kalajdzic was even quicker than Perrella as he disposed of Brazilian Garrido with one right in 19 seconds-including the count. The 24-year-old has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He was born in Bosnia and was a refugee from the Bosnian war before moving to the USA with his family and settling in Florida. He has big Bosnian and Serb following. Former Brazilian champion Garrido 36 beats his previous record for a quick finish. His corner threw in the towel after only 45 seconds of his fight with Grigory Drozd. Guerrero vs. Santos Guerrero continues the rebuilding of his career with a stoppage of game Brazilian Santos. It took Guerrero a couple of rounds to get going but then he was just too good for the limited South American. The break down was a gradual process until the seventh when Guerrero floored Santos and was continuing to beat the Brazilian up when the referee stopped the fight. After 21 wins in a row, and victories over Gabriel Rosado and Ishe Smith, Guerrero was in line for a title shot until he was de-railed by dangerously unpredictable Grady Brewer in 2011. He fought his way back but was floored four times and stopped in seven rounds by Peter Quillin in a WBO title fight in 2013. Even more devastating was his third round kayo by David Lemieux in May last year. He took eleven months out before returning climbing off the floor to win a split decision over Abie Ham , a useful result but he has a long way to go yet. Santos, 39, has lost 4 of his last 5. Quilmes, Argentina: Light: German Benitez (14-0,1ND) W TKO 2 Sergio O Priotti (28-20-2). Benitez ends his first main event with stoppage of veteran Priotti. Despite some good movement from Priotti Benitez took the first round with body punches. In the second Benitez was again hunting down Priotti and when he trapped him on the ropes he landed an uppercut to the chin that put Priotti down. He made it to his feet but Benitez was on top of him straight away and a couple of hooks to the body and a right to the chin saw the referee step in to save Priotti. The 24-year-old Benitez, the FAB No 8, makes it 7 wins by KO/TKO. Priotti, 35, was a top class amateur winning a gold medal at both the World and PanAmerican Championships but that was a long way back and although coming off a win is 3-10-1 in his last 14 fights. Moscow, Russia: Heavy: Sergey Kuzmin (5-0) W KO 3 Irineu Beato Junior (18-6). Kuzmin gets easy win over Junior. In the first Kuzmin tracked Junior around the ring with the Brazilian just hiding behind a high guard. Kuzmin threw a right that landed on Junior’s glove and then poked a left through the Brazilian’s guard and Junior went down. He was up quickly and actually managed to land a good right to the body before the round ended. Junior started the second with a wild right but Kuzmin landed a stiff jab to Junior’s head and although a following left and right combination did not land Junior tumbled over again. He got up and tried some sneaky counters but was soon back behind his high guard again. It was over in the third when two jabs and a right that glanced off Junior’s head saw the Brazilian go down and make no attempt to get up. The 28-year-old Kuzmin is a former European gold medal winner and was Russian champion in 2012 and 2011 but he looked slow and his defence was far from solid and Junior went over too easily for any real assessment. Junior, 35, won his first 15 fights but is 3-6 in his last nine and was knocked out one round by Brit Dillian Whyte in August. Mexicali, Mexico: Super Light: Jesus Gurrola (21-7-3) W PTS 10 Humberto Mauro Gutierrez (31-7-2). Minimum: Abraham Rodriguez (15-0) W TKO 6 Mauricio Fuentes (18-5) Gurrola vs. Gutierrez Gurrola boxes his way to unanimous decision over southpaw Gutierrez. From the outset Gurrola was intent on using his better skills to keep Gutierrez at a distance. Utilising a sharp accurate jab and good lateral movement he succeed in his game plan over the first four rounds. Gutierrez closed the distance in the fifth and from then it was a more even match but Gurrola continued to box skilfully and Gutierrez was not able to claw back the points from those first four rounds. Scores 96-94 twice and 98-92 all for Gurrola. The locally based “Pantera” had lost 3 of his last 4 but they were all against top class opposition with the losses to Silverio Ortiz, Antonio DeMarco and Fermin De los Santos and the win over Armando Robles. Gutierrez, 27, is a former interim WBC champion but down at super feather and he is no longer the force he was being 5-6-1 in his last 12 fights. Rodriguez vs. Fuentes Tijuana fighter “Choko” Rodriguez halts Colombian Flores to win the WBC Youth Silver title. To begin with Rodriguez was boxing his way to a win however after he suffered a bad cut on his right eyebrow from a punch he changed tactics. From then he opened up and carried out a sustained assault on the body of Fuentes and in the end Fuentes did not come out for the sixth round. Eight wins by KO/TKO for Rodriguez and his best win so far. Fuentes, 26, had an indifferent start as a pro but had lost only two of his last 18 fights going in. One of those was against John Riel Casimero for the vacant IBF light fly title, with Casimero losing the title on the scales but knocking out Fuentes inside a round, and to current IBF champion Javier Mendoza. Taguig City, Philippines: Super Fly: Aston Palicte (20-1) W PTS 12 Vergilio Silvano (20-6-1) . Super Light: Al Rivera (14-2) W KO 1 Adones Cabalquinto (21-1). Light: Jayar Inson (10-0) W TKO 10 Bryan Macamay (9-4-2). Super Fly: Ryan Lumacad (10-0-1) W PTS 10 Jetly Purisima (20-18-4). Super Fly: Jerwin Ancajas (24-1-1) W KO 1 Paul Apolinario (10-16-3). Palicte vs. Silvano Palicte, a prospect from the Manny Pacquiao gym, wins the vacant WBO Oriental title with unanimous decision over Silvano. Palicte had huge edges in height and reach and also had the power. He looked good for a win inside the distance as he floored Silvano in both the second and fifth rounds. From the sixth he seemed to go off the boil and Silvano was able to get inside and make it a more even fight. It transpired that Palicte had injured his right hand but he was able to use his left to box his way to victory. Scores 118-108 twice and 116-110. The 24-year-old from Cebu who represented the Philippines at the World Youth Championships suffered his only loss when he was beaten in four rounds by Romnick Magos. He has now won 10 in a row since then, 9 by KO/TKO, and is GAB No 2. Southpaw Silvano lost to Katsunari Takayama for the IBF minimum title in December 2013 but is now 3-3 in his last 6 but with all of the losses to very good domestic opposition. Rivera vs. Cabalquinto A major upset here but some controversy. Just as the action was heating up a clash of heads saw Rivera cut up on his forehead. Cabalquinto seemed momentary stunned by the head clash and a huge punch from Rivera put him down and out cold. Cabalquinto was out for some time and needed medical attention before recovering. After losing his first fight on a one round stoppage “The Machine” Rivera has now lost only one of his last 15 fights and that was to Leonardo Doronio who on the same night in Bangkok was knocking over Taiwo Ali in three rounds. Rivera has 12 wins by KO/TKO. Cabalquinto, the GAB champion and WBO 12, was a big favourite here and will need time to recover from this shock. This was a non-title fight. Inson vs. Macamay “Hitman” Inson gets late stoppage of Macamay. This was always going to be a tough fight for Macamay against a 5’10” (178cm) southpaw( Macamay is 5’5” 165cm). Inson was able to use his reach to control the fight but was also the boss when they got close. He had Macamay down in the second but Macamay kept plugging away and it looked as though he was going to go the distance. In the last a left from Inson put Macamay down heavily and the fight was stopped with just one second to go. The 25-year-old Inson has 7 wins by KO/TKO. He holds the interim WBO Oriental title and is No 1 in the GBA ratings. Macamay, 24 gets his second loss in a row by KO/TKO. Lumacad vs. Purisima Lumacad stepped into the breach at short notice here and outpointed a tough but limited Purisima. Lumacad had southpaw Purisima down in the second but Purisima got up and made Lumacad fight hard for the next eight rounds to win the verdict. Scores 97-92 twice and 98-91. Lumacad, 23, the GAB No 6 super fly went 10 rounds for the first time. Now four losses in a row for Purisima. Lumacad was brought in to fight Purisima after Drian Francisco pulled out due to his being offered a fight with Guillermo Rigondeaux on the undercard of Cotto vs. Alvarez on 21 November. Ancajas vs. Apolinario Predictable early win for Ancajas. It took just 35 seconds and one thundering right from the Filipino southpaw to put fellow-countryman Apolinario down and out. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for “Pretty Boy” . He is the IBF No 3 but as the first two slots are vacant he is their top rated fighter. I normally show that as 3(1). This is his eleventh win on the bounce by KO/TKO since losing a majority verdict to Mark Anthony Geraldo in 2012. Poor Apolinario was to have fought Purisima but Francisco pulling out was shuffled over to face Ancajas with. He is now 0-10-1 in his last 11 fights with 9 losses by KO/TKO. Adeje, Canary Isles, Spain: Light: Artem Haroyan (9-0) W TKO 2 Karim El Ouazghari (17-7-2). Haroyan wins the vacant WBA Continental title with stoppage of El Ouazghari. Haroyan took the first round comfortably and after shaking El Ouazghari early in the second floored the Spaniard with a series of punches to put him down. El Ouazghari made it to his feet but the referee stopped the fight which led to strong protests from El Ouazghari’s team. Armenian Haroyan, 22 is based in the Canary Islands. This was his first bout scheduled for more than eight rounds. El Ouazghari 35 gets his fifth loss by KO/TKO. He had a big edge in experience having been in with John Murray, Kevin Mitchell, Stephen Ormond and Felix Verdejo. Cleethorpes, England: Light: Kevin Hooper (18-3) W PTS 10 Andy Keates (11-3). Hooper takes majority decision and wins English title in front of his home fans. This was a close fight. The first two rounds could have gone either way and although Hooper had slightly the better of the action in most of the remaining rounds a closing surge from Keates put the outcome in doubt. Scores 97-94 and 96-94 for Hooper and 95-95. Hooper, 31, is hoping this win will get him a shot at the British title. Two of his losses have come in fights for the English title at super feather against good opposition in Gary Sykes and John Kays and the other was to the now world rated Liam Walsh. Keates, the Midland Area champion will naturally want a return and deserves one. November 14 Bristol, England: Middle: Nick Blackwell (19-3-1) W PTS 12 Jack Arnfield (19-2). Fly: Andrew Selby (2-0) W TKO 2 Jozsef Ajtai (10-0). Heavy: Hughie Fury (17-0) W KO 2 Emilio Zarate (18-15-3). Cruiser: Craig Kennedy (13-0) W TKO 6 Tamas Bajzath (11-17-1). Blackwell vs. Arnfield Blackwell retains British title after great scrap with Arnfield. The first two rounds saw Arnfield boxing on the outside using his longer reach to spear Blackwell with jabs and quick combinations whilst Blackwell showed more power particularly with left hooks to the body but was waiting too long to let his punches go. Blackwell had his jab working in the third and both scored with some good shots in an equal round but one that saw Arnfield’s nose leaking blood. Blackwell upped his pace in the fourth and again his left hooks doubled to head and body were impressive. Arnfield was again using his jab and quick counters but it was Blackwell’s round and Arnfield was cut over his left eye by a punch. Blackwell’s was getting inside and taking Arnfield to the ropes in the fifth and a left hook followed by a right cross saw Arnfield down on his knees. He was up and banging back by the bell but really from that point it was an uphill struggle for Arnfield. The pattern for the rounds was Arnfield a starting well and Blackwell pressurising and finishing the rounds with big attacks. A tiring Arnfield looked to be in trouble in the eighth but he fought back hard finding gaps in Blackwell’s guard but not having the power to exploit those openings. Blackwell was relentless walking Arnfield down and cracking home those left hooks but Arnfield just kept working the jab and was particularly successful with right uppercuts. Over the last two rounds the cut over Arnfield’s left eye was worsening but he never stopped trying to turn the fight around. Blackwell kept the pressure on scoring with short bursts of punches in close and looked to have Arnfield in deep trouble over those last two rounds but Arnfield kept finding the strength to fire back to the final bell of a great title fight. The 25-year-old Blackwell was making the second defence of his British title and is 7-0-1 in his last 8 fights with the draw being against the dangerous Sergey Khomitsky and one of the wins was a big one a stoppage of John Ryder.. His losses have been to Martin Murray and Billy Joe Saunders in British and Commonwealth title fights and a points loss to Max Bursak in a short notice fight in Bursak’s backyard in 2013. He has improved a great deal since then and is ready for bigger fights. Arnfield, 26, came in at only eight day’s notice and was in his first twelve round fight. He fought his heart out here and has improved his profile with such a fighting performance. Selby vs. Ajtai Selby is a huge talent a world class amateur who will be a future star of the flyweight division. He has to have some pro fights to get in ring time but it is difficult to find suitable opponents for such an outstanding fighter. No matter how difficult this fight was a farce. A mature 26-year-old Selby, 5’6” and a big flyweight was put in with an 18-year-old 5’2” Hungarian who weighed as low as 101lbs for a fight in July. Selby floored Ajtai in the first and showed what he thought of the fight by just resting his hands on his thighs and showboating before a volley of punches saw the referee stop the fight. Selby, the brother of IBF champion Lee, won two bronze medals and two gold medals at the European Championships and a silver at the World Championships and could probably fight for the European title tomorrow but they have to find more useful fights for him than this. Fury vs. Zarate Fury has no trouble beating poor Argentinian in two rounds. Zarate looked hesitant from the start jerking his head back every time he threw a punch. Fury took his tome stalking Zarate with his usual low guard. When he opened up at the end of the round he scored two rights, a left hook and a right uppercut. In the second he took Zarate to the ropes and landed some clubbing rights. The last landed on the side of the Argentinian’s head but as he slumped to the canvas he was holding the back of his head to claim it was a foul. It wasn’t and he was counted out remaining on the canvas and receiving attention for quite a while. The 21-year-old 6.6” (198cm) Fury, the cousin of Tyson Fury, has 9 wins by KO/TKO and is showing steady progress . Zarate 6’5 ½” (197cm) is a former South American champion but last time out he lost on points to Sergey Kuzmin who was having only his second pro fight. Kennedy vs. Bajzath Kennedy gets another win with stoppage of Hungarian. The 30-year-old Welsh boxer is in line for a shot at the British title after beating Courtney Fry in an eliminator. He got some useful ring time here and his 7th win by KO/TKO. He is rated No 15 by the EBU in a tough division. Hungarian Bajzath, 31, is 3-11 in his last 14 fights. Portland, ME, USA: Middle: Tom Falowo (14-3) W PTS 8 Russell Lamour (12-2). Falowo gets unanimous decision over Lamour to win the seventh bout in their series. Local fighter Lamour looked to have edged ahead over the first three rounds and was doing well in the fourth until a right to the head from Falowo sent him spinning into the ropes and down. Lamour took the standing count and was on the back foot for the rest of the round. From that point Falowo was in charge and he went on to win the decision. Scores 79-73, 78-74 and 77-74 all for Falowo. The 27-year-old from Rhode Island lost 3 out of 4 fights against Lamour as an amateur but has now beaten him twice as a pro. He wins the New England title. A setback for 32-year-old Lamour but he had no complaints about the decision. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Heavy: Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1) W PTS 10 Derric Rossy (30-11). Super Welter: Jarrett Hurd (17-0) W TKO 6 Frankie Galarza (17-1-2). Middle: Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7-0) W TKO 3 Jesse Nicklow (25-8-3).Super Middle: David Benavidez (11-0) W TKO 1 Felipe Romero (19-10-1). Stiverne vs. Rossy Stiverne gets off the floor after shock knockdown in first to outpoint Rossy. A counter right from Rossy dropped Stiverne but Stiverne recovered and was trading with Rossy by the second. The former WBC champion took the fight to Rossy with Rossy countering well and keeping the fight close. Both were landing with good shots and although Stiverne was getting the better of the exchanges by the seventh he was showing a swelling by his left eye. The fight was in the balance but Stiverne had a good ninth hurting Rossy with a body punch and he outlanded Rossy in the last to clinch a close decision. Scores 96-93 twice and 95-94 all for Stiverne. The 37-year-old Haitian-born Canadian was having his first fight since losing his WBC title to Deontay Wilder in January and is ready for some big fights to get back into contention. Rossy,35, is now 2-6 in his last 8 fights but can be a problem on his night as he showed when only losing on a hotly disputed decision to Vyacheslav Glazkov and beating Joe Hanks Hurd vs. Galarza Minor upset as Hurd floors and halts Galarza in battle of unbeaten fighters. Hurd was much quicker with his hands and found the less mobile Galarza an easy target from the first. Galarza had to press the fight and paid for the by eating hard counters from Hurd. A right uppercut from Hurd in the fourth put Galarza down for the first time in his career. Galarza made to his feet and survived the round but was badly shake, Galarza continued to try to force the fight but as he walked forward in the sixth he was nailed by a vicious right uppercut that virtually finished the fight. Hurd did score with a couple of rights to the head but Galarza was already turning away from the effects of the uppercut and the referee stepped in to stop the fight. Big win for 25-year-old Hurd which will raise his profile as he has been mainly boxing in small shows. He almost gave up boxing when in the amateurs and took a job at Safeway but now with this eleventh win by KO/TKO he has a future in boxing. Galarza had a good team behind him and they had made sure that even though there was an absence of any big names on his record the Brooklyn boxer’s profile was high. He can rebound but at 30 his time to do so is limited. Derevyanchenko vs. Nicklow Brooklyn-based Russian hits too hard for late sub Nicklow. In the first Nicklow was coming forward taking the fight to Derevyanchenko who was content to box and did not open up until the end of the round. Nicklow was also trying to come forward in the second but Derevyanchenko was letting his hands go and forcing Nicklow back with a stiff jab and hooks to the body. The Russian landed a hard right to the head which staggered Nicklow and then worked him over on the ropes before Nicklow broke away and was coming forward again at the bell. In the third Derevyanchenko trapped Nicklow on the ropes and scored with some hard punches but again Nicklow broke free. They got into a tangle and Derevyanchenko pushed Nicklow down to the floor. When the action resumed Derevyanchenko drove Nicklow across the ring and trapped him on the ropes. The Russian was unloading some heavy stuff and the referee stepped in to save Nicklow. The 30-year-old Derevyanchenko moves to 5 wins by KO/TKO. He was a top amateur and a real star of the WBS where he was 22-1 in four series in their tournaments. Nicklow was just outgunned and he has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights. Benavidez vs. Romero Benavidez impresses as he crushes Romero inside a round. Romero was trying to pin Benavidez on the ropes and left himself open and Benavidez nailed him with a left hook to the chin which sent the Mexican staggering across the ring to the ropes. Benavidez followed in and a left hook to the body and two rights to the head dumped Roman on his rear. He reluctantly got up at nine only to be put down by a vicious right to the body. Again it looked as though he might be reluctant to continue but he made it to his feet at nine again. Benavidez drove him across the ring with string of hurtful left hooks to the body and as Romero went down for the third time the fight was stopped. Still only 18, he is the youngest fighter to have appeared on these Shobox shows, he is nicknamed “Red Flag” to warn his opponents of the danger they face in him. The younger brother of interim WBA champion Jose now has 10 wins by KO/TKO, 9 in the first round so sounds impressive but to give it some context 6 of his victims had never won a fight and two other had only won one fight. Stiffer tests needed as although Romero was a lot more experienced he has now lost 8 fights by KO/TKO. Dessau, Germany: Heavy: Tom Schwarz (15-0) W KO 7 Ilja Mezencev (10-1). German heavyweight hope Schwarz gets off the floor to win the vacant WBO Youth title in an interesting battle. Mezencev started out showing plenty of movement circling Schwarz, constantly switching guard and firing quick punches. Swart was just coming forward behind a high guard and not letting his hands go. When the German did throw a punch it was a lazy left jab and Mezencev threw a right over the top which put Schwarz down. He was up at six and took the mandatory count with the bell going on completion of the count. It was a different story in the second as Schwarz came out much quicker cutting off the ring and throwing hard rights. One of those rights landed late in the round and Mezencev was badly shaken and held on desperately to last out the round. Schwarz was letting the right go again in the third. Mezencev was able to land hard counters but Schwarz just marched through them He hurt Mezencev again with clubbing rights sending the Kazak fighter into the ropes with the referee giving Mezencev a standing count. Another right at the end of the round snapped Mezencev's head back and again he clung on to get out of trouble. There was less action in the fourth and for most of the fifth Mezencev was finding gaps in Schwarz's defence and actually forcing the German back until a straight right from Schwarz put Mezencev down. Schwarz was celebrating in mid ring but behind his back Mezencev was up at 4 and ready continue only for the bell to go as the eight count was completed. As in the fifth Mezencev did the scoring early and had Schwarz shaken and holding only for a right to again unhinge Mezencev's legs and he was holding on to survive to the bell. Early in the seventh Schwarz nailed Mezencev with a series of clubbing rights that had Mezencev falling backwards into ropes and slumping down to the canvas with the referee waiving the fight over. The 21-year-old 6’5 ½” (197cm) Schwarz has 10 wins by KO/TKO. His plus point is the power in that right hand but he was one-paced and Mezencev found plenty of gaps in his defence but he is worth keeping an eye on. No height available for 20-year-old Hamburg-based Mezencev but he looked slight taller than Schwarz. He showed good movement and fast hands but in the end the power of Schwarz undid him. Tlalnepantla, Mexico: Welter: Daniel Echevarria (19-1) TKO 8 Abner Lopez (23-5). Bantam: Daniel Rosas (20-2-1) W PTS 10 Roberto Pucheta (9-7-1). Super Welter: Ramses Agaton (16-2-1) W Jhonny Navarrete (29-7-1). Echevarria vs. Lopez Both fighters were on the floor in this one with Echevarria finally coming out on top. Echevarria had a good start flooring Lopez with a southpaw left to the chin in the first round. They continued to trade hard punches in the second and in the third it was Echevarria’s turn to hit the floor. When some fighters get up from a knockdown the spit out their gumshield to get respite. Not Echevarria, he hit Lopes as low as he could reach and got his recovery time during Lopez’s recovery time. By the end of the fifth Echevarria was firmly in control with Lopez cut on his left eyebrow and with a bad swelling on his right cheek. Echevarria handed more punishment in the sixth and seventh before flooring Lopez in the eighth. Lopez made it to the vertical but was under fire again when the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old Echevarria now has 17 wins by KO/TKO as he rebounds from losing his unbeaten tag on a majority decision against Jorge Paez Jr in August. “Jaeger”, 25, had lost only one of his last 12 fights but now has his first loss by KO/TKO. Rosas vs. Pucheta Rosas has to fight hard to get the split decision over late replacement Pucheta. This one was a war of attrition with both landing and absorbing heavy punches all the way. Rosas seemed to get the better start just edging into the lead over the first three rounds. Rosas also had a good fourth bringing blood from the nose of Pucheta but there was very little between them. Pucheta ate into Rosas’s lead over the next three rounds and by the end of the eighth a right from Pucheta had opened a cut on the left eyebrow of Rosas. The ninth was Rosas’s and they fought on even terms over the last. Scores 96-94 and 96-95 for Rosas and 96-94 for Pucheta. As close as it gets. A loss would have been a big set-back for the 26-year-old Mexico City “Bad Boy”. After being unbeaten over his first 18 fights, including a draw with Jose Cabrera for the interim WBO super fly title and good wins over Roberto Castaneda and Juan Alberto Rosas, he lost in seven rounds to Rodrigo Guerrero and in June last year lost on points against Alejandro Hernandez for the interim WBO bantam title. He had scored two wins since then but a loss to the very modest Pucheta would have been big backward step. “Scorpion” Pucheta, 25 was 2-3 in his last five fights so this was a career best performance. Agaton vs. Navarrete Local southpaw Agaton gets a quick win over the normally durable Navarrete. Agaton handed out steady punishment to take the first round and had Navarrete defenceless in the second when the referee halted the fight. The 25-year-old Agaton is now 9-1-3 in his last 13 fights including a draw with Luis Fernando Uribe (28-1-1) and wins over Alejandro Barrera (25-1) and Ronald Montes (16-0). The loss was in his previous fight in August on a technical decision against Ivan Montero (18-0) when a flash knockdown cost him the decision. “ Cowboy” Navarrete, 27, had won 12 of his last 13 fights and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Light: Adrian Estrella (24-1) W TKO 6 Orlen Padilla (21-6-1). Fly: Juan Hernandez (29-3) W TKO 5 Raymond Tabugon (17-4-1). Estrella vs. Padilla Estrella has little trouble in halting Colombian Padilla. Estrella fought his usual aggressive fight coming forward landing with hooks from both hands. Padilla had no choice but to stand and trade. Estrella had Padilla badly shaken in the second but Padilla survived only to soak up more punishment. In the sixth with Estralle unloding with both hands the referee had seen enough and stepped in to save the Colombian. The 23-year-old Moterrey “Diamond” gets his second win since suffering a crushing loss to Eden Sonsona in May and his 21st win by KO/TKO. He is WBC No 11 but it remains to be seen whether he has taken on board the lessons from that loss to Sonsona. Padilla, 29, suffered inside the distance loses in tough fights against Dante Jordan, Israel Perez and Eduard Troyanovsky but then returned home to Colombia where he scored 5 wins by KO/TKO but against very poor opposition, Hernandez vs. Tabugon Hernandez comes in way over the contract weight and then adds injury to insult by stopping Filipino Tabugon. The Filipino tried to live up to his “Tornado” nicknamne but Hernandez fought a quick clever counter punching fight. Constantly switching his guard Hernandez was able to slot home stinging punches through the gaps in the Filipino’s defence. The breaking down process came to and end in the fifth as Hernandez floored Tabugon and the referee stepped in to save Tabugon from any more pain. The 28-year-old “Juanito” makes it 20 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to Kazuto Ioka for the WBC minimum title in 2011 but has now won 11 of his last 12 fights and reversed the lone loss in that streak. He is WBC No 4 at light fly. Tabugon, 24, the WBO No 15, was a very live opponent with just one loss in his last 16 fights and 6 wins in a row but the experience of Hernandez was just too much for him. Maasim, Philippines: Super Fly: Richie Mepranum (31-4-1) W PTS 12 Marjhun Tabamo (8-9-4). Super Feather: Hermonito Dela Torre (17-0) W TKO 3 Richard Betos (20-13-1). Mepranum vs. Tabamo Mepranum win the vacant WBU fly title with points victory over fellow-Filipino Tabamo. Only Mepranum could win the title as Tabamo came in a massive 9lbs over the weight limit. He was sluggish as a result but Mepranum was a class above him and even a top trim Tabamo would not have stood a chance as Mepranum boxed his way to the unanimous decision. All of the 28-year-old southpaw’s losses have come against fighter who have held world titles. He lost to Julio Cesar Miranda for the WBO fly title and to Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBA/WBO titles and also to Denkaosan and Herman Marquez. He has won his last 4 fights and is GAB No 2. “Tubby” Tabamo (OK that’s just my nickname for him) also a southpaw is 0-9-4 in his last 13 fights which is enough to qualify him to fight for the WBU world title!! Dela Torre vs. Betos There are quite a few good young fighters emerging in the Philippines right now and Dela Torre is up there with the best. He gave Betos a torrid time for two rounds bombarding him with combinations with choice right uppercuts featuring as the best punch of the bunch. Those uppercuts caused a big swelling by the right eye of Betos and he retired at the end of the second round. The 21-year-old General Santos City “Hammer” has 12 wins by KO/TKO and his last seven fights in a row have ended that way. He has featured in a couple of Top Rank shows in Macao and impressed. Betos no real threat as he gets his seventh loss in a row. Las Palmas CI, Spain: Welter: Ceferino Rodriguez (20-1) W TKO 5 Davide Doria (12-1-1). Super Bantam: Kiko Martinez (34-6) W PTS 8 Everth Briceno (35-13-2). Rodriguez vs. Doria Rodriguez too good for German-based Italian Doria and wins in five rounds in front of his home crowd. Rodriguez was getting through with heavy punches from the start. Doria was competitive over the first two rounds but then went into survival mode and the fight became one-sided. Rodriguez brought it to an end in the fifth with a sustained barrage that saw the referee stop the fight. “Ferino V” the 27-year-old former undefeated EU champion was going great until he suffered a shock loss on points to Frenchman Mohamed Mimoune in April. This is his second win as he tries to put that result behind him. This was Doria’s first fight for nearly eleven months and Rodriguez was a class or two above him. Martinez vs. Briceno Former IBF champion Martinez gets in eight rounds of work against Nicaraguan veteran Briceno. The feisty little Spaniard won every round comfortably and has not yet given up on the chance of another world title fight-as long as it is not against a british fighter. Kiko has lost twice to Rendall Munroe, twice to Carl Frampton and also to Scott Quigg. Briceno 37 had two shots at the WBO super fly title but is on the down slope as this is his fifth loss in a row, Bovari, Ukraine: Light Heavy: Umar Salamov (14-0) W PTS 12 Doudou Ngumbu (34-7). Super Welter: Khassan Baysangurov (10-0) W KO 2 Marcelo Molina (17-12). Welter: Khusein Baysangurov (5-0) W TKO 1 Bryan Boussis (7-4-1). Super Light: Mishiko Beselia (12-0) W TKO 3 Deniss Kornilovs (1-4). Super Light: Denys Berinchyk (2-0) W TKO 8 Innocent Anyanwu (22-13-3). Salamov vs. Ngumbu Salamov retains his WBO Europe title with unanimous decision over French-based Ngumbu. Salamov had height and reach over Ngumbu and used them well. He was able to keep the experienced Ngumbu out and spear him with long jabs, right crosses and uppercuts and Ngumbu never really found a way to consistently get past that jab. Salamov was using good footwork and his reach advantage with Ngumbu having to jump in with his attacks but rarely having success. Ngumbu was fired up in the fourth when Salamov landed a punch after the call to break but his efforts were frustrated by the holding tactics of Salamov. The DRC-born fighter kept marching after Salamov but was rarely able to get Salamov to stand and trade. As Salamov tired over the late rounds he did a lot more holding and got away with it but Ngumbu was just too slow and as he got more frustrated by Salamov’s tactics he became wilder and less accurate with his attacks leaving himself open to counters and switching empty air more often than not.. Ngumbu had a good eleventh but Salamov was stronger and fresher in the last and a clear winner. Scores 117-111 twice and 118-110. The tall Kiev-based Russian was making the second defence of his WBO Europe title. Ngumbu, 33, has good wins over Vyacheslav Uzelkov and Johnny Muller, but lost on a split decision to Igor Mikhalkin and was beaten on points by Andrzej Fonfara in November. Baysangurov vs. Molina Baysangurov wins vacant WBO Youth title with kayo of Argentinian Molina. The was an unequal contest with Baysangurov much taller than the visitor. Baysangurov just kept walking Molina down whilst the Argentinian moved backwards at speed stopping occasionally to throw a couple of quick punches. As Baysangurov warmed to the task he landed a couple of left hooks to the body and a straight right just before the bell. In the second a couple of not too hard looking punches from Baysangurov saw Molina go face down on the canvas. He jumped up immediately but a right uppercut followed by a left hook to the body put Molina on the canvas rolling in agony and he was counted out. Baysangurov, just 18 is Russian-born but based in Kiev. He has won 4 of his last 5 fights by KO/TKO. This result no real surprise as this is Molina’s ninth loss by KO/TKO Baysangurov vs. Boussis Elder brother Khusein makes it a family double as he also wins the vacant WBO Youth title but not a very satisfactory ending. The first meaningful punch Baysangurov landed was a downward chopping left which seemed to land on the right side of the face of Boussis and Baysangurov followed that with a left hook as Boussis was slumping back on his haunches. The Frenchman was pawing at his right eye and the referee interrupted the count to ask the doctor to have a look at the eye. There did not seem to be any serious injury but Boussis did not want to continue. Three wins by KO/TKO for the 21-year-old Baysangurov. First fight outside France and first loss inside the distance for Boussis. Beselia vs. Kornilovs Beselia was a full head shorter than the stick-thin Kornilovs but since Kornilovs had no power and very limited technique Beselia was able to walk past Kornilovs jab and score with hooks and straight shots. A right fromm Beselia shook Kornilovs at the end of the round but the bell went before he could finish the job. In the second a right from Beselia sent Kornilovs into the ropes and he was sitting on the bottom rope before getting up and continuing after the eight count. It was over in the third when a series of left hooks from Beselia put Kornilovs again and the fight was stopped, Now 9 wins by KO/TKO for Georgian-born 23-year-old Beselia. Kornilovs was tall and after that there is nothing to say about him as a fighter. The fact that he lost on points to Brit Robin Deakin (1-51) is all you need to know. Berinchyk vs. Anyanwu Typical Berinchyk performance. The red-hot Ukrainian is a modern Henry Armstrong. His corner wind him up at the start of each round and he runs at full speed for three minutes. He was all over Anyanwu like a rash throwing jabs, hooks uppercuts crosses making it hard for Anyanwu to find space to counter. To make things worse he switches guard effortlessly and is a hard puncher. Anyanwu fought back with counters when he could and showed enough skill to think he could have been a very good boxer with a bit more discipline. In the fifth the Ukrainian managed a ten-punch combination from both hands. They did not all connect and when Anyanwu banged back and landed four rights to the body Berinchyk just shrugged them off and went back to the attack. In the sixth it looked as though Anyanwu was going to last the distance but thudding rights a left uppercut and more rights drove Anyanwu to the ropes. The Amsterdam-based Nigerian was covering up from the barrage when the referee stopped the fight. Anyanwu protested and it did look as though he could have ridden out the storm. The 27-year-old Berinchyk won silver medals at both the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics beating Cuban star Roniel Iglesias, Tom Stalker, Anthony Yigit and Jeff Horn in those competitions so who knows how far he can go as a pro. Anyanwu, 37, looked to be going places when he was 20-0-2 in his first 22 fights but is 2-13-1 in his last 16 fights which tells its own story. Tallinn, Estonia: Feather: James Tennyson (15-1) W KO 1 Sergejs Logins (10-8-1). Light: James Fryers (11-0) W TKO 2 Ruslans Berdimuradovs (5-5). Tennyson vs. Logins Too easy for Tennyson. After a minute the Kronk trained Belfast fighter landed a left to the chin which sent Logins backwards across the ring. Tennyson caught Logins in a corner and put him down with a left hook to the body. Logins got up –reluctantly- and was again driven to the ropes and a right uppercut and a left to the body put him down on his knees and he was counted out. Now 12 wins by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old “Assassin” . Latvian Logins rarely goes past the first round. Eleven of his fights have ended in the first three minutes, unfortunately 5 of those were losses. Fryers vs. Berdimuradovs Fryers has no trouble disposing of Berdimuradovs. The tall Belfast fighter was tracking Berdimuradovs down with the Latvian trying to switch guards to confuse Fryers but what he needed to do to stand a chance was switch opponents. After Fryers floored Berdimuradovs in the first with a punch that did not seem to be hard enough to cause the knockdown it was over early in the second when a short right to the head saw Berdimuradovs go down and make no real effort to get up. No sort of test at all for Fryers. The 23-year-old “The Future” gets his fourth win by KO/TKO. A too easy night but the 5’11” (180cm) Belfast man did his job. Berdimuradovs is 3-5 in his last 8 fights. Comerio, Puerto Rico: Light: Kevin Nieves (9-1-1) W TKO 3 Miguel Soto (12-7). Super Light: Luis Orlando del Valle (20-2,1ND) W TKO 2 Juan Jose Beltran (29-25-3). Nieves vs. Soto Nieves stops a sliding Soto in three. Fighting in his hometown Nieves dominated the fight before a punch had blood pouring from the nose of Soto. It was not broken but the injury was too serious for the fight to continue. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old Puerto Rican. Fellow-islander Soto has lost 6 in a row with the last 5 losses all being by KO/TKO. Del Valle vs. Beltran Del Valle beat Beltran for the second time. The Puerto Rican was too quick and accurate for the Mexican veteran and after flooring Beltran in the first he handed out enough punishment in the second for Beltran’s corner to retire their man at the interval. “Orlandito” made a good start as a pro with 15 wins including victories over Dat Nguyen and Chris Martin but then suffered setbacks in the form of losses to Vic Darchinyan and Luis Rosa. He returned to the winning column with a victory over Roberto Castaneda in March,. He had beaten Beltran in four rounds when they met in 2013. Beltran 37 is 3-7 in his last 10 fights. November 15 Barcelona, Spain: Super Light: Sandor Martin (25-1) W TKO 4Gyorgy Mizsei (22-15). Martin retains the EU title with stoppage of Hungarian Mizsei. The challenger was much taller than the Spaniard so over the first three rounds southpaw Martin was coming forward trying to trap Mizsei in a corner or on the ropes. Mizsei kept moving but throwing very few punches and with Martin only letting go occasionally there was little action. That changed in the fourth as Martin came out fast and Mizsei was being trapped and forced to trade. With Mizsei in a corner Martin landed a right left combination that put Mizsei down. He took the mandatory count and tried to take the fight to Martin only to be floored again by a series of punches. When he got up Martin was there again and landed a hard combination that saw Mizsei go down for the third time and the referee promptly waived the fight over. The 22-year-old from Barcelona gets his ninth win by KO/TKO and also lifts the vacant WBC Youth title. Mizsei, also 22, is 3-7 in his last ten fights but no one does him any favours as he has been in with Anthony Crolla, twice with Emiliano Marsili and with Derry Mathews in those 10 fights. Something not right with the heights here. BoxRec has Mizsei at 5’5” (165cm) but he was much taller than the 5’8” ½” (174cm) Martin? |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
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