The boxing world turns it's attention to London this weekend as Eddie Hearn puts on, arguably, the best British card in a decade. Whilst we are often critical of Hearn, who has put on some awful match ups this year, this card really is an intriguing one. The supposed main event is probably the weak link of the card as IBF Welterweight champion Kell Brook (34-0, 23) defends his title against domestic foe Frankie Gavin (22-1, 13). Gavin, once an amateur standout, has failed to shine as a professional and it it would be a monster upset for the Brummie to over-come his more esteemed countryman. A much more interesting world title fight comes at Featherweight where unbeaten IBF champion Evgeny Gradovich (19-0-1, 9) takes on highly touted Welshman Lee Selby (20-1, 8). Many of our UK friends have suggested this is going to be an easy nights work for “The Welsh Mayweather” though Gradovich is never going to be an easy night for anyone and we suspect this could be very competitive. Alternatively our friends from the UK may be right and this could be Selby's coming out party. For Japanese fans this bout is notable as Hisashi Amagasa has stated he wants to face the winner. An even better looking world title bout will see Japanese based Venezuelan Jorge Linares (38-3, 25) defending his WBC Lightweight title against Englishman Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 29). This has all the ingredients of a enthralling bout. Both guys are very highly skilled though both are extremely flawed and all 5 of their combined losses have come by stoppage. This could be a case of who unfolds first as opposed to who is actually the better boxer. Also on this card is British Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (12-0, 12) who battles the always frustrating Kevin Johnson (29-6-1, 14). The talk going in to this is whether or not Joshua will become the first fighter to stop Johnson. If Joshua can't take Johnson out then we fear for the fans who will have to put up with Johnson show casing his survival skills more than his fighting skills. On paper it's a huge step up in class for Joshua though in reality Johnson scarcely comes to win fights any more.
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So far the "PBC" has been a mixed bag. It's given us big name fighters in relatively uneven match ups and lesser name fighters in some brilliantly matched bouts. There has been a huge wave of support by fans of the project and massive damnation by those who are against. Whilst both sides have their merits we've got to say that we've really enjoyed the "B level" action, the bouts with out the bigger names. We get one of those later today as well as a bout with a big name in what appears to be another mismatch. The mismatch in question will see Britain's Amir Khan (30-3, 19) take on Chris Algieri (20-1, 8). On paper it looks an interesting bout, especially with both men having been former world champions at 140lbs. However fans and the bookies have viewed this as a mismatch with Khan a 1/12 favourite. In all honesty that seems about right with Khan being a more skilled, bigger punching, faster fighter. Algieri is a big and tough fighter but one who has to be considered as the big under-dog coming in to this bout. Then again he usually is the under-dog when he faces a "name" fighter. For us the much, much, better bout is a WBA "regular" Super Featherweight title bout between the once beaten Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez (34-1, 18) and heavy handed Dominican Javier Fortuna (27-0-1, 20). This bout looks like it really could be something special with the explosive Fortuna up against a technically sound, tough and hard working foe. On paper we favour Vasquez who has mixed with better company, and holds a win over Sergio Thompson, though the bookies have really struggled to split the two men in what looks to be a possible contender for fight of the weekend. Interestingly the winner of this will sit behind Japan's Takashi Uchiyama on the WBA's list of champions, and could be a potential opponent for "KO Dynamite" later in the year. Vasquez however has been beaten by Uchiyama already in his career and would likely not be in a rush to rematch the Japanese puncher. We'd like to say a huge thank you to Eric Armit for his massive weekly report once again, and we'll be honest, this one is a monster!
May 22 Moscow, Russia: Cruiser: Grigory Drozd (40-1) W TKO 9 Lukasz Janik (28-3). Heavy: Alex Povetkin (29-1) W KO 1 Mike Perez (21-2-1). Cruiser: Rakhim Chakhkiev (23-1) W KO 8 Junior Anthony Wright (13-1-1). Heavy: Manuel Charr (28-3) W PTS 10 Alex Leapai (30-7-3). Cruiser: Dmitry Kudryashov (18-0) W TKO 6 Vikapita Meroro (28-5). Drozd vs. Janik Drozd makes successful first defence of his WBC titles as he halts Janik in the ninth. Drozd set a fast pace and had Janik on the back foot throughout the first round. The Russian scored well with left hooks to the body with Janik out of range with his counters. Janik was more active in the second getting his jab working and scoring with rights but also doing a lot of holding inside. Drozd was waiting too long to get own punches off. Drozd had a better third landing a series of punches along the ropes and with Janik again clinging on the referee stopped the fight and gave the Pole a stern warning. Drozd finished the round well scoring with a good straight right and keeping up the pressure on Janik. Drozd took a messy fourth doing the only real scoring in a round that was punctuated by too many clinches. Drozd turned up the heat in the fifth and was scoring well with his jab and left hooks to the body hurting Janik with a series of head shots with Janik’s work rate dropping as he tired. It was all Drozd in the sixth as he walked Janik down scoring with punches to heads and body whilst Janik spent most on the round on the back foot firing off only occasional inaccurate flurries and again looking tired. An eventful seventh saw Drozd opening up and scoring with a series of shots. Janik was constantly diving in to clinches and on one occasion he ended up with his back to Drozd who rested his left on the back of Janik’s head and reached around and landed a punch to Janik’s face. Janik decided to fake he had received a rabbit punch and staggered down to the canvas. The referee did not apply a count or warn Drozd which seemed about righty. Drozd then staggered Janik with a thumping right and took him to the ropes. Drozd landed another right and a couple of uppercuts. Janik was holding and Drozd swung him around and down to the canvas. It was a dubious knockdown as Janik looked to have been wrestled to the floor but he was up quickly and the bell came shortly after but it was an exhausted Janik who trudged back to his corner. Drozd was scoring with thumping head punches in the eighth with Janik hiding behind his guard and trying to nail Drozd with wild right counters. Again there was too much holding and a frustrated Drozd literally threw Janik to the canvas. In the ninth Drozd sent Janik staggering across the ring on wobbly legs. He followed up and released a storm of punches until the referee stopped the fight. Janik was on his feet but his legs were rubber. . The 35-year-old “Pretty Boy” has 28 wins by KO/TKO and 11 wins since losing to Firat Arslan back in 2006. It was no surprise that Janik tired as he came in at two weeks’ notice after former champion Krzys Wlodarczyk pulled out with an infection. The 29-year-old Pole lost a majority decision to Ola Afolabi for the vacant IBO title in 2013. Povetkin vs. Perez Povetkin crushes Perez in 91 seconds. Both fighters started out just probing with their jabs and trying one or two heavier punches but neither really landed. After just one minute of non- action Povetkin landed a straight right that smacked into Perez’s jaw. The Cuban dipped at the knees and staggered back. He then tried to lunge forward. They tangled with Perez half turned away from Povetkin and the Russian landed thunderous right hook which sent Perez tumbling to the canvas on his back. He made it to his feet at seven and just stood stock still with his hands by his side obviously dazed. Perez lunged forward and although Povetkin landed a couple of cuffing head shots it was really the still dazed Perez tumbling to the floor from his own momentum and the referee stopped the fight. The 35-year-old Russian retains the WBC Silver title and makes it 21 wins by KO/TKO. The former WBA secondary title holder has scored crushing victories over Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam and now Perez and for me is the second best heavyweight behind Wlad Klitschko who outpointed him in 2013. Cuban Perez, 29, won his first 20 fights but in 2014 was lucky to get a draw with Takam and lost a split decision to Bryant Jennings. His career is not over but this puts a big dent in his reputation. Chakhkiev vs. Wright Chakhkiev was coming forward from the outset. Stalking Wright and letting go thumping punches from both hands. Wright was on the back foot using his jab and some quick movement to stay out of trouble. Chakhkiev is neither quick nor elegant but he is powerful. In the third Wright decided to change his tactics and get on the front foot and mix it with the Russian southpaw and that led to some heated exchanges with Wright caught by a powerful left and later in the round losing his gum shield before going back on the defensive. Wright was on the retreat throughout the fourth with Chakhkiev doing what work there was but not being able to corner Wright. A sharp right uppercut from Wright in the fifth stung Chakhkiev who replied with some bludgeoning punches but the fight got untidy by the end of the round. Wright again tried to box from centre ring and exchange shots with Chakhkiev in the sixth but by the end of the round the Russian was walking the American down. There was more feinting than fighting in the seventh and although Chakhkiev was winning the rounds he had yet to land a really hard punch on the elusive Wright. Chakhkiev was pressurising in the eighth with Wright spending too long on the ropes but Chakhkiev not really landing any really powerful punches. That changed when with 22 seconds remaining in the round a powerful left from Chakhkiev crashed into the ribs of Wright who went down and landed on his back. He made it to his knees but was clutching his right side and collapsed forward again onto his hands and knees and was counted out. The 32-year-old Chakhkiev wins the vacant IBO title and makes it 17 wins by KO/TKO. He was knocked out by Krzys Wlodarczyk in a challenge for the WBC title in 2013 and has rebuilt with 6 wins since then to climb to the No 1 spot in the WBC ratings. The former Olympic and World Military champion is nicknamed “The Machine” and it is fairly accurate. He is strong and hits hard but is ponderous and one-paced. Despite his 11 wins by KO/TKO Wright, 28, showed good skills but lacked the power to get Chakhkiev’s respect and had only once gone ten rounds. Charr vs. Leapai Charr gave away the first round as he just stayed behind a high guard and allowed Leapai to pound away with swinging shots most of which were blocked. Char had a better second round. Again he was allowing Leapai some free shots but when he opened up he stung Leapai with blazing combinations. The fight was going along at walking pace with both fighters flat-footed and in the third and fourth it was again a case of Leapai throwing more punches and Charr fighting in spurts but doing the cleaner scoring. Charr decided to get on his toes at the start of the fifth but then got serious and was slamming home stiff jabs and straight rights at the static Leapai and ended the round with a series of head shots. A thumping right to the head at the start of the sixth saw Leapai staggered but after another two or three head shots Charr went back to hiding behinds his high guard and slotting punches through Leapai’s guard. There was a short break when Charr’s mouthguard came out and then a ridiculous period as Charr danced backwards around the ring until the referee told him to stop running and fight. The seventh, eighth and ninth saw Charr in complete control landing punch after punch as Leapai just trundled forward in a straight line with a leaky defence. Leapai went for broke in the last round but there was no chance his wild swings would land and Charr just continued to slot home his punches until the bell. Scores 100-90, 97-92 and 98-94. Charr was his usual irritating self but had no trouble with Leapai and only the hard chin of the Samoan kept him in the fight. The Beirut-born “Diamond Boy” got the win he needed after losing an upset decision to Johann Duhaupas in April so he keeps alive his slim chance of a second world title shot having been stopped in four rounds by Vitali Klitschko for the WBC title in 2012. Leapai, 35, was said to have retired after being easily beaten by Wlad Klitschko in 2013 and outclassed by Malik Scott in October but this was a good payday even if he never had the remotest chance of winning. Kudryashov vs. Meroro The stocky ginger-bearded Russian was stalking Meroro at a walking pace in the first with the Namibian proving an elusive target. Kudryashov slightly increased his walking pace in the second but just could not nail Meroro who was throwing quick light punches and then lunging in and clinching to deny Kudryashov punching room. The Namibian’s clinching was clearly irritating Kudryashov in the third and the fight was becoming untidy and Kudryashov was not letting his punches go. Meroro’s clinching was even worse in the fourth but the referee let him away with it and Meroro was smothering the fight and frustrating Kudryashov. The Russian managed to close the space in the fifth and was able to shake Meroro with a right. The referee finally gave Meroro a warning for holding and then let the Namibian continue to clinch as Kudryashov put him under more pressure. In the sixth Meroro tried to walk forward and land a couple of punches but Kudryashov nailed him with a left hook to the head. Meroro’s legs wobbled and Kudryashov chased him into a corner and landed another right with Meroro going down on one knee. Meroro was up at three and after the eight count Kudryashov followed him around the ring getting home some heavy shots before landing a wicked left to the body that had Meroro writhing in agony and he was counted out. Corona, CA, USA: Super Welter: John Thompson (17-1) W TKO 2 Brandon Adams (17-2). Heavy: Andrey Fedosov (28-3) W TKO 8 Donovan Dennis (12-2,1ND). Thompson vs. Adams Thompson rides out first round storm to stop Adams in the second and win the Boxcino tournament. A pumped up Adams came out throwing punches and took Thompson to the ropes and within the first ten seconds a long left reached Thompson’s chin. He stumbled forward and down on one knee but it looked more a case of Thompson also being off balance and he was up quickly and obviously not hurt. That knock down was probably the worst thing that could have happened for Adams as he now went wildly looking for a kayo crowding Thompson and winging wild rights which looked dangerous but missed. Thompson had big edges in height and reach and he kept cool under the furious attacks from Adams. Adams was still leading with right swings in the second and loading up on his punches. He backed Thompson towards a corner but as he came in Thompson landed a stunning chopping right to the chin of Adams and added a left hook for good measure and Adams was sent staggering backwards. Now it was Thompson unloading the power shots and two left hooks and a right put Adams down in a corner. He was up quickly, took the eight count and was trying to fight back but Thompson crashed home a bundle of head shots and the referee stepped in to give the unsteady Adams a standing count. At the conclusion of the eight count the referee took a long look Adams but let the fight continue. Thornton jumped on Adams and more head punches saw Adams beginning to slide down the ropes as the referee stopped the fight. Big win for the 26-year-old “Apollo Kidd who now has 6 wins by KO/TKO. His 6’1” (185cm) height and long reach will make him a difficult opponent for many super welters and winning this tournament which had the interim WBA-NABA and vacant WBO Inter-Continental titles tagged on assures him of a world rating from both bodies. By winning the middle tournament last year Willie Monroe found his way to a title fight so who knows where it will take Thompson. A bronze medal winner at both the NGG and National PAL tournaments Thompson was knocked out in two rounds by unbeaten Frankie Galarza in January last year. Adams lost to Monroe in the middleweight final last year and was favoured to win this one but paid the price for a wild man approach. At 25 he can come again. Fedosov vs. Dennis Fedosov wins Boxcino tournament with stoppage of Dennis. The first two rounds saw southpaw Dennis boxing cleverly slipping and ducking the punches from Fedosov whilst scoring points with his own punches. A sign of thing to come arrived in the third round when a right from Fedosov put Dennis down. Despite this Dennis had a good fourth round and boxed well in the fifth. Fedosov really took control late in the sixth when he stung Dennis with rights and in the seventh he put Dennis down with a salvo of hard punches. The American made it to his feet and to the bell but had nothing left. Fedosov ended it in the eighth with a thumping right that put Dennis down and although he again dragged himself to his feet he was on unsteady pins and the referee stopped the fight. After losing to Lance Whittaker in 2010 and to Bryant Jennings in 2013 Fedosov was largely inactive until beating Nat Heaven and Lenroy Thomas in the earlier rounds of the Boxcino. The Californian-based Russian has 23 wins by KO/TKO and victory in this tournament should lead to some big matches. After winning his first 10 fights Dennis, 27, suffered a shock in April last year when being halted by Nat Heaven inside a round. He found partial redemption in the Boxcino with wins over Steve Vukose and Romanian Razvan Cojanu. Now he had to rebuild again. Indio, CA, USA: Feather: Eric Hunter (21-3) W KO 1 Antonio Escalante (29-8). Feather: Abraham Lopez (18-0-1) W KO 5 Alfred Tetteh (23-4-1). Super Bantam: Joet Gonzalez (10-0) W PTS 8 Jose A Beranza (36-33-2). Heavy: Taishan Dong (5-0) W KO 1 Lance Gauch (5-9-2). Super Middle: Paul Valenzuela (7-1-1) W PTS 6 Antonio Gutierrez (18-1-1). Hunter vs. Escalante Hunter destroys a much faded Escalante in one round. At the mid-point of the round a left hook from Hunter scored the first knockdown and although Escalante made it to his feet a hard body/head combination put him down for a second time. With the round nearing its end Escalante bought some time by spitting out his gum shield but it was a futile attempt as when the fight recommenced Hunter landed heavily to head and body and the referee stopped the fight with 15 seconds left in the round. “The Outlaw” Hunter goes to 11 wins by KO/TKO. He has lost only two of his last 18 fights and both of those were dumb disqualifications. He has wins over Jerry Belmontes, Yenifel Vincent and Rene Alvarado and is IBF 5(4). As an amateur he was National PAL winner but just failed to make it through the Olympic box-offs which cost him a slot at the 2004 Olympics. El Paso-based Mexican Escalante is hurtling down the slope. He is 5-6 in his last 11 fights with all 6 losses by KO/TKO including being wiped-out in three rounds by Miguel Berchelt in his last fight in October. Lopez vs. Tetteh Lopez gets another win as he continues his comeback. Lopez dominated this one from start to finish finding Tetteh an easy target scoring with uppercuts and hook . Tetteh was tough but had limited technique and Lopez was able to land heavily in each round. Tetteh was in the fight briefly at the end of the third but never really troubled Lopez. He ended things late in the fifth with a vicious left hook to the body that put Tetteh down in agony and the Ghanaian failed to beat the count. After winning his first 18 fights Lopez, 27, walked away for three years only returning to the ring in March with a majority draw against Juan Carlos Martinez. He has 13 wins by KO/TKO. Tetteh, 36, “The Stinging Bee”, a former CBC title challenger was out of his class and now has two losses by KO/TKO. Gonzalez vs. Beranza Gonzalez gets in eight rounds of work against grizzled Mexican battler Beranza. Former class amateur Gonzalez was able to pierce the veterans guard and pile up the points in every round. Beranza did what he was there to do-soak up the punishment, go the distance and make Gonzalez work. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73. Gonzalez, 21, a former NGG silver medal winner, WSB competitor and final Olympic Trials participant, had a scare last year when he was temporarily suspended after giving a positive test, but the temporary suspension was lifted after he was cleared of the offence at a hearing and continued his career. Managed by Frank Espinoza and promoted by Golden Boy he was moving up to eight rounds for the first time and is making steady progress. Beranza, 39, has lost 10 of his last 11 fights but all on points and he has only failed to last the distance four times in his career. Dong vs. Gauch A grossly overweight Gauch boxed his way through the first round against the lumbering Dong who towered over him. In the second a chopping right from the Chinese fighter flattened Gauch who was down for almost ten minutes and had to leave the ring on a stretcher. The 7’0” (213cm) tall Chinese fighter (actually 6’11” but they rounded it up) is nicknamed “The Great Wall” and has had no amateur experience so looks crude as he is learning on the job. He tried basketball, MMA and kickboxing before this. Gauch is 2-5-2 in his last 9 fights. Valenzuela vs. Gutierrez Score one against the house fighter as Valenzuela gets revenge for 2013 defeat. Valenzuela outworked the young Mexican prospect to hand him his first loss. Definitely not in the script. Scores 60-54, 58-56 and 57-57. Easily the biggest win so far for Valenzuela. Gutierrez, 21, had taken the unanimous decision when they met in 2013. Atlantic City, NJ, USA: Super Middle: John Magda (10-0) W TKO 2 Miguel A Munguia (31-33-1). Feather: Gervonta Davis (11-0) W TKO 1 Alberto Mora (5-4). Super Bantam: Juan Dominguez (19-0) W TKO 2 Mario Macias (26-1,1ND). Magda vs. Munguia Southpaw prospect Magda impresses with second round stoppage of Mexican Munguia. After out boxing Munguia in the first Magda forced the stoppage early in the second. The Rutherford 23-year-old now has 7 wins by KO/TKO including 5 first round endings. Munguia, 32, is 2-5 in his last 7 fights with all five losses by KO/TKO. Davis vs Mora Davis takes only 75 seconds to dispose of “Ironman” Mora. The exciting 20-year-old from Baltimore had won 10 of his fights by KO/TKO with experienced Mexican German Meraz going the full six rounds but having to climb off the floor twice to do it. This is also the third first round win in his last 4 fights for Davis. He won the gold medal at the 2012 NGG’s by beating Joet Gonzalez but lost to Gonzalez at the National Championships. Mora, 20 was stepping up to 8 rounds for the first time but that proved irrelevant-as did his nickname. Dominguez vs. Macias Dominican “Baby Tito” Dominguez had Macias down twice before their fight was stopped in the second round. The Brooklyn-based Dominguez has 13 wins by KO/TKO but is still untested. Macias, 29, is 2-8 in his last 10 fights. He has lost his last 4 but no one is doing him any favours as the opposition including Dominguez had combined record of 94-0-1. Las Vegas, NV, US:A: Light: Richard Commey (22-0) W TKO 8 Bahodir Mamadjonov (17-2). Middle: Arif Magomedov (15-0) W TKO 1 Darnell Boone (21-22-4). Commey vs. Mamadjonov CBC champion Commey impresses in his first fight in the US with stoppage of Mamadjonov to win the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title. The Uzbek southpaw took the first couple of rounds as Commey made a slow start. The Ghanaian got into his stride in the third and landed some power punches in the fourth. He again showed his power in the fifth shaking and staggering Mamadjonov who had to fight hard to make it to the bell. Mamadjonov regrouped in the sixth out boxing Commey but it was a temporary reprieve. Commey dominated the seventh hurting Mamadjonov with rights and again having him in trouble. Commey ended it in the eighth flooring Mamadjonov and although the Uzbek made it to his feet he was under heavy fire when the referee stopped the fight. The 22-year-old Commey was gifted his first dozen wins by some atrocious matching but then showed his talent in beating good level opposition in Kris Hughes, Paul Truscott, Gary Buckland for the CBC title, Samir Ziani (17-1-1) and Thompson Mokwana and there will be tougher tests ahead but Commey, who has 20 wins by KO/TKO, impressed in his first US fight. Mamadjonov, 27,a former double World Military Champion, had good credentials. His only previous loss was a split decision to current WBA secondary title holder Darleys Perez and he had scored wins over unbeaten Angelo Santana and Ghanaian Osumanu Akaba. Magomedov vs. Boone Magomedov halts experienced Boone in the first round. Magomedov floored Boone heavily with a right but the veteran beat the count. The fight was allowed to continue with Boone trying to fight back. After a couple more punches from Magomedov Boone looked to stumble forward as if going down and the referee stopped the fight although it looked a questionable stoppage.. The 22-year-old Russian has 9 wins by KO/TKO. He was having his first fight in the US and has good wins over Alex Theran, Patrick Mendy and Mike Zerafa. “Deezol” Boone is one of the great imponderables. How do you assess a guy who has a negative record but has a genuine stoppage win over Adonis Stevenson and has also beaten Phillip Jackson Benson (15-1) Willie Monroe Jr. and Calvin Green and floored Andre Ward when they fought in 2005? Luzhniki, Russia: Light Heavy: Dmitry Bivol (3-0) W KO 4 Joey Vegas (17-11-2). Former top amateur Bivol takes an ambitious step after only two fights but gets a win over experienced Vegas. Bivol was forcing the fight coming forward behind a stiff jab and letting go fast combinations. Vegas was looking to draw the lead from Bivol and counter and even tried a brief session of rope-a-dope but without much success as Bivol was boxing a controlled fight. Vegas was more active in the second but only letting his punches go in short bursts whilst Bivol kept up a busy stream of jabs and straight rights. In the third a combination from Bivol had Vegas backing to the ropes and Bivol just kept throwing punches until Vegas dropped to the floor to avoid the storm. He got up but Bivol chased him down and again unleashed a series of punches that put Vegas down. He arose again as the bell went. Bivol was looking to end it in the fourth and took Vegas to the ropes and landed three or four punches. Vegas went down on his knees covering his right eye with his glove indicating one of the punches might have included a thumb to the eye but the referee just counted the Ugandan out. The 24-year-old Kyrgyzstan-born Russian was twice World and also European Cadet Champion, was a bronze medal winner at the World Junior Championships and Russian Junior and Senior champion which is why they were confident enough to take this step. Vegas, 33, is 1-5-1 in his last 7 fights but has some good wins and is usually the away fighter. Barrio Santa Paula, Argentina: Super Middle: Ezequiel O Maderna (23-2) W TKO 1 Rolando W Mansilla (11-2-1). Maderna retains the Argentinian title with early stoppage of overmatched Mansilla; Maderna wasted no time going straight after Mansilla. He landed some heavy jabs and as Mansilla tried to get inside for some shelter Maderna thumped home a right to the chin that sent Mansilla crashing heavily to the canvas. Mansilla made it to his feet but was on unsteady legs and another right to the chin had him staggering and defenceless and the referee stopped the fight. Fifth defence of his Argentinian title for Maderna and win No 15 by KO/TKO. The 28-year-old “El Olympico” –he competed at the 2008 Olympics losing to Shawn Estrada-had a bad 2013 losing to Edwin Rodriguez and Thomas Oosthuizen (a split decision) but has now won three in a row. Mansilla, 29, the FAB No 4 had lost to Ruben Acosta for the South American title in January. Coronel Moldes, Argentina: Super Welter: Jose Carlos Paz (17-2) W PTS 10 Martin Fidel Rios (15-5-3). Super Light: Gumersindo L Carrasco (22-2,1ND) W TKO 3 Pedro L Prieto (7-10-1). Paz vs. Rios Local fighter Paz has to overcome a slow start to win unanimous decision. Rios was using his edge in reach to score with his left jab and banging home combinations to build an early lead. Once Paz managed to get inside and work the body the fight changed and Paz was scoring with hooks to the body and slowly tiring Rios. Paz swept the eighth and ninth and an exhausted Rios spat out his gum shield in the last to get a breather. Scores 98-95 ½, 97 ½-95, 96 ½-96. After losing his second pro fight Paz had a run of 15 victories before losing a close decision to Juan M Bonanni in February. He is rated No 9 with the FAB. “El Terrible” Rios, a former Argentinian champion, is 2-3-1 in his last 6 fights and is FAB No 8 at middleweight. Carrasco vs. Prieto “Pitbull” Carrasco wears down late sub Prieto. It was a one-sided fight with Carrasco taking the first two rounds before flooring Prieto in the third. Prieto survived the round but his corner retired their man before the start of the fourth round. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for Carrasco but he was given a reality check when Brit Lee Purdy outclassed him and halted him in four rounds at the end of 2012. The 28-year-old former Argentinian champion has won his last 4 fights as he rebuilds and is FAB No 3. He represented Argentina at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. Prieto was having his first fight since September 2012. He came in as a very late replacement after original opponent Gustavo Vittorio withdrew due to the death of his father. Rosario, Argentina: Super Feather: Raul H Centeno (19-1-1) W PTS 10 Pablo M Barboza (23-6). Centeno retains the WBC Latino title with a unanimous decision over local fighter Barboza. The fight was close over the first four rounds with the southpaw Barboza just having the edge. He went ahead in the fifth as he put the defending champion down. Centeno took over from the sixth using his speed and better skills to create openings. In the eighth Centeno launched a furious attack that had Barboza in trouble and the referee gave the challenger a standing count. In the ninth a right uppercut from Centeno put Barboza down to effectively seal the win. Barboza got up and they battled away in the last with Centeno making sure there was no late slip up. Scores 96-91, 96-92, 96-93. Second defence of his title for 26-year-old Centeno. He is unbeaten in his last 10 fights and is sitting at No 2 lightweight in the FAB rankings. “Bad Boy” Barboza, 30, the Argentinian lightweight champion had been knocked out in 5 rounds by Chad Bennett in his last fight in April. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Canada: Super Light: Yves Ulysse Jr (7-0) W TKO 5 Noel Mejia Rincon (13-5-1). Heavy: Donovan Ruddock (40-5-1) W PTS 6 Eric Barrak (8-3). Ulysse vs. Rincon Ulysse gets another win as he eventually catches and disposes of Rincon. The Canadian prospect dominated the opening rounds with Rincon constantly under fire. A fierce attack in the fifth was punctuated by a searing right uppercut that put Rincon down. He took the eight count whilst Ulysse in the neutral corner was holding the ropes and leaning forward to his full extent ready to catapult off the ropes. He did just that running across the ring and landing another right that saw Rincon drop to a knee and the referee stop the fight. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the Canadian No 4 who represented Canada at both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships. He needs stiffer tests. Mexican Rincon gets his third loss by KO/TKO. Ruddock vs. Barrak Ruddock makes heavy weather of getting his second win on his return. Ruddock had to come from behind to snatch the majority decision after Barrack provided tougher than expected opposition. Scores 58-56 twice and 57-57. The 51-year-old Ruddock says his aim is to regain the Canadian title that he first won in 1988 and regained in his last fight before retiring in 2001. Barrak, 37, the Canadian No 5 is a former MMA competitor. Clichy la Garenne, France: Super Bantam: Amor Belahdj Ali (14-3-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Faycal Messaoudene (6-23-1). Belahdj gets unanimous verdict over Messaoudene in French title fight. Champion Belahdj took the fight to Messaoudene with his usual aggressive style with Messaoudene trying to box and keep it an open fight. Messaoudene just did not have the power to keep southpaw Belahdj out and although he did well in the middle rounds Belahdj staged a strong finish twice knocking out Messaoudene mouthguard out in the last round. Scores 98-92, 97-94 and 96-94. Belahdj was making the first defence of the national title that he won with a points victory over Messaoudene in January last year. He had drawn and lost to Ali Hallab in previous French title fights. He lost a split decision to WBO No 3 Zsolt Bedak in June. Messaoudene had lost 4 of his last 5 going in but the win was against unbeaten former top amateur Jeremy Beccu. Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Light: Evens Pierre (25-1) W PTS 11 Jesus Cruz Bibiano (15-10). Light Heavy: Azea Augustama (19-2) W KO 3 Eduardo Mercedes 28-13). Pierre vs. Bibiano Pierre returns home to defend his WBA Fedelatin title with wide unanimous decision over Mexican Bibiano. The “Sun City Kid” simply boxed the eras off Bibiano. His speed and movement bamboozled Bibiano from the outset and in the second a left hook put the Mexican down. He recovered and kept marching forward but Pierre was too elusive and raked Bibiano with counters from both hands. Bibiano never gave up chasing but he was always a step behind the clever Haitian who put on a class show. Scores 110-99 twice and 109-100. Now 13 wins in a row for the Miami-based 31-year-old who was inactive for 20 months before returning in November with a stoppage of experienced Rene Gonzalez. He is rated 8(7) by the WBA and is hoping for a title fight late this year or in 2016. Bibiano, 30, was 5-2 in his last 7 fights going in to this one and had a win over Cesar Vazquez (25-1). Augustama vs. Mercedes Augustama made it a double for Haiti as he overpowered Dominican Mercedes and knocked him out in three rounds. The Florida-based Haitian has 11 wins by KO/TKO. His only losses have been a majority decision against Denis Grachev and a points loss to Edwin Rodriguez. He retains his WBA Fedelatin title. He comes from a boxing family and was an outstanding amateur competing at the 2008 Olympics and was also a gold medal winner at the NGG beating J’Leon Love on his way to the final. Mercedes has had a switchback career. He was 6-9 in his first 15 fights and then won his next 18, 14 by KO/TKO but is back down to earth again now being 4-4 in his last 8. The Jacques Deschamps promotion was the first boxing show in Haiti for quite some time and was a success with the Haitian President attending. It has been a good 7 month spell for Deschamps who guided Nicholas Walters to prime position with the Jamaican’s win over Nonito Donaire. Kecskemet, Hungary: Feather: Robert Laki (9-0-1) W PTS 10 Imre Nagy (11-7). Heavy: Zsolt Bogdan (10-0) W PTS 10 Jean Marc Monrose (27-8). Cruiser: Imre Szello (7-0) W KO 6 Miguel Velozo (17-4-2). Light Heavy: Balazs Kelemen (23-1) W PTS 6 Robert Talarek (10-11-2). Laki vs. Nagy Laki wins the vacant Hungarian title with comfortable decision over Nagy. Laki had the superior skills and was scoring well with combinations to head and body with Nagy soaking up the pain but not giving in. Nagy tried hard to find a knockout punch in the last, the only round he won, but Laki was too smart and boxed his way to the decision. Score 99-91 from all three judges. The 23-year-old local is a former Hungarian amateur champion under his real name of Robert Lakatos and was in his first ten round fight. Nagy, 24, is 3-4 in his last 7 fights having lost on his travels to Maxi Hughes, Steve Wilcox and Paul Hyland. Bogdan vs. Monrose “Bulletproof” Bogdan gets unanimous decision over former EBU champion Monrose. The styles blended well and made for an interesting fight. The Hungarian was the busier and outscoring Monrose but the Frenchman won enough rounds to be competitive. Bogdan suffered a shoulder injury late in the fight but had done enough to hold off Monrose. Scores 97-93 twice and 97-94. The Romanian-born Bogdan adds the interim Hungarian International title to the Global Boxing Federation title he won by outpointing Danny Williams in December. Monrose, 33, the EBU 19 is on the slide and is 3-8 in his last 11 fights. Szello vs. Velozo Former top amateur Szello recovers from an indifferent start to halt Velozo. “Imo” had problems early with the awkward style of the Cuban Velozo but slowly figured Velozo out and closed the show. A salvo of punches put Velozo down in the sixth and although he made it to his feet he was in no condition to continue and the referee stopped the fight. The 31-year-old Hungarian champion makes it 4 wins by KO/TKO. He was one of the most successful of modern day Hungarian amateur fighters having over 300 contests winning gold at the EU championships and a bronze medal at the World Championships with wins to his name over Artur Beterbyiev and Shawn Estrada. Czech-based Velozo suffered back-to-back losses in 2014 against unbeaten fighters Dominic Boesel on a majority decision and a stoppage by Sergey Ekimov. Kelemen vs. Talarek “Balu” Kelemen makes a return to the winning column with a points victory over Pole Talarek. First fight for the 36-year-old Hungarian champion since losing his unbeaten record on a ninth round stoppage against big hitter Vincent Feigenbutz in March. Fifth fight of the year for the busy Talarek who had 11 bouts in 2014. He had won his last two fights. San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy: Super Middle: Roberto Bassi (8-1) W PTS 10 Roberto Cocco (16-13-1). Bassi holds on to his Italian title in front of his own fans with unanimous decision over Cocco but fight closer than the scores indicate. Cocco was the busier fighter attacking the body to slow the younger hometown fighter. The problem for Cocco was that Bassi did a good job of blocking the punches whether to head or body. Bassi was throwing less but landing more make good use of his jab and straight rights. The judges went for quality over quantity with two scoring it 97-93, which did not reflect the closeness of the fight, and a 96-94 which was more representative. Bassi deserved the win but Cocco wants a return. Now 5 wins in a row for Bassi but he is still looking for his first inside the distance win. Cocco, 38, a former undefeated national champion at the weight has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights with the other losses coming in 2014 against Mariano Hilario and Andrea Di Luisa in EU title fights. Bangkok, Thailand: Feather: Jirapan (11-0) W KO 3 Rofiq Aditya (2-1-1). Super Fly: Kongfah (21-0) W KO 3 Ricky Morales 4-2-1) Jirapan vs. Aditaya In a mismatch Thai Jirapan kayos Indonesian to win the WBC Youth Silver title. Jirapan looked a couple of divisions heavier than the small Indonesian and it was obvious that this fight was not going to last long. Constantly switching guards Jirapan was walking Aditya down over the first rounds but only being able to get home with a few glancing shots. In the third a right to the body from Jirapan sent Aditya down on his knees to be counted out. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for the Thai but this was a poor excuse for a title fight. Kongfah vs. Morales Another abysmal match sees unbeaten Kongfah kayo another poor Indonesian novice. The Thai started out southpaw but changed guard in each of the first four rounds. He was too powerful for Morales who at least tried to stand and exchange over the first two rounds. He was constantly being rocked by left hooks to the body and long rights and by the end of the third all of the fight had gone out of him. Kongfah handed out a series of wicked body punches as he chased Morales down in the fourth and fifth and in the sixth a series of punches to head and body saw the referee step in and stop the fight. Kongfah has 13 wins by KO/TKO and this was a pointless fight as he had kayoed Morales in three rounds in March. Kongfah’s opposition has been awful with nine never having had a fight, two never having won a fight and three having combined records of 3-55-2 with Morales the only fighter to have a positive record and even then it was only 4-2-1. May 23 Boston, MA, USA: Super Middle: James DeGale (21-1) W PTS 12 Andre Dirrell (24-2). Light Heavy: Edwin Rodriguez (27-1) W TKO 3 Craig Baker (16-1). Middle: Gary O’Sullivan (21-1) W KO 2 Melvyn Betancourt (29-2). Super Bantam: Jonathan Guzman (19-0) W TKO 5 Chris Esquivel (27-7). Welter: Danny O’Connor (26-2) W TKO 5 Chris Gilbert (12-2). Super Feather: Logan McGuinness (23-0-1) W PTS 6 Gerardo Cuevas (17-14). Super Ryan Kielczewski (23-1) W KO 1 Anthony Napunyi (15-15). DeGale vs. Dirrell DeGale becomes the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a world title as he beats Dirrell on a unanimous decision for the vacant IBF title. The Brit made a good start winning the first round on all three cards as he worked well inside and landed some good shots from both hands. After an unfortunate start to the second he came close to ending the fight. Early in the round a punch from Dirrell opened a cut over the right eye of DeGale but De Gale responded with an overhand southpaw left which put Dirrell down. The American was up quickly only for a salvo from DeGale punctuated by another left to put Dirrell down again. Dirrell recovered well and fought back just doing enough to take the third but DeGale dominated the fourth despite Dirrell changing guard to try to get an edge. After those four rounds DeGale was up on all cards at 39-35 twice and 40-34 on the other. The fight was slipping away from Dirrell and there did not seem there was much he could do to change it as DeGale was slamming home right jabs, moving well and being first to the punch. He out boxed Dirrell in the fifth and again in the sixth drawing blood from the American’s nose and ending the round strongly. At the half way point of the fight DeGale was 6 points in front on two cards and 8 points on the other. It was Degale’s fight to win if he just kept his foot on the gas-but he did not. The seventh saw DeGale’s work rate drop and he was no longer the fluid fighter he had been over the first six rounds. Now Dirrell was coming forward blocking most of DeGale’s punches and it was his jab doing the scoring. The scenario was the same in the eighth and ninth with DeGale’s corner trying to rekindle the earlier fire as they could see DeGale letting the fight slip away. By the start of the eleventh although he was way ahead on one card the gap was only two points on the other two. A strong finish would see Dirrell force a majority draw so DeGale had to find something. He did in the eleventh and twelfth doing some effective body punching as Dirrell seemed to tire slightly from his rally and DeGale did enough to emerge the deserving victor. Scores 114-112 twice and a hardly indicative 117-109 that did not reflect those rounds 7, 8, 9 and 10 where Dirrell was dominant. A great victory for 29-year-old DeGale all the better for coming in America against an American. He lost a majority verdict to George Groves in 2011 but rebounded to win the European title and score ten wins in a row including inside the distance victories over Brandon Gonzalez and Marco Periban to lift himself to the No 1 spot with the IBF and in position to fight for the vacant title. There are plenty of options out there for the new champion with a big fight planned for London in October with names such as Groves, Carl Froch, Andre Ward and Gennady Golovkin being bandied about. Meanwhile he can bask in the glow of being a world champion as the best answer to those who wrote him off after the Groves loss. Dirrell is far from finished at 31. His only other loss was a split decision against Froch in the Brit’s hometown. He was inactive for 21 months after suffering a brain injury when beating Arthur Abraham in 2010 but had built himself back with six wins and will fight for the super middle title again perhaps in 2016. Rodriguez vs. Baker Rodriguez halts previously unbeaten Baker in controversial stoppage. Rodriguez took the first two rounds. He was busier than the slow starting Baker throwing more punches and landing more. Late in the third Rodriguez had Baker pinned on the ropes and was landing hard overhand rights when the referee stepped-in and halted the fight. Baker showed clearly his surprise at the fight being stopped and it looked a bit premature but in fairness to the referee Baker was not punching back. “La Bomba” Rodriguez, 30, took 11 months out after losing to Andre Ward for the WBA super middle title in November 2013 and now has three wins since moving up to light heavy. Texan “Black Cat” Baker, 31, took a trip down to Argentina in November for a win and then crashed the ratings in February with a stoppage of highly rated Cuban Umberto Savigne. O’Sullivan vs. Betancourt O’Sullivan too strong and aggressive for Dominican champion Betancourt. From the outset the difference in punch power was obvious and Betancourt was always just one punch away from defeat. O’Sullivan had Betancourt on the retreat in the first with a sustained body attack. Betancourt had a better second round as he was more aggressive and looking to trade. A big mistake as O’Sullivan was soon bouncing head-jerking shots off the Dominican and was willing to take one to land one. Betancourt was now in in full retreat. A searing left/ring combination sent Betancourt stumbling along the ropes and down on his back. He pulled himself by using the ropes but at the end of the eight count was still dazed and the fight should have been stopped then. Instead O’Sullivan drove him along the ropes and slammed home a series of head shots until Betancourt went down on his back obviously out of the fight but the referee pedantically insisted on counting the full ten instead of waiving the fight over so Betancourt could get assistance. The Cork boxer has 14 wins by KO/TKO. His loss was a wide unanimous decision against Billy Joe Saunders in July 2013. He was then out of the ring for 11 months and has scored 5 wins since then including a 75 seconds stoppage of Anthony Fitzgerald. “Spike” boxed in this one wearing a kilt but his post victory jig was not quite up to Lord of the Dance standard. Betancourt’s record was heavily padded and a good example of what passes for competitive matching in the Dominican Republic with only four of his opponents having positive records. He showed some good touches but despite his 23 wins by KO/TKO is no dynamite punch Guzman vs. Esquivel Guzman continues unbeaten with win over Mexican Esquivel. The Dominican prospect showed his range of skills using his reach advantage to good effect. Esquivel gave him a good test before being pulled out due to a bad cut before the start of the sixth round. Now 19 wins by KO/TKO for the 25-year-old Guzman. He looks a good one for the future although his record at this stage is padded with some way below par opponents. He is rated IBF 8(6)/WBA 11. “Italiano” Esquivel, 28, looks to be on the slide. The former WBC Silver champion lost in eleven rounds to Shinsuke Yamanaka for the vacant WBC bantam title in 2011 but now has three losses in a row by KO/TKO. O’Connor vs. Gilbert O’Connor easily brushes aside Gilbert for stoppage in fifth. The popular local fighter took a round to go to work but once he did he was too much for Gilbert to handle. In the second a right to the body put Gilbert down for the first time and another body punch had him down again before the bell. Things got worse for Gilbert in the third when what looked like a slip was counted as a knockdown and a punch opened a cut over his right eye. Gilbert was landing a few shots of his own but in the fifth body punches again proved Gilbert’s undoing and after he was floored for the second time in the round the fight was stopped. The 30-year-old southpaw O’Connor has 10 wins by KO/TKO. A former NGG and US National champion O’Connor won his first 14 fights before being outpointed by Gabriel Bracero in 2011. He bounced back with nine wins before dropping a split decision to veteran Vivian Harris in October 2013. He was then inactive for a year and this is his third win by KO/TKO since his return. This was a huge step up in class for Gilbert and he was just not good enough to be competitive. McGuinness vs. Cuevas McGuinness continues his comeback from injury with points win over Cuevas but has to climb off the canvas for victor. A left from Cuevas put the Canadian down briefly in the first round leaving McGuinness with a two point deficit after just three minutes. From there McGuinness gradually took control working the body and outscoring Cuevas over the remaining five rounds. Scores 57-56 from all three judges. Third win for the once highly rated 27-year-old McGuinness since returning to the ring after an 18 month break caused by injuries. Cuevas, the son of former WBA welter champion Pipino Cuevas has lost 6 of his last 7 fights to tough opposition. Kielczewski vs. Napunyi Kielczewski gets back to winning ways with one round victory over Kenyan veteran. The “Polish Prince” used a succession of body punches to do the job with Napunyi being counted our whilst down on one knee. The 25-year-old Kielczewski, a former New England Golden Gloves champion and NGG silver medallist lost his unbeaten tag on a split decision against Danny Aquino in April. Napunyi, 32, now had 10 losses in his last 11 fights. Cordoba, Argentina: Light: Fernando D Saucedo (55-6-3) W TKO 8 Juan J Farias (16-8-1). Saucedo again proves too good for domestic opposition. From early on Farias had fallen into survival mode so it became a question of when Saucedo would win and not if. In the seventh a hard combination from Saucedo of a right to the chin and two hooks to the body floored Farias. He was up taking the eight count when the bell went. The reprieve was short as Saucedo stormed into Farias in the eighth and with Farias turning away indicating he was finished for the night the fight was stopped. Only the ninth win by KO/TKO for 33-year-old Saucedo a former WBA feather and IBF super feather title contender. Farias, 34, had looked to be turning his career around with a run of 11 wins and a technical draw but had that illusion shattered when Miguel Roman stopped him in three rounds in September. Liverpool, Australia: Super Feather: David Browne (21-1-1) W TKO 4 Denkamon (22-5). Super Welter: Rocky Jerkic (10-0) W KO 3 Eakkhunphol (10-7). Light: Valentine Borg (10-1) W TKO 4 Amon Yuchareon (0-9-1). Browne vs. Denkamon Browne retains the WBC Eurasia Pacific title with win over Thai Denkamon who retires after four rounds. Browne had big edges in height and reach and had no trouble scoring and breaking down the Thai. Browne, 28, was unbeaten in his first 16 fights before losing a technical decision to Billy Dib in 2009. After a win in October that year he was inactive until returning in December 2013 since when he has won 5 fights. He is the ANBF No 4. Denkamon, also 28, suffers his third loss by KO/TKO. He had won 10 of his last 11 fights going in but his ten victims had managed only one win between them. Jerkic vs. Eakkhunphol Jerkic continues to show promise as he halts Thai to win the vacant IBO Asia Pacific title. After dominating the fight Jerkic ended it with a body punch at the mid-point of the third round. The tall 27-year-old, the ANBF No 2, has 8 wins by KO/TKO including 6 in his last 6 fights. His 10 wins have taken up less than 23 rounds but Eakkhunphol is only the second victim with a positive record and he is 3-6 in his last 9 fights so early to judge how good Jerkic is at this stage. Borg vs. Yuchareon Borg gets stoppage win over poor Australian-based Thai opponent who retired at the end of the fourth round. Too easy for the former undefeated Australian champion and current ANBF No 3. In April Yuchareon had snapped his 8 bout losing streak with a draw but is back to losing again. Gunnedah, Australia: Super Feather Corey McConnell (15-1-1) W TKO 1 Mongkolchai (12-3). “Baby Hulk” McConnell gets this one over quickly as he stops Thai in 104 seconds. McConnell hurt Mongkolchai early with a left hook. He followed the retreating Thai driving him back with stiff left jabs. A right to the head stunned Mongkolchai who momentarily dropped his hands. McConnell moved in and landed two left hooks to the body which put Mongkolchai down on his knees and the fight was stopped. McConnell, 29, wins the vacant PABA title and gets only his second win by KO/TKO. His sole loss was a fifth round stoppage against IBF No 1 Lee Selby for the CBC title in 2013. He has rebounded with 4 wins garnering the German version of the WBU title and the WBC International title which he no longer holds. First loss by KO/TKO for Mongkolchai who had won his last 5 fights. Sounds good but those 5 victims had combined records of 1-17. Maroochydore, Australia: Welter: Cameron Hammond (12-0) W KO 4 Jese Rayudi (4-2-1). Super Fly: Brad Hore (5-1) W PTS 10 Afrizal Tamboresi. Middle: Kerry Hope (21-7) W TKO 1 Jamed Jalarante (23-18-1). Hammond vs. Rayudi Hammond given torrid time by inexperienced Rayudi before ending things in the fourth. Rayudi came out setting a frantic pace throwing so many punches that Hammond could not find space to get his own game going. The pace caught up with Rayudi in the fourth and Hammond floored the Fijian with a right to the temple. Somehow Rayudi made it to his feet but Hammond met him with a right and then a left hook that almost lifted the Fijian off his feet and he was not going to get up from that thunderbolt. The 25-year-old “Hammer” was making the second defence of his WBA Oceania and knew that a win would also put him in a leading position to challenge for the CBC title. The Ricky Hatton promoted former Australian amateur champion represented Australia at both the Commonwealth Games, where he lost on points to Callum Smith, and the 2012 Olympics. He has 6 wins by KO/TKO. New South Wales State champion Rayudi provided plenty of action but was in over his head with top prospect Hammond. Hore vs. Tamboresi “The Pocket Rocket” Hore wins the vacant WBFound Asia Pacific title with wide unanimous decision over Indonesian Tamboresi. The Australian southpaw had Tamboresi down in the fourth but could not keep him there and had to settle for a comfortable points win. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-92. The 33-year-old Hore’s loss was a kayo by Filipino Roberto Lerio for the Australian bantam title in 2013. After winning the Queensland State title in May 2013 he was inactive until returning with a win 18 months later. Hore is one of those outstanding amateurs who left it too late to turn pro. He was a 5-time Australian champion winning his first title in 2000 and his last in 2009, competed at the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships twice and also the Olympics before turning pro at 30. Indonesian Tamboresi record looks incomplete to me so I have not quoted one. Hope vs. Jalarante Former EBU champion Hope kicks-off his Australian campaign with a quick win over experienced Indonesian. Hope had Jalarante down early and the fight was stopped. The 33-year-old Welshman sprang a huge surprise in 2007 when he beat the world rated European champion Grzegorz Proksa only to lose the title back to Proksa four months later. He then went 3-3 in 6 fights with losses to top quality opposition in Darren Barker and Eamonn O’Kane and also lost to Frankie Borg for the BBB of C Welsh Area title in his last bout in March 2014. Hope faces Mike Zerafa (17-1) next month in a fight that will have a big impact on his Australian adventure. Jalarante is 3-11 in his last 14 fights and this is lost No 13 by KO/TKO.; Spa, Belgium: Super Feather: Faroukh Kourbanov (8-0) W PTS 10 Angelo Turco (5-6). Cruiser: Geoffrey Battelo (31-5) W KO 2 Goga Abuladze (20-8) Kourbanov vs. Turco Kourbanov wins the vacant Belgian title with split decision over Turco in an entertaining hard fought battle. Kourbanov needed all of his skills to hold off the aggression of Turco and it was a very close fight over the first four rounds. Kourbanov built a lead over the next four rounds and then held off a strong challenge from Turco to earn the verdict. Scores 97-94, 97-93 and 95-96 for Turco. The Kyrgyzstan-born Kourbanov, 23, was moving up to ten rounds for the first time. Turco has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights and he too was in his first ten round fight. Battelo vs. Abuladze Now 6 kayo wins in a row for Battelo as he knocks out Georgian Abuladze in the second. The tall 35-year-old rarely goes the distance whether he wins or loses as he has 27 wins by KO/TKO and 6 losses the same way. He lost twice in shots at the EBU title being halted by both Marco Huck and Lubos Suda and is probably hoping for another shot at the title although it appears unlikely. Now 7 losses by KO/TKO for Abuladze. Moncton, Canada: Super Bantam: Tyson Cave (26-3) W TKO 3 Jovanny Soro (39-19-1). Super Welter: Brandon Brewer (14-0-1) W KO 2 Gyula Vajda (18-10). 19 Cave vs. Rojas Cave “owns” Soto after three wins over the Mexican. The “Prince of Hali” outpointed Soto over ten rounds in 2012 and stopped him in four rounds in 2014. The 33-year-old southpaw is looking for another shot at the interim WBA title. He lost a split decision to Oscar Escandon in December and is aiming to land a fight with new champion Moises Flores. Soto is 6-6 in his last 12 fights with all 12 fights ending in KO/TKO. Brewer vs. Vajda Local fighter Brewer knocks out Hungarian Vajda in two rounds. The tall “L-Jack” Brewer has 7 wins by KO/TKO and is CNC No 2. Vajda goes to 8 losses by KO/TKO having also been knocked out in two rounds by Steve Claggett in Canada last year. Kauhava, Finland: Light Heavy: Juho Haapoja (26-6-2,1ND) DREW 10 Serhiy Demchenko (15-7-1). Welter: Juho Tolppola (26-6-1) W PTS 10 Matias Laitinen (7-1). Haapoja vs. Demchenko Haapoja was looking to get revenge for a controversial stoppage loss to Demchenko in January. The Finn had learned from his mistakes and came with a game plan of strengthening his defence and out boxing the Ukrainian. He worked the plan well over the first half of the fight but was shaken by a punch late in the sixth as Demchenko found the range. Demchenko continued to force the fight and it was a case of Haapoja scoring more but Demchenko landing the harder shots. Disaster almost struck when the Finn was floored by a right in the ninth but Haapoja recovered and they fought on even terms in the last. Scores 96-94 to Haapoja, 97-94 to Demchenko and 95-95. It was as close as the scores indicate but Demchenko was a little unlucky not to get the verdict. The 34-year-old Haapoja a former EU champion lost big fights to Mateusz Masternak for the EBU title and to Silvio Branco and Rakhim Chakhkiev for the WBC Silver title. He had rebuilt to an extent with 5 wins until being derailed by the loss to Demchenko. The 35-year-old Italian-based Ukrainian had been going in the opposite direction with 4 losses in a row before the win over Haapoja. Tolppola vs. Laitinen Experience told here as Tolppola gets unanimous decision over Laitinen to win the vacant Finnish title. The was a very technical fight with both fighters showing good skills but Tolppola having the edge. Tolppola controlled the centre of the ring and kept the pressure on the much taller young boxer not allowing him to use his physical advantages. Laitinen had some success with his fast, accurate jabs but Tolppola was always able to come back stronger and was a clear winner. Scores 98-94 twice and 100-90. “TNT” Tolppola, 33, is not really a knockout puncher despite the nickname. He has not won a fight by KO/TKO since 2005. As with Haapoja he is now staying active in the hope of another title shot having failed twice to win both the EBU and EU titles. He took 5 years out after his last EU title loss in 2009 and has scored four wins since returning. Laitinen, 23, showed good skills and was jumping from 6 rounds up to 10 rounds and can come again. Ferrara, Italy: Super Welter: Marcello Matano (15-1) W TKO 7 Mathias Zemski (15-3). Cruiser: Leonardo Bruzzese (14-1) W TKO 10 David Rettori (7-4-1). Welter: Gianluca Frezza (23-2-2, 2 ND) W TKO 4 Italo Brussolo (10-8-2). Matano vs. Zemski Matano retains IBF Inter-Continental title with win over game but out-gunned German. Matano made a cautious start as Zemski showed good defensive skills. The fight changed when Matano started to attack the body. Suddenly Zemski was fading fast and obviously uncomfortable under the body shots. In the seventh Matano was chasing Zemski from corner to corner. The German momentarily slipped to the canvas but only got up very slowly and was already looking pleadingly at his corner. No towel came in and a body punch from Matano saw Zemski go down. He struggled to his feet just as the bell rang and the German’s corner retired their man. Matano, 28, a former Italian champion, was coming off a good win when lifting the IBF belt with a decision over Jussi Koivula (17-1) in February. Zemski, 30, had won 7 of his last 8 fights and this is second loss by KO/TKO, with body punches being his undoing in both. Bruzzese vs. Rettori Bruzzese wins vacant Italian title with late stoppage of Rettori. Bruzzese had a big edge in skill but Rettori decided to just try to walk through Bruzzese’s punches and force him to trade. He paid the price for those tactics in the long run and was also lucky to survive a bad third round. Late in the round Bruzzese scored with a series of hard shots and Rettori was only saved by a standing count which allowed him to last to the bell. Despite that Rettori continued his forward march into the left jabs and uppercuts of Bruzzese. In the tenth Bruzzese again got through with some clubbing head shots and Rettori went down heavily. He tried to get up but just stumbled into the ropes and the fight was over. Hometown fighter Bruzzese regains the title he lost to Maurizio Loviglio in December 2013. Rettori, 37, was in his first bout scheduled for more than six rounds and lacked the skills to compete here. Frezza vs. Brussolo Former undefeated Italian welter champion Frezza extends his unbeaten run to 17 fights with stoppage of old foe Brussolo. Frezza, having his first fight for 13 months, was well on his way to a win when the fight was stopped due to a bad cut suffered by Brussolo. Frezza, 35, had outpointed Brussolo twice, once in a defence of his Italian title. Brussolo, who has had two shots at the Italian title, is 1-5-1 in his last 7 fights. Metepec, Mexico: Super Bantam: Rey Vargas (24-0) W PTS 10 Edward Mansito (13-2-2). “King” Vargas floors Filipino early but is forced to go the distance for his win. Vargas had all the physical advantages and the punch so this was always going to be an uphill battle for Mansito. A short right hook put Mansito down in the first but he showed real guts by getting up and lasting to the bell. With a big edge in reach Vargas was able to land power punches from the outside and was too big and strong on the inside. He allowed Mansito to take the initiative over the late rounds but speared the advancing Filipino with searing punches to head and body. Mansito was never really in deep trouble again after the second round and showed why he has yet to lose by KO/TKO. Vargas won every round and got in some useful work as this is only the fourth time he has had to go the distance for a win. Scores 100-88 from all three judges. The 24-year-old Nacho Beristan trained fighter is rated WBC4/IBF 5(3)/WBO 7 and should be fighting for a world title next year. “The Nightmare” Mansito, 22, had won his last 10 fights Los Mochis, Mexico: Super Feather: Adrian Young (22-1-2) W TKO 10 Marco A Juarez (8-4-1). Bantam: David Sanchez (28-2-2) W TKO 2 Walberto Ramos (23-7-2). Young vs. Juarez Young gets late stoppage but only after war with unfancied Juarez. Young took the fight to Juarez but despite his lack of experience the Baja Californian boxer showed good skills and scored well with counters. The scores were even after eight rounds but Juarez had a big ninth only to be exhausted by the effort and he had nothing left in the tenth with Young landing heavy punches to force the stoppage. “Chinito” Young, 22, has 18 wins by KO/TKO and victories over useful opposition in Raul Hirales and Silvester Lopez. Juarez has lost 4 of his last 5 fights and had never gone past the eighth round before so fought better than expected. Sanchez vs. Ramos WBA interim champion Sanchez blows away Colombian inside two rounds. A supremely confident Sanchez was walking the retreating Colombian down in the first round. Late in the round he threw a right and a left and Ramos tottered backwards and down although both punches looked to land on the gloves and he was up at two and able to fight on. In the second Ramos stood and traded more. Sanchez drove him to a corner and was throwing hooks and uppercuts. Ramos slid down the ropes and the referee stepped in and stopped the action but instead of giving Ramos a standing count he waived the fight on. Sanchez landed a wicked left uppercut and Ramos again slid down the ropes but this time touched the canvas. He was up at two and after the eight count was completed Sanchez landed a right to the head that had Ramos staggering across the ring and down to the canvas on his back. The referee immediately stopped the fight. Now 22 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old “Tornado” and 18 wins in a row. His last loss was to Mario Macias in 2010. The same Mario Macias who was halted in two rounds by Juan Dominguez in Atlantic City on Saturday. Ramos, 33, lost to Omar Narvaez for the WBO fly title in 2006 and had won 12 of his 13 fights since then but he lacked the power to stand up to Sanchez. Glasgow, Scotland: Heavy: Gary Cornish (21-0) W TKO 4 Zoltan Csala (8-2). Cornish wins vacant IBO International title with stoppage of Csala. It was an easy nights work for the 6’7” (201cm) “Highlander as he towered over the tubby Hungarian who was 6’ 2 ½” (189cm) and fought out a crouch accentuating the difference. Cornish worked behind his jab throwing in some useful rights and dominating the first three rounds. Csala could not find a way to get inside and paid for it in the fourth. As he tried to walk in a stiff jab from Cornish suddenly had Csala’s legs quivering. Cornish cut loose with both hands driving Csala to the ropes and he was firing head and body shots with nothing coming back when the fight was stopped The 28-year-old Cornish has won 8 of his last 9 fights by KO/TKO and is rated No 15 by the EU. He is ready for and deserves better opposition. Hungarian champion Csala, 33, had gone the distance with unbeaten knockout puncher Arnold Gjergiaj in February. Abbreviations ABC=Asian Boxing Council an affiliate of the WBC ABF=Asian Boxing Federation. I assume this is an affiliate of the IBF ABU=African Boxing Union an affiliate of the WBC ACC=WBC Asian Council Continental title ANBF=Australian National Boxing Federation who administer Australian titles BBB of C=British Boxing Board of Control BBB of C Southern/Central/Midlands/Scottish Area etc. British Area titles BDB= Bund Deutscher Berufsboxer one of the German boxing bodies B & H=Bosnia & Herzegovina BSA=Boxing South Africa responsible for administering boxing in South Africa CBC=Commonwealth Boxing Council a sanctioning body for titles competed for by citizens of Commonwealth countries CISBB-WBC title covering the rump of the USSR and the Slovenian Boxing Board DRC=Democratic Republic of the Congo EBU=European Boxing Union FAB=Argentinian Boxing Federation FFB=French Boxing Federation GAB=Philippines Games & Amusement Board responsible for administering boxing in the Philippines GBC= Global Boxing Council a sanctioning body IBA=International Boxing Association a sanctioning body IBF=International Boxing Federation a sanctioning body IBO=International Boxing Organisation a sanctioning body JBC =Japanese Boxing Commission NABA=North American Boxing Association, a WBA affiliate NABF=North American Boxing Federation a WBC affiliate NABO= North American Boxing Organisation, a WBO affiliate NCC=National Championships of Canada NGG=US National Golden Gloves NZPBF=New Zealand Professional Boxing Federation a national sanctioning body OPBF=Orient & Pacific Boxing Federation PABA=Pacific & Asian Boxing Association, a WBA affiliate PAL= Police Athletic League a major US Amateur tournament PBF=Philippines Boxing Federation, a sanctioning body in the Philippines UBF=Universal Boxing Federation a sanctioning body UBO=Universal Boxing Organisation a sanctioning body USBA= United States Boxing Association, an IBF affiliate USBO=United States Boxing Organisation an WBO affiliate WBA=World Boxing Association a sanctioning body WBC=World Boxing Council a sanctioning body WBFed=World Boxing Federation, a sanctioning body WBFound=World Boxing Foundation, a sanctioning body WBU=World Boxing Union, a sanctioning body IBF WBA Rating=Both bodies leave vacancies in their ratings so when showing a IBF or WBA rating for a fighter where there is a vacant position ahead of them in the rankings which affects his rating I will put his numerical rating i.e. No 6 and in brackets and his rating based on the number of fighters ahead of him so IBF 6 (5) shows his numerical position is 6 but there are in fact only 5 fighters listed ahead of him due to one or more of the higher rating positions being vacant. There isn't too much action this coming Saturday though there is one bout of real note. The really notable bout will see 2008 Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale (20-1, 14) take on talented American Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16), himself a 2004 Olympic bronze medal winner, in a bout for the IBF Super Middleweight title. The match up is one of the most interesting we've seen made this year and pits two highly capable boxer-punchers against each other in a bout that really will decide who is the "best of the rest" in regards to the Super Middleweight division. Unfortunately however the division is a rather weak looking one due to the imminent retirement of Carl Froch and the inactivity of Andre Ward. This should be a very high skilled contest and is widely viewed as a 50-50 with the bookies, we just hope it lives up to the expectations. Sadly however both men have stinkers in their careers and put together they may again fail to light the touch paper. This Friday promises a lot on paper with a number of interesting match ups, many coming from Russia, whilst in the US fans get the chance to see the final “ESPN Friday Night Fights”.
The Russian show is one of the most stacked of the year so far and doesn't feature a bout that isn't worth noting. The expected opening bout will see fast rising prospect Dmitry Bivol (2-0, 2) battle against the experienced Joey Vegas (17-10-2, 10). Bivol is a fighter on the fast track to the top and has impressed in both of his bouts so far, a stoppage against Vegas however would be the best result of his career by far. Notably Vegas has gone the distance, in recent fights, with Dmitry Sukhotsky and Egor Mekhontsev so this this is a very brave step by Bivol and his team. In a female title bout Svetlana Kulakova (9-0-1, 1) will be defending her WBA interim female Light Welterweight title against Marie Riederer (15-2-1, 10) in a wonderful match up and a really good test for the unbeaten Russian. One of the two Heavyweight bouts on this card will see former world title challengers collide as Alex Leapai (30-6-3, 24) take on Manuel Charr (27-3, 16). Charr will be hoping to get back to winning ways following a decision loss last time out to Johann Duhaupas whilst Leapai is trying to score his first win since a huge upset over Denis Boytsov back in November 2013. The other Heavyweight bout is really mouth watering as Alexander Povetkin (28-1, 20) takes on Mike Perez (21-1-1, 13). Povetkin, who has the second best resume of any active Heavyweight, is looking to record his third notable win since his 2013 loss to Wladimir Klitschko. Perez on the the other hand is trying to scored his biggest win to date. Sadly Perez hasn't looked great in recent bouts, following his tragic contest with Magomed Abdulsalamov in November 2013, and if he's not in fine form here he will almost certainly suffer his second loss in 3 bouts. The winner of this fight will claim the WBC silver Heavyweight title and move towards a bout with Wladimir Klitschko. At Cruiserweight we get a trio of bouts. One of those will see fast rising destroyer Dmitry Kudryashov (17-0, 17) attempt to continue his streak as he battles Namibian tough guy Vikapita Meroro (28-4, 14). On paper this looks like it could be a good test though in reality Meroro is the much smaller man and will be lucky to survive the terrifying power of the unbeaten Russian. Another of the Cruiserweight bouts will see Rakhim Chakhkiev (22-1, 17) battle against the unbeaten Junior Anthony Wright (13-0-1, 11). Chakhkiev should have too much for Wright, who is taking a huge step up in class. The winner of this bout will claim the IBO Cruiserweight title. The remaining Cruiserweight title bout is a WBC Cruiserweight title bout as Grigory Drozd (39-1, 27) defends his belt against Lukasz Janik (28-2, 15). Originally Drozd was supposed to fight Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, though Wlodarczyk pulled out and was replaced by his Polish compatriot. Incidentally Drozd won the title from Wlodarczyk last time out. In the US we see the final ESPN Friday Night Fights and it's a show that concludes the Boxcino tournaments. In the Boxcino Heavyweight final we'll see Andrey Fedosov (27-3, 22) take on Donovan Dennis (12-1, 10) in a really exciting bout. Both of these guys can punch and both have been dropped in recent bouts, so we're hoping for an exciting contest here. The other Boxcino bout will be at Light Middleweight and see the fun to watch Brandon Adams (17-1, 12) take on John Thompson (16-1, 5). This isn't as good on paper as the other bout but will almost certainly be a great bout and see both fighters going for the win. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his weekly report for the past 7 days.
May 15 San Jorge, Argentina: Super Welter: Marcelo E Coceres (17-0-1) W KO 6 Mateo D Veron (20-16-2,2ND ). Impressive win for FAB No 5 “El Terrible” Coceres as he floors and kayos former Argentinian champion Veron. Coceres was in command from the start of this one before ending it in the sixth. A straight right to the chin put Veron down, He was up and heard out the eight count but Coceres pounced and another right to the chin ended the fight. The 24-year-old local fighter was making the second defence of his WBC Latino title. He has 9 wins by KO/TKO including 5 in his last 6 fights. Veron 25 has lost 7 of his last 8 fights. He has earlier career wins over Guido Nicolas Pitto who holds a victory over Jack Culcay, Carlos Herrera (24-4), Marcos Vergara (28-2) and Jorge Heiland. Catamarca, Argentina: Super Welter: Juan M Bonanni (27-6-3) W PTS 10 Carlos S Chumjbita (14-4). Cruiser: Daniel A Sanabria (20-4) W PTS 10 Miguel A Bulacios (7-4-1). Bonanni vs. Chumjbita Bonanni bravely goes into Chumjbita’s backyard and gets split decision in a hard close fight. Bonanni was the better boxer but Chumjbita stayed right in front of him making the more experienced fighter work hard all the way. Bonanni built a lead but by the ninth Chumjbita had whittled it down. He staged a strong finish but Bonanni did just enough to deserve the verdict. Scores 96-94 and 95-94 for Bonanni and 96-94 for Chumjbita. Bonanni, 27, retains the WBC Latino title. He has won 7 of his last 8 fights and is FAB No 6. Chumjbita, 24, the FAB No 7 welter is 2-3 in his last 5 fights with all three losses coming in title fights. Sanabria vs. Bulacios Sanabria makes a successful defence of his Argentinian title with split verdict over Catamarca’s Bulacios. Sanabria had problems early with the unorthodox style of Bulacios who was constantly changing guard, throwing punches from every angle and generally making things awkward for the champion. Over the second half of the fight Sanabria began to solve the puzzle and as Bulacios tired over the late rounds Sanabria pulled away for a deserved win. Scores 99-95, 98 ½-95 ½ for Sanabria and 97 ½-97 for Bulacios. First defence for the 32-year-old Sanabria who has won 6 of his last 7 fights. His South American title was not on the line. “The Cobra” Bulacios, 26, the FAB No 8 is 4-4 in his last 8 fights. Punchbowl, Australia: Feather: T J Doheny (11-0) W PTS 12 Marco Demecillo (20-3-1). Big win for Irishman Doheny as he outclasses experienced Filipino. The Portlaoise fighter, now based in Australia dominated the action and took the decision on scores of 120-108, 120-109 and 118-109. The 28-year-old southpaw was making the fourth defence of his WBA PABA title and will probably now improve on his WBA No 13 rating. Demecillo, 24, a former Philippines super fly champion had a 19 fight unbeaten streak but has now gone to 2-4 in his last 6 against tough opposition. Chicoutimi, Canada: Super Welter: Steve Butler (12-0) W TKO 2 Felipe De la Paz Teniente (15-5-2). Light Heavy: Guillaume Tremblay-Coude (6-0-1) W TKO 1 Richard Arsenault (3-1-1). Butler vs. Teniente Butler lives up to his “Bang Bang” nickname as he blows away Mexican Teniente in two rounds. In the first Butler stalked the Mexican patiently as Teniente sped round the perimeter of the ring just stopping to throw a brief flurry of punches. Butler finally let his hands go driving Teniente back with a straight right and a combination put Teniente down on his knees. The Mexican got up but the bell went immediately for the end of the round. Butler was throwing bombs in the second and two rights to the head saw Teniente go down on one knee. Teniente tried to dance his way out of trouble but Butler kept throwing head punches until a right to the head had Teniente down for the second time in the round and the fight was stopped. Still only 19 Butler has 10 wins by KO/TKO including 8 in his last 9 fights. The former Canadian amateur champion, the grandson of Marshall Butler, the first guy to beat John Stracey as a pro, is keeping busy as this makes 12 fights in 14 months. “Black Scorpion” Teniente was supposed to be a tough test. He was 2-3-2 going in but the losses were to Adam Etches (15-0), veteran Silverio Ortiz and Dmitry Mikhaylenko (18-0). Tremblay-Coude vs. Arsenault Southpaw puncher Tremblay-Coude makes it five wins by KO/TKO as he halts novice Arsenault late in the first. The 26-year-old southpaw was known for fighting on the ice rink when playing in the North American Hockey League but now he is giving the boxing ring a try. Arsenault, a former MMA exponent, was just overwhelmed but Tremblay-Coude’s power. Panama City, Panama: Feather: Bryan De Gracia (15-0-1) W KO 6 Manuel Vides (18-4). Bantam: Edgar Valencia (7-1-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Everardo Castillo (12-6-1,1ND). Welter: Cesar Rivas (8-1-1) DREW 10 Omir Rodriguez (6-1-1). Light: Eric Castro (11-6-2) W KO 1 Eric Walters (9-1-1). Fly: Ricardo Nunez (27-5) W TKO 5 Iwier Hernandez (9-6-1). De Gracia vs. Vides Despite giving away huge amounts of height and reach De Gracia dominates Vides for five rounds before putting him down and out in the sixth. The 21-year-old chiricano wins the vacant Panamanian title and is also a winner of the Copa Don Jose Sulaiman. He now has 12 wins by KO/TKO and has won 5 of his last 6 fights inside the distance. He looks one of the best young prospects in Panama. Vides, 24, freakishy tall and thin was knocked out in two rounds by Juan Carlos Revco for the WBA secondary flyweight title in March last year and is tall even for a featherweight. Valencia vs. Castillo Novice Valencia just edges out Castillo to collect the vacant Panamanian bantam title. Not surprisingly both fighters thought they had won this one but Valencia just edged it. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93. First time past six rounds for the 24-year-old southpaw who also wins the Copa Don Jose Sulaiman at this weight. Castillo, 25, had lost in a previous shot at the national super bantam title. Rivas vs. Rodriguez The Panamanian welter title remains vacant after this draw of former good class amateurs. Scores 96-94 for Rivas, 97-93 for Rodriguez and 95-95. Rivas has reversed his only loss but specialises in close decisions as he had won on a majority verdict in each of his last two fights. The 25-year-old was a gold medal winner at the Central American Games. Rodriguez, 22, had also reversed his only loss and was a silver medallist at the Central American Games. The Copa Don Jose Sulaiman may have to be shared unless there is a return. Castro vs. Walters An upset sees Castro halt Walters late in the first round. Walters had stopped Castro in 5 rounds in April last year. Castro, 29, now has 10 wins by KO/TKO and wins the Panamanian and WBC Latino titles and the Copa Don Jose Sulaiman. Castro had failed in a shot at the Panamanian super feather title in February last year but with ten wins now by KO/TKO he was always dangerous. Walters was a heavy favourite after winning his last 6 fights. Nunez vs. Hernandez This was supposed to be an easy fight to get Nunez some ring time after a long lay-off. It nearly went wrong when the light punching Hernandez floored Nunez in the third round. Nunez was more surprised than hurt and banged back to put Hernandez down three times in the fifth. Nunez, 27, lost in shots at the IBF and WBA secondary fly titles and had been inactive for 15 months. Venezuelan Hernandez loses by KO/TKO for the second time. Oviedo, Spain: Welter: Aitor Nieto (16-3) W Pavel Semjonov (12-3-2). Local “El Diamante” Nieto wins the IBF East/West European title with close unanimous decision over Estonian Semjonov. This was an exciting bout with Nieto the better boxer and Semjonov piling in to try to get past the educated jab of the Spaniard. Nieto’s tactics were hit and move but Semjonov was determined and managed to bludgeon his way inside even getting carried away enough to land a couple of punches after the bell to anger of the crowd. The Estonian began to tire fighting in spurts at the end of rounds to catch the judge’s eyes. Nieto continued to use his hand speed and accuracy to gather the points but Semjonov’s aggression made it a close fight. Scores 117-112, 115-113 and 115-114. The 31-year-old local fighter, the Spanish champion, is EBU No 8. He has won 7 of his last 8 fights but the loss was a biggie to Ahmed El Moussaoui for the EU title. Semjonov, 30, has lost three other hard fights on the road against Sherzod Husanov (16-0-1), Daniele Petrucci (29-1-2) and in Spain against Sergio Garcia (16-0). He had picked up two wins back in Estonia before this one. Sheffield, England: Bantam: Jason Cunningham (16-2) W RTD 9 Nasibu Ramadhani (15-6-1). Welter: Dale Evans (10-2-2) W PTS 8 Adil Anwar (21-5). Cunningham vs. Ramadhani Cunningham wins the vacant CBC title as Tanzanian retires after nine rounds complaining of a shoulder injury. The Doncaster southpaw had trouble with the awkward style of fellow-southpaw Ramadhani and took a while to settle into a rhythm. When he could tie the elusive Ramadhani down he was able to score with flurries of punches particularly the left hook and seemed on his way to victory when Ramadhani retired with an injury to his left shoulder. The 25-year-old former ABA champion had suffered an unexpected loss to Ross Burkinshaw in a previous challenge for the CBC title in September and lost by a single point against Jason Booth in a British title eliminator in November but has now won three in a row. Doncaster is flying high right now as Cunningham joins Jamie McDonnell and Gavin McDonnell as a title holder. Ramadhani never looked like winning but he gave Cunningham some unpleasant moments. Evans vs. Anwar Evans beats former prospect Anwar with a big finish as Anwar fades. The Welsh fighter took a little while to figure out the awkward style of Anwar but had Anwar badly hurt by body punches in the fourth. He came close to a stoppage as he put Anwar down in the sixth. In the eighth a right put Anwar down again and although he got up his legs were wobbly and Evans put him down again but just could not close the fight out. The 23-year-old “Big Boy”, a former British Youth champion, had beaten Mark Thompson and Sam Eggington in the 2013 Prizefighter and scored a victory over Erick Ochieng in 2014 but was cut and halted by Larry Ekundayo in a British title eliminator in March so this was a significant victory for him. Anwar “The Platinum Kid” looked to going places when he compiled an 18 bout unbeaten streak but a loss to Darren Hamilton for the British title derailed him and he went 2-2 in fights against modest opposition before this loss. Phoenix, AZ, USA: Super Light: Jose Benavidez (23-0) W TKO 12 Jorge Paez Jr (38-562,1ND). Super Light: Antonio Orozco (22-0) W PTS 10 Emmanuel Taylor (18-3). Light Heavy: Trevor McCumby (18-0) W KO 2 Fabiano Pena (11-2-1). Super Middle: David Benavidez (9-0) W TKO 2 Ric Campillo (9-8-1,1ND). Benavidez vs. Paez Benavidez holds on to his interim WBA title with late stoppage of Paez. Benavidez had the edge in both height and reach and when he stayed off the ropes he was in control of this one, Benavidez took the first round using his jab and body shots to tot up the points. Paez had a better second round as he was able to take Benavidez to the ropes and work inside the longer reach of the champion. In the third a right hook to the body in a delayed action made Paez touch down on one knee on the canvas and the referee applied a count. Paez was hurt but survived by holding to the end of the round. Paez had recovered by the fourth but Benavidez kept him on the outside and dominated the round. They exchanged hard punches in the sixth with Benavidez getting home with punches to the head and Paez going to the body. The referee halted the action briefly in the seventh after a low punch from Benavidez and again there were some furious exchanges. The eighth saw both fighters have good spells with Paez taking Benavidez to the ropes and getting through to the body and Benavidez firing home some searing combinations. Benavidez switched to southpaw for a while in the ninth and edged the round staying in centre ring but a relentless Paez kept pressurising trying to turn the fight his way. Benavidez edge the tenth and eleventh where there were plenty of fiery exchanges with both landing hard punches. Just when it looked like it would go the distance the champion landed a right and a thumping left that dumped Paez into the ropes. Paez made it to his feet but was unsteady and the referee decided rightly to stop the fight. The 22-year-old 5’ 11” (180cm) from Phoenix was making the first defence of the title he won with a decision over Mauricio Herrera in December. He has 16 wins by KO/TKO. He is finally delivering on the promise he showed when at 16 he became the youngest ever NGG champion. He just failed to make it a double as he lost to Frankie Gomez for the US National title. He signed with Top Rank when just 17. Paez, the son of Jorge Snr. a man, who colourful does not even come close to describing, had a 10 bout steak halted when he lost to Vivian Harris in March 2014 and had then fought a technical draw before beating Ronald Morales (16-1) in February. Paez was not in the WBA ratings but you do not have to be to fight for the interim title which seems pretty daft as you have to be in the ratings to fight for the full title but not for the interim title which. It is either a world title or it isn’t! Orozco vs. Taylor Mexican Orozco wins unanimous decision in well matched fight between two fringe contenders. Orozco made the better start taking the fight to Taylor in the first cutting down the ring and scoring to the body as they traded shots. Orozco kept up the pressure in the second with Taylor under fire and getting a warning as he continually tried to duck under Orozco’s punches. Taylor started to get into the fight more in the third moving and boxing but Orozco was still getting home with hard punches and he had a good fourth round buzzing Taylor with a right late in the round to put himself in a clear lead. Taylor did a bit better in the fifth but had a lot of ground to make up. Orozco staggered Taylor with a right in the sixth but by the end of the round Taylor was the one landing the harder shots. Orozco did a better job in the seventh but Taylor was again landing some good punches and a swelling was showing under Orozco’s right eye. Taylor was behind at this point and needed a strong finish. He was the fresher fighter in the eighth and was again landing the better punches. The ninth was closer as Orozco tried to swing things back his way. Taylor probably edged the last as he boxed on the outside against a tiring Orozco, but he was just a little too late with his rally. Scores 96-94 twice and a way out 98-92. This was a real test for both fighters and the 27-year-old “Relentless” Orozco can count it as his best win over a fighter younger and every bit as talented and ambitious as himself. The IBF No 9 has gone the distance in each of his last three fights and will benefit from the experience. "Tranzformer" Taylor, 24, had lost 2 of his last 3 fights but the losses were against Chris Algieri and a twelve round fight against Adrien Broner but he has wins over Ray Serrano (18-1), Victor Cayo and Karim Mayfield (18-1-1). He was a silver medal winner at the US National Championships as an amateur and is sure to bounce back from this loss. McCumby vs. Pena McCumby again shows his pure power with kayo of late substitute Pena. The hard-punching young prospect almost ended it in the first as he floored Peña twice in the round. Pena survived but only for a short while as a right hook from the former top amateur put Pena down and out. Now 15 wins by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old former US Under-19 champion from Glendale, Arizona has real power and it will need to better opposition to test him. Brazilian-born Pena, 27, came in as a late sub and was coming off his first loss when he was halted in 5 rounds in March by unbeaten Vyacheslav Shabranskyy. Benavidez vs. Campillo David makes a family double as he floors poor Campillo three times for a second round stoppage. The 18-year-old brother of Jose has 8 wins by KO/TKO and 7 have come in the first round. Thirty-nine-year-old Campillo loses by KO/TKO for the fifth time. Hartford, CT, USA: Light: Rey Ojeda (17-0) W PTS 10 Monty Meza Clay (36-5). Super Bantam: Luis Rosa (20-0,1ND) W TKO 5 Jonathan Perez (33-11,1ND). Super Welter: Ivan Golub (8-0) W TKO 5 Henry Beckford (2-2). Ojeda vs. Clay Ojeda wins unanimous decision over Clay and gets good exposure on ESPN. The young Puerto Rican was having his first fight in the US and needed to impress. It was difficult to do as the 5’2” (157cm) Clay was swarming busy bee throwing himself forward round after round. Ojeda had big edges in height and reach and despite the difficulty of punching down at a target that made itself even lower by coming in in a crouch Ojeda did the job well. He showed good movement to keep Clay off balance and slammed home jabs and counters as Clay barrelled in. Clay had some success in the third but was always just a step behind the quick Ojeda and had to eat a lot of punches as he tried to get inside. A right from Ojeda rocked Clay in the fifth and for once Ojeda was doing the chasing but Clay recovered well. Things got even worse for Clay in the eighth when a clash of heads opened a bad cut over his right eye. Clay needed a knockout to win and although he got through with some good punches in the ninth with the clever, quick boxing of Ojeda that was never on the cards and Ojeda was a long way in front at the end. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92. Rosa vs. Perez Puerto Rican-born local resident Rosa makes it ten wins by KO/TKO as he halts Perez in fifth. Rosa took the fight to Perez from first to last firing off hard combinations and confusing Perez with guard changes. He was focusing on the body and swept the first two rounds. Perez had a better third but Rosa was still coming forward. In the fourth the sheer pressure from Rosa saw Perez slip to one knee and an over-eager Perez landed a punch when Perez was on the canvas resulting in a point deduction. Rosa continued his body attack with some straying low and Perez wilted badly until the referee had seen enough and halted the fight in the fifth round. The 24-year-old “KO King” Rosa makes it 10 wins by KO/TKO. He is managed by his mother and trained by his father so a family business in action. He won a silver medal at the US National Championships and as a pro already has good wins over Jorge Diaz (17-2) and Luis Orland del Valle (18-1). He is No 15 with the WBC. Colombian Perez, 28, now has 9 losses by KO/TKO. Golub vs. Beckford Golub gets win over late substitute Beckford. The Ukrainian banger was firing bombs from the start rocking Beckford with a southpaw left in the first and working the body in the succeeding rounds. Beckford showed some life in the third when rocked Golub with some accurate counter punches but his lack of preparation showed and the body attack wore him down. In the fifth a left to the body put Beckford down and although he made it to his feet a barrage of punches from Golub saw the fight stopped. The 26-year-old Brooklyn-based “Volk” has six wins by KO/TKO and had a very successful spell in WSB but some of the claims of his achievements as an amateur don’t stand up to scrutiny. Novice Beckford came in at one day’s notice so did well to last 5 rounds. May 16 Malvinas Argentina, Argentine: Cruiser: Cristian J Medina (12-1-2) DRAW 10 Patricio V Pitto (8-2-2) Medina hols on to his WBC Latino title with majority draw with Pitto. This was a battle fought on equal terms most of the way. Medina tended to take charge of ring centre and score well with his left jab and hooks to the body. When he could keep the dangerous Pitto out he looked comfortable but Pitto kept driving inside. Medina had a big sixth round but Pitto staged a strong finish but just did not seem to have done enough with Medina deserving but not getting a close decision. Scores 95-95 twice and 96-94 to Medina. The 25-year-old “Maravilla” Medina the FAB No 2 lost his first pro fight so is now unbeaten in 14. Pitto the FAB No 3 is now unbeaten in his last 5 fights. Vierzon, France: Super Welter: Frank Haroche Horta (39-14-5) W PTS 10 Karim Merroudj (14-5-2). Horta goes to war as usual and retains his national title with a unanimous decision over Merroudj. The challenger had some success when he could find punching room but he lacked the power to keep the aggressive champion out. Scores 98-93, 97-94 and 96-94 for Horta. The rugged 34-year-old “F2H”, a former French welterweight champion was making the first defence of his title. Only losing on a majority decision against Andy Lee in April looks a very good result now. He is EBU No 16. “Lion Heart” Merroudj, 29, had won 5 of his last 6 fights with the loss being on points against the now WBA interim champion Jack Culcay in December. San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Super Feather: Eden Sonsona (34-6-2) W TKO 2Adrian Estrella (22-1). Feather: Romulo Koasicha (24-4) W KO 4 Jesus Santillan (9-13). Light: Jairo Lopez (18-3) W TKO 9 Fermin de Los Santos (29-15-2) Estrella vs. Sonsona Sonsona gets huge win as he halts local hero Estrella to win the WBC International title. Estrella had height and reach over southpaw Sonsona but rarely made use of those advantages as he inevitably led with rights having obviously been told that was the punch to beat a southpaw. Many landed but he was leaving himself open. Sonsona was doing the stalking but he was swinging wildly and although he looked dangerous Estrella was just that bit quicker with his hands and took the first round. Estrella walked out in the second taking the fight straight to Sonsona unleashing a straight right and a left to the body. He let the left dropped by his side. He ducked under a left from Sonsona and as he came up with his left still low he was nailed by an overhand right from the Filipino. Estrella went down side wards to the canvas. He was up at 5 but walked over to his corner with the referee continuing to count and after looking closely at Estrella he rightly stopped the fight. Huge upset and huge win for Sonsona. The 26-year-old Filipino a former GAB super fly and bantam champion with only 12 wins by KO/TKO was not considered a power puncher. He had losses against very good opposition in Kohei Kono, Silence Mabuza and Pungluang and was 14-1-2 in his last 17 fights with the draws being of the technical variety but with the loss being a ninth round kayo against Jonathan Oquendo in 2010. He is now unbeaten in his last 10 fights. He was unrated going in but will now jump into the reckoning. “Diamante” Estrella, 23, was looked on a sure thing with wins over Dante Jardon and Celestino Caballero but in previous fights he had shown a porous defence and paid the price here for carelessness and poor technique. He is too good a draw not to be rebuilt but now he will be seen as beatable and will have to be carefully matched, Koasicha vs. Santillan Local fighter Koasicha keeps busy with win over short-notice substitute Santillan. Koasicha made good use of his jab to create openings and kept the pressure on Santillan. Eventually Santillan decide to stand and trade and Koasicha made him pay for it as a hard left hook to the body in the fourth round put Santillan down and he decided not to get up again. The 24-year-old Koasicha has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He is WBC No 10 but had a lesson in realism when Brit Lee Selby outclassed him in May last year. Now 8 losses by KO/TKO for Santillan. Lopez vs. De los Santos “Doberman” Lopez comes through a stiff test as he halts world rated De los Santos. Lopez had a good start as he put the more experienced fighter on the floor in the first round. De los Santos recovered quickly and took the fight to Lopez. They then proceeded to put on a great little fight with lots of toe-to-toe trading. Lopez generally had the edge as he used good footwork to break off and score on the outside and was more accurate with his combinations. Lopez constantly complained about low blows from De los Santos who had a point deducted. Lopez ended things in the ninth with two powerful uppercuts. De los Santos was badly shaken by the first and went down after the second and immediately indicated an injury to his jaw forcing the fight to be stopped. Lopez has 12 wins by KO/TKO and has won 13 of his last 14 fights. The loss was a split decision last May against Nery Saguilan and he rebounded from that with a points victory over former IBF super feather champion Juan Carlos Salgado. He is not in the ratings yet but soon will be. De los Santos had lost only once, to Ghislain Maduma, in his last 21 fights and had won his last five to a tough opponent for Lopez. Inowroclaw, Poland: Super Welter: Damian Jonak (39-0-1) W PTS 10 Ayoub Nefzi (23-5-1). Jonak wins bloody battle over Belgian-based Tunisian “Prince”. In the first round a clash of heads saw Nefzi cut on his left eyebrow but he showed nice skills to protect the cut and survived the round. Nefzi boxed well to edge the second round. Jonak took the third and then put Nefzi down in the fourth with a right hook. The Tunisian got up but was hurt again by a body shot and needed all his skills to stay in the fight. Jonak continued to press in the fifth gong to the body with Nefzi also scoring with some good counters. The sixth, seventh and eighth were close but another clash of heads opened a second cut over Nefzi’s eye. They fought a hard technical battle over the last two rounds with Jonak doing enough to ensure a clear victory. Scores 99-91, 97-93 and 97-92. The 32-year-old Pole has wins over Alex Bunema, Jackson Osei Bonsu, Kris Carslaw and Bradley Pryce but is only EBU No 7 and does not appear to have progressed much after 40 fights. Nefzi, 35, keeps his record of not losing inside the distance despite having been in with opposition such as Emanuele Della Rosa, Nikola Stevanovic and Sasha Yengoyan. Ukhta, Russia: Feather: Andrey Bogdanov (20-1-1) W PTS 12 Naciff Castillo (17-6-2). Bogdanov wins vacant WBU (German Version) title with wide unanimous verdict over Mexican. The 33-year-old “Gentleman” makes it 14 wins in a row. The EBU No 9 is a member of Russia’s Special Forces and was given special leave to train for this one. Castillo did well as this was his first fight for 15 months. Durban, South Africa: Cruiser: Illunga Makabu (19-1) W KO 11 Thabiso Mchunu (16-2). Middle: Chris Buthelezi (24-12-3) W KO 1 Rocky Junior (14-3). Super Welter: Frans Ramabola (4-0) W PTS 10 George Mdluli (7-2-1). Bantam: Siboniso Gonya (8-1) W PTS 10 Onela Qongwana (10-3-1). Makabu vs. Mchunu Makabu comes from behind to kayo South African Mchunu in WBC eliminator. After a round of study Mchunu went ahead in this all-southpaw fight using a strong jab to establish command. He was finding the target consistently through Makabu’s porous defence and avoided the bombs from the DRC fighter. He had Makabu rocking in the third round and scored heavily in the fourth. He seemed well on his way to a win when the stamina just drained out of him and Makabu took over in the later rounds. He had Mchunu in deep trouble in the seventh but under the open scoring Mchunu’s early efforts had him in front on all three cards. From then it was all Makabu as he battered and bludgeoned his way through Mchunu’s defence until a left uppercut to the head put Mchunu down and out in the eleventh. After losing his first pro fight when he was halted in just 28 seconds by another debutant Makabu has won 18 in a row, 17 by KO/TKO with unbeaten Dymtro Kucher the only one to have lasted the distance against him. He was rated WBC3/WBA 4/WBO 5 so is now in line for a shot at Grigory Drozd for the WBC title. Mchunu, 27, was rated WBO 1/IBF 7(5)/WBO 12 but has blown his chances of a title shot. He had climbed the ratings with wins over Flo Simba, Eddie Chambers and Olanrewaju Durodola but “The Rock” crumbled and now some serious rebuilding is required. Buthelezi vs. Junior Local fighter Buthelezi continues his good run with first round win over Brazilian but with some controversy. Mid way through the first round Junior went down and was counted out but there was no punch. He was dazed from a clash of heads which was missed by the referee. Buthelezi will take the win no matter how it comes. The South African champion has turned his record around with 8 wins and 2 draws in his last 10 fights. Not bad for a guy who was 8-9-1 in his first 18 fights and has been a pro for over 20 years. The 44-year-old Junior is probably finished for the year as he had only one fight each in years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Ramabola vs. Mdluli Ramabola wins the vacant WBA Pan African title with split decision over local fighter Mdluli. . The home fighter’s cause was not helped by defective boots which he discarded for the second half of the fight and fought barefooted. Scores 97-94 and 96-94 for Ramabola and 97-94 for Mdluli which looked ridiculous as Ramabola was a clear winner. Ramabola was jumping up from six rounds to ten for the first time and had only 13 rounds of action prior to this fight. Mdluli, 32, was only marginally more experienced having been ten rounds in losing to Johannes Mwetupunga in 2013. Gonya vs. Qongwana Gonya scored one win for Durban as he comfortably outscored Qongwana for the vacant WBA Pan African title in a fight that was not helped by some poor refereeing. Scores 98-91, 98-92 and 98-93. Gonya is BSA No 5 at super bantam and Qongwana is No 10 at bantam London, England: Light: Adam Dingsdale (13-2-1) W PTS 10 Mike Devine (13-3-1). Feather: Jamie Speight (13-7) W PTS 10 Ian Bailey (12-18-1). Light: Danny Connor (12-9-2) W TKO 3 Andy Harris (3-26-1). Super Light: Johnny Coyle (10-0-1) W PTS 10 Phil Bowes (9-2). Welter: Johnny Garton (14-1-1) DREW 10 Martin Welsh (12-4-1). Dingsdale vs. Devine Dingsdale gets decision over Devine in a good fight. Dingsdale’s Southern Area title was not at stake after Devine failed to make the weight but both fighters fought every bit as hard as to make no difference. As long as Dingsdale was able to use his jab to keep Devine out he was on safe ground but Devine made that hard by getting inside and making it more of a scrap. Devine had a good fifth round getting through with rights but despite the pressure from Devine Dingsdale was the busier boxer and more accurate. He was the stronger over the late rounds and deserved the referee’s decision. Score 99-94. Dingsdale’s losses have been to world rated fighters in Stephen Ormond for the WBO European title and Derry Matthews and the former amateur international has rebounded well from those. “Chunky” Devine, 26, was a little too chunky but he made Dingsdale fight hard. He had reached the final of the Prizefighter last year and his loss in the final was his only loss in his last 12 fights going into this fight. Speight vs. Bailey This one could not have been closer as Speight retained his Southern Area title with paper-thin decision over Bailey. This was a case of Speight the boxer wanting an open fight and pressure fighter Bailey crowding and squeezing down space on Speight. Many rounds were very hard to score and Bailey got through with heavy rights and Speight worked his jab and slammed home body shots. Speight got the referee’s verdict by 96-95 but it was not popular in some quarters. Speight needed the win after a run of 5 losses in his previous 6 fights but the losses had been on points to a high level of opposition such as Josh Warrington and Lewis Pettitt both of whom are world rated. Bailey also needed the win after being 3-6-1 in his last ten but again high level opposition such as Warrington, James Tennyson and John Quigley and last time out he had halted unbeaten Ryan Doyle Connor vs. Harris “Cassius” Connor gets a win as a bad cut halts his fight with Harris. After an even first round Connor seemed to edge the second and third. The rushing attacks of Harris eventually led to a punch from Connor opening a bad cut on the forehead of Harris above his left eye and with the blood interfering with his vision the fight was stopped before the start of the fourth round. Connor, a former Southern Area champion had drawn and lost to Mike Devine in his previous two fights but had been pitched in some tough matches in his nine losses. Harris is 0-19-1 in his last 20 fight but barring cuts he usually goes the distance. Coyle vs. Bowes Southpaw Coyle remains unbeaten with a points victory over Bowes in an all-southpaw fight and lifts the vacant Southern Area title. This was fairly even over the early rounds with the better boxing of Coyle giving him a slight edge but Bowes was throwing enough punches to make it close and uncomfortable. Over the closing rounds Coyle was able to outbox a tiring Bowes on his way to a merited win. Referee’s score 97-94. Another good fight on a show that illustrates how entertaining small hall boxing can be. Coyle, 22, won the 2014 welter Prizefighter Tournament and is making good progress. “Quicksilver” Bowles, 30, has a win over former British feather champion Paul Appleby but lost last time out in October to Joe Hughes for this same title. Garton vs. Welsh Another sparkling fight on this well matched card as “The Pexican” Garton holds on to his Southern Area title with a draw against Welsh. This was a fight that featured both skill and aggression as the two fighters showed good technique in attack and defence. Both made good use of their jabs with Garton showing a strong right and Welsh scoring with left hooks to the body. Neither was really able to take charge of the fight and in the end a draw was a fair result. Referee’s score 96-96. Second defence of his Southern Area title for 28-year-old Garton whose only loss came on a cut eye against Sam Eggington in the 2014 Prizefighter. Welsh, 34, a former English title challenger, had only one fight in 2013 and one in 2014 but showed no rust here. Inglewood, CA, USA: Middle: Gennady Golovkin (33-0) W TKO 6 Willie Monroe Jr (19-2). Fly: Roman Gonzalez (43-0) W TKO 2 Edgar Sosa (51-9). Bantam: Ivan Morales (28-0) W KO 8 Danny Flores (14-7-1). Golovkin vs. Monroe Golovkin again proves he is head and shoulders above the middleweight opposition as he halts Monroe. There was only ever going to be one pattern to this fight. Monroe would move-backwards-and Golovkin would pursue. So it proved in the first round although Monroe despite being under pressure kept his boxing together with Golovkin showing just how good he is at cutting down an opponent’s space. In the second Monroe was just pushing out his right jab with no power and Golovkin stepped inside and landed an over hand left that sent Monroe tumbling side wards to the canvas. Monroe could be seen murmuring “get up, get up” to himself and was up at 8 but badly shaken. He tried to box on the back foot to get out of trouble but a series of head shots had him desperately trying to duck and dive but a right to the head unhinged his legs and another right sent him over onto his back. He got up and took the eight count and although another series of punches had his legs shaking he survived through a mixture of evasive tactics and actually standing and trading. Monroe changed his tactics in the third getting inside and trying to deny Golovkin leverage for his punches whilst scoring with some of his own. Golovkin seemed irritated by the fact the fight was not already over and Monroe was able to sneak home some good counters but they lacked any power. Monroe used the same tactics in the fourth staying close and working inside with hooks. He landed two left/right combination in a row and was finding gaps but he was not setting himself for power and although Golovkin was throwing less punches his were heavy clubbing shots. Monroe had his best round in the fifth as he was finding gaps with Golovkin ignoring defence and looking for a punch to end the fight. Monroe was ducking under a lot of Golovkin’s punches and coming back with fast counters. Just 25 seconds into the sixth Golovkin scored with three hooks inside and then a right that sent Monroe stumbling backwards to the ropes. Golovkin followed him in and landed a chopping right that shook Monroe and then a series of head punches that had Monroe tumbling forward and down on his hands and knees. He looked a beaten fighter and if he got before the referee counted 10 then it was at 9 ¾ and when the referee asked him if he wanted to fight on Monroe seemed to indicate he was finished for the night and that was the end. The 33-year-old GGG retains the WBA and IBO titles ( the meaningless WBC interim title was only on the line for Golovkin to lose as Monroe had refused to comply with the WBC rulings on weight monitoring). Golovkin goes to 30 wins by KO/TKO and 20 in his last 20 fights. The 28-year-old Monroe performed heroics to survive that dreadful second round and actually make Golovkin look human for three rounds as he boxed cleverly and countered well. However he did not have the power to stop the relentless forward march of Golovkin and finally paid the price. Golovkin vs. Saul Alvarez at catch weight would be an explosive mix. Gonzalez vs. Sosa The relentless power of Gonzalez just overwhelms Sosa as he retains his WBC title with a second round stoppage. Gonzalez was stalking in the first with Sosa showing the skills that made him such a great WBC light fly champion. In the second round Gonzalez stepped up the pace and stung Sosa with a right cross. He then forced Sosa back landing three or four more of those right hands and pursuing until Sosa had his back to the ropes. A wicked left hook to the body was followed by a brain jarring right cross that sent Sosa to the canvas. The Mexican was up at 7 but you could see defeat in his eyes. Being the warrior he is Sosa tried to fight his way out of trouble but a series of head shots from Gonzalez forced him back and down on his backside. Again he got up and tried to trade but Gonzalez beat down his effort and just landed punch after punch with Sosa never having a chance to escape the storm long enough to try to counter and he was literally beaten to the canvas. The referee immediately waived the fight over and in a wonderful gesture Gonzalez kneeled down beside Sosa and embraced him and planted a kiss on his cheek. A mark of respect from one great fighter to another. The 27-year-old Nicaraguan “Chocolatito” a three division champion was making the second defence of his WBC title and now has an incredible 37 wins by KO/TKO including 18 in his last 19 fights and he has a win over current WBA/WBO champion Juan Francisco Estrada. Perhaps this exposure will get him the credit he deserves as to me he is the best little fighter since Ricardo Lopez. Sosa, 35, made 11 defences of his WBC light fly title. He lost his title when a blatant butt from Rodel Mayol fractured his jaw in their fight in 2009. He has now challenged unsuccessfully for the WBC fly title three times but no one has ever brutalised him the way Gonzalez did. It may be time to retire but he can do so as one of the best light flyweights ever and a tremendously popular fighter. Morales vs. Flores Southpaw Morales extends his winning streak against over matched Flores. Morales dominated from the start. He was much too good for Flores handing out a steady beating in every round scoring freely to head and body with Flores trying to fight back but lacking the skill or power to be competitive. The seventh was brutal as Flores was being beaten down and in the eighth he was on the ropes and dropped his hands after a series of head shots and the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old “Maravilla” is a long way from copying elder brothers Erik and Diego in winning a world title and after an initial fanfare his career almost seems to have hit a plateau for a while. Now 5 losses and a technical draw in his last 6 fights for Mexican Flores. Washington, PA, USA: Super Feather: Rod Salka (21-4) W KO 6 Noel Echevarria (11-6). Light Heavy: Tommy Karpency (24-4-1) W Rayco Saunders (23-26-2). Salka vs. Echevarria Salka wins the vacant WBA-NABA title down at super feather with knockout of southpaw Echevarria. Not surprisingly Salka used a right hand to win this one. Supposedly the perfect answer to a southpaw Salka scored repeatedly with rights against the out-gunned Puerto Rican. It worked over the first three rounds although Echevarria made a better fight of it in the fourth and fifth as he managed to score some rights of his own. It was all over in the sixth when a right to the body put Echevarria down for the count. He was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and went to hospital for observation. Only the fourth win by KO/TKO for32-year-old Salka. “Lightning Rod” is rebuilding after the flak he unfairly received for getting a fight with Danny Garcia in August. Last time out he got a wide unanimous verdict over Monty Meza Clay. Now 6 losses in a row for Echevarria. Karpency vs. Saunders Just a keep busy outing for Karpency. He showed excellent southpaw skills as he out boxed veteran Saunders being too sharp and quick and winning every round without every looking likely to end it early. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. His win over Chad Dawson in October was a huge upset but he has yet to capitalise on it. In previous attempts to step up he lost every round against Nathan Cleverly for the WBO title and was halted in seven round by Andrzej Fonfara for the IBO title. A third title shot is not impossible but with Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson holding the titles it is a tough division for challengers. Seville, Spain: Welter: Jorge Fortera (13-0-1) W TKO 4 Koba Karkashadze (19-7). Super Feather: Ruddy Encarnacion (34-23-4) W PTS 6 Michael Carrero (12-39-4). Super Welter: Ruben Varon (43-8) W PTS 6 Jose Lopez Clavero (5-3-1). Fortera vs. Karkashadze Fortera hits too hard for Georgian. The tall Spaniard took the first three rounds and had Karkashadze on the ropes and in trouble in the fourth when the referee stopped the fight. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for Fortera. The draw was a technical one. The Spanish No 5 is hoping Aitor Nieto will relinquish the title opening the way for Fortera to get a shot at the crown. Karkashadze has a typical Georgian record. He is 4-6 in his last 10 fights with the 4 wins at home and the 6 losses on the road, Encarnacion vs. Carrero The “Black Wolf” keeps busy with a points win over Nicaraguan Carrero. The 36-year-old Encarnacion won every round. He is the EU champion and is 11-0-1in his last 12 fights and is still waiting for a shot at the EBU title. Ten losses in a row for Carrero who lost a technical decision to Encarnacion last July. Varon vs. Clavero Experienced Varon eases his way back to the winning column with points victory over fellow-Spaniard Clavero. Now 36 Varon lost on points against Felix Sturm for the WBA title way back in 2003 and gave Matthew Macklin a good fight in losing to the Brit for the EBU title in 2010. Last time out he was knocked out in seven rounds by unbeaten Italian Orlando Fiordigiglio in March last year again for the EBU title. Three losses in a row for former Spanish title challenger Lopez Clavero. Today, Saturday 16th May, isn't the busiest of days in terms of international boxing action but there is some notable fights.
The most interesting, at least on paper, is at Cruiserweight where we get an all-African clash in a bout that promises to be explosive. The contest pits the heavy handed Ilunga Makuba (18-1, 17) up against the defensively sound Thabiso Mchunu (16-1, 10). The bout, sadly, lacks attention outside of Africa but hardcore fans have understandably been very excited about this encounter and hopefully it lives up to it's potential. The other major bout of the day, not involving and Asian, comes from California where WBC Flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (42-0, 36) defends his title against Mexican veteran Edgar Sosa (51-8, 30). This is Gonzalez's HBO debut and hopefully he'll shine enough to see the American network really put their backing behind him in the long term. May 15th-Jr's collide for Light Welterweight title, Orozco faces Taylor in promising match up5/15/2015 May looks to be a fascinating month for boxing fans around the world and it seems even some quieter days have some mouth watering match ups. Two of those come tonight. The first of the bouts will see the exciting Antonio Orozco (21-0, 15) battle against Emmanuel Taylor (18-3, 12). Orozco is one of the most exciting fighters breaking through at 140lbs and whilst he's not the most skilled he is genuinely fun to watch with a very aggressive mentality and all action style. As for Taylor he's a solid fighter himself with a number of good wins, including a decision over Karim Mayfield, though has been beaten by both Chris Algieri and Adrien Broner in recent bouts. This has a lot of potential to be a very exciting match up. The other notable bout, also at Light Welterweight, will see the very highly touted Jose Benavidez Jr (22-0, 15) defending his WBA interim Light Welterweight title against Jorge Paez Jr (38-5-2, 23) in a battle of Jr's. Benavidez was very fortunate to win the title, when he controversially out pointed Mauricio Herrera, though on paper this is a much easier bout than that one with Paez doing little to really qualify for a world title bout. Paez has gone 1-1-1 in his last 3 and will be expected to come off second best here though hopefully he can at least make a fight of things. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his weekly report for the past 7 days.
May 6 Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1) W TKO 2 Jomthong Chuwatana (9-1). Light Fly: Ryoichi Taguchi (22-2-1) W TKO 8 Kwanthai (49-4-1). Uchiyama vs. Jomthong Uchiyama retains WBA title with one punch kayo of unbeaten Jomthong. Southpaw Jomthong made a good start getting through with stabbing right jabs as Uchiyama came forward. It looked as though it was going to be quiet first round with Jomthong in with a chance of edging it. That changed when Uchiyama whipped home a right that shook the Thai. The champion pounded away at his challenger in a corner and when Jomthong did escape he was forced to the ropes by a stunning straight right and vicious left hook to the ribs and again soaked up some punishment before fighting back hard at the end of the round but already there was already a nasty swelling by his right eye. In the second Jomthong decided to take the fight to Uchiyama and trade with the champion-big mistake! He walked into a stunning chopping right counter. Jomthong took a step back and then collapsed backwards to the canvas. He lay there spread-eagled and the referee quickly abandoned the count. It was about 5 minutes before Jomthong was able to get up. The 35-year-old Uchiyama lived-up to his “KO Dynamite” nickname as he retains the WBA title for the tenth time. He has 19 wins by KO/TKO and the draw was a technical one against Michael Farenas in a title defence. Southpaw Jomthong, 25, the OPBF champion had considerable Muay Thai experience and scored wins in “international style” bouts in China, South Korea and Japan so his record is deceptive. He showed some good hand speed but got nailed by a perfect punch. Taguchi vs. Kwanthai Taguchi retains his WBA secondary title with stoppage of strong but limited Thai Kwanthai. Taguchi had height, reach and speed over Kwanthai and was able to penetrate the Thai’s guard with jabs, hooks and uppercuts as Kwanthai march forward trying to work the body with short hooks. Late in the second Kwanthai threw a wild left leaving himself wide open and Taguchi put him down with a straight right. Kwanthai was shaken but not badly hurt. As the rounds progressed the excellent footwork, fast hands and punch selection of Taguchi had Kwanthai walking into a storm of punches. The challenger was becoming careless in his frustration and in the fifth a right put him down for the second time. He was up quickly and the bell went before Taguchi could capitalise on his success. Now the fight was one-sided with Taguchi giving a master class on counter punching with Kwanthai slowing and absorbing punches to head and body as he was almost a stationary target. In the seventh it was Taguchi coming forward as the Thai’s resistance crumbled and a right to the head put the Thai down for the third time. The fight could have been stopped then as Kwanthai was exhausted and hardly able to lift his arms. In the eighth a series of head punches sent Kwanthai to the ropes and he pitched forward to his knees. He got up and bravely looked like he wanted to fight on but thankfully the referee stopped the fight. The slim 28-year-old champion is a class boxer but Kwanthai was a perfect opponent for his style. Taguchi is 13-1-1 in his last 15 fights with the loss being to wonder kid Naoya Inoue in 2013. Kwanthai, 30, had guts but no class and could never get close enough to trouble Taguchi. He was knocked out in seven rounds for the WBA title by Kazuto Ioka in 2013. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Bantam: Pungluang (49-3) W TKO 3 Nouldy Manakane (29-17-1).Feather: Chonlatarn (54-2) W TKO 4 Yakobus Heluka (8-11). Pungluang vs. Manakane Pungluang walked forward in the first just forcing Manakane back with a stiff left jab and seemed reluctant to use his right. He cut loose with hard hooks at the end of the round and finally shook Manakane with a hard right. Pungluang was still using the right only sparingly in the second but the left jab was dominating although when he did let a right go it staggered Manakane. The Indonesian tried to upset Pungluang’s march in the third but his shots were wild and Pungluang continued to walk him down behind the jab. Pungluang again shook Manakane with a right that sent him into the ropes. The Thai followed-up and a short right put Manakane down on his side by the ropes. The end was a bit confused as Manakane got up at nine, the referee wiped his gloves looked over at Pungluang, wiped Manakane’s gloves again and then waived his arms to stop the fight. Just a routine payday for the 27-year-old former WBO bantam champion and the second defence of his WBO Asia Pacific title. He is rated No 2 by the WBO and with Tomoki Kameda relinquishing the title he has to be in line for a shot at the vacant crown. Now seven losses by KO/TKO for Manakane. Chonlatarn vs. Heluka A quiet first round saw very little action with Chonlatarn stalking and Indonesian Heluka retreating. Heluka is a busy little pug of a fighter and in the second he was throwing plenty of little bunches of punches with no power but doing enough to frustrate Chonlatarn. After a quiet start to the third it went to a frantic end as Heluka drove forward and they stood and traded punches for a full minute. Heluka got through with more punches but two or three shots from Chonlatarn shook him. They swung wildly again in the fourth and a left hook from Chonlatarn landed well below the belt. Heluka went down indicating it was a low punch. He got up at 8 but the referee just stopped the fight. No breaks for visitors. Chonlatarn, 30, has lost in featherweight title fights to Chris John and Vasyl Lomachenko. He has 25 wins by KO/TKO. Both Pungluang and Chonlatarn are members of the respected Onesongchaigym team. “Suru Suru” Heluka, 29, was busy but lacked power and got a rough break with the low blow. May 7 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Super Bantam: Manuel Avila (17-0) W PTS 10 Erik Ruiz (13-3). Super Bantam: Diego de La Hoya (10-0) W PTS 8 Ramiro Robles (12-3-1). Avila vs. Ruiz Avila boxes his way to victory over trier Ruiz. “Tino” Avila used a strong jab and fast combinations whereas Ruiz was only scoring with one punch at a time and being outfought. Avila showed fast hands and good movement and Ruiz tried hard but never really got into the fight. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. The 23-year-old Californian has inside the distance wins over David De La Mora and Sergio Frias and is making good progress. Ruiz, 24, had won 4 of his last 5 fight with the loss being to Jessie Magdaleno in January. De La Hoya vs. Robles De La Hoya was looking to end this one early but Robles survived a torrid start to bang back. De La Hoya was the superior technician but was also ready to stand and trade making for a good action fight. De La Hoya landed plenty and had Robles face swollen by the end but also had to ship some shots he should have avoided. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. The 20-year-old “Golden Kid” the cousin of Oscar continues to progress. As an amateur he was Mexican champion and competed at the World Youth Championships. Southpaw Robles, 22, had won 7 of his last 8 fights with the loss being to Joseph Diaz. May 8 Newark, NJ, USA: Super Welter: Michel Soro (26-1-1) W TKO 4 Glen Tapia (23-2). Light Heavy: Sean Monaghan (24-0) W PTS 10 Cleiton Conceicao (20-7-2). Super Light: Julian Rodriguez (10-0) W TKO 1 Peter Oluoch (14-9-2). Middle Esquiva Falcao (9-0) W TKO 3 Paul Harness (5-5-1). Super Light: Mike Reed (14-0) W TKO 2 Osenohan Vazquez (8-4-1). Soro vs. Tapia Soro crushes Tapia in a surprise result that should not have been considered a surprise as Soro is a good class fighter. Tapia started in a positive fashion establishing his jab and scoring well to the body in the first round. Soro was cautious in that opening round but in the second he started to score with his own left jab and his was harder and carried more authority and the Frenchman also mixed in a couple of hard uppercuts. Tapia was now being caught time and again by the jab as he tried to move forward but he persisted and was still throwing punches but with Soro blocking most of them. Tapia already seemed disheartened and flagging by the third. In the fourth a right had Tapia staggering and he lunged forward trying to clinch. Soro cleverly moved back to give himself room and landed a hard combination that had Tapia sagging at the knees and a final left hook that forced the referee to stop the fight. The 27-year-old Ivory Coast-born Frenchman makes it 16 wins by KO/TKO and wins the WBO NABO and IBF USBA titles. His only defeat was a points loss to Zaurbek Baysangurov for the WBO title in 2012. He had shown his class in a draw with unbeaten Antoine Douglas in July last year. He was WBO No 10 coming in but will climb the ratings after this. Tapia’s troubles started when he failed to make the contract weight but Soro was a class above on this night. “Jersey Boy” Tapia had recovered remarkably well from a savage beating administered by James Kirkland in 2013. He had rebounded with wins over Donatas Bondorovas, Daniel Dawson and Abie Han and was rated WBO 2/IBF 6 so a huge setback. Monaghan vs. Conceicao Monaghan outpoints experienced Brazilian. Monaghan had to make the fight as Conceicao was on the defensive and on the back foot not looking to engage. Monaghan was able to score with a solid jab and body shots with Conceicao occasionally throwing counters. In the second round one of those counters opened a cut over the right eye of Monaghan. That success actually worked for Monaghan rather than for Conceicao. The Brazilian realised that as the cut was caused by a punch focusing his attacks on the injury might bring victory. That meant that he stood and traded more presenting Monaghan with a less elusive target. The New Yorker was outscoring Conceicao and having more success in cutting off the ring. Conceicao showed he was still in the fight when he rocked Monaghan with rights in the seventh but even with his right eye closed Monaghan was able to box his way to victory. Scores 98-92 twice and 99-91. The 33-year-old Monaghan is rated WBA 3(2)/IBF 6/WBC 6/WBO 11 but with his best wins being over Matt Vanda and Elvir Muriqi it is a case of number of wins rather than quality. Conceicao had said he might retire if he did not win but he showed enough to justify fighting on. He lost to Jeff Lacy at the 2000 Olympics and has fought in a number of different countries. The only inside the distance loss in his last 17 fights is against now interim IBF cruiser champion Victor E Ramirez. Rodriguez vs. Oluoch “Hammer Hands” Rodriguez continues to impress as he blows away Kenyan Oluoch in 82 seconds. A left hook had Oluoch badly staggered and cornered and Rodriguez unleashed a couple more punches with the referee quickly intervened before Oluoch could get hurt. The New Jersey 20-year-old has 9 wins by KO/TKO including 8 in his last 8 fights. He has yet to be taken past the fourth round. He is a former NGG champion, US National Championship silver medal winner and was an alternate for the US Olympic team. Oluoch, 36, is 3-5 in his last 8 fights and has 8 losses by KO/TKO. Falcao vs. Harness Olympian Falcao wears down and halts limited Harness. The tall southpaw could not miss Harness with his right jabs and straight lefts and it was just a case of how much punishment Harness would be allowed to take. A punch put Harness down on one knee in the third but he lasted to the bell with the referee then indicating he has seen enough. The 25-year-old Brazilian makes it 6 wins by KO/TKO. This was his first scheduled eight rounder. He won a bronze medal at the World Championships and a silver medal at the London Olympics. His brother Yamaguchi won a silver medal at the Pan American Games and a bronze medal in London. Harness had taken prospect Mike Lee the distance in 2012 but this was his first fight since April 2014. Reed vs. Vazquez Reed much too good for Puerto Rican Vazquez. The first round was all Reed as he slammed home right jabs and straight lefts with very little coming back from Vasquez. The referee made it clear to Vazquez’s corner that he would stop the fight if continued to be so one-sided. The pattern was the same in the second and when a southpaw straight left had Vazquez shaky the referee halted the action. Twenty-two-year-old “Yes Indeed” Reed (not a class nickname) has 8 wins by KO/TKO. A former NGG champion he looks a very good prospect. Vazquez, 25, based in Jersey City, suffers his fourth loss by KO/TKO. Rye Brook, NY, USA: Super Welter: Boyd Melson (15-1-1) W PTS 10 Mike Ruiz (17-9). Super Middle: Fancy Ntetu (15-0) W PTS 8 Milton Nunez (28-14-1). Super Light: Serhiy Fedchenko (33-3) W Renald Garrido (14-9-1). Melson vs. Ruiz Southpaw Melson shakes off rust to win wide unanimous decision over an equally rusty Ruiz. The former West Point graduate was having his first fight since February 2014 but was quickly into his stride. He was quicker and more accurate than a stationary Ruiz and easily took the first three rounds dominating the action with that stabbing jab. Ruiz had brief success in the fourth as he finally managed to get inside but Melson was back in control in the fifth and put Ruiz down with a right in the sixth. Ruiz could not change the pattern of the fight and Melson continued to pump the jab and fire the straight rights to the bell. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 98-91. “Rainmaker” Melson, 33, donates a large percentage of his purses to “justadollarplease” to help in the fight against spinal cord injuries. He was Army, US Inter Services and World Military champion and is half Jewish-half Creole so an interesting character-and he beat Keith Thurman as an amateur. Long Island-based Puerto Rican Ruiz lost to Glen Tapia and in his last fight in November 2013 took world rated Charlie Ota to a majority decision. Ntetu vs. Nunez DCR-born Canadian Ntetu wins wide unanimous decision over Colombian but again looks to lack power. Ntetu was able to catch Nunez continually with rights and left hooks and the fight became one-sided over the closing rounds with Nunez just looking to survive. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72. The 32-year-old Ntetu was Canadian amateur champion and competed for Canada at the 2007 World Championships. He is the only fighter to hold a win over Schiller Hyppolite (15-1) but is moving slowly and has only three wins by KO/TKO. Nunez, 27, lasted only 58 seconds in a fight with Gennady Golovkin for the interim WBA middle title and is 3-8 in his last 11 fights with 6 of those 8 losses by KO/TKO. Fedchenko vs. Garrido Not an impressive display by Fedchenko as he only squeezes past Frenchman Garrido on a majority verdict. It could be put down to a long spell of inactivity. The Ukrainian “Professor” boxed cleverly with poise as he always does but the busy, aggressive Garrido made up for in work rate what he lacked in class. Fedchenko is not a big puncher and Garrido was able to keep rumbling forward. Fedchenko probably deserved the verdict due to his cleaner and more accurate work but Garrido made him fight hard all the way. Scores 77-75 twice and 77-76. The 34-year-old Fedchenko lost to Juan Manuel Marquez for the interim WBO title in 2012 and was WBO No 2 until he lost a split decision to Felix Lora in December 2013. This is his first fight since then. “Le Lion” Garrido is a very ordinary 5-6-1 in his last 12 fights. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Heavy: Amir Mansour (22-1) W PTS 10 Joey Dawejko (14-4-2). Middle: Decarlo Perez (14-3-1) W PTS 8 Jessie Nicklow (24-6-3). Mansour vs. Dawejko Mansour gets important if unimpressive win over Dawejko. Much the older fighter Mansour showed better skills and better stamina than Dawejko. After an opening round when both started cautiously the action heated up in the second with Mansour shaking Dawejko with a southpaw left only for a clash of heads to leave him with a bad cut over his right eye. Dawejko switched to southpaw in the third but Mansour was doing the scoring with right hooks and straight lefts and this time it was Dawejko who suffered a cut as their heads clashed. The cut was over Dawejko’s forehead just above his nose. Dawejko landed his best punch of the fight early in the fourth with a left hook that saw Mansour sag at the knees but stay upright. The fifth was fairly even but then Dawejko seemed to shut down. He was slower and not letting his punches go and handing the initiative to Mansour. Dawejko was on the back foot and Mansour was able to pocket round after round. He hurt Dawejko with left hook in the seventh and bounced rights off his head in the eighth. Dawejko had nothing left in the tank to stage a finish and Mansour took the last hurting Dawejko with a right. Scores 98-92, 97-93 and a too close 96-64. The 42-year-old “Hardcore” Mansour needed the win to re-establish himself after his loss to Steve Cunningham in April last year. Time is running out for Mansour he lost 8 ½ years from his career when jailed for dealing cocaine and another 14 months for violating his parole. He paced this fight well but can’t have many more top flight nights left. Dawejko, 24, had been touted as a big prospect when he won gold at the World Cadet Championships but went 7-3-2 in his first 12 fights. He then found his form and won 7 in a row beating Derric Rossy but at just 5’10” (178cm) and 230lbs he is too small for a heavyweight and too heavy for a cruiser. Mansour wins the Pennsylvanian State title. Perez vs. Nicklow Perez waits for early storm to abate and then eases to win over Nicklow. In the opening round Nicklow got through with a series of rights which had Perez staggering and in trouble. From the second Perez decided to do some scoring of his own and landed good uppercuts and quick combinations. Nicklow got through with another right in the fourth but Perez was quicker and busier and had Nicklow rocking from a right late in the fifth. Perez had a big sixth finding Nicklow an easy target for his head and body shots and he continued to dominate in the seventh and eighth. Scores 79-73 from all three judges. Good win for the Atlantic City fighter who has won 7 of his last 8 fights with the loss being to Wilky Compfort in January last year. This is his third win since then. Nicklow, 28, had been matched tough with losses to Fernando Guerrero, Jermain Taylor and Ryota Murata. Berazategui, Argentina: Super Fly: Dario L Pichardo L (16-6-1) W PTS 10 Guillermo O Soloppi (19-6,1ND). Southpaw Pichardo outclasses Soloppi in a bloody battle to take decision. Soloppi suffered a bad cut on his left eyebrow in the third but things were evened up when Pichardo was cut on the left cheek and right eyebrow in the seventh. Scores 99-91 twice and 100-90. The 29-year-old Dominican is 7-2-1 in his last 10 fights including a win over former IBF title challenger Roberto Domingo Sosa (25-1) in November. Soloppi, 29, is a spotty 6- 6 in his last 12 fights and is FAB No 10 at super bantam. Perth, Australia: Feather: Nat May (11-1) W PTS 10 Lloyd Jardeliza (6-2-3).Super Middle: Rohan Murdock (17-1) W KO 2 Francisco R Benitez (11-1). Super Feather: Brandon Ogilvie (11-1) W TKO 3 Jacob McBride (4-2). May vs. Jardeliza Former top amateur May climbs off the floor twice to take decision over tough Filipino Jardeliza. May breezed through the first round scoring with quick combinations. Jardeliza needed a way to get into the fight and he tried to work the body but ended up by landing a couple of low blows in the second round with the second low punch leaving May on the floor in pain. That cost Jardeliza a point deduction. The fight did changed for a while and the Filipino used left hooks to score knockdowns in the third and fourth. May was mixing it too much and the fight changed again from the fifth to the ninth as the young Australian began to box on the outside and use his superior skills to build a lead. Jardeliza tried desperately to find another left hook in the tenth but May was on his bike and back-peddling to safety. A scary night for the 19-year-old local who wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title. The former Australian Under-17 and Youth champion held the same title at super feather but has moved down a division. Jardeliza, also 20, was having his first fight in Australia and his performance should be enough to get him more work there. Murdock vs. Benitez Australian prospect hits too hard for Argentinian Benitez. The heavy-handed Murdock almost ended it in the first when he landed a series of body punches and then a right to the head which floored Benitez. Murdock came out to finish it in quick time in the second and did so. Twenty seconds into the round a right again put Benitez down and he sat out the count. The 23-year-old Murdock retains his WBO Asia Pacific title and goes to 14 wins by KO/TKO with 8 of his last 9 fights ending that way. He is rated No 8 by the WBO. As an amateur he was Australia Cadet champion and reached the quarterfinals of the World Cadet Championships. He also competed at the 2010 World Youth Championships and won a gold medal at the Arafura Games**. Argentinian Benitez, 30, has held a version of the South American title but his record is heavily padded as only two of his 11 victims had ever won a fight. Ogilvie vs. McBride Ogilvie a local hope wins the vacant Western Australia State title with easy stoppage of McBride. Ogilvie was much the better boxer but it was his hand speed that was too much for McBride to live with. Ogilvie took the first constantly piercing McBride’s guard with jabs and hooks. In the second he had McBride in deep trouble and the referee applied a standing count. McBride did well to last out the round but another standing count in the third and a further barrage from Ogilvie saw the fight halted. The Perth 21-year-old has won his last six fights. McBride had won his last four fights. **The Arafura Games were introduced in 1991 and were open to 30 Asia Pacific countries but they were discontinued in 2012. Osorno, Chile: Super Bantam: Robinson Lavinanza (8-2-1) W TKO 9 Ramon Contreras (11-5). “Ray” Robinson Lavinanza delights his local fans as he overcomes a rocky start to halt Contreras and win the vacant national title. Southpaw Lavinanza started well edging the first round but was rocked badly in the second and only just made it to the bell. He regrouped and gradually worked his way back into the fight and into the lead. In the ninth a volley of head shots put Contreras down. He got up but was shaky and bloodied and the referee stopped the fight. Lavinanza, 26, a fast food outlet worker has 4 wins by KO/TKO and has turned his record around with 4 wins and a daw in his last 5 fights. Contreras, 30, also a southpaw is going in the opposite direction in a stuttering career. He has lost his last three fights by KO/TKO. He had just one fight each in years 2011, 2012 and 2013 and none in 2014. Obviously he earns enough as a shell fish diver not to need to box. Kunming, China: Bantam: Ernesto Saulong (18-1-1) W PTS 10 Alie Laurel (13-4) W. Fly: Macrea Gandionco (11-2-2) W TKO 3 Xiang Jing (8-4-2) W. Feather: Xian Wei Qian (8-4-1) W PTS 10 Junar Adante (5-1-1). Saulong vs. Laurel Saulong again beats fellow-countryman Laurel but finds it a bit easier this time. The 26-year-old “Chocolate” boxed his way to a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 96-92. The GAB No 1 wins the vacant WBC International title. He had climbed off the floor in the sixth round to win a split decision over Laurel in October 2013 but did a better job this time in another competitive fight. Saulong’s only loss was an upset third round kayo by journeyman Rey Megrino in May last year (in fairness although Megrino’s record is 21-20-3 in his last 6 fights he has also beaten former world champion Pongsaklek). Southpaw Laurel 23, had won 8 of his last 9 fights with the Saulong split decision his only loss in that run. Gandionco vs. Jing This was not supposed to happen but Gandionco had obviously not read the script. The Filipino had already edged the first two rounds when he ended the bout in the third with a body punch. The 23-year-old Gandionco wins the WBO Asia Pacific crown from champion Jing and also takes the vacant WBC Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council title. He has 6 wins by KO/TKO but was 0-2-1 in his last 3 fights. First loss by KO/TKO for 25-year-old Jing. Qian vs. Adante Qian retains his WBC EPBC and WBC ABC titles with unanimous decision over Filipino Adante. The Chinese fighter had Adante down twice in the second round but Adante survived and fought hard to get back into the fight. Scores 99-90, 98-91 and 95-94. The local fighter has won 5 of his last 6 fights but lost on points to Jose Crespo (2-1-2) in Uncasville in October. First fight in eleven months for prelim fighter Adante. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Bantam: Saenganan (11-0) W PTS 12 Danilo Gabisay (6-4). Saenganan wins his first title as he takes unanimous decision over Gabisay. This win gives him the WBC ABC title at bantam to add to the WBC ABC light fly title he already holds. Scores 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113. His age is given as 15 and it looks as though he turned pro at 13 ½. This is the second time he has gone the full twelve rounds but he is carefully protected with 7 of his opponents never having won a fight and three others having negative records. Filipino Gabisay is 2-3 in his last 5 fights with all losses to unbeaten fighters. May 9 Houston, TX, USA: Super Welter: Saul Alvarez (45-1-1) W KO 3 James Kirkland (32-2). Bantam: Rodrigo Guerrero (23-5-1) W TKO 7 Arturo Badillo (21-7). Super Bantam: Joseph Diaz (16-0) W PTS 10 Giovanni Delgado (15-3). Super Welter: Joshua Clottey (39-4,1ND) W PTS 10 Jorge Silva (20-9-2). Super Light: Keandre Gibson (13-0-1) W PTS 8 Jorge Romero (24-9). Light Ryan Martin (13-0) W TKO 1 Ivan Zavala (7-10-2). Alvarez vs. Kirkland “Canelo” crushes Kirkland inside three rounds. Kirkland had said he came to fight and he did. He came flying out of the blocks and landed a tasty right which had Alvarez covering up on the ropes and then blazed away trying to batter down Alvarez’s guard. The Mexican was blocking most of the punches although some heavy shots did get through. However, Alvarez stayed calm waiting for the storm to subside and when it did he released a series of ferocious combinations before landing a heavy right that put Kirkland down. The Texan was badly shaken and Alvarez scored with more shots although Kirkland showed guts by banging back as the round ended. It takes a lot out of a puncher when realises he can’t hurt his opponent but his opponent can certainly hurt him. That was the message from the first round and Alvarez emphasised it in the second as he methodical slammed home shots to head and body with Kirkland doing little but playing catcher as the confidence and resistance drained out of him. In the third a clever Alvarez feint drew Kirkland into overstretching in throwing a lead right and Alvarez nailed him inside with a short right uppercut and Kirkland tumbled forward onto his hands and knees. He got up at eight but Alvarez took him to the ropes where he landed a straight left to the body. Kirkland dropped his hands preparing to let a left cross go but Alvarez swung a thunderous right inside that Kirkland’s swing which crashed into the side of Kirkland chin and distorted all of Kirkland’s features. The Texan’s swing went over the top of Alvarez’s head and it was lucky for Kirkland as the momentum of the swing carried him around and he crashed to the canvas on his side. If he had gone straight down his head would have slammed onto the canvas. The fight was over with the referee not bothering with a count but immediately calling for medical assistance for Kirkland. It was a brutally perfect kayo. Still only 24 Alvarez now has 31 wins by KO/TKO and naturally talked a return with Floyd Mayweather but that is not going to happen. Apart from Mayweather the other champion in the super welter division are Cornelius Bundrage, Demetrius Andrade and WBA secondary champion Erislandy Lara. Alvarez would beat all three but a Miguel Cotto fight would be a much much bigger draw. Kirkland, 31, was in no way prepared for this. He had left his trainer Ann Wolfe and had fought only twice in the last 3 ½ years. He can come back but a kayo like this can leave a deep mental scar and he would be wise to take yet another long break. Guerrero vs. Badillo Former IBF champion Guerrero makes it 4 wins in a row with a seventh round stoppage victory over once promising Arturo Badillo. The 27-year-old Mexico City southpaw failed to regain his title when he lost on points against Daiki Kameda in Japan in 2013 (some strange scoring in that one. It was unanimous for Kameda but one judge had it 117-109 and another 114-112). He has bounced back with wins over unbeaten fighters in Daniel Rosas and Takahiro Shigee and is WBC6/IBF 12(10). Badillo, a former challenger for the WBA secondary title has lost 5 of his last 6 Diaz vs. Delgado Yet another bright hope from the ranks of the 2012 Olympians progresses as Diaz showcases his skills on the way to a comfortable decision over trier Delgado. “JoJo” Diaz has it all and showed it all. The talented young southpaw had speed, skill, accuracy and work rate on his side and was never troubled. Delgado tried hard and had some minor success when Diaz dropped the pace slightly in the middle rounds but he did not have the power to change the flow of the fight. Diaz was always in control setting Delgado up with right jabs and firing off rapid combinations. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. The 22-year-old Californian has wins over Luis Maldonado, Raul Hidalgo and Roberto Castaneda and is yet to be tested. He was US National champion in 2010 and 2011 and competed at the 2012 Olympics and the World Championships but lost to outstanding Cuban Lorenzo Alvarez in each of those competitions. Mexican Delgado was in his first ten round fight. He showed a fair chin but limited skills. Clottey vs. Silva “The Grand Master” puts in one of his rare appearances and in his first fight for 13 months easily outpoints Mexican Silva. The Ghanaian former IBF welter champion was just too strong and awkward for Silva and won on scores of 100-90 twice and 98-92. Now 37 through inactivity he has largely let the benefits from his win over Anthony Mundine slip away but despite 13 months of inactivity is still somehow rated WBC 8/WBA 3(2). Silva, 23, almost broke through with a draw against Yoshihiro Kamegai (21-0) and a win over Cesar Chavez (21-3), but it is now 6 losses in a row for him so that hope has gone, Gibson vs. Romero Lanky St Louis hope Gibson goes to 12 wins in a row with impressive points win over useful Romero. Despite scoring an early knockdown Gibson could not repeat the feat and a stubborn Romero stayed there to the final bell. Scores 80-71 from all three judges. The 25-year-old Gibson had wins over Jessie Vargas and Hylon Williams as an amateur. Mexican Romero has now lost his last 5 fights. Martin vs. Zavala “Blue Chip” Martin takes only 64 seconds to wipe out Zavala. One overhand right was all that was needed to put Zavala down and out. The 22-year-old Martin makes it 8 wins by KO/TKO including 5 in his last 6 fights. Poor Zavala is 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights with all 6 losses by KO/TKO. Hidalgo, TX, USA: Super Light: Omar Figueroa (25-0-1) W PTS 12 Ricky Burns (37-5-1). Bantam: Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1) W PTS 12 Tomoki Kameda (31-1). Super Welter Austin Trout (29-2) W TKO 7 Luis Galarza (20-4). Super Middle Rogelio Medina (36-6) W KO 2 Samuel Miller (29-11). Light Heavy: Steve Lovett (12-0,1ND) W KO 5 Eric Watkins (12-9-2). Feather: Miguel Flores (15-0) W PTS 8 German Meraz (48-35-1,1ND). Super Feather: Carlos Ivan Velasquez (18-1) W Juan Ruiz (24-16). Figueroa vs. Burns Figueroa gets unanimous decision over Burns. For Burns to win this would have had to be a boxing match where skill was the deciding factor. That never happened as the Texan, who failed to make the contract weight, was bigger, stronger and heavier and made Burns stand and trade in tot-to-toe action. The brawl suited Figueroa but it made for a messy fight with too much clinching and not enough clean action. Burns scored well in some of the early action and was throwing more punches but he lacked the power to trouble Figueroa who was effective inside with uppercuts which kept jerking the Scot’s head back. When he did manage to work on the outside Burns made good use of his jab but those occasions were rare. The Scot’s higher work rate was making the rounds close but he suffered a set-back in the eighth when the referee deducted a point for holding and whilst Burns was guilty Figueroa was equally so. As both fighters tired there was more holding and the eleventh was a big round for Figueroa as he had Burns hurt and the Scot lost a second point for holding. Both banged away in the last with Figueroa getting the decision on scores of 116-110 twice and 117-109 although the fight was much closer than those scores indicated and the Compubox records showed that Burns actually outlanded Figueroa by a close 289-270. Former undefeated WBC light champion Figueroa, 25, gets an important win as he moves up but not making the weight is unforgiveable and hopefully it cost him a hefty fine. He showed he was strong at the new poundage and there are some good pay days to be had at 140lbs. Burns, 32, suffered a seriously dented reputation in being floored and losing to Dejan Zlaticanin but he showed here that he is still a world class level fighter and that is good as his financial status means he needs to keep earning. McDonnell vs. Kameda McDonnell retains his WBA secondary title in an outstanding performance against a world class fighter. Kameda had relinquished his version of this title as the WBO refused to recognise the fight as a unification match so he had a big incentive to win. To be honest I thought this would end in a win for Kameda but I was glad to be wrong. The Japanese fighter made a good start to the fight being quicker to the punch landing well to head and body and outfighting the Brit over the first three rounds. McDonnell was showing signs of warming to the task in the third but an overhand right from Kameda put McDonnell down to cement an early lead. From the fourth McDonnell began to find his distance and get his jab working and use the edges he had in height and reach. He had leeway to make up and that jab and some uppercuts together with some typical Yorkshire grit saw him clawing back the points. Kameda was the harder puncher but McDonnell was making his skill set show and the rounds were close. Kameda had a good ninth and again looked to have edged in front but McDonnell used that jab, more accurate punching and fast combinations to again pull level and then open a little gap as he had a good eleventh round. The last was close but McDonnell had just done enough to retain his title in undoubtedly his best win as a pro. Scores 114-113 from all three judges. It is good to see the 29-year-old former undefeated IBF bantam champion getting some exposure on a big stage. Wins over future IBF champion Stuart Hall, unbeaten Mexican Jorge Ceja (24-0) and Thai Tabtimdaeng (52-2) showed he was high quality but this win over previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda is even more significant and hopefully can open more doors for the Doncaster fighter. “El Mexicanito” Kameda, one of three brothers who have all won versions of a world title, is only 25 and has the ability and backing to be a champion again within a couple of years. Trout vs. Galarza Southpaw Trout halts a game late substitute Galarza in seven. The former holder of the WBA secondary title just punches too hard for the tall Puerto Rica. As early as the second round Trout had Galarza in deep trouble with a left uppercut with Galarza having to hold on desperately to make it to the bell. Trout continued to dominate and floored Galarza in the fifth with Galarza just making it to his feet at the nine count. He was rocked again in the sixth by a big right and the referee stopped the fight at the start of the seventh. The 29-year-old from New Mexico looked to have earned a seat at the top table when he beat Miguel Cotto in 2012 to retain his WBA title but it all went wrong in 2013 as he lost to Saul Alvarez in a unification match and then lost to Erislandy Lara for the interim WBA title. He did some useful rebuilding in 2014 with wins over Daniel Dawson and Luis Grajeda and a win over Anthony Mundine on this show would have been a big plus. However Mundine pulled out with an ear injury. Trout is rated WBO 3/IBF 4/WBC 6/WBA 7(6) so even without the Mundine fight he is very much in the mix. Galarza, 33, had lost only one of his last 12 fights and that loss was to Kell Brook. He had won his last 3 fights but had been inactive since September 2013 so between being a late sub and having plenty of rust to shake he did well to last as long as he did. Medina vs. Miller Medina again shows his power as he knocks out Miller in two rounds. The two-fisted aggression of Medina just overwhelmed Miller as the Mexican moves to 30 wins by KO/TKO. The 26-year-old “Porky” has rebounded from a 2-4 streak with 4 wins by KO/TKO including a pulverising kayo of J’Leon Love and is rated IBF 6/WBA 10/WBC 15. His 6 losses have all been to quality opposition and he is vulnerable but exciting. Colombian Miller, 35, is 4-5 in his last 9 fights. They have all ended inside the distance but the losses have been to Marco Periban, Andrzej Fonfara, Egor Mekhontsev, Jesse Hart and Medina. Lovett vs. Watkins Australian “Tough Love” Lovett makes it 5 wins in six fights in the USA with fifth round kayo of Watkins (the sixth fight was a no decision due to Lovett getting cut).The 30-year-old former double Australian amateur champion is being trained by Ronnie Shields and getting his big chance through sponsorship by a group of businessmen back in Canberra and is living up to his side of the agreement with those five wins all coming early. Four losses by KO/TKO for Watkins. Flores vs. Meraz Mexican hope Flores goes the distance for the third time in a row and is given some good work by busy journeyman Meraz. The 22-year-old Houston-based Flores won on scores of 79-72 twice and 80-71 in his first eight round fight. Meraz, 28, is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but has only lost 6 times by KO/TKO in his 85 fights. Velasquez vs. Ruiz “Twin Dream” Velasquez gets unanimous decision over veteran loser Ruiz. Velasquez had Ruiz on the floor but could not keep him there and had to settle for winning every round. Scores 60-53 from all three judges. The 30-year-old Puerto Rican gets his nickname from being one of fighting twins along with brother Juan Carlos. His only loss was a tenth round knockout defeat against Rico Ramos in 2013 and this is low level win No 4 since then. Carlos was an outstanding amateur competing at the 2004 Olympics and beating Yuriorkis Gamboa, Daniel Brizuela and Nehomar Cermeno so it is disappointing to find him still fighting six round fights eight years after turning pro. Ruiz has now lost 12 of his last 13 fights. Frankfurt, Germany: Super Middle: Fedor Chudinov (13-0) W PTS 12 Felix Sturm (39-5-3,1ND). Super Welter: Jack Culcay (20-1) W PTS 12 Maurice Weber (21-2-1). Heavy: Adnan Redzovic (16-1) W TKO 3 Bekim Pagga (5-8).Light Heavy: Konni Konrad (22-1-1) W TKO 5 Vasyl Kondor (18-14-1). Chudinov vs. Sturm Russian Chudinov proves too young and strong for veteran Sturm but disgracefully has to settle for a split verdict. There was very little sizing-up with both boxers getting their jabs working in the first round and throwing and landing hard rights. Sturm was coming forward in the second and landed some wicked left hooks to the body but Chudinov was throwing many more if lighter punches and finding gaps in the older man’s guard. Sturm began to let his hands go more in the third and fourth scoring with a scorching overhand right at the end of the fourth. Sturm continued to try to walk Chudinov down in the fifth but the Russian was throwing lots of short straight punches which whilst lacking power were scoring points and stifling Sturm’s own attacks. The German came on strong over the second half of the sixth round getting home some thudding body shots but Chudinov was unmoved and banging home some body punches of his own. The pattern for the rest of the fight was one where Chudinov kept working on the back foot. Sturm was marching forward behind a high guard allowing Chudinov to land punch after punch and when the German did let his punches go they were single efforts. In the ninth Sturm was caught with a series of left jab/ right cross combinations. I counted over 30 punches from Chudinov to only three returns from Sturm and at the bell a right from Chudinov landed partly on Sturm’s right shoulder and the side of his head and Sturm went stumbling back across the ring into the ropes with his right glove brushing the canvas but the bell went before Chudinov could follow-up. The tenth now saw Chudinov coming forward for the first time and he drove a tiring Sturm backwards clubbing him with shots to head and body and it looked as though a stoppage was a distinct possibility. Four vicious head shots crashed home and with Chudinov maybe one good hit from victory the Russian’s mouthpiece came out. Chudinov knew how close he was to victory and tried to scoop up the mouthpiece-not easy with gloves on-but the referee stopped the action. The mouthpiece was broken (the referee had thrown a small section out of the ring earlier in the round) and it was a full 15 seconds before the action recommenced. Chudinov leapt to the attack but the crisis was over for Sturm and he fought back hard to the bell. Sturm somehow found the strength to put in a big effort in the eleventh and although still eating punches landed some hefty thumps of his own. In the last Chudinov was on the back foot, hands down as he cantered to victory. Scores 118-110, 116-112 for Chudinov and an unbelievable 116-112 for Sturm. Chudinov was the interim WBA champion and with the WBA disgracefully stripping Carl Froch of their secondary title he is now the WBA secondary champion. The 27-year-old Russian is strong with a good chin but slow. He has power but his punch power relies on the cumulative effect as he gets no real leverage in them so is not a one-shot kayo artist. He also lacks head movement. Sturm was just a shadow of a great fighter. He kept walking into punch after punch and was too slow when he did launch his punches. He is not talking retirement but should be. Culcay vs. Weber “Golden Boy” gets his title as he outpoints old amateur for Weber to win the vacant WBA interim title. This one was set up for Culcay to win and he did. He was too young, too fast and too clever for the limited Weber. Culcay dominated most of the rounds and staged a strong finish having Weber under pressure late, but he just could not close out the fight and had to settle for a points win. Scores 118-110, 116-111 and 115-112. The Ecuadorian-born German was considered a cert to win a world title after an amateur career that included a World Amateur gold medal in 2009 (in 2007 he lost to Demetrius Andrade in the quarterfinal), a European Championships silver medal and competing at the 2008 Olympics. As a pro he had a hiccup when losing to Guido Nicolas Pitto but reversed that loss and won 5 in a row prior to this. Weber, 33, had beaten Culcay as an amateur but his WBA No 6 rating was ridiculous and the EBU had him a more realistic No 20. Redzovic vs. Pagga B & H oldie Redzovic gets win over late substitute Pagga. The end came when Pagga decided to retire at the end of three one-sided rounds. The 38-year-old Redzovic has 5 wins by KO/TKO and in his only real test was kayoed in nine rounds by unbeaten Arnold Gjergiaj in October. Kosovan Pagga, 44, has lost 4 of his last 5 fights and this was his fifth loss by KO/TKO. Konrad vs. Kondor Montenegrin Konrad was also fed a substitute opponent and duly gained his eleventh win by KO/TKO when the fight was stopped in the fifth round. Konrad lost on points to Denis Inkin back in 2006 and was then inactive for four year. This is sixth win since returning for the 29-year-old Konrad but you will search in vain for any results to justify his IBF 8/WBA 12 (11)/ WBO 14 ratings. Ukrainian Kondor has now lost 8 in a row, 6 of those by KO/TKO. London, England: Welter: Bradley Skeete (20-1) W TKO 6 Brunet Zamora (26-4-2). Super Middle: Frank Buglioni (16-1-1) DRAW 10 Lee Markham (14-2-1). Super Feather: Mitchell Smith (12-0) W TKO 5 Cris Palma (20-10-1). Super Welter Ahmet Patterson (15-0) W TKO 4 John Brennan (4-4-1). Skeete vs. Zamora Good performance from Skeete as he makes full use of his physical advantages and youth to beat down experienced Cuban-born Zamora and retain the WBO European title for the first time. From the outset the much taller English fighter was slotting home fast, accurate punches with Zamora trying unsuccessfully to close the distance. Skeete stayed cool and worked to his strengths refusing to let Zamora draw him into a brawl and gradually breaking down the former WBA interim title challenger. Zamora was already fading when Skeete put him on the floor with a right in the fifth and although Zamora got up and used his vast experience to last to the bell the fight was really over. Skeete ended in the sixth as he battered away at Zamora until the Italian’s corner and the referee had booth seen enough and the fight was stopped. The 27-year-old Londoner makes it nine wins by KO/TKO. This is his second win since losing on points to Frankie Gavin in November and by taking the WBO Europe route he now finds himself at No 7 with the WBO. Zamora, 40, loses inside the distance for the first time. After being undefeated in his first 24 fights he is now 4-4 in his last 8. At his peak he fought a draw with Alberto Mosquera for the interim WBA super light title but is on the down slope. Buglioni vs. Markham Buglioni retains WBO European title with a split draw in a desperate and hugely entertaining battle with former amateur foe Markham. Buglioni built a slight lead but Markham was marching forward relentlessly. Buglioni knew he could win this one on the outside and he stuck to that plan early but Markham had other ideas and he soon had Buglioni in the trenches. Once there it was Markham who was doing the scoring and by the sixth it looked as though “Wise Guy” Buglioni was tiring. Markham also had a good seventh but Buglioni showed good boxing nous by going back to using his height and reach to score on the outside in the eighth. They continued to battle over the last two rounds with Markham showing no signs of tiring despite the tremendous effort he had put in and Buglioni sucking up from a dry well to match him. Scores 96-94 Buglioni, 96-94 Markham and 95-95. A great fight and the right result. The 26-year-old Buglioni makes a second defence of his WBO European title and protects his WBO 6 rating. Now four wins since his crushing loss to Sergey Khomitsky in April last year. “Banjo” Markham, 27, had turned his record around with 11 wins in a row before losing to Jahmaine Smyle for the English title in March and was not in the EBU top 23 European Union fighters so was not expected to be a threat but he could have won this one and crashed the WBO top 10 himself. Smith vs. Palma Smith finally gets the job done against Chilean spoiler Palma but with some controversy at the end. The exciting young Londoner was looking to have an early night but what Palma lacked in skill he compensated for with holding spoiling and plenty of rough stuff inside. Smith was superior in every department so a degree of frustration crept in as the Chilean was only interested in surviving any way he could. Smith had the Chilean down from a disputed knockdown in the third and began to find the target regularly in the fourth and put Palma down on one knee with a body punch in the fifth. Smith ruined the finish by landing another punch when the Chilean was down. He was given a stern warning but Palma stayed down so the fight was over. The 22-year-old “Baby Faced Assassin” adds the WBO Inter-Continental title to the WBO European one he already has and makes it 6 wins by KO/TKO. He is rated No 15 by the WBO. Chilean feather champion Palma has 3 wins at home and 5 losses on the road in his last 8 fights with the losses being to good opposition such as Fernando Saucedo, Paulus Ambunda and now Smith. Patterson vs. Brennan “ Punch Picker” Patterson certainly picked a good one to end this fight. Patterson was moving up from welter and took a little time to adjust. He was a class above Brennan and was able to score with both hands with very little coming back from Brennan. Patterson slotted into the grove in the third and showed good class skills before ending the fight in the fourth with a wicked left hook to the body that put Brennan down in agony. The 27-year-old Turkish-born Londoner now has 5 wins by KO/TKO and continues to make good progress. Second loss by KO/TKO for Brennan who has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Birmingham, England: Welter: Sam Eggington (15-2) W TKO 7 Joseph Lamptey (18-6-1). Super Middle: Callum Smith (16-0) W TKO 1 Olegs Fedotovs (19-22). Heavy: Anthony Joshua (12-0) W KO 2 Raphael Zumbano (29-7-1). Light: Luke Campbell (11-0) W TKO 3 Aboubeker Bechelaghem (9-7-1).Super Fly: Khalid Yafai (15-0) W TKO 1 Isaac Quaye (27-11-1). Super Fly: Gamal Yafai (6-0) W PTS 8 Arnoldo Solano (14-8). Middle: Matthew Macklin (32-6) W KO 2 Sandor Micsko (25-9-2). Eggington vs. Lamptey Eggington win vacant CBC title with stoppage of Ghanaian Lamptey. The Stourbridge fighter made a slow start as the tough Ghanaian proved a difficult opponent. Eggington was using his physical advantages well working his jab but Lamptey proved to be a clever survivor and did not looked troubled in the early action. It was only when Eggington started to up the pace that Lamptey began to flag. Eggington was picking his punches well and showing real power. Lamptey’s face was marking and he was beginning to tire. A punch from Eggington had the Ghanaian staggering in the seventh and Eggington took him to the ropes and blazed away until there was nothing coming back from Lamptey when the referee stopped the fight over the protests of the Ghanaian. The 21-year-old “Savage” goes to 9 wins by KO/TKO. His two losses both came in Prizefighter tournaments and he has won his last 6 fights including inside the distance victories over former CBC champion Denton Vassell (20-1) and Shane Singleton (20-0). He is rated No 11 by the EBU. Lamptey, 32, was having his second shot at the CBC title having lost to fellow Ghanaian Obodai Sai in 2011. Smith vs. Fedotovs Yet another first round win for Smith. The Liverpool boxer floored the Latvian with an overhand right in the first minute of the fight. Fedotovs was badly shaken but got up. Smith landed a left hook and a straight right and with Fedotovs helpless a volley of hooks saw the referee halt the fight. The 6’3” (191cm) is a deadly finisher and 8 of his 12 wins by KO/TKO have come in the first round. He is rated WBC 4/IBF10 and is too good for this level of opposition. “The Viking” Fedotovs 30, has lost 7 of his last 8 fights . Joshua vs. Zumbano This was never a question of whether Joshua would win but of how quickly and even against this modest opposition again he was impressive. He spent the first round stalking the retreating Brazilian scoring with hard rights and hooks to the body. Zumbano was throwing an occasional jab with no real intent and a left jab/right cross combination sent him staggering backwards with Joshua then digging in some hooks to the body in a one-sided opening round. Joshua started the second round jarring Zumbano with clubbing rights and ended the fight with a single thunderous right that put Zumbano down on his back. The Brazilian rolled around and just made it to his feet as the referee waived the fight off and the towel came in from the Brazilian’s corner. The 25-year-old 6’6” 198cm Olympic gold medallist makes it 12 wins by KO/TKO in 12 fights with all of his wins inside three rounds. Let’s hope Kirk Johnson can give him some ring time. The 6’4” 193cm Zumbano had gone the full twelve rounds against Shannon Briggs but was beaten inside the distance by rated fighters Eric Molina and Chris Martin although they took 8 rounds and 10 rounds respectively to achieve what Joshua achieved in just 4min 21 secs. Campbell vs. Bechelaghem In his own way Campbell is every bit as much of a prospect as Joshua even if not so explosive. The tall, classy Hull fighter made a cautious start against Bechelaghem stabbing out his southpaw jab and trying a few straight lefts one of which shook the smaller Frenchman. Bechelaghem came out firing in the second forcing Campbell back and throwing punches from both hands. Campbell showed his defensive skills and was digging in some hurtful counters to the body. Bechelaghem kept swarming forward forcing Campbell to cover up but the Brit was again slotting home hurtful body punches. The rumbustious Bechelaghem took the fight to Campbell again in the third but when they were up against the ropes Campbell drilled home a right to the body and a lightning quick right to the head that unhinged the legs of Bechelaghem who stumbled into a corner where Campbell slammed home a series of punches until the referee stopped the fight. The 27-year-old Olympic and European gold medallist has 9 wins by KO/TKO and has a great combination of skill and power and for me may just be the best of an outstanding collection of British prospects. Bechelaghem, 27, came to fight and looked a better fighter than his record showed. He had lost a close decision to EBU No 9 Yves Mendy for the French title in October. Yafai vs. Quaye “Kal” Yafai destroys Ghanaian in first round. Fighting in his home city Yafai put Quaye down and out after just 82 seconds for his tenth win by KO/TKO. The 25-year-old former undefeated CBC champion is yet another name on the list of outstanding British prospect with excellent amateur pedigree. Yafai, who is from Yemeni parentage, was at 17 the first British fighter to win a gold medal at the World Cadet Championships. He was ABA champion at 17, a European silver medallist and competed at the 2008 Olympics. He is rated IBF 9(8)/WBA 14. Quaye, a two-time CBC title challenger loses inside the distance for only the second time. . Yafai vs. Solano Yafai is the only one of the British top names to have to go the distance for his win. “The Beast” had Solano on the floor but could not keep him there but won every round with the referee scoring the fight 80-71. The younger brother of Kal the 23-year-old Gamal was also an ABA champion at 17 and won a bronze medal at the European Championships whilst boxing for the Birmingham Police Amateur Boxing Club. Nicaraguan Solano is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but has already faced world rated Zsolt Bedak and Jeremy Parodi this year so a stiff schedule. Macklin vs. Micsko “Mack The Knife” returns with a win. Last time Macklin was in a ring he looked a finished fighter as he slumped to painful defeat against unsung Jorge Heiland. It would not have been a surprise if he had announced his retirement but hope springs eternal and he is in the title picture again. Macklin hurt the Hungarian southpaw with a body punch in the first which pointed the path to victory. Half way through the second round a right uppercut to the body floored Micsko and the Hungarian was finished. Macklin has had two title shots and now there is already talk of a fight with Daniel Jacobs for the WBA secondary title. Micsko has had bad experiences every time he tries to move up with Chris Eubank beating him in two rounds and Michel Soro in one. San Francisco, Argentina: Feather: Claudio F Echegaray (12-0-1) W TKO 3 Jonatan M Sanudo (11-10). Undefeated local Echegaray retains the WBA Fedebol title with stoppage of Sanudo. Now 7 wins by KO/TKO for the 25-year-old “Serpent” and his first scheduled ten round fight-his Fedebol title winning effort was only scheduled for nine rounds-he is rated No 3 by the FAB. “Maravilla” Sanudo is no marvel as he is 3-6 in his last 9 fights and has 8 losses by KO/TKO. Sarmiento, Argentina: Super Bantam: Alan I L Castillo (15-3) W PTS 10 Diego H A Sananco (19-19-5). Castillo gets back to winning form as he floors and outpoints Sananco. He had Sananco on the floor in the third but had to settle for a wide, unanimous points victory. Scores 98-91 ½, 98 ½-91 and 98-92. The 23-year-old neighbourhood fighter has won 6 of his last 7 but had lost last time out in February. Sananco, 35 is 2-8-1 in his last 11 fights. Vratsa, Bulgaria: Super Light: Kiryl Relikh (19-0) W TKO 2 Lazaro Santos de Jesus (14-7). Bantam: Zhanat Zhakiyanov (25-1) W KO 6 Hector R Guzman (14-1). Super Welter: Sergey Rabchenko (26-1) W TKO 4 Walter O G Calvo (11-7). Relikh vs. de Jesus The Belarus “Mad Bee” Relikh floors Brazilian twice on way to win. The promising young Relikh put de Jesus down with a hard right hook/left jab in the first and the Brazilian southpaw struggled to survive the round. In the second a left floored de Jesus and his corner man climbed into the ring to get the fight stopped. Relikh gets win No 17 by KO/TKO and wins the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title. So far he is untested but is EBU No 3 so well placed for a title challenge. Third loss by KO/TKO for the 35-year-old Brazilian. Zhakiyanov vs. Guzman Zhakiyanov climbs off the floor from a flash knockdown to kayo Argentinian. It looked as though it was going to be an early night when Zhakiyanov put Guzman down heavily with a left hook in the first round. Guzman did well to get up and see out the round then caused a flutter in the second when he floored Zhakiyanov with a right. The Kazak fighter was more surprised than hurt and from that point battered away at Guzman. The Argentinian stood the punishment until the sixth when a thunderous left hook followed by two rights left him stretched out on the canvas. The 31-year-old former undefeated European champion wins the vacant WBA International title. He has 12 wins in a row by KO/TKO and 18 in total including stoppages of useful opposition in Timur Shailezov and Karim Guerfi. First loss for Guzman who did well to last to the sixth but his record does not stand too much scrutiny with 13 of his victims never having won a fight and the other having a 1-2 record. Rabchenko vs. Calvo The former undefeated European champion eases his way back with stoppage of Argentinian. The classy Belarus fighter worked Calvo over for a while as he got some rounds under his belt. He was able to score as and when he liked and the action was one-sided. A couple of heavy shots in the fourth saw Calvo’s corner sensibly throw in the towel. First fight for Rabchenko since losing his unbeaten record on a hotly disputed decision against Anthony Mundine in November. He has the talent to get back to the top and is still No 5 with the WBC. The 37 year-old Calvo has had a switchback career being 2-6 in his first 8 fights and then winning his next 9, but he was way out of his class here. Mississauga, Canada: Cruiser: Denton Daley (13-1) W PTS 10 Walter D Cabral (21-12). Daley gets back to winning ways but has to go all the way against Argentinian veteran. Daley was in command all the way but despite putting Cabral down twice in the second round and four times in all he could not keep him there and had to settle for the unanimous decision. Scores 80-68 twice and 80-69. The 33-year-old Canadian was having his first fight since losing on a twelfth round stoppage against Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim WBA title in November. He is No 8 with the WBA but has a pile to do before being in line for another title shot. The 44-year-old Cabral showed unexpected resilience having previously lost 7 times by KO/TKO Hildesheim, Germany: Heavy: Mark de Mori (28-1-2) W KO 2 Radenko Kovac (2-6). Super Welter: Uensal Arik (21-2) W TKO 1 Adnan Zilic (10-10). Cruiser: Sefer Seferi (19-0) W KO 1 Sasa Dajic (0-6). de Mori vs. Kovac de Mori gets easy win over late substitute Kovac, The Croatian-born Australian was to have defended his German version of the WBU title against Goran Delic (26-1) but Don King interfered saying that a fight for de Mori with Deontay Wilder was a possibility so insisted on an easier match and over eight round. It was immaterial how long this one was scheduled for. de Mori scored with heavy shots against the pudgy B&H fighter in the first and cut up and finished him with a vicious left to the body in the second. “The Dominator” makes it 25 wins by KO/TKO. He is unbeaten in his last 23 fights and is rated WBA 8(7)/WBC 15 but you will struggle to find any of his victims in the world top 50 and please not a title fight with Wilder. Kovac 31 has lost inside the distance in all 5 of his defeats with 4 of the losses to novices. Arik vs. Zilic Arik retains his interim WBU title (German version) in another farcical match. Arik was supposed to be defending against Valentyn Kuts (22-4) but instead faced Zilic-another late substitute. Arik landed a few range finders and then floored Zilic with a hard combination. That was enough to have the B & H boxer’s corner man throwing in the towel. The German-born Turk has 21 wins by KO/TKO. He is quite a character with his charity work and political activism but his opposition has all been low level. Fifth loss by KO/TKO for Zilic. Seferi vs. Dajic This was the worst match up on a show of miserable matches. A couple of head punches from Seferi put Dajic down and out and the B&H fight was taken to hospital for observation. The 36-year-ol Seferi, Macedonian-born Swiss-based, has 17 wins by KO/TKO with each of the last three ending inside the first round. Only one of his victims has had a positive record and that was 8-4. Poor Dajic has lost all six fights by KO/TKO and has yet to last out six minutes in any fight. The ingredients for tragedy. Kobe, Japan: Super Bantam: Hozumi Hasegawa (34-5) W PTS 10 Horacio Garcia (29-1). Former WBC bantam and feather champion Hasegawa resumed his career with a wide points victory over dangerous but limited “ Violent” Garcia. The experienced home fighter showcased his vast array of skills as he out boxer the young Mexican banger. Garcia kept pressing but Hasegawa used superior skills and movement to avoid Garcia’s big bombs and piled up the points with southpaw right hooks and straight lefts. Whether due to carelessness or frustration Garcia lost a point in the fourth round for continually stepping on Hasegawa’s foot. Garcia managed to close the distance occasionally in the middle rounds and as Hasegawa tired but basically he was given a boxing lesson. Scores 100-91, 98-93 and 97-93. First fight for Hasegawa since losing to Kiko Martinez for the IBF super bantam title in April last year. Many assumed that the 34-year-old would retire after that loss but this win over the WBC 9/IBF 13 (11) rated Garcia puts him in with a chance of another shot at winning a title in a third division. Garcia, 24, despite his ratings found this step too steep in quality of opposition. He can come again but needs better opposition to build his skills in future. Marrakech, Morocco: Super Middle: Rachid Jkitou (23-0) W TKO 8 Jorge Silva (14-4). Jkitou wins the vacant WBC Mediterranean title with stoppage of Silva. In his first fight for 14 months it took the former undefeated French champion a while to shake the rust but then he was just too good for his Portuguese opponent. The 29-year-old Parisian has 16 wins id but has been largely inactive with zero fights in 2012, 1 in 2013 and one in 2014. A pity as he could still be a force in French and European boxing Silva, 31, a former holder of this title had won his last 7 fights. Fresno, CA, USA: Welter: Jose Carlos Ramirez (14-0) W KO 5 Robert Frankel (33-16-1). The USA also has former Olympians cutting a swathe through the pro ranks with Ramirez a leading light. The lanky 22-year-old put down a marker by having Frankel hurt and stumbling from a left hook in the first and just kept cranking up the pressure from there. Frankel is a tough, experienced battler and was not about to fold. Ramirez split his attacks between head and body but Frankel is known to have a solid jaw. Ramirez changed to a sustained body attack that weakened the older man until a left hook in the fifth floored Frankel in pain and he could not beat the count. Now 11 wins by KO/TKO for Ramirez as he retains his NABF Junior title. He has ended 7 of his last 8 fights by KO/TKO. As an amateur he was US Junior champion and three times US National champion but like the rest of his team mates did not medal in London. Frankel, 34, had lost 3 of his last 4 fights but to tough opposition in Paul Spadafora, Anton Novikov and Jose Zepeda. All three were unbeaten when facing Frankel and had combined records of 91-0-1! Abbreviations ABC=Asian Boxing Council an affiliate of the WBC ABF=Asian Boxing Federation. I assume this is an affiliate of the IBF ABU=African Boxing Union an affiliate of the WBC ACC=WBC Asian Council Continental title ANBF=Australian National Boxing Federation who administer Australian titles BBB of C=British Boxing Board of Control BBB of C Southern/Central/Midlands/Scottish Area etc. British Area titles BDB= Bund Deutscher Berufsboxer one of the German boxing bodies B & H=Bosnia & Herzegovina BSA=Boxing South Africa responsible for administering boxing in South Africa CBC=Commonwealth Boxing Council a sanctioning body for titles competed for by citizens of Commonwealth countries CISBB-WBC title covering the rump of the USSR and the Slovenian Boxing Board DRC=Democratic Republic of the Congo EBU=European Boxing Union FAB=Argentinian Boxing Federation FFB=French Boxing Federation GAB=Philippines Games & Amusement Board responsible for administering boxing in the Philippines GBC= Global Boxing Council a sanctioning body IBA=International Boxing Association a sanctioning body IBF=International Boxing Federation a sanctioning body IBO=International Boxing Organisation a sanctioning body JBC =Japanese Boxing Commission NABA=North American Boxing Association, a WBA affiliate NABF=North American Boxing Federation a WBC affiliate NABO= North American Boxing Organisation, a WBO affiliate NCC=National Championships of Canada NGG=US National Golden Gloves NZPBF=New Zealand Professional Boxing Federation a national sanctioning body OPBF=Orient & Pacific Boxing Federation PABA=Pacific & Asian Boxing Association, a WBA affiliate PBF=Philippines Boxing Federation, a sanctioning body in the Philippines UBF=Universal Boxing Federation a sanctioning body UBO=Universal Boxing Organisation a sanctioning body USBA= United States Boxing Association, an IBF affiliate USBO=United States Boxing Organisation an WBO affiliate WBA=World Boxing Association a sanctioning body WBC=World Boxing Council a sanctioning body WBFed=World Boxing Federation, a sanctioning body WBFound=World Boxing Foundation, a sanctioning body WBU=World Boxing Union, a sanctioning body IBF WBA Rating=Both bodies leave vacancies in their ratings so when showing a IBF or WBA rating for a fighter where there is a vacant position ahead of them in the rankings which affects his rating I will put his numerical rating i.e. No 6 and in brackets and his rating based on the number of fighters ahead of him so IBF 6 (5) shows his numerical position is 6 but there are in fact only 5 fighters listed ahead of him due to one or more of the higher rating positions being vacant. This Saturday is a really exciting day for fight fans with notable bouts taking place on both sides of the Atlantic.. Much of the action comes from the US with the first really exciting bout Stateside coming from Hidalgo, Texas where former Lightweight champions collide as Omar Figueroa (24-0-1, 18) takes on Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11). Coming in to this bout Burns looks like he is on the downlide whilst Figueroa looks like he's a very dangerous fighter but one who is set to be plagued by serious hand issues in the not so distant future. We suspect Figueroa runs over burns but we're not sure how far he'll go at Light Welterweight. In Houston, Texas, we have more notable action with a mouth watering main event bout between Saul Alvarez (44-1-1, 31) and James Kirkland (32-1, 28). Alvarez is widely tipped as the favourite for the bout though Kirkland has the power to potentially test the Mexican star in what should be a brilliant contest. In the co-feature the unbeaten Frankie Gomez (18-0, 13) battles against veteran Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35) in a real cross road fight for both men. Gomez is stepping up in a big way though Soto knows a loss will be the end of his dreams of becoming a 4-weight world champion. Really good match up. In Germany we have an interesting double header. The main event there will see Felix Sturm (39-4-3-1, 18) battle against heavy handed Russian slugger Fedor Chudinov (12-0, 10) for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight title. The 36 year old Sturm is in a must win situation whilst Chudinov, the younger brother of Dmitry Chudinov, knows a win will help him break out into being a serious threat at 168lbs. The co-feature will see Jack Culcay (19-1, 10) battle against Maurice Weber (21-1-1, 8) for the WBA interim Light Middleweight title. Culcay was a notable amateur though has frustrated since turning professional we do however understand Culcay getting this level of opportunity. Weber on the the other hand has achieved very little and it's difficult to see how he's getting this shot. In the UK fans get a disappointing card that features some notable names in serious mismatches. Among those is a contest between Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (11-0, 11) and Raphael Zumbano Love (36-10-1, 29), with Heavyweight hopeful Joshua expecting to get a 12th straight stoppage, fellow Olympic champion Luke Campbell (10-0, 8) battling against Aboubeker Bechelaghem (9-6-1) and the very promising Callum Smith (15-0, 11) battling against Olegs Fedotovs (19-21, 13). Notably Kal Yafai (14-0, 9), who was originally announced to be fighting Rey Megrino, has remained on the card though will be fighting the tough but very limited Isaac Quaye (27-10-1, 18). |
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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