We've had a relatively quiet month or so though thankfully it does end with a flurry of notable bouts.
On paper the two stand out bouts are set to take place in California and feature 4 Mexican fighters in bouts that both promise a lot of action. The “lesser” of those bouts will see Hugo Ruiz (35-2, 31) take on Julio Ceja (29-1, 26) in a bout for the WBC “interim” Super Bantamweight title. Of the two men Ruiz is the more experienced and the more tested, having had a run as the WBA “interim” Bantamweight champion and having fought several notable fighters, including Koki Kameda. Ceja on the other hand is a fast rising youngster who, at just 22, appears to have been around for years. For many Ceja's stand out bout was a loss, in the UK, to Jamie McDonnell though he has improved since then. This looks like it's got the ingredients to be a FOTY contender. The “bigger” bout sees the unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17) battle against the once beaten Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15) in a bout for the WBC “Diamond” Featherweight title. Cruz is stepping up to 126lbs for this bout though should fill in to the weight comfortably given his frame. For Mares this is the first significant bout since he was stopped, in just 175 seconds by Jhonny Gonzalez more than 2 years ago. Sadly this fight, which looked like an amazing one 30 months ago, now seems likely to fall short of expectation with both fighters looking poor in recent bouts. A couple of notable under-card bouts here will feature fast rising Argentinian brothers Brian Carlos Castano (9-0, 8), who faces Jonathan Batista (14-6, 7), and Alan Emmanuel Castano (8-0, 5), who faces Tom Howard (8-4, 4). Whilst both of these are mismatches we do suggest keeping an eye on both of the unbeaten men who will likely go to title level over the coming years. Staying in California, albeit on a different show, fans will get two notable bouts. The headliner here will be a rematch between former multi-weight world champions as Shane Mosley (47-9-1-1, 39) battles Ricardo Mayorga (31-8-1-1, 25). Given that the men have a combined age of 84 and have rally failed to score a win of note in years this really resembles a farcical cash grab. The other bout of note is a female world title bout as Yulihan Alejandra Luna Avila (12-2, 1) defends her IBF female Super Bantamweight title against Maureen Shea (24-2, 12). We'd really not be shocked by this one outshining the supposedly bigger bout, at least in terms of action. The remaining action of note comes from Ukraine where two talented fighters have caught out eye. One of those is Cruiserweight sensation Oleksandr Usyk (7-0, 7), who looks to extend his perfect record against Johnny Muller (19-4-2, 13). Usyk looks almost ready to challenge for a world title and we'd not be shocked at all if his next bout is for a major belt. For Muller he's been picked to be the next victim and we can't see him doing anything to really trouble the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner. The other is Denys Berinchyk (0-0) who makes his long awaited professional debut against Tarik Madni (19-8-1, 1). On paper it's a tricky debut for Berinchyk but given his amateur pedigree it's hard to see anything but a a win for the 2012 Olympic, and 2011 World Amateur, Silver medal winner. With out trying to sound too over-the-top this kid has the potential to be moved very quickly as an amateur and it'd be a huge surprise if he's not looking at world title fights in the next 24 months.
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A massive thanks, as usual, to Eric Armit for his weekly review
The Past Week In Action 25 August 2015 August 19 Melbourne, Australia: Cruiser: Danny Green (35-5) W PTS 10 Roberto F Bolonti (36-5,1ND). Welter: Jack Brubaker (9-1-1) WKO 4 Yang Xing Xin (10-4-2). Super Bantam: Jason Maloney (4-0) W TKO 5 Danilo Gabisay (6-5). Super Bantam: Andrew Maloney (4-0) W PTS 6 Ronerex Dalut (9-17-2). Green vs. Bolonti Green eases his way back with decision over Bolonti. In his first fight since November 2012 Green took a couple of round to shed the rust. Despite that rust he took those first two rounds with good use of his jab with Bolonti aiming to soak up the pressure and get lucky with a big right. The third saw Bolonti complaining about Green’s head as he had in the second round and at the bell the Argentinian was showing a cut over his left eye. In the fourth Green was landing good punches to head and body and following his corner’s instructions to work on the outside. Over the middle rounds the pattern remained one of Green working the jab and hard combinations hurting Bolonti with a body punches in the sixth and the seventh whilst the Argentinian was still trying to get inside and looking to land one big right. Green ended the eighth with a hard right that shook Bolonti but in the ninth Green threw away the game plan and found himself up against the ropes and trading shots with Bolonti who was probably having his best round in the fight. Green boxed his way through the last to finish ten good rounds of work. Scores 100-90 for Green from all three judges. Now the 42-year-old former undefeated IBO cruiser and interim WBC super middle champion says he wants one more warm-up and then a grudge match with Anthony Mundine to get revenge for a 2006 loss. Bolonti, 36, did his job well. He came in as a very late replacement for Tamas Kovacs. He has tended to lose the big fights having been beaten by Tony Bellew and Juergen Braehmer but keeps his record of never losing inside the distance. Brubaker vs. Xin Brubaker wins the vacant WBC Youth title with knockout of Xin. The Australian nearly ended this in the first when he floored the Chinese fighter twice with rights. He tried to get that third knockdown that would have ended the fight but Xin survived. Xin surprised in the second by coming out aggressively looking to trade but by the end of the round Brubaker was landing again with Xin’s face covered in blood. The fight was a bit more even in the third and despite Brubaker’s dominance in the fourth it looked as though Xin was going to get through the three minutes until late in the round a thudding right from Brubaker put Xin down and the fight was over. The only loss for the ANBF No 6 was on points against unbeaten Qamil Balla for the vacant Australian title in 2013. This is his fourth win since then and his fourth win by KO/TKO. Xin, 23, “The Chinese Warrior”, had won his last 4 fights and this is his third loss by KO/T Maloney vs. Gabisay Maloney climbs off the floor for win. The Australian had Filipino Gabisay under heavy pressure from right hands in the first. The second was following the same pattern when a right from Gabisay exploded and put Maloney down. The local fighter was back in the groove in the third and fourth with Gabisay showing guts to suck up the punishment. A hard right from Maloney in the fifth had Gabisay in deep water and the referee stopped the fight. The Croydon 24-year-old has won his four fights by KO/TKO and with this one he took his total of rounds to 10 as he had not gone beyond the third previously. Filipino Gabisay is 2-5 in his last 7 fights but all of the losses are to unbeaten fighters with his last fight being a defeat on a close decision over 12 rounds in Thailand. Maloney vs. Dalut Maloney wins every round but gets useful ring time against a Filipino who did not come to lie down. Maloney controlled the fight with his jab. As the rounds progressed he was getting through with hard punches bringing his right into play more but Dalut was banging back with rights of his own. They both traded hard in the last round with Maloney getting the unanimous decision. Scores 60-54 for Maloney from all three judges to make it a Maloney family double by the twins. The Victoria State champion looks a top prospect. He has impressive amateur credentials having been Australian champion and he competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games then won a gold medal at the 2014 Games as well as representing Australia at the 2009, 2011 and 2013 World Championships. Dalut is 1-8-1 in his last 10 fights but there a couple of 12 round fights in there. Budapest, Hungary: Light Fly: Jozsef Ajtai (6-0) W PTS 10 Robert Kanalas (9-4). Teenager Ajtai wins the vacant national title with points win over Kanalas. Ajtai was giving away height, reach and a big edge in experience against former top amateur Kanalas. The work rate and sheer aggression of little Ajtai won the fight for him. Kanalas was always competitive but Ajtai was throwing too much leather for Kanalas to be able to keep the smaller man out and although both had good spells in the fight Ajtai was a clear winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 97-92 all for Ajtai. There are very few genuine light flyweights in Europe for the 18-year-old 5’2” (157cm) “Peacemaker” so he is going to have to give away height and weight to find fights. Kanalas, 23, the former Hungarian flyweight champion, was coming off two inside the distance losses in Canada and the UK and as with Ajtai has to give away weight to get fights. August 20 Tokyo, Japan: Feather: Satoshi Hosono (28-2-1) W PTS 10 Tatsuya Otsubo (8-7-1). Fly: Akira Yaegashi (22-5) W KO 3 Said M Said. Super Bantam: Ryo Matsumoto (15-0) W KO 5 Luis May (17-9-1). Hosono vs. Otsubo Hosono retains his Japanese title and keeps his hopes of another title fight alive with wide unanimous decision over Otsubo. The challenger made a good start scoring with a strong jab and straight rights in the first but from the second Hosono took charge and never relinquished his hold on the fight. Hosono was getting through with left hooks and with uppercuts and hooks with his right. After five rounds Hosono was ahead 49-46 on two cards and 50-46 on the other. Hosono came close to a stoppage as he hurt Otsubo with body punches in the seventh but Otsubo has never lost by KO/TKO and refused to fold and was still there at the final bell. Scores 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 all for Hosono. The 31-year-old Japanese champion was making the third defence of his national title. In past title challenges he lost a majority verdict to Poonsawat in 2010 for the secondary WBA super bantam title and to Celestino Caballero in 2011 for the secondary WBA feather title. In a third shot his challenge to Chris John in 2013 for the real WBA feather title ended on a technical draw after John was cut in a clash of heads. He is rated WBA 4/IBF 6(4)/WBO 7 and WBC 11. Otsubo, 26 was rated No 11 by the JBC. He had won his last six fights but this was his first ten round fight. Yaegashi vs. Said Predictable end as former two-time world champion Yaegashi destroyed Indonesian novice Said in three rounds. Yaegashi softened up Said with stiff jabs and shots to head and body before ending it in the third with one right that put Said down and out after 70 seconds of the round. The 32-year-old former WBA minimumweight and WBC light fly champion was returning after back-to-back losses to Roman Gonzalez and Pedro Guevara. He is a big enough draw in Japan to be sure he can get another title match although currently his only rating is No 2 light fly with the WBO but after returning with a win he will be in the ratings with most of the sanctioning bodies. He is said to have his eyes on Donnie Nietes WBO light fly title. Said just fodder. I have seen his record given as 10-6-1, 10-4-1 and 2-3? Matsumoto vs. May Hot Japanese youngster Matsumoto looks a good bet to win a world title in 2016. He was outclassing the rated Mexican when the fight came to a disappointing end in the fifth round. Matsumoto was punishing May with his jab, straight rights and a series of body punches in all four rounds with the Mexican lacking the skill or power to be competitive. May was already fading when in the fifth round he stopped fighting and indicated an injury to his right wrist. The referee ignored May’s claims and as he was not fighting and proceeded to count May out. A win yes, but not my idea of a “knockout”. The 21-year-old former undefeated OPBF super fly champion has 13 wins by KO/TKO including five in a row with wins over useful Orient opposition in former champion Denkaosan and Rusalee Samor. He is rated IBF 8(6)/WBC 11/WBA 11 at light fly and No 10 bantam by the WBO. May, 31, was vastly overrated by the WBC at No 10. He lost an eight round fight in Japan in December and his two wins in 2015 were over opponents with 4-7-1 and 9-5-0 which is not world rating material in my book. August 21 Buenos Aires, Argentina: Light: Pablo M Barboza (24-6) W PTS 10 Ruben D Lopez (9-5-3). Barboza climbs off the floor to retain Argentinian title on a split decision in a disappointing fight. The Rosario southpaw had too much skill and experience for the challenger and took the first three rounds by landing the cleaner and more accurate punches. The fight was going to script but Barboza paid for some over confidence in the fourth when Lopez dropped him with a hefty left. Barboza recovered and was getting back on top when Lopez had him shaken again in the sixth. Barboza was thrown for a while but then had his southpaw jab working and Lopez tired over the late rounds as the champion boxed his way to a victory. Scores 98-92, 96 ½-95 ½ for Barboza and 96 ½-95 ½ for Lopez. “Bad Boy” Barboza, the 30-year-old brother of former world title challenger Sebastian Lujan, was making the second defence of the national title. Barboza had climbed off the floor to win the title with a points win over Marcelino Lopez (29-0-1) last year but had suffered consecutive losses to Chad Bennett and Horacio Centeno (18-1-1) this year. Lopez, also from Rosario, the FAB No 8 is really just a prelim fighter and this was the first time any of his fights had gone past the sixth round. San Juan, Argentina: Super Feather: Ezequiel V Fernandez (24-1) W PTS 10 Carlos R Rodriguez (30-12). Super Feather: Mauricio Munoz (31-6) W KO 9 Paulo M Ojeda (6-2). Super Bantam: Fabian O Orozco (26-4-2) W PTS 10 Maximiliano E Mendez (11-18-1). Fernandez vs. Rodriguez “Pac Man” Fernandez overcomes slow start to decision Mendez and defend his Argentinian title. Mendez made the better start over the first two rounds but fell away after that. Fernandez used a stiff jab to take control of the fight and he outboxed Rodriguez for what was in the end a comfortable win. Scores 99-92, 98-92 and 97-93. Second successful defence for the 24-year-old local. His only loss was against Pablo Barboza in 2013 and he has scored 7 wins since then. Rodriguez, 35, the FAB No 3, has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Munoz vs. Ojeda Munoz given harder than expected fight by Ojeda but wins in the end. Ojeda came in as a late replacement but fought hard against the harder punching and more experienced Munoz. Ojeda was a long way behind at the start of the ninth round but gambled on an all-out attack and had Munoz briefly in trouble but later in the round two left hooks to the body saw Ojeda on the canvas in agony and unable to beat the count. In title world title fights the 29-year-old local, the FAB No 2, had lost to Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC super bantam and Evgeny Gradovich for the IBF feather titles but in recent action had won the South American title and scored good wins over Bruno Godoy and Daniel Brizuela. Ojeda was 6-1 in his last 7 fights going into this one but had never been past six rounds before. Orozco vs. Mendez Orozco makes it a treble for boxers from San Juan as he easily decisions Mendez. Orozco controlled most rounds with Mendez only able to steal one or two rounds where Orozco took a breather with the former Argentinian champion just having too many skills for Mendez. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 which were generous to Mendez. Orozco, 29, the FAB No 5 is 6-1 in his last 7 fights.Mendez had won his last three fights. St Albans, Australia: Super Welter: Anthony Buttigieg (9-0) W TKO 7 Fred Tukes (12-3-2). Heavy: Justin Whitehead (6-0) W KO 3 Clarence Tillman (11-23-2). Buttigieg vs. Tukes Buttigieg remains unbeaten with stoppage of Tukes. Buttigieg was just too young and too mobile for the much older Tukes. He was able to out-manoeuvre Tukes and slot home plenty of hard shots in every round. Tukes had a short period of success in the third round but after that Buttigieg gradually broke Tukes down with body punches and it was no surprise when the sponge came in from his corner in the seventh round and the referee stopped the fight. Third defence of his Victoria State title for the 26-year-old local ANBF No 5. He gets only his second win by KO/TKO. American-born southpaw Tukes, 42, a former undefeated Australian welter champion did not turn pro until he was 30, and has had a number of spells of inactivity until he moved to Australia in 2012. Whitehead vs. Tillman Former Australian champion returns to the ring with a win in his first fight for five years. The 6’5” (195cm) 44-year-old was a top amateur winning the Australian title and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games a silver at the Commonwealth Championships and two golds at the Oceania Games but did not turn pro until he was 37. It will be interesting to see what he has left at 44. No 15 losses in a row for 37-year-old New Zealand-based American Tillman Calgary, Canada: Welter: Steve Claggett (22-3-1) W TKO 3 Stephane Benito (22-20-3). Claggett much too good for fading French veteran Benito. “The Dragon” waited out a fast start by Benito and then began to slot home hurtful body punches. He was breaking Benito down methodically but with Benito trying to punch with him. Claggett landed a vicious body shot in the third which had Benito hurt and in trouble. The Frenchman refused to go down but the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight over protests from Benito. Claggett, 26, the Canadian champion, was having his second fight since losing a very disputed decision to Konstantin Ponomarev in January and looked good. Benito, 36, the former French super light champion, is on the slide and this was his eighth loss in a row. Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Masao Nakamura (20-3) W PTS 10 Daiki Kaneko (21-4-3). Nakamura gets important win as he beats favoured Kaneko on a split decision in a bloody battle. Nakamura was quickest out of the starting gate getting through with hard shots. By the end of the second Kaneko was sporting a bloody nose and a cut on his left eyelid caused by a punch from Nakamura. As the fight developed it was a case of Nakamura the busier fighter taking the fight to Kaneko throwing and landing more with Kaneko the more accurate countering cleverly. It was Nakamura’s turn to be cut by his left eye in the fourth and he was staggered by an overhand right from Kaneko in the fifth. There was plenty trading in each round with Kaneko’s face bearing the marks of the battle. Nakamura had a big ninth round with Kaneko under fire and almost overwhelmed by the furious attacks from Nakamura. There was no thought of countering from Kaneko in the last he went for broke shaking Nakamura with a left hook but just lacking the punch to get the knockout he needed. Scores 97-93 and 96-94 to Nakamura and 96-95 to Kaneko. Former OPBF champion Nakamura does not usually do distance fights. With 19 wins and 2 losses by KO/TKO only one of his previous 22 fights had gone the distance. He had losses in consecutive fights last year against unbeaten Masayuki Ito and Filipino Rey Labao but had a win in April-by KO in two rounds naturally. The 27-year-old from Osaka was JBC No 10. Kaneko, also 27, a former Japanese super feather champion had lost on points against Takashi Uchiyama for the WBA title in December 2013 and was coming off a very close points loss against Thai Jomthong Chuwatana in January so a big blow for him here. Playa del Carmen, Mexico: Super Fly: Edgar Jimenez (20-11-2) W PTS 10 Ivan Morales (28-1). Super Light: Sharif Bogere (27-1,1ND) ND 2 Daniel Ruiz (33-8-2,1ND). Light Fly: Ricardo Perez (9-2) W TKO 9 Noe Medina (5-4). Jimenez vs. Morales Jimenez springs a big surprise as he gets majority decision over previously undefeated Morales. Jimenez was really just supposed to be another stepping-stone for the latest member of the Morales Clan but it did not work out that way. Jimenez was forcing the action over the first two rounds with Morales on the back foot but defending well. The third saw Jimenez totally in control with Morales not able to launch any sustained attacks of his own. Both had good spells in the fourth with Jimenez scoring well to the body early and Morales hitting back strongly at the bell. The fighters took a breather in a quieter fifth with Morales probably doing enough to win it. Jimenez was still coming forward in the sixth but Morales was getting home with good uppercuts to keep the fight tight. The seventh went to Jimenez who was forcing Morales to fight off the ropes for much of the round. Morales blasted back into the fight in the eighth having Jimenez on wobbly legs with a right uppercut and it was Jimenez on the ropes and shipping punishment as the round ended. Jimenez took the fight away from Morales over the last two rounds. They traded in the ninth with Jimenez almost overwhelming Morales who was trying unsuccessfully to swing the fight his way. Jimenez continued that advantage into the last round which he also won. Scores 97-93 twice for Jimenez and 95-95. “Power” Jimenez, 23, a former Mexican fly champion, had a spell of 5 losses in a row, but had steadied the ship by going 4-1-1 in his next six fights. The opposition had not been high quality but winning the WBC Fecarbox title had raised him to No 8 bantam in their ratings. As with many fighters Jimenez has taken a lot of short notice fights but on the plus side living in Mexico City has given him an edge of training at altitude. “Nino Maravilla” Morales, 23, the brother of Erik and Diego still has hope of joining his brothers in winning a world title but he has a rebuilding job to do now. Bogere vs. Ruiz Bogere robbed of what looked to be a valid win. The Ugandan “Lion” was punching too hard for Ruiz and had the Mexican down twice in the first round. In the second a right from Bogere landed behind the ear of Ruiz who stopped fighting went down on one knee and then got up and walked back to his corner with the referee deciding the punch had landed on the back of Ruiz’s head and instead of counting Ruiz out he decided to rule it was a no decision. Very strange. Bogere is rebuilding. He took a year out after losing to Richar Abril for the WBA secondary title in March 2013 and had scored four wins prior to this contest. Ruiz, former IBO title challenger, had three wins and a draw in his four fights previous to this including a kayo of Irish prospect Jamie Kavanagh. Perez vs. Medina Perez wins the WBC Silver light fly title with stoppage of Medina. Perez came out in a style in keeping with his “Baby Bull” nickname looking to end this early. He got careless and almost paid for it when a right from Medina put him on the floor in the second round. Perez was up quickly and got back into the fight but with a little more caution. That caution did not last long and by the fifth he was pounding on Medina who was spending most of the round trapped on the ropes and shipping shots to head and body. Perez kept up the pressure in the sixth and although the pace slackened in the seventh and eighth Medina was being broken apart. In the ninth a heavy right slammed into Medina’s chin and Medina spat out his mouthpiece just as the towel came in from his corner with it later being claimed that a hand injury caused the corner to pull Medina out. Eight win by KO/TKO for 24-year-old local Perez. He was WBC Silver champion at minimumweight but relinquished that and despite the poor quality of his opposition he is already WBC No 7 in his new division. First fight for 15 months for Medina and third loss by KO/TKO. Corona, CA, USA: Bantam: Carlos Carlson (19-1) W PTS 8 Pedro Melo (13-10-2). Carlson keeps his winning run going and collects the vacant WBC Latino title but is pushed very close by fellow-Tijuana fighter Melo and has to come off the floor for victory. After an even first round Melo landed a series of punches with Carlos sinking to the canvas. Unfortunately he continued to punch when Carlson was down so instead of getting a 10-8 round he received a warning from the referee. To his credit Carlson then took over the fight out-throwing and out-landing Melo and seemingly working his way to victory over the middle rounds. Melo got into the fight again in the sixth and sprang another surprise in the seventh with a right that had Carlson wobbling and did enough to take the eighth. Scores 76-75 for Carlson from all three judges. The 25-year Carlson lost his first pro fight so is now unbeaten in 19 on the bounce and is No 11 with the WBC. Melo, 26, did not look to be a difficult opponent. He had won his last two fights but prior to that had gone 2-4-1 in 7 fights. August 22 Grozny, Russia: Heavy: Mairis Briedis (17-0) W KO 5 Manuel Charr (28-4). Briedis moves up to heavyweight and gets a huge win over former title challenger Charr Briedis was giving away height and over 30lbs in weight but fought a smart fight. He spent the first round on the back foot moving around the slower Charr threading punches through Charr’s high guard to head and body and staying off the ropes and out of corners with Charr just plodding after the Latvian and waiting too long to let his punches go. Charr tried to pressurise Briedis more in the second but the Latvian kept on the move and increased his punch output. Charr was catching a lot of the punches on his high guard but most were getting through although Briedis was not setting himself to get full leverage. Charr did not have a Plan B and Briedis kept punching and moving, staying out of corners and on the back foot slotting home punches to head and body and some sharp right uppercuts inside. When Charr did get close he was wrestling instead of punching so Briedis was having an east night. In the fourth Charr tried standing back and luring Briedis in but the Latvian did not fall for the ploy. Charr did land a good right and threw a flurry of punches at the end of the round but again Briedis was moving and punching and he scored with a nice left uppercut. Charr was pressing more in the fifth and scored with a good right. Briedis was looking a bit arm weary. The Latvian scored with a lovely right uppercut but Charr forced him along the ropes to a corner and as Charr moved in Briedis thumped home a right uppercut to the head and a left hook as Charr tumbled face first down through the bottom rope where he hung suspended with his legs inside the ring and his head almost off the ring apron-out cold. The referee did not bother to count and even Briedis looked a little surprised at what he had done. The 30-year-old Latvian weighed his heaviest so far and whether he is big enough to run with the big boys is doubtful but he showed a good brain and a hard punch so who knows. He has 14 wins by KO/TKO including 6 in his last 7 fights but this was a big step-up in quality of opponent for him. Charr made no use whatsoever of his physical advantages and his frustration made his careless and he got nailed. The 30-year-old Lebanese-born fight has no thoughts of retiring. He had lost only on a majority decision to Johann Duhaupas in April and easily beaten Alex Leapai in May so was not on the down slope. Juarez, Mexico: Super Light: Nery Saguilan (34-4-1) W PTS 12 DeMarcus Corley (42-24-1). Light: Miguel Roman (52-11) W KO 3 Leonardo Doronio (14-11-3). Light: Adrian Estrella (23-1) W KO 3 Alex Monterrosa (23-12-3). Saguilan vs. Corley Saguilan gets very close and controversial unanimous verdict over veteran Corley. The former WBO light welter champion outboxed Saguilan from the start using his edges in height and reach, his southpaw jab and extensive experience to control the fight. Tempers flared at the end of the third with the referee having to step in to prevent the fight continuing after the bell and Corley was lucky to get away without a point deduction after a backhand punch in the sixth. The erratic Mexican spent too much time showboating. He was much quicker and scored with fast combinations when he focused but despite being much younger and on a winning run he was unable to wear down or break down Corley. Many rounds were close and the expectation was that Corley would fade over the late rounds but he stayed competitive and had done enough to win. The judges saw it differently scoring it 115-113 twice and 115-114 for Saguilan with the crowd booing the decision. The 27-year-old “Panther” Saguilan retains his WBC Fecarbox title and makes it 8 wins in a row. He is No 7 light with the WBC but no big wins in there. Corley, 41, is not brought in to win and usually fights in the other guys backyard so is not going to get any breaks. He is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights. Roman vs. Doronio Routine win for Roman over modest Filipino. A series of punches from Roman saw the referee giving Doronio a standing count in the first. Despite the bad start Doronio had the crowd holding its breath in the second when an overhand right forced Roman to take a knee. The hometown fighter was up quickly, took the eight count and then launched furious attacks that put Doronio twice. Roman ended it in the third with a series of punches to head and body that put Doronio down and the Filipino did not beat the count. The 29-year-old “Mickey” has 39 wins by KO/TKO and has 14 wins in a row including victories over Juan Carlos Salgado, Daniel Ponce De Leon and Edgar Puente. He is WBC No 5 and will be hoping to get a world title fight at his correct poundage after losing on a fifth round kayo when challenging Antonio DeMarco for the WBC light title in 2012. Two losses and a draw in his last three fights but all away from home on his travels Estrella vs. Monterrosa Estrella eases back with stoppage of Colombian. After pressuring Monterrosa for three rounds a left hook put the Colombian down and out. The 23-year-old “Diamond” has 21 wins by KO/TKO but still needs to work on the defensive weakness that led to his second round stoppage loss to Eden Sonsona in May. Now 5 losses in 5 fights in Mexico for Monterrosa. New Plymouth, New Zealand: Light Heavy: Rob Powdrill (6-1) W PTS 10 Sam Rapira (11-2). Australian Powdrill built a lead over the early rounds and did enough to hold on over the late rounds to get the split decision. Powdrill’s punch power gave the local fighter trouble over the early rounds as Powdrill forced the fight and heavy rights often drove Rapira back forced him to focus on defence. As the fight progressed Rapira was scoring with more counters and he was closing the points gap but he lacked the punch to hurt the Australian and the decision looked right. Scores 98-92 and 97-94 for Powdrill and 97-94 for Rapira. The 31-year-old West Australian wins the vacant IBO Inter-Continental title. He was inactive from February 2009 through to July 2014 but since returning he scored a huge upset when kayoing Australian hot prospect Damien Hooper in 21 seconds and also reversed his only loss by outpointing David Letizia. Former New Zealand champion Rapira, also 31, had won 7 of his first 8 fights by KO/TKO and had won his last three fights. Matagalpa, Nicaragua: Minimum: Byron Rojas (16-2-3,1ND) W PTS 10 Byron Castellon (7-3-2). Fly: Cristofer Rosales (14-2) W KO 2 Herald Molina (17-12-3). 12 Rojas vs. Castellon Rojas wins clearly but fails to impress. The young local fighter always had control of this fight and won more easily than the scores suggest but lacked his trademark fire and was not as aggressive as usual but then he did have some rust to shed. He failed to produce the knockout he had forecast but took the unanimous decision. Scores 98-92, 97-92 and 97-93. He retains the national title and is 10-0 1 ND in his last 11 fights. The 25-year-old “Gallito” is rated IBF 4(2)/WBC 3/WBO 7 so a title fight in 2016 is a possibility. Castellon, 22, is 5-2-1 in his last 8 fights. Rosales vs. Molina Rosales goes over some old ground but gets the job done quicker second time around. The young Nica had taken ten rounds to stop Molina last time but this time he handed out enough of a beating to have the referee stop the fight in the second round. Rosales, 20, had beaten Molina in January to win the national title. His only loss in his last 13 fights was on points against British prospect Khali Yafai in March. Four losses in a row for 33-year-old Molina including a second round kayo against the same Yafai. David, Panama: Feather: Bryan De Gracia (16-0-1) W TKO 8 Samuel Moreno (9-4-1). Super Fly: Jonathan Arias (17-10) W KO 5 Israel Hidrogo (10-7-1). De Gracia vs. Moreno Local favourite De Gracia continues his winning streak and defends the national title with stoppage of Moreno. The David fighter again showed his power as he had Moreno on the back foot and under pressure all the way. After taking heavy punishment in the middle rounds it looked as though Moreno might last the distance but a left hook to the body in the seventh left him in agony and the fight was stopped. The 21-year-old De Gracia drew in his first pro fight so has now won 16 in a row, 13 by KO/TKO. He also wins the vacant WBA Fedecaribe title and is rated No 13 by the WBA. Moreno, also 21, was coming off a good performance where he floored former world title challenger Manuel Vides before losing a split decision. Arias vs. Hidrogo Arias makes it 6-2 in fights in Panama as he gets upset kayo victory over Hidrogo to win the WBA Fedebol title. Arias had vowed to retire if he lost so he will presumably happily fight on. He has won 4 of his last 5 fights in the Isthmus including a kayo of former world title challenger Ricardo Nunez. He now has 15 wins by KO/TKO in his 17 victories so the 32-year-old fighter from the Dominican Republic was a known danger. Hidrogo, 22, a former Panamanian champion, had lost his last two fights but on a split decision and a majority decision respectively against world rated fighter Gilberto Pedroza and Luis A Rios. Miedzyzdroje, Poland: Middle: Kamil Szeremeta (11-0) W PTS 10 Arthur Hermann (16-2). Cruiser: Michal Cieslak (9-0) W KO 1 Jarno Rosberg (18-2-1,1ND). Super Welter: Artem Karpets (21-0) W PTS 6 Lukasz Janik (14-13-1). Super Middle: Tomasz Gargula (17-0-1) W PTS 6 Sebastian Skrzypczynski (11-11-2). Szeremeta vs. Hermann Szeremeta continues to improve his skills as he convincingly outpoints Hermann. The Pole was working his jab well in the first and shook Hermann with a left hook near the end of the round. He was scoring well in the second with left hooks under the right elbow of Hermann but it was not all one-way as Hermann stung Szeremeta with a straight left and a right to the chin in the third. Szeremeta scored well with body punches again in the fourth and fifth and had Hermann badly shaken by rights at the end of the sixth. Szeremeta looked on his way to a stoppage but he is not a power puncher and Hermann showed a good chin and landed some heavy punches of his own and the fight was more even over the closing rounds. Scores 99-91, 99-93 and 97-93 all for Szeremeta. The 25-year-old EBU No 10, a former Polish amateur champion, was having his second ten round fight and paced the contest well. London-based Kazak Hermann had won his last 5 fights but just met a better boxer on the night. Cieslak vs. Rosberg This looked a tough test for Cieslak on paper but it lasted just 106 seconds. The local fighter came out pressing Rosberg and took him to the ropes. Once there a left hook to the body put Rosberg down. He was in considerable pain and after he got up Cieslak unleashed a series of punches with the final right to the head putting Rosberg down and out. The 6’3” (190cm) Pole, 26, wins the vacant Polish Youth International title and gets win No 5 by KO/TKO. Finn Rosberg, 34, was knocked out in two rounds by Deontay Wilder’s challenger Johann Duhaupas in 2013 but had then gone 4-0-1in his last 5 fights. Karpets vs. Janik Karpets has no trouble with moderate Janik. The Polish-based Ukrainian won every round as he works his way back to full ring fitness. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. Karpets was inactive from August 2013 until returning with an unconvincing split decision win over Mariusz Biskupski in April this year. Janik is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Gargula vs. Skrzypczynski Gargula continues unbeaten in fierce battle with Skrzypczynski. They went to war from the bell as Skrzypczynski slammed home a right which sent Gargula tumbling into the ropes only for Gargula to shake Skrzypczynski with a right and Skrzypczynski finish the round with another big right. Skrzypczynski continued to attack in the second until a left hook sent him down and after he got up it was Gargula in control. The pace dropped in the third with Gargula on the back foot and countering well but the fourth featured plenty of exchanges with Gargula showing a swelling by his right eye. Gargula had the better of the fifth and they just slugged away in the sixth which again Gargula edged. Scores 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55 for Gargula. The 40-year-old Gargula retired in 2004 and only returned to the ring in June this year after 10 years and two months out. He remains unbeaten but his horizons must be limited. Three losses in a row for Skrzypczynski Fajardo, Puerto Rico: Bantam: Emmanuel Rodriguez (13-0) W TKO 7 Alex Rangel (16-5-2). Rodriguez continues to impress as he stops Mexican Rangel in seven. Rangel decided his best chance lay in taking the fight to the Puerto Rican prospect and fighting on the inside. The problem was that Rodriguez was banging home hurtful jabs, straight rights and left hooks to the body all night. Rangel faded out of the fight and a volley of hard punches from Rodriguez in the seventh put Rangel down with the referee having seen enough and stopping the fight. The 23-year-old “Manny” wins the vacant WBO Fedelatin title and has 9 victories by KO/TKO. His last four fights have all been scheduled for ten rounds but this is the first of those fights to go past the third round. He is a former World Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner and is the spokesman for a foundation that helps children who have suffered severe burns having himself recovered from suffering second degree burns over 66% of his body in an accident. Rangel has lost 4 of his last 5 fights but took former world title challenger Cesar Seda the full ten rounds in his last visit to Puerto Rico in June last year. Fallon, NV, USA: Light: Saul Rodriguez (18-0-1) W PTS 8 Ramsey Luna (12-4). Rodriguez remains unbeaten in a good fight with Luna. Both were letting their punches go in the first with Luna more than willing to mix it. Rodriguez scored well at the start of the second with over hand rights and left hooks to the body. In the third it looked as though Rodriguez was going to add to his score one of his quick wins as he drove Luna to the ropes and lashed out with rights and left hooks with Luna looking in deep trouble. Luna survived and was fighting back at the bell. The fourth saw Luna still fighting back strongly forcing Rodriguez to retreat and scoring with a couple of choice uppercuts. Rodriguez hurt Luna with a long right in the fifth but Luna had Rodriguez against the ropes and was working inside as the round ended. The sixth saw both have good spells with Luna perhaps just having the edge. Rodriguez was back on top in the seventh landing long rights and his trademark left hooks to the body. Rodriguez also took the last forcing Luna back and hammering home rights but with Luna getting off some good counters. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. The 22-year-old “Kid Dinamita” has 13 wins by KO/TKO. After a run of 8 inside the distance wins on the bounce he has now gone the full ten rounds in consecutive fights so some useful ring time. Texan Luna, 23, has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights but Rodriguez is the third undefeated fighter he has faced in those 4 losses alongside Toka Kahn Clary and Ryan Kielczewski and he gave Rodriguez a good fight. August 23 Yalta, Crimea: Light Heavy: Felix Varela (13-0) W PTS 12 Stas Kashtanov (33-2). Middle: Dmitry Chudinov (15-1-2) W PTS 8 Geard Ajetovic (26-13-1). Super Light: Ramal Amanov (9-0) W DISQ 3 Ranses Payano (19-2). Varela vs. Kashtanov Varela win the vacant interim WBA title with split decision over Kashtanov. This was a spectacle to behold. Varela has a style even more eccentric than Chris Eubank Senior and poor Kashtanov had no chance of adjusting to such a weird puzzle that faced him. In the first Varela was boxing with his hands on his hips throwing quick light punches from both hands and his constant change of guards, ducking, bobbing weaving stalking and walking around the ring then changing direction and trotting in the other direction just froze Kashtanov who could not find a target to aim at. It was the same in the second but more so with the bizarre antics of Varela seeing him throwing punches from weird angles ducking almost to the canvas and at times creeping sideward’s around the ring which again bamboozled Kashtanov who was trying to stick to an orthodox approach. It was the fourth round before Kashtanov finally managed to get into the fight by letting his hands go more and closing down some of Varela’s space. Kashtanov also had a good fifth as Varela was boxing in a more orthodox style and Kashtanov was able to get home with a good right and a left hook. The sixth and seventh were both close rounds and in the eighth for the first time in the fight Varela stood toe to-toe with Kashtanov and just had the edge due to his much quicker hands. Kashtanov had a better ninth but his frustration with the antics of Varela had him throwing the Dominican to the floor and later in the round pushing him down but again Varela was the one scoring with quick light punches. Varela resorted to his antics over the closing rounds with Kashtanov in constant pursuit but never able to nail down the elusive Varela who was at his most eccentric but also getting through with those quick combination and making sure he was somewhere else when Kashtanov countered. I thought that the “style” of Varela might count against him but he got the decision. Scores 116-112 and 115-113 for Varela and 117-111 for Kashtanov. First fight outside the Dominican Republic for the 27-year-old Varela who was his country’s super middle champion. As an amateur he fought in a range from 75kgs to 81kgs competing at the Pan American Games and World Championships. Kashtanov, 31, had lost a split decision to Karoly Balzsay for the vacant WBA secondary super middle title in 2011 and was inactive from August 2013 until April this year, and in June won the Russian light heavy title when his opponent Konstantin Piternov was forced to retire with a shoulder injury. Somehow that light heavyweight win entitled him to fight for the interim WBA super middle title. Chudinov vs. Ajetovic Chudinov eases back after losing his WBA interim title to Chris Eubank Jr with a win over a very passive Ajetovic. Chudinov was forcing the fight with Ajetovic taking a passive role goiung backwards until he was leaning with his back against the ropes hiding behind a high guard and letting Chudinov just punch away. Chudinov was not doing much harm but Ajetovic was throwing only occasional counters. It was the same at the start of the second until Ajetovic unleashed a right that definitely staggered Chudinov. For a few seconds Ajetovic threw punches from both hands and then inexplicably just went back to his old tactics and spent most of the round on the ropes. Apart from a sharp right uppercut from Chudinov in the fourth and a brief spell of hands down defence in “Varela” style from Ajetovic in the sixth the fight had no highlights. It was repetitive round after round of Chudinov coming forward trying to find a way past the high guard of Ajetovic and the Serb throwing occasional flurries and then going back into his shell which was a pity as he looked capable of hurting Chudinov if he had tried harder. No scores given but Chudinov got the unanimous verdict and it had to be 80-72 as Ajetovic never threw enough punches to come close to winning any round. For the 28-year-old “Russian Wolf” it was virtually eight rounds of sparring as he works his way back. For Ajetovic it was a payday and his fourth loss in his last five fights. Amanov vs. Payano Amanov wins vacant WBA International title as Dominican Payano is disqualified. Payano looked to be in control using his edges in height and reach to outbox and pressurise southpaw Amanov. He was doing fine until he lost control and landed a low punch in the third. The referee deducted a point but Payano repeated the offence almost immediately and was disqualified. The 30-year-old Azeri-born Amanov gets a lucky win and probable a world rating from the WBA. “The Pharaoh” Payano, 21, is the Dominican welter champion and he can only blame himself for losing this one. As always a huge thanks to Eric Armit for his review of the results from around the world.
August 13 Panama City, Panama: Super Feather: Juan Huertas (10-1) W TKO 2 Moises Castro (31-26-4). Light Fly: Leroy Estrada (14-2) W PTS 6 Jose Sanchez (5-4-2). Huertas vs. Castro “El General” Huertas continues to show promise as he halts the experienced Castro in two rounds. The taller Huertas, he is 6’0 ½” (184cm) had no trouble winning this one initially he tried boxing on the outside. When that did not work he went inside and to the body. He put Castro down on his hands and knees early in the second with a body punch and although Castro made it to his feet the fight was stopped. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old Panamanian who lost to Felix Verdejo at the 2012 Olympics. He is No 12 with the WBA. Now 5 losses in a row for Nicaraguan “Cobra” Castro Estrada vs. Sanchez World rated Estrada gets unanimous decision over fellow Panamanian Sanchez. Southpaw Estrada suffered a shock knockdown in the third round but dominated all of the other sessions. Scores 58-55 from all three judges. “Sensacional” Estrada, 21, has won 7 of his last 8 fights and is rated as a minimumweight at WBC 5/WBA 12/WBO 13. “Policia” Sanchez now has three losses in a row. August 14 Newark, NJ, USA: Heavy: Antonio Tarver (31-6-1,1ND) DREW 12 Steve Cunningham (28-7-1). Cruiser: Krzys Glowacki (25-0) W KO 11 Marco Huck (38-3-1) W. Heavy: Artur Szpilka (20-1) W TKO 2 Yasmany Consegura (17-2). Super Bantam: Luis Rosa (21-0) W TEC DEC 6 Giovanni Caro (24-17-4). Super Welter: Jarrett Hurd (16-0) W TKO 7 Jeff Lentz (5-1). Middle: Maciej Sulecki (21-0) W TKO 1 Jose M Rodriguez (21-9). Heavy: Travis Kauffman (29-1) W TKO 1 Rich Carmack (13-7,1ND).Feather: Kamil Laszczyk (21-0) W PTS 8 Oscauris Frias (16-1). Tarver vs. Cunningham Tarver and Cunningham end up all even with a split draw after an interesting if not exciting technical fight. It was close all the way with Cunningham the busier but Tarver landing more of his power punches. Cunningham had the better of the first three rounds but in the fourth a left from Tarver staggered Cunningham and sent him into the ropes. Tarver fired a quick combination but Cunningham quickly recovered and went back to the attack. Tarver was fighting on the back foot and countering and with Cunningham usually the one coming forward Tarver was finding gaps for his punches. He had Cunningham hurt again in the fifth but was being outworked in many rounds and Cunningham looked to have built a lead by the end of the tenth. Tarver took the eleventh shaking Cunningham with a southpaw left but despite a swelling by his right eye making the right side of his face a mess Cunningham staged a big twelfth only to be rocked again at the end of the round by a final left from Tarver. Scores 115-113 for Cunningham, 115-113 for Tarver and 114-114. It was a close as the scores indicate with Cunningham having they edge in punches thrown and landed and Tarver scoring with more of his power punches. The draw does not really advance either fighter’s chance of a title shot. The 39-year-old Cunningham levels out at 1-1-1 that is one good win over Amir Mansour, one loss to Vyacheslav Glazkov and now this draw and his only rating is IBF 6(5) with the IBF. Tarver, 46, was coming off a seventh round kayo of Jonathan Banks in December and was only rated by the WBA at No 9(8). Glowacki vs. Huck The Cunningham vs. Tarver fight was unlucky to follow the exciting, dramatic fight between Glowacki and Huck and looked tame by comparison. Glowacki came off the floor to score a big upset and lift Huck’s WBO title. The Polish challenger was off the mark quickly in this one as he came forward behind a wide stance probing with his southpaw jab and ended the first round by shaking Huck with a right. Glowacki was even more dominant in the second forcing Huck back and doing the scoring and he also took the third with a frustrated Huck getting a severe warning for punching after the bell ending the round. Huck finally started to land some heavy punches in the fourth and won that round. After four rounds the scores were 39-37 for Glowacki on all three cards. Huck began taking control and he scored with hard right hands in the fifth before flooring Glowacki with an overhand left in the sixth. Glowacki was down on his back and badly hurt but he was up at eight and then took the fight to Huck and they banged away at each other for the rest of an exciting round. Incredibly Glowacki came out strong in the seventh and won the round on the back of left hook. Huck outscored Glowacki to take the eighth and the fight had turned around with Huck now in front 76-75 on all three cards. The pace dropped in the ninth with Huck just doing enough to shade the round. Both were a little more lively in the tenth with Huck scoring with a series of shots to take the round and be up on the cards at 96-93, 96-93 and 95-94. In the eleventh Huck was stabbing out long punches but was noticeably more tired and was holding his guard low. Huck stepped in and threw a couple of punches and Glowacki cracked home a thunderous left hook and a straight right over Huck’s non-existent guard which sent Huck crashing back into the ropes and down on his back. Huck made it to his feet but was really finished at that point. On completion of the eight count Glowacki stepped in and landed the same left hook straight right combination which sent Huck to the ropes. The Pole landed three more head shots and as Huck slumped down to the canvas again the referee stepped in and waived the fight off. The 29-year-old Pole was the mandatory challenger but Huck was a huge favourite and already talking about going up to heavyweight and was looking to impress in his American debut. It was Glowacki’s first fight outside of Poland and his 16th win by KO/TKO. He had only faced medium opposition to this point which made it even more of a surprise. Serb-born German-based Huck, 30, was making the 14th defence of his WBO title. His only loss in his last 21 fights had been against Alex Povetkin in 2012. Huck had burned his boats for this one, leaving his promoter, leaving his coach and now he finds himself with no title. He has competed in kickboxing in the past and had been talking to UFC but a return with Glowacki is what he wants most. Szpilka vs. Consegura Szpilka wins as Consegura retires with a knee injury. The Polish southpaw started the first round well scoring with a straight right and a left to the body. Consegura scored with a right but a left hook from Szpilka sent the Cuban tumbling into the ropes and he appeared to twist his knee but did not go down. They traded equally at the start of the second until late in the round when a right hook from Szpilka put Consegura down. The bell went before Szpilka could build on that but Consegura’s knee was examined by a doctor and the fight was stopped. “Pin” Szpilka lost on a tenth round stoppage against Bryant Jennings in January 2014 but beat Tomasz Adamek in his next fight and has now added three more wins. He is rated IBF 7(6)/WBC 7/WBO 10 so is well down the queue for a title shot. Consegura had been stopped in three rounds by Dominic Breazeale in June so it is two inside the distance losses in a row for him. Rosa vs. Caro Rosa gets technical decision in a fight he was on his way to winning. The young Puerto Rican was too quick and accurate for the worn Mexican veteran. He had Caro hurt in both the first and second rounds. Caro did a bit better in the third but Rosa was on top again in the fourth. He was also taking the fifth and sixth until a clash of heads saw Caro cut over his right eye. The cut was too severe for the Mexican to continue so the cards decided it. Scores 60-55, 59-55 and 58-56. The 24-year-old WBC No 15 already has wins over Jorge Diaz and Luis Orlando Del Valle. “El Ruso” Caro, 32, a former IBF title challenger, is on the slope with this being his sixth loss in a row. Hurd vs. Lentz Hurd halts Lentz with blitz in the seventh. Hurd was punching too hard for Lentz but was not accurate enough to get this over as early as he should have done. He was breaking Lentz down with punches from both hands and the punishment came to fruition as Hurd landed a couple of punches in the seventh which staggered Lentz and saw the referee stop the fight. Now 10 wins by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old “Swift” Hurd who was in his second fight scheduled for eight rounds. Lentz was in his first eight round fight. Sulecki vs. Rodriguez Pole Sulecki halts Rodriguez inside a round. Sulecki got the job done with left hooks under the right elbow of Rodriguez and although the Colombian made it to his feet the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Sulecki goes to six wins by KO/TKO as he adds to impressive wins over Grzegorz Proksa and Darryl Cunningham. The 40-year-old Venezuelan-based Rodriguez was a late replacement and has lost 8 of his last 9 contests. Kauffman vs. Carmack Kauffman returns to action with a quick knockout of a very fat Carmack. Kauffman had no trouble reaching Carmack who was carrying too much weight to be mobile. A right from Kauffman ended the fight in 127 seconds. The 29-year-old 6’3” (191cm) “My Time” Kauffman was having his first fight since January 2014 and he was fed an easy win here. The former PAL gold medallist and US Championships silver medal winner has 21 wins by KO/TKO but this was farcical. “Silverback” Carmack’s weight was not given but he weighed 331lbs (150kg) in his last fight. Laszczyk vs. Frias North Bergen-based Pole Laszczyk easily handles Dominican Frias and wins unanimous decision. The Polish hope scored with a heavy right cross in the first to stamp his authority on the fight. In the second and third it was his sharp left jab interspersed with left hooks to the body that gave Frias trouble. The Dominican threw a couple of punch after the bell at the end of the third round and the referee deducted a point. A straight right floored Frias in the fourth but he got up and made it to the bell. It was all Laszczyk in the fifth as he was again using the left jab and left hooks to the body and for a change in the sixth it was a straight right that made Frias buckle at the knees. Laszczyk hurt Frias again in the both the seventh and eighth but just could not end the bout early. Scores 80-70 from all three judges. The 24-year-old WBO No 6 is yet to face a real test but he looks good. Frias yet another with an inflated Dominican record. He had won his last 4 fights against opponent with combined records of 4-104-6. Flemington, Australia: Heavy: Lucas Browne (23-0) W KO 9 Julius Long (16-19). Light: Will Tomlinson (24-2-1) W PTS 10 Adones Aguelo (24-12-2). Light Heavy: Trent Broadhurst (16-1) W PTS 6 Affif Belghecham (21-9-1). Middle: Dwight Ritchie (12-0,4ND) W PTS 6 Mark Dalby (4-9). Cruiser: Jai Opetaia (2-0) W TKO 1 Rob Manual (0-4). Browne vs. Long I can hear Browne muttering “all’s well that ends well” after this fight. The highly rated Australian had struggled to look convincing against the very tall late substitute Long (well named). The 7’1” (216cm) American was an awkward opponent who Browne found hard to score against. Things started to go badly wrong in the second when Browne broke his right thumb and could only use that hand sparingly. He was forcing the fight and since Long is not a puncher-or a mover- was doing most of the scoring. Long came in at very short notice for this fight and tried switching guards to confuse Browne but started to fade from the sixth. Browne almost ended it in the eighth when he floored Long with a series of punches but Long just made it to his feet and out of the round. Browne ended it in style in the ninth. He drove Long into the ropes with a left hook which jerked the American’s head back and as a result Long did not see the second short left hook which dumped him on the canvas with the referee not bothering to count. The 36-year-old Browne, a former kick boxer and MMA exponent, did not look good but the broken thumb and the change of opponent to someone as tall as Long both need to be taken into account. He is rated WBA 3(2)/WBC 6/IBF 13(12) and with only Ruslan Chagaev and Tyson Fury ahead of him in the WBA ratings he could be in with a chance of a fight against the winner of Wlad Klitschko vs. Fury. He has the power but is slow. Long, 38, has now lost 11 of his last 12 fights as his height is about all he has going for him. Tomlinson vs. Aguelo Tomlinson gets the majority decision over Aguelo but it seems everyone else except Will and the judges thought Filipino Aguelo won this one clearly. Aguelo walked in forcing Tomlinson to work hard in every round and looked to be outscoring the Australian. Certainly Tomlinson looked the worse for wear by the end after being forced to brawl when he should have boxed. Tomlinson looked a shadow of the boxer who had won the IBO title. He did manage to finish the fight strongly over the last two rounds but by then Aguelo looked to have the fight won and Tomlinson had a cut over his left eye and was bleeding from his nose and chin and had blurred vision. Scores 97-93, 97-94 and 95-95. Promoter Jeff Fenech even described it as robbery and the newspapers and social media were incensed all seeing the Filipino a clear winner but that won’t affect the record book entry. Losses to Jerry Belmontes and Francisco Vargas had convinced Tomlinson to move up to lightweight but this was a bad start in the new division. He has said he will take a holiday and consider his future but with this fight he won the interim PABA title and my guess is that he will box on. Aguelo, the GAB No 4 super feather and former interim Philippines champion, had won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss being against Mexican star Adrian Estrella. On his other visit to Australia in 2011 he had taken then world rated Joel Brunker to a close decision loss so he was a good level opponent who came to win. Broadhurst vs. Belghecham Queenslander Broadhurst was too good for French southpaw Belghecham and won the unanimous verdict to go to 8 wins in a row. The 27-year-olod ANBF No 1 was Australian champion at Cadet, Junior and Senior level and competed at the World Junior Championships. His only loss was to New Zealander Robert Berridge in 2011. Belghecham, 41, has been in with Andy Lee and Darren Barker and had lost on points to world title challenger Blake Caparello in June. Ritchie vs. Dalby Australian champion Ritchie keeps busy with unanimous verdict over Dalby. The 23-year-old Ritchie’s no decisions were four wins he scored when under the permitted age to turn professional. Now 5 losses in a row for 36-year-old Dalby. Opetaia vs. Manual Hot prospect Opetaia demolishes poor Manual inside a round. The 20-year-old 6’4 ½” southpaw was having his second fight in less than two weeks. He competed at the 2012 Olympics as a 17-year-old and also won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships. Jeff Fenech described as potentially the best Australian fighter ever! No pressure then Jai. New Zealander Manual, 39, lost for the first time inside the distance. East London, South Africa: Bantam: Mzuvukile Magwaca (16-1-1) W PTS 12 Jose Santos Gonzalez (22-3). Minimum: Siyabonga Siyo (9-0) W PTS 12 Lito Dante (9-5-3). Fly: Luzuko Siyo (14-3) W TKO 7 Mfundo Gwayana (18-8-3). Super Fly: Sithembiso Faye (9-0-1) DREW 10 Lindile Tshemese (6-2-1). Middle: Siphiwe Lusizi (1-0) W KO 1 Bongani Ngceshe (1-1) Magwaca vs. Gonzalez Magwaca wins the vacant WBA International title with unanimous decision over Mexican Gonzalez. Local prospect Magwaca used his longer reach to build an early lead but once Gonzalez started to find his way inside it was a much closer fight. The Mexican tried to throw Magwaca off his game plan with changes to southpaw but it was the inside pressure that was most effective for Gonzalez and he was dangerous with left hooks. Magwaca stuck to his boxing although most often on the back foot and both fighters tried hard to swing the fight their way with strong finishes but Magwaca’s early lead just allowed him to take the victory but it was a lot closer than the scores show. Scores 116-112 twice and 116-111. The 24-year-old “Old Bones” Magwaca makes it three wins since losing to unbeaten Makazole Tete in 2013. Gonzalez, also 24, had lost only one of his last 16 fights but the opposition has been fairly low level but he gave Magwaca a tough night here. Siyo vs. Dante Siyo also wins a vacant WBA International title with a win over Filipino Dante. The quick, slick Siyo outboxed Dante but the Filipino never stopped coming and made it a hard twelve rounds for the South African. A former top amateur Siyo used good movement and hand speed and as long as he was able to keep Dante out he was in charge. Dante had to force the fight and was a busy if wild forcer and Siyo did not have the punch to turn his counters into knockout punches but he did open a cut under the Filipino’s right eye and also survived a slip in the seventh which could have resulted in a leg injury. Siyo’s skills were enough to see him a deserving winner but again the scores of two of the judges did not reflect how hard Dante worked. Scores 119-111, 118-110 and 115-113 with the first two way out and the third whilst getting the right decision also a fair representation of Dante’s efforts. Siyo already holds the WBA Pan African title and is rated No 14 light fly by the WBA and is making good progress. He nearly pulled out of this fight having suffered a stomach problem a couple of days before the fight but was OK by fight time. Dante, 26, had put his career on a firmer footing with 5 wins in his last 6 fights and put up a good effort here. Siyo vs. Gwayana Siyo comes back from a slow start to halt Gwayana in a clash of former national champions who were both coming off a loss in their last fight. Southpaw Gwayana looked good in the early rounds but once Siyo warmed-up he began to take charge and wore Gwayana down. Siyo was dominating the fight and handing out continuous punishment until he put Gwayana down in the seventh at which point the referee halted the fight with the towel coming in from Gwayana corner at the same time. Siyo, the brother of Siyabonga, is a former South African light fly champion who had lost to Filipino Ray Tabugon for the IBO Inter-Continental title in December. Gwayana, 31, had two spells as South African light fly champion and has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Faye vs. Tshemese Faye looks to have done enough to get the verdict but has to settle for a draw. Both fighters tried hard but the fight never really caught fire and there were few highlights. Faye seemed to do the cleaner work but did not convince the judges. Scores 97-94 Faye, 98-95 for Tshemese and 95-95. This was to have been for the vacant South African title but was reduced to ten rounds with no title on the line. Faye, the BSA No 1 remains unbeaten. Southpaw, Tshemese the BSA No 3, was having his first fight for 14 months and it was also his first ten round fight. Lusizi vs. Ngceshe Lusizi turns pro with quick win. The former top amateur took only 60 seconds to put poor Ngceshe down and out. Lusizi, a 26-year-old southpaw and fashion model was South African amateur champion in 2009,2010,2011 and 2012 and competed at the World Championships, the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2012 Olympics. He was one of South Africa’s big hopes for Rio so his defection to the pro ranks was controversial. One to watch. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Fly: Carlos R D Ruiz (21-6) W PTS 10 Hugo Verchelli (11-3). Ruiz survives a couple of very rocky rounds to outpoint Verchelli. Over the early rounds a lot of ring rust was showing in Verchelli’s case. He is usually a slow starter and this was his first fight for almost two years. That gave the first four rounds to Ruiz as he outboxed Verchelli and was looking comfortable. That changed in the fifth when Verchelli nailed Ruiz with a left hook and landed a couple of quick combinations. Ruiz was badly shaken and the referee gave him a standing count. Ruiz boxed his way through the sixth and seventh only for Verchelli to again land a left to the chin and two more head punches forcing the referee to give Ruiz a second standing count. Ruiz survived and then took the last two rounds to get the unanimous decision. Scores 95-92, 96 ½-94 and 95-94 ½ for Ruiz. A needed win for the FAB No 4 a former interim South American bantam champion who had lost three on the bounce to some good quality opposition. Southpaw Verchelli, 26, was having his first fight since being floored three times and stopped in four rounds by Hekkie Budler in a challenge for the IBO and interim WBA minimum titles in November 2013. Davao City, Philippines: Welter: Adones Cabaquinto (21-0) W KO 3 RJ Ano-os (8-7-1). Bantam: Aston Palicte (19-1) W TKO 4 Fernando Ocon (13-10-1). Light: Jay-ar Inson (8-0) W Victor Mausul (9-3-2). Cabaquinto vs. Ano-os Mark-time fight for unbeaten Cabaquinto as he knocks out overmatched Ano-os. The 27-year-ol Filipino super light . He has 14 wins by KO/TKO.champion looks to have stalled instead of moving on wards and upwards with his only rating being at No 12 super light with the WBO. Ano-as has lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Palicte vs. Ocon Big puncher Palicte gets another inside the distance win. The first round saw Palicte slam home a head punch that put the experienced Ocon in survival mode. From then Ocon was running and holding but still taking punishment when his corner threw in the towel in the fourth round. The 24-year-old GAB No 1 super fly has 17 wins by KO/TKO including 8 in a row. Southpaw Ocon, 24, has won only one of his last seven fights but this is only the second time he has failed to go the distance. Inson vs. Mausul Southpaw prospect Inson crushes Mausul inside two rounds. Inson was scoring with heavy combinations in the first with Mausul pretending confidence by signalling Inson to bring it on. He did and put Mausul down heavily in the second and although Mausul managed to beat the count he was on shaky legs and the fight was stopped. The 24-year-old 5’10” (178cm) prospect from Manny Pacquiao’s team (this was a MP Promotions show) has 6 wins by KO/TKO and in theory was moving up to ten rounds. He wins the interim WBO Oriental title. Indonesian Mausul was having only his fifth fight in nine years. Pergamino, Buenos Aires: Super Bantam: Julian E Aristule (27-6) W PTS 10 Lucas R Baez (27-14-4). Aristule retains the Argentinian and WBO Latino titles with unanimous decision over Baez. It was a comfortable fight for the southpaw champion as he outboxed Baez for 9 of the 10 rounds. It did not help Baez’s cause when he lost a point in the ninth for a butt. Knowing he needed a knockout to win he went for it in the last round and had Aristule in trouble with a hard right but ran out of time. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92, Aristule, 31, has won his last three fights including a good victory over useful Fabian Orozco (25-3-2) in February. Baez, 29, the FAB No 4, had won his last 10 fights mainly against at best modest opposition. August 15 Santos, Brazil: Middle: Acelino Freitas (40-2) W KO 3 Matteo D Veron (21-17-2,2ND). Freitas vs. Veron Freitas destroys Veron with four knockdowns. Freitas looking a lot plumper than in his prime went looking for Veron from the start and scored a knockdown in the first round with a straight right. Veron was up at six and made it to the end of the round. Freitas was hunting again in the second but Veron was using his edge in reach to stay out of trouble. In the third a long right cross put Veron down again. Veron was up at six and did not seem badly hurt. Freitas was hunting the Argentinian down throwing plenty of punches and floored Veron again although the last punch landed on the back of Veron’s head. This time he was hurt and as Freitas unleashed a series of punches Veron bent forward into the path of an uppercut that put him face down on the canvas out cold. First fight for the 39-year-old for three years and only the second in eight years for the former WBA/WBO super feather and WBO light champion. At 153 ¾ lbs he was a chubby 20lbs over his weight when he was in his prime but he still showed some speed and lots of power so he will stick with his return and try a few more fights with a challenge thrown out to Manny Pacquiao already. Veron, 26, now has 6 losses by KO/TKO and falls to 2-8 in his last 10 fights. Montreal, Canada: Light Heavy: Eleider Alvarez (18-0) W PTS 12 Isidro Ranoni Prieto (24-1-3). Light Heavy: Lucien Bute (32-2) W TKO 4 Andrea Di Luisa (17-3). Super Light: Yves Ulysse Jr. (9-0) W TKO 2 Ryan Wagner (5-3). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (13-0) W TKO 2 Ed Perry (20-6-2). Alvarez vs. Prieto Alvarez gets unanimous decision over Prieto and wins the important WBC Siler title. In a fight between two South Americans it was the skills of Alvarez and his work rate that got him the verdict but not without some scares along the way. The first round set the pattern for what was to follow with Alvarez taking the early part of the round only for Prieto to score with a punch at the end that had Alvarez shaken. Alvarez outworked Prieto in the second but in the third the Paraguayan landed another big punch which had Alvarez holding on. The Colombian was back in control in the fourth outscoring Prieto and finding gaps for his hard counters. The most dramatic moment of the fight came in the sixth when a left from Prieto had Alvarez in deep trouble. Alvarez was trying to hold to give his head time to clear but Prieto kept the pressure on with Alvarez pushing Prieto to the canvas and getting a brief relief which helped him see out the round. From the seventh Prieto seemed to tire and although he was still dangerous Alvarez was firing home lefts to the chin and body shots and putting the fight beyond the Paraguayan. By the last round only a knockout would do for Prieto but Alvarez was never going to let that happen and he boxed his way to the bell without taking any chances. Scores 117-111 from all three judges. The 31-year-old Colombian “Storm” showed he has skill and power in equal measure as when beating Anatoliy Dudchenko and Ryno Liebenberg. It is tough at the top in the light heavy division with the titles shared between Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson but after winning the WBC Silver title Alvarez will be targeting that title. Argentinian-based Prieto, 31, had very impressive stats but this was his first fight outside South America so he was very much an unknown quantity. He gave Alvarez some scary moments and I feel sure that there will be more fights in the USA if he wants them. Bute vs. Di Luisa Bute takes a couple of rounds to shake of the rust and then stops Di Luisa. The first round saw both fighters make a cautious start with Di Luisa coming forward and probing with his jab and firing some combinations and Bute lunging forward with his southpaw jab with neither boxer really landing any punch of note. Bute stepped up the pace in the second scoring with long lefts to the body with Di Luisa still staying with the jab and quick but light combinations. Bute was looking to trade in the third with Di Luisa making the mistake of standing in front of Bute and exchanging but not having the power to win that battle and Bute scored with a straight right left cross combination the two best punches so far. Di Luisa started the fourth well penetrating Bute’s guard with quick punches from both hands. Bute suddenly fired back with a left to the head and Di Luisa took a couple of steps back and then collapsed onto his knees. The referee interrupted the count a six to tell Bute to go to a neutral corner and Di Luisa got up and the referee completed the eight count. Bute walked in and blasted home four or five head punches and the towel came in from Di Luisa’s corner. The 35-year-old Romanian/Canadian was having his first fight since losing to Jean Pascal in January 2014 and Di Luisa was reasonable level comeback fight but we will need a couple more fights under his belt to assess where he stands now. Di Luisa, 33, a former Italian and EU champion showed some nice skills but no real power. Ulysse vs. Wagner Ulysse marches on. The hot young prospect was on top from the start with his quicker hands and a big edge in skill. He was looking to end this early and he did in the second round with a right uppercut to the solar plexus which put Wagner down on his hands and knees in agony and the fight was stopped. The 27-year-old from Montreal makes it 6 wins by KO/TKO. He represented Canada at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he beat Frederic Lawson but lost to Brit Bradley Saunders in the quarter finals and also fought at the 2011 World Championships. Wagner, loses inside the distance for the second time. Dinu vs. Perry Romanian Dinu hits too hard for Perry. The big Canadian-based Dinu floored Perry in the first and ended in the second with a big right which left Perry slumped up against the ropes with no chance of continuing the fight. The 28-year-old 6’5” (196cm) Dinu now has 9 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. The big Romanian was a World Cadet gold medallist and won bronze and silver at the World & European Junior championships respectively as well as competing at the 2005 World Championships. Perry, 28, loses inside the distance for the second time. He was knocked out by Lateef Kayode in December 2010 and was inactive until returning last year with a couple of wins. Guamuchil, Mexico: Super Fly: Carlos Cuadras (33-0-1) W TKO 5 Dixon Flores (11-3-2). Light Fly: Juan Hernandez (28-3) W PTS 8 Ramon Garcia (20-6-1). Cuadras vs. Flores Fighting in the city of his birth Cuadras retains the WBC title with stoppage of game but out-gunned Flores. The challenger showed a lot of enterprise in the first round with a quick jab and some 3-4 punch combinations. Cuadras looked slower but more powerful. Both landed good rights and Flores fired some quick combinations at the end of the round. Cuadras was letting his punches go at the start of the second wakling Flores down and scoring with left hooks to the body and long rights to the head. Late in the round Flores fired back and had Cuadras backing up and ducking and diving to avoid the combinations of Floes but Cuadras was back in control at the end of the round. Cuadras upped the pace in the third pursuing Flores relentlessly and scoring with long rights and double and triple left hooks to the body. Flores kept trying to bang back but by the end of the round was clinching for the first time in the fight. Cuadras was throwing heavy stuff in the fourth. Once again the left hook/right cross combination was getting home and a left hook/left uppercut/left hook had Flores going back. Now the Nicaraguan was doing more running and holding and less punching as Cuadras increased the pressure. At the start of the fifth Cuadras took Flores to the ropes and unloaded two left/right thudding combinations followed by a left hook that sent Flores back to the ropes and down with Cuadras throwing a couple of more shots as Flores was on his way to the canvas. Flores gamely made it to his feet at nine and the referee let the fight continue. Cuadras was wild with his punches trying to end it but for a couple of seconds Flores was up on his toes and throwing punches. Cuadras cut that short by forcing Flores to the ropes and landing left and right hooks that put Flores down for the second time. The Nicaraguan dragged himself to his feet but as the referee completed the eight count he then waived the fight off. Fourth successful defence of his WBC title for Cuadras and 26th win by KO/TKO. Flores, 21, showed good skills and plenty of guts and performed much better than a might be expected from a prelim fighter who had not fought at the super fly limit since 2013 and who the WBC manipulated their ratings to make acceptable. He just lacked anything in his arsenal to keep Cuadras out. Hernandez vs. Garcia Hernandez gets revenge over Garcia with unanimous decision. Southpaw Garcia made the better start and clearly took the first. After that Hernandez was the one in control. Hernandez had the superior skills and was quicker than former champion Garcia. Their styles did not mix well and there were plenty of heads banging together as the rounds progressed. The only moment of danger for Hernandez came in the sixth when the referee had the doctor examine a lump on Juanito’s right cheek but he survived the examination. A frustrated Garcia ended whatever chance he had of winning when he threw Hernandez to the floor in the seventh and had a point deducted allowing Hernandez to take the verdict comfortably. Hernandez, 28, lost a unanimous decision to Kazuto Ioka for the WBC minimum title in 2011 and was knocked out in eight rounds by Garcia in July 2013. He has rebounded well from that with six victories including a points win over Saul Juarez. The 32-year-old Garcia, a former WBO light fly champion, has been treading a hard road as he lost his title to Donnie Nietes, was knocked out by Roman Gonzalez in a fight for the WBA light fly title and was coming off successive losses to Javier Mendoza for the IBF title and to Filipino Jonathan Taconing. Bayamon, Puerto Rico : Super Feather: Jason Sosa (17-1-3) W TKO 1 Jerry Belmontes (19-8). Feather: Chris Diaz (12-0) W TKO 1 Alcides Santiago (5-2). Sosa vs. Belmontes Huge win for Sosa as he flattens Belmontes inside a round. The Puerto Rican hope slammed home a thunderous left hook followed by a right which put Belmontes face down on the canvas and the fight was stopped. The 27-year-old Camden-born banger is unbeaten in his last 15 fights and makes it 13 wins by KO/TKO including 12 in a row. Belmontes, 26, lost a split decision to Omar Figueroa for the WBC light title in April last year. He also took Abner Cotto to a split decision in August and went the distance with Miguel Vazquez and Dierry Jean earlier this year. This is his first loss by KO/TKO making Sosa’s achievement look even better. Diaz vs. Santiago Diaz ends this all-Puerto Rican contest one 13 seconds quicker than Sosa. Santiago was taking the fight to Diaz who was looking to catch Santiago with counters. Santiago continued to lunge forward and Diaz caught him on the inside with a short right. Santiago’s legs wobbled and Diaz pounced with a couple of follow-up punches as Santiago went down heavily. He had trouble getting up trying and tumbling over the first time. He made it at the second attempt but was still badly shaken and was bleeding heavily from the nose. Diaz slammed home some head shots with Santiago trying to punch his way out of trouble but getting nailed and he slid along the ropes to a corner and as Diaz landed more head punches the referee jumped in to end the fight. The 20-year-old Diaz was moving up to 8 rounds for the first time which became irrelevant with that right hand. Now 7 wins by KO/TKO for Diaz. Santiago had won his last three fights and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Krasnodar, Russia: Heavy: Vyacheslav Glazkov (21-0-1) W KO 4 Kertson Manswell (24-12). Super Light: Aik Shakhnazaryan (16-2) W TKO 4 Hamza Sempewo (12-5). Glazkov vs. Manswell Glazkov wins in messy fight with veteran loser Manswell. Glazkov took the first round scoring with overhand rights over the low guard of Manswell with Manswell trying to take Glazkov to the ropes but not doing much when he got him there. The second was a long round as in one exchange Glazkov seemed to catch Kertson on the chin with his elbow. Manswell went down clutching his chin but the referee did not count. Instead he sent Glazkov to a corner and signalled for Manswell to get up. The Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) fighter took a while to get up. The referee then took him back to his corner and told the T&T fighter’s corner why he had halted the fight gave Manswell even more time to recover, warned Glazkov and then let the fight continue. For the remaining minute it got ugly with both landing punches to the back of the head and Manswell getting warned for a low punch. Glazkov was going to the body more in the third with Manswell just trying to land one big punch and tumbling to the canvas after missing with a big swipe. Glazkov put Manswell down with two punches to the back of the head but the knockdown was counted anyway. In the fourth Glazkov threw a right which Manswell blocked and a left hook that was half blocked and Manswell went down on his knees and made no more than a token attempt to get up and was counted out. The 30-year-ols Ukrainian“ Czar” gets win No 13 by KO/TKO. The draw on his record was with Malik Scott in 2013 since then he has climbed the ratings with 7 wins including victories over Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham although a majority decision win over Derric Rossy last August is also in that list of wins and he did not impress then. Manswell, 38, at 267 ¾ lbs (121kgs) was just too slow to be a threat and he is now 1-9 in his last 10 fights. Shakhnazaryan vs. Sempewo Shakhnazaryan has no problems in overwhelming Sempewo. Shakhnazaryan was taking the fight to Sempewo who had height and reach over the Armenian-born Russian and showed some neat boxing on the retreat but no power and was throwing one punch at a time.. Both fighters traded more in the second round with Shakhnazaryan switching guards and landing beefy hooks to the body of Sempewo. In the third Shakhnazaryan was coming forward relentlessly. Sempewo scored with a couple of nice uppercuts but with no leverage. Late in the round a left hook to the body put the Ugandan down. Shakhnazaryan was already jumping on the ropes celebrating but Sempewo got up and the bell went before Shakhnazaryan could get any more punches home. In the fourth Shakhnazaryan forced Sempewo back into a corner but before he could land a punch Sempewo turned away and lifted his arm in surrender and the fight was stopped. The 22-year-old “Humanoid” is rebuilding after back-to-back losses to Abner Lopez and to Eduard Troyanovsky for the vacant IBO title. Ugandan Sempewo showed some neat touches but was out muscled by Shakhnazaryan and suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. Adejo, Spain: Super Feather: Sandro Dominguez (7-1) W TKO 6 Antonio Rodriguez (5-10-6). Local fighter Dominguez wins the vacant Spanish title. Dominguez edged the first two rounds and then put Rodriguez down in the third. Rodriguez tried to get back in the fight but was hampered by a nose injury and his corner pulled him out at the end of the sixth round. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old Dominguez who was in his first ten round fight. Rodriguez, 21, is now 0-5-3 in his last 8 fights including 3 losses and 2 draws in 5 Spanish title fights. Fort McDowell, AZ, USA: Middle: Louis Rose (13-2-1) W TKO 8 Andrew Hernandez (9-2-1,1ND). Rose retains his NABF Junior title with a late stoppage of Hernandez. This was made the main event after the Giovanni Segura vs. Juan Palacios fight fell through. It was a chance to shine for both fighters but neither really grasped the chance. The fight lacked any real highlights with Rose having opened a cut over the right eye of Hernandez in the fourth seemingly on his way to an uninspired points victory when he produced a right in the last round that put Hernandez down. Hernandez made it to his feet but a barrage of punches from Rose then saw the referee stop the fight. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 26-year-old and his second win by KO/TKO since being blasted out inside a round by Ievgen Khytrov in November. Local fighter Hernandez loses inside the distance for the second time having been knocked out in the first round by Jerry Odom in March, which saw Odom putting right a disqualification loss to Hernandez in January Miami, FL,USA: Light Heavy: Avni Yildrim (6-0) W PTS 10 Glen Johnson (54-21-2). Welter: Dusty Hernandez Harrison (27-0) W TKO 5 Carlos W Velasquez (23-21-1,1ND). Super Bantam: Neslan Machado (10-0) W TKO 2 Christian Esquivel (27-7). Middle: Luis Arias (13-0) W KO 1 Yoryi Estrella (11-11-2). Middle: Zach Kelley (5-11) W TKO 3 Alptug Oener (8-1) Yildrim vs. Johnson The youth of Yildrim gave him the edge in this one but only just. The young Turk was trying to set a fast pace and tire Johnson. The old Road Warrior has been there before and although often having to fight with his back to the ropes he was conserving energy and counter punching cleverly. Many rounds were close and hard to score but Johnson was never out of the fight. Yildrim tried hard to find a way to end the fight inside the distance in the ninth and tenth but Johnson was never really in trouble and had paced the fight well. Scores 96-94 twice and a way out 99-91. A big win for the relatively inexperienced Turk as he almost doubled his pro experience in this one fight (he had fought less than 11 rounds in his previous 5 fights). At 46 Johnson showed that he is still a force even though this is his third loss in a row. Harrison vs. Velasquez Just a keep busy fight for Harrison and he floors and halts Nicaraguan Velasquez. Harrison always had the fight under control and the only real question was how quickly he would win. He came near to ending it when he put Velasquez down with a right in the third then handed out punishment in the fourth and fifth with Velasquez retiring at the end of the round. The lanky Washington fighter has 13 wins by KO/TKO but is yet to be given a real test. Velasquez, 35, now has 5 losses by KO/TKO. Machado vs. Esquivel Cuban hope Machado gets impressive quick win over experienced Mexican. The teenager was just too quick with his combinations punching for a worn Esquivel. A knockdown in the first and another in second round was enough for Esquivel who retired at the end of the second round.. The 19-year-old “Pitbull” has 8 wins by KO/TKO. This was to have been one of the supporting bouts but when the joint main event fell apart Machado took his chance to get some high level exposure. He had won seven of his fights inside the first round so had less than 17 rounds on his record before agreeing to take on Esquivel and looks a good prospect. . Esquivel, 28, had a run of 13 wins that landed him a fight with Shinsuke Yamanaka for the vacant WBC title in 2011. He lost that and is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights including 4 losses in a row. Arias vs. Estrella Too easy for Arias as he kayos Estrella inside a round. The 25-year-old former amateur star now has 6 wins by KO/TKO. As an amateur he was US national champion in 2009 and 2010, won a silver medal at the NGG’s and a World Juniors bronze and beat guys such as Dominic Wade, Shawn Porter, Marcus Browne, Demetrius Ballard and Jesse Hart. That’s all in the past now so we will have to wait for better opposition than this to test him. Dominican Estrella, 35, is 1-9-1 in his last 11 fights. Kelley vs. Oener This was not supposed to end like this. Kelley was there simply because someone had to be in the other corner when Oener made his US debut and Kelley had all the credentials for an inside the distance loser to make Oener shine. The script was follow for two rounds as Oener took the first and was well on top in the second. It all went wrong in the third as Kelley suddenly came alive and put Oener down twice before the fight was stopped. The 29-year-old Kelley was 2-8 in his last 10 fights going in so looked very safe but that’s boxing. Twenty-five-year-old Turkish southpaw Oener will regroup and bounce back. Atlantic City, NJ, USA: Heavy: Chazz Witherspoon (34-3) W TKO 3 Nick Guivas (11-3-2). Heavy: Zhang Zhilei (5-0) W TKO 6 Dennis Benson (2-7-1). Witherspoon vs. Guivas Witherspoon keeps his hopes alive with routine win over Guivas. Witherspoon had oodles of height and reach over late sub Guivas and dominated the first with his jab/ right cross standard approach. In the second he again set Guivas up with the jab and then put Guivas down with a right. Guivas was up but unsteady. Witherspoon did not rush the job but again used the jab to set Guivas up and then banged home a right uppercut that had Guivas ready to go only for the bell to save him. In the third Guivas was shipping more heavy rights and the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. Fourth win by KO/TKO for Witherspoon since returning to action after taking two years out of the ring following his crushing loss to Seth Mitchell in 2012. He was the promoter of this show. Guivas had won his last 4 fights but against very low level opponents. Zhilei vs. Benson Chinese heavy Zhilei overcomes his first cut as a pro to halt Benson. Southpaw Zhilei had the edge in height and almost 30lbs in weight but Benson had not come to fall over and was willing to trade with Zhilei. In the third Zhilei looked as though he had scored a knockdown but it was ruled a slip but Benson ended the round with a nose injury leaking blood. It was Zhilei who shed blood next and this was much more serious as it was over the Chinese fighter’s left eye. Zhilei boxer cautiously over the fourth and fifth due to the cut but in the last round he put Benson down with a heavy left. Benson made it to his feet only for another right to put him down and the fight was stopped. Third win by KO/TKO for the 32-year-old 6’6” (198cm) Zhilei. As an amateur he won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics but lost to Anthony Joshua in 2012 Games. He also won a bronze medal at the World Championships and scored wins over Vyacheslav Glazkov and Joseph Parker. First loss inside the distance for Benson. Tacoma, WA, USA: Super Middle: Mike Gavronski (19-1-1) W PTS 10 Laatekwei Hammond (21-10). Gavronski makes it five wins in a row as he decisions experienced Hammond. Both traded jabs in the first with Gavronski throwing enough other shots to take the round on his work rate. Gavronski was throwing the right in after his jabs in the second and scoring well to the body with Hammond finishing the round strongly but not doing enough to steal it. In the third an overhand right from Gavronski put Hammond on the floor. The Ghanaian beat the count and then stayed out of trouble for the remainder of the round. Both showed good skills over the middle rounds with the fifth seeing some exciting trading but Gavronski having the edge in skill and work rate. As he was losing the battle of the jabs Hammond tried to take the fight inside but Gavronski just shortened his punches and was winning the battle inside as well. Hammond tired over the closing round and was holding more. He paid for that with a point deduction as Gavronski boxed his way to a wide unanimous decision. Scores 100-88 from all three judges. Gavronski’s only loss so far was to world rated Tureano Johnson and he has built sensibly since then. Hammond, 35, a former CBC title challenger and Ghanaian champion has lost four in a row since basing himself in the USA. This evening promise to have more than just a little bit of interesting action.
For us the pick of the action is in Mexico. This show is headlined by a very hard to defend WBC Super Flyweight world title bout which will see Carlos Cuadras (32-0-1, 25) defending his belt against 21 year old Nicaraguan Dixon Flores (11-2-2, 3). The match up is horrible but it will probably be Cuadras's final defense before a rematch with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The more exiting fight on this show is at Light Flyweight as Ramon Garia Hirales (20-6-1, 12) takes on Juan Hernandez (27-3, 19) in a bout for a WBC International title. Hirales will be fighting for the first time since he was stopped by Jonathan Taconing back in April and enters following back-to-back losses. Hernandez on the other hand will be looking for revenge against his fellow Mexican who stopped a couple of years ago in a world title eliminator. This really could be the hidden gem of the weekend. In Canada fans will see local favourite Lucian Bute (31-2, 24) battle against little known Italian fighter Adrea Di Luisa (17-2, 13). This is a must win for Bute, who's career really is at the stage where he must win to remain relevant following 2 losses in his last 3. For De Luisa this is a big opportunity to become a “known” fighter but with 2 stoppage losses on his record it's likely he's been selected to make Bute look good. Also in Canada is an intriguing bout between unbeaten fighters each looking to make a statement. This fight sees unbeaten Canadian based Colombian Eleider Alvarez (17-0, 10) take on unbeaten Argentinian puncher Isidro Ranoni Prieto (24-0-3, 20). On paper this looks like the fight of the night and really could an explosive one if the styles gel we expect them to. A third bout of note in Canada is at Heavyweight as the touted Bogdan Dinu (12-0, 8) takes on Ed Perry (20-5-2, 11). The 6'5 Dinu is a Canadian based Roman who some have tipped very highly though anything but a stoppage against Perry would be considered a disappointment. Perry has only been stopped once from his 5 losses but he hasn't really faced many punchers, other that Lateef Kayode who did stop him. The only major card tonight comes from New Jersey, US where we get several bouts of note.
The most significant of those is a WBO Cruiserweight title fight between long term champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26) and the unbeaten Krzysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15). Huck will be seeking his 14th defense of the title and will also be making his US debut after a very successful career in Germany, where hs is a star. Whilst Huck will be the favourite Glowacki is seen as a very live under-dog. The co-feature of the show will see former Cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (28-7, 13) battle against former Light Heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (31-6-0-1, 22) in a bout at Heavyweight. The contest is a really intriguing one and it's fair to say that if either man suffers a clear loss it could be the end of their career, at least as a notable contender. Another exciting Heavyweight bout here will see popular Polish slugger Artur Szpilka (19-1, 14) battle against Cuban Yasmany Consuegra (17-1, 14). Both men will view this as a potential stepping stone to a major fight but both will know that the other man brings power and desire. This really could be a very good bout. A huge thanks, as ever, to our good friend Eric Armit for his latest weekly review of the major results.
August 6 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Feather: Abraham Lopez (19-0-1) W TKO 9 Jorge Diaz (18-4-1). Super Bantam: Roy Tapia (11-0-2) W KO 3 Juan Luis Hernandez (18-6-1). Lopez vs. Diaz Lopez gets stoppage win over useful Diaz. Diaz came out pressing the action in the first only for a right from Lopez to put him off balance and down on one knee for a flash knockdown. Lopez had the strength and was the harder puncher but Diaz boxed well finding the target regularly with his rights. However Lopez was bossing the fight and landing the harder punches and slowly draining the energy out of Diaz. Lopez landed some vicious uppercuts in the seventh and although Diaz was still finding gaps with his counters he was not able to stop Lopez walking through his jab and dominating. It was all one way in the eighth and ninth with Diaz just soaking up punishment and between the referee and Diaz’s corner they decided that it was over at the end of that ninth round. “Chamaco” Lopez, 27, now has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He has beaten Gerardo Espinoza, Gabriel Tolmajyan and Alfred Tetteh and his draw was with Juan Carlos Martinez so a reasonable level of opposition to aid his development. Diaz, 27, a former US Under-19 champion, won his first 15 fights but is 3-4-1 in his last 8 as the opposition had gotten tougher Tapia vs. Hernandez Tapia was coming off a disappointing draw but he made no mistake here. Tapia’s body punches had Hernandez struggling in the first round and Tapia continued to bombard the body in the second with Hernandez driven to his knees. Tapia was scoring with thumping hooks again in the third and Hernandez went down for a second time and the fight was over. Tapia, 23, had knocked out Mexican veteran Luis Maldonado in November but only managed a draw with Ali Gonzalez (6-5) in March. Hernandez gets his fifth loss by KO/TKO. He is now 3-3 in his last 6 fights. The wins were over low level opposition but the other losses were against much tougher foes in Genesis Servania and Joseph Diaz. August 7 Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Welter: Guido N Pitto (20-3) W PTS 10 Luis A Moreno (18-9-5). Pitto returns from having been based in Spain and gets win. “Chico” was outboxing Moreno for most of the way but just lacked the power to end it early. He was able to get through Moreno’s guard with punches to head and body and by the third Moreno already had a swelling on his left cheek. A series of hard punches in the fourth saw Moreno spit out his gumshield to get a breather and he was competitive in the middle rounds. Pitto kept up the pressure and a left hook in the ninth had Moreno stumbling. Pitto finished strongly with Moreno again spitting out his gumshield and this time it cost him a point but the brief stoppage allowed him to last the distance. Scores 98-91, 97-92 and 97-93. Pitto had a good campaign in Europe beating Reda Zam Zam and taking away the unbeaten record of Jack Culcay, the only loss on the record of the interim WBA champion. Culcay beat him in a return but even then only on a split decision. He had a title shot in April last year losing on points to Zaurbek Baysangurov for the vacant IBO title. Moreno was out of his depth and the scoring flattered him as he hardly did enough to win one round. He is 2-7 in his last 9 fights and this is the first time he has gone more than six rounds. Flemington, Australia, Super Light: Czar Amonsot (39-3-3) W TEC DEC 4 Rusmin Kie Raha (14-8-2). Super Bantam: Ibrahim Balla (8-0) W PTS 10 Roberto Lerio (16-22-1). Cruiser: Kane Watts (15-2) W KO 3 Emosi Solitua (5-2). Amonsot vs. Raha Amonsot wins vacant WBA Pan African title and makes the third defence of his PABA title with technical decision over Indonesian Raha. The 29-year-old Filipino southpaw the “Czar of Bohol” lost to Mike Katsidis for the interim WBO title in 2007 but since then is 11-0-2 in his last 13 fights and is at No 11 with the WBA. Raha, a former Indonesian light champion, is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Balla vs. Lerio The talented former amateur star Balla wins the vacant Australian title with wide unanimous verdict over tough little Filipino Lerio. Scores 100-90, 98-92 and 97-97. The 24-year-old prospect is one of two boxing brothers with brother Qamil already holding the Australian super light title. They are only the fifth pair of brothers to hold Australian titles at the same time. Ibrahim was Australian amateur champion and won a gold medal at the Arafura Games and a silver at the Commonwealth Youth Championships as well as representing Australia at the World Youth, World Senior, Commonwealth Games and 2012 Olympics so a good track record there. “Hands of Stone” Lerio, 29, is the Australian bantam champion and former super bantam champion but is 2-8 in his last 10 fights. Watts vs. Solitua Watts wins the vacant Australian title with knockout of Solitua. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for 33-year-old Watts. He lost to Daniel Ammann in April last year but has been busy with six wins since then. Samoan Solitua was having his first fight for almost 13 months. His other loss was a first round kayo by Brad Pitt in February 2014. San Antero, Colombia: Super Feather: Jose L Prieto (22-4) W TKO 7 Rodolfo Puente (16-2-2). Fly: Luis Diaz (15-2-1) W PTS 8 Gustavo Vera (3-3). Fly: Karluis Diaz (22-6) W PTS 8 Alfonso De la Hoz (13-54-6). Prieto vs. Puente “The Hammer” Prieto wins another inside the distance. Prieto was in charge from the start but a cut put his win in danger until he launched a furious attack in the seventh with a barrage of punches that forced the referee to stop the fight. The highlight of the fight was when the boxers were exchanging punches in a corner in the third round and the referee was floored by a loose punch. He got up and continued but sported a lump on his left cheek for the rest of the fight. The 30-year-old Prieto now has 14 wins by KO/TKO (not counting the referee) with his four losses against good quality opposition and he has won his last 9 fights. Puente, the Colombian feather champion, was unbeaten in his last 18 fights but very low level opposition. Diaz vs. Vera Colombian “Machete” Diaz gets unanimous decision over fellow Colombian Vera. The first round was even with little action. Vera was taking the fight to Diaz in the second and landed the telling punches in the round. Diaz finally got rolling in the third getting home with some good combinations and took the fourth. With Vera cut over his right eye and seeming to tire Diaz had his best round in the fifth looking to have Vera in some trouble and he also edged the sixth. Vera found some energy to make the seventh competitive and took the last but it was just not enough to swing the verdict his way scores 78-74, 78-74 and 79-74 for Diaz. The 22-year-old Diaz is 13-0-1 in his last 14 fights. Vera had lost a technical decision to Diaz in December. Diaz vs. De la Hoz Former WBA title challenger Diaz keeps busy with a wide unanimous decision over De la Hoz. Comfortable win for Diaz as veteran De la Hoz provides some entertainment and humour but just adds one more loss to his already burgeoning total. Scores 80-71, 80-72 and 78-72. Diaz, 28 has lost in title fights against Alberto Rossel for the interim WBA light fly and Hekkie Budler for the IBO and WBA minimum titles. First fight for a year for De la Hoz who last won a fight in 2007 but has only been beaten by KO/TKO 3 times in his 54 defeats. Mexico City, Mexico: Super Bantam: Alejandro Hernandez (30-11-2) W TKO 8 Humberto Morales (14-12-4,1ND). Hernandez comes from behind to force Morales out of the fight. The “Little Clown” made a slow start and Morales was getting through with hooks and uppercuts which quickly raised a bump under the left eye of Hernandez. Gradually Hernandez began to get into the fight punishing Morales with body shots and causing a swelling by the left eye of Morales. The body attack paid dividends as Morales quickly tired under the pressure but it was still a surprise when his corner climbed onto the ring apron to save their man half way through the eighth round. Hernandez, 29 wins the vacant Mexican title. He lost on points to Omar Narvaez for the WBO fly title in 2008, drew with Marvin Sonsona for the vacant WBO super fly title when Sonsona lost the title on the scales. He then won the interim WBO bantam title when beating Daniel Rosas in June 2014 only to lose to Tomoki Kameda for the full title in November. This is his second win this year. Fifth loss by KO/TKO for Morales who is now 4-1-2 in his last 7 fights against good level opposition. Panama City, Panama: Super Light: Alberto Mosquera (22-2-2,2ND) W PTS 11 Kelly Figueroa (8-3-3). Bantam: Liborio Solis (20-3-1) W KO 2 Jonathan Burgos (11-3-1). Super Feather: Joan Vasquez (15-1) W KO 4 Jose Forero (12-4-1). Light: Oliver Flores (27-1-2) W TKO 5 Julio Camano (10-16-1,1ND). Mosquera vs. Figueroa Morales wins the vacant WBA Fedelatin title with victory over Venezuelan Figueroa. Comfortable win for the local fighter on scores of 108-101,108-102 and 107-103. The 28-year-old southpaw was coming off back-to-back inside the distance losses to Charlie Navarro (nine rounds) and Sammy Vasquez (one round) so could not afford another loss. “Machine Gun Kelly” also a southpaw had lost on points to Darleys Perez in 2012 and then gone 5-0-1 before this fight. Solis vs. Burgos Venezuelan Solis makes it 11 wins on the bounce as he halts Burgos in two rounds. The difference in class and power meant this was always going to be a short fight. Solis had Burgos hurt in the first and then put him down with an uppercut to the body in the second and Burgos could not beat the count. The 33-year-old former WBA super fly champion beat Daiki Kameda in what was to be unification bout for the WBA and IBF titles but came in over the weight limit and lost his WBA title. He is rated WBA 3/ WBC 6/IBF 12 so may yet get a chance at one of the versions of the bantam title. Colombian Burgos had won 6 of his last 7 fights but at a much lower level. Vasquez vs. Forero Vasquez wins the vacant WBC Latino title as he destroys local fighter Forero. After a quiet first round Vasquez broke through flooring Forero in the second and putting him down twice in the fourth. Dominican Vasquez goes to 13 wins by KO/TKO. Once again impressive looking figures but typical Dominican with only one of his previous victims having a positive record-and he lost to him. His last four wins were over guys with combined records of 1-49-0. First loss in side the distance for Forero. Flores vs. Camano Nicaraguan southpaw Flores makes it 17 wins by KO/TKO as he halts Panamanian Camano in five rounds. The 23-year-old was knocked out in two rounds by Mexican banger Miguel Berchelt in two rounds in 2012. He was then inactive for ten months and this is his fourth win since returning. He turned pro at 15. “Dinamita” Camano is 2-14-1 in his last 17 fights so perhaps needs a new nickname something that reflects implosion rather than explosion. Bangkok, Thailand: Bantam: Pungluang (51-3) W KO 2 Ryo Akaho (26-2-2). Super Feather: Chonlatarn (56-2) W TKO 6 Boido Simanjuntak (18-29-1). Kwanpichit (32-1-2) W TKO 2 Thaminkhao (4-14-1). Pungluang vs. Akaho Pungluang regains WBO title as he beats Akaho in bed tempered contest for the vacant title. Both were looking to dominate from the start by using stiff jabs and right crosses. They got involved in a clinch and Akaho complained about a punch from Pungluang to the back of his head. When they resumed Akaho landed two sharp hooks, The Japanese fighter was getting his punches away quicker and when Pungluang landed a right to the side of his head Akaho again complained about a foul. Both landed some hard shots but then got mixed up in a clinch and Pungluang wrestled Akaho to the floor. At the start of the second round Pungluang launched a furious attack that saw Akaho under fire and then holding on to smother Pungluang’s work and getting a warning from the referee., Now the fight became bad tempered with Akaho landing a couple of low punches and then clinching with Pungluang using his strength to wrestle Akaho around and on to the ropes. Akaho turned things around so that he was holding Pungluang against the ropes with both holding and trying to land left hooks. Pungluang swung Akaho around and pushed Akaho into a corner by putting his glove on the back of Akaho’s head and thrusting. Akaho stumbled out of the corner backwards and he was off balance and put both arms out to steady himself. That left him wide open Pungluang then landed a right/left right series of punches to the head that put Akaho down. The referee started to count but could see that Akaho was finished and he waived the fight over. Some controversy over the finish based on that push to the back of Akaho’s head being a foul but Akaho was stumbling at the time and it was the final three punches that did the damage. The 27-year-old Pungluang from the strong Onesongchaigym Gym turned pro at 16 and now enters his second period as WBO champion. He won the vacant title in 2012 by beating AJ Banal but lost it in his first defence to Namibian Paulus Ambunda. He failed in a challenge for the title in 2014 being knocked out by Tomoki Kameda in July last year and this is his fifth win since then. Akaho was quick and aggressive and will feel aggrieved at the way the fight ended but he was outmuscled by the strong Thai. This is the second unsuccessful title challenge for the 29-year-old Akaho having lost on points to Yota Sato for the WBC title in 2012. Chonlatarn vs. Simanjuntak Chonlatarn dominated the first round with some stiff jabs and lefts to the body. Southpaw Simanjuntak got through with some thumps of his own but he was crude and often standing with his two feet square on to each other leaving him off balance. Chonlatarn bossed the second and third forcing Simanjuntak back with stiff jabs and banging in hard four/five punch combinations to head and body. Early in the fourth a right from Simanjuntak suddenly stopped Chonlatarn in his tracks and Simanjuntak stormed forward taking Chonlatarn to the ropes and seeming to have the Thai shaken. Chonlatarn punched his way out of trouble. Simanjuntak had another brief spell on top in the round but by the bell Chonlatarn was driving Simanjuntak around the ring and finished the round with a bunch of 15 consecutive punches. They went toe-to-toe through most of the fifth with Chonlatarn landing some serious shots and Simanjuntak trying to fire back but taking a beating. Chonlatarn surged forward in the sixth scoring time and again with hooks to the body and he was unloading on Simanjuntak on the ropes when the referee stopped the fight. The 30-year-old Thai lost on points to Chris John for the WBA title in 2012 and to Vasyl Lomachenko for the WBO title last November. This is his fourth win since then and win No 37 by KO/TKO. Indonesian Simanjuntak showed plenty of guts but not much technique. He has now lost his last 11 fights. Kwanpichit vs. Thaminkhao Kwanpichit wins with kayo of inexperienced Thaminkhao. Both were throwing left hooks to the body with Kwanpichit slowly forcing Thaminkhao to shut down his offence and concentrate on defence. After a couple more thumping left hooks Kwanpichit threw a straight right to the chin that sent Thaminkhao down against the ropes. Thaminkhao was up at six but the bell rang when the eight count was completed. Less than ten seconds into the second round Kwanpichit fired home a right uppercut that sent Thaminkhao down on his back and the fight was stopped without a count. Kwanpichit’s only loss was against Zou Shiming for the WBO International title in November and this is his third win by KO/TKO since then, but at 33 it will be difficult for him to get another title shot but as he is still rated at No 8 by the WBO it is not impossible. Thaminkhao a poor opponent. He showed some fire but is 1 -13-1 in his last 15 fights. (Ed Note-this was a rematch) Dubai, UAE: Welter: Jason Pagara (36-2) W TEC DEC 8 Ramiro Alcaraz (15-5-1). Super Bantam: Albert Pagara (24-0) W TKO 1 Jesus Rios (31-8-1,1ND). Super Light: Jimrex Jaca (40-8-4) W PTS 8 Pablo Montiel (21-6). Pagara vs. Alcaraz Pagara has to fight with the handicap of a cut but gets the technical decision. Things started badly for Pagara when he initially found southpaw Alcaraz an awkward opponent and also suffered a cut on his left eye lid in the first round. That was balanced out by the referee deducting a point from Alcaraz over the clash of heads that caused the cut. He settled down in the second hurting Alcaraz with left hooks. The cut was bothering Pagara and giving Alcaraz an edge in some of the action. Pagara survived a doctor’s inspection in the fourth and was again outscoring the Mexican in the fifth. The sixth was close with Alcaraz matching Pagara but the Filipino got a break when they both punched on after the bell but the referee only penalised Alcaraz so another point deduction against the Mexican. Early in the eighth the action was temporarily suspended after a low punch from Pagara but when it resumed the blood from the cut was affecting Pagara’s vision and the doctor advised the referee to stop the fight and it went to the score cards. Scores 78-72, 77-73 and 76-74 all for Pagara. Although he deserve the victory it looked much closer even with the deductions than the first two cards showed. The 27-year-old “El Nino” has lost only one of his last 25 fights, to Rosbel Montoya, and he got revenge with an inside the distance win in a return. He is No 2 with the WBO at light welter. With No 1 Lucas Matthysse fighting Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC title that will put him in line for a shot at champion Terrance Crawford. Alcaraz felt he was robbed in this one and the deductions were harsh but that won’t show on the records. He sprang a big upset when he beat Antonio Lozada (32-1) in 2013 but lost a still creditable split decision in a return fight. Pagara vs. Rios Younger brother Albert looks a great prospect and he blew away Rios in impressive style. Pagara was quickly stalking Rios and shook him with a right cross/left hook combination. Rios backed up to the ropes where Pagara nailed him with that right cross/left hook combination again and Rios slumped down to the canvas against the ropes. He got up but still looked very shaken. The referee had a good look at Rios then let the fight continue. Pagara stepped in and landed a series of head shots from both hands. Being pinned against the ropes Rios only went down slowly so took some of those punches on the way. Once down he was finished and the referee immediately stopped the fight without a count. Rios was in a distressed condition and needed medical help and some oxygen before recovering. The 21-year-old Filipino looks the goods and now has 17 wins by KO/TKO and is rated IBF 5/WBC 10. Difficult to know if he can go all the way as so far he has faced good but not dangerous opposition but he talent and power. The fight was to be a defence of his IBF Inter-Continental title for Pagara but Rios failed to make the weight and gave up trying when he finally managed to get down to 124lbs which was still 2lbs over the limit. Jaca vs. Montiel Jaca has to get off the floor to win this one. The Filipino veteran was doing as he pleased with Montiel for three and a bit rounds. In the fourth the Mexican landed a counter that put Jaca down. The referee did not have a god view and ruled it a slip. The downside of that for Jaca was that he did not get an eight count to help him recover and later in the round Montiel scored a genuine knockdown flooring Jaca with a left hook. Jaca was badly shaken and took the step of spitting out his gumshield three times to get a breather and was lucky not to be penalised. Despite the trouble he had in the previous round Jaca came out firing for the fifth and had Montiel in trouble at the end of the round. The sixth was about even but Jaca staged a strong finish over the last two rounds to earn the decision. Scores 78-74 twice and 77-74 for Jaca. The 32-year-olod Filipino “Executioner” was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight for the interim WBO feather title but then accumulated 11 wins in a row before hitting a bad patch and he was 0-2-1 going into this one. Montiel has only lost once by KO/TKO but this was his first fight for 14 months. Atlantic City, NJ, USA: Middle: Sergiy Derevyanchenko (6-0) W PTS 8 Elvin Ayala (28-7-1). Middle: Ievgen Khytrov (11-0) W TKO 8 Nock Brinson (17-4-2). Super Light: Regis Prograis (15-0) W PTS 8 Amos Cowart (11-1-1). Middle: Avtandil Khurtsidze (31-2-2) W TKO 1 Melvin Betancourt (29-3). Middle: Thomas Lamanna (17-1) W PTS 8 Joshua Robertson (7-9). Heavy: Joey Dawejko (15-4-2) W TKO 1 Robert Dunton (11-15-1). Derevyanchenko vs. Ayala Derevyanchenko gets some useful ring time and shows good technical skills and patience as he goes past the fourth round for the first time. The Russian used his jab both to keep Ayala on the back foot and to set up his attacks and you could see where his “The Technician” nickname came from. Ayala was almost permanently on the back foot and was unable to launch any sustained attacks as Derevyanchenko gradually beat him down. The Russian shook Ayala with some good combinations in the third and fourth. He increased the pace in the fifth and sixth looking to take Ayala out of the fight but the veteran although not doing much himself was hanging in there. Derevyanchenko came close to ending it in the last with a strong attack and it could have been stopped but Ayala hung on until the bell. The 29-year-old Brooklyn-based Russian won on scores of 80-71 twice and 80-72. A World Championships bronze medal winner he competed in the 2008 Olympics and in the World Series Boxing for four seasons and loss only once. He needs some more ring time as he had less than 13 rounds going into this one but he will be ready for a world rating in 2016. Ayala, 35, lost to Arthur Abraham for the IBF title in 2008. After losing inside a round to Curtis Stevens in 2013 he took a year out and in March this outpointed previously unbeaten Romanian prospect Ronald Gavril. Khytrov vs. Brinson Khytrov left it late to save his 100 % record. Brinson was quicker to the punch and using good movement and good counters to offset the aggression from Khytrov. When Khytrov did get Brinson to stand and trade Brinson was getting his punches off first and Khytrov was finding it hard to sustain his attacks and was showing a bruise under his right eye as evidence of the effective work from Brinson. Khytrov kept pressing but Brinson had a good fifth scoring with quick, accurate punches from both hands. Brinson continued to outbox Khytrov early in the sixth but at the end of the round the Ukrainian finally began slow Brinson with body punches. Brinson tried to fight on the outside in the seventh but again as the round progressed Khytrov was pressing hard with both fighter looking tired. At the start of the last round Brinson only had to survive to win as he was up 70-62 on two cards and level at 66-66 on the third. Khytrov drove Brinson to the ropes and trapped him there throwing punch after punch with Brinson covering up and blocking most of them. When Brinson escaped from the ropes Khytrov caught him with a left hook and Brinson’s knees dipped. Khytrov again forced Brinson back across the ring scoring with long left hooks to the head. The ropes stopped Brinson going any further and three punches from Khytrov each had Brinson’s head snapping back. Brinson took a pace back and went down on one knee holding on to the ropes with his other arm. At that point the referee stepped in and without a count waived the fight over with 33 seconds left in the round. Brinson protested that he had stepped back and taken a knee to escape the bombardment but was able to get up and fight on but Khytrov had landed some big head shots in his final attack and it was a good stoppage. The 26-year-old “Ukrainian Lion” goes to 10 wins by KO/TKO. He had won 9 in a row by KO/TKO until Aaron Coley took him the distance in April so he has started another streak. A European Junior gold and World Senior gold medallist he came so close to losing this one and there are lessons to be learnt about not giving away early rounds. Brinson, 27, now has three losses by KO/TKO but he came close to a big win. He had a bad 2014 losing consecutive fights against Dominic Wade and Andre Dirrell but had a win in June this year against low level opposition. Prograis vs. Cowart Prograis wins battle of undefeated fighters with wide unanimous decision over Cowart in an all-southpaw match. Prograis set a high work rate that Cowart just could not match. Prograis was also quicker and more accurate but Cowart was competitive over the first two rounds and had a good third. From there Prograis was in charge. He bloodied Cowart’s nose in the fourth and outworked him in the fifth. Cowart was walking in and taking punishment but also firing back and raisedc a lump under the right of Prograis. Over the last three rounds the pace of the fight and body punches from Prograis took their toll and saw Cowart fade out of the fight. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-71. The 26-year-old Texan was taken past the sixth round for the first time. He was a bronze medallist at the US Championships but did not make it through the final US Trials so missed out on a berth in London. Floridian Cowart, 25, just met a better fighter on the night. Khurtsidze vs. Betancourt Khurtsidze gets this one over quickly. The Georgian came out firing forcing Betancourt back. The Dominican tried to fight fire with fire but then it got too hot for him and it was one-way traffic. Khurtsidze just kept bombing away and put Betancourt down heavily with a left hook. Betancourt made it to his feet but was on shaky pins and the referee rightly stopped the fight. The 36-year-old pocket-sized (5’4” 163cm) Khurtsidze lost on points to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam for the interim WBA title in 2010, his only loss in his last 24 fights, but at WBC7/IBF 13 it looks unlikely he will get another title shot. Betancourt was knocked out in two rounds by Gary O’Sullivan in Boston in May. His statistics look good but it is a typical Dominican republic record with 26 of his 29 opponents having negative records. Lamanna vs. Robertson Lamanna gets back into the winning groove after his first pro loss. The lanky middle had height and reach over the much smaller Robertson. Lamanna was able to use his jab to control the tempo of the fight and counter Robertson when he tried to come inside. Although Robertson never won a round he did make Lamanna work hard for his win but the physical advantages and the superior skill of Lamanna were too much for Robertson. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. Lamanna had his 16 bout winning streak ended when he was stopped in six rounds by Antoine Douglas in March so he has started his rehabilitation. Robertson had also lost every round against Lamanna when they fought in 2013. He is game but not in this class and is now 2-8 in his last 10 fights. Dawejko vs. Dunton This looked a poor match on paper and it proved to be even worse as Dawejko destroyed Dunton in 31 seconds. A right put Dunton down and although he climbed to his feet the referee stopped the fight. Dawejko also rebounding, in his case from a points loss to Amir Mansour in May. Prior to that the 25-year-old from Philly had won six in a row including a victory over experienced Derric Rossy. For Dunton it is now 9 losses by KO/TKO and 10 losses in his last 12 fights. August 8 Camaray, Australia: Super Middle: Faris Chevalier (9-1) W PTS 10 Tej Pratap Singh (4-1-1). Light Heavy: Kerry Foley (16-2-1) W TKO 4 Joel Casey (16-15-3). Super Middle: Jake Carr (11-0) W TKO 4 Togas Leota (16-17-1). Chevalier vs. Singh Brisbane-based Frenchman Chevalier wins the vacant Australian title with unanimous decision over Singh. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 97-93. This was the first ten round fight for the ANBF No 5. Singh had been No 10 with the ANBF. Foley vs. Casey Foley retains the Australian title with knockout of veteran Casey. Foley had the fight well in hand and floored Casey twice in the fourth round. The second knockdown was spectacular leaving Casey spread-eagled on the canvas out cold. Foley, 27, making the first defence of his title now has 13 wins by KO/TKO. He had beaten Casey on points way back in 2007 but no judges were needed for this one. Southpaw Casey, 31, suffers his fifth loss in a row. Carr vs. Leota Carr gets win inside the distance as he halts Leota in the sixth. The ANBF No 2 was in charge from the start although Leota gave his usually gutsy display. It ended in the sixth when a left hook to the body from Carr put Leota down and the fight was stopped. Carr, 24, now has 4 wins by KO/TKO and is yet another good Australian prospect. Samoa Leota, 32, has a poor record but always come to fight and occasionally scores an upset. Savonlinna, Finland: Super Middle: Niklas Rasanen (10-0) W PTS 8 Geard Ajetovic (26-12-1). Super Light: Jarkko Putkonen (12-0) W PTS 8 Nordeen Toure (4-1). Super Welter : Jussi Koivula (18-2-1) DREW 6 Artem Karasev (7-20-1). Rasanen vs. Ajetovic “Drummer Boy” Rasanen continues his winning run as he uses his height and reach to win a unanimous decision over experienced Ajetovic. The Serb had some success over the early rounds as he was able to penetrate the Finn’s defence with ease. Rasanen was much better over the second half of the fight and deservedly took the unanimous verdict. Scores 78-74, 79-74 and 79-77. The Finnish southpaw is being sensibly matched and Ajetovic proved a useful opponent. Serbian Ajetovic, 34, who turned pro in Britain, lost only one of his first 18 fights but then hit a series of tough matches with fighters such as Daniel Geale who he challenged for the IBO middle title, Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin and Max Vlasov. He is 8-8 in his last 16 fights but has never lost inside the distance. Putkonen vs. Toure The longer this one went the better were Putkonen’s chances of winning as all four of Toure’s wins had come in the first round. It was a close, tactical fight rather than an exciting scrap. Despite his lack of experience the Finnish-based Togolese boxer was competitive all the way and Putkonen just edged this on a split decision. Scores 78-76 and 77-76 for Putkonen and 77-76 for Toure. A return would be a just reward for Toure. Putkonen, 31, a former Finnish amateur champion, was given his roughest test so far. Good learning fight for 24-year-old Toure after not going more than 150 seconds in any of his other fights. Koivula vs. Karasev Koivula looks to have gone as far as he is going as he is held to a draw by Lithuanian-based Russian Karasev. Scores 60-56 to Koivula, 58-57 to Karasev and 57-57. The 31-year-old Finn won his first 13 fights but has not progressed from there losing to Lukasz Maciec and Marcello Matano with the loss to Matano a poor performance. Karasev had a 1-11-1 run but had won his last two fights. Gatteo-a-Mare, Italy: Middle: Matthew Signani (22-4-3) W TKO 8 Rafael Sosa Pinto (49-12).Super Bantam: Vittorio Parrinello (5-0) W TEC DEC 5 Daniel Lemon (13-4-1). Fly: Mohammed Obbadi (4-0) W TKO 2 Giuseppe Laguna (25-13-1,1ND). Signani vs. Pinto Signani wins the vacant WBA title as Pinto suffers a bad cut and is unable to continue. The Italian “Jaguar” takes the first three rounds using his longer reach to keep Pitto out and scoring with straight rights to build a lead. Pinto gets his kind of fight in the fourth and fifth as he draws Signani into a brawl where he can score with hooks and uppercuts inside. Signani back in charge in the sixth pressing Pinto taking him to the ropes and wearing him down and the seventh goes the same way with Pinto tiring. Late in the eighth after Signani landed a good left hook there was a clash of heads. Pinto went down and the referee started to count but then saw Pinto was badly cut over his right eye and stopped the count and asked the doctor to examine Pinto’s cut and the doctor advised the fight should be halted with Signani the winner. The 36-year-old local fighter a former undefeated Italian and EU champion has lost only one of his last 19 fights and is No 4 with the EBU with the hope of getting a shot at the title. Uruguayan Pinto, 34, a former Uruguayan super welter champion was 4-2 in his last 6 fights with the losses coming inside the distance against world rated fighters in Schiller Hyppolite and Callum Smith. Parrinello vs. Lemon Former top amateur Parrinello wins the vacant Italian title with technical decision over Lemon. Both were cautious in the first and not letting their punches go but taking time to study each other. From the second Parrinello’s class began to show. He used his speed of hand and foot to control the fight with Lemon trying hard to pin Parrinello down but just being outboxed and outscored. Parrinello increased the pace with each round doubling up on the jab and never letting Lemon launch and serious attacks. Finally in the fifth Lemon managed to draw Parrinello in close but a clash of heads leads to a severe cut on the right eyebrow of Parrinello and the fight is stopped with the score cards to decide the winner. Scores 50-45, 50-46 and 49-47 all for Parrinello. The 30-year-old Parrinello was a mainstay of the Italian team for many years being Italian champion four times getting a silver medal at the World Military Championships, competing at the European and World Championships and the 2008 and 2012 Olympics where he only lost by two points to gold medal winner Luke Campbell. Lemon, 30, a former undefeated Italian super bantam champion can at least claim they are 1-1 in their series as he beat Parrinello in the Italian Championships in 2006 but this is where he needed the win. Obbadi vs. Lagana There are not too many flyweights in Europe so Moroccan Obbadi has had to move up to eight round level quickly. He had no trouble here as he only had to go less than two rounds to halt the experienced Lagana. The promising 21-year-old has won all four of his fights inside the distance so is still short of ring time. Lagana, 43, a former Italian and EU champion has now lost his last four fights. Tokyo, Japan: Middle: Akio Shibata (26-8-1) W TKO 8 Yasuyuki Akiyama (10-5-1). Shibata retains the JBC & OPBF titles with stoppage of Akiyama. Shibata was a class above Akiyama being able to work his jab and slot home hard straight rights through the leaky defence of Akiyama. Knowing he was falling behind Akiyama took chances to try to turn the fight around which only left him open for more punishment. Shibata’s punches gradually had Akiyama looking the worse for wear and with his left eye swollen and his face distorted by other swelling the doctor finally advised the fight should be stopped. Shibata, 33, was stopped in two rounds by Olympic gold medallist Ryota Murata in the Olympian’s first pro fight in 2013 but has won five in a row since then. Akiyama, the JBC No 1, had won his last 4 fights but this was his first move up to ten round level. (Ed's note-Bout was scheduled for 12) Tecate, Mexico: Super Fly: Felipe Orucuta (31-3) W PTS 10 Roberto Pucheta (9-5-1). Welter: Carlos Ocampo (16-0) W PTS 10 Jhonny Navarette (29-7-1). Orucuta vs. Pucheta Orucuta overcomes a slow start to win unanimous decision over Pucheta. Over the first two rounds Pucheta was the quicker with Orucuta doing very little and falling behind on the cards. From the third Orucuta woke up and started banging home combinations to head and body with those body punches visibly slowing Pucheta. Orucuta had Pucheta on the verge of a knockdown a few times but just could not produce the big punch when it was needed and “Scorpion” Pucheta was always trying to fire back. The last round had the fans on their feet as Pucheta tried for the knockout and they treaded toe-to-toe to the bell. Scores 98-92 from all three judges. Orucuta is 13-2 in his last 15 fights with the losses controversial split and majority decision against Omar Narvaez for the WBO super fly title in Argentina. He is rated WBO 6/WBC 8 and is one of the best fighters in the division and can win the title if he gets another chance. Rucheta, 25 has yet to loses by KO/TKO and going in was 6-3 against reasonable level local opposition. Ocampo vs. Navarrete Prospect “Chema” extends his winning run with victory over experienced Navarrete. Ocampo made a good start putting Navarrete down with a right to the head in the first. Navarrete has a good chin and he was able to get up and get back into the fight but the younger Ocampo just kept pressing and although Navarrete had reach and height and reach over Ocampo and was always dangerous with one-off punches he only did enough to pick up a round here and there Ocampo outworked him and ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 100-89, 99-90 and 97-92. The young fighter from Ensenada had won 6 of his last 7 fights by KO/TKO so Navarrete was a good learning fight. Navarrete, 27, came in with a run of twelve wins behind him and has only been beaten inside the distance once. Mexico City, Mexico: Light: Dante Jardon (27-5) W KO 2 Jairo Lopez (18-3). Fly: Saul Juarez (22-4) W PTS 10 Adrian Hernandez (30-4-1). Welter: Reyes Sanchez (26-6-2) W PTS 8 Diego Cruz (13-3). Jardon vs. Lopez This was expected to be a fight that would produce fireworks and it did. Both fighters landed heavy punches in the first and the trading continued into the second. “Doberman” Lopez got his licks in first and floored Jardon with a right hook. When Jordan got up Lopez was storming in trying to finish off his hurt opponent. Jordan was hurt but not out and as Lopez came forward he nailed him with left which put Lopez down heavily. He made it to his feet but his legs were wobbling and the referee stopped the fight. “Crazy” Jardon, 27, retains his WBC International Silver title. He now has 17 wins by KO/TKO. A run of good wins with victories over Miguel Roman and Gamaliel Diaz earned Jardon a shot at Takashi Miura in December 2013 for the WBC super feather title but he was stopped in nine rounds and in his next fight lost a wide unanimous decision against Adrian Estrella in July last year. He had done some rebuilding with a couple of domestic victories but another loss here would have been a serious setback as he had already dropped to No 24 in the WBC ratings. Lopez had been going in the other direction being 13-1 in his last 14 fights with victories over Juan Carlos Salgado and Fermin De los Santos. Juarez vs. Hernandez Jaures beats Hernandez again but on a split decision. Hernandez had paid for a slow start the first time they met but this time he edged ahead by flooring “Baby” in the second round. Juarez then proceeded to outbox Hernandez as he had done in their last fight. Hernandez kept pressing with Juarez moving and countering. The fight was close and it helped Juarez when a clash of heads in the last saw him cut with Hernandez losing a vital point. Scores 96-94 and 96-93 for Juarez and 96-94 for Hernandez. In their first fight Juarez had won when a punch inflicted a cut on Hernandez which was too bad for the fight to continue with Hernandez claiming it was a butt and the fight should have gone to the scorecards. Juarez lost his big chance in November when he was beaten by Filipino Milan Melindo in an IBF light fly eliminator but his win over Hernandez in their first fight has seen him up at IBF 6(4) and WBC 12 so he may yet get another chance. “Confessor” Hernandez a former WBC champion had been looking to get back into contention after losing his title to Naoya Inoue in April last year so he will feel that a third fight is needed to settle his business with Juarez. Sanchez vs. Cruz Sanchez uses his experience to box his way to victory over dangerous youngster Cruz. In the first Cruz was throwing bombs and trying to live up to his “Demolisher” nickname. Sanchez rode out the storm and had a better second round. From the third the taller Sanchez used his jab, body punches and hard straight counters to take charge and over the late round Cruz had to soak up a lot of punishment. Cruz tried to land the big punch in the last but Sanchez took no chances and eased to victory. Scores 78-75 twice and 79-74 for Sanchez. This was the first fight for 14 months for Sanchez who has made a habit of losing the big fights. Cruz, 21, had scored 10 wins by KO/TKO but Sanchez was by far the best opponent he has faced. Caguas, Puerto Rico: Minimum: Janiel Rivera (13-2-3) W PTS 10 Israel Vazquez (9-3-2). Super Fly: Jose Martinez (15-0) W KO 3 Armando Vazquez (24-15-1,2ND). Light Fly: Angel Acosta (11-0) W KO 1 Luis Almendarez (3-4). Rivera vs. Vazquez Rivera wins the vacant WBC Silver title with unanimous decision over Vazquez. The young Rivera showcased some excellent skills, fast hands plenty of lateral movement. Vazquez claimed he had injured a hand in the second round but he was just not quick enough to catch Rivera. To a large extent the fight was already beyond the reach of Vazquez when he was floored in the fifth round allowing Rivera to open a wide gap in the scoring. Vazquez finished strongly but was well beaten. Scores 98-91, 97-91 and 97-92. The 23-year-old Rivera was No 19 with the WBC but because he has won the Silver title he will now shoot up the ratings. These two had fought a draw back in 2010 when they were both pro novices but Rivera had improved since then. Vazquez, the brother of Wilfredo Jr. and the son of the great Wilfredo Snr. has now lost three fights in a row and is rethinking his future. Martinez vs. Vazquez Martinez adds to his KO total and retains the WBC Latino title. The 22-year-old Puerto Rican was giving away height and reach but Vazquez did not have the punch to keep Martinez out and the local hope ended this one with just one second left in the third round and continues to make impressive progress. The former Puerto Rican amateur silver medal winner had 10 victories inside the distance. Mexican Vazquez has mixed in good company but is on the slide being 1-5 in his last 6 fights. Acosta vs. Almendarez Acosta blitzes Almendarez in just 30 seconds. The explosive prospect put Almendarez down with a body punch and although Almendarez got up he was in no condition to continue. The 24-year-old Acosta has won all of his fights by KO/TKO. He is a former Puerto Rican national champion and won a gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Almendarez just fodder really. Indio, CA, USA: Super Welter: Dmitry Mikhaylenko (20-0) W TKO 8 Johan Perez (20-2-1,1ND). Super Bantam: Manuel Avila (18-0) W TKO 6 Yoandris Salinas (21-2-2). Super Feather: Tevin Farmer (20-4-1) W KO 8 Daulis Prescott (30-3,1ND). Feather: Joet Gonzalez (11-0) W KO 3 Miguel Tamayo (17-15-2). Super Middle: Jason Quigley (8-0) W KO 2 Mike Faulk (3-3). Mikhaylenko vs. Perez Mikhaylenko grinds down Perez for stoppage win and collects the WBA NABF title from the Venezuelan. The power and strength of Mikhaylenko saw him dominate this one. Perez was always trying to come forward and was willing to trade but continually found himself being out-powered and forced to fight with his back to the ropes. The Russian was landing neck jarring shots and strength sapping body punches. By the eighth Perez was sporting a cut over his left eye and had run out of gas. Once again Mikhaylenko forced Perez to the ropes and was unloading with both hands when the referee stopped the fight to save an exhausted Perez. The 29-year-old Russian “Mechanic” wins the WBA NABA title and gets his ninth win by KO/TKO. He has wins over Sechew Powell and Ronald Cruz and with winning this WBA minor title will now get a rating. Perez, 32, a former Interim WBA champion, lost his title to Mauricio Herrera on a majority decision in July last year so an impressive performance by Mikhaylenko to get such a one-sided victory. Avila vs. Salinas Avila gets win but hand injury for Salinas takes the edge of it. Avila’s best punch throughout the fight was his right and it was that punch that put Salinas down in the second round. The former top amateur from Cuba got up and back into the fight. Salinas was competitive in the third and had a good fourth although by the end of the round he had injured his right hand. That made the end certain as Salinas had only limited use of the hand. Avila was in control of the fight in the fifth and sixth and at the end of the sixth Salinas was unable to continue due to the injury. Avila, 23, wins the vacant interim WBA NABF title and will also be hoping this gets him a rating. He has wins over Enrique Quevedo and David De La Mora. “El Nino” Salinas, 29, came close to a big win when he drew in London with Scott Quigg for the secondary WBA title in 2013 but next time out he was floored three times and stopped in five rounds by Quevedo. He was a regular member of the Cuban team at major competitions twice winning the national title and getting a silver medal at the PanAmerican Games. Farmer vs. Prescott They are starting to call Farmer the “Cinderella Man” because of the way he has turned his career around and arguably he got his best win so far with the kayo of Prescott. In fairness to Prescott he came in as a late replacement and although he made a fight of it over the first three rounds Farmer took over completely in the fourth. He floored Prescott late in the round with a vicious southpaw left and after Prescott got up he was again getting hurt and only just made it to the bell. Farmer continued the pressure in the fifth and dropped Prescott in the sixth with a right. Unfortunately he also threw a left which landed when {Prescott was down. The referee deducted a point for the foul and gave Prescott some recovery time. It did not help much as in the eighth a thunderous left from Farmer put Prescott down again and the referee waived the fight off without counting. The 25-year-old Farmer was 7-4-1 in his first 12 fights but has now won 13 in a row. Two of those early losses were to high quality opposition in unbeaten Kamil Laszczyk and Jose Pedraza. He has wins in that 13 bout streak over Emanuel Gonzalez and Viktor Chernous but this is his biggest win to date. Colombian Prescott, 28, the brother of Breidis, lost in seven rounds to Nicholas Walters for the secondary WBA feather title in 2012 and was then inactive until returning to action in November last year since when he had won 4 fights. His most recent win was three weeks ago so he was in some kind of shape but obviously not top shape with only one week’s notice. Gonzalez vs. Tamayo Gonzalez keeps his 100% record intact with crushing victory over Tamayo. Gonzalez was hunting Tamayo down from the opening bell and hurt Tamayo with a body shot in those first three minutes. In the second Gonzalez was still in control and he finished the job in the third. He floored Tamayo with a quick combination. Tamayo got up but another combination put him down for a second time and he was counted out. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 21-year-old Californian a former US Junior champion and a silver medallist at the National Championships. He is yet another who did not make it through the final US Olympic Trials. Mexican Tamayo is 3-10 in his last 13 fights but all against good level opposition. Quigley vs. Faulk Quigley blows away another opponent. The brilliant Irish prospect was frustrated in the first wit the taller Faulk already in survival mode and trying to stay out of trouble forcing Quigley to make the fight. Quigley sorted out what he needed to do and went to work in the second flooring Faulk three times with the referee stopping the fight with one second left in the round. The 24-year-old Ballybofey fighter has won all 8 fights by KO/TKO taking a total of less than 14 rounds to get the jobs done but to date the opposition has been weak and he is ready for much stiffer challenges. First loss inside the distance for Faulk. Opelusas, LA, USA: Super Light: Cody Richard (17-2-1) W DISQ 4 Blake Franklin (12-8-2). Mason Menard (29-1) W KO 1 Jesus Lule (7-13-1). Richard vs. Franklin Richard returns to the winning ranks as Franklin is disqualified. Richard was in front having floored Franklin in the second with a body punch. Franklin was still competitive in the third but was floored again in the fourth. That led to some angry words between Franklin and the referee which resulted in Franklin being disqualified. Texan Richard was unbeaten in his first 15 fights but is now 3-2 in his last 5 with one of those loses being inside a round against former interim WBA title challenger Santos Benavides. Franklin, 20, was 9-3-1 in his last 13 fights going into this one. Menard vs. Lule Menard wipes out late selection Lule in first round. Menard was quick and accurate from the start. He took Lule out with a left hook to the body followed by a left hook to the chin and Lule was out. The was “Rock Hard Mighty” Menard’s first fight since July last year so he was hoping to get some rounds under his belt. It was hoped he might get some here but Lule disappointed as he goes to 1-9-1 in his last 11 fights St Louis, MO, USA: Heavy: Charles Ellis (10-3-1) W PTS 10 James Toney (76-10-3). What a sad sight as an old, fat Toney loses unanimous decision to Ellis. Toney had to get inside the reach of the 6’5” (196cm) Ellis but he no longer has the speed to achieve that and the fight therefore lacked any excitement or sustained exchanges. Ellis kept Toney out over the first half of the fight but as he slowed to Toney’s pace the once great Toney had a measure of success. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. The 233lbs (105kg) Toney is a shadow of the great fighter of the 1990’s and shadow he casts now is a grossly fat one. At 46 for the sake of his health he should no longer be fighting. The 40-year-old Ellis is just a prelim fighter who had never previously been in a bout scheduled for more than six rounds which shows how low Toney has descended. Montevideo, Uruguay: Super Bantam: Roberto Vasquez (32-6-2) W TKO 4 Rafael Concepcion (18-8-1). Super Feather: Braulio Rodriguez (18-1) W TKO 2 Marcos Martinez (17-3). Welter: Azael Cosio (20-3-2,1ND) W TKO 5 Guillermo de Jesus Paz (24-27-4). Vasquez vs. Concepcion Vasquez beats fellow-Panamanian Concepcion to keep his career alive. This was a closely contested fight over the opening two rounds. Vasquez looked to be getting on top and landing the better punches in the third but it was a surprise when he landed a right in the fourth that saw Concepcion’s legs doing an involuntary dance. Vasquez followed up with a body punch which floored Concepcion and his corner threw in the towel. “The Spider” wins the vacant WBA Fedebol title The 32-year-old southpaw, a former WBA light fly and interim WBA fly champion, was having his first fight for two years and this win could see him get another title shot. Concepcion, a former interim WBA super fly champion had his last fight in October 2013 when he was stopped in two rounds by Genesis Servania so it is questionable whether he will fight on. Rodriguez vs. Martinez Rodriguez gets another inside the distance win but this one had a bad smell to it. The end came in the second round when the flashy Dominican threw a three punch combination at Argentinian Martinez. Martinez went down, rolled on to his back a slowly eased his gumshield out with his tongue. He then tried to rise but staggered across the ring and fell into the ropes and the fight was stopped. The only problem was that slow motion showed all three punches skimming over the head of Martinez and not landing. That Rodriguez must be some puncher if even the breeze from his punches can put someone down. The 26-year-old “El Chavo” has won 17 of his fights by KO/TKO and he wins the interim WBC Latino title. His lost was a wide decision against Carlos Diaz in Mexico in April. In his next fight he knocked out former interim WBC champion Francisco Lorenzo (although Lorenzo is not accepted as such by the WBC) inside a round. How good Rodriguez is has still to be proved. Very puzzling over Martinez. The 24-year-old insists it was a genuine knockout and he nothing to gain and a lot to lose from losing this one. In his last fight he had climbed off the floor in losing a majority decision to Daniel Brizuela which was a very creditable performance in domestic boxing and he is No 5 with the FAB so perhaps it was a genuine result but certainly did not look like one. Cosio vs. Paz Panamanian champion Cosio wins cuts victory over Paz. The styles did not mix well with Paz showing clever defensive moves but not opening up and Cosio doing all the work and all of the scoring. The boring spectacle ended in the fifth when a left from Cosio opened a cut on the right eyebrow of Paz and the fight was stopped. The 33-year-old Cosio has a good record and has beaten some reasonable opposition but has never hit the heights. Southpaw Paz, 34, the FAB No 8 super light has a spotty record but scored an upset win over Gumersindo Carrasco (22-2) in June. August 9 Bogota, Colombia: Super Middle: Alexander Brand (24-1) W PTS 12 Bernard Donfack (22-12-3). Brand keeps his name in the super middle mix with comprehensive victory over Donfack to win the WBFed title. The Colombian veteran had over 300 amateur fights so was vastly more experienced. He also had a big edge in skills and although Donfack stuck to his task he was never in the fight and did well to be credited even with one round. Scores 119-109 twice and 120-108. The 38-year-old native of Bogota lost a split decision to Badou Jack in 2012 and this is his seventh win since then. He is rated No 8 by the WBC. German-based Cameroon fighter Donfack, 36, was making the second defence of his title and had won 8 of his last 9 fights. Our good friend Eric Armit has again given us his take on the weeks most notable results. Huge thanks, as always, to Eric.
The Past Week in Action 4 August 2015 July 29 Loei, Thailand: Fly: Stamp Kiatniwat (14-0) W PTS 12 Gregorio Lebron (13-3). Thai Kiatniwat wins the interim WBA title but Dominican Lebron was robbed by a disgraceful decision. Lebron made a good start in the first round pushing the young Thai back and scoring with left jab/straight right combinations. That changed when Kiatniwat landed two heavy rights which sent Lebron tumbling to the side and down. He got up and was ready to fight on when the eight count was completed but it was a big first round for Kiatniwat. The second was fairly even and then Lebron took over. He gave the Thai a boxing lesson over the next seven rounds. Jab, hooks, uppercuts he could not miss Kiatniwat constantly driving him back around the ring slotting home jabs and banging home counters. Kiatniwat was throwing wild swings and every time he did he left himself open and off balance and Lebron was making it a one-sided fight. In the eighth and ninth it even looked as though Lebron might win inside the distance as he landed punch after punch with Kiatniwat getting driven back by and looking as though he was about to be overwhelmed. What kept him in the fight was Lebron’s lack of power and the Thai’s rock-hard chin. Kiatniwat landed a hard left hook/right cross early in the tenth but Lebron fired back. Suddenly a punch from Lebron when Kiatniwat was anticipating a break call stung the Thai into action. He landed a right cross and left hook which shook Lebron then landed two clubbing rights to the head which sent Lebron down on his back. The Dominican was up at six and survived to the bell by running and holding. Kiatniwat came out swinging wildly in the eleventh and scored with two head punches but once again Lebron was finding huge gaps in the Thai’s non-existent defence and rocked him with a peach of a right uppercut with Kiatniwat again eating jab after jab and being forced on the defence. Kiatniwat scored with some heavy punches early in the last but then again Lebron was forcing him back out-landing the Thai and already celebrating before the final bell. The Thai’s corner was very subdued but then came the ridiculous scoring giving Kiatniwat the decision on scores of 117-109, 116-112 and 113-113. Lebron was robbed. Kiatniwat had two 10-8 rounds and for me Lebron won the other 10 rounds clearly although I have to say that others who have seen the fight thought it was a good decision. At 17 Kiatniwat becomes the youngest ever Thai world champion. He is strong and has a great chin but seems to think de-fence is a French garden partition and is very crude. Dominican Lebron, 33, deserves a return but won’t get it. Pretoria, South Africa: Heavy: Danie Venter (20-7) W TKO 2 Vusumzi Mlindwa (3-5-1). Heavy: Khayeni Hlungwane (6-11) W TKO 1 Flo Simba (13-5). Super Welter: Hansie Carr (9-0) W KO 1 William Bankisi (2-3). Venter vs. Mlindwa Rumours of Venter’s retirement proved erroneous as he returned to action with an easy win. Fighting at heavyweight the tall South African found the blubbery Mlindwa an easy target and he was dishing out some serious punishment when the referee stopped the fight in the second round. The 36-year-old 6’3” (194cm) former WBFed and South African cruiser champion was having his first fight since being beaten in nine rounds by Olympic and World Championships gold medallist Olek Usyk ( he beat Artur Beterbiev in both tournaments) in December. He is rated No 2 cruiser by BSA but has some weight to shed as he was 198 ¾ lbs (90kgs) for Usyk but 233 ¾ lbs (106kgs) for this fight. Now 4 losses in a row for the grossly overweight Mlindwa who was BSA No 5. Hlungwane vs. Simba Difficult to know if Simba has a future as a boxer after being blown away by practically the first punch thrown by Hlungwane. Once world rated the DRC “Demolition Man” had faded away after suffering back-to-back first round losses to Thabiso Mchunu in 2012. It was later found that he was suffering from the severe effects of diabetes at the time. His manager Brian Mitchell, trainer Harold Volbrecht and promoter Rodney Berman stood by him and after 31 months out he returned with a win in April this year and was rated No 6 heavy by BSA. Hlungwane, the BSA No 4 cruiser, was 2-8 in his last 10 fights, had never fought in anything except 4 and 6 round fights had not fought for nine months and was giving away 31lbs in weight. Difficult to find any positives for Simba in there. Carr vs. Bankisi Carr looks one to watch. He knocked out Bankisi inside a round to register his seventh win by KO/TKO and his third first round victory in a row as he gets back in the swing. This is his second win after being inactive for 20 months. Bankisi way out of his class. 30 July Biefeld, Germany: Feather: Zoltan Kovacs (14-5-1) W TKO 1 Marco McCullough (12-2). Big shock as Kovacs batters McCullough to defeat inside a round. Both fighters were throwing quick, hard punches with Kovacs forcing McCullough onto the back foot. They traded punches and Kovacs landed a right to the side of the head and a left hook which McCullough partly blocked. It looked as though the right had done the damage as in a delayed action McCullough dropped heavily to the canvas on his back. He was up quickly and took the eight count. Kovacs was wild trying to finish it and was warned twice for pushing his elbow into McCullough’s face. He rocked McCullough with a right and the Belfast man was badly shaken again. Instead of trying to hold or get away he stood trading with Kovacs. A couple of right crashed home and McCullough was driven back taking head punch after head punch and had no defence. His corner threw in the towel as McCullough tumbled sideward’s to the floor. Despite the towel the referee started a count and continued the count even as McCullough staggered backwards on rubber legs to his own corner where his seconds were already on the ring apron and incredibly even then the referee did not stop but counted a totally unnecessary ten seconds. Huge win for Hungarian Kovacs, 22. He was not in the EBU/EU ratings had been stopped in one round by Phil Sutcliffe Jnr in Sutcliffe’s first pro fight, lost on points in Belfast to Danny McShane and thirdly in London last November to Mitchell Smith. On the plus side he had won his last fight inside a round but against poor opposition. Winning the WBO Europe title had given McCullough No 4 rating so he will have blown that. He had scored good wins over Willie Casey and Dmitry Kirilov and at 25 he has time to get over this. Kempton Park, South Africa: Cruiser: Kevin Lerena (13-1) W PTS 12 Deon Coetzee (11-6). Super Light: Grant Fourie (16-7-1) W PTS 12 Warren Joubert (22-4-5). Bantam: Ludumo Lamati (6-0-1) DREW 6 Cebo Ngema (9-4-2). Lerena vs. Coetzee Lerena wins the South African title with wide unanimous decision over Coetzee. Southpaw Lerena made a fast start shaking Coetzee in the first and second rounds. Coetzee was looking to let the storm blow itself out and then take over in the later rounds. It did not work that way. With Lerena showing good movement and a focused body attack early and then slowing his work rate and throwing single hard shots and also doing some holding to nullify Coetzee’s attacks. Lerena kept pressing and had Coetzee in trouble a few time in the late rounds as they both tired. The Harold Volbrecht trained Coetzee showed real courage and did well to last the distance in the end. Scores 117-111 twice and 118-110. The 23-year-old “Lean Machine” lost on points over ten rounds to the more experienced Johnny Muller in November and this is his second win since then. It is the first time he has gone twelve rounds and he paced the fight well. Coetzee, 29, was making the first defence of his national title. He had won his last seven fights but the opposition had not been strong but at least he kept his pride intact as he has yet to lose inside the distanced. He is the nephew of former WBA heavy champ Gerrie Coetzee, Fourie vs. Joubert Fourie saved the night for the Harold Volbrecht stable with a points win over Joubert that netted him the national title in a hard fought exciting contest. Due to injury Fourie was having his first fight for just under a year and was moving up a division but he showed no signs of ring rust. Fourie’s better boxing saw him build a lead over the early rounds but with Joubert competitive. From the eighth things changed.”Fireball” Fourie had Joubert down in the eighth from a hard right/left combination and came close to a stoppage in the ninth. Joubert did not give up but fought back hard but lost a point in the eleventh round for holding which swung things even further in Fourie’s favour and he ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 117-111, 116-110 and 114-112. The 29-year-old Fourie had been on a poor run and was 4-6 in his previous ten fights. He is the nephew of Pierre Fourie the former world light heavyweight title challenger who was unlucky enough to be around when there were some great light heavies and he lost twice on points to Bob Foster and twice on points to Victor Galindez in world title challenges. Joubert aptly nicknamed “ The Warrior” was coming up for 11 years as a pro. He had challenged for the national super feather title in 2010. After that a run of 6-1-3 in 10 fights culminated with him finally winning the South African super light title in April this year so after waiting all that time to win the title it was a pity to see the good pro only reign for just over three months. Lamati vs. Ngema Hot prospect Lamati will feel robbed over this one. The highly-touted 23-year-old looked to have outboxed and outpointed the more experienced Ngema but the judges did not see it that way with two of them scoring the fight 57-57 and the other somehow seeing Ngema the winner 59-55. A big blow for Lamati who had won his last five fights by KO/TKO. Hopefully he can shake this off and rebuild. Ngema , 25 had lost a split decision to Toto Helebe for the national title in February last year. July 31 Quilmes, Argentina: Middle: Claudio A Abalos (29-13-3) W PTS 10 Martin F Rios (15-5-3,1ND). Welter: Elias L Vallejos (17-4-1) W TKO 3 Juan A M Cuellar (8-8-1). Abalos vs. Rios Abalos retains South American title with unanimous verdict over Rios in front of his hometown fans. The challenger made the better start scoring with hard rights in the first. Gradually Abalos took over and began to utilise his southpaw jab to outbox Rios who was dangerous with his head and rapidly tiring. In the sixth Rios lost a point for trying to bite Abalos. In the seventh it was Abalos who lost a point for a butt only for Rios to get away with a butt of his own in the eighth. Abalos dominated the last three rounds being able to pick his spots and land punches with both hands as he cancelled out the good start by Rios and took the decision. Scores 95-93, 96-94 and 96-95. “El Chino” Abalos, 34, a former Argentinian champion, was making the fifth defence of his South American title and has won 5 of his last 6 fights with the loss being to world rated super middle Ezequiel Maderna. He is No 2 with the FAB. Rios, 23, also a former national champion, drops to 2-4-1 in his last 7 fights. Vallejos vs. Cuellar No sort of test for Vallejos as he puts Cuellar on the floor once in both the first and second rounds and a knockdown in the third saw the fight stopped. The 27-year-old local has won 4 of his last 5 fights. Three losses in a row by KO/TKO for Cuellar. Monteria, Colombia: Fly: Anuar Salas (18-3) W PTS 10 Jeyson Cervantes (7-13-1). Super Fly: Jesus Martinez (20-1) W KO 1 Michael Arango (35-22-3). Feather: Deivi Julio Bassa (17-0) W PTS 8 Edison Valencia (21-13). Salas vs. Cervantes Local fighter Salas gets unanimous verdict over Cervantes. Salas took the early rounds and put southpaw Cervantes down in the fifth. Cervantes fought back hard over the last four rounds but the gap was too big for him to close. Scores 97-92 twice and 95-94. Salas is 10-2 in his last 12 fights with the losses to Luis Concepcion for interim WBC Silver title in 2013 and to world rated Mexican David Sanchez in August last year. He has won his last four fights. Cervantes has lost three in a row all on points against very tough opposition including former interim WBA champion Alberto Rossel and Jesus Martinez (18-1). Martinez vs. Arango In a contest between two Monterianos Martinez blows away Arango inside the first round. Now 9 wins by KO/TKO for Martinez and 11 wins on the bounce. Arango, 36, has lost 11 of his last 12 fights so slipped a long way from when he challenged Julio Cesar Miranda for the WBO fly title in 2010. Bassa vs. Valencia Bassa remains unbeaten with wide unanimous decision over “Four Edges” Valencia. Basso handed out some severe punishment over the first seven rounds but Valencia soaked it up and landed some heavy shots of his own in the last and did well to take Bass the distance as Basses had won 7 of his previous 9 fights by KO/TKO. Valencia, 38, is coming up for 20 years as a pro. He lost to South African Lehlo Ledwaba for the IBF super bantam title back in 1999 but is now 4-9 in his last 13 fights. Bari, Italy: Super Welter: Soufiene Ouerghi (9-3) W KO 7 Francesco Lezzi (7-5-1). Even the local crowd could not lift Lezzi enough to give him a chance in this fight for the vacant IBF Mediterranean title. The fight started badly for Lezzi and did not get any better. Ouerghi floored Lezzi in the first and although Lezzi got up and saw out the round it was obvious that Ouerghi was the harder puncher. Lezzi tried to box on the outside and had some success but he was rocked a number of times. In the seventh Ouerghi dropped Lezzi again and after the Italian got up a thunderous right hook put him down and out. Tunisian Ouerghi, 27, had won 5 of his last 6 with the loss being a majority decision to Dominick Britsch in Germany. First loss by KO/TKO for the “Gladiator of Freedom” who is now 1-4-1 in his last 6 fights. Durango, Mexico: Feather: Saul Morales (13-3) W TKO 2 Victor Castillo. Super Light: Emanuel Colon (8-0-1) W KO 2 Ivan Zamorano. Morales vs. Castillo Local hero “Lightning” Morales makes it two wins since his recent return to the ring with stoppage of late substitute Castillo. The 28-year-old Morales now has 8 wins by KO/TKO. He was inactive in 2012 and 2013 and had only one fight in 2014. Colon vs. Zamorano Puerto Rican “Pinky” Colon was not looking to end this early but when the chance came in the second round he took it and knocked Zamorano out. The 23-year-old Buffalo-based Puerto Rican has 7 wins by KO/TKO including 5 first round finishes. Managua, Nicaragua: Fly: Yader Cardoza (16-7-1) W PTS 10 Alexander Taylor (11-6-1). Fly: Keyvin Lara (16-1-1) W KO 1 Martin Diaz (8-1-1,1ND). Cardoza vs. Taylor Cardoza took the unanimous decision in all Nica fight as he forced better boxer Taylor into a brawl and bullied his way to a clear win. Scores 100-90, 99-91 and 97-94. Cardoza, 26, lost to Adrian Hernandez for the WBC light fly title in 2013. He had picked up a reputation for poor training and weight problems but had the right tactics here. Taylor, 21, had beaten former interim WBC and WBA champion Juan Palacios two weeks ago. Lara vs. Diaz Lara retains his WBC Latino title with first round kayo of Diaz in clash of 20-year-old Nicas. Lara ended it with a right hook to the body and an uppercut to the chin. The body punch did the real damage and with Diaz doubled up on the canvas in agony the referee dispensed with the count. Lara started his career with a loss and a draw so now has 16 wins in a row but only 5 by KO/TKO. Diaz was a slight favourite going in. Former WBA minimum light fly champion Rosendo Alvarez the promoter of the show and of Diaz protested the failure of the referee to give his man the benefit of a count but it is doubtful if Diaz could have got up in time. Pasay City, Philippines: Super Bantam: Bernabe Concepcion (34-6-2) W TKO 2 Juma Fundi (27-13-3). Light Fly: Renren Tesono (15-6-3) W PTS 12 Bonjun Loperez (9-4-1). Fly: Renerio Arizala (13-2-1) W TEC DEC 6 Romnick Magos (11-5). Super Feather: Rogelio Jun Doliguez (20-3-2) W PTS 10 Jerry Nardo (21-7). Concepcion vs. Fundi One big right from Concepcion ends this one. Tanzanian Fundi was busy in the first round with quick jabs and rights but his punches had no power in them. Concepcion threw two quick jabs and then followed with a straight right that put Fundi down on his back. Fundi struggled to his feet but the referee got to nine and then just waived the fight over as Fundi was too wobbly to continue. The 27-year-old Filipino wins the vacant WBO Oriental title. He has failed in title shots against Steve Luevano and Juan Manuel Marquez. He was beaten by Mikey Garcia in 2012 then had only one fight in 2013 and one in 2014 and needs to be more active with Chris Avalos his next target. Sixth loss by KO/TKO for 28-year-old Fundi. Tesono vs. Loperez Tesono retains the Philippines title with a split decision over Loperez. Tesono, 23, was making the first defence of the Philippines title that he won with a majority verdict over Benezer Alolod in December. Loperez, 22, rated No 12 by the GAB, performed above expectations as he had lost 2 of his last 3 fights by KO/TKO. Arizala vs. Magos Arizala gets technical decision over Magos. The end came due to Magos suffering a bad cut on his right eyebrow after a clash of heads and it went to the scorecards. Scores 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56. “Amazing” Arizala, 21, went 11-0-1 in his first 12 fights but was derailed by losses to Ardin Diale for the Philippines title and to former WBC champion Toshiyuki Igarashi in Japan on a close technical decision. He was No 7 with the GAB. Magos, the GAB No 4, was 8-3 going into this one with all three losses in Thailand. Doliguez vs. Nardo After back-to-back losses Doliguez gets back on the winning track with unanimous verdict over Nardo. The 24-year-old southpaw was world rated on the strength of an unbeaten run of 20 fights but then went 1-3 in his next 4 with losses to Dennis Tubieron and Fernando Montiel in those three defeats. Nardo, who has twice challenged for the WBU (German version) in Australia, is an experienced fighter with a good chin. Tampa, FL, USA: Super Fly: Ricardo Rodriguez (12-2) W PTS 10 Daniel Lozano (13-3). Rodriguez gets a majority decision that should have been unanimous. The young Mexican used boxing smarts to befuddle Lozano who has problems with movers. Rodriguez chose to box and Lozano struggled with no plan B to implement. Rodriguez was busier and more accurate with Lozano scoring with some power shots but not throwing or landing enough of them. “Scorpion” Lozano tried to find a sting in the tail as he staged a strong finish but he left it far too late. Scores 98-92 and 97-93 for Rodriguez and a very generous (to Lozano) 95-95. Rodriguez, 25, has won 10 of his last 11 fights and in this one he retained his WBC Fecarbox title and added the vacant WBO Latino title and it is now three useful wins in a row for Rodriguez following his victories over unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez and Jonathan Vidal. Floridian Lozano, also 25, won his first 11 fights but has slipped to be 2-3 in his last 5. Delicias, Mexico: Super Light: Ivan Pereyra (20-5) W TKO 4 Raul Robledo (10-1). Pereyra goes into the lion’s den and comes away with a win. Pereyra was just supposed to be yet another victim for the hard punching local Robledo but things did not work out that way. Pereyra attacked the body over the first two rounds and then floored Robledo in the third. Robledo got up but was put down and out in the fourth. Now 14 wins by KO/TKO for 26-year-old “Russian” Pereyra and a much needed win after three losses in a row. Reportedly he won the belt designating him as WBO Mexican champion! Robledo the 19-year-old “Nino KO” was the one knocked out this time. August 1 Hull, England: Light: Luke Campbell (12-0) W TKO 10 Tommy Coyle (21-3). Super Welter: Brian Rose (27-3-1) W PTS 12 Carson Jones (37-11-3). Heavy: Dillan Whyte (15-0) W KO 1 Irineu Beato Costa Junior (17-5). Light Welter : Ricky Burns (38-5-1) W TKO 5 Prince Ofotsu (15-5). Super Bantam: Gamal Yafai (7-0) W PTS 6 Angel Lorente (6-9-1). Super Feather: Martin Joseph Ward (12-0-2) W PTS 10 Sergio Blanco (21-2-1). Super Bantam: Stuart Hall (17-4-2) W PTS 6 Edwin Tellez (9-19-5). Campbell vs. Coyle Campbell wins this battle of hometown fighter with impressive stoppage of Coyle. Campbell established his jab early and outworked Coyle in the first round. In the second a wicked southpaw left to the body put Coyle down in obvious pain. Coyne’s courage is well known and he got up and tried to take the fight to Campbell in the third but was warned over careless use of his head. Campbell had height and reach and was able to use stiff jabs to keep Coyle out. The fight was one-sided in the fourth, fifth, when the referee warned both fighters for rough tactics. In the sixth Campbell banged home jabs and body punches with Coyle again showing his resilience. Coyle finally got into the fight briefly in the seventh as got through with a good body punch and then was able cut off the ring and score to head and body at close quarters. Campbell took over again in the eighth scoring with eye-catching combinations from a variety of angles and another body punch looked to have hurt Coyle at the end of the ninth. Campbell was looking to end it in the tenth and he put Coyle down with another left to the body. A series of punches put Coyle down for a second time and after he got up he was trapped in a corner and looked about to go down again when the referee stopped the fight. The brilliant former Olympic and European gold medallist wins the vacant WBC International title. For me the 27-year-old from Hull is the best young prospect in British boxing and a future world champion. No pressure then Luke! The 25-year-old Coyle has been in some tremendous fights. He was on his way to a win over Derry Mathews for the vacant CBC title when a crunching punch from Mathews ended the fight in the tenth. After that he won 6 fights in a row including a war with Daniel Brizuela which saw both fighters down four times and victory over Mike Katsidis inside two rounds. He may never be able to beat Campbell but at 25 and with his exciting style he will be in more great fights. Rose vs. Jones Rose gets revenge for controversial first round stoppage loss to Jones in February. It was assumed that Rose would box a cautious fight but he quickly got himself on the front foot and landed some stiff jabs and uppercuts in the first round. Things did not look so good for the British fighter in an all action second when an uppercut from Jones left him with a bad nose injury, possibly fractured, but he stuck to his game plan slotting home jab after jab at the advancing Jones. Rose was winning the rounds with his better boxing, built around his jab, his speed and higher work rate and there was little Jones could do to change things and despite the result of the first fight he just did not have the power to turn things around and was lucky that Rose is also a bit short in the power department. The fight was bad tempered in the latter stages with both getting warning for hitting after the bell. Jones had a good tenth but Rose banged back with a right in the eleventh and although Rose had built a winning lead he refused to play safe and stood toe-to-toe in the last with Jones to cap an excellent performance. Scores 119-111, 117-112 and 116-112. “The Lion” is back in the mix. The loss to Jones saw him drop out of the world ratings but there are good domestic fights for him as he rebuilds. Jones can give anyone trouble on his night but does not seem to do well in return matches having taken Kell Brook to a majority decision in 2012 but being halted in eight rounds in their return bout in 2013. Whyte vs. Costa Junior Impressive kayo performance from Whyte. He was forcing Costa back with a stiff jab and trying a few rights. Costa was not letting his punches go and did not throw a single punch in the first half of the round. Suddenly Whyte stepped in with a left hook which landed high on Costa’s temple and sent him tumbling to the floor. He was up at six and when the fight restarted a right followed by a left hook put Costa down again and the fight was over. Now 12 wins by KO/TKO for the Jamaican-born Londoner including 11 in a row and all inside four rounds. With his win over Anthony Joshua in their early days as an amateur their proposed clash later this year will be a short and exciting one. Costa, 34, has lost 5 of his last 6 fights with 4 of those losses by KO/TKO. Burns vs. Ofotsu Burns returns with a win but with a strange ending. The Scot was outboxing the strong but limited Ghanaian and had built a big lead by the end of the fourth round. However he had not really punished Ofotsu severely yet in the fifth whilst they were about to trade punches the towel came flying from Ofotsu’s corner. Ofotsu actually caught the towel himself and just gazed at his corner bewildered by the action. The referee was also surprised but accepted the signal of retirement reluctantly. The fight was made at 137lbs so it looks as though Burns, 32, is aiming to challenge again for another title at lightweight and right now that is a strong domestic division so there are some good fight there if he wants them. Yafai vs. Lorente Yafai gets comfortable win over visiting Spaniard. The talented brother of Khalid was too quick and skilful for the willing but limited Spaniard and won every round. The Birmingham fighter had Lorente down late in the fifth but settled for a points win. Referee’s card 60-53. The 23-year-old was ABA champion a EU Cadets gold medallist and took a silver at the World Cadets so yet another young British talent to follow. Lorente, a former Spanish champion has lost 7 of his last 8 fights. Ward vs. Blanco Ward retains his WBC International title with unanimous decision over veteran Spaniard Blanco. Ward’s smart boxing gave him the edge over Blanco for most of the fight but Blanco had some success when he managed to get inside and forced Ward out of his game plan but generally the silky skills of Ward ensured he had the fight well in hand and he ran out a comfortable winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 98-93. Ward, 24, had to adapt to a late change of opponent. Currently he is No 29 with the WBC and will be looking to move up to higher class opposition helped by the prestige that the International title has with that body. Blanco, who turned 40 on the day of this fight came in as a late sub. He drew and lost in two shots at the European title and after the second loss against Oleg Yefimovych in 2008 he was out for 22 months before returning to the ring last October and this is only his third fight since then Hall vs. Tellez Hall came on this show at short notice to get in some rounds as he starts to rebuild in attempt to regain his IBF title. He had no trouble winning every round so got six rounds of work. Referee’s score 60-54. The 35-year-old former IBF bantam champion was having his first fight since losing to Randy Caballero for the vacant IBF title in October and is now hoping to challenge fellow Brit Jamie McDonnell for the secondary WBA title. Nicaraguan Tellez, 20 moves to 9 losses on a row. New York, NY, USA: Welter: Danny Garcia (31-0) W TKO 9 Paul Malignaggi (33-7). Middle: Daniel Jacobs (30-1) W TKO 2 Sergio Mora (28-4-2). Light Heavy: Travis Peterkin (15-0-1) DREW 8 Lenin Castillo (12-0-1). Feather: Rafael Vazquez (16-1) W TKO 1 Mario Macias (26-17,1ND). Super Welter: Prichard Colon (15-0) W TKO 2 Mike Finney (12-4-1). Garcia vs. Malignaggi Successful move up to welter for Garcia as he grinds down and halts Malignaggi in nine rounds. Both had good patches over the first two rounds with Malignaggi getting home with some quick, light punches and Garcia, normally a slow starter, with some hard rights. In the third Garcia was walking through Malignaggi’s punches and taking control of the fight and a left hook opened a cut over Malignaggi’s right eye. Although Malignaggi was showing his usual quick lateral movement and fine defensive work Garcia was beginning to grind him down and forcing Malignaggi back with stiff rights. Garcia had Malignaggi on the ropes at the end of the fourth round scoring with chopping rights but Malignaggi ducked, bobbed and weaved and even did his version of the Ali shuffle as the bell went. Garcia continued to dominate in the fifth and sixth with Malignaggi slotting home counters but they lacked the power to dissuade Garcia and by the end of the sixth Malignaggi was also cut under the right eye and beginning to fade. Garcia kept up relentless pressure. Malignaggi scored with a good right early in the seventh but it did not stop Garcia steadily breaking Malignaggi down with rights to the head and body. Garcia started the eighth with a pair of hard left hooks which fired Malignaggi up to bang back but it was a last fling with the end looking near. At that point all three judges had Garcia in front with the scores 79-73 twice and 78-74. The doctor examined Malignaggi’s cuts but allowed the fight to continue. Garcia brought it to an end as he sent Malignaggi stumbling back with a right and with Malignaggi on the ropes he fired four more head punches with the referee then stepping in to halt the fight. There are plenty of big fights for 27-year-old Garcia up at welter and he will be a good addition to an already competitive mix. Malignaggi should make this a last fling. At 34 he is no longer as slick and quick. Jacobs vs. Mora Jacobs gets win as Mora fractures his ankle when being knocked down. They traded quick knockdown in a frantic first round. Jacobs floored Mora with a short left only for Mora to get up and with Jacobs over-eager to follow-up on his success he walked onto a counter right from Mora which put him down. Jacobs got up and finished the round strongly. Jacobs came out aggressively in the second taking the fight to Mora who was frustrating him with some good defensive work. Jacobs bundled Mora towards the ropes and landed a four punch combination which sent Mora sideways and he went down awkwardly with his right ankle twisting under him. The referee began to count and Mora dragged himself up but was limping badly and when the referee completed the eight count Mora indicated he had suffered an injury and could not continue. Jacobs, 28, was making the second defence of his secondary WBA title and whilst not the way he would have wanted to win a win is a win and you take it any way that it comes. This was only his second fight in a year so he will be looking to get back in the ring again soon. For the unlucky 34-year-old Mora he faces a long injury lay-off and may not get another title chance. Peterkin vs. Castillo Peterkin throws away his chance to win this one and losses his 100% record. The Brooklyn southpaw looked to be on his way to victory after he edged the first two rounds and Castillo was fighting with the handicap of a cut over his right eye. From the fourth things changed. Castillo began to outwork Peterkin and his cause was helped when Peterkin was deducted a point in the fourth for landing a punch on the break and another in the fifth for a low punch. Peterkin struggled to recover those points with the busier Castillo looking to perhaps just having done enough to get the decision. Scores 75-75 twice and 76-74 for Peterkin. The 24-year-old Peterkin escaped with his unbeaten tag and will have better nights. Dominican Castillo, 26, will consider himself unlucky not to have won. Vazquez vs. Macias Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican Vazquez gets another quick win. He caught Macias with a right in the second round which floored the Mexican. Macias made it to his feet but was unsteady on his pins and the referee stopped the fight. Now 37 Vazquez did not turn pro until he was 32. He took a year out after a disappointing split decision loss to a 3-6-2 fighter in 2012. Since returning in 2013 with a win over Leon Moore (30-2) he is 8-0 with 7 wins by KO/TKO. Macias never got very far up the hill but he definitely on the down slope now being 3-10 in his last 13 fight including 5 losses in a row. Colon vs. Finney Former top amateur Colon continues to impress with his skill and power. The Puerto Rican hope took the first round scoring with quick combinations and some vicious hooks to the body. In the second he produced a thunderous right which had Finney staggering back across the ring in deep trouble. He followed up with some more heavy punches to drop Finney and although Finney made it to his feet the fight was over. Colon, 22, now has 12 wins by KO/TKO. Finney is now 0-4-1 in his last 5 fights but is being thrown in over his head as his last three opponents had combined records of 42-0. Morelia, Mexico: Super Feather: Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9) W TKO 2 Kazuki Hashimoto (11-5). Super Feather: Edgar Monarrez (20-3-1) W TKO 3 Ricardo Castillo (40-14-1,1ND). Light: Juan Jose Martinez (22-2) W Edgar Puerta (23-6-1). Super Welter: Mario A Lozano (29-6) W Manuel Mares (11-5). Gonzalez vs. Hashimoto Gonzalez wins his first fight at super feather. He was throwing bombs in the opening round and it was clear this was going to be a short fight. After scoring with some of those bombs in the first he used his jab to open Hashimoto’s defence in the second and then put the Japanese fighter down with a left. Hashimoto managed to get to his feet but was in no condition to continue and the fight was stopped. First fight for Gonzalez since looking an old man when losing his WBC feather title to Gary Russell Jr in March. Gonzalez wins the vacant WBC Continental Americas title. It will be interesting to see where he leaps into the ratings at super feather. It needs to be high because at 33 and after the Russell fight you wonder how long he has. Hashimoto not a tough test as he is just a prelim fighter and not rated in the top 15 by the JBC. Monarrez vs. Castillo Monarrez just too young and strong for veteran Castillo. Monarrez had Castillo down in the first and was teeing off on Castillo in the third when the referee stopped the fight to save Castillo from taking any more punishment. The 25-year-old Monarrez is a good level ten round fighter. He had lost last time out to world rated Romulo Koasicha in April when a single point deduction cost him a draw. Castillo, 36, had shots at the IBO, WBA and IBF super bantam titles but has announced his retirement. Martinez vs. Puerta Martinez gets a career best win as he takes a unanimous decision over former world title challenger Puerta. This one was a war from bell to bell with knockout puncher Martinez trying to beat down the experienced Puerta. It was an exciting punch fest with Martinez doing the pressing and Puerta banging home counters. In the end the power of Martinez won out and he took the deserved verdict. After losing his second pro fight Martinez has now lost only one of his last 22 fights and that was a majority technical decision to Rey Bautista in Dubai in September. This is his fourth win since then. Puerta, 33, had a run of 12 wins in a row which saw him climb to No 1 with the WBC but he was stopped in six rounds by Takashi Miura in a challenge for the WBC title in November and he was outpointed by Miguel Roman in his last fight in April. Fiumicino, Italy: Light: Emiliano Marsili (32-0-1) W PTS 12 Gamaliel Diaz (38-13-3). Cruiser: Mario Larghetti (24-1) W TKO 5 Marko Martinjak (5-15-2). Light: Heavy: Oriel Kolaj (16-5) W DISQ 2 Slobodan Culum (9-13). Light: Carel Sandon (18-1) W PTS 6 Dzemi Cosovic (3-5-3). Heavy: Matteo Modugno (17-0) W TKO 1 Hrvoje Kisicek (11-18). Marsili vs. Diaz Marsili wins the vacant WBC Silver title with unanimous decision over Diaz. Over the early rounds southpaw Marsili was piling up the points with his high work rate with Diaz competitive and going to the body in the hope those tactics would work in the long run. At the end of the fourth round Marsili was in front 40-36 and 39-37 with the third judge showing Diaz in front 39-38. Marsili edges the fifth and dominated the sixth with Diaz always trying to fire back. The Mexican was frustrated at the evasive tactics of Marsili and had been warned a number of time over being careless with his head. When he again committed that offence in the sixth it looked an obvious butt and the referee had no hesitation in taking away a point and Diaz was lucky as he could have taken two if Marsili had been cut, one for the foul and one for a cut under the WBC rules. That deduction was only delayed until the next round when a clash of heads saw Marsili cut on his forehead and the WBC rule was applied with the uncut Diaz losing a point. Diaz launched furious attacks to try a claw back those pints but at the end of the eighth round the Italian was now in front on all three cards by 78-72 twice and 77-74. Diaz was still strong and over the closing rounds Marsili faded but the Mexican could not do enough to close the gap. Scores 117-110, 116-111 and 115-111 with the last score the more accurate picture of the fight. The 38-year-old Italian, a former undefeated European champion is currently No 4 with the WBC and he will be hoping to move up after this win and get a shot at Jorge Linares. The 34-year-old Diaz , a former WBC super feather champion, is now 1-4-1 in his last six fights but his losses have been to quality opposition in Takashi Miura, who took his WBC title, Dante Jardon, Petr Petrov and Marsili and the draw was a technical one with Anthony Crolla. Larghetti vs. Martinjak The “Prince of Milan” gets another win. Larghetti had to make the fight as Martinjak was really just looking to survive. Larghetti was scoring with hard punches and coasting to victory when a clash of heads in the fourth round opens a bad cut by the left eye of Larghetti. The Italian enraged by the cut and hammered away at Martinjak until the bell and the Croatian decided not to come out for the fifth round. Third win for Larghetti since losing on points to Marco Huck for the WBO title in August last year. He is rated No 9 by the WBC and WBA and No 12 by the WBO. Kolaj vs. Culum Kolaj wins as Culum is thrown out for pushing the referee. Kolaj peppered Culum with punches in the first round. Culum decided that any method survival would do and was using wrestling holds and other smothering tactics. When the referee stepped in to break them up Culum pushed the referee away and was immediately disqualified. Not a satisfactory way to win for Kolaj the Rome-based Albanian “Eagle”. The Italian champion and former undefeated EU champion was 5-5 in his first 10 fights but now has 11 wins in a row and is the EBU No 12. Serb Culum is 4-5 in his last 9 fights but the guys he beat had only one win between the four of them. Sandon vs. Cosovic Sandon wins wide unanimous decision over young Serb. Sandon showed good skills, good movement and accuracy but Cosovic just soaked it up and stayed there to the final bell doing the job. A win for Sandon but it again highlights his lack of power. He is lucky to be alive. He attempted to commit suicide in 2011 but only succeeded in injuring himself in the resulting gas explosion. He was inactive for 19 months but has had only four fights in the two years since his return. Now Italian he was born in the DRC and is the nephew of former WBA middleweight champion Sumbu Kalambay. Cosovic, 20, is 0-4-2 in his last 6 fights. Modugno vs. Kisicek Modugno makes this quick. He stalked patiently ignoring some hopeful swipes from Kisicek and then found the opening for a solid right cross. Kisicek went down heavily and although he pulled himself up his legs were trying to go in different directions and the referee stopped the fight. Now 9 wins by KO/TKO for the 6’6 ½” (200cm) former undefeated Italian champion. He nickname is “Breadstick” but he was 261lbs for this fight so some breadstick. Croatian Kisicek, 35, goes to 6 losses by KO/TKO and is 3-8 in his last 11 fights. Tokyo, Japan: Fly: Yu Kimura (17-2-1) W PTS 10 Jesus Faro (14-10). Super Welter: Yuto Shimizu (10-2-2) W PTS 8 Yosuke Kirima (21-5-2). Kimura vs. Faro Kimura too quick for plodding Mexican Faro. Kimura made good use of his jab and scored heavily with straight rights. Kimura took the first six rounds and had Faro badly shaken in the seventh. The game Faro was looking to land just one big punch but never got the chance. He stuck to his task without ever really being in the fight and was still there at the bell. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-91. The 31-year-old former undefeated JBC champion relinquished his title to try to land a shot at WBC light fly champion Pedro Guevara. “Omar” Faro was 6-2 in his last 8 fights but against very modest opposition Shimizu vs. Kirima Shimizu wins this contest between two top rated JBC fighters as he outpoints the more experienced Kirima. Shimizu took the early rounds scoring well with his jab and particularly with long rights. Kirima started to roll over the late rounds having a dominant seventh round but he had left his rally too late and Shimizu got the deserved decision. Scores 79-74 twice and 78-75. Shimizu, 27, the JBC No 2 has won 7 fights in a row but is yet to climb to ten round status. Kirima, 30, the JBC No 3, lost in a challenge for the JBC super welter title in 2012 and after this loss seems unlikely to get another chance. Guadalajara, Mexico: Welter: Ivan Montero (18-0) W TEC DEC 9 Ramases Agaton (16-2-3). Super Light: Abraham Cordero (12-2-1) W PTS 8 Rafael Guzman (15-1-1,1ND).Bantam: Sergio Frias (17-5-2) W PTS 8 Dennis Contreras (19-5). Super Feather: Carlos Diaz (17-0-1) TEC DRAW 3 Willmark Cano (3-0-3). Montero vs. Agaton Montero gets technical decision after Agaton cut too badly for the fight to continue. The unbeaten fighter from Yucatan went in front early after flooring Agaton in the second. Southpaw Agaton got up and got back into the fight willing to trade with the harder puncher. Montero was scoring with the power shots but Agaton was the busier and it looked as though he might steal the decision until he started to tire. A clash of heads in the ninth saw Agaton suffer a severe cut on his right eyebrow and the result was then decided by the scores after eight rounds with the ninth not being scored. Scores 77-73 and 76-75 for Montero and 76-75 for Agaton with that second round knockdown vital. “Terrible” Montero was in his first ten round fight and a return would be justice for “The Pharaoh” Agaton who was 8-0-3 in his last seven fights going into this one. Cordero vs. Guzman Local fighter Cordero gets a split decision over Ensenada’s formerly unbeaten Guzman. The 20-year-old former WBC Youth Silver champion took the verdict on scores of 77-73 and 76-75 and a card of 76-75 for Guzman exactly the same scores as for the main fight. The 20-year-old “ Bombi” lost his WBC Youth title when he failed to make the weight for a defence in April in a fight with Ezequiel Avilez which ended in a draw. “Furioso” Guzman, also 20, probably was furious to lose his unbeaten record on a split decision in the other guy’s back yard. Contreras vs. Frias There was finally a unanimous decision as Frias outpointed Contreras in a contest between to fighters from Guadalajara but even then it was very close with Frias winning on scores of 77-75 twice and 77-76. The win was important for Frias, 24, as he had lost 2 of his last three fights. The opposition had been tough in Manuel Avila (15-0) and Ronny Rios (23-1). Contreras, 23, needed the win even more as he now goes to three losses in a row but again he has been thrown in against good opposition as his other two losses were to Jose Cayetano(16-2) and Edivaldo Ortega (20-0-1). Diaz vs. Cano Big local hero Diaz unluckily gets a blot on his otherwise 100% record due to a cut ending this fight in the third round. “Chuko” had taken the first round and put Cano down with a right uppercut in the second. Cano was getting in some punches of his own but under pressure when a clash of heads in the third saw Cano cut on his left eyebrow and the injury was too severe for the fight to continue. Diaz, 20, had scored a big victory when he knocked out former IBF and WBO super feather title challenger Miguel Beltran last year and looks a good prospect. Guadalajara-based Venezuelan Cano was coming off a ten round win in June so a fair test. Windhoek, Namibia: Super Bantam: Paulus Ambunda (23-1) W PTS 12 Lenadro Esperante (12-5). Welter: Bethuel Ushona (34-3-1) W PTS 12 Bongo Lipembo (7-3). Light: Paulus Moses (36-3) W PTS 10 Sadiki Momba (20-7-2). Middle: Welter Kuutondokwa (9-0) W TKO 3 Renson Hobyane (6-1). Fly: Japhet Utoni (10-1) W PTS 8 Khanyakude Mukansi (8-13-2). Welter: Sackey Shikikutu (20-3-1) W PTS 6 Limbani Masamba (4-4). Ambunda vs. Esperante Ambunda wins the vacant IBO title with split points victory over Argentinian Esperante. Esperante had the edge in height and reach and started well. He shocked the crowd and Ambunda by flooring the local hero with a left hook at the end of the second round with the bell going during the count. Ambunda made it to his feet and then got back into the fight. Both fighters had periods of dominance and there were plenty of fiery exchanges. The Argentinian’s main weapon was his jab and he also countered well as Ambunda looked to land the heavier punches. Ambunda shook Esperante with an uppercut in the ninth and they both staged strong finishes knowing the fight was close. Scores 115-113 and 114-113 for Ambunda and 115-114 for Esperante. The 34-year-old “Rock” a former WBO bantam champion, lost his title by a wide unanimous decision to Tomoki Kameda in 2013 and had a mixed 2014 beating Christian Palma but only just edging out Tshifiwa Munyai on a split decision. His promoter is looking for a fight with Leo Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton. Scott Quigg or Guillermo Rigondeaux but having a hard job getting by Esperante is not a good sign. The 26-year-old Argentinian, the WBO No 14 and FAB No 2 made a bad start to his career going 4-3 in his first 7 fights but then won 8 of his last 9 fights with the loss being a majority decision against Fabian Orozco for the Argentinian title in September. Ushona vs. Lipembo Ushona uses his good skills to outbox the hard punching Lipembo to win the vacant IBO African title. Ushona was quicker and busier scoring with accurate counters working the body well and occasionally choosing to stand and trade with the DRC fighter. Lipembo’s best round was the eighth in which he had Ushona rocking with hard hooks but Ushona weathered the storm and came out a comfortable winner. Scores 119-110 twice and 118-110. The 33-year-old local gets his second win since suffering shock stoppage loss against Dario F Pucheta in October. Lipembo has done nearly all his fighting in South Africa where he had amassed 7 wins in a row with good wins over Samuel Malinga and former IBF champion Isaac Hlatshwayo but this was his first fight for almost 2 ½ years. Moses vs. Momba Moses wins uninspiring fight. The former secondary WBA champion was up against an opponent whose skill levels were far below him so Momba decided that holding and wrestling were his best tactics. That made it hard for Moses to look good but he stuck to his task. He floored Momba in the fourth and did what clean work there was with Momba only just lasting to the final bell. Scores 100-89 twice and 99-90. Since losing his secondary WBA title to Miguel Acosta “The Hitman”, now 37, is 11-2 in 13 fights with the losses coming against Ricky Burns for the WBO title in 2012 and to South African Malcolm Klassen in March this year. Tanzanian Momba is a good enough domestic level fighter. He is 4-4 in his last 8 fights with 4 wins at home and 4 losses on his travels. Kuutondokwa vs. Hobyane “The Executioner” gets another inside the distance win. The 30-year-old Namibian hope put South African Hobyane down with a left hook to the body in the third and although Hobyane got up the fight was stopped as he was unable to continue. Kuutondokwa now has 8 wins in a row by KO/TKO but very low level opposition. Hobyane is No 1 super middle with the BSA but has also only met low level opposition. Utoni vs. Mukansi The “Namibian Lion” mauls another victim as Utoni gets comfortable unanimous decision over South African Mukansi. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. It is a pity that the 36-year-old Utoni did not turn pro until he was 33. He was one of the most successful fighters in Namibian amateur boxing winning the African Championship, taking gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and silver at the 2010 Games. He also fought at the 2008 Olympics and won a bronze medal at the World Military Championships. Mukansi is 0-7-1 in his last 8 fights but maintained his record of never failing to go the distance. Really just a minimumweight he was at a big disadvantage against the 5’9” (175cm) Utoni who not surprisingly is also known as the “Thin Man”. Shikikutu vs. Masamba Southpaw Shikikutu wins a keep busy six rounder on unanimous decision over Malawian Masamba but has to work hard for the verdict. Scores 59-56, 58-56, 58-57. Second fight for “The Snake” since his loss to Frankie Gavin for the CBC title in March last year. Four losses in a row for Masamba. Invercargill, New Zealand: Heavy: Joseph Parker (15-0) W KO 1 Bowie Tupou (25-4). Welter: Jeff Horn (11-0-1) W TEC Dec 7 Viktor Plotnykov (32-3,1ND). Heavy: Izuagbe Ugonoh (13-0) W KO 2 William Quarrie (5-4). Cruiser: Jai Opetaia (1-0) W PTS 4 Isileli Fa (3-1). Parker vs. Tupou Parker takes only 63 seconds to end this one. Tupou came out with a rush trying to take Parker to the ropes. Parker backed-off prodding with jabs and trying to set Tupou up for the right. Tupou was coming in low and roughing Parker up inside. As Tupou moved forward Parker threw a left and a right. In slow motion it looked as though the right actually landed a glancing blow on Tupou’s temple but it seems it was enough to send Tupou face down out cold as shots to the temple can do. The 23-year-old New Zealander has now won 9 of his last 10 fights by KO/TKO. He is rated WBO 8/WBA 10 and his next opponent looks to be fellow New Zealander Kali Meehan. Tongan Tupou, 32, now has 4 losses by KO/TKO. Horn vs. Plotnykov “Hornet” Horn marches on with technical decision over Ukrainian Plotnykov. Despite giving away height and reach to the tall Plotnykov Horn had no trouble forcing his way inside. In the first he was slamming home punches from both hands and also switching guards. Plotnykov was in the fight early but by the fourth Horn’s pressure had him holding to survive. A clash of heads in the sixth opened a bad cut over Horn’s left eye and although he continued to fight in the seventh with Plotnykov targeting the cut with punches and with his head the doctor advised that the fight be stopped due to the severity of the cut which required six stitches after the fight. It went to the score cards and Horn won on scores of 68-63 twice and 68-64. The 27-year-old Brisbane school teacher represented Australia at the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He has struggled a bit with hand injuries but his WBO 10 and WBA 11 ratings are the least he deserves and Anthony Mundine is his next target. Plotnykov, 37-year-old and 5’11” (180cm) was impressive in outpointing Brit Denton Vassell in February so this was a real test for Horn. Ugonoh vs. Quarrie Ugonoh ends this with spectacular kayo of over matched Quarrie. Ugonoh was walking Quarrie down in a close first round without really landing a big punch. That could not be said about the ending. Ugonoh drove Quarrie into a corner and landed a tremendous right that saw Quarrie crash down suspended over the bottom rope with his head hanging off the ring apron-out cold. As spectacular a kayo as you can imagine. Now 10 wins by KO/TKO for the 28-year-old Pole a former world champion kick boxer.. British-born Quarrie was way out of his depth and has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Opetaia vs. Isileli New Aussie hope Opetaia with Jeff Fenech in his corner turns pro with unanimous decision. The 20-year-old 6’4 ½” 194cm) southpaw was Australian champion at schoolboy, Junior and Senior level he was World Junior champion and competed at the 2012 Olympics just one month after his 17th birthday. He added the Australian title in 2013 and 2014 to his tally before turning pro here. Great potential. Two points losses in a row for Fa. Chincha, Peru: Feather: Carlos Zambrano (26-0) W PTS 12 Jose Sanmartin (17-2-1). Zambrano retains interim WBA title with unanimous decision over Colombian Sanmartin. The challenger made a fast start and with Zambrano looking slow and static he built a lead over the early rounds. As the fight progressed Zambrano found his rhythm and he had Sanmartin in trouble in the sixth and in the end just did enough to edge out the Colombian in a hard close fight. The scores of 117-112 twice are not really representative of the action with the third score of 115-113 confirming Zambrano’s description of a very tough defence of his crown. First defence for “Mina” Zambrano, 31, who turned pro in the USA. He is the nephew of the great Peruvian fighter Mauro Mina and the fight was held in a stadium named after his uncle. After losing his first pro fight “General” Sanmartin was 17-0-1 going into this one. Banalmadena, Spain: Welter: Kerman Lejarraga (11-0) W TKO 2 Feliks Kleins (6-7). Spanish hope Lejarraga makes it 8 wins by KO/TKO as he floors and halts Kleins in two rounds. After taking the first round Lejarraga floored Kleins as they were trading in the second. Kleins made it to his feet but the fight was stopped. Subsequently it was found that Kleins had suffered a fractured cheekbone and damage to the eye socket. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old from Bilbao. Latvian Kleins has done all of his fighting in Spain. Belfast, NI: Cruiser: Tommy McCarthy (6-0) W PTS 8 Courtney Fry (19-8). Middle: Alfredo Meli (11-0) W PTS 8 Rhys Pagan (13-3). McCarthy vs. Fry McCarthy given eight good leaning rounds by veteran Fry. The Belfast fighter had Fry on the canvas in the second from a left hook. Fry got up and McCarthy then began to showcase his skills as he outboxed Fry and rattled home quick bursts of punching from both hands. Fry came into the fight more in the fifth finally getting some of his own punches on target. Fry was competitive in the sixth and his best round in the seventh when he was able to work on McCarthy on the ropes. However McCarthy was boxing well inside himself and was never in real trouble and always had control of the fight. Referee’s score 77-73. The London-born 24-year-old McCarthy showed good poise and maturity and paced the fight well in the end. As an amateur he was a World Junior bronze medallist and won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. Fry, 40, had a win over Jon-Lewis Dickinson and in May came off the floor twice only to lose a very close decision in a British title eliminator to Craig Kennedy so he is far from finished. Meli vs. Pagan Meli wins decision clearly but Pagan makes him work hard. The bout was fast-paced with both fighters putting everything into an all-action frantic first round. Meli was the quicker and more accurate and he was doing enough to edge each round without ever being able to relax due to the constant pressure from Pagan. It was impossible to maintain the furious pace and as things slowed the superior southpaw skills of Meli saw him pocketing the rounds. Over the last two rounds the pace heated up again for a frantic finish but Pagan lost a point in the last with his hopes already having faded. Referee’s score 80-73. The lanky Belfast fighter is developing well and this was his second time at 8 rounds. Scot Pagan had won five in a row and at 22 has time to bounce back. Frisco, TX: Super Bantam: Chris Avalos (26-3) W PTS 8 Rey Perez (20-7). Super Feather: Casey Ramos (20-0) W PTS 8 Daniel Evangelista (17-6-1). Light: Erick De Leon (10-0) W RTD 3 Daniel Perales (5-3-1). Avalos vs. Perez Avalos gets back on the winning track with one-sided victory over Filipino Perez. He was quicker, busier more accurate than Perez and forced the fight the whole way. He kept Perez on the back foot scoring with short hooks inside to head and body. Perez tried to counter the attacks of Avalos but he could not find his way through the Californian’s guard. Perez staged a late rally briefly shaking Avalos in the last round but still being outworked. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Avalos. First fight for Avalos since being stopped in five rounds by Carl Frampton for the IBF title in February. He stepped in for this fight when Jesse Magdaleno had to pull out. Perez is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights including three difficult jobs in Mexico against Hugo Cazares, Andres Gutierrez (26-0-1) and Edivaldo Ortega (18-0-1). Ramos vs. Evangelista Texan prospect Ramos wins again but still seem to lack power. Ramos took the lead from the start slowly grinding Evangelista down with a stream of punches to head and body. His dominance increased more and more as the fight went on but his lack of power meant that Evangelista was never in real trouble and even managed a strong last round. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. The 26-year-old “Wizard” turned pro at 17 and although still unbeaten he has now had to go the full distance in 12 of his last 13 fights. Evangelista showed a good chin but suffered his third loss in a row. De Leon vs. Perales De Leon continues unbeaten with win over Mexican Perales. Southpaw De Leon had won all three rounds and was handing out a steady beating when the Mexican’s corner retired their man before the start of the fourth round. Twenty-three-year-old De Leon 23-year-old was born in Mexico but moved to Detroit as a young kid where he eventually came to the notice of Manny Steward and trained at the Kronk gym. He has 5 wins by KO/TKO. He was NGG champion in 2009, 2010 and 2011 but failed to qualify for London. He is making steady but slow progress as this is only his second fight in the last 12 months. Second loss by KO/TKO for Perales. Hobart, Australia: Feather; Luke Jackson (9-0) W TKO 3 Nouldy Manakane (29-18-2). Fighting in his home city Former top amateur “Action” Jackson disposes of Indonesian Manakane in three rounds to make it a family double for him. Jackson was in control all the way. He took the first round, opened a cut over Manakane’s eye in the second and put him down and out in the third. Jackson, 30, had just under 150 amateur fights , was Australian champion in 2006, 2011 and 2012, represented Australia at the World Championships in 2005 and 2011. He also competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games where he won bronze medal and also fought at the same Games in 2010 and was the captain of Australia’s boxing team for the 2012 Olympics. Only 9 pro fights but a lot of ring time in the amateurs. He beat Manakane’s brother Ruben on points in December. Manakane, 31, lost on points to Koki Kameda for the secondary WBA bantam title in 2012. Banbury, Australia: Light: Brandon Ogilvie (12-1) W PTS 10 Andy Letding (9-4-4). Feather: Nat May (12-1) W PTS 10 Agus Kustiawan (13-4). Ogilvie vs. Letding Ogilvie wins the vacant WBO Oceania title with unanimous decision over Indonesian Letding. ” Brilliant” Ogilvie, 21, the West Australian State champion and ANBF No 4 moves to 7 wins in a row. Indonesian champion Letding was 5-0-2 in his last 7 fights. May vs. Kustiawan May makes it a double for young locals as he takes unanimous verdict over Kustiawan. Having been floored twice in his last fight May showed some caution but his victory was comfortable. The 20-year-old, the No 1 challenger for Luke Jackson’s Australian title, adds the WBA Oceania title to the WBO Asia Pacific Youth title he already holds. He has 8 wins in a row. Former Indonesian champion Kustiawan had a run of 9 wins in 10 fights but has now lost his last two. Tonight is set to be an interesting night in international boxing with arguably the pick of the bouts actually being a female world title unification contest between Edith Soledad Matthysse (13-7-1, 1) and Jelena Mrdjenovich (35-9-1, 19). Whilst we know many fans aren't supporters of female boxing this really is the best bout of the night and promises 10 very competitive rounds. A promise that no other bout of the night can make.
In the US fans will have the chance to see former unified Light Welterweight champion Danny Garcia (30-0, 17) take on former 2-weight world champion Paul Malignaggi (33-6, 7). On paper this looks to be an interesting match up but in reality it will be a mismatch with Garcia being too strong and too young for the battle worn Malignaggi. On the same card we'll see a WBA “regular” Middleweight title defense as the heavy handed Daniel Jacobs (29-1, 26) defends his belt against the frustrating and slippery Sergio Mora (28-3-2, 9). On paper this looks like a clear win for Jacobs however this is likely to be the second toughest bout of his career, only behind his loss to Dmitry Pirog. Mora, a former title holder at 154lbs, knows that this will likely be his last shot at the top but will be the big under-dog. In the UK we'll see Olympic champion Luke Campbell (11-0, 9) battle against local rival Tommy Coyle (21-2, 10) in what we suspect will be a mismatch in favour of the very promising Campbell. The bout is being sold as a major domestic showdown but the reality is that the men are on very different levels and it's hard to see anything that Coyle can do to really test his more impressive foe. |
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
December 2015
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