The Past Week In Action 29 September 2015
24 September Moscow, Russia: Cruiser: Rakhim Chakhkiev (24-1) W PTS 8 Hamilton Ventura (14-2-1). Chakhkiev comes off the floor to get unimpressive unanimous decision over modest Brazilian. Over the first two rounds Chakhkiev was trying to walk down the taller Brazilian but was crude usually employing long lunging southpaw lefts with Ventura slow and boxing by numbers. His long jab whilst lacking power had nuisance value as Chakhkiev did not seem to be able to get past it. In the third Ventura pawed with the jab but then sent a straight right down the pipe and a surprised Chakhkiev was knocked on his butt. He was up quickly but for the rest of that round and much of the fourth it was Ventura coming forward and looking to get home with another right. Chakhkiev was unsettled and cut but then slammed home a left hook that dumped Ventura into the ropes and down with just one second left in that fourth round. The Brazilian survived and although Chakhkiev edged the sixth and seventh just before the bell at the end of the eighth Ventura landed a right to the chest and again Chakhkiev went down. The referee had sent Ventura to a neutral corner and was about to start a count but Chakhkiev leapt up and waived his arms to indicate he slipped and the referee fell for it and Ventura lost the benefit of a genuine knockdown. Scores 77-73, 77-74 and 76-75. The 32-year-old Russian gets his eighth win since losing to Krzys Wlodarczyk for the WBC title in 2013. He is rated WBC 3/IBF 4 (2) WBA 11 but will have to do better than this if he is going to win a title. Ventura, 32, was slow and predictable and lasted less than one round against Yunier Dorticos last year and was having his first fight since last September so should not have been this tough. September 25 East London: South Africa: Fly: Makazole Tete (14-0-1) W PTS 12 Armando Torres (21-15). Light: Xolani Mcotheli (13-2) W KO 4 Vusumzi Tyatyeka (18-5,1ND). Feather: Macbute Sinyabi (26-4) W PTS 12 Sydney Maluleka (15-7). Super Feather: Aphiwe Mboyiya (11-2-1) W PTS 12 Sibusiso Zingange (6-1-1). Super Bantam: Bongani Mahlangu (17-6) W PTS 12 Mfusi Maxhayi (11-6-1). Tete vs. Torres Tete gets the unanimous points win but the scores don’t reflect how close the fight was. Tete found the Mexican journeyman a tougher than expected opponent. When he had space Tete was comfortable with his superior skills but too often he found himself backed up to the ropes and under pressure. Tete had gone to the body early but never really sustained his attacks and was constantly caught by counters from the more experienced visitor. The South African probably had a small lead at the half way point but Torres was stronger over the second half of the fight. It looked close and Tete might expect to benefit from home advantage and did but the scores were no reflection of what was a hard, close fight. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and a much more realistic 115-113. Tete, the brother of Zolani Tete, retains his IBO Inter-Continental title. He is known as “The Professor” and is studying at a University looking to get a degree in sports management but he should have been smart enough to make this an easier fight. Torres, 34, lost inside the distance in fights for the interim WBA and minimumweight titles and is now 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Mcotheli vs. Tyatyeka Mcotheli wins the vacant IBO International title with inside the distance win over Tyatyeka. Mcotheli had promised to end this one quickly and he did. He was too fast and accurate for Tyatyeka who looked a badly used fighter. Mcotheli won the first three rounds and then slammed home a body punch in the fourth that ended the fight. The local fighter, a former IBO Inter-Continental champion at super feather, now has 10 wins by KO/TKO. His losses have been against the much more experienced Jasper Seroka for the South African super feather title and a tenth round stoppage against former IBF champion Malcolm Klassen in April this year. Former South African title challenger Tyatyeka was inactive in 2014 and was 0-1-0,1ND this year. Sinyabi vs. Maluleka Sinyabi retains his IBO Inter-Continental title with close unanimous decision over Maluleka. Sinyabi was to have faced former IBF champion Takalani Ndlovu but ended up against a late sub Maluleka who is rated at super feather by the BSA but is really a featherweight. It looked a gift for Sinyabi but in the end he had to fight hard to avoid defeat. Sinyabi opened well building a big lead by the mid-point of the fight but then things changed. Maluleka fought back hard landing heavy overhand rights to get back into the fight and by the end it was very close. If Maluleka had stuck to his task and cut out the clowning he could have sprung an upset. Scores 115-113 twice and 115-112. Former South African super bantam champion Sinyabi looked close to a world title shot when he ran up 12 wins in a row by KO/TKO but lost a IBF eliminator in Thailand and was beaten in 2014 for the IBO world title. Former South African champion Maluleka was 2-3 in his last fights going in but performed above expectations. Mboyiya vs. Zingange Mboyiya continued the IBO jamboree by winning their vacant All-African title. Former South African feather champion Mboyiya had a slight edge in experience and an even slighter edge in a very closely fought contest. It could have gone either way but southpaw Mboyiya got the judges verdict on scores of 115-113 twice and 115-114. After consecutive losses in tough fights against Sinyabi and Lusanda Komanisi Mboyiya is 3-0-1 in his last 4 fights. Zingange, another last sub, was jumping from six rounds to twelve at short notice so put up a good performance. Mahlangu vs. Maxhayi Mahlangu retains his South African title with close verdict over his No 8 challenger Maxhayi. They put up a good scrap with Mahlangu just doing enough in the torrid exchanges to edge the decision. Scores 116-112, 116-113 and 115-113. First defence of his title for the 35-year-old southpaw “Mr Dancing Shoes” who has won 5 of his last 6 fights. Maxhayi, also a southpaw, had won his last 8 fights. Ontario, CA, USA: Super Bantam: Daniel Roman (17-2-1) W PTS 10 Erik Ruiz (14-4). Welter: Giovanni Santillan (17-0) W PTS 8 Ernesto Ortiz (10-3). Roman vs. Ortiz Roman retains NABF Junior title with wide unanimous decision over Ruiz. In the first round it was a case of good news/bad news for Ruiz as he did enough to make it clearly his round but also had his nose damaged by a punch. From the second to the forth Roman clearly outpunched Ruiz in the exchanges being quicker and more accurate. Ruiz fought back hard in the fifth upping his work rate and was barrelling forward and competitive in the sixth but without really doing enough to win either round. Roman shook Ruiz with a right early in the seventh but they fought on equal terms in the eighth. Ruiz was rocked again in the ninth but did enough to edge the round and they went toe-to-toe for the three minutes of the last round. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92. The 25-year-old “Baby Faced Assassin” makes it 9 wins in a row. He has wins over Giovanni Caro and Chris Martin and is rated No 15 by the WBA. Ruiz, 24, was 13-1 in his first 14 fights but is now 1-3 in fights in 2015 having suffered losses to Jessie Magdaleno and Manuel Avila in consecutive contests. Santillan vs. Ortiz “Gallo de Oro” Santillan given eight hard rounds by Ortiz and gets by on a majority verdict.. The San Diego southpaw took this one with a good start and a good finish but Ortiz took the middle rounds. Over the early rounds Santillan was busier and more accurate particular with body punches but then seemed to go off the boil and the middle rounds generally belonged to Ortiz. By the end of the sixth the fight looked about even. Santillan was the stronger over the last two rounds forcing Ortiz to fight with his back to the ropes and he dealt well with any counters Ortiz tried. Scores 80-72, 78-74 and 76-76. Santillan deserved the win but the first two scores were too wide. The 23-year-old remains a winner but after seven fights at eight rounds should be ready to move up.”Fantastico” Ortiz, 21, did not live up to his nickname but gave Santillan a tough test. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Welter: Ricardo R Villalba (15-2-1,1ND) W TKO 6 Carlos S Chumbita (15-5). Villalba wins the vacant South American title with stoppage of Chumbita. Villalba used a sharp jab and some tasty rights to take the first three rounds. Chumbita came into the fight in the fourth with hooks to head and body but Villalba was still getting the better of the exchanges. Chumbita had some success in the fifth as Villalba abandoned his jab which allowed the smaller fighter to get inside. The success was short-lived and in the sixth a quick left/right followed by a right cross to the chin put Chumbita down. He made it to his feet but was on shaky legs and the referee stopped the fight. Local fighter Villalba, 25, the FAB No 3, welter has recovered from a shaky 1-2 run in three fights with three wins in a row. Second loss by KO/TKO for Chumbita who is 3-3 against reasonable level domestic opposition September 26 Birmingham, ALB, USA: Heavy: Deontay Wilder (35-0) W TKO 11 Johann Duhaupas (32-3). Heavy: Charles Martin (22-0-1) W TKO 3 Vicente Sandez (15-5). Heavy: Andrzej Wawrzyk (31-1) W TKO 3 Mike Sheppard (24-19-1). Heavy: Dominic Breazeale (16-0) W PTS 10 Fred Kassi (18-4-1). Welter: Bryant Perrella (11-0) W TKO 5 Patrick Boozer (11-4). Super Welter: Terrell Gausha (16-0) W PTS 8 Eliezer Gonzalez (15-2). Super Feather: Mario Barrios (12-0) W KO 1 Eduardo Rivera (10-3-2). Wilder vs. Duhaupas Wilder retains the WBC title with stoppage of too brave but limited Duhaupas. The only things Duhaupas had going for him were a good chin and grim determination and that was never going to be enough to make this any other than a one-sided contest. In the first round a punch from Wilder opened a cut on the bridge of the Frenchman’s nose and the cut bled throughout the fight. Duhaupas got a measure of revenge in the second when a punch started a swelling below Wilder’s left eye. Despite bravely walking forward throwing punches when he could Duhaupas was never able to add to that damage. Over those first three rounds Duhaupas was walking into jabs, uppercuts and hooks. He blocked some with his typical European high guard but a lot got through and the jabs and uppercuts were jerking his head back in round after round. The fourth saw Wilder warming to the task and landing more uppercuts and a flood of uppercuts in the fifth had Duhaupas soaking up some ferocious punishment and only just making it out of the round. In the sixth Wilder seemed to lose focus and forget what he was there for as he did some showboating to his local fans. He was back on song in the seventh spearing Duhaupas with jabs and hooks and although Duhaupas started the eighth with a flurry of punches at the end of the round the referee warned Duhaupas that he might stop the fight if it continued to be so one-sided. Wilder piled on the punishment in the ninth and after shaking Duhaupas with a left hook in the tenth drove the challenger back around the ring. At the end of that round the doctor examined Duhaupas looking at the cut on his nose but let the fight continue. Wilder came out firing in the eleventh a succession of head punches which had Duhaupas covering up on the ropes which then saw the referee stop the fight over the protests from Duhaupas. Second defence of his WBC title for the 29-year-old “Bronze Bomber” and 34th win by KO/TKO. He showed some improvements in the way he made more use of his uppercuts but this was a fight against a hand-picked opponent who had limited time to prepare and had nothing in his arsenal to threaten Wilder. Alex Povetkin will be a much tougher opponent. Duhaupas, 34, had earned his title shot with a points win over Manuel Charr which without being unkind probably said more about Charr than it did Duhaupas. The Frenchman showed courage but nothing else really. Martin vs. Sandez Martin marches on but Sandez was one very short step on the road to a title shot. This was a poor match. Martin had height, reach and skill to spare over the rotund Mexican. In the first “Prince” Charles could hardly miss Sandez with his southpaw rights jabs and straight lefts. It was a stroll in the park for Martin and he had Sandez hurt with a series of punches over the last ten seconds of the round. In the second Martin floored Sandez with a straight left to the chin. Sandez was up at 9 ½ but fought on and Martin did not really press things which allowed Sandez to see out the round. In the third as Sandez was walking in Martin nailed him with a straight left that dumped Sandez on his backside. Once again Sandez got his feet reluctantly at 9 ½ and was obviously neither wanting to nor able to continue and this one-sided/learn nothing fight was over. The 29-year-old Carson southpaw again showcased his skills and power but once against a very sub-standard opponent. He has won his last 11 fights by KO/TKO and somehow the WBO have moved him all the way up to No 2 because he fights for their WBO NABO title. Fight low-climb high-only in boxing. Mexican Sandez was just too slow and short to pose any threat. Wawrzyk vs. Sheppard Another poor fight sees tall Pole Wawrzyk floor Sheppard flour times before the fight is waived off. The 6’5” (195cm) Pole was able to control the first three rounds by just plodding forward and prodding/.snapping out his left jab. Shepherd was too small and too slow to be competitive. In the third Wawrzyk landed a thunderous overhand right that dumped Sheppard down against the ropes. Sheppard got up at nine and when the action resumed he was put down by another right. Once again Sheppard arose slowly at about 9 ½ but the referee decided he was okay and the fight continued. A right to the top of the head put Sheppard down for a third time and the referee did not realise that Sheppard’s body language said get me out of here and again let him continue. Two thudding rights to the head saw Sheppard go down for the fourth time and finally the referee just waived the fight over. The 28-year-old Wawrzyk was destroyed in three rounds by Alex Povetkin in a fight for the secondary WBA title in 2013. He had two wins early in 2014 against oldies Danny Williams and Frans Botha and was then out for 14 months due to injury before returning with a win in July this year. There had been talk of a fight with Wilder but thankfully Duhaupas got the job instead as I doubt Wawrzyk would have lasted more than three rounds. Sheppard, 40, now has 13 losses by KO/TKO. He is OK at a medium level but always gets well beaten when he is moved up. Breazeale vs. Kassi Breazeale gets the win but also a wake-up call as the shorter and older Kassi showed that the former Olympian is still very much a work in progress. Breazeale towered over Kassi and looked confident enough at the start and was letting his hands go over the first three rounds. That changed when Kassi began to confuse things with guard changes and good lateral movement that took Breazeale out of his comfort zone and out of his battle plan. Breazeale was still able to find the target with his jab and some heavy body punches but was unable to string any combinations together with Kassi ducking and diving his way inside and scoring with short hooks picking up the points and making the bigger man look slow. Although Breazeale had never been past the eighth round in a fight and only once past the sixth he had relative youth and strength on his side and was fresher over the last couple of rounds but at the end it looked as though it was a fight that could have gone either way. Once again the scores were not reflective of the action as the judges saw it a ridiculous 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93 all for Breazeale. The 30-year-old 6’7” (201cm) “Trouble” extends his winning streak and probably learned more about himself in this fight than any of his previous 15. He was coming off wins over Victor Bisbal (21-2) and Yasmany Consegura (17-0) and Kassi had drawn with Chris Arreola in his last fight so on paper this looks a good win. Cameroon-born “Big Fred” Kassi, 36, and just 6’0” (183cm) tall is getting used to giving away height, reach and weight-36lbs here and 21lbs against Arreola-but his main problem has been inactivity with just one fight in 2013 and one in 2014 but his showings against Arreola and Breazeale should get him some more assignments. Perrella vs. Boozer Perrella gets another inside the distance win in this all-southpaw scrap. Boozer was taking the fight to Perrella in the first and forcing Perrella onto the back foot. Perrella was boxing coolly and landing counters whenever he saw a gap. Perrella hurt Boozer with a chopping left in the second that had Boozer backing up with Perrella scoring with hooks to the head and body. In the third it was one-way traffic with Perrella walking Boozer down. He was opening Boozer up with his right jab and then stepping inside with hard punches from both hands and there was little coming back from Boozer. Perrella was going to the body more in the fourth and Boozer was taking quite a bit of punishment and looking tired. Boozer came out firing in the fifth but was walking onto uppercuts which quickly doused his fire. Perrella landed two thudding lefts to the head that sent Boozer staggering back across the ring to the ropes. A volley of punches put Boozer down on his knees. He got up and was very shaky but was allowed to continue until he was staggering around under a rain of punches and the fight was stopped. The 26-year-old former top amateur Perrella has 10 wins by KO/TKO including eight in a row now. Boozer, 26, showed some good skills but could not match Perrella’s power. Gausha vs. Gonzalez Olympian Gausha also extends his winning run with hard fought points victory over tough Puerto Rican Gonzalez. Scores 77-73 twice and 78-72. The fight was closer than that as Gausha scored a knockdown in the fifth and Gonzalez was deducted a point for low punches. The 28-year-old from Cleveland has scored good wins over Luis Grajeda and Norberto Gonzalez. Puerto Rican Gonzalez was very much a live opponent having only lost on points to sill unbeaten Julian Williams who halted Luciano Cuello in one round earlier in the week. Barrios vs. Rivera Highly touted Texan prospect Barrios takes just over 2 minutes to get rid of Rivera. The tall Texan needed one overhand right and it was all over with Rivera down and out. The 6’0” (183cm) Barrios has seven wins by KO/TKO and is tipped to be a future star. Stronger tests are need. Mexican Rivera is 1-3-1 in his last 5 fights with all three losses coming inside one round. London, England: Super Middle: Fedor Chudinov (14-0) W PTS 12 Frank Buglioni (17-2-1Feather: Ryan Walsh (19-1-1) W PTS 12 Samir Mouneimne (15-2-1). Super Bantam: Bobby Jenkinson (9-1-1) W TKO 11 Lewis Pettitt (17-2). Super Welter: Gary Corcoran (14-0) W PTS 10 Rick Skelton (13-1). Super Welter: Ahmet Patterson (16-0) W TKO 8 Giorgi Ungiadze (31-25). Welter: Bradley Skeete (21-1) W TKO 3 Mark Thompson (27-5). Dereck Chisora (22-5) W PTS 10 Marcel Nascimento (18-11). Chudinov vs. Buglioni Chudinov retains his secondary WBA title with clear points victory over game Buglioni. Southpaw Chudinov took the first round by edging the battle of the jabs with his right being just that bit sharper and more accurate than Buglioni’s orthodox left. Chudinov was coming forward and forcing Buglioni on the back foot but the challenger scored with some good combinations in the second. Chudinov got into his stride in the third and also dominated the fourth and fifth thumping home his right jab and slotting punches through a not too solid defence of Buglioni. The challenger was also getting through with counters but Chudinov shrugged the shots off and continued to march forward. The sixth was a case of good news/bad news for Buglioni. He was finally able to get home some of his best shots including his right to the body and at the end of the round a right seemed to shake Chudinov. The crowd was in uproar and Buglioni was throwing punches trying to capitalise on his success. Unfortunately he landed another right after the bell which put Chudinov down. Buglioni may not have heard the bell due to the crowd baying in excitement at his success but the referee deducted two points for the infringement. Buglioni was on top again at the start of the seventh with Chudinov’s confidence momentarily shaken. That was short lived and Chudinov ended the round strongly. That was the high point for Buglioni. Chudinov was back in control with Buglioni looking tired. The challenger managed to hurt Chudinov just before the bell in the eighth but Chudinov had done enough in the early part of the round to make it his. The ninth saw Chudinov focusing on the body and hurting Buglioni with a series of lefts and rights with the fight slowly draining out of a tired looking Buglioni. Over the last three rounds Chudinov had Buglioni constantly under pressure as he tried to end the fight inside the distance. Buglioni had very little left over those rounds and showed guts to stay on his feet and last to the final bell. Scores 120-106, 118-108 and 117-109 which show the Russian’s dominance. Chudinov, 28, won the vacant secondary WBA title with a split decision over Felix Sturm in May his only win of note so far. The plan is for a return with Sturm later this year and a convincing win there would heighten his profile. His brother Dmitry lost his interim WBA title to Chris Eubank Jr in Britain so a modicum of revenge against Brits for the Chudinov family. “Wise Guy” Buglioni was steered into the title chance by some shrewd management as he had done little of note since losing to Sergey Khomitsky in 2014 and only getting a split draw with unrated Lee Markham in May. He gave it his best shot here and had Chudinov shaken a couple of times but was well beaten in the end. He is a popular fighter and has a big following so could get steered to another title shot next year. Walsh vs. Mouneimne Walsh makes history as together with his twin Liam they become the first twins to hold British titles at the same time. Having said that this was a controversial decision in a close, hard fought contest. Mouneimne got the jump on fast starter Walsh by coming out throwing punches to edge the first round. The next three rounds were close with neither really dominating. Walsh had a big round in the fifth when he floored Mouneimne with a hard combination a punch of which also opened a cut over the left eye of Mouneimne who lost his momentum for a while. When Mouneimne got back on an even keel he stuck to the ring centre utilising his jab to blunt the attacks from Walsh and looked to have closed the points gap from the knockdown. Both fought hard over the closing rounds to capture the eyes of the judges and although again many rounds were close Mouneimne looked to have secured at worst a draw. Two of the judges saw it differently scoring the fight 117-111 and 116-112 for Walsh whilst the third had Mouneimne the winner at 114-113. The only loss for the 29-year-old Walsh came in 2012 when he lost on points to Lee Selby, the current IBF champion for the British and CBC titles. He had returned with two low level wins last year and this was his first fight since November. Conversely Mouneimne, 28, is the only fighter to have beaten Selby which he did in 2009 when they were both novices. His only loss was against Josh Warrington, also in 2013, for the vacant CBC title and he had won three minor fights since then. Mouneimne was so angered by the decision that he stated he is retiring but hopefully he will reconsider and rebuild. Jenkinson vs. Pettitt Jenkinson gets upset come-from-behind win over favourite house fighter Pettitt. The fight went as planned until the eleventh round. Pettitt was able to outbox his less experienced foe most of the way being too quick and slick for Jenkinson. The longer the fight went the more the odds should have favoured Pettitt as he had experience of fights going into the championship rounds whereas Jenkinson had only once gone past round six. Pettitt had Jenkinson hurt on a number of occasions and used good body punching to give him an edge but he seemed to tire from the ninth round. All of that good work and the strategy counted for nothing in the eleventh round. Despite being outboxed Jenkinson had never been discouraged and seemed to be getting stronger. Although not a noted puncher when he saw an opening in the eleventh he slammed home a wicked left hook that put Pettitt down. Pettitt made it to his feet but Jenkinson jumped on him and landed a series of hard punches and the referee rightly stopped the fight. Jenkinson, 23, the BBB of C Midland Area champion wins the vacant CBC belt and gets only his second win by KO/TKO. Just 18 months ago Jenkinson was floored twice and stopped in two rounds by Spaniard Francisco Rodriguez who had a 1-2 record at the time in his 5 fights since then Jenkinson had gone 4-0-1 but those 5 inexperienced opponents had combined records of just 14-1 so this looked a safe fight for Pettitt. That’s boxing. Pettitt, 25, had won his last 9 fights and although the opposition had not been strong winning the WBA Inter-Continental title had seen him elevated to No 4 in their ratings. This loss was a big blow to him but he is young enough to rebuild. Corcoran vs. Skelton Corcoran wins this clash of unbeaten British fighters in a disappointing fight. Their styles did not mix well with Corcoran having difficulty settling against the southpaw stance of Skelton. Corcoran was the aggressor forcing Skelton on the back foot and often pinning him on the ropes but not really landing much when he had him there. Corcoran was scoring with body punches but Skelton was boxing well and presenting a difficult target whilst scoring with good counters of his own. Late on Skelton suffered a cut over his right eye and the fight was a mixture of good exchanges and untidy clinches with Corcoran doing enough to be a clear winner. Referee’s score 97-94 for the 24-year-old “Hellraiser”. Corcoran really was the local fighter here living just a short distance from Wembley but he did not need home advantage and was coming off a good win over Rick Godding (21-0-1) in July. He is now in line for a shot at the British title. Cumbrian Skelton’s best win had come against veteran Bradley Pryce in February but he was second best here. Patterson vs. Ungiadze Patterson gets stoppage win over awkward Georgian. Patterson had the perfect start when he floored the usually durable Ungiadze in the first round. Ungiadze got up and showed his best survival manoeuvres to stay out of trouble for the rest of the round. Patterson had a hard time against a fighter solely concentrating on surviving and was frustrated in round after round. Finally in the eighth Patterson manages to carry through a sustained attack landing some hard rights and the referee stepped in to stop the fight. Turkish-born “Punch Picker” Patterson,27 goes to five wins by KO/TKO . There are no big names on his record so far but he has made good progress. Ungiadze, 31, has only lost four times by KO/TKO in his 25 defeats so a reliable if frustrating travelling loser. Skeete vs. Thompson Skeete retains his WBO European title with third round injury win over Thompson who retired early in the third with a suspected broken hip. Second successful defence for 27-year-old from South London who is No 9 with the WBO and coming off a win over experienced Brunet Zamora. Bad luck for 34-year-old Thompson who had returned from 15 months inactivity with a win in June. Chisora vs. Nascimento Chisora gets 10 rounds of work and that is about all that came out of this fight. The former undefeated European champion and WBC title challenger was at his heaviest since losing to Tyson Fury back in 2011 and did not look sharp. He had an awkward opponent in the 6’5” Brazilian who had come to survive and Chisora just lacked that determination to get Nascimento out of there. There was too much clinching and mauling against the ropes for the fight to generate any excitement and in the end it was a boring fight from which Chisora got some ring time and Nascimento avoided a stoppage loss so is able to take another assignment anytime soon. At 31 Chisora is not old for a heavyweight and he gets a chance to resurrect his career when he fights either the EBU champion Erkan Teper or challenger Robert Helenius. That fight is on December 19 and Chisora is EBU mandatory challenger so will get a shot at the winner. Nascimento, 34, has now lost 9 of his last 11 fights and as boxing needs losers will be kept busy. Milan, Italy: Welter: Paul Malignaggi (34-7) W PTS 8 Laszlo Fazekas (27-22-1). Super Light: Renato De Donato (16-3) W KO 4 Gyula Tallosi (9-6). Welter: Antonio Moscatiello (19-2-1) W KO 3 Jozsef Gerebecz (7-14-2,1ND). Malignaggi vs. Fazekas Malignaggi eases to win over willing but outclassed Hungarian. Malignaggi was in a different class too quick and clever for Fazekas and won without every stretching himself. Fazekas tried to force the fight over the first two rounds but had little success and it was even worse in the third when he had a point deducted for low blows. Malignaggi showed his class in the fourth when he rocked Fazekas with an uppercut and a right hook but he did not follow through. Fazekas kept pressing in the fifth and sixth but was constantly caught by fast, hard combinations from Malignaggi. Over the last two rounds Malignaggi was just putting on an exhibition and cruising to victory. Scores 80-71 twice and 79-72. The fight was a sell-out and Malignaggi seems set to have a last fling European campaign. He is eligible to fight for the European title and is already rated No 3 by the EBU. The EBU title is currently vacant but Italians Gianluca Branco and Leonard Bundu meet for the title on November 22 so a fight against the winner would be a big draw in Italy. Fazekas, 25, has already had over 50 fights and is 5-5 in his 10 fights this year. Typically it is 5 home wins and 5 away losses and all on points which makes him the perfect visitor. De Donato vs. Tallosi Just a chump change keep busy fight for “The Surgeon” and a rare win by KO/TKO. De Donato had Tallosi down twice in the second round and down and out in the fourth. Only the second win by KO/TKO for the tall 29-year-old southpaw who does not make it into the EBU top 16 and is down at 22 in the EU rankings. Hungarian Tallosi now has six losses by KO/TKO. Moscatiello vs. Gerebecz On the other hand EBU No 13 Moscatiello is a puncher and he quickly disposed of Hungarian veteran Gerebecz. After a slow first round he put Gerebecz down in the second and ended it with three more knockdowns in the third. Now 14 wins by KO/TKO for the 32-year-old Italian champion. Gerebecz , 37, has lost 5 of his last 6 fights. Puerto Penasco, Mexico: Fly: Juan Francisco Estrada (33-2) W KO 10 Hernan Marquez (39-6-1). Light: Miguel Berchelt (27-1) W TKO 5 Josue Bendana (9-6-4). Bantam: Luis Nery (17-0) W KO 2 John Mark Apolinario (18-6-3). Estrada vs. Marquez Estrada floors Marquez seven times on his way to successful fifth defence of his WBA/WBO titles. The short-armed Marquez had to get close to stand any chance as Estrada had a big reach advantage and real power. Over the first five rounds Marquez was going toe-to-toe and was competitive with the crowd on its feet after thrilling punch-fests in the third and fifth rounds. Both were firing body punches but Estrada was blocking those from Marquez and softening up the challenger and dominating the exchanges and eventually Estrada’s power began to tell. In the sixth after hurting Marquez with a right body punches put Marquez down twice. Estrada continued to go to the body and scored two more knockdowns in the seventh. Estrada seemed to change tactics in the eight working to the head but he returned to the body in the ninth and floored Marquez with a left hook. The end was near and two more knockdowns in the tenth. The last knockdown was from a thunderous right to the head which put Marquez down on the canvas face first as the referee waived the fight over. The 25-year-old “El Gallo” moves to 24 wins by KO/TKO and badly wants a shot at the last man to beat him Roman Gonzalez who outpointed Estrada back in 2012. Marquez, 27, a former WBA fly champion, gets his fifth loss by KO/TKO. He had done nothing of note since losing in eleven rounds against McJoe Arroyo in June last year but the WBA “ratings elevator suddenly jumped him from nowhere to No 3. Berchelt vs. Bendana Berchelt gets another inside the distance win as he slowly dismantles Nica Bendana. Over the first round Bendana used his jab to keep Berchelt out but from the second the beat down began. Berchelt has improved getting more variety into his work but as with Estrada it was the body punches which got the job done. He put Bandana down in the third and punished him in the fourth before putting him down with a series of punches in the fifth. The referee started the count but the local commissioner rang the buzzer telling the referee to stop the fight. The 23-year-old “Scorpion” the WBC No 6 makes it 24 wins by KO/TKO including 6 in a row since his shock 99 seconds blow away loss to Luis Eduardo Flores in March last year. Bandana, 20, was 6-0-2 in his last 8 fights but way out of his league here. Nery vs. Apolinario Nery gets impressive win over Filipino Apolinario. After an even first round Nery landed a bomb that put Apolinario down and out in the second. The young prospect from Tijuana has recorded 12 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights . His last two opponents were Carlos Fontes (19-2) and Filipino Jether Oliva (22-2-2) so he is being tested instead of protected. First loss inside the distance for Apolinario who drew twice with Roberto Vazquez for the interim WBA bantam title and lost on points to Koki Kameda for the secondary WBA title. Lodz, Poland: Heavy: Tomasz Adamek (50-4) W TKO 5 Przemyslaw Saleta (44-8). Heavy: Nagy Aguilera (19-9) W TKO 10 Marcin Rekowski (16-2). Light Heavy: Dariusz Sek (24-2-1) W PTS 10 Pedro Otas (30-2). Super Middle: Kamil Szeremeta (12-0) W PTS 8 Patrick Mendy (16-9-1). Cruiser: Michal Cieslak (10-0) W KO 1 Shawn Cox (18-7). Light Heavy: Maciej Miszkin (18-3) W TKO 4 Tomasz Gargula (17-1-1). Adamek vs. Saleta Although taller and with a longer reach Saleta was coming forward over the early rounds but was not really throwing or landing much. Adamek was scoring with counters but they had very little effect on Saleta. The bigger man kept coming forward in the second and third but was just too slow and Adamek was getting through with jabs and hooks. The fight was effectively over at this point Saleta was already cut under his left eye but more importantly had suffered an injury to his left shoulder which turned out to be a fractured collar bone. He tried to pull out a win with big right hands but had no success and retired at the end of the fifth round. Adamek will try to revive his career but at 38 time is not on his side. Saleta, 47, was having his first fight since beating Andy Golota in February 2013 Aguilera vs. Rekowski Aguilera gets controversial late stoppage win over Rekowski. Aguilera showed his danger from the start as he put the local boxer down with a right to the body in the first round. Rekowski had a better second round but Aguilera took the third. Rekowski finally got his act together and was busier and outboxing the slower Dominican fighter. Rekowski was shaking Aguilera with some tasty right uppercuts through the fifth and sixth. In the eighth a clash of heads saw Aguilera cut over his left eye. Later in the round he deliberately butted Rekowski and had a point deducted. The round got even worse when a shot from Rekowski put Aguilera down with a left hook and in the interval between the eighth and ninth Aguilera was complaining of blurred vision in his left eye. Rekowski took the ninth and only needed to stay on his feet in the tenth to win the fight. With the bell imminent Aguilera landed a right hook the sent Rekowski staggering into the ropes badly hurt. The referee could have stopped the fight immediately as Rekowski was out on his feet but instead he gave him a standing count. When the action resumed and before Aguilera could land another meaningful punch the referee stopped the fight with just two seconds left in the last round. Aguilera, 29, suffered back-to-back points losses in 2014 to Dominic Breazeale and Gerald Washington but this win should get him a couple of useful pay-days including a return if Rekowski wants it. As for the 37-year-old Pole who did not turn pro until he was 34 he was naturally angry at the stoppage when he was so close to victory. He had reversed his only loss by outpointing Oliver McCall so this was quite a set-back and he will want to reverse this one as well. Sek vs. Otas Sek gets wide unanimous decision over limited Brazilian. The Polish southpaw controlled the fight from the start getting through Otas defence with punches to head and body. Otas was wild with his attacks and had to eat counters for his troubles. Sek was mainly on the back foot but slotting home counter after counter with ease. Sek made a big effort to finish it with a barrage of punches in the ninth but Otas survived to the last bell. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Third win in 2015 for the 29-year-old southpaw. The EBU No 7’s losses have been to Robert Woge and Robin Krasniqi. Otas , 37, is typical of so many Brazilian boxer, he wins at home and flops on the road. Szeremeta vs. Mendy Szeremeta gets unanimous verdict but Mendy makes him work hard for the win. Szeremeta took a few rounds to come up with an answer to the Gambian’s unorthodox style but with the use of some hefty left hooks he finally took control and did enough over the second half of the fight to deserve the decision. Scores 78-74 twice and 79-73. The 25-year-old is a former Polish amateur champion who represented Poland at the European and World Championships. As a pro he has useful wins over Lukasz Wawrzyczek and Rafal Jackiewicz. Mendy, 24, is a tough opponent on his night having drawn with Dmitry Chudinov and beaten Virgilijus Stapulionis (22-2). Cieslak vs. Cox Cieslak destroys Cox in 84 seconds. Cox came out aggressively only to get hammered by two right hooks. Cox was badly shaken and Cieslak jumped on him with a barrage of punches which put Cox down and the referee did not even bother with the count. Two first round wins in a row for the 26-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Pole following his 106 seconds stoppage of Jarno Rosberg last month.. Barbadian southpaw Cox, 40, was knocked out in two rounds by Denis Lebedev for the interim WBA title in 2012 and has lost 5 of his last 6 fights by KO/TKO with none of the fights going past the third round. Miszkin vs. Gargula “Handsome” Miszkin too good for previously unbeaten Gargula. Miszkin had his left jab working from the start and added more right crosses and uppercuts. Gargula had no answer to the younger man’s attacks and quickly went into survival mode. A succession of hard punch in the fourth had Gargula just covering up and with nothing coming back the referee stopped the fight. After winning his first 15 fights Miszkin then lost three on the bounce in 2013/2014, but has recovered well with three wins this year including a good domestic victory over Pawel Glazewski ((23-3) in April. Gargula, 41, turned pro in 2000 but was inactive from February 2004 until returning with a couple of low level wins this year. Ekaterinburg, Russia: Super Feather: Evgeny Chuprakov (14-0) W KO 8 Dmitry Kirilov (31-7-1). Chuprakov wins the vacant WBO European title with kayo of experienced Kirilov. Chuprakov was forcing the fight but Kirilov, a former IBF super fly champion, used his wide experience to blunt the attacks of his fellow Russian. Chuprakov got on top from the start of the fifth as he attacked the body and had Kirilov in trouble. The body attack took its toll and a left hook to the body in the eighth dumped Kirilov against the ropes and he was counted out. The 25-year-old local fighter with the strange nickname of “Happy Gilmore” makes it 8 wins by KO/TKO but he has not really yet been tested but will still get a stupid top 15 rating from the WBO just for being their European champion. Kirilov, 36, was IBF super fly champion in 2007/8 but was inactive for five years between 2008 and 2013. He had lost to Marco McCullough in his only fight in 2014 and was beaten by Denis Ceylan in March this year. Lemoore, CA, USA: Heavy: Andy Ruiz (25-0) W PTS 8 Joel Godfrey (17-15-1). Super Welter: Danny Valdivia (9-0) W KO 6 Jeremy Ramos (9-2). Middle: Esquiva Falcao (11-0) W KO 2 Zoltan Papp (7-2-1). Ruiz vs. Godfrey Ruiz returns to the ring and sheds some rust on the way to a win over late stand-in Godfrey. This one was a bore. The Mexican prospect looked slow and ponderous despite his efforts to reduce his weight. Godfrey was there to survive and in round after rounds he allowed Ruiz to back him up to the ropes where he just covered up and let Ruiz bang away at his gloves and body. That was pretty much the story of the fight. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. At 6’2” and almost 250lbs Ruiz lacks mobility and will have problems when he comes up a fighter with any real speed and skill. This was the 26-year-old Ruiz’s first fight for nine months and coming down 20lbs from when he beat Siarhei Liakhovich in December is progress of a sort. He retains the NABF title but they are not usually 8 round fights. Godfrey, really just a tall cruiser has lost 6 of his last 7 fights. Valdivia vs. Ramos Valdivia stops Ramos in an exciting scrap. After some fiery exchanges in the first round an explosive second saw Valdivia flooring Ramos and then Ramos getting up and putting Valdivia down. The fight steadied down to an entertaining fight. Valdivia has the power but not the defence to go with it so his fights do tend to be exciting. He ended this one with a thumping right in the sixth which had Ramos badly shaken and opened a cut over his right eye. When follow-up punches put Ramos down the referee stopped the fight. The 23-year-old Californian wins the vacant NABF Junior title and has 7 wins by KO/TKO. First loss by KO/TKO for Ramos who had won his last 5 fights. Falcao vs. Papp Brazilian Falcao beats outclassed Hungarian in two rounds. Southpaw Falcao spent the first round trying to walk down the Hungarian who was asking for trouble with his casual style holding his left at hip level. Papp showed a sharp jab but Falcao staged a strong finish to the round with Papp under pressure. In the second Falcao was looking to wrap things up. He had Papp tapped in the ropes early and then landed two chopping rights and a left to the head that saw Papp slump to the canvas with his head out under the ropes. He was obviously not going to get up but the referee decided to toll the ten instead of getting Papp help. The 25-year-old Olympic silver and World Championships bronze medallist has won 7 of his last 8 fights by KO/TKO and should be ready for ten rounds fights next year. Papp, also a southpaw, loses inside the distance for the second time in a row. Bahia Blanco, Argentina: Fly: Juan Carlos Reveco (36-2) W PTS 10 Breilor Teran (14-13-1). Reveco keeps busy whilst waiting for a title shot and easily outpoints Venezuelan Teran. Reveco took command of centre ring from the start and had no trouble getting through with his left jab, straight rights and trademark left hooks to the body. Teran was careful to keep his right stuck to his side to block those left hooks but was doing very little scoring of his own. Reveco occasionally let go some spectacular combinations and turned up the heat in the ninth and tenth looking to end it early but had to settle for a distance win. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. The 32-year-old “Coton” is now in line for a revenge fight against Kazuto Ioka who took the secondary WBA title off the Argentinian with a majority decision in Japan in April. Teran, 30, lost against David Sanchez for the interim WBA super fly title last year has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Puerto Colombia, Colombia: Super Bantam: Hugo Berrio (20-5-1) W PTS 10 Nelson Suarez (3-2-2). Berrio gets unanimous decision over late stand-in Suarez. The Colombian had Suarez in deep trouble in the third and only the bell saved Suarez in the fifth. It was not all one-way traffic with the clever boxing of Suarez frustrating the home boxer and allowing the Venezuelan to pick up a couple of rounds but an overhand right from Berrio in the ninth again rocked Suarez. Scores 98-92, 98-93 and 97-92. Berrio is 4-1-1 in his last 6 fights and has been in with tough opposition in the past such as Oscar Escandon, Nehomar Cermeno and Andres Gutierrez. As a late sub and lacking experience Suarez performed better than expected. Caivano, Italy: Feather: Carmine Tommasone (15-0) W PTS 12 Jon Slowey (19-2). Bantam: Gianpetro Marceddu (6-3-2) DREW 10 10 Pio Antonio Nettuno (7-8-2). Super Welter: Orlando Fiordigiglio (22-1) W PTS 6 Nikola Matic (13-29). Tommasone vs. Slowey Local fighter Tommasone wins vacant EU title with wide unanimous verdict over Scot Slowey. The first two rounds were close with Tommasone just letting his hands got a bit more to edge them. Slowey had his southpaw right jab working well in the third as he closed the points gap. The fourth and fifth were good rounds for Tommasone as he scored well with hooks from both hands to put Slowey on the back foot and a right to the chin in the fifth shook the Scot. The Italian was totally in command in the sixth and seventh and it is lucky for Slowey that Tommasone is a light puncher as he pierced the Scot’s guard with a number of hard punches. Slowey kept fighting back hard but Tommasone was in the groove and if anything increasing his work rate. Slowey made a big effort to turn the tide in the tenth and eleventh rounds but Tommasone remained in control and ended the twelfth with a series of right hooks to confirm his superiority. Scores 119-110, 119-111 and 118-110. The 31-year-old former undefeated Italian champion “Mr Wolf” will be hoping to get a shot at the winner of the fight between Sofiane Takoucht and Rudy Encarnacion. Slowey, 25, had won his first 16 fights before losing his Scottish title to Kris Hughes in June last year. He had scored three low level wins since then and just came up against a better fighter this night. Marceddu vs. Nettuno Marceddu and Nettuno end up all even with the Italian title remaining vacant. It was a close fight with Nettuno generally taking the fight to Marceddu and Marceddu boxing on the back foot and showing more skill. He needed those skills after a right from Nettuno put him on the floor in the third round and rocked him again in the fourth. Marceddu survive those worrying moments and staged a strong finish as Nettuno tired but seemed lucky to get away with a draw. Scores 96-93 to Marceddu, 97-93 to Nettuno and 95-95. They will have to do it all again. Marceddu, 40, a three-time kick-boxing world champion, did not turn pro until he was 35 and had lost his last two fights. Nettuno, 29, had lost his last 8 fights and was making his fifth attempt to win this title. Fiordigiglio vs. Matic Fiordigiglio almost ends it in the first but then takes it easy. An uppercut to the body put Matic down in the opening round and it looked like an early night. However a hand injury suffered by Fiordigiglio caused the Italian to box more cautiously and he settled for winning every round and getting six rounds of work. First fight for the 31-year-old from Tuscany since having a 21 bout winning streak ended when he was stopped in eleven rounds by Cedric Vitu for the vacant EBU title in June. Croatian-born B&H champion Matic is 3-7 in his last 10 fights. Pavia, Italy: Welter: Gianluca Frezza (24-3-2,2 ND) W PTS 6 Cristian Pastarini (3-10). Milanese boxer Frezza puts in six not too demanding rounds against Pastarini. Frezza was too quick and accurate for the aged Pastarini and boxed his way to a unanimous verdict winning every round. The 35-year-old former unbeaten Italian champion was having his first fight since a loss to Charles Manyuchi for the WBC International in July which broke a 13 bout unbeaten run. Nine losses in a row for 40-year-old Pastarini but all on points. September 27 Osaka, Japan: Fly: Kazuto Ioka (18-1) W PTS 12 Roberto Domingo Sosa (26-3-1). Minimum: Katsunari Takayama (30-7) W TKO 8 Ryuji Hara (19-2). Ioka vs. Sosa Easy defence of his secondary WBA title for Ioka in front of his home crowd. He was just too quick and too skilful for Sosa who swished air for all twelve rounds. Ioka showcased his excellent defensive skills slipping parrying and dodging all of Sosa’s attempts to land any meaningful punchers. Sosa never gave up trying but he was eating counters in round after round. He had a good sixth round but other than that it was Ioka all the way. The local fighter tried to finish it in the last after hurting Sosa with a body punch but the challenger survived to the bell. Scores 119-109 twice and 120-108. First defence of the secondary title he won with a majority verdict over Argentinian Juan Carlos Reveco in April. Sosa, 30, won his first 24 fights but is now 2-3-1 in his last six. Takayama vs. Hara Takayama makes it a double for boxers from Osaka as he overcomes a slow start to halt fellow-countryman Hara. After an even first round Hara got through with punches to head and body to take the second and third rounds. An additional problem for Takayama was a bad cut under his left eye after a clash of heads in the third. Takayama woke up in the fourth and from then on dominated the action. His continuous two-handed attacks were just too much for Hara to handle. Takayama quickly wore Hara down, had him badly hurt in the seventh and ready to go in the eighth when the referee stopped the fight. The 32-year-old Takayama first won the WBC minimum title in 2005 and after losing that won the IBF title. He lost that in a unification fight with WBO champion Francisco Rodriguez in August 2014 and then won both titles by beating Go Odaira for the vacant title in December. This is his second defence. Hara, 25, a former OPBF champion was lucky to get the title shot after losing his OPBF title to 3-0 Kosei Tanaka in October.
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Tonight's international action doesn't look to be the greatest but there is quite a bit of it across a number of divisions.
Arguably the best of the bouts comes at Flyweight where unified WBA “super “ and WBO champion Juan Francisco Estrada (32-2, 23) defends his title against former champion Hernan Marquez (39-5-1, 28). In some ways this could end up being a massive disappointment, afterall Marquez has been through more wars than most, but he may still have the power to make this one semi-interesting with the excellent Estrada. This could be disappointing or it could be a FOTY contender, just depends on how much the 27 year old Marquez has left in the tank. Staying in Mexico fans will get the chance to see WBC female Super Flyweight champion Zulina Munoz (44-1-2, 27) defend her title against former IBF female Flyweight champion Gabriela Bouvier (12-5-1, 2). It's hard to see Munoz losing here if we're being honest. There a few mismatches at the world level tonight, one of which comes from the UK where the genuinely talented Fedor Chudinov (13-0, 10) faces big under-dog Frank Buglioni (17-1-1, 13). Whilst Chudinov is a bit of an unknown to some fans he is a monstrous puncher, as seen by his 2014 KO of the Year contender against Ben McCulloch, and given Buglioni's weak defense this could be over quickly and in spectacular fashion. Arguably the most disappointing bout of the weekend, at least at the top level, comes at Heavyweight where WBC champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33) defends his title against Frenchman Johann Duhaupas (32-2, 20). The bout was essentially made after Wilder's team left it too late to sign a good opponent and were left scrambling looking for someone. Saying that Duhaupas did beat Manuel Charr last time out and has a few under-rated qualities, though shouldn't have anything to test “the champ”. Another bout of some interest comes from Italy where former 2-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi (33-7, 7) is expected to end his career with a bout against the limited Laszlo Fazekas (27-21-1, 17). This looks to be a mismatch but Malignaggi is 1-3 in his last 4 and has taken a lot of recent damage with many now considering him shot. It would be a big upset if Fazekas won but it's looking more likely than a win for Duhaupas against Wilder. This weekend is certainly not a busy one, but there some real highlights taking place through out Saturday.
For many hardcore fans the stand out fight comes from Sonora where WBA “interim” Super Flyweight champion David Sanchez (28-2-2, 22) defends his title against the always fun to watch Luis Concepcion (32-4, 23). Both men have the ability to put on thrillers so we're hoping that this one lives up to the expectation and delivers and all out war. The winner will be the top contender for the upcoming “regular” title fight between Kohei Kono and Koki Kameda, who fight next month in the US. Staying in Mexico there is brilliant female world title bout between the fantastic Arely Mucino (21-2-2, 10) and the equally brilliant Jessica Chavez (23-4-3, 4). On paper this is brilliantly matched, especially give their 2013 split decision draw, and we're expecting a lot of high paced action between these two. Coming in Mucino is the WBC female Flyweight champion and will be defending her title for the first time since claiming it from Shindo Go earlier this year. South African boxing certainly isn't thriving but with Rodney Berman they do have a promoter willing to really invest in their fighters and the national scene. Today Berman puts his Minimumweight world champion Hekkie Budler (28-1, 9) up against fellow South African Simphiwe Khonco (15-4, 7) in a WBA title defense for the “Hexecutioner”. On paper it looks like a mismatch but Khonco is better than his record suggests, and has won his last 9, whilst Budler may not quite be as good as the numbers suggest. Hopefully the winner of this will agree to a unification bout with one of the other champions, such as Kosei Tanaka or Wanheng Menayothin, or face WBA #1 ranked contender Knockout CP Freshmart. In England we get an excellent Super Featherweight bout as local favourite Stephen Smith (22-1, 12) faces Italian visitor Devis Boschiero (37-3-1, 19). Smith, the younger brother of 2-time world title challenger Paul Smith, is hoping to get a world title fight if he wins here and although he's a big betting favourite there are a number of fans picking the visitor. As for Boschiero the under-rated visitor has challenged for a world title, losing a very close one to Takahiro Ao, and lost twice in very close bouts to European champion Romain Jacob. Potentially this is the fight of the night and the winner is expected to face IBF king pin Jose Pedraza in 2016 The Past Week in Action 15 September 2015
September 9 Polomolok, Philippines: Minimum: Vic Saludar ((11-1) W TKO 1 Rizky Pratama (6-4). Fly: Froilan Saludar (23-1-1) W TKO 6 Mike Escobia (10-11-1). Saludar vs. Pratama “Vicious” Saludar gets a quick win. The local banger floored the inexperienced Indonesian early. When Pratama got up he indicated that he had suffered a shoulder injury and the fight was stopped. The 24-year-old Saludar wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title and has 9 wins by KO/TKO. His loss came in 2013 when he suffered a fractured hand and could not continue. He has won nine in a row since then and is No 1 with the GAB. Saludar vs. Escobia Saludar makes it a family double as he gets win over former victim Escobia. A cut ended this one. It was opened by a punch and in the sixth round it was affecting the vision of Escobia and he wisely decided to retire. The 26-year-old “Sniper” lost to McWilliams Arroyo in two rounds in June last year but has bounced back with 4 wins and is now at No 2 with the WBO. No 1 Brian Viloria is going to fight Roman Gonzalez for the WBC title which should put Saludar in line for a shot at Juan Francisco Estrada. Eight losses in a row for Escobia including a points defeat against Saludar in February. September 10 Westbury, NY, USA: Cruiser: Steve Geffrard (13-2) W TKO 5 Cory Cummings (18-10-1). Welter: Tommy Rainone (24-6-1) W PTS 6 Francisco Javier Reza (15-15). Geffrard vs. Cummings Geffrard continues his winning run with stoppage of experienced Cummings. The former top amateur came close to ending it in the third but let Cummings off the hook. He kept up the pressure in a one-sided match and when he shook Cummings again in the fifth the referee stopped the fight. After losing his first two fights Geffrard has run up 13 wins in a row 8 by KO/TKO. The 25-year-old from Boca Raton was US Boxing Athlete of the Year in 2010 after winning the US National Championships, the NGG’s and the PAL tournaments in the same year. However he failed at the Trials for the 2012 Olympics. Trained by Ronnie Shields the 6’2” (188cm) business school graduate is worth keeping an eye on. “Black Ice” Cummings, 35 was giving away a lot of height as he falls to 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights. Rainone vs. Reza Rainone survives a cut to win every round against Reza. Ironically it was “The Razor” Rainone who came out of a clash of heads in the second round with a cut. Luckily it was under his right eye so not affecting his vision. Rainone proceeded to hand out a steady beating to Reza who only just managed to see out the full distance. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. The 35-year-old Rainone is 7-1-1 in his last 9 fight with the loss being to unbeaten Dusty Hernandez Harrison. Mexican Reza is 3-10 in his last 13 fights. September 11 Toronto, Canada: Light Heavy: Adonis Stevenson (27-1) W TKO 3 Tommy Karpency (25-5-1). Welter: Errol Spence (18-0) W TKO 8 Chris van Heerden (23-2-1). Heavy: Dillon Carman (9-2) W KO 3 Donovan Ruddock (40-6-1). Super Welter: Prichard Colon (16-0) W TKO 4 Vivian Harris (32-11-2,1ND). Welter: Ionut Dan Ion (35-3) W PTS 8 Jake Giuriceo (17-5-1). Stevenson vs. Karpency Predictably easy defence for Stevenson as he retains the WBC title with early stoppage in all-southpaw contest. Karpency did not come to lie down and landed a few good punches of his own but the power of Stevenson was just too much. Both started cautiously probing with their jab and with plenty of feinting trying to get the other guy to make a mistake. Karpency landed a couple of rights but Stevenson banged back with one of his own then they went back to prodding and probing with the jab. More jabbing at the start of the second but Karpency landed a solid overhand left. They traded briefly half way through the round and Karpency tried a wild left which missed. Karpency was leaping in but his punches were wild. Stevenson caught Karpency with a hard left but Karpency seemed to absorb it only for Stevenson to the nail him with another left inside. That unhinged Karpency’s legs and he stumbled back to the ropes. Stevenson landed a thudding right which catapulted Karpency off the ropes and sent the challenger down on his hands and knees on the canvas with just four seconds left in the round. Karpency tried to rise but tumbled over. At the second attempt he made it to his feet just at the count of nine (there was no 8 count in use). The round had completed its three minutes whilst he was on the floor but the fighter could not be saved by the bell. As soon as he got up the referee sent both fighters to their corners. Stevenson came out fast in the third looking to finish the job. He drove Karpency to the ropes and landed three clubbing lefts which sent Karpency falling to his side and down face first on the canvas. He managed to get up at eight and took a couple of steps forward when asked to do so but the referee took a hard look at him and waived the fight over. Sixth defence for 37-year-old Haitian-born Stevenson and win No 22 by KO/TKO. Now he says he wants Sergey Kovalev-we all want that one. Twenty-nine-year-old “Kryptonite” Karpency lost every round against Net Cleverly in a challenge for the WBO title in 2012 and been stopped by Andrzej Fonfara for the vacant IBO title. Despite those losses he earned his chance with a split decision over Chad Dawson and was WBC No 9. Spence vs. van Heerden Spence again shows he is a real threat in this division as he brushes aside van Heerden. The hand speed of Spence was a big factor in this another all-southpaw scrap. Her was using a stiff right jab to open up the South African and then banging home punches to head and body. He was out-throwing and out-landing van Heerden although the South African did enough scoring of his own to stay in the fight and be competitive up to a point. van Heerden‘s left eye was being affected by a swelling from the second round and combinations from Spence rocked the South African in the third. In the fourth a right from Spence saw van Heerden’s mouthguard fly out but the referee decided it was deliberate and deducted a point. Despite his left eye now being virtually closed van Heerden stood and traded with Spence in the fight but got much the worse of the exchanges. The sixth was one-sided with Spence scoring with both hands to head and body and it was becoming a case of how much longer van Heerden could keep soaking up the punishment. A right to the side of the head put van Heerden down in the seventh and after the South African get up a body punch put him down for the second time. He made a brave attempt to get back in the fight in the eighth but Spence cut that short by hammering home a volley of punches that brought the referee’s intervention. The 25-year-old Texan has now won 8 of his last 9 fights by KO/TKO. The former 2009/2010/2011 US National champion and 2012 Olympian shows he is ready to move up. He is No 8 with the WBA and ready for any other rated fighter.van Heerden, 28, a former IBO welter champion had not lost since 2010 and was on a nine bout winning streak but Spence was better in every department. Carman vs. Ruddock Hopefully Carman has put an end to Ruddock’s return to the ring. The Canadian champion took the first round and then stepped-up his attacks in the second. He ended things emphatically in the third. A couple of rights saw Ruddock slump down on one knee. Although he got up another right saw Ruddock stretched out on his back on the canvas for the full count. Ruddock may be 51 but for Carman this was a win over someone with a “name” and will have raised his profile. The 6’5” (196cm) 29-year-old “Big Country” was making the first defence of his Canadian title. All of his last 8 fights have ended by KO/TKO-unfortunately one of those was a loss to Sylvera Louis but he beat Louis inside a round in their return bout. Ruddock had not impressed in his two other comeback fights and hopefully he will retire again. Colon vs. Harris Puerto Rican hope Colon too young and quick for Harris and scores crushing kayo in fourth. The flashy Colon’s movement and hand speed were just too much for Harris. From the start he was shooting out his jab and looking for openings for his long rights. Harris was giving away reach and either had to get inside or draw Colon onto counters. He chose the latter but was too slow with his counters and was not letting his hands go. In the second Colon was coming forward looking to find a home for his rights. He took Harris to the ropes and landed three hard rights to the head but Harris escaped and stayed out of trouble for the rest of the round, In the fourth Colon was mixing in left hooks but that right cross was still the punch he was looking to land. He got through with a couple near the end of the round but Harris jabbed his way to safety. Colon finished it in style in the fourth. After all of his head hunting it was a long right to the body that stiffened Harris and then Colon unleashed a series of head punches that put Harris down on the canvas face first and he was counted out. The 22-year-old “Digget” a protégé of Felix Trinidad and a former top amateur, has 13 wins by KO/TKO. With his height, reach and power he is a real danger in this division. Guyanan Harris, 37, was never in the fight. He is 3-8-1 in his last 12 fights but two of those 3 wins were over Danny O’Connor and Jorge Paez Jr. Ion vs. Giuriceo Ion gets through his first fight since being crushed by Kell Brook. The Romanian southpaw took a little while to shake a bit of rust but was generally in command and took the wide unanimous decision on scores of 79-73 from all three judges. Ion, 34, dismissed any suggestion he had considered retiring after being down four times and retiring after four rounds in his challenge to IBF champion Brook. He has at least taken the first step on the road back. Giuriceo came in as a very late sub and has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but gave Ion eight rounds of work. Las Vegas, NV, USA: Feather: Oscar Valdez (17-0) W TKO 5 Chris Avalos (26-4). Super Middle: Jess Hart (18-0) W TKO 9 Aaron Pryor Jr (19-9-1). Light Heavy: Egor Mekhontsev (10-0) W PTS 8 Jackson Junior (18-4,1ND). Super Light: Mike Reed (16-0) W TKO 5 Antonio Canas (10-1-1,1ND). Super Feather: Erick De Leon (11-0) W PTS 6 Angel Hernandez (9-5-1,1ND). Valdez vs. Avalos Valdez marches on. The outstanding young Mexican talent dismantled former IBF super bantam challenger Avalos inside five rounds. From the first Valdez just could not miss Avalos with a variety of jabs, hooks and uppercuts. Avalos was as ever willing to stand and trade but could do nothing to get himself in with a chance. Left hooks, straight rights all got through. The first knockdown came late in the third round as Valdez put the finishing touch to a one-sided round by nailing Avalos with a left hook which turned his legs to jelly with Avalos taking a step forward a step back and then tumbling to the canvas. Avalos is a tough guy and he got up but he was lucky that the bell went before Valdez could do any more damage. Avalos tried to fight back in the fourth but was again shaken badly near the end of the round. Valdez wrapped matters up in the fifth as he slammed home a left jab that snapped back the head of Avalos and when he staggered him again with a shot to the head the referee stopped the fight. The 24-year-old Valdez has 15 wins by KO/TKO and is already rated No 2 by the WBO which is overgenerous on the basis of his opposition but he should be ready for a title shot by late 2016. He was one of Mexico’s most successful amateurs winning a World Youth gold medal, a silver at the PanAmerican Games and a bronze at the World Championships. A world title as a pro should ease some of the hurt from unsuccessful shots at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Avalos, 25, suffers his second loss by KO/TKO with the other being against Carl Frampton in a challenge for the IBF super bantam title in February. He had won last time out beating reasonable opposition in Filipino Rey Perez. Hart vs. Pryor Hart gets another inside the distance win as he halts Aaron Pryor Jr in nine rounds. Hart started well and finished well but the bit in between was not so hot. Hart was always looking for the big punch but Pryor was looking to survive and their styles did not mix at all. Hart just could not nail Pryor down or get him to stand and trade so it was a fight that lacked highlights and became messy. Hart was winning every round because he was the only one doing any fighting but he just could not find a way to cut Pryor off and force him to fight. When he got inside he lacked ideas and Pryor was smothering his work. Hart finally found the punch he had been seeking in the ninth. Having missed in round after round with rights Hart landed a looping one which shook Pryor and forced him back to the ropes. Hart then cut loose driving Pryor along the ropes landing a succession of thudding head punches with Pryor not trying to fight back until the referee stopped the fight. Hart, 26, retains the IBF USBA and WBO NABO titles. He has 15 wins by KO/TKO. The son of one Philly’s great pros “Cyclone” Hart he is a former NGG champion. He came so close to getting on the 2012 Olympic Team. He won 5 fights at the trials over 5 fighters who are all now unbeaten pros but lost to yet another one Terrell Gausha 3-2 in the final box-off. Hart is making his dad proud but I am not sure about how the great Aaron Pryor views his son’s efforts. Now 37 Pryor Jr is 4-7-1 in his last 12 fights and is going nowhere. Mekhontsev vs. Junior Russian Mekhontsev gets a wake-up call as he hits the floor for the first time as a pro but gets up to win. After flooring Junior in the first Mekhontsev was comfortably in control and cruising to victory but after Junior put him down in the sixth the Russian had a fight on his hands but he ran out a clear winner. Scores 77-74 twice and 77-73. The 30-year-old Mekhontsev may have left it a bit late to turn pro but after winning gold medals at the European Championships (twice) the World Championships and the 2012 Olympics there was nothing left for him to aim for. Junior, 29, was unbeaten in his first 16 fights but is 3-4 in his last 7 after losses to Mekhontsev, Vasily Lepikhin, Rakhim Chakhkiev and Isidro Ranoni Prieto. Reed vs. Canas Southpaw Reed adds another inside the distance win. The Maryland prospect had Canas shaky in the first round but he survived and began to take the fight to Reed looking to work inside. Reed was content boxing on the outside and controlling the action. In the fifth a vicious right to the body put Canas down. He got up but Reed unleashed a barrage of punches and the referee stopped the fight. The 22-year-old from Waldorf, a former NGG champion, has 9 wins by KO/TKO. Canas grandly nicknamed “The Aztec God of War” had gone 4-0-1ND in his previous 5 fights. De Leon vs. Hernandez Yet another Top Rank with great amateur credentials adds to his winning total. De Leon won every round and walked away with the unanimous decision on scores of 60-54 from all three judges. The Mexican-born Detroit-raised 23-year-old southpaw is a former three-time NGG champion in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Texan Hernandez is 1-4-1 in his last 6 but the guys he lost to have had combined records of 50-0 going in. Bahia Blanca, Argentina: Super Middle: Ruben E Acosta (31-12-5) W TKO 2 Pablo Nievas Zamora (30-13-1). Acosta brushes Nievas aside to retain South American title. He had more trouble making the weight than he did with Nievas and the referee stepped into save Nievas half way through the second round. The 37-year-old local fighter was making the fifth defence of his title and gets his eleventh win by KO/TKO. He is 4-4 in his last 8 fights but the four losses have been in tough company against Callum Smith, Max Vlasov, Isidro R Prieto and Patrick Nielsen. He is No 1 with the FAB. Zamora, 34, the FAB No 9 lost to Anthony Mundine on points for the WBA secondary title back in 2007. Rio Cuarto, Argentina: Feather: Claudio F Echegaray (14-0-1) W TKO 4 Mario Villalobos (8-9-1). Echegaray retains the WBA Fedebol title with stoppage of Villalobos. It was an easy night for Echegaray as Villalobos was a last minute substitute after Oscar Nievas pulled out. Echegaray pressured from the start working inside and attacking the body. Villalobos was never in the fight and taking a beating when the referee stopped the fight in the fourth. Second defence for 25-year-old southpaw Echegaray and eighth win by KO/TKO. He is FAB No 3. “Little Duck” Villalobos is 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights and this is loss No 5 by KO/TKO. Hangshou, China: Super Bantam: Qiu Xiao Jun (18-2) W KO 6 Diarh Gabutan (19-5-2). Super Feather: Kaewfah Tor Buamas (20-0) W PTS 10 Andrew Wallace (10-6-1). Jun vs. Gabutan Highly-touted Jun wins but fails to impress in a slow fight. Jun was making the first defence of his WBC Silver title and was up against very modest opposition in Filipino southpaw Gabutan. Jun did what landing there was in a featureless first round and although he tried to put pressure on in the second Gabutan was never in any trouble. In the third Gabutan landed a right just as Jun’s foot slipped and although he touched the canvas it was not seen as a knockdown but did seem to shake Jun a little. Jun managed to get home with a hard right in the fourth but Gabutan again was not in any trouble from it and boxed his way to the bell. The fifth was the worst round so far with Gabutan doing very little and Jun doing even less. It looked as though the fight had flat-lined as far as action was concerned but in the sixth Jun landed a left hook that put Gabutan down and out. The 25-year-old Chinese fighter lost twice early in his career to Filipino Jonathan Baat but beat Baat in their third match. He has now won his last 10 fights and the WBC somehow have him as No 1 at super bantam which is just ridiculous based on his opposition-but China is a big market. Gabutan loses by KO/TKO for the third time and has lost 4 of his last 5 fights and is not in the top 20 Filipino’s in this division so well qualified to fight for this highly prized WBC title!. Buamas vs. Wallace Thai Buamas wins the vacant WBC ABC title with unanimous decision over English-born Wallace. Buamas was a clear winner but Wallace put up a good effort despite losing. Scores 97-93, 98-95 and 96-94. These title fights are usually 12 rounds so that is a query. Buamas, 29, has impressive figures but 12 of his victims had never had a fight, two had combined record of 0-13-1-well you get the picture. Wolverhampton-born Wallace, 37, based in Australia, has now lost 6 of his last 7 fights. Corby, England: Cruiser: Simon Barclay (7-0) W TKO 7 Micky Steeds (13-7-1). Local prospect Barclay moves up to ten rounds class but only needs seven of them for a win. Barclay got off to a great start flooring Steeds with a combination in the first round. He also shook Steeds with another combination in the second. Steeds fought back hard taking the fight to Barclay but despite two small cuts over each eye Barclay was well in command and worked Steeds over in the sixth. By that stage the referee had Barclay ahead 59-54 but instead of coasting to victory he banged home a succession of hard punches in the seventh and at the end of the round Steeds retired. The tall 26-year-old Barclay gets his first win by KO/TKO and the double ABA champion is making good progress. Steeds, 31, a former British title challenger at both cruiser and light heavyweight had only been stopped once before and that was by Yoan Pablo Hernandez. Huntington, NY, USA: Light Heavy: Joe Smith Jr (19-1) W TKO 9 Dion Savage (12-8). Smith halts Savage in tough exciting scrap. Smith had the power but Savage refused to fold and was more than willing to get into trading punches. Smith nearly ended it in the third as a volley of punches sent Savage tumbling through the ropes. Savage made it back through the ropes and into the ring but when the action resumed he was staggered again by a right and saved from further punishment by the bell. Smith was taking the fight to Savage looking to exploit his success but Savage banged back with punches of his own to stay competitive. Smith had been grinding Savage down and in the ninth he came out throwing punch after punch until Savage was forced to go down or out. Savage made it to his feet and went straight into trading punches only to be bombarded with a series of hard punches that saw the referee stop the fight. After an early career loss the 25-year-old from Long Island has won 13 on the bounce and has won his last five fights by KO/TKO. Savage, or Shujja El Amin as he is now known, has lost his last 5 fights against tough opposition. Edmonton, Canada: Light: Cam O’Connell (8-0-1) W PTS 8 Randy Lozano (10-7-2). Local hope O’Connell has to get off the floor to stay unbeaten. The boxer from Red Deer found himself on the canvas in the first compliments of an over hand right from Mexican Lozano. O’Connell got up and then took the fight to Lozano. He found Lozano a tough and awkward opponent who kept ducking inside the Canadian’s punches which resulted in a few punches to the back of the head from O’Connell. He was warned and did not try it again and outboxed Lozano to take the unanimous decision. Scores 77-74 twice and 76-75. Second eight round bout for O’Connell who had just one fight between December 2013 and June this year. O’Connell was Canadian amateur champion in 2010. Lozano, 22, was 2-3 in his last five fights but was coming off a stoppage win over former IBF/WBA/WBO title challenger Cecilio Santos. September 12 Las Vegas, NV, USA: Welter: Floyd Mayweather Jr (49-0) W PTS 12 Andre Berto (30-4). Super Middle: Badou Jack (20-1-1) W PTS 12 George Groves (21-3). Super Feather: Roman Martinez (29-2-3) DREW 12 Orlando Salido (42-13-3,1ND). Super Welter: Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1) W PTS 10 Ishe Smith (27-8). Super Feather: Jonathan Oquendo (26-4) W PTS 10 Jhonny Gonzalez (58-10). Middle: Chris Pearson (13-0,1ND) W TKO 7 Janks Trotter (9-2-1,1ND). Super Light: Ronald Gavril (14-1) W TKO 8 Scott Sigmon (25-8-1). Super Light: Ashley Theophane (39-6-1) W PTS 10 Steve Upsher Chambers (25-5-1,1ND). Super Feather: Gervonta Davis (12-0) W TKO 1 Recky Dulay (8-2,1ND). Mayweather vs. Berto Mayweather bows out with victory No 49 as he easily outscores Berto to no one’s surprise and retains the WBC and WBA titles. Mayweather showed his trade mark hand speed in the first working well to head and body and landing a couple of choice left hooks. Berto announced his presence in the fight with a choice right in the second but he was just not quick enough. Mayweather took the fight to Berto in the third and both scored with good punches. There was a moment of shock in the round as Mayweather went down but it was rightly ruled a slip and he was up quickly and back in charge. Berto’s only chance in the fight was if he could cut the ring down and force Mayweather to the ropes and he did that briefly in the fourth but he was also leaving gaps for Mayweather to exploit and paid for that as Mayweather banged home a hard right counter. Berto was warned for a low blow in the fifth and despite his constant pressure Mayweather was beating him to the punch and easily evading many of Berto’s punches as he eased his way through the sixth. Mayweather chose to stand and trade shots in the seventh but again the hand speed and clever defensive work meant that Mayweather was showing that Berto’s only chance of winning was no chance at all. Not all of the exchanges involved punches as they were also exchanging words. Mayweather took the eighth and drilled home punch after punch in the ninth as it was getting to be more like an exhibition than a contest. At the end of the ninth Mayweather seemed to indicate to his corner he was suffering some pain in his left hand and he chose to coast through the tenth with the only moment of note when the referee called the fighters together and told them to cut out the talking and get on with the fighting. In the eleventh Mayweather was in cruise control playing to the balcony and showcasing his skills with Berto not able to do anything about it. Mayweather briefly traded with Berto in the last landing some crisp shots just to show he could when he wanted to and then backpedalled over the closing stages of the round until the bell signalled the end of his career. Scores 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111 with the last seeming generous to Berto. Now 38 Mayweather was adamant that this was his last fight. He had equalled Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 and won 26 world title fights and achieved everything he wanted to achieve and was finished with fighting. He may be serious and really believe he can and will just walk away from ring competition but we have seen so many great boxers say the same and find the urge to return just too strong. Many will believe him but even more will expect to see him fight again in 2016. Berto, 32, is a good fighter and it must have been irritating to hear himself so heavily criticised as an opponent before the fight. A spell of three losses, to Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto Karass, in four fights were a clear indication that he stood no chance against Mayweather but it was no fault of his that Mayweather picked him and there was no way he was going to walk away from a $4 million payday so in taking the fight he was blameless but to show how unhappy people were with Mayweather taking a fight he knew he would win for his farewell Berto was on the receiving end of a lot of negativity about his ability. He is a former WBC and IBF welter champion it was just that boxing fans unrealistically expected Mayweather to bow out on a high risk fight-no way. Jack vs. Groves Jack floors Groves in the first on his way to a split decision to retain his WBC title. Despite being champion Jack was a slight outsider in the betting but he proved in the first round that he saw things differently as he floored Groves with two rights late in the round. Groves was badly shaken but made it to his feet and the bell went soon after. Groves recovered quickly from that early shock and showed he had the better skills as he landed well with the jab and found a home for some quick combinations. Jack had shown he was the bigger puncher but Groves was willing to trade over the next three rounds and looked to have made up for the 10-8 first round and edged ahead. Certainly Groves was using a higher work rate to take control but he was not as accurate as usual and a lot of his energy was wasted energy. Groves also had a good sixth round but then he seemed to tire and Jack’s harder punching and more accurate work began to swing the fight his way. The eighth was close but Jack took the ninth with a couple of damaging rights and Groves was letting the fight slip away. Jack was on the front foot more now and again getting through with those strong right hand punches with Groves visibly wilting. Groves found the energy for a resurgence in the eleventh cracking home a good right but by the end of the round Jack was the one doing most of the scoring. They both fought hard in the last although Groves seemed to be avoiding getting too involved and may have felt that his work over the early rounds had been enough to outweigh the knockdown, Jack’s more accurate work and the champion’s strong finish. The judges did not all agree on that. Scores 116-111 and 115-112 for Jack and 114-113 for Groves. Jack was making the first defence of the WBC title he had won with an upset majority points victory over Anthony Dirrell in April. Swedish-born with a Gambian father the 31-year-old “Ripper” has now met his mandatory obligations and is hoping for some fights against the big names in the division. He would start as an outsider against Andre Ward but he has Julio Cesar Chavez and Lucien Bute in the WBC ratings which would be good pay days or he could take the chance of clashing with some of the young lions such as Callum Smith and Gilberto Ramirez. Groves, 27, was having his third shot at a title title having been beaten twice inside the distance in fights with Carl Froch for the IBF and WBA titles with their second fight being one of the biggest attractions in British boxing history. Now he has to rebuild for a fourth shot and he is young enough to do just that. Martinez vs. Salido Martinez retains the WBO title with questionable draw against Salido. Their fight in April which saw Martinez get a deserved decision was a classic contender for fight of the year and over the first three rounds this one looked like matching it. Both fighters were looking to land heavy punches from the opening bell and after that entertaining start Salido started to force the pace of the fight. He knew Martinez was the better technician so had to get the Puerto Rican into the trenches and he pressed hard in the second round. In the third Salido was credited with a knockdown which wasn’t. it was Salido stepping on Martinez’s foot that sent the Puerto Rican down. Martinez literally put that right later in the round as he landed a right that put Salido down on his knees. Martinez had a good fourth shaking Salido early but the fifth was Salido’s round and he looked to have had the better of the exchanges in the sixth. The seventh was even better for Salido as this time he rocked Martinez. The challenger was out-throwing and out-landing Martinez and getting home some energy sapping body punches. Martinez was more accurate with his punches but just not able to establish any dominance. In round after round they were waging a battle of attrition but it was Salido who was coming out on top in most of the exchanges and pressing and pressing and forcing Martinez to fight on his terms. Martinez was battling hard to try to hold on to his title as the fought toe-to-toe over the championship rounds but it seemed to most observers that Salido had done more than enough to secure the win but only one of the judges agreed with that scenario. Scores 115-113 for Martinez, 115-113 for Salido and 114-114. It was a good exciting fight and both parties seem to be agreeable to a rematch and Salido certainly deserves one although Martinez had said he would move up to lightweight irrespective of whether he won or lost so who knows. Now 32, “Rocky” Martinez is in his third reign as WBO super feather champion having lost the title in the past to Ricky Burns and Mikey Garcia but becoming a three-time champion when he beat Salido in April.”Siri” Salido, 34, had four spells as feather champion two with the IBF one of which was short-lived as he tested positive for a banned substance after winning the title and was promptly stripped, and two with the WBO. He was also WBO super feather champion until losing to Martinez. He has every chance of getting that WBO title if he gets a rematch or if Martinez relinquishes. Martirosyan vs. Smith Martirosyan gets majority decision of Smith but looks the clear winner. Martirosyan began by controlling the bout boxing on the outside with Smith landing some shots but generally having problems dealing with Martirosyan’s educated and sharp jab. Smith was trying to come in low to nullify the jab but in the third Martirosyan used that tactic against Smith catching the former IBF champion with a hard downward chopping right as Smith was coming in low. The punch looked to land far back on Smith’s head but the referee had no problem with it and so it counted as a knockdown. Smith got up and was not in serious trouble but by now Martirosyan had built a commanding lead. Smith began to have some success in the middle rounds as Martirosyan was troubled by a swelling which was threatening to close his right eye. It looked as though Smith’s mid fight charge might sweep him to victory but Martirosyan regrouped and had a match winning eighth round when he floored Smith with a left/right combination that put Smith down heavily. Smith got up but had lost the momentum and Martirosyan went on to box his way to what looked a clear victory. Two judges agreed giving the fight to Martirosyan by 97-91but the third judge somehow saw it all even at 96-96. The win puts the 29-year-old Armenian-born “Nightmare” back into the title mix after his loss to Jermell Charlo on a close unanimous decision in March. He is rated WBC3/IBF 10/WBO 13 so with Floyd Mayweather retiring the WBC title will be vacant and with No 1 Saul Alvarez tied up in a fight with Miguel Cotta for the WBC middle title in November he could be in line for a shot at the title in a return against No 2 Jermell Charlo and a chance to make amends for his loss to Demetrius Andrade for the vacant WBO title in 2013. Former champion Smith, 37, is 2-3 in his last 5 fights having lost his IBF title to Carlos Molino in 2013 and beaten by Erislandy Lara for the WBA secondary title in December. His options are few. Gonzalez vs. Oquendo Oquendo was unfazed by Gonzalez reputation as a big puncher and took the fight to the Mexican straight away. Gonzalez was backing off and under pressure until he threw a straight right and a left uppercut through Oquendo’s defence which sent the Puerto Rican stumbling back and down. He was up immediately and when the action resumed he took the fight to Gonzalez again with Gonzalez trading with Oquendo and throwing a barrage of hooks to try to capitalise on the knockdown. In the second Gonzalez was again forced onto the back foot. He was trying to use his jab to keep Oquendo out but Oquendo threw a left jab of his own and a right over the extended left of Gonzalez that put him down heavily on his back. Gonzalez got up badly shaken and at the bell went back to the wrong corner. He had also suffered a gash over his right eye in a clash of heads in the round. There were no more knockdowns and from the third round onwards there was back and forwards action with Oquendo most effective inside and Gonzalez at his best when slotting home his jabs and hooks when he had space for leverage. Neither fighter dominated with both having good spells and both getting home hard punches when they traded. They both showed the wear and tear from those bruising exchanges with Gonzalez cut over both eyes and with bumps and bruises on his face and Oquendo with a bad cut on his left eyelid from the eighth round. It was more of a war than a boxing match with Oquendo just managing to convince the judges he had done enough to earn the decision with one judge seeing it as one-sided which it never was. Scores an unrepresentative 98-90 and a more accurate 95-93 for Oquendo and 95-95. Important losses to Wilfredo Vazquez and Abner Mares had seen Oquendo drop out of the ratings but this win will propel him back in. Gonzalez was having his second fight at super feather after moving up following his crushing defeat by Gary Russell in March which cost him his WBC feather title. He had been given an easy route into the upper reaches of the WBC ratings with a victory over Japanese fighter Kazuki Hashimoto for the WBC Silver title which got him a No 3 spot. The Silver title was not a stake here but Oquendo should get into the top ten at least. Gonzalez has been around for so long I found myself feeling that Oquendo’s “youth” might be a factor then I realised that there was in fact less than two years age difference. Oquendo was 32 on 3 August and Gonzalez 33 at fight time but 34 on 15 September. What fooled me was Oquendo’s 153 total rounds of fighting in his career and Gonzalez 340. Pearson vs. Trotter Trotter gives Pearson some tough rounds before class come to the fore and Pearson gets another win. Canadian champion Trotter was aggressive over the early rounds trying to bully Pearson onto the back foot and close down the prospects punching leverage. That worked to a degree in that Pearson spent more time on the ropes than he was comfortable with but it also resulted in Trotter eating a lot of counters as he barged forward. In the sixth a counter southpaw right caught Trotter coming in and put him down heavily. The Canadian made it his feet and just last out the round. Pearson continued the dismantling job in the seventh and had Trotter staggering and the referee stopped the fight right at the bell. The former 24-year-old US National and PAL champion makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. The ND was when he took a split decision over Lanardo Tyner in a fight in February 2014 only for them both to test positive for a banned substance. Trotter, 31, took 2 ½ years out after losing inside a round to Adam Trupish in January 2010 but was coming off a one round stoppage of Walid Smitchet for the vacant Canadian title in October. Gavril vs. Sigmon Romanian Gavril continues to rebuild after losing his unbeaten record against Elvin Ayala in March. Gavril showed a tight defence and some blazing combinations as he worked Sigmon over. Sigmon was trying to fire home counters to keep Gavril on the outside but Gavril was just too quick firing home hooks to the body and uppercuts before Sigmon could retaliate. It was a gradual breaking down process and by the end of the eighth round Sigmon’s corner got the message and pulled their man out of the fight. The Ayala loss still leaves a question mark over Gavril but with three wins over reasonable if not too testing opposition he is heading in the right direction. When Sigmon move up in class he loses as successive defeats against Caleb Truax and J’Leon Love showed but he is an experienced fighter who has faced some tough opposition. Theophane vs. Chambers Brit Theophane is another on the road to recovery. The height and long reach of Chambers often gives his opponents problems but “Treasure” is an experienced and skilled fighter. He was far quicker getting inside Chambers’ reach and scoring with a whole range of hooks and uppercuts. His defence was also solid so Chambers was never really able to get into the fight. Chambers had some success with his jab and long rights but it was limited to one or two rounds with Theophane bossing the rest of the fight. Theophane never had Chambers in any serious trouble but other than that it was a punch perfect display as Theophane rolls up his sixth win in a row. Scores 100-90. 98-92 and 97-93.The 35-year-old Las Vegas-based Londoner only lost on split decision against Danny Garcia back in 2010 but hit a couple of bumps in the road after that losing close decisions to Darren Hamilton and Pablo Cesar Cano. He is now boxing as well as he ever has. After an early career loss Philadelphian Chambers had an unbeaten run of 21 fights before losing three on the bounce against Luis Collazo, Eddie Gomez and Andre Berto but he had returned with a win in May. Davis vs. Dulay Baltimore prospect Davis ends this one in just 94 seconds. Davis came out firing and a straight left shook Dulay who took a knee. He got up but was badly dazed and it did not get any better as Davis used another powerful left to send Dulay down for a second time. He made it to his feet but the referee decided he had seen enough and stopped the fight. Another former NGG champion and two-time PAL winner, the 20 year-old Davis has 11 wins by KO/TKO and 4 of his last 5 fights have each lasted less than two minutes. Filipino novice Dulay really just a 4 and 6 round prelim fighter who was overmatched by a long way. Mashantucket, CN, USA: Super Welter: Jermall Charlo (22-0) W KO 3 Cornelius Bundrage (34-6,1ND) W. Light Heavy: Marcus Browne (16-0) W KO 1 Gabriel Campillo (25-8-1). Middle: Hugo Centeno Jr (23-0,1ND) W PTS 8 Lukasz Maciec (22-3-1). Middle: Peter Quillin (32-0-1) W KO 5 Mike Zerafa (17-2). Super Feather: Bryant Cruz (16-0) W PTS 8 Jonathan Perez (33-13,1ND) Bundrage vs. Charlo Charlo wins the IBF title as he floors Bundrage in each round before the fight is stopped. Both fighters were using jabs to feel each other out. Charlo had height and reach over Bundrage and was staying ring centre whilst Bundrage worked around him. On the two minute mark Bundrage stepped in under a Charlo left only to get caught with a chopping right to the side of the head which sent him tumbling back to the floor. He was up quickly and Charlo seemed to hold back his punches looking for an opening and Bundrage was able to see out the rest of the round without further trouble. Bundrage was keeping out of trouble in the second backing off and rarely trying to throw any punches. Charlo was also not letting his hands go looking for an opportunity to throw his right. In fact it was a short, stiff left jab the put Bundrage down skidding on his backside to the ropes. He was again up quickly and showed a bit more aggression as Charlo was being too cool and not exploiting the knockdown. In the third a wide left hook from Charlo staggered Bundrage and finally Charlo was throwing punches as he drove Bundrage across the ring and down in a corner. Bundrage was up quickly again and when the action resumed Charlo was chasing Bundrage around the ring with Bundrage bobbing and weaving and clinching to deny Charlo a clean shot. That could not go on and with Bundrage on the ropes Charlo landed a long hard right cross that sent the champion down on his side and the referee waived the fight off although Bundrage protested the stoppage. Charlo, 25, now has 17 wins by KO/TKO including 15 in his last 16 fights but has come up the easy way with no outstanding victims so still has to prove himself against a less worn boxer than Bundrage. He showed good skills a cool head and a strong punch. Not sure what is next as his No 1 challenger is his twin brother Jermell who in some ways has better qualifications having beaten Vanes Martirosyan. I don’t think twins have ever fought each other for a world title. “K9” Bundrage looked all of his 42 years and this was only his second fight in the last 20 months which is hardly the best preparation. Having said that he has been IBF champion twice and to some extent has overachieved. Time to put the gloves away Cornelius. Browns vs. Campillo Brown finishes former WBA light heavy champion Campillo with a copy of devastating body punches. After some feeling out Browne fired a right/left/right combination to the head through Campillo’s guard. The Spaniard stumbled back and Browne drove him to the ropes following up with three left hands that did not really get home but the left in the earlier three-punch combination had shaken Campillo and he went down on one knee to escape the punches. Campillo was up at five and after counting to eighth the referee had a good look at Campillo to make sure he was OK to continue. Browne then slammed home a brutal left to the short ribs of Campillo and dug a right into the solar plexus. Campillo was doubled up in pain and dropped to one knee and the referee immediately waived the fight off. Impressive performance by 24-year-old Olympian Brown who could soon be a player in a quality division. At 36 perhaps it is time for Campillo to put the gloves away as he is now 4-5 in his last 9 fights. Centeno vs. Maciec The Physical differences between the two fighters dictated the pattern of the fight and it remained that way for all eight rounds. The tall, skinny Centeno had loads of height and reach over stocky Pole Maciec who is really just a welter so was much the smaller man all around.. Centeno needed to keep Maciec out and Maciec needed to get inside. Using a stiff jab and plenty of movement Centeno generally succeeded although when Maciec did get close he was thumping home body punches that eventually tired Centeno. The Oxnard fighter was also digging in some good left hooks to the body but neither he nor Maciec are power punchers so it was fatigue rather than power that affected both over the closing rounds. Centeno’s work had been the cleaner and more eye-catching and he took the unanimous decision on scores of 79-73 twice and 78-74. Centeno was coming off a good win over James De La Rosa in December but his lack of power is his Achilles heel. Maciec, 26, had lost only one of his last 13 fights and that he been to Gianluca Branco for the EBU title in 2013 and he had won five fights since then but Centeno was just too big physically. Quillin vs. Zerafa Quillin sets up a fight with Daniel Jacobs for the secondary WBA title with chilling kayo of Australian Zerafa. Both had some success in the first round but the highlight was a left hook from Quillin which staggered Zerafa. The same punch had Zerafa stumbling in the second. He was out-gunned but he banged back with punches of his own. Zerafa had his best round so far in the third scoring with an overhand right and a neat uppercut. Quillin was the one handing out punishment in the fourth as he again staggered Zerafa. Zerafa made a bright start to the fifth but a left hook backed him up to the ropes and a laser guided right crashed straight through the guard of Zerafa and exploded on his chin sending him down heavily. It was immediately apparent that Zerafa was in trouble and the referee waived off the fight to get Zerafa medical aid and the young Australian was fitted with a neck brace and stretchered out of the ring to hospital. Later he contacted Quillin to let him know that he was OK. First fight for “Kid Chocolate” since he came in overweight when challenging Andy Lee for the WBO title and fought out a draw in the fight. It is difficult to see the sense in him vacating his WBO title only to come back and take the challengers end of the purse when fighting Lee. However his fight with Jacobs will not just be for the secondary WBA title but also for bragging rights in Brooklyn. Zerafa, 23, gave it a good try here but was taking a step too far in class but hopefully when fully recovered he will be back again. Cruz vs. Perez Cruz gets another win but is given eight good testing rounds by “Popeye” Perez as the judges all see a different fight. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75. The 25-year-old “Pee Wee” a former NGG silver medallist is making steady progress. Four losses in a row for former Colombian super bantam Perez. Those four opponents had collective record of 75-0 so no one expects Perez to win these days. London. England: Heavy Anthony Joshua (14-0) W TKO 1 Gary Cornish (21-1). Heavy: Dillian Whyte (16-0) W KO 3 Brian Minto (41-10). Super Light: John Wayne Hibbert (16-3) W TKO 10 David Ryan (17-9). Tommy Martin (13-0) W TKO 10 Mike Devine (13-4-1). Super Light: Cassius Connor (13-9-2) W PTS 10 Ricky Boylan (13-3) . Fly: Charlie Edwards (5-0) W PTS 10 Louis Norman (10-1-1). Joshua vs. Cornish Joshua crushes Cornish to win his second major title. Cornish made a positive and brave start, perhaps too brave coming out and throwing some long hard jabs and putting Joshua on the back foot. He then tried mixing-it with Joshua and was nailed by a short right hook and went down. He took the eight count on one knee and then tried to fend off a predatory Joshua. As Cornish came forward he was caught by three successive rights and went down in the corner facing out into the crowd. He made it to his feet at nine but the referee had seen enough and Cornish did not protest and it was all over in 97 seconds. Joshua wins the vacant CBC title and retains his WBC International crown. That makes it 14 wins by KO/TKO scored in less than 25 rounds of boxing and no one has stayed around long enough to hear the bell for the fourth round. The 25-year-old Olympic gold medallist is rated WBC2/WBO 3/WBA 13 (12)/IBF 13(12). He faces a real test against the hard punching Whyte in December. The 28-year-old, 6’7” (201) “Highlander” Cornish was thrown in over his head which is strange after such a carefully planned career up to this point and he will need to go back and rebuild from here. Whyte vs. Minto Whyte shows his strengths and weaknesses as his power proves too much for the much lighter and smaller Minto. Whyte started out forcing Minto back with his jab and being a bit right hand happy looking to land a big bomb. Minto was ducking under them and over the last minute of the round the American was getting through with punches to head and body. He had a good degree of success getting inside the bigger man and landing a few punches and driving Whyte back for a short while but also put himself in the firing line. With just seconds to go Whyte finally landed a right that put Minto down on his knees, He was up at eight and as the bell had already sounded was able to walk back to his corner. Both came out aggressively in the second. Whyte was still looking to take Minto out with one punch rather than working his openings and Minto was coming forward to get inside and work there. Whyte shook Minto with two clubbing punches and then turned his attention to the body slamming home hooks from both hands. Minto was managing to avoid the worst on the punishment by laying his head on Whyte chest denying the big man room for leverage. Minto just kept pushing White onto the back foot and was getting through with some wild swings. In the first exchange in the third White landed a clubbing right inside. Minto’s knees wobbled and in delayed action he took a couple of steps back and went down on one knee and was counted out. The 27-year-old 6’4” (193cm) Londoner Whyte wins the vacant WBC International Silver title. He has won his last 12 fights by KO/TKO and no opponent on that run has survived to hear the bell for the fifth round. His opposition has been of lower quality than some of Joshua’s opponents but you can be sure their 12 December fight will be a bombs away event. Minto, 40, was giving away 5” in height and 37lbs in weight but managed to land enough punches to show that Whyte needs to tighten his defence. The former WBO cruiser title challenger was halted in seven rounds by New Zealand hope Joseph Parker in July last year and his only action since then had been in a Super 8 cruiserweight tournament in New Zealand in March where he lost to a fighter with a 1-2 record in the final. Hibbert vs. Ryan This was the third time these two have clashed and Hibbert won this time to reduce the deficit in their matches to 1-2 and wins the CBC and WBC International titles. Ryan looked to be on his way to retaining his titles for most of the fight he was outboxing Hibbert and scoring feely. Ryan had the superior power and he put Hibbert down with a left to the body in the sixth and with Hibbert also cut the champion was well ahead and on his way to victory. That changed in the tenth when Ryan suddenly suffered a back injury and found it difficult to manoeuvre. He went down on one knee and when he got up Hibbert sensed the change and the chance and exploded with a series of punches and when a big right had Ryan in deep trouble the referee stopped the fight. The 30-year-old new champion from Essex was 8-2 in his last 10 fights with both losses being to Ryan. Their fight in May was a war with Ryan down twice and then putting Hibbert down twice to win on a ninth round stoppage and defend his CBC title and lift Hibbert’s WBC International title. This fight was not quite up to that standard as Ryan had things well in hand until that tenth round injury. Now the holder of two prestigious titles Hibbert has plenty of options open to him. Ryan can feel very unlucky. Success had come late in his career for the 32-year-old from Derby but wins over Paul McCloskey (24-2), Tyrone Nurse (29-1 ) and Hibbert had turned things around for him so now he has to rebuild. Martin vs. Devine English champion Martin wins the vacant WBA Continental title with stoppage of Devine. Martin looked to be on his way to a points win until a dramatic last round. Martin had lost a point in the ninth for some low blows and in the tenth another low blow put Devine down. The referee deducted another point and gave Devine some recovery time. However when the action resumed Martin banged away at Devine and had him in deep water when the referee stopped the fight. A controversial ending but Martin had been in control and looked the likeliest winner if it had gone to the scorecards. Martin, 21, the EU No 17, also has a win over Rick Boylan and will be looking to go upwards from here. Devine 26 has lost his last three. One of those in the Prizefighter Tournament last year and another to useful Adam Dingsdale. Connor vs. Boylan Connor wins battle of Surrey fighters. Connor used his boxing skills to keep Boylan out and that worked for most of the time. Boylan was constantly coming forward trying to cut Connor’s space and punish him on the ropes but Connor managed to stay off the ropes and on the move and was a clear winner. Referee’s score 97-94. Connor a former Southern Area super light champion had been 2-4-1 going in but improves his figures with this well deserved victory. Boylan, 27, also a former Southern Area super light champion falls to 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Edwards vs. Norman Former top amateur star Edwards wins the English title in only his fifth fight. Edwards was quicker than Norman over the early rounds boxing cleverly on the back foot and scoring repeatedly with left hooks and short rights. Norman was trying to walk down the challenger and had some success as Edwards seemed to take a breather in the middle rounds. However he was still doing the cleaner and more eye-catching work landing his punches and not being there when Norman tried to counter. Norman tried to put in a big effort over the last couple of rounds but his desperation was just presenting Edwards with more chances to counter. Scores 100-90,99-91 and 99-92. The 22-year-old former double ABA champion and European bronze medallist was a member of the English Elite Athlete programme and will be a threat in this division. Norman, 21, was making the second defence of his English title he won back in 2013. He has usually had to give up lots of weight to stay busy but here he met a better man at his own weight. Frederikshavn, Denmark: Cruiser: Micki Nielsen (19-0) W KO 4 Alejandro E Valori (17-8). Super Middle: Patrick Nielsen (27-1) W KO 4 Samir Santos Barbosa (36-13-3). Super Middle: Tim Robin Lihaug (14-1) W PTS 8 Baptiste Castegnaro (6-5). Light Heavy: Rudy Markussen (39-3,1ND) W KO 1 Ramazi Gogichashvili (19-7-2). Feather: Dennis Ceylan (16-0-1) W PTS 8 Elvis Guillen (9-12-4,1ND). Light: Rashid Kassem (9-0) W KO 2 Roberto Priore (7-7). Nielsen vs. Valori Nielsen gets a win but not before Valori gets in a few punches of his own. In fact the Argentinian probably just shaded the first round and he was willing to stand toe-to-toe with Nielsen in the second and third rounds. The local fighter found his big punch in the fourth. A southpaw left sent Valori tumbling through the ropes and he was counted out. Exciting whilst it lasted, perhaps too exciting for the local fans. The 22-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Dane gets back on the KO/TKO trail after three points wins in a row. He has 13 wins by KO/TKO and is still very much on a learning curve. Former Argentinian champion Valori, 32, has not found Europe a welcoming place as in his previous two trips across the Atlantic he has been stopped by Nathan Cleverly and outpointed by Noel Gevor but he was coming off a win at home. Nielsen vs. Barbosa A predictable family double and both inside four rounds. Nielsen used his educated southpaw jab to control the opening round although Barbosa looked lively and useful. Nielsen opened up in the second and then it was a different matter as Barbosa was punished heavily. A left to the head put Barbosa down and he did well to survive the round. In the third the Brazilian used his experience to slow the fight and survive. Nielsen came out in the fourth to finish things and a left to the body put Barbosa down and he could not beat the count. The 24-year-old elder brother of Micki lost to Dmitry Chudinov for the interim WBA middle title in June last year and has since moved up to super middle and has won 5 in a row. He now has 13 wins by KO/TKO. The drums are now beating for a huge local fight with Rudy Markussen. Nielsen has said there are still a few details to be agreed but he is up for the fight. Barbosa, 35, is really just a middleweight being a former Brazilian champion. He suffered consecutive losses last year in fights against Adam Etches and Les Sherrington. Lihaug vs. Castegnaro Norwegian Lihaug gets unanimous decision but not an impressive performance. Frenchman Castegnaro started well enough and over the first two rounds it was a fairly equal fight. However from the third Castegnaro’s work rate dropped and Lihaug started to edge ahead. The Norwegian was winning the rounds but Castegnaro remained very much in the fight and was catching Lihaug with punches too often for it to be comfortable for Lihaug. The Norwegian stepped up the pace over the last two rounds and was a clear winner but at a struggle. Scores 79-73 for Lihaug from all three judges. Now 11 wins in a row for the 22-year-old Lihaug. Castegnaro, 24 has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights and is really just a 4 & 6 round fighter. Markussen vs. Gogichashvili Markussen swats aside Georgian on his return to the ring and clears the way for a fight with Patrick Nielsen. In his first fight since December 2012 Markussen wasted no time in disposing off Gogichashvili. An overhand right from the “Big Hitter” floored Gogichashvili early and although he got up he was put down again and the referee stopped the fight with just one second left in the first round. The 38-year-old former IBF title challenger and undefeated EBU champion was pushed into semi-retirement by a fifth round kayo loss to Brian Magee for the interim WBA title in February 2012. He made a brief re-appearance with a low level first round win in December that year. It remains to be seen how much he has left as this win just showed he could punch which has never been in doubt. Now six losses by KO/TKO for Gogichashvili who like most Georgians wins at home and losses away. Ceylan vs. Guillen Really just paid sparring for the classy Ceylan. The Dane had height, reach and far superior skill. Guillen had a willingness to take punishment, go the eight rounds and get paid. There were a couple of occasions when it looked as though Ceylan might end it inside the distance. He made a big effort in the seventh but Guillen took the punches and stayed to the final bell. Scores 80-71 twice and 80-72. The 26-year-old former Olympian is rated No 5 with the EBU but is not ready for a title fight yet. First fight outside Nicaragua for Guillen. Curiously in his last 10 fights before this one seven had ended in split or majority verdicts. Kassem vs. Priore Too easy for hard punching hope Kassem. The young Dane scored with jolting punches from both hands in the first round with Priore already resorting to spitting out his mouthguard to gain some breathing space. It did not really help him as Kassem put him down and out with a right in the second. Now 7 wins by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old Kassem “The Dream” including four inside the distance finishes in his last 4 fights. Italian Priore has lost his last three and suffered his second loss by KO/TKO. Bruay-la-Buissiere, France: Fly: Thomas Masson (14-3-1) W PTS 12 Silvio Olteanu (15-8-1). Fly: Vincent Legrand (18-0) W PTS 6 Arnoldo Solano (14-12). Masson vs. Olteanu Masson adds another European title to the French collection with points win over Romanian veteran Olteanu for the vacant EBU title. This was always going to be a battle between the left jab of Masson and the hooks and uppercuts of Olteanu. The Frenchman had height and reach (5’6” 170cm vs. 5’2” 158cm) on his side with Olteanu having to get inside and work the body to wins. Yet another factor was that Masson had never gone twelve rounds before. The nett result was an aggressive start by Spanish-based Olteanu having some success using clever movement to get inside and a cautious one by local fighter Masson making good use of his physical advantages. Olteanu did enough to build a small lead before fading in the middle rounds as Masson got his range and used good uppercuts to catch Olteanu as he tried to get close. The twelve year age difference told as over the late rounds Masson remained strong and Olteanu slowed a little but was always competitive and dangerous with his hooks. In the end Masson was a clear winner on scores of 117-111, 117-113 and 116-113 and along with Michel Soro, Cedric Vitu, Romain Jacob and Hadillah Mohoumadi gives France five current European champions. The 25-year-old home town fighter was beaten by Brit Ashley Sexton back in 2012 but had racked up six good domestic wins on his way to the title. He is a smart boxer but his lack of power will be a drawback at a higher level. I feel sorry for little Olteanu as at 37 he may be near the end of the road. Back in 2010 a win over world rated Bernard Inom (20-1-1) led later that year to a challenge to Daiki Kameda for the WBA title. He went to Japan and only lost on a split decision with one judge (not European) having him the winner by 118-110. He lost on a majority decision to Wilbert Uicab for the WBC Silver title but won the EBU title and defended it with a win over former world title challenger Andrea Sarritzu in 2012. Then the fights dried up and he never defended the title and had only one fight in the next 2 ½ years. He just never got the breaks. Legrand vs. Solano Legrand stays unbeaten with unanimous victory over Nicaraguan Solano. As with Masson European Union champion Legrand is tall for a flyweight at 5’8 ½” 174cm, and he had no trouble in outboxing the willing but limited Solano. Scores 59-55 twice and 60-54. There could be a complication here as I believe the 24-year-old southpaw is the son of Masson’s trainer and comes from the same home town as Masson. He is No 3 in the EBU ratings but whether the two gym mates would fight each other I don’t know. Spanish-based Solano has lost his last 8 fights. No weights given but when Solano fought Stuart Hell seven days earlier he was 122lbs! Preston, England: Feather: Tshifihiwa Munyai (27-4-1) W KO 10 Oscar Chauke (34-10-3) . Light: Malcolm Klassen (31-6-2) W PTS 6 Rey Cajina (13-28-4). Chauke vs. Munyai This all-South African contest was to have been a defence of his IBF Inter-Continental title for Chauke but after making the weight at the first weigh-in Munyai was over the allowed increase under IBF rules at the check weigh so it was a non-title fight. These two were well matched and Chauke made the better start using a strong left jab to put Munyai on the back foot and pressing the fight. In the second Munyai was trying to duck under Chauke’s jab and work the body but Chauke was still in control. That was also the case for much of the third until Munyai worked Chauke into a corner and slammed over a left to the head and a right to the body which put Chauke down. He was up at and looked shaky but Munyai was wild with a couple of his punches and it was Chauke slamming home hooks and crosses and Munyai under fire as the round ended. From that point the fight changed. Chauke’s jab lost its sting and Munyai now knew he could hurt Chauke and was bossing the action. Chauke remained competitive still trying to work the jab but more often Munyai was ducking under it and banging home punches to the body. In the last round Munyai was allowing Chauke to do the leading but the big punches were coming from Munyai. He was muscling Chauke around the ring and when Chauke missed with a tired right Munyai came up with a left hook to Chauke’s unprotected chin. Chauke took a couple of steps back and then went down on his backside propped up by the ropes. He managed to roll up to his knees but could get no further and was counted out, “The Atomic Spider” Munyai, 30, makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO. The former undefeated CBC bantam champion suffered back-to-back losses last year in tough assignments against Scott Quigg and Paulus Ambunda but has now scored three wins since moving his base to England. “Golden Boy” Chauke, 34, the South African and WBFound super bantam champion was 6-1-1 in his last 8 fights going in but was out-powered here. Klassen vs. Cajina Klassen starts his British campaign with a wide unanimous verdict over perennial loser Cajina. The gap in glass here was more of a chasm than a gap. After a slow start Klassen took over and easily outboxed the Nicaraguan who rarely wins but usually goes the distance. The perfect foil for Klassen as he continues his settling down process at lightweight. He won clearly 59-56 on the referee’s card and after beating former WBC secondary title holder Paulus Moses in March the 33-year-old former two-time IBF super feather champion will be looking for sterner tests in future. Cajina, 32, is 0-11-1 in his last 12 fights but he is not there to win but to lose and stay as many rounds as possible and give the home opponent some rounds of work. Job done. Catamarca, Argentina: Welter: Cesar M Barrionuevo (28-3-2.1ND) W TKO 8 Victor H Velasquez (17-8). Barrionuevo wins the Argentinian title and defends his WBC Latino title with stoppage of Argentinian champion Velazquez. Southpaw Barrionuevo had a psychological edge having stopped Velasquez inside a round in their previous meeting. That was back in 2011 but the way Barrionuevo started it might have been only yesterday. He was unloading hooks and uppercuts over the first two rounds and in the third a right to the head put Velasquez down. Velasquez survived and tried to turn the tide but Barrionuevo was pelting him with hard combinations to head and body and by the eighth Velasquez was unravelling. By the end of the round he was well beaten and could hardly see through the swelling by his right eye. The doctor examined him in his corner and would not let Velasquez come out for the eighth. The 26-year-old from Salta makes it 19 wins by KO/TKO. He has lost only one of his last 26 fights and he reversed that with an inside the distance victory. Velasquez, 33, was making the second defence of the national title he won with a victory over Sebastian Lujan. Paranque City, Philippines: Light Fly: Jonathan Taconing (22-2-1) W TEC DEC 10 Jomar Fajardo (14-9-2). Super Feather: Juan Martin Elorde (18-1-1) W TKO 6 Yakobus Heluka (8-13-2). Super Bantam: Juan Miguel Elorde (19-1) W KO 1 Arnold Mau. Taconing vs. Fajardo “Lightning” Taconing well on his way to victory when a cut suffered in a clash of heads earlier in the fight becomes too bad for him to continue. One of the top Filipino talents Taconing used a stiff jab to control the early rounds and he put Fajardo down in the second only for the referee to rule it a slip. There was no argument about the knockdown Taconing scored in the fourth and a desperate Fajardo was given his first warning over low punches. A clash of heads saw both fighters suffer cuts in the fifth with Taconing coming off worst with cuts over both eyes. Fajardo halted Taconing’s march with a hard uppercut in the sixth but he spoiled his good work with a couple of barrages of low punches which saw the referee deduct two points from Fajardo. They were exchanging punches constantly in the eighth and ninth but by the tenth Taconing’s cuts were too bad for the fight to continue and it went to the cards. Scores 98-90, 97-91 and 96-91 all for Taconing. The 28-year-old southpaw retains the OPBF title. He has lost only one of his last 20 fights and that was a technical decision in a challenge to Thai Kompayak for the WBC title in 2012. He has scored 9 wins since then 8 of them by KO/TKO. He is No 1 with the WBC so mandatory challenger to Pedro Guevara. Fajardo, 23, has 5 losses and a draw in his last 6 fights but the draw was a real surprise. The unsung Filipino fought former undefeated IBF/WBO champion Francisco Rodriguez to a split draw in November but lost on points to Rodriguez in January. Elorde vs. Heluka It is difficult to imagine boxing in the Philippines without an Elorde. Elorde found Indonesian Heluka an awkward but not threatening opponent. He stuck to his task flooring Heluka in the first and third rounds and ended with two knockdowns in the sixth. The 30-year-old southpaw, the WBO No 6, has 6 wins and a technical draw in his last 7 fights. He is the grandson of the late great Flash Elorde. Indonesian Heluka has lost 8 of his last 9 fights but his record is probably incomplete. Elorde vs. Mau Younger brother Juan Miguel took only 90 seconds to put Indonesian Mau down and out. Now 9 wins in a row for the WBO No 11. Mau came in as a late replacement and again His record is probably incomplete On paper this coming Saturday is one of the biggest days in boxing this year. There are numerous world level fighters in action and several fighters who attract a lot of attention. In all honesty however we feel that the weekend is one full of style over substance and, as a result, we feel we've a point to make at a weekend where the action really could be lacking despite a host of big name fighters. The most notable action of the night comes from Las Vegas and whilst it is notable it is also, on the whole, rather disappointing and doesn't have a “big fight feel”. The main event will see the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) put his unbeaten record on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23). The bout, for the WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight is a bout that failed to get fan support, is expected to be a commercial flop and is shrouded in controversy with Mayweather having recently come under-fire for the use of an IV prior to his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Whilst we have often been in awe of Mayweather's in ring ability we must confess the act has gone stale and we're looking forward to his retirement which he has promise will come after this bout. Given that he's lied regularly in the past however we're expect he'll return in 2016, if he wins as expected here, to go to 50-0. In one of the chief support bouts Englishman George Groves (21-2, 16) will face WBC Super Middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12). Without trying to sound harsh Jack may well be the worst world champion in the sport and the way he won the title said more about Anthony Dirrell than it did about Jack. Groves, who has lost 2 of his last 4 to Carl Froch, once looked like the heir to the Super Middleweight throne but recent performances have been less than inspiring. Although they should match up well it's certainly not a top quality bout as some are trying to paint it. A third world title bout on this card, and probably the bout that will excite fans, is at Super Featherweight where Puerto Rican Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17), a 3-time world champion, battles Mexican tough guy Orlando Salido (42-13-2-1, 29), himself a 4-time champion. These two met in a barn burner back in April, in Martinez's homeland, and although Salido was beaten he gave one of the year's most stirring efforts, getting up from several knockdowns to run Martinez close down the stretch. This bout has been widely over-looked though is probably going to have more action than the other 4 major bouts on the show, combined. In a non-title bout former world champion Ishe Smith (27-7, 12) battles against Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1, 21). Both guys have got solid “name” value but it's hard to see this being anything but a dull contest as the talented, but tedious, Smith makes life difficult for the equally frustrating Martirosyan. Although both are skilled both have struggled to even be involved in “exciting” bouts and it's hard to see either changing that here. Yet another former champion is on this card, which has been stacked in terms of names even if the match ups have seriously lacked competitiveness, is Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49) who will be facing Jonathan Oquendo (25-4, 16). For Gonzalez this is the next step towards a potential show down with a Super Featherweight champion, likely to be the winner of the recently announced bout between Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas, but it's hard to see what Oquendo brings to the table, especially at 130lbs. Given the PPV price tag of the show it does seem like the card has been a case of “names above match ups” and we'll rarely support that, especially on PPV. There is another card in the US, which is scheduled to take place before the Mayweather show. Unfortunately this is just as uninspiring as the other show. In the most meaningful bout of the card fans will see veteran Cornelius Bundrage (34-5, 19) defending his IBF Light Middleweight title against Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16). The 42 year old Bundrage has had a fairytale career to become a 2-time world champion, claiming the first of those titles aged 37, but is a clear under-dog against the much touted, and much younger, Charlo who should claim his first world title fight. An intriguing 10 round bout will see former world champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12) take on Marcus Browne (15-0, 11). For Campillo a loss here would likely spell the end of his career, which saw him holding the WBA title and earn a number of solid paydays, however Browne has failed to convince fans, despite having an Olympic pedigree and an unbeaten record. This could be one of the nights many possible gems, despite a lack of major build up. Another former champion on action here is former WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22), who continues to destroy what good standing his career once had. The former champion will be facing little known Australian Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9) as he continues to tease a potential showdown with Daniel Jacobs. Quillin once looked like the man who could have given Gennady Golovkin problems but has since become boxing's version of a joke fighting Light Middleweights in title defenses, turning down a career payday and vacating the title then failing to make weight. This bout, win or lose, will do his reputation no good at all. Before the action Stateside British fans will get the chance to watch two of their Heavyweight hopefuls in action as well as a third meeting between two men who have given local fans two incredible wars already. The most notable of the men in action is 2012 Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13) who faces Scottish giant Gary Cornish (21-0, 12). On paper this looks a great bout but footage of Cornish has shown him to be rather uncoordinated and it's hard to see him providing any sort of a test to Joshua. This bout will be for the WBC International and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles and if Joshua he will likely face amateur nemesis Dillian Whyte in December. The aforementioned Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12) is also in action here as he takes on veteran Brian Minto (41-9, 26) in a bout for the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title. In the amateurs Whyte scored a win over Joshua and will be hoping to do the same when the two men meet. This is a tougher assignment than Joshua's but should still be a simple win for the Englishman. Arguably the highlight of the show however will be the third meeting between Dave Ryan (17-8, 4) and John Wayne Hibbert (15-3, 9). The two men are fighting for the unified WBC International and Commonwealth titles, just as they did back in May, and will be hoping to put on another thriller. The two men first met back in 2013 in a thrilling back-and-forth war but it was their bout this year that really captured the attention of fans and stole the day with 4 knockdowns and gritty come from behind win for Ryan. This really has the potential to be the sleeper fight of the weekend. September 11th-Stevenson faces Karpency whilst Spence and Valdez both take on interesting tests9/10/2015 Love it not or not this weekend is a big one for boxing fans and of course it kicks off on Friday with with numerous fights, sadly though few really excite us.
The most notable action comes from Canada where we have a male world title bout, a former Heavyweight contender and a man that many in the US are viewing as the most promising prospect in the west. The world title bout, the most notable bout of the night, is a bit of a farce if we're being honest as WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (26-1, 21) defends his belt against the undeserving Tommy Karpency (25-4-1, 14). Stevenson, who is widely viewed as one of the top Light Heavyweights, should be facing much better competition than Karpency who has scored only one win of note, an upset over Chad Dawson. Coming in to the bout Karpency is 4-2, though one of those losses was a shut out to Nathan Cleverly and it's be a huge surprise if this bout was even close to being semi-competitive. It really is a farcical defense by Stevenson. A much better bout will see Errol Spence (17-0, 14) take on Chris Van Heerden (23-1-1, 12). On paper this is a great match up with Spence finally taking on a guy who will be well prepared and confident. Sadly paper can be wrong and we're expecting Spence to make it look relatively easy against a some-what padded Van Heerden who is likely to be broken down in the middle rounds. A third bout, albeit another relative farce, will see 51 year old former contender Donovan Ruddock (40-5-1, 30) take on Dillon Carmon (8-2, 7) in a bout for the Canadian Heavyweight title. Ruddock, once one of the most exciting Heavyweights on the planet, is fighting for the third time since making his comeback to the ring earlier this year however he is a shadow of the man who fought Mike Tyson twice back in the early 1990's. Aged 29 Carmon is significantly younger than Ruddock but is relatively limited and hasn't really scored a win of note. Although a farce, given Ruddock's age, this could be an entertaining one. In the US we have 3 bouts of note, including possibly the bout of the night. One of the bouts will see Olympic champion Egor Mekhontsev (9-0, 7) take on the heavy handed Jackson Junior (18-3, 16) in what should be an explosive affair. It's hard to see Mekhontsev losing here though we would like to see him step up sooner, rather than later. Interestingly Junior's last fight came against Korean veteran Seung Kue Park, who was stopped inside a round by the Beazilian puncher, Park was 51 years old though and had been blown out in his previous 4. Another will see the promising, and very exciting, Jesse Hart (17-0, 14) battle against Aaron Pryor Jr (19-8-1, 12) in a bout for a couple of titles. Hart really does look to be one of the most fun to watch American fighters and he should see off Pryor here, despite the fact Pryor has only been stopped twice in 28 bouts. The bout of the show, and possibly the bout of the night, will see touted Mexican puncher Oscar Valdez (16-0, 14) take on former world title challenger Chris Avalos (26-3, 19). On paper this is a huge step up for Valdez but it's one that his team will feel confident about. Avalos, who has fought once since being demolished by Carl Frampton, is the under-dog but is certainly “live” coming in to this one. In Argentina fans will see a female world title bout as WBO Light Welterweight champion Fernanda Soledad Alegre (21-2-1, 11) defends her belt against Lely Luz Florez (15-6-1, 9). The long reigning champion has held her title for close to 5 years and this will be her 12h defense of the belt. As for Florez she will be hoping to score her biggest win since a 2009 shock win over Chris Namus in Uruguay. It's hard to see Alegre losing here though hopefully Florez will give the champion a good test. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for once again sharing his results article with us.
The Past Week In Action 8 September 2015 September 4 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Super Bantam: Diego De La Hoya (12-0) W PTS 10 Jesus Ruiz (34-7-5). Super Light: Everton Lopes (4-0) W PTS 8 Omar Tienda (13-1). Super Feather: Christian Gonzalez (11-0) W TKO 2 Luis Ruiz Lizarraga (5-6-1). De La Hoya vs. Ruiz De La Hoya come through his first big test and first ten round fight with wide unanimous decision. De La Hoya boxed his way to victory and overcame a couple of facial injuries on the way. He controlled the fight on the outside exhibiting good skills and punch selection. Ruiz fought hard but was never really in the fight even though De La Hoya looked the worst for wear at the end. De La Hoya shook Ruiz with a left in the ninth and ran out a clear winner. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. De La Hoya had a cut by his right eye from the seventh and a swelling under his right eye from the same round but neither hampered him noticeably. The 21-year-old from Mexicali wins the vacant WBC Youth title. Ruiz, 25, had won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss being against Leo Santa Cruz in a challenge for the WBC title in January so a notable win for De La Hoya. Lopes vs. Tienda Welcome to the pros Everton. The former star member of the Brazilian amateur team had to climb off the floor twice to get an unpopular majority verdict over unsung Mexican Tienda. Lopes looked comfortable in taking the first round on the strength of an educated left jab. The Brazilian but paid his first visit to the canvas in the second round but it was a questionable knockdown and he quickly recovered. His superior skills and speed saw him reassert himself late in the third and take the fourth. He was thrown out his stride again in the fifth when a right put him down and this time there was doubt about it being genuine. After that he had to fight hard to maintain his unbeaten record and just scraped through on scores of 76-74 twice and 75-75. Lopez, 27, was a World Championships and World Military gold medallist and beat guys such as Jose Pedraza, Jeff Horn and Anthony Yigit. Tienda was a good test as he had been in ten round bouts in Mexico. Gonzalez vs. Lizarraga Californian teenage hope Gonzalez gets another inside the distance win. In the second Gonzalez dropped Lizarraga with a left hook to the body. Lizarraga made it to his feet but another series of hooks put him down again and although he got up his second climbed into the ring and the fight was over. The 19-year-old Gonzalez has 10 wins by KO/TKO including a run of seven first round finishes in his first seven fights. Mexican Lizarraga has lost four in a row now all to unbeaten fighters. East London, South Africa: Light Fly: Nkosinathi Joyi (25-4,1ND) W TKO 5 Sinethemba Magibisela (8-7-2). Super Fly: Zolani Tete (21-3) W TKO 8 Diuhi Olguin (11-3-3). Middle: Giovanni Bushby (7-4-2) W PTS 12 Johannes Salie (12-6-1). Light: Xolisani Ndongeni (19-0) W KO 2 Miguel A Escalada (12-7). Joyi vs. Magibisela Joyi keeps his career alive with stoppage of felloe South African Magibisela in an all-southpaw contests. The former IBF minimum champion made a slow start with Magibisela finding a home for some sharp punches. Once Joyi started to attack the body the fight became one-sided with Joyi putting Magibisela down twice on the fourth and again in the fifth and the fight was stopped. Joyi, 32, had lost his IBF title on a knockout against Mario Rodriguez and also lost a split decision against Hekkie Budler in a challenge for the IBO title. He then went into free-fall with crushing consecutive inside the distance losses to Filipino Rey Loreto. This was his first fight since the second of those losses when he failed to even last two minutes against Loreto in March AND LORETO IS STILL WAITING TO BE PAID!!! Magibisela, the BSA No 4 was 2-0-2 in his previous four fights and this is his second loss by KO/TKO. Tete vs. Olguin Southpaw Tete takes a while to wear down Mexican prelim fighter Olguin. Tete had speed, power and experience over Olguin and after hurting Olguin in the second he put him down twice in the third. That should have been the end of it but Tete then stopped going to the body. Although he was still receiving heavy punishment and although never in the fight Olguin managed to survive until the eighth round when Tete trapped him in a corner and was scoring with punches up and down until the towel came in from Olguin’s corner to save their man. The 27-year-old former undefeated super fly champion was having his first fight since relinquishing the IBF title rather than fight McJoe Arroyo for a ridiculously low purse. He has 18 wins by KO/TKO and is a classy fighter who has now formed his own promotional group. Olguin, 26, had only appeared in supporting bouts and had only once gone past six rounds. Bushby vs. Salie Busby wins the vacant WBA Pan African title with wide unanimous decision over Salie. The fight lacked any real highlights with Busby controlling the action. He had Salie in deep trouble in the sixth but let him off the hook and had to settle for the points win. Scores 119-109, 118-111 and 118-112. Local fighter Busby, 29, the BSA No 5 fought a draw for this title in March but against another opponent. He took almost 4 years out of the ring between 2009 and 2013 and is 5-2-2 since his return. Salie “The Pride of Paarl” the BSA No 5 but at welter was having his first fight since August last year. Ndongeni vs. Escalada Escalada no real test for rising star Ndongeni but no need to rush this young talent. Ndongeni floored the Argentinian with a flashing right in the first and then put him down and out in the second with another stunning right. The former undefeated South African feather and current light champion has nine wins by KO/TKO and just may be the next star from down there. “The Magician” Escalada needed more than a magic wand in this one but he had won 7 of his last 8 fights with a 7 wins by KO/TKO. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Middle: Martin F Rios (16-6-3) W PTS 10 Jose C Paz (17-4). Rios wins by building a lead and then holding off a late surge from Paz to take the unanimous decision. Rios made good use of his height and reach setting a fast pace and controlling the action with his jab and adding right uppercuts inside. He rocked Paz with a left in the third and although in trouble Paz stayed on his feet. Rios had Paz bleeding from the nose and raised a swelling under his right eye. Over the second half of the fight Rios started to tire from the pace he had set and Paz was able to get inside and work the body slowing Rios even more. Rios rallied in the seventh but Paz took the eighth and ninth before Rios rallied again in the last to clinch the decision. Scores 98-94, 98 ½-95 ½ and 96-94. Former Argentinian champion “El Terrible” Rios, 23, gets revenge for a points defeat in May and a much needed win after going 0-3-1 in his previous four fights. After an early loss, Paz, 24, the FAB No 6, had run up a 15 bout winning streak but is now 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Dusseldorf, Germany: Super Feather: Sebastian Tlatlik (9-0) W TKO 2 Sandro Bordewick (3-3). Welter: Aria Najafi (3-0-1 W PTS 10 Dominic Tietz (3-1). Super Middle: Jay Spencer (10-0) W TKO 1 Suleyman Dag (10-66). Tlatlik vs. Bordewick Tlatlik brushes aside poor Bordewick inside two rounds. Tlatlik was coming forward stabbing out a stiff jab and scoring with rights. Bordewick was much taller but was just skin and bones and had only very basic technique. The end came in the second with a piece of incompetent refereeing being on display. Tlatlik hurt Bordewick with a body punch he followed that up with a right cross and a left hook to the body. Bordewick was looking distressed and after another stiff jab from Tlatlik he turned his back on Tlatlik putting his arm in the air in surrender. As the referee had not said for the action to stop Tlatlik looped a right around Bordewick on to his chin. Bordewick slumped to the canvas. The referee sent Tlatlik to a corner but did not start a count. Instead he helped Bordewick up and escorted him to the opposite corner and signalled them to box on. Bordewick came out of the corner threw a couple of jabs from out of distance and before Tlatlik could even throw a single punch of any significance the referee stopped the fight ! The 27-year-old Polish-born Tlatlik was making the first defence of his German International title. He has 8 by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights but abysmal opposition. His brother Robert is also unbeaten as a pro. German Bordewick had somehow won his last two fights by KO/TKO but was outclassed here Najafi vs. Tietz This all-German contest was a much better fight as Najafi wins the vacant German International super welter title on a unanimous decision. Najafi, a small southpaw was up against the much taller Tietz and they gave three minutes of action in every round. Najafi was quicker and able to get inside Tietz’s guard but also took some punishment getting there. He scored the only knockdown but it also transpired that he had suffered a fracture of his left hand in the fifth round. Although he only had less than six rounds of boxing as a pro he paced the fight well. Tietz, 18, was in a similar position with less than seven rounds behind him but he tired badly and only just survived a torrid ninth round but went the distance. Scores 99-90 from all three judges which did not accurately reflect Tietz effort who whilst clearly beaten had made look a lot closer. Neither Najafi nor Tietz will get far they did OK here where they stepped up to ten rounds due to the main event falling out. Spencer vs. Dag This was farcical. Ghanaian Spencer was head shoulder above Dag who had rolls of fat around his midriff and no idea of how to fight. Spencer floored Dag with a left and after Dag got up he took his time before sending Dag down again with a flurry of light punches. Again Dag got up and saw out the round and then retired claiming an injury to his right arm. That developed into an argument first with the referee who wanted Dag to fight on and then with the promoter and then to an exchange of punches between Dag and the promoter with Spencer and a few other joining in. Order was eventually restored. Seven wins by KO/TKO for Spencer who wins the vacant German International title but his opposition has been at best inept. Turk Dag, if it was Dag as he had a lot more fat and a lot less hair and looked nothing like his BoxRec photo, had lost on points over four rounds against Spencer in 2012 and this was his 45th loss by KO/TKO. The title fights were under the German GBA body. Bangkok, Thailand: Iwan Zoda (7-1) W KO 12 Petchchorhae (13-1). Zoda gets revenge for previous loss as he hands out a terrifying beating to Petchchorhae. Both started confidently with southpaw Petchchorhae just getting the better of the exchanges. They swapped head-jarring punches in the third and fourth with Petchchorhae throwing more and landing more but also using up too much energy with flashy moves to please the crowd. The sixth was a turn around as Zoda forced Petchchorhae back and handed out a solid beating for the whole three minutes with Petchchorhae already looking tired. His work was ragged and Zoda landed so many clean head shots on Petchchorhae that the fight could have been and should have been stopped. The seventh eighth and ninth were worse with Petchchorhae hardly able to lift his hand and Zoda able to use the Thai as a punch bag driving him around the ring and even being able to steady Petchchorhae’s head with a left so he could slam home a right. Petchchorhae was reduced to wild swipes which when they landed had no effect and when they missed left him wide open. In the ninth I counted over 40 clean head shots landed by Zoda not counting jabs and that was not the worst round for Petchchorhae. Amazingly he rallied at the start of the tenth and for two minutes was on his toes and moving well but by the end he was soaking up head punch after head punch. He was still banging home punches in the eleventh but looking arm weary. In the twelfth Petchchorhae could hardly lifts his hands and Zoda was snapping his head back time and again with hooks and uppercuts. A left drove Petchchorhae’s head back and as it snapped forward a right to the chin saw Petchchorhae pitch forward face down on the canvas and thankfully the fight was finally over. Indonesian Zoda, just 18, had lost over six rounds to Petchchorhae in his second pro fight in October but this was brutal. He wins the interim WBO Asia Pacific title. Petchchorhae showed remarkable courage but should have been saved from his own bravery by his corner or the referee at any time from the sixth round onwards. I have never seen anyone take the beating that Petchchorhae had to endure and I hope I never see it again. The referee should never referee another fight. Glasgow, Scotland: Light: Charlie Flynn (5-0) W TKO 5 Sylwester Walczak (4-17-2). Former top amateur Flynn gets his first win inside the distance with stoppage of Pole Walczak who retired at the end of the fifth round of their fight. The 21-year-old mailman Flynn won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is one of the best young prospects in Scotland. Walczak just a travelling loser and is 0-13-1 in his last 14 fights. Walsall, England: Super Light: Andy Keates (10-2) W PTS 10 Luke Paddock (12-1). Keates wins the BBB of C Midlands Area title with paper thin points victory over local fighter Paddock in a great little scrap. Champion Paddock had the skill and Keates the aggression so their respective strengths made for a good fight. Keates won by making Paddock fight his fight with both men looking to constantly exchange punches in every round. Paddock was cut on his left eyebrow in the seventh and seemed to fade a little as a result. In the end it was Keates’ aggression that won out with the referee scoring the fight 96-95 for Keates but the verdict could have gone either way and in such an exciting contest it was a pity either boxer had to lose. Keates, 24, won his first 7 fights and then went 2-2 in his next four so this victory nets him a title and gets him a needed win. “Cool Hand” Paddock, 23, was making the first defence of his title and will be looking to get back in the winner’s ranks once his cut heals. September 5 Leeds, England: Feather: Josh Warrington (22-0) W PTS 12 Joel Brunker (28-2). Super Middle: Martin Murray (32-2-1) W TKO 5 Jose Miguel Torres (31-7). Super Feather: Andy Townend (14-3) W KO 7 Lee Glover (9-3). Feather: Isaac Lowe (11-0) W TKO 9 Jamie Speight (13-8). Cruiser: Tony Bellew (25-2-1) W TKO 5 Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5). Super Fly: Khalid Yafai (16-0) W KO 1 Aron Juarez (6-3-1,1ND). Super Fly: Jason Cunningham (17-2) W PTS 6 Marlon Prado (6-2-1). Bantam: Stuart Hall (18-4-2) W PTS 6 Arnoldo Solano (14-11). Warrington vs. Brunker Both fighters got into their stride quickly with Brunker coming forward and both looking to exchange from the off a with Warrington just edging the round. Brunker was on the front foot again in the second but Warrington scored with quick punches including a hard straight right that momentarily halts Brunker’s forward march. It was Warrington’s round again and in the third he started to put pressure on the Australian and scored with some quick combinations and finished the round strongly. The fourth saw less action with Warrington getting home some good counters against the advancing Brunker with the challenger not able to score with any consistency. Brunker was still coming forward in the fifth and a clash of heads saw him cut on his left temple. Brunker was getting home with occasional punches but Warrington was dominating the action with his left jab and left hooks. The sixth followed a similar pattern with Brunker coming forward and landing a few punches only for Warrington to fire back harder and a left to the body stopped Brunker in his tracks. Warrington turned it on in the seventh lashing out with fast combinations of punches from both hands with Brunker unable to do much to counter or halt the pressure and seeming to be tiring. The eighth saw Brunker revived and having a good round letting his punches go but with Warrington again stealing the points with great left hand work and more accuracy. Brunker just never stops coming even though he is walking into counters and that is the pattern in the ninth with the Australian making some rounds close but never doing enough to win the round. The tenth was painful for Brunker. His cut worsened and Warrington just seemed to be getting stronger The Leeds man was peppering Brunker with fast, accurate if not heavy shots in the eleventh and opened up in the twelfth trapping Brunker on the ropes and letting fly looking to try and get the stoppage but Brunker was never in real trouble even though losing by a mile. Scores 120-108 from all three judges as Warrington again signals that he is a force to be reckoned with in this division. He was making the third defence of his CBC title and the first defence of his WBC International title. The fast rising Leeds 24-year-old dental technician is rated WBC 5/IBF 8(6)/WBA 9 with a world title shot in 2016 looking a good bet. Brunker, 29, the IBF No 9, was stopped in nine rounds by Lee Selby in October but had returned with a win in February. Now he has to start again. Murray vs. Torres Murray wins the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title with stoppage of Torres. Confident start from Murray as he had a tight guard and was sticking out a stiff jab and keeping Torres on the back foot. He drove Torres to the ropes and landed a right cross which sent the Colombian down on his knees. Torres was up at nine and Murray was unable to find a finishing punch. In the second Torres came out more aggressively and was forcing Murray back. He went down twice in the round. Each time it was partially because Torres was stooping low when he came in and the combination of being unbalanced and a light punch put him down both times although he was up immediately and protested. Murray ended the round with a series of hurtful left hooks to the body. Torres was lively again in the third with Murray finding him an elusive target as he ducked under Murray’s punches but the local fighter was still scoring with a stiff jab and yet another knockdown came although again it was questionable as Torres sunk to his knees avoiding a punch. Murray was finding it frustrating with Torres ducking low and almost touching the canvas but when there was action it was Murray doing the scoring with jabs and long rights. Torres went down twice in the round the first from a right uppercut when again he was so low he just dropped to his knees and the second after a right to the body that sent him stumbling into the ropes with a glove touching down. In the fifth Torres was given a severe warning about constantly dropping to his knees but continued to do it and after he went down once more the referee stopped the fight as Torres was turning it into a farce. Murray, 32, is looking strong at super middle as he gets his third win since his loss to Gennady Golovkin. This is a very strong division in Britain and Murray will want to be in the mix with James DeGale, Geroge Groves, Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Luke Blackledge and Frank Buglioni. Torres, 36, was once a good level fighter and had won 10 of his previous 11 fights but here he went on his knees more often than a certain White House internee and it was farcical. Townend vs. Glover Townend overcomes slow start to halt Glover and retain his English title. Both were working their jabs over the first three rounds with Glover being quicker to the punch and getting through with good hooks to the body and Townend showed a cut by his right eye from a clash of heads in the first round . Townend upped the pace in the fourth and shook Glover with a couple of overhand rights. He kept up the pressure finding the target again with rights. One landed on the back of Glover’s head and as he stumbled forward Townend crashed home a right cross that put Glover down on his hands and knees. He was up immediately but shaken and Townend went a bit right hand but and managed to shake Glover again before the end of the round. Glover boxed his way through the fifth with Townend again too anxious to throw rights rather than working his openings. Townend dominated in the sixth forcing Glover back and although Glover scored with some good counters those rights from Townend were the eye-catchers. The end came in the seventh. Ironically after throwing so many rights it was a vicious left hook to the body that put Glover down his hands and knees in agony and he was unable to beat the count. The 26-year-old “KO Kid” makes it 10 wins by KO/TKO and extends his current winning run to 7 contests. Glover 28 was making his second try at winning the English title. He had won his last two fights and has only lost to good quality opposition. Lowe vs. Speight Lowe wins vacant English title with stoppage of Speight. Lowe was the more skilled of the two and boxed his way to a lead over the first three rounds. Speight came into the fight more in the fourth and fifth rounds before Lowe took over again in the sixth and was in charge in the seventh and eighth. His pressure paid off in the ninth as a tiring Speight was not able to hold off the furious attack of Lowe’s and the referee made a timely intervention to save Speight further punishment. Lowe, 21, makes it four wins by KO/TKO. He was stepping up to ten rounds for the first time and impressed. Southern Area champion Speight is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but was coming off a win Bellew vs. Kulikauskis Bellew wins a keep busy fight against limited Latvian. Bellew had little to fear from the Latvian’s power and was able to come forward and in the first opened up Kulikauskis with a stiff jab and staggered him with a right. Bellew kept pressing in the second but with southpaw Kulikauskis going into survival mode it was difficult for Bellew to nail him with any big punches. In the fourth Bellew began to widen his punch selection and work the openings and the Latvian spent most of the fourth round soaking up punishment on the ropes. Bellew continued to pound away at Kulikauskis in the fifth until the referee had seen enough and stopped the unequal contest. A world title fight must be on the books for the 32-year-old Bellew in 2016. Since losing to Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light heavy title in 2013 Bellew has moved up to cruiser with good wins over Valery Brudov and Nathan Cleverly and is rated in the top ten by all four sanctioning bodies at WBO 3/IBF 7(5)/WBA 9/WBC 10. Kulikauskis, 24, was giving away height and weight to Bellew so was never going to be a threat. He has won only one of his last seven fights. Yafai vs. Juarez Yafai destroys Juarez inside a round. The young Brummie star only needed two left hooks to the body to end this with Juarez failing to beat the count. The 26-year-old former undefeated CBC champion has 11 wins by KO/TKO and two first round finishes in a row. He will face Jason Cunningham next month for the vacant British title. Southpaw Juarez, a 20-year-old from Nicaragua, had won 6 of his last 7 fights but this was his first contest outside Nicaragua. Cunningham vs. Prado Cunningham wins a warm up fight. The Doncaster fighter was a comfortable winner taking every round but picked up a small cut over his right eye in the second round which hopefully will not affect his fight with Yafai. Referee’s score 60-54 for CBC champion Cunningham. , 25, beat Tanzanian Nasibu Ramadhani for the CBC title in May and is No 11 with the EBU. Prado, yet another Nicaraguan have gloves will lose fighter was also having his first fight outside Nicaragua. Hall vs. Solano Former IBF champion Hall stays busy whilst waiting for another big fight. He took every round against the overmatched Nicaraguan Solano with the referee’s score 60-54. At 35 Hall needs to get that big fight soon. Spanish-based Solano has lost 7 in a row, 6 on points and 1 on a disqualification. Dresden, Germany: Light Heavy: Juergen Braehmer (47-2) W TKO 7 Konni Konrad (22-2-1). Cruiser: Mateusz Masternak (36-3) W TKO 2 Carlos Nascimento (12-2). Cruiser: Noel Gevor (19-0) W PTS 10 Daniel Sanabria (20-5). Cruiser: Agron Dzila (22-1) W RTD 1 Grigol Abuladze (21-9). Super Middle: Stefan Haertel (7-0) W PTS 6 Ivan Jukic (21-6,1ND). Super Middle: Leon Bauer (3-0) W TKO 1 Darko Knezevic (7-9). Braehmer vs. Konrad Comfortable defence for Braehmer as Konrad has little to offer and retires at the end of the seventh round as he complains of an eye injury, not due to a cut or swelling but a punch to the eye seriously affecting his vision. Braehmer made a good start getting the better of a frantic exchange and then sending Konrad stumbling across the ring with southpaw straight right and scored with a couple of left uppercuts as the round ended. There was more sparring than fighting in the second but again Braehmer was the only one landing scoring punches and he fired home some straight lefts just before the bell. Braehmer started the third with a couple of quick attacks before settling to stalking the retreating Konrad. The challenger finally threw a flurry of punches near the end of the round but as the round ended it was again Braehmer scoring with left hooks. Braehmer took a breather in the fourth but Konrad was hardly throwing any punches and Braehmer easily took the round again using his straight left and left hooks to score. The fifth followed the same pattern. One left uppercut from Braehmer was the best punch of the round and Konrad’s contributing was a couple of right swings that missed the target. In the sixth Konrad decided to be more aggressive and paid for it. He caught Braehmer with a left hook but in coming forward ran onto a short right hook that sent him stumbling forward to the canvas. He indicated he had stumbled but it looked a genuine knockdown and the referee applied the eight count. Brahmer tried hunting down the retreating Konrad but apart from a couple of uppercuts had no success. Braehmer dominated the seventh and near the end of the round Konrad was worrying at his right eye rubbing it and after the bell he decided not to continue possibly having suffered a corneal injury. Now five successful defences of his WBA secondary title for Braehmer and win No 16 in a row. He seems content to continue to defend his title and has shown no interest in fighting the real WBA champion Sergey Kovalev or WBC champion Adonis Stevenson and at 36 time is running out for that to happen. Next up is Thomas Oosthuizen in Monaco in November. German-based Montenegrin Konrad, 30, turned pro in 2002 but after losing to Denis Inkin in 2006 had only one fight in the next 6 years. His WBA rating was down to him winning the WBA International title but he really had no other qualification for rating and was out of his depth here. Masternak vs. Nascimento Masternak gets a win to rehabilitate himself after controversial loss to Johnny Muller in June. In the first round Nascimento had height and reach over Masternak but no real leverage in his punches. Masternak was walking down the retreating Nascimento. but only let his punches flow over the last 30 seconds. Early in the second Masternak shook Nascimento with a left hook and then landed a thunderous right cross that put Nascimento down heavily on his side. He made it up before the end of the eight count and walked a step forward when asked to but the referee had a hard look at the Brazilian and waived the fight off. Nascimento protested but was very shaky as the referee led him back to his corner. Now 26 wins by KO/TKO for the 28-year-old Pole, a former EBU champion. He won his first 30 bouts but losses to Grigory Drozd, Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim WBA title and that disputed decision against Johnny Muller in June have left him with some rebuilding to do. He wins the WBA Inter-Continental title and is rated WBO 7/IBF 10(8)/WBC 14. Second loss by KO/TKO for Nascimento who was having his first fight outside Brazil. Gevor vs. Sanabria Gevor wins the WBO International title with unanimous decision over Sanabria. Gevor started confidently forcing the action with a strong jab and some good rights. Sanabria had a height and reach advantage and showed a good jab but was mainly fighting on the back foot. Gevor was dominating the action for the first three rounds but in the third a left hook from Sanabria opened a bad cut on the right eyelid of Gevor. This gave Sanabria some confidence and he was coming forward more with Gevor not wanting to take too many chances of the eye injury worsening but still mainly being in charge out-jabbing the taller man and working Sanabria over on the ropes. The Argentinian was looking tired in the seventh and Gevor hurt him with a couple of right crosses and thumped home a left uppercut with Sanabria glad to hear the bell. Sanabria started the eighth brightly but Gevor was quicker to the punch and confident enough to be boxing with a low guard and was scoring with left hooks to the body but a clash of heads saw Gevor with a bruise high on his forehead. Sanabria came forward through the ninth and had some success when they traded punches but leaving himself open to counters with Gevor alternately dancing around the ring with his hands down and firing quick burst of punches. Gevor finished the last round in style slamming home hooks and uppercuts at a very tired Sanabria. The 24-year-old Armenian-born German-based Gevor won on scores of 100-89, 99-90 and 98-91 and preserves his WBO 6/IBF 10(8)/WBA 12 ratings. The cut he suffered was in a bad place and I have seen fights stopped for less but he took it in his stride and gave a solid performance. Argentinian and South American champion Sanabria, 32, was slow but showed a good jab and did much better than some other South American imports to Europe have. Dzila vs. Abuladze Dzila retains his GBU title as Abuladze retires at the end of the first round with an elbow injury. Based in Switzerland but licensed elsewhere the 27-year-old Macedonian Dzila has won 12 of his last 13 fights inside the distance but this one hardly counts. Georgian Abuladze has lost four times this year, all four inside two rounds. Haertel vs. Jukic Haertel extends his winning run but again shows a lack of power. Haertel controlled the fight with his jab and mixed in a variety of hard, accurate combinations. Jukic’s only taste of success came in the third when a punch made Haertel stagger but he recovered quickly and continued to outbox the experienced but limited Croatian southpaw and took the unanimous verdict. The 27-year-old German took bronze medals at the European Union and World Military Championships but has yet to win a fight inside the distance as a pro. Both Chris Eubank Jr and Frank Buglioni disposed off Jukic inside a round. Bauer vs. Knezevic Bauer gets another quick win. The youngest pro boxer in Germany destroyed Serb Knezevic with three knockdowns in the opening round and Knezevic retired at the end of the round. Bauer only turned 17 last month and needed special dispensation when he turned pro at 16 in April. He has ended his three bout so far in a total of less than four rounds. He is a former German youth champion and turned down a chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics so worth watching. Knezevic now has 8 losses by KO/TKO. Csomor, Hungary: Light Heavy: Norbert Nemesapati (19-2) W KO 7 Jacob Maganga (6-3-3). Middle: Ferenc Albert (19-7) W KO 2 Adam Mezner (3-2). Nemesapati vs. Maganga Hungarian hope Nemesapati wins the vacant GBU title with kayo of Maganga. Nemesapati made a slow start but did some good work inside over the first two rounds. Tanzanian Maganga fought back hard and the third and fourth rounds were fairly even. Nemesapati did most of the scoring in the fifth and six with Maganga tiring. Nemesapati ended it in the seventh with a body punch that put Maganga down and he was unable to beat the count. The 20-year-old suffered back-to-back losses to Jason Escalera in the USA and Schiller Hyppolite in Canada in 2014 but has rebounded with four wins and is a big draw in Hungary. First loss inside the distance for Maganga the UBO African champion. Albert vs. Mezner Albert wins the Hungarian Youth title with kayo of Mezner. Albert had Mezner down in the first and down and out in the second. The 22-year-old Romanian-born Albert has 9 wins by KO/TKO and has won his last 9 fights but against weak opposition. Hungarian Mezner, 20, a novice in over his head. Tokyo, Japan: Super Light: Masanobu Nakazawa (18-1-1) W PTS 10 Masayoshi Kotake (9-10-2). Nakazawa wins the interim Japanese title with close decision over Kotake. Nakazawa had big edges in height and reach but it was the busy southpaw attacks of Kotake that showed prominently over the early rounds and at the end of the fifth round he was in front on two of the three cards 49-47, 48-47 and 47-48. Nakazawa increased his work rate from the sixth and had Kotake hurt with a series of rights in the seventh as he swept the closing rounds to take the decision on scores of 96-95 twice and 97-95. The 33 year-old Nakazawa, he did not turn pro until he was 26, was rated No 1 by the JBC but this was his first ten round fight and he has now won 15 in a row. Kotake, 28, the JBC No 6, was having his second shot at winning the title. He is now 3-6-2 in his last 11 fights. Mexico City, Mexico: Bantam: Daniel Rosas (19-2-1) W TKO 8 Jhon Gemino (12-5-1). Rosas overcomes a cut to halt Filipino. The early rounds were even but Rosas suffered a bad cut over his left eye in the second round. As the fight progressed Rosas got stronger but Gemino was staying in the fight. He finally began to crack in the seventh and in the eighth a couple of head punches and a hook to the body put a tiring Gemino down. He made it to the vertical but the fight was stopped. The 25-year-old Mexican “Bad Boy” was beaten twice in 2014. He was halted in seven rounds by Rodrigo Guerrero and lost on points to Alejandro Hernandez for the interim WBO title. He also ended the year on a low note when he only squeezing past novice Mario Villella on a majority decision. This is his first fight this year and win No 12 by KO/TKO. Filipino champion Gemino suffers his second loss in two months in Mexico and his second career loss by KO/TKO. Metepec, Mexico: Super Bantam: Rey Vargas (24-0) W PTS 8 Lucien Gonzalez (21-9-2). Vargas has to climb off the canvas to beat late substitute Gonzalez. Vargas took the first round but was put on the floor by a right in the second. He was not badly hurt and soon took control of the fight. He was scoring freely with fast combinations and shook Gonzalez a few times with uppercuts as he boxed his way to the unanimous decision. Scores 78-73, 78-74 and 77-76. “King” Vargas, 24, is currently rated IBF 4(3)/WBC 4/WBO 7 and provided he can avoid any banana skins he should get a title shot next year. Gonzalez from the Dominican Republic came in as a late choice and was more dangerous than his small total of 5 wins by KO/TKO suggested. Auckland, New Zealand: Super Welter: King Davidson (18-1,1ND) ND 2 Joseph Kwadjo (21-10,1ND). This one was all over before it even had time to warm up as Kwadjo suffered a dislocated shoulder in the second round and the fight was ruled a no decision. Nigerian Davidson was looking to get some much needed action as he had not fought since December 2013. Fijian-based Ghanaian Kwadjo had lost 7 of his last 8 fights so needed a win. Nobody got what they wanted! Edinburgh, Scotland: Cruiser: Stephen Simmons (12-1) W PTS 8 Jiri Svacina (12-16). Super Middle: Dave Brophy (14-0-1) W PTS 6 Dan Blackwell (6-46). Middle: John Thain (13-2) W PTS 4 Lewis van Poetsch (4-23). Simmons vs. Svacina Simmons returns with a win. The local fighter was the only one making this fight as Svacina was only there to survive and collect a pay day. Simmons had trouble nailing down the elusive Czech but had no trouble winning every round. Referee’s score 80-72. First fight for 31-year-old Simmons since losing his WBC International Silver title to Jon-Lewis Dickinson in April and he hopes to be in action again in Edinburgh in December. Now 9 losses in a row for Svacina, six of those losses in the UK. Brophy vs. Blackwell Brophy remains unbeaten as he eases to unanimous decision over Blackwell. Referee’s score 60-54. Brophy, 25, is known as the “Miracle Man”. The 25-year-old Scot was on his way to a career as a pro footballer with Dundee United until a serious injury almost caused him to have a leg amputated and he was told he might never walk again. Twelve losses in a row for Blackwell but he has only failed to go the distance once so gives value for money. Motherwell, Scotland: Light: Jordan McCrory (9-1-1) W TKO 3 Sean Watson (4-3-1). McCrory wins Scottish Area title with stoppage of Watson. Second win by KO/TKO for 24-year-old from Cambuslang as he rebounds from loss to Fife-based Latvian Andrei Podusov in February. Second loss inside the distance for Watson. Hollywood, FL, USA: Heavy: Shannon Briggs (59-6-1,1ND) W KO 2 Mike Marrone (21-5). Briggs gets another win as he knocks out pathetic Marrone. Biggs had Marrone down late in the first. In the second Marrone was leaning against the ropes as Briggs patted out a couple of rights that fell short and then landed a right to the body. Marrone stood there waiting for the next punch. Briggs scored with a left hook to the head and one to the body and Marrone collapsed to the canvas. Some were impressed by this but they shouldn’t be. Yes it is win No 52 by KO/TKO for Briggs but Marrone had been inactive for almost one year and had only one fight in almost four years. He was 30lbs heavier than when he faced Guillermo Jones for the WBA cruiser title in 2011and that extra 30lbs was all on his waistline. Rating wise BoxRec has Briggs rated No 47 and Marrone No 272. IBO Ratings have Briggs at 45 and only list 100 so Marrone does not even figure in their list. Still impressed? The WBA are they have Briggs at No 5! Briggs policy is shout loud and fight low and hope no one looks at the quality of the opposition. Only idiots are taken in by that-which brings us back to the WBA. Peyrano, Argentina: Super Bantam: Alan Castillo (16-3) W TKO 4 Guillermo Soloppi (19-7,1ND). Castillo retains the interim WBC Latino title with inside the distance win over Soloppi. Although there was not a lot of action over the first two rounds Castillo made good use of his longer reach to dominating them. In the third he went to the body and a series of hard punches saw the referee give Soloppi a standing count. In the fourth a right from Castillo opened a gash on the left cheek of Soloppi and then Castillo landed a couple of uppercuts that saw Soloppi going down again just as the towel came flying in. The 24-year-old Castillo, the FAB No 1 bantam, has 7 wins by KO/TKO and has won 7 of his last 8 fights. Soloppi, 29, the FAB No 4 super bantam is 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Heubach, Germany: Super Welter: Kasim Gashi (6-0) W TKO 2 Adnan Oezcoban (6-10-2). Gashi collects the vacant GBA version of the German title with second round win over ancient Oezcoban. Fighting in his adopted home town Gashi floored poor Oezcoban twice in the second round and the Turk decided he had had enough and retired at the end of the round. The 25-year-old Kosovo-born Gashi now has four wins by KO/TKO and was in his first ten round fight. Oezcoban, 49, “The Last Ottoman” came into this one at short notice and this is his sixth loss in a row. A poor title fight. September 6 Corpus Christi, TX, USA: Bantam: Jamie McDonnell (27-2-1) W PTS 12 Tomoki Kameda (31-2). Super Middle: Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1) W PTS 10 Marco A Rubio (59-8-1). Super Fly: Victor Ruiz (20-5) W PTS 8 Daiki Kameda (29-5). Super Feather: Mario Barrios (11-0) W KO 4 Jose Cen Torres (13-9). McDonnell vs. Kameda McDonnell retains WBA secondary title with repeat points win over Kameda. These two are so well matched that they could fight half a dozen times and they would all be close fights. How you saw this one depended on whose style you preferred and what you felt counted most in scoring a round and although the judges saw McDonnell a clear winner the media and fans were much more split on whether the right man won. The first round saw both fighters using a punch that would be their most effective weapon in the fight. McDonnell with a big edge in reach was pumping out his jab and Kameda firing home left hooks. Kameda got that left hook home in the second with McDonnell doing most of the pressing adding his own left hook to his work with the jab. Both men were scoring with a variety of punches over the early rounds with neither clearly dominating making the rounds close. The punch stats showed that after five rounds Kameda had thrown more and landed more than McDonnell and did look to have built a small lead. However McDonnell’s punches saw Kameda sporting a swelling under his right eye although the Japanese fighter probably did enough to take the sixth with his left hook and showing good movement to counter the reach advantage of the champion. Both scored with good punches to head and body as they traded shots in the seventh, eighth and ninth all of which could have been scored either way but with Kameda just doing enough to be in front. McDonnell turned up the heat over the championship rounds pressing hard, scoring with his stiff jabs and getting home good combinations but Kameda was countering well and was just that bit quicker although Mc Donnell took the round and had shortened or eliminated Kameda’s edge. McDonnell’s jab again bossed the eleventh as Kameda showed signs of tiring but going into the last it seemed as though the fight could go either way. McDonnell wrapped up the decision by flooring Kameda with a right with Kameda’s leg slipping out from under him at the same time but it was a legitimate knockdown. If the fight had been close on the scorecards it could have been important but as it was the judges had McDonnell far enough ahead after eleven rounds for the knockdown in the last to not be a factor in the outcome. Scores 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 all for McDonnell who was defending his title for the third time. The tall 29-year-old Doncaster fighter has taken the hard route beating Stuart Hall and Julio Ceja on his way to the IBF bantam title only to be unfairly stripped off the title just five months after winning it. His route to the WBA title has seen him beat Tabtimdaeng, Javier Chacon and Kameda in their first fight with those three having combined records of 103-4 when he beat them. Now he is looking to challenge Scott Quigg for his WBA title at super bantam. If he keeps beating quality opposition and winning overseas he could soon don the mantle relinquished by Carl Froch of taking tough fights. OK a long way to go yet but some great performances. Kameda was sure he had won this one and a lot of people agreed with him but importantly the judges did not. Kameda, 24, the youngest member of the Kameda clan, will get another chance to win a world title and is a good bet to do so. Dirrell vs. Rubio Dirrell wins one-sided victory over Rubio but fails to sparkle. Dirrell was just too quick and slick for Rubio who has fought as low as welter and occasionally at super middle but recently at the top level at middle. The 169 ½ lbs he weighed here was a career high so the Mexican was carrying some spare poundage and has never been the quickest of fighters. Dirrell swept the first three rounds moving around Rubio and peppering him with fast combinations. Rubio was unmoved but his arm were also unmoving as he was not letting his punches go and Dirrell was having it easy. Rubio came to life in the fourth momentarily shaking Dirrell with a left hook but not following up and Dirrell was back in control in the fifth. Dirrell was banging home body punches in round after round beating Rubio to the punch and showing a tight guard whenever Rubio tried to counter. Rubio’s only chance was to take Dirrell to the ropes but he did not achieve that often and when he did Dirrell would cover up, turn off the ropes and bang home fast combinations. Rubio was never quick enough to be competitive but Dirrell was unable to get Rubio out of there and it was a wide unanimous decision but not an impressive one. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Dirrell is looking to get right back into the title picture to regain the crown he lost to Badou Jack on a majority decision in April but he has dropped down to No 5 in the WBC ratings so he will have to fight his way back to contention. The 35-year-old Rubio was having his first fight since being blasted out in two rounds by Gennady Golovkin in October and this is the first time he has lost consecutive fights since way back in 2006. He is no longer rated but still a name and there a few young rising fighters who would fancy having his scalp on their belt so there are fights there and he will probably continue. Kameda vs. Ruiz It was a bad night for the Kameda family as elder brother Daiki lost a split decision to Mexican Ruiz. This was not intended to be a tough test for Kameda as it was his first fight since losing a split decision to Liborio Solis in a unification fight in December 2013. He looked on his way to victory when he put Ruiz down in the second but Ruiz got up and fought back hard with Kameda tiring and finally losing the spilt decision. Scores 77-74, 76-75 for Ruiz and 78-75 for Kameda. Big win for Ruiz over a former double world champion so he can expect quite a few offers on the back of this after having been stopped in three rounds by McWilliams Arroyo in March. Discipline has never been Kameda’s strong point and he failed to make the weight for this fight. Barrios vs. Torres Highly touted prospect Barrios makes it six wins by KO/TKO with knockout of Torres. The 20-year-old from San Antonio is tall for his weight at 6’0” (183cm) and he had a big edge in reach which he used over the first three rounds with Torres in survival mode from the start. In the fourth a combination of punches to head and body put Torres down and out. “Golden Boy” Barrios, a former PAL and Silver Gloves champion has 6 wins by KO/TKO. Mexican Torres, 24, is 2-8 in his last 10 fights. General Santos City, Philippines: Super Bantam: Drian Francisco (28-3-1) W KO 1 Jilo Merlin (13-24-2). Predictable win for Francisco as he moves up to super bantam. A left hook and a right to the body were all that was required to add another kayo to Francisco’s record and a sixth loss by KO/TKO in a row for Merlin. Last time out in May the former WBA interim super fly champion was caught cold, floored three times and stopped inside a round by Jason Canoy so an easy first step back. Nine losses in a row for Merlin so no magic there. Takaoka, Japan: Light Fly: Juan Landaeta (27-8-1) W TKO 9 Walter Tello (21-9). Landaeta gets a win as he halts Panamanian Tello. Lacking some of the speed he had in earlier days Landaeta boxed conservatively against a defensive minded Tello. Once he was in his stride he was scoring with southpaw right jabs, hooks and uppercuts and clearly outboxing Tello. Landaeta had a winning lead going into the ninth but he made the judges superfluous. A body shot hurt Tello and the referee gave him a standing count. When the action started again Landaeta landed a series of punches that had Tello defenceless and the fight was stopped. The 36-year-old Venezuelan a former interim WBA minimum champion has failed in two attempts to win the full WBA light fly title. He was inactive for almost 5 years before returning with a win in Venezuela in December but then lost clearly on points against Filipino Mark John Yap in June so needed to win this one. Tello, 28 had lost in four tries at winning a world title. This coming Saturday is a less than exciting day in international boxing. Much of the action is taking place in Europe, though there is some notable female action in Mexico.
The only male world title fight of the day takes place in Germany, however it's a less than exciting title bout that really shows how farcical the WBA are. The bout in question sees the very talented WBA “regular” Light Heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer (46-2, 34) defending his belt against Konni Konrad (22-1-1, 11). Breahmer is talented, but he's a league lower than WBA “super” champion Sergey Kovalev. Konrad on the other hand is a pitiful challenger who is ranked #133 by boxrec.com, an accurate ranking showing just what a joke he is as a challenger. The German card does feature some interesting hopes, such as Cruiserweight Noel Gevor (18-0, 10) and Super Middleweight prospect Stefan Haertel (6-0), both of whom should continue their perfect runs. The other European card of note comes from Leeds where fans get the chance to see a number of notable fighters, though unfortunately the bouts are, on the whole, horrible mismatches. On paper the most interesting of the bouts will see the unbeaten, and hugely popular, Josh Warrington (21-0, 4) take on Australian Joel Brunker (28-1, 16). This looks a good bout on paper but Brunker has got a padded record and Warrington has been relatively over-hyped, based on his fan base. It should be an entertaining fight but one that won't really effect the world scene. One fighter who may be eyeing up a future world title fight is former IBF Bantamweight champion Stuart Hall (17-4-2, 7) who takes on the horribly matched Arnoldo Solano (14-10) in what is a farcical mismatch. Another terrible mismatch will see former world title challenger Tony Bellew (24-2-1, 15) take on Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5, 8). Another former world title challenger on this card is Martin Murray (31-2-1, 14) who faces Jose Miguel Torres (31-6, 27). On paper the Murray bout looks good but the reality is that Torres is a limited opponent who was beaten black and blue by David Lemieux not too long ago. The most notable action in Americas comes from Mexico where fans will get a couple of female world title fights. On paper the most exciting of those comes at 108lbs where Ibeth Zamora Silva (23-5, 9) will defend her belt against Esmeralda Moreno (31-7-1, 10). On paper this could actually be the fight of the day. On the same card fans will also get the chance to see the much touted Rey Vargas (24-0, 20), who many are tipping to become a world champion. Another female title fight set to take place in Mexico will see WBA female Minimumweight champion Anabel Ortiz (17-3, 3) defending her title against the once beaten Sandra Robles (11-1, 5). This will be Ortiz's first bout since defeating Nana Yoshikawa back in April and we don't expect to see her struggle with Robles, despite the fact Robles is on a 9 fight winning streak. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his excellent look over the last weeks results from around the boxing world.
August 27 Oceanside, CA, USA: Super Middle: Roamer Angulo (16-0) W PT 8 Izaak Cardona (14-2). Super Welter: Dashon Johnson (17-19-3) W PTS 8 Elias Espadas (9-2). Angulo vs. Cardona Colombian Angulo impresses in his first fight in the USA with unanimous verdict over Cardona. Angulo took the lead from the bell getting his punches off quicker than Cardona and easily took the first three rounds. His work rate dropped in the fourth which allowed Cardona to score with some good counters. Angulo picked up the pace again in the fifth and dominated the rest of the way against a tiring Cardona. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73. The 31-year-old Angulo, a South American Games silver medallist, did not turn pro until he was 26 and has been a bit of a gypsy with bouts in Dominican Republic, Argentina, Germany, Turkey and of course Colombia. Cardona, 23, had won his last 5 fights. Although a good class amateur he failed to qualify for the Olympics losing out in a “Last Chance Qualifier” tournament. Johnson vs. Espadas “Fly Boy” Johnson again shows that he is not a reliable loser. The experienced Californian looked to be on his way to another loss as Espadas had the better of the first three rounds. Johnson needed to turn the fight around and he did it in the fourth round flooring Espadas with a right. From then on it was Johnson’s fight as he got stronger whilst Espadas gradually faded. Scores 77-74 twice and 78-73. Johnson, 27, was 1-8 in his last 9 fights going in but has wins over Adam Trupish and Craig McEwan which shows he can be a good fighter on his night. Mexican Espadas had won his last 8 fights but against modest opposition. Costa Mesa, CA, USA: Super Welter: Terrell Williams (14-0) W PTS 8 John Williams (15-4-1). Light: Victor Betancourt (20-1,1ND) W PTS 8 Jose Esqivel Porras (9-4). Williams vs. Williams Williams-Terrell that is- extends his unbeaten run but has to go the distance. Terrell had height and reach over John W and used those edges well. Both landed some hard rights but Terrell was the busier and more accurate and got the unanimous decision but was pressed hard. Scores 79-73 twice and 77-75. The 31-year-old from LA had won 12 in a row by KO/TKO including six in the first round and without having to go past the third round for victory so this a tougher test. He was inactive for two years before returning to action in May. John’s only loss inside the distance came at the hands of Demetrius Andrade in the last round of a fight in 2009. He had won 8 of his last 9 fights. Betancourt vs. Porras Mexican Betancourt wins wide unanimous decision over fellow-countryman Porras. Scores 80-72 twice and 78-74. The 24-year-old from Mexicali had a 17 bout unbeaten streak broken in a loss to Sergio Lopez in August last year but has rebounded with 4 wins. Three losses in a row for Porras. Houston, TX, USA: Light Heavy: Cedric Agnew (28-2) W PTS 6 Kevin Engel (20-13). Light Heavy: Cornelius White (22-4) W TKO 2 William Johnson (10-42-1), Agnew vs. Engel Agnew gets much needed win but only after a big scare. The former WBO title challenger had this fight well in hand over the first three rounds and looked to be just one punch away from victory when he dropped experienced Engel with a body punch in the fourth. The St. Louis fight has lost ten times by KO/TKO so it looked like No 11 coming up. That’s what Agnew decided and almost paid the price for over confidence. As he moved in to finish it a right from Engel, who has won 16 of his 20 victories by KO/TKO, crashed into Agnew’s jaw and Agnew went down badly hurt. He was shaky when he got up and only the bell saved him from certain defeat. Agnew managed to recover well enough to see out the last two rounds and take the unanimous verdict. After losing by kayo against Sergey Kovalev in March last year the 28-year-old southpaw was back with a win two months later. He was then inactive until February this year when he suffered an upset defeat against Sam Clarkson in February so could not afford another loss. The 35-year-old Engel had lost 6 in a row, 5 by KO/TKO so looked a safe pick. White vs. Johnson Johnson also needed a win and his came much easier than that of Agnew. The 6’2” local hunted Johnson down in the first and ended it in the second. He took Johnson to the ropes and unleashed a volley of punches forcing the referee to step in to save Johnson. Wins over Yordanis Despaigne and Dmitry Sukhotsky earned 33-year-old White a shot at Kovalev but he only lasted three rounds and then went on to lose to Thomas Williams inside a round and Marcus Browne. Now 12 losses in a row for Johnson and 19 losses by KO/TKO. August 28 Las Vegas, NV, USA: Heavy: Trevor Bryan (16-0) W PTS 10 Derric Rossy (30-9). Super Middle: Decarlo Perez (15-3-1) W PTS 10 Juan Ubaldo Cabrera (23-1). Heavy: Joey Dawejko (16-4-2) W TKO 1 Natu Visina (11-2). Bryan vs. Rossy Don King’s heavyweight hope Bryan gets good win over experienced Rossy. Bryan got a great start hurting Rossy in the first with left hooks before putting him down with a right. Rossy was up quickly and not badly hurt. He took the fight to Bryan and they traded to the bell. They continued the high level trading in the second and third with both getting home some good punches. It looked set to be a classic but Rossy started to tire after the fourth. Bryan had a big fifth with Rossy not going down but in deeper trouble than he was in the first. Despite tiring Rossy was still competitive and even though the pace had dropped there was still plenty of action but with Bryan having the edge and being the busier in round after round on his way to a deserved unanimous decision. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92 for Bryan. The 24-year-old 6’4” (193cm) Bryan a former PAL gold medal winner just came up short in other major amateur tournaments losing in the quarter finals of both the NGG’s and the US Championships. He has been carefully protected but showed real promise in this win which gives him the Junior NABF title. Rossy, 35, showed all of his experience as he came in to this fight with only one weeks’ notice and fought back hard after the early knockdown with the wider scores being a bit hard on the veteran. He beat Joe Hanks on majority verdict but was less lucky in losing a split decision to Joey Dawejko and very unlucky in losing a majority verdict to unbeaten Vyacheslav Glazkov. Perez vs. Cabrera Yet another upset as late sub Perez ruins the unbeaten record of Dominican Cabrera. The Dominican was the favourite and that held up for three rounds. Despite suffering a cut over his right eye in the second round Cabrera had the fight under control. From the fourth Perez was timing his shots and countering well and gradually taking over the fight. Cabrera seemed to tire and could not match the work rate of the Atlantic City fighter. Frustration/desperation saw Cabrera losing a point in the seventh for holding and Perez cruised to a clear victory. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92. The 24-year-old “3mendo” Perez came in with only a week to prepare but he had won 8 of his last 9 fights beating reasonable opposition in Tyrone Brunson and Jessie Nicklow in his last two fights. Cabrera, 36, had been considered a good prospect when he turned pro after winning gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games (where he beat Jean Pascal) and competing at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. However he had only one fight in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012 and was inactive in 2013. Dawejko vs. Visina Dawejko gets his second one round win in a row as he crushes Visina in 76 seconds. Dawejko came out firing and put Visina down from a series of punches just 30 seconds into the fight. Visina got up only to run into another storm of punches and he was wobbling badly and not punching back when the referee stopped the fight. Dawejko, 25, is 8-1 in his last 9 fights with the loss being in a tough contest against Amir Mansour in May. Six of his eight wins in that sequence have all been one round finishes. It’s a pity that at 5’10” (178cm) and with a relatively short reach Dawejko is at a disadvantage when he faces many heavyweights. He would be better suited to cruiser but the lightest he has weighted is 230lbs. Samoan Visina loses inside the distance for the second time. He had Steve Cunningham on the floor in their fight in October but was pulled out of the fight at the end of the seventh round. He was 73lbs heavier than Cunningham and had 37lbs over Dawejko. Washington, DC, USA: Light: Jonathan Maicelo (22-2,1ND) W PTS 10 Brandon Bennett (19-2) . Super Middle: Phillip Jackson Benson (16-2) W TKO 3 Jinner Guerrero (8-6). Light: Jamel Herring 13-0) W TKO 3 Ariel Vasquez (12-9-2,1ND). Light: Robert Easter (15-0) W TKO 6 Osumanu Akaba (32-9-1). Welter: David Grayton (12-0) W TKO 6 Jose M Valderrama (4-11). Light: Raynell Williams (8-0) W TKO 2 Jose Miguel Castro (5-6). Maicelo vs. Bennett Maicelo returns with a win as he takes unanimous decision over Bennett. Maicelo easily took the early rounds. Showing plenty of quick movement and scoring with fast, accurate combinations he effectively shut southpaw Bennett out of the fight. Bennett came into it over the middle rounds as Maicelo’s work rate dropped. The local fighter was now the one throwing combinations and he looked to be on his way to victory. Maicelo found another gear over the ninth and tenth and swung the fight his way to get a fairly comfortable victory in the end. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91 with the first two score being a better reflection of Bennett’s efforts in the middle rounds. Maicelo, 32, a North Bergen-based Peruvian, was floored and lost by a wide margin against Darley’s Perez for the interim WBA title in January so a good first step as he builds towards another title match. Bennett, 27, gets blown off course in his rehabilitation plan. After 16 wins on the bounce he was well beaten by Mexican Francisco Vargas in 2013. Since his return he had scored three wins. Benson vs. Guerrero Benson yet another boxer on a rebuilding course. He got off to a good start with a win over very modest Guerrero. Benson bossed to fight from the early action scoring two knockdowns in the first two rounds. In the third he was hammering Guerrero against the ropes when Guerrero’s corner threw in the towel. The 30-year-old from New York had a run of 13 wins with 12 of those victories by way of KO/TKO then he ran into the totally unpredictable Darnell Boone in April and was stopped in six rounds. Boone has a stoppage win over Adonis Stevenson, a split decision loss against Sergey Kovalev and a win over Willie Monroe Jr as well as his victory over Benson. Ecuadorian Guerrero now has 5 losses by KO/TKO. Herring vs. Vasquez Olympian Herring keeps his winning streak going. This was as one-sided as a fight can get. The talented Herring was too quick, too accurate and too powerful for southpaw Vasquez. A body punch put Vasquez down in the first and Herring had him on the deck again in the second. A desperate Vasquez lost two points in the third for holding and was taking a beating when the referee stopped the fight. The lanky 29-year-old “Semper Fi” Herring a former national and armed forces champion represented the USA at both the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He has 8 wins by KO/TKO. Nicaraguan Vasquez, 28, was having his first fight in the USA. He is now 1-5-2 in his last 8 fights. Easter vs. Akaba Easter overcomes some problems set by Akaba to force the finish in the sixth round. Easter had height and reach over Akaba and made good use of his jab to give himself punching room so that he could slowly pick Akaba apart. However it was not all one way with Akaba, an awkward southpaw showing good movement and scoring enough to be competitive over the five completed rounds. By the fifth Easter’s tactics were proving successful with Akaba fading fast and when Akaba went down from a series of punches his corner signalled that they wanted the fight stopped. The unbeaten 24-year-old from Toledo has been matched with some experienced if fading pros. Unlike Herring Easter did not win his way to the 2012 Olympics but was an alternate (reserve) in case someone fell out. He has 12 wins by KO/TKO. Ghanaian Akaba ,35, lost to Paul Truscott and Ricky Burns in CBC title fights and has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights against some tough opposition. Grayton vs. Valderrama Another former top amateur, another unbeaten fighter, and another win. Grayton almost finished this in the first round when he floored Valderrama with a body punch but the Puerto Rican got up and fought on. Grayton was winning the rounds but Valderrama some good skills but his lack of power meant that Grayton could let his punches go freely. By the sixth Valderrama was tiring and Grayton put him down twice with the referee stopping the fight after the second knockdown. “Day Day”, 28, is a former NGG champion and scored a win over Errol Spence in the amateurs. He has 9 wins by KO/TKO. His father, also David, was a pro who ran up a 17-5 record in the 1980’s. Valderrama, 27, has now lost 11 of his last 12 fights. Williams vs. Castro Williams completes the quartet of former top amateur winning on this show. The Cleveland fighter had a slight edge in the first round but exploded in the second. He put Castro down early in the round with a left to the body only for Castro to beat the count and try to survive the remaining time. He was unsuccessful as a head shot from Williams put Castro down again with the fight being stopped. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for Williams. As an amateur he was US Champion and represented the US at the World Championships and 2008 Olympics but lost out to Juan Carlos Ramirez at the US Trials for the 2012 Olympics. He scored a win over Carl Frampton in a USA vs. Ireland match. Puerto Rican Castro is 1-5 in his last 6 fights with all of the losses being against unbeaten fighters. San Miguel, Argentina: Light: Jonathan Chavez (14-1-1) W PTS 10 Damian Yapur (11-1-2). Chavez wins the vacant WBO Latino title with majority decision over Yapur. This was a disappointing fight with neither at their best. Chavez showed his normal neat boxing with a stiff jab and good accurate right crosses and Yapur was presenting too static a target. A right from Chavez opened a cut high on the left side of Yapur’s forehead but the doctor allowed the fight to continue. Chavez had built a commanding lead over the first six rounds but he faded out of the fight from the seventh to the ninth but finished strongly in the tenth to take the decision. Scores 98-92 twice for Chavez and 95-95. Good result for the 27-year-old from Buenos Aires who now has 8 wins in a row. This should get him a FAB rating. “El Chino” Yapur, also 27, was 5-0-2 in his last 7 fights and was FAB No 5. Perth, Australia: Super Middle: Rohan Murdock (18-1) W PTS 10 Jorge D Caraballo (13-5-1). Super Middle: Wes Capper (11-1) W DISQ 3 Joe Rea (10-22-5). Murdock vs. Caraballo Murdock wins every round but gutsy Caraballo refuses to fold. The local fighter handed out a steady diet of punishment with punches from both hands to the head and body of Caraballo. Body shots, head shot, jabs, hooks and uppercuts Caraballo absorbed them all. He also managed to score with a few punches of his own but never came near winning a round. The fight could have been stopped in any of the last three rounds but Caraballo stayed the full route. The 23-year-old Murdock, a former top amateur, dropped from No 6 to No 9 in the latest WBO ratings but is hoping for a world title fight next year. Caraballo, 26, a former Argentinian and South American title challenger, is now 5-5 in his last 10 fights and is not rated by the FAB but did his job here. Capper vs. Rea Capper makes it a winning double for the locals as he beats Rea on disqualification. Capper had Rea down in each of the three rounds. In the third Rea put in a low punch to get a break only for Capper to repay him in kind and put Rea on his knees with a low punch of his own. When action resumed Rea stuck an elbow in Capper’s face and the referee disqualified him. The 27-year-old Capper lost a majority verdict to more experienced Tony Hirsch in Las Vegas in March but has now scored two wins since returning home. Rea, from Ballymena, has now gone 0-8-4 in his last 12 fights. Ancona, Italy: Feather: Nicola Cipolletta (11-4-2) W TKO 5 Antonio Cossu (12-3-2). If at first you don’t succeed then try, try, and try again. Finally Cipolletta wins an Italian title at the fourth attempt. The Naples veteran boxed cleverly over the opening rounds keeping Cossu on the outside and not allowing the Sardinian to get close. Cossu had to force the fight and when boring in was dangerous with his head. Cossu did enough to share the third round but otherwise it was Cipolletta doing most of the scoring. In the fifth Cossu was trying to thrust his way inside when Cipolletta landed a solid right. Cossu was badly shaken and a series of hard punches including three cracking rights had Cossu in deep trouble and very groggy and the referee stopped the fight. Cipolletta had managed a loss and two draws in national title fights at super feather so dropping down to feather was a smart move. He gets his third win by KO/TKO. Cossu, 41, was having his second shot at the feather title and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Kobe, Japan: Light: Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0) W TKO 5 Kazuya Murata (11-5). Easy night for Nakatani as he retains his OPBF title. The tall, 5’11 ½” (182cm) champion was able to keep Murata at arm’s length and on the end of his jab. After comfortably taking the first three rounds Nakatani unloaded some heavy hits to head and body in the fourth and by the end of the round Murata’s right eye was almost closed. Further punishment from Nakatani in the fifth saw the eye totally closed. The doctor took a look at Murata’s eye at the end of the round and the injury was too bad for the challenger to continue. Murata may have suffered a broken orbital bone. Fourth defence of his OPBF title for the 26-year-old WBC No 14 and his sixth win by KO/TKO. Murata, the OPBF No 4 had won his last 6 fights. Tijuana, Mexico: Middle: Tony Hirsch (19-6-2) W PTS 10 Roland Paredes (9-3-2). Hirsch makes it 2 wins in 2 outings in Tijuana. The Californian made a slow start and was hampered by a cut from the first round. It was the fourth before he began to eat into the lead Paredes had built. Hirsch took the fifth with some stiff jabs combined with right hooks and uppercuts. The sixth was close with Hirsch just edging it but the seventh could have been scored to either fighter as there was very little clean work. Paredes was tiring and that helped Hirsch to collect the eighth and ninth with the last again a close round. Scores 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Hirsch. He wins the vacant IBU title- whatever that is? Hirsch, 31 has been in some tough fights losing to Shawn Estrada, Dmitry Chudinov-a majority decision-and John Jackson but now has 5 wins and ND in his last 6 fights. Mexican Paredes must have a detachable leg. He was 191 ¼ lbs for his last fight in March. Telcor, Nicaragua: Fly: Felix Alvarado (21-2) W TKO 1 Guillermo Ortiz (13-9-3,1ND). Super Bantam: Orlando Rizo (19-6) W PTS 8 Rafael Castillo (12-22-3,1ND). Light: Winston Campos (22-3-4) W TKO 4 Leonel Hernandez (9-8-2,1ND). Feather: Miguel Corea (4-12,3ND) W KO 2 Lester Medrano (15-6-2). Alvarado vs. Ortiz This looked a poor match and obviously Ortiz also thought so. He was like a rabbit in the headlights before the fight started and went downhill from there. Alvarado did not need to land any big punches as Ortiz was ready to go down at any excuse. After two knockdowns a quick combination ending with a right to the chin saw Ortiz go down again and just sit out the count. The 26-year-old “Gemelo” –it means twin as his twin brother Rene is also a pro-lost back-to-back fights for the WBA light and light fly titles in 2013/2014 but has rebuilt with three wins in a row by KO/TKO. Fellow Nica Ortiz had scored a big win by beating Juan Palacios in March but just wanted to be somewhere else on this night. Rizo vs. Castillo Rizo just edges out the younger but more experienced youngster Castillo. This really was a very close fight with each fighter having good spells and in the end the split decision could have gone either way but two judges went for southpaw Rizo and he got the decision. Scores 77-75 twice for Rizo and 77-75 for Castillo. Both fighters were in need of a win. The 30-year-old Rizo was 4-4 going in including a split decision loss to Castillo. The 23-year-old Castillo was 2-5-1ND. This was the third fight between these two and Rizo is 2-1 up now and the first fight in 2012 was also a split decision. Campos vs. Hernandez Campos makes it 7 wins in his last 8 fights with stoppage of Hernandez just 10 seconds into the fourth round of another all-Nica fight. The 23-year-old southpaw has 13 wins by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for Hernandez. Corea vs. Medrano They were looking to get a win for Medrano here but Corea had other ideas. The fight went to script over the first round and for about 45 seconds of the second. Medrano was controlling the fight and looking to be on his way to his second quick win over Corea who was just throwing wild swings. All of that changed in the first minute of the second round when Medrano walked onto an overhand left that put him down and out. It was a bad knockout and Medrano was out for some time but eventually recovered. Only the second win by KO/TKO for Corea, 22, who was knocked out in three rounds by Medrano in 2013. Medrano had a good run of 8 wins before losing to Chris Mijares over ten rounds in November. He then went an uneven 1-2-1 in local fights. Now he is 1-3-1. Galati, Romania: Heavy: Christian Hammer (18-4) W PTS 10 Sherman Williams (37-14-2,1ND). Heavy: Adrian Granat (8-0) W TKO 3 Konstantin Airich (21-13-2). Light: Viorel Simion (19-1) W TKO 3 David Kis (10-19-2). Hammer vs. Williams Hammer gets wide unanimous decision over Williams. Over the first three rounds the fight was close with Williams landing some meaty rights and left hooks and doing enough to be in front. From the fourth Hammer was the busier fighter with Williams slowing and eating jabs. By the late rounds Williams was a static target with Hammer able to work the jab and bang home body punches with Williams too slow and tired to respond. Scores 98-92 twice and 100-90. The 27-year-old German-based Hammer –real name Cristian Ciocan-was fighting in his hometown for the first time in two years. This is his first fight since losing to Tyson Fury in February. “Tank” Williams, 42, has only lost by KO/TKO once and that was way back in 1999 against then unbeaten Robert Davis. Granat vs. Airich Giant Swede Granat was just too big and too young for a very faded Airich. It was a one-sided fight. Granat’s inexperience showed with his defence far from tight but Airich just could not capitalise on those errors. Granat shook Airich with a right in the third and Airich’s corner had seen enough and threw in the towel. The 24-year-old 6’7 ½” (202cm) Swede also had a 22lbs edge in weight and used that to help him get his 7th win by KO/TKO. He was twice Swedish amateur champion but is still largely untested. Airich came in as a late sub. At 36 that is his future, a late fill-in to get the local prospect a win over a “name”. He is 2-9 in his last 11 fights and also lost to Anthony Joshua in three rounds. Simion vs. Kis Former amateur star Simion has no trouble in stopping young Hungarian. The 33-year-old Romanian “Bombardierul” forced the referee’s intervention late in the third round. Simion’s only loss was on a unanimous decision against Lee Selby in July 2013. This is only his third bout since then but he looks to be serious about his career again. Kis, just 20, has lost his last 10 fights Secunda, South Africa: Light: Mzonke Fana (35-8) W PTS 12 Said Zungu (14-10-1). Fana wins vacant WBFed International title against mediocre Tanzania’s Zungu. Fana had too much skill and experience for Zungu but looked jaded and although winning every round laboured and looked a shadow of the fighter he was. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Now 41, “The Rose Khayelitsha” twice an IBF super feather champion, who simply never bothered to defend his title the second time and was stripped, is now 4-4 in his last 8 fights but the big fights have been the four that he lost. Zungu was inactive from December 2012 until returning with a loss in a four round fight in July. Puerto Banus, Spain: Middle: Matthew Macklin (33-6) W KO 1 Chris Hermann (19-7-1). Macklin needs only 104 seconds to end this one. A couple of left hooks to the body put Hermann down and he could not beat the count. It looked to be the end of the career of the former undefeated European champion and world title challenger when he suffered a knockout at the hands of Jorge Heiland in November but the 33-year-old from Birmingham is slowly rebuilding. This is his second win this year and he has a third fight scheduled for October. German Hermann (just trips off the tongue that) has lost three in a row by KO/TKO. Mdantsane, South Africa: Super Fly: Rene Dacquel (15-5-1) W PTS 12 Thembelani Nxoshe (13-6-1). He came he saw he conquered. Filipino Dacquel upset the odds as he scored two knockdowns on the way to a split decision over local fighter Nxoshe. He came close to getting an inside the distance win when Nxoshe wanted to quit after being floored by a body punch in the sixth but his trainer Dudu Bundu talked him into continuing. Dacquel got the deserved decision. The 24-year-old from Manila had lost his national title in a twelve round fight on 11 July so has wasted no time in rebounding. Nxoshe had achieved a career best win in November when he outpointed the more experienced Doctor Ntsele to win the national flyweight title but the South African Board have withdrawn recognition of him as champion so he has a battle outside the ring as well. Bangkok, Thailand: Minimum: Jaysever Abcede (10-3) W TKO 11 Pigmy Kokietgym (57-8-2). Filipino springs major upset with kayo of world rated Thai. From the opening round southpaw Abcede showed good movement and fast hands. He was also taller with a big edge in reach and was content to box on the retreat and fire quick combinations one of which sent Kokietgym stumbling into the ropes. Kokietgym just kept trying to walk Abcede down but the Filipino was too quick and was catching Kokietgym with counters from both hands with Kokietgym getting frustrated and stumbling into punch after punch. The local fight had a better fifth round landing some hard rights but Abcede never looked troubled. In the sixth round Kokietgym tried staying back and luring Abcede in but again the hand and foot speed of the Filipino were more than a match for the local and again he landed a left that made Kokietgym stumble. In the eighth and ninth Abcede’s confidence was growing and he was standing and trading more and one choice uppercut in the ninth snapped Kokietgym’s head back. In the tenth the Filipino was taking pot shots at a static Kokietgym who was missing badly whenever he lunged forward trying to hit his tormentor. In a frantic eleventh Kokietgym was just swing wild punches and leaving himself wide open. The Thai had some success but Abcede landed some thumping counters to head and body and as Kokietgym drew back his left to throw a punch Abcede beat him to it with a straight right that crashed into Kokietgym chin. The Thai went down heavily. He tried to get up at six but fell into the ropes and the referee waived the fight over. Huge win for the 20-year-old Abcede as he lifts the vacant WBO Oriental title. He has now won his last 7 fights, including 5 wins by KO/TKO in that run. He was No 2 light fly with the GAB. Kokietgym, 33, never really got into the fight as Abcede was just too quick for him. It may be the end for the former WBA and IBO title challenger. Hinckley, MN, USA: Cruiser: Phil Williams (15-7-2) W TKO 2 Al Sands (15-2). Middle: Rob Brant (17-0) W TKO 3 Lekan Byfield (6-10-2). Romon Barber (5-9) W TKO 5 Cerresso Fort (18-4-1). Welter: Mohammed Kayongo (18-4-1) W KO 1 Raul Munoz (23-20-1). Williams vs. Sands Williams springs upset and wins contest for local bragging rights with quick stoppage of Sands. Williams came out pressurising the taller Sands and they traded hard punches. A short southpaw left hook from Williams staggered Sands who backed up to the ropes. Williams followed and landed two more left hooks and a right that sent Sands into a corner. Two more rights had Sands stumbling forward and Williams thundered home some more head punches as Sands sprawled across the ring and down. He was up at five then walked to a corner and stood with both arms resting on the ropes. The referee had a good look at Sands and waived the fight off over the protests of Sands but it look a good stoppage. The 38-year-old Williams had a spell of poor results and was coming off a stoppage loss against Jordan Shimmell in December but was a known punches with 13 wins by KO/TKO in his previous 14 victories. Sands “The Haitian Sensation”, 28, had won 13 in a row 11 by KO/TKO and he lost his State title in this fight so you can be sure he will want a return and soon.. Brant vs. Byfield Brant continues his climb with stoppage of Byfield. Brant was walking Byfield down over the first two rounds with Byfield showing some good survival skills. He ran out of ring in the third and a series of hard accurate punches from Brant brought the referee’s intervention. The 24-year-old “Bravo” is ready for some higher level exposure. He has good amateur credentials having represented the USA at the World Junior and Senior Championships and taking gold at both the US Nationals and the NGG. He has 11 wins by KO/TKO with all of those wins coming inside the first three rounds. Now 6 losses in a row for Byfield. Barber vs. Fort This was just as big an upset in local terms as the Williams win. Barber looked a safe record padder for Fort. Barber shook Fort early and the local fighter never really recovered. Instead of going into his shell until he had recovered Fort chose to trade with Barber but still looked unsteady. Barber had a big fifth bombarding Fort with heavy punches and at the end of the round the doctor examined Fort and recommended the fight be stopped. Prelim fighter Barber, 33, should not have been in with a chance having gone 2-9 in his last 11 fights including 6 losses by KO/TKO but he will get plenty of work on the back of this upset win. Fort had won his first 17 fights but then stumbled as the opposition got tougher losing to John Jackson, Caleb Truax and Vitaliy Kopylenko who had combined records of 59-2-1, but he had won his last fight. Kayongo vs. Munoz Ugandan Kayongo returns from a two-bout losing streak with kayo of Munoz. The “African Assassin” slammed home a body punch in the first round and Munoz went down in agony and stayed there throughout the count. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for the locally-based Kampala-born Kayongo. He had lost consecutive fights to unbeaten fighters in Jamal James and Frederick Lawson and had then been inactive for 17 months. Mexican Munoz has now lost 7 of his last 8 fights with all seven losses by KO/TKO. August 29 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Feather: Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1) W PTS 12 Abner Mares (29-2-1). Super Bantam: Julio Ceja (30-1) W TKO 5 Hugo Ruiz (35-3). Light: Alejandro Luna (19-0) W TKO 4 Sergio Lopez (19-9-1). Super Middle: Alfredo Angulo (24-5) W TKO 5 Hector Munoz (23-16-1). Middle: Brian Castro Castano (10-0) W DISQ 5 Jonathan Batista (14-7). Super Middle: Paul Mendez (19-2-2,1ND) W TKO 2 Andrik Saralegui (8-3,1ND). Welter: Jessie Roman (20-2) W PTS 8 Hector Serrano (18-4). Middle: Alan Castano (9-0) W TKO 4 Tom Howard (8-5). Santa Cruz v. Mares Santa Cruz wins the vacant real WBA title with majority decision over Mares that should have been unanimous. Mares came out firing in this one going straight into Santa Cruz taking him to the ropes and working away to the body. The taller Santa Cruz was firing counters but the frantic attacks from Mares were pushing Santa Cruz back and giving him no chance to work his jab. It was the same picture in the second with Mares working inside and throwing combinations at a pace which he could not hope to sustain over twelve rounds. In the third Santa Cruz was on the front foot and catching the on-rushing Mares with sharp hooks and uppercuts and not allowing himself to be pushed back. Mares was still throwing more punches but Santa Cruz was picking and placing his punches much better. A clash of heads in the third saw Santa Cruz cut over his right eye and Mares cut over his left eye. From the fourth Santa Cruz started to dominate the action. He was throwing Mares out of his stride with stiff jabs and when Mares did rush forward he was countering with hooks and uppercuts inside. Mares was doing more wrestling than punching in the fifth as he tried to take Santa Cruz from ring centre to the ropes an hold him there whilst he punched away with hooks inside but as the round progressed Santa Cruz again created some space and worked his jabs and counters. Mares’s tactics were now to back up trying to draw a lead from Santa Cruz and then leap in with his combinations but Santa Cruz was too smart and was taking a step back after the jab and then had room to catch the incoming Mares with counters. Mares was still throwing lots of punches but the more accurate and harder shots from Santa Cruz were winning the rounds. Over the seventh, eighth and ninth the pattern remained the same with Santa Cruz taking centre ring, spearing Mares with jabs and straight rights and gladly trading in the many exchanges with Mares usually being the one to break off the action and go onto the back foot before plunging forward again. Santa Cruz also dominated the tenth. His jab was stifling many of Mares attacks before they even got going and not allowing Mares to get close. Mares staged a big effort in the eleventh just walking forward throwing punches as in the first round but Santa Cruz finished the round stronger. Both were tired in the last and were trying too hard with not much in the way of skill but plenty of effort and it was a close round with Santa Cruz a clear winner of the fight. Scores 117-111 twice and 114-114. Santa Cruz, 27, becomes a three division champion and his management were talking a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko which would be a great match but Al Haymon and Bob Arum are not on the best of terms. The WBA have said that Santa Cruz has to defend against the holder of their secondary title Jesus Cuellar-but within 18 months! Cuellar and the holders of the other versions of the title Lee Selby and Gary Russell would not have the same attraction as a Lomachenko fight but Nicholas Walters would be an attraction if Walters could make feather. The loss was obviously a big set-back for Mares. His tactics were not working but he had no plan B. He had recovered well from his first round kayo against Jhonny Gonzalez in 2013 scoring wins over good level opposition in Jonathan Oquendo, Jose Ramirez and Arturo Santos Reyes. He felt he won this one and is still a top level fighter so will probably get another title shot next year. Ceja vs. Ruiz Ceja comes off the floor and wins interim WBC title. Both fighters started cautiously probing with jabs with Ceja coming forward and Ruiz countering. Ceja scored with a good left hook but Ruiz shot back a right and edged the round. Ceja forced the pace in the second but Ruiz was boxing coolly getting his punches off first and was quicker and more accurate. The third started to deliver more of the same with Ceja pressing and pressing but with Ruiz now letting his own punches go more banging home a stiff jab and catching Ceja every time he left an opening. Ceja forced Ruiz back to the ropes and as he moved in Ruiz caught him with a short left hook that put Ceja down. He was up at five and after the eight count was completed Ruiz punched away catching Ceja with some hard head punches but Ceja survived to the bell. Ceja continued his forward march in the fourth but Ruiz was giving him a boxing lesson threading his left jab through Ceja’s guard and jerking Ceja’s head with straight rights. Ceja was ignoring his own jab and just throwing quick four-punch combinations but rarely getting through and Ruiz’s punches seemed to have more venom. In the fifth Ruiz was finding the target with jabs and rights and Ceja was scoring with hooks inside. As they traded punches in mid ring Ruiz fired a right and started a left hook only for Ceja’s left hook to land first and put Ruiz down flat on his back. Ruiz was badly hurt but stumbled up at six. When the fight resumed Ceja jumped on Ruiz driving him to the ropes and landing a series of head shots and as a left uppercut sent Ruiz tumbling backwards into a corner the referee stopped the fight. Still only 22 “Little Chicken” Ceja gets a version of the title at the second attempt. He had lost a majority decision to Jamie McDonnell for the vacant IBF title in 2013. He was losing this one but he always had a puncher’s chance as his 27 wins by KO/TKO attest. “Little Twin” Ruiz, 28, had been boxing beautifully until the Ceja left hook exploded. A former interim WBA champion Ruiz had lost only one of his last 27 fights and that was a close decision against Koki Kameda for the secondary WBA title in 2012. He can come back as he has the skill to match any in the division. Luna vs. Lopez Luna’s pressure wears down a gutsy Lopez in four rounds. No cautious start here as they both came out looking to establish dominance and were throwing hard combinations from the first bell. Lopez was throwing more punches but Luna’s punches were shorter and more accurate. A clash of heads saw Luna cut over his left eye but it was not serious. In the second. Lopez was coming forward again throwing lots of leather but a left hook and right cross combination had Lopez backing up and Luna was on top. Luna was again the man in charge in the third and he was loading up on his punches driving Lopez along the ropes and scoring with hard straight rights. Lopez banged back bravely at the end of the round scoring with a couple of good rights. Luna just walked through Lopez in the fourth again forcing Lopez to the ropes. He unleashed a series of punches that saw Lopez’s head snapping and with Lopez not punching back the referee stopped the fight over protests from Lopez. The 23-year-old “El Charro” now has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He has wins over some reasonable tests coming off a decision victory over a fading former IBF feather champion Cristobal Cruz in June. He has quick hand speed and real power. Lopez came in at very short notice but was just out-powered by Luna. He was 5-1-1 coming in and in his last two fights had stopped Victor Betancourt (16-0) and drawn with useful Joksan Hernandez but had been inactive since the Hernandez fight in December. Angulo vs. Munoz Angulo gets the win but looks to have the same strengths and the same weaknesses. “The Dog” had said he was going to box more and use his jab but from the start he was getting caught with too many punches and relying heavily on hooks to the body. Munoz had decided that attack was the best form of defence so he just chugged forward into punishment. Angulo was grinding Munoz down. He opened a bad cut over the right of Munoz with a punch in the fourth and floored the Albuquerque fighter in the fifth. At the end of the round the cut was too bad for the fight to continue and Munoz retired. The 33-year-old former interim WBO super welter champion now has 20 wins by KO/TKO. He took nine months out after losses to Erislandy Lara, Saul Alvarez and James De la Rosa but returned with a low level win in June. The 37-year-old Munoz is 3-9 in his last 12 fights but is only ever brought in to fight hard-and lose. Castano vs. Batista Argentinian hope Castano gets painful victory over Batista. Castano floored Batista in the second and from then on Batista was just looking to survive. His tactics were to slow Castano with body punches but instead he kept landing punches a lot lower than that. The referee deducted two points for low punches in the third round and another in the fourth. Batista was unable to kick the habit and more punches below the belt in the fifth saw him disqualified. A disappointment for the 25-year-old from Isidro Casanova as he had won his last 6 fights by KO/TKO and was hoping to make it lucky 7. A former South American Games gold medallist he scored wins over Errol Spence and Esquiva Falcao as an amateur but lost to Oscar Molina at the America’s Olympics Qualifier so did not make it to London. Six losses in a row for Dominican Batista Mendez vs. Saralegui Quick win for Mendez as he extends his current unbeaten run. Mendez was just too young and too quick for Mexican Saralegui. He floored him with a right in the second and also opened a cut over Saralegui’s right eye with a punch. The Mexican retired at the end of the round. After a couple of close decision losses early in his career the 26-year-old “El Gallo Negro” is now unbeaten with 14 wins and 2 draws in his last 16 fights. Saralegui, 34, was 6-1, 1ND in his last 8 going into this fight with the loss being a stoppage against Ricardo Mayorga in December. Roman vs. Serrano Roman makes it three points victories in a row as he eases to win over useful Serrano. He was too slick for Serrano outboxing him all the way and scoring a knockdown in the seventh to punctuate the victory. Scores 79-72 from all three judges. The tall 24-year-old from Santa Ana won his first 16 fights but then lost two very close decisions to modest opposition but has rebuilt with three wins this year. Serrano was also on a rebuilding process. He had won his first 13 fights and then lost three on the bounce. His recovery had seen him scores 5 wins but it is back to start all over again for him. Castano vs. Howard Castano makes it a family double as he halts Howard. The Argentinian was handing out a hiding from the start with Howard bravely soaking up the punches. One of those punches opened a cut over Howard’s left eye in the second and with Castano pouring on the punishment if the fourth the referee stopped the fight. Alan, the younger brother of Brian, was having his first fight in the US and gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. Four losses in a row for Howard. Inglewood, CA, USA: Super Welter: Shane Mosley (48-9-1) W KO 6 Ricardo Mayorga (31-9-1,1 ND). Light: Joel Diaz Jr (20-0) W TKO 4 Luis Areco (28-14-4). Super Middle: Ronald Ellis (12-0,1ND) W TKO 2 Jas Phipps (5-6-2). Mosley vs. Mayorga Mosley took the first round scoring with a couple of good overhand rights and a left hook to the body. Mayorga had said he would knock Mosley out in the first round but apart from a brief flurry late in the round he hardly threw a punch. At the start of the second Mayorga came out in a rush throwing wild punches getting through with a couple of rights. Mosley then drove Mayorga back and nailed him with a big right cross. Mayorga backed up to the ropes clearly hurt as Mosley landed two more rights. For a while Mayorga was trapped on the ropes but eventually punched his way forward only for Mosley to score with three left jabs and a left to the body. A good round for Mosley but heads were bumping dangerously on the inside. In the third Mosley landed some more of those big rights. Mayorga signalled Mosley to stand and fight. When Mosley refused Mayorga held both arm away from his body and just stood with his chin stuck out as Mosley crashed home two hard left/right combinations. He let Mosley have another couple of free shots and when Mosley backed off Mayorga did an obscene hip thrusting gesture indicating that Mosley lacked “cojones”. Mayorga also did some clowning before swinging some wild punches late in the round. They both did some clowning in the fourth but Mayorga actually settled down to doing some real work scoring with jabs and driving Mosley back but he was wild with his rights. The fifth was a big round for Mosley. He landed another big right and then was teeing off on Mayorga whilst the Nicaraguan was on the ropes. When the action moved to ring centre it was all Mosley as he scored with a right cross/ left hook combination a series of jabs and another big right with Mayorga now cut under his right eye. In the sixth Mosley was slamming his jab through Mayorga’s defence and nailing the Nicaraguan with those rights again. Suddenly Mayorga banged home two over hand rights and Mosley briefly stumbled. Mayorga was having his best round forcing Mosley back and Mosley was suddenly looking very tired. As they came together for an exchange Mayorga landed a left hook to Mosley’s body and Mosley sunk a left hook of his own in to Mayorga’s body. Mayorga stepped back and then went down on his knees and was counted out. Mayorga indicated he thought the punch was low but it landed just above his waistline. Mosley gets the win but the fight was slow-paced and at 43 Mosley is very much a spent force. His name will get him big fights but he will have to be carefully matched. Mayorga was on a $50,000 bonus if he made the contract weight. He came in over 7lbs overweight so blew that. He is 41 and has said he wants one more fight at home in Nicaragua and then will call it a day. Diaz vs. Areco Both fighters were letting their punches flow in the first Diaz was more accurate with his combinations and at the end of the first had Areco hurt with a double left hook and a straight right but he was leaving openings and Areco was able to get in some licks of his own. In the second the action continued with both willing to exchange with no thought of defence. Areco was getting home some good punches but Diaz was landing more helped by Areco’s bad habit of letting his right drop exposing his chin to the left hooks of Diaz and he was showing a small cut over his right eye. Diaz was laying on some punishment in the third with hooks to body and head and Areco was marching forward and trading and getting the worse of the exchanges. A short left sent him staggering backwards to the ropes but he marched forward again and was forcing Diaz back just by his non-stop punching. He was again finding gaps in Diaz’s defence but was wide open himself and shipping some real hard head shots and now had an even worse cut over his left eye and on the bridge of his nose. The doctor examined the cuts but let Areco continue. He just walked into punch after punch and was marching forward again when he was nailed by a right cross and went down. He made it to his feet but with his face a mask of blood the fight was stopped. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for 23-year-old Diaz. He has plenty of talent but needs to tighten his defence. Mexican Areco, 36, has been in some tough fights and has now lost his last three but he is too brave for his own good. Ellis vs. Phipps Ellis remains unbeaten with stoppage of Phipps but a disappointing finish. Ellis was warming to the task in the second and landed a series of punches that put Phipps down. Phipps was indicating he had injured his shoulder but the fight continued only for Phipps to go down again. When he got up the referee asked the doctor to examine Phipps and on the doctor’s advice the fight was stopped. “Akeem” 25 is a former NGG champion beating Terrell Gausha in the 2010 final. His brother Rashidi was a National PAL gold medallist and is also unbeaten as a pro. Kiev, Ukraine: Cruiser: Olek Usyk (8-0) W TKO 3 Johnny Muller (19-5-2). Feather: Oleg Malinovski (16-0) W PTS 8 Bahyt Abdurahimov (11-9-0). Super Welter: Olek Spyrko (19-0) W KO 1 Eduards Gerasimovs (6-4-1). Super Light: Denys Berinchyk (1-0) W TKO 4 Tarik Madni (19-9-1). Usyk vs. Muller Usyk’s power proves too much for Muller. Over the first two rounds both fighters concentrated on getting their jab working. Despite giving away height and reach Muller was matching Usyk jab for jab and the South African ended the second round by landing a couple of good rights that saw the Ukrainian’s head snapped back. In the third Muller was coming up short with his jabs and Usyk was snapping his home time and again. Usyk finished a combination with a southpaw left hook that sent Mueller tumbling to the canvas. Muller was up at four and when the fight resumed after the eight count Usyk again slammed home head shots and with Muller on the ropes another left hook floored Muller. The South African got up immediately and Usyk scored with a fusillade of head punches taking Muller to the ropes and landing a savage left uppercut and more head punches. The referee leapt in and stopped the fight just as Muller started to punch back. Muller protested the stoppage but the referee did make the right decision. The 28-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Ukrainian retains his WBO Inter-Continental title and makes it 7 wins by KO/TKO. He seems to have something against South Africans having stopped both Daniel Bruwer and Danie Venter in previous fights. Usyk has shown great improvement since turning pro losing many of his amateur habits and punching harder.. He has great amateur credentials winning the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and the 2011 World Championships beating Artur Beterbiev 17-13 in the quarterfinals of both competitions. Muller fought a good intelligent fight over the first two rounds but in the end Usyk’s power proved just too much. Malinovski vs. Abdurahimov Kiev southpaw Malinovski boxes his way to comfortable victory over Uzbek Abdurahimov. Not a big punches Malinovski is quick and clever and took every round against a rusty Abdurahimov. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. No real tests yet for Malinovski who competed at the 2010 European Championships but he looks a good prospect. First fight for 18 months for former Uzbek champion Abdurahimov. Spyrko vs. Gerasimovs Spyrko wastes no time in dismissing overmatched teenager Gerasimovs. The tall Ukrainian landed a crippling left hook to the body and the fight was over in just 88 seconds. Now 11 wins by KO/TKO for Spyrko, 26, who deserves better opposition than this. Latvian Gerasimovs, 19, is 1-4-1 in his last 6 fights. Berinchyk vs. Madni Another former star member of the Ukrainian amateur team turns pro with a win. Berinchyk put on a quite amazing performance. The Ukrainian’s work rate was incredible and Madani was under pressure for three minutes of every round as Berinchyk never stopped punching for a moment. To make it worse for Madni Berinchyk switched from southpaw to orthodox and back again effortlessly even in the middle of a combination he would switch. He was also switching angles and moving left and right with Madni not knowing where the next punch was coming from. Having said that Madani did not lie down. He scored with some good rights at the end of the second round but was badly shaken twice by hard rights in the third and was pounded in the fourth with his nose looking to have been broken by a punch. The doctor looked at Madni’s nose and at the start of the fifth the referee sent Berinchyk to stand in a neutral corner until the decision was finally made that Madni could not come out for the fifth. Berinchyk, 27, a former World University Champion took silver medals at the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He beat Cuban Ronny Iglesias in the Worlds but lost to him at the Olympics. Belgian-based Madni, 39 deserves credit for fighting back hard in every round but he just could not live with the pace Berinchyk was setting. Mississauga, Canada: Cruiser: Denton Daley (14-1) W KO 2 Giulian Ilie (20-10-2). Light: Steven Wilcox (12-1-1) W PTS 8 Luis A Juarez (19-10-2). Super Welter: Kevin Higson (7-0) W TKO 5 Francesco Cotroni (10-6-1). Daley vs. Ilie Daley gets his second win this year with crushing kayo of pathetic Ilie. At one time Romanian Ilie was reasonably competent fighter but he has slipped a long way. Daley put Ilie down in the first and ended it emphatically in the second. He drove Ilie to a corner and Ilie just stood still with his high guard open invitingly and Daley crashed home a right cross that sent Ilie down on his hands and knees to be counted out. No test at all for 33-year-old Daley as he gets his second win since losing on a twelfth round stoppage against Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim WBA title in November. He has 7 wins by KO/TKO. The 38-year-old Italian-based Ilie is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but all of the losses have been to good opposition. Wilcox vs. Juarez Wilcox gets his first win of the year as he outpoints Argentinian Juarez. Easy victory for Wilcox as he has height and reach over the limited import and was able to outbox Juarez. The Argentinian tried hard but was never really effective. Wilcox scored a questionable knock down in the fifth as he cruised to victory. Scores 80-71 twice and 78-73. Now 4 wins and a draw for the 25-year-old from Hamilton since losing his unbeaten record against Mexican Christian Uruzquieta in 2013. Second loss in a row in visits to Canada for Juarez who was beaten on a wide unanimous decision by Logan McGuinness in March. Higson vs. Cotroni Higson makes it a double on the night for Hamilton fighters as he wins the vacant Canadian title with stoppage of Cotroni. The first round was about even but Higson emerged with a cut over his left eye. The cut never became a factor as Higson proceeded to take charge of the fight and slowly chipped away at Cotroni until the Quebec fighter’s corner threw in the towel in the fifth to save their man from further punishment. First ten round fight for the 26-year-old Higson and also a first win inside the distance. Cotroni had lost two split decisions in his last two fights but was well beaten here. Hong Kong, S.A.R China: Super Fly: Rex Tso (18-0) W TKO 7 Brad Hore (5-2). Middle: Kerry Hope (22-7-1) DREW 12 Petchsuriya (14-10-1). Tso vs. Hore Tso gets win No 18 with stoppage of Australian Hore in an all-southpaw scrap. Hore lived up to his “Pocket Rocket” nickname over the early rounds as he stood and traded punch for punch with the taller Tso. He took a lot of punishment in the third as Tso began to take over but again Hore did not take a step back but stood his ground and traded. Tso was slowly grinding Hore down and ended it emphatically in the seventh. A left to the head and right to the body put Hore down for the first time. The Australian got up and Tso slammed home a left/right combination which saw Hore go down on one knee. When the fight restarted Hore just stood and swung wildly trying desperately to stem Tso’s attacks but a right hook staggered Hore and he went down on one knee again from a right hook to the body with the referee waiving the fight off. Now eleven wins by KO/TKO for the tall 24-year-old Hong Kong southpaw as he wins the vacant WBC ABC title. He is rated WBO 3/IBF 5(3)/WBA 8 and has a big following out East so a title fight in 2016 looks a good bet. Hore, 33, a 4-time Australian amateur champion who competed at the 2004 Olympics, 2005 World Championships and 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games has taken three years to arrive at just 7 fights as there are just too few little man for him to fight back in Australia. Hope vs. Petchsuriya Hope gets a rough deal all round here. The Welsh former EBU champion had to give away weight when Petchsuriya came in 6lbs over the contract weight and then had to contend with some very dubious scoring as he looked a clear winner but had to settle for a split draw. The score were 117-111 for Hope and 114-114 from two Thai judges? Hope has rejuvenated his career with a couple of wins in Australia and the Merthyr southpaw will continue his campaign there and hope for better judges next time. Petchsuriya, a former WBC Youth champion had been 9-2 in his last 11 fights but got lucky here. Tijuana, Mexico: Super Welter: Humberto Gutierrez (30-6-2) W Daniel Yucopicio (6-30-2). Evan a grossly overweight Gutierrez was too much for poor Yucopicio Body punches hurt Yucopicio in the first and in the second more of the same saw Yucopicio go down twice and the referee stopped the fight. Back in 2009 Gutierrez was the interim WBC champion at super feather. By January this year he had gone up to 147lbs but for this one he was 172lbs! Nine losses in a row and 16 losses by KO/TKO for Yucopicio San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Welter: Jorge Paez Jr (39-6-2) W PTS 10 Daniel Echevarria (18-1). Fly: Jesus Silvestre (31-6) W PTS 8 Mario Andrade (7-6-5). Light: Fernando Carcamo (19-6) W TKO 4 Luis Ulloa (10-8-1). Paez v. Echevarria Paez returns to the winning column with a majority decision over previously unbeaten Echevarria. Paez started well but Echevarria finished strongly. At the one minute mark of the first round Paez was coming forward trying to get inside the guard of the tall southpaw and as Echevarria backed up to the ropes a left hook from Paez clipped him on the side of his head and sent him tumbling backwards. He broke his fall with his hands and was up immediately and if anything had the better of the action in the rest of the round. Paez continued to get inside the long reach of Echevarria and although there was too much holding by Echevarria Paez did enough to take the second and had Echevarria hurt at the end of the third. Echevarria did not have the power to stop the forward march of Paez but in the fourth he scored with a series of hooks and uppercuts only for Paez to fire home a short right hook to the body which saw Echevarria slump to his knees. He was up at seven but then got a bit more recovery time as his mouthguard had come out and had to be recovered and replace. Paez shook him again with a left to the chin at the end of the round. Paez continued to march forward in the fifth just walking through Echeverria’s punches to work inside. Paez was still pressing the action in the sixth and scoring with hooks inside but also starting to look tired. In the seventh and eighth Paez’s was looking exhausted and his work rate dropped dramatically with Echeverria finally using his height and reach to score at distance and was working Paez’s body inside. In the ninth both were exhausted with Echevarria doing what clean work there was but Paez scoring with some solid hooks inside at the end of the round. In the last Paez got home three left hooks only for Echevarria to fire back with a right/left/right combination and just before the bell Paez scored with a series of hard shots to perhaps with the knockdowns just do enough to earn the decision but it was close. Scores 95-93 and 9594 to Paez and 94-94. First fight for 27-year-old Paez since his stoppage loss against Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA super light title in May. Echevarria, 23, had won 9 of his last 10 fights by KO/TKO but Paez was able to walk through everything he threw. He has time to develop and mature and can only get better. Silvestre vs. Andrade This one had the judges very split as Silvestre takes the decision over novice Andrade. With both looking to stand and punch what skill there was came from former Interim WBA minimum champion Silvestre and his experience looked to have taken him to a clear decision. Two judges saw it that way giving the fight to “Negrito” 79-73 and 78-74 but third had Andrade winning every round and his card was 80-72 for Andrade. After losses to Ryo Miyazaki for the WBA minimum title and Hekkie Budler for the IBO and WBA titles the 25-year-old WBA No 7 is hoping to work his way to a third shot. Andrade is now 4-1-4 in his last 9 fights. Carcamo vs. Ulloa Former ESPN Boxcino finalist Carcamo gets his second win in 2015 with stoppage of Ulloa. The tall southpaw almost took Ulloa out in the second round with two knockdowns but Ulloa survived. Carcamo scored another knock down in the third and dished out more punishment in the fourth with the referee finally ending it late in the round. The 24-year-old Carcamo had a good run which saw him beat Vicente Escobedo and then in the Boxcino score wins over Samuel Kotey Neequaye and Miguel Angel Gonzalez to reach the final in May last year. Unfortunately in the final he was outclassed by Petr Petrov and stopped in eight rounds and was then inactive for almost ten months. Ulloa drops to six losses by KO/TKO. Maplewood, MN, USA: Marcus Oliveira (26-1-1) W KO 3 Dionisio Miranda (22-13-2). After a slow start Oliveira gets the job done inside three rounds. This was Oliveira’s first fight for 20 months and he took a couple of rounds to get geared up letting Miranda do all the work. Early in the third he found his range with some jabs and then banged home a straight right that put Miranda down and out. Oliveira, 36, was having his first fight since losing on points to Juergen Braehmer for the vacant WBA secondary title in December 2013. Colombian Miranda 33 goes to 11 losses by KO/TKO and has lost 7 of his last 8 fights. Moreno, Argentina: Welter: Cristian N Romero (16-7-1) W KO 3 Adrian L Veron (14-1) . Veron was the favoured one here and he quickly established his superiority stalking forward as Romero spent most of the round with his back to the ropes. As Romero moved forward a short southpaw right to the head combined with a slip knocked him off balance forcing him to touch the canvas with his glove which was counted as a knockdown. Veron continued to boss the round catching Romero in a corner and scoring with some good left hooks and right uppercuts. The second round saw Romero fighting a much more intelligent fight staying off the ropes and testing Veron with long rights. Veron scored a cracking right of his own but Romero ended the round with a quick combination. Romero came out firing in the third taking the fight to Veron and scoring with some hard left hooks to the head. Veron was on the back foot but getting home uppercuts and hooks. As they exchanged punches Romero fired home a wicked left hook to the body and Veron went down on his knees in agony. He was up at five but then walked half crouching across the ring and went down again on his knees and the referee completed the ten count. Romero had pulled off what was a big surprise in domestic circles and wins the WBO Latino title. He had been 2-4-1 going into this one and was No 8 with the FAB. Southpaw Veron, 26, the FAB No 6 was supposed to be the puncher with 10 wins by KO/TKO but paid the price for over confidence. Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania: Middle: Thomas Mashali (16-3-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Ibrahim Tamba (15-5). Super Middle: Karama Nyilawila (21-13-2) W KO 1 Shabani Kaoneka (5-5-2). Super Bantam: Nasibu Ramadhani (17-6-1) W TKO 2 Kasim Rajab (1-4-2). Mashali vs. Tamba Mashali retains the East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation (ECAPBF) title with unanimous decision over fellow-Tanzanian Tamba. Tamba had a good first round but then Mashali began to control the fight with stiff jabs and good combination punching. Tamba came back into the bout over the middle rounds smothering Mashali’s work. Mashali’s had slowed but he picked up the pace over the last three rounds to get the verdict. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93. The 25-year-old Mashali was making the second defence of his ECAPBF title and is now 6-0 1 ND in his last 7 fights. Tamba who contested this title previously at super middle is 3-3 in his last 6 fights. Nyilawila vs. Kaoneka Nyilawila blows away Kaoneka inside a round. Hard jabs had Kaoneka backing up and unsteady on his feet and a couple more punches sent him down and almost out of the ring as the referee completed the ten count. The 31-year-old Nyilawila has 13 wins by KO/TKO. He is a former WBFed and Tanzanian champion. Kaoneka was 2-0-1 going in but out of his league against Nyilawila Ramadhani vs. Rajab Too easy for Ramadhani as he halts novice Rajab in two rounds. The 23-year-old southpaw gets his second win since losing to Jason Cunningham for the vacant CBC title in Sheffield in May when he was forced out of the fight with a shoulder injury. He is the UBO African champion. |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
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