The Past Week In Action 20 October 2015
October 14 Glendale, AZ, USA: Feather: Lee Selby (22-1) W PTS 12 Fernando Montiel (54-5-2). Welter: Aaron Martinez (20-4-1) W PTS 10 Devon Alexander (26-4). Super Light: Ivan Redkach (19-1) W KO 3 Eric Martinez (11-3-1). Cruiser: Lionell Thompson (16-3) W TKO 2 Thomas Hanshaw (6-7). Super Bantam: Alexis Santiago (20-3-1) W PTS 8 Gustavo Molina (20-9). Selby vs. Montiel Selby retains his IBF title with a wide unanimous verdict over Montiel and it may be an indication of his progress that he was disappointed with his performance against a future Hall of Fame fighter, Selby edged the first outscoring Montiel but already the Mexican veteran was getting home with some meaty left hooks. The second was close with Selby working the jab and although scoring not being as accurate as usual and Montiel aggressive in spurts. Selby had a good third. He shook Montiel with a right and seemed to have scored a knockdown when Montiel’s glove brushed the canvas after another accurate right but it was ruled a slip. The fourth also went to Selby as he was able to counter effectively as Montiel tried to increase his work rate. The challenger had success in the fifth with his quick rushes inside and bunches of left hooks. Things continued to go Montiel’s way in the six. He rocked Selby with an uppercut and dug in some more left hooks and after a clash of heads Selby was showing a cut over his right eye. The seventh and eighth could have been scored for either fighter but Montiel just had the edge again on the basis of his series of left hooks. Selby then took over the fight in the ninth and tenth scoring well with rights against a tiring Montiel and although he tumbled to the canvas after missing a wild punch in the tenth he was again getting home telling rights. Montiel tried to rally in the eleventh but this time it was left hooks from Selby that caught the eye. Montiel put everything into the early part of the last until a right from Selby stopped him in his tracks. Scores 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 all for Selby. First defence of his IBF title for Welshman Selby. The result was booed by a heavily pro-Montiel crowd but Selby was a clear winner even if some of the scoring was a bit harsh on Montiel. The 27-year-old champion was disappointed with his own performance as he was looking to make a big impression on his first USA fight and may have been trying too hard. Montiel, 36, a three-division champion, is 17-4 in world title fights so has a wealth of experience and had won his last 8 fights mainly against a good level of opposition. It could mean retirement for Montiel although the lure of a title in a fourth division may still be strong. Alexander vs. Martinez This was supposed to be a way of getting Alexander a rebuilding win but Martinez had other ideas and took a well deserved unanimous decision. Alexander started like the favourite using his better boxing and strong southpaw jab to counter the forward marching Martinez. The second was also Alexander’s but only just. From the third Martinez was walking through Alexander’s leads, putting his head on Alexander’s shoulder and working inside. The fight had changed and instead of trying to keep Martinez out or work inside Alexander started holding and wrestling and was already looking dispirited as the fight degenerated into a brawl with the crowd booing the lack of action. Alexander should have expected this type of fight as Martinez fought the same fight as he did in losing a split decision to Robert Guerrero in June. With the fight constantly in close heads were banging together and Alexander was cut over his right eye in the seventh. The cut unsettled Alexander enough for him to complain about the blood running into his eye with his trainer threatening to pull him out of the fight if he continued to complain. Martinez shook Alexander with a left hook early in the eighth and a left hook as the round ended. Mexican Martinez continued to outwork the former champion in the ninth but with a big effort getting Alexander the tenth but it was not enough. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Martinez. The 33-year-old Martinez had been halted in five rounds by Josesito Lopez and outpointed by Guerrero in his last two fights but this win puts him line for some good paydays. Former WBC and IBF super light and IBF welter champion Alexander, 28, was having his first fight since losing a wide unanimous verdict to Amir Khan in December. That inactivity had seen him drop out of all of the ratings and now it his him with back-to-back losses to overcome and not Martinez. Alexander thought he won this one so will box on. Redkach vs. Martinez Redkach gets back into the winning column with win over Martinez. The Ukrainian southpaw was in control of this one for the outset and it was obvious from the gap in class that it would not last long. Redkach ended it with a left in the third with Martinez counted out with just one second left in the round. The 29-year-old Redkach was stopped in four round in June by little Dejan Zlaticanin in what was virtually a WBC eliminator. He is still rated WBC No 4 so still some hope of a title shot somewhere in the future. Martinez, from Tijuana, was having his first fight for 13 months. Thompson vs. Hanshaw Thompson beats Hanshaw in one-sided poor match. Thompson handed out a beating to Hanshaw before flooring him late in the second round. Hanshaw saw out the round but then retired. The 30-year-old “Lonnie B” from Buffalo had looked to be making real progress in 2013 but lost a split decision to Radivoje Kalajdzic in April last year and this is his first fight since then. He was a 5-time NY GG Champion but although competing in all of the big national tournaments never got past the quarter final stage. Now 4 losses in a row for “The Hillbilly” Hanshaw. Santiago vs. Molina Phoenix fighter Santiago moves to 9 wins in a row with unanimous decision over Mexican Molina. The 25-year-old “Beaver” took the decision on scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. Santiago competed at the finals of the NGG’s twice without medalling. Mexican fly champion Molina had been 4-2 in his previous 6 fights. October 15 Auckland, New Zealand: Heavy: Joseph Parker (16-0) W KO 3 Kali Meehan (42-6). Welter: Jeff Horn (12-0-1) W PTS 10 Alfredo Blanco (15-4). Heavy: Izuagbe Ugonoh (14-0) W TKO 1 Ibrahim Labaran (13-4): Super Welter: Gunnar Jackson (22-6-3) W PTS 6 Daniel Roy Maxwell (5-33-2). Heavy: Wallis Meehan (4-0) W TKO 2 Leamy Tato (1-4). Parker vs. Meehan Parker marches on as he wins bragging right in Auckland with knockout of veteran Meehan. Parker took the first round but was too anxious to land his big punches and not working his openings. Meehan landed a couple of shots but nothing of substance. At the end of the first trainer Kevin Barry reminded Parker of the game plan not to rush things and Parker settled down in the second making more use of his jab and going to the body as well. In the third a thumping right to the side of the head sent Meehan slumping down to the canvas on his side. He struggled to get to his feet but was counted out just as he made it. Now 14 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old New Zealander including 10 in his last 11 fights. He is rated WBO 6/WBA 13 (12)/WBC 14. As an amateur he took silver at the World Youth Olympics and bronze at the World Youth Games but failed to medal at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships. Former WBO title challenger Meehan, 45, loses inside the distance for the fourth time. He had won a tournament last year and beat Shane Cameron in his last fight in November. This fight was for 5 different minor titles but I am not going to bother listing them. Horn vs. Blanco After a slow start Horn wins every round against Argentinian Blanco. The awkward Argentinian started brightly winning the first round. A right from Blanco in the second seemed to wake Horn up and he then started to push Blanco back and thump home quick combinations. Although he continued to have problems with Blanco’s style with his switching guards and his longer reach Horn was working well inside and used his quicker hands to score at a distance. The Australian was dominating the fight walking Blanco down with the Argentinian’s work rate and opportunities becoming less and less with Horn emerging the clear winner. Scores 99-91 from all three judges. The 27-year-old “Hornet”, a school teacher and 2012 Olympian, was coming off a good win over Viktor Plotnykov in August. He is WBO 7/IBF 12(10)/WBA 13(12). Blanco 25 lost to Australian Cameron Hammond in July last year. He had won 4 of 5 since then but against low level opposition. Ugonoh vs. Labaran Ugonoh gets easy win over reluctant Labaran. The big Polish-born Ugonoh stalked Labaran around the ropes and landed a long straight right that sent Labaran down. He was up quickly and Ugonoh just prowled after him manoeuvring Labaran into a corner and a right to the head saw Labaran down again. He was up at four but at the end of the eight count he made no attempt to walk forward when asked and the referee stopped the fight. The 6’5” (196cm) Ugonoh, who is of Nigerian parentage, is a former world kickboxing champion who helps out as Parker’s sparring partner. He has 11 wins by KO/TKO and lifts the interim WBA Oceania and interim WBO African titles. Hong Kong-based Ghanaian Labaran was having his first fight for two years. Jackson vs. Maxwell Jackson eases his way back with unanimous decision over limited fellow-countryman Maxwell. Jackson was able to find regular gaps for punches to head and body and was rarely troubled by the very limited Maxwell. First win for 29-year-old Jackson since losing his WBO Oriental title to Kerry Hope in June. Five losses in a row for 38-year-old Maxwell. Meehan vs. Tato Meaningless win for Kali’s son as he halts late selection Tato. After a slow start to the first round Meehan then handed out severe punishment at the end of the round and the fight could have been stopped then. In the second Meehan immediately trapped Tato on the ropes and unloaded heavy punches to the head, too many heavy punches, until the referee stopped the fight with Meehan making it clear to the referee that he thought he should have stopped the fight earlier. Three wins by KO/TKO for the 20-year-old Auckland-born fighter. He is 6’5” (195cm) like his dad and was just over 278lbs for this fight. His first love is rugby league but he was sacked mid-season by the Sydney Roosters for off field incidents. He has converted to Islam, adjusted his behaviour and is hoping to return to rugby soon. The 41-year-old Tato should never have been allowed in the ring with Meehan. He is 5’10” (178cm) was outweighed by at least 36lbs, had not fought for 17 months and came in at short notice. October 16 Chicago, IL, USA: Light Heavy: Andrzej Fonfara (29-3,1ND) W PTS 12 Nathan Cleverly (29-3). Super Fly: Kohei Kono (31-8-1) W PTS 12 Koki Kameda (33-2). Super Welter: Patrick Szymanski (15-0) W PTS 10 Richard Gutierrez (28-17-1,2ND). Fonfara vs. Cleverly Fonfara gets close unanimous decision in bloody war of non-stop action. Both were trading from the off with Cleverly’s more accurate jabbing just giving him an edge and the Brit getting the better of the exchanges but neither fighter was paying much attention to defence. Fonfara had looked a bit sluggish over the first two rounds but he was starting to roll by taking the third and fourth as they continued to trade. Cleverly upped his work to edge the fifth and six at which point two judges had Cleverly in front 58-56 with the third having it 57-57. Fonfara had a big seventh importantly landing an uppercut which mashed Cleverly’s nose and it was later established it had been broken and he also opened a cut by Cleverly’s left ear. After that it was Fonfara’s fight although Cleverly never acknowledged that as they both continued to throw and land punch after punch setting a record for punches thrown in any light heavyweight bout registered by CompuBox. It was brutal and basic with neither fully using the skills they possessed and showing what can be achieved with heat and guts. Fonfara had the momentum but Cleverly had a good spell in the ninth. He had to pass a doctor’s inspection in the tenth as he consistently had blood splashed across his face from his injuries. Fonfara was the one landing the more eye catching shots and he pulled away over the championship rounds to win a well deserved decision. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-113 all for Fonfara. The effect of that seventh round was evident on the score cards with one judge giving Fonfara all six rounds from the seventh and onwards and the other two going 5-1 to Fonfara. The Chicago-based Pole retains his WBC International title. He is rated WBA 2/WBC 3/IBF 5(4)/WBO 5. Although he lost a wide unanimous decision to Adonis Stevenson for the WBC title in May 2014 his subsequent wins over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and now in the thrilling war over Cleverly mean that a return with Stevenson or a fight with Sergey Kovalev could be his in 2016. Former WBO champion Cleverly had moved up to cruiser but after losing to Tonty Bellew returned to light heavy. His injuries will take time to heal but the 28-year-old Welshman can point to that nose injury as a big factor in his defeat and being in a fight as entertaining as this will have raised his profile in the USA. Kono vs. Kameda Kono retains WBA title with unanimous decision over Kameda in the first world title fight between two Japanese fighters in the USA. Kameda seemed to take the first round boxing on the back foot and stabbing out a stiff right jab with Kono throwing a couple of combinations late in the round. In the second Kono was constantly throwing lead rights at southpaw Kameda and scoring with them. A left from Kameda was very low but after a moment’s hesitation Kono shrugged it off. Kono drove Kameda back with more rights only for Kameda to land three low punches. Kono was badly hurt and clinging to Kameda like a limpet forcing the referee to use both hands to get Kono to let go. Kameda was not warned at that point. After some more low shots from Kameda Kono sank to his knees. Kameda was waiving his arm in celebration of a knockdown only for the referee to order a time out so that Kono could recover. Immediately the fight restarted Kono’s first punch a straight right counter put Kameda down. Total confusion ensued as Kono was ordered to a neutral corner and Kameda got up and walked to the same neutral corner where they booth stood until the referee split them up with the bell going at that moment. At the start of the third Kameda again landed three left hooks low and the referee deducted a point. There was another break when the fighters bumped heads and when Kameda landed some more low left hooks he was deducted a second point. Both continued to trade heavy punches in some sustained action which was too often interrupted by some over officious refereeing. Both were guilty of various infractions as they fight for dominance and it got to a point in the seventh where the referee stopped the fight and warned them that he would disqualify them both if they continued to transgress. Kono was the one deducted a point in the ninth for continually pushing Kameda’s head down. As they tired both gave up boxing and began to brawl. Kono's main weapon was his orthodox right thrown straight or as a hook with Kameda relying more on his jab and placing his punches but Kono was the busier with Kameda throwing slightly less but with more accuracy. The fight was poised going into the last three rounds but Koko simply outworked Kameda who seemed to tire. Scores 116-108, 115-109 and 113-111. Second defence in his second reign for 34-year-old Kono after un-enterprising split draw with Norberto Jimenez in his first defence in December. He was much more impressive here. Kameda 28 a former WBA light fly and WBC fly was said to be trying to become a fourth division champion but that was based on his winning the secondary WBA title at bantam. He was taking about perhaps retiring. Szymanski vs. Gutierrez Polish prospect Szymanski moves up to ten rounds and cruises past Colombian veteran. Szymanski controlled the action and pace of the fight. Gutierrez tried to work his way inside but generally Szymanski was able to create space and even when Gutierrez did get inside the young Pole more than matched him in a mature performance. Scores 98-92 twice and 100-90. The 22-year-old former top amateur is a bit lacking in power but is making good progress. Gutierrez, 37, is a long way down the slope at 2-12 and one ND in his last 15 fights. New York, NY, USA: Light Heavy: Sean Monaghan (26-0) W PTS 10 Donovan George (25-4-2,1ND). Welter: Brad Solomon (26-0) W PTS 10 Ray Serrano (21-3). Light: John Joe Nevin (5-0) W TKO 3 Jose Guzman (6-12-1). Monaghan vs. George Monaghan was always favourite to win this one and with game George breaking his right hand in the second round is was really a test of George’s guts than Monaghan’s ability. Monaghan had the edge in skill and speed and he suffered his own misfortune in the second when a clash of heads left the New York fighter with a cut over right eye. Gradually the hand injury became more of a factor as Monaghan was able to exchange with less caution and was winning the rounds. The doctor reviewed the hand injury at the start of the fifth but George insisted on continuing. Monaghan was scoring with both hands but could not find the punch to halt George who ignored the injury to fight hard in the eighth and ninth and threw the right hand continually in the last trying for a knockout but in vain as Monaghan was a clear winner. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. Monaghan, 34, retains the WBC Continental Americas title and wins the vacant WBO NABO title. He did his job in this one but George’s injury robbed the win of any significance. Monaghan is still to be put into a challenging fight but is rated WBA 4/IBF 6(5)/WBC 7/WBO 8 and is likely to get a title shot in 2016. Winning it is something else. George, 30, has had numerous operations on his right hand and must wonder if it is still worthwhile boxing. After 21 wins in a row George is now 5-5-1, 1ND in his last 12 fights. Solomon vs. Serrano Solomon remains unbeaten but just can’t set the ring alight. Solomon is hugely talented but lacks power and that means that a determined fight such as Serrano is always going to be able to come forward and put the Lafayette fighter under pressure. Serrano was very much in the fight early and was probably unlucky not to be credited with a knockdown ion the second when a punch followed by a push put Solomon down. Serrano then faded out of the fight as Solomon took control and shut Serrano out over the second half. Scores 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93 all for Solomon. When Solomon turned pro in 2008 he moved over as a former NGG champion in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with wins over Demetrius Andrade, Jessie Vargas and Danny Garcia but at 32 time is running out for him. Serrano hit a bad patch of back-to-back losses to Karim Mayfield and Emmanuel Taylor and then took almost two years out before returning in November last year since when he had scored three wins. Nevin vs. Guzman Nevin has to go through fights like this as he starts out as a pro. He is several classes above Guzman but got a few rounds under his belt before halting Guzman in the third. The 26-year-old member of the Irish Traveller’s community was a star of the Irish amateur boxing team won bronze medals at both the European and the European Union Championships, a silver at the World Championships and competed at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He had to recover from having both legs broken in April last year in an attack relating to a dispute in his community and is a can’t miss prospect. Puerto Rican Guzman has lost 8 of his last 9 fights. Villa Mercedes, Argentina: Fly: Jonathan Gonzalez (17-1-1) W PTS 10 Carlos Ruiz (21-7). Puerto Rican Gonzalez outboxes limited local but has to settle for a split decision that should have been unanimous. Gonzalez used his right jab to make things difficult for the Argentinian and eased his way through the first three rounds. The fourth was more level but after that the skilful boxing and countering from Gonzalez had Ruiz frustrated as he has being caught with quick accurate punches without being able to land anything significant of his own. Gonzalez was brilliant in the eight and a clash of heads saw Ruiz cut over his right eye in the ninth with Gonzalez taking no chances in the last. Scores 98-92 twice for Gonzalez and an amazing 96-94 for Ruiz. Bronx-born 24-year-old “Bomba” Gonzalez was stopped in four rounds in an overly ambitious fight with Giovani Segura in 2013 but has clawed his way back with four wins and a draw and is No 12 with the IBF. “Bad Boy” Ruiz, 29, the FAB No 2 had rebounded from 3 losses in a row with a low level win in August. Ituzaingo, Argentina: Super Light: Jonathan Chavez (15-1-1) W PTS 10 Claudio Esperante (6-6-2). Ituzaingo fighter Chavez gets second points win over Esperante. Chavez controlled this fight and was able to score freely in most rounds with Esperante only being competitive in the sixth and seventh. Chavez’s lack of any real punch allowed southpaw Esperante to last the full distance and he was scoring so freely that it led to Esperante losing a point for holding in the eighth and almost stopped him in the tenth. Scores 99-90, 99 ½-90 ½, and 99 ½-91 ½ for 27-year-old Chavez who had outpointed Esperante over six rounds in October last year. He has now won his last 9 fights, 8 of them on points. Only one win in his last 5 fights for Esperante. Mexico City, Mexico: Super Fly: David Carmona (20-2-5) W PTS 10 Ricardo Rodriguez (12-3). Carmona gets important second win over Rodriguez. It was Rodriguez who pocketed the early rounds before Carmona got rolling in the fifth. A right uppercut to the chin put Rodriguez down in the sixth and from then Carmona was the one collecting the rounds as they scrapped hard to the last bell. Scores 97-92 twice for Carmona and 96-93 for Rodriguez. Mexican Carmona, 24, the WBO No 2, had taken a unanimous decision over Rodriguez in July last year. He was halted in seven rounds by Omar Narvaez in a challenge for the WBO title in 2013 and drew with Warlito Parrenas for the vacant interim title in July. He is hoping for a straight shot at champion Naoya Inoue next year. Fellow-Mexican Rodriguez, 26, the WBO No 10 had scored good wins over Jonathan Vidal and Daniel Lozano but this loss cost him his WBO Latino title and any hope of taking Carmona’s title chance. Edinburgh, Scotland: Super Feather: Anthony Cacace (13-0) W TKO 10 Ronnie Clark (13-3-2). Welter: Josh Taylor (2-0) W TKO 1 Adam Mate (17-6). Cacace vs. Clark In a lively first round both did more missing than hitting with the much taller Cacace prodding his jab and trying some long rights and southpaw Clark jabbing and throwing occasional lefts. That’s how the fight continued with Clark taking the fight to Cacace trying to get inside and Cacace dangerous with straight right crosses. Neither fighter was interested in working the body and they were both head hunting. Cacace was often using his left not as a jab but as a stiff arm to measure Clark for the rights and Clark was slipping inside and scoring with hooks. As the fight progressed Clark was having more and more trouble getting inside and Cacace was no longer just prodding the jab and throwing the right but letting his hands go in bursts. Clark scored with a couple of hard left hooks in the sixth and seemed to be timing his attacks better in the eighth and ninth constantly putting Cacace under pressur. It was the same in the tenth as Clark was throwing punches form both hands. Cacace was more controlled and as Clark left himself open Cacace shook Clark with a series of head punches. Clark seemed to have absorbed them but suddenly a three-punch combination saw Clark collapse back into the ropes and slip to his knees badly hurt and the referee made a well-timed stoppage. The 26-year-old from Belfast wins the BBBof C Celtic title. First loss inside the distance for Clark who was very much in the fight until that last round. Taylor vs. Mate Taylor gets rid of Hungarian quickly. The highly publicised new hope of Scottish boxing hurt Mate early and never let him recover. Taylor had Mate down twice before the fight was stopped after just 85 seconds. Managed by Barry McGuigan “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor, 24, a former Commonwealth Games gold medal winner who also competed at two European Championships, two World Championships and the 2012 Olympics was plagued with hand injuries as an amateur but if he can avoid any such troubles as a pro then he could emulate other Edinburgh boxers Ken Buchanan and Alex Arthur. Poor Mate was halted inside a round by Stephen Ormond for the WBO European title in 2013 but in lower level competition had won 5 of his last 6 fights. East London, South Africa: Feather: Lusanda Komanisi (19-3) W KO 5 Roli Gasca (23-7-1). Light: Mzonke Fana (36-8) W PTS 12 Sipho Taliwe -5-1). Super Bantam: Toto Hlebe (17-5) W TKO 11 Siphosethu Mvula (7-2). Komanisi vs. Gasca “Schoolboy” Komanisi retains the IBO title with kayo of Filipino Gasca. When theses two met in December Komanisi only held on to his title with a split decision this time he settled matters with a kayo. The South African now has 17 wins by KO/TKO and after going 4-3 in his first 7 fights has won 15 in a row. Gasca is now 0-3 in fights in South Africa and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Fana vs. Taliwe Veteran Fana wins some sort of version of the South African title with revenge victory over Taliwe. Fana used his superior skills to take this by unanimous decision over his much younger opponent. The 41-year-old former undefeated IBF super feather champion just goes on and on. This was billed as for the interim title with disputes and law suits threatened after a fighter above Fana in the BSA rating was passed over. There was some suggestion of the other fighter’s “punishment index” being too high for him to be allowed to take this fight with the supervisor of the previous fight denying there was anything about a punishment index in his fight report. Situation normal in South Africa. Former South African and WBC International super feather champion Taliwe had beaten Fana in a WBC International title defence in 2012. He was unlucky to lose a split decision to Daud Yordan for the IBO light title on a split decision in Indonesia in 2013 and then was inactive for a year. Hlebe vs. Mvula South African bantam champion Hlebe moves up and wins the interim WBA Pan African title at super bantam title with late stoppage of inexperienced Mvula. After consecutive losses to Thabo Sonjica and Thabo Sishwane in 2014 Hlebe has rebounded nicely with three wins this year. Mvula is still shown as the South African super fly champion so he was out of his division here. October 17 New York, NY, USA: Middle: Gennady Golovkin (34-0) W TKO 8 David Lemieux (34-3). Fly: Roman Gonzalez (44-0) W TKO 9 Brian Viloria (36-5). Heavy: Luis Ortiz (23-0,1ND) W KO 3 Matias Vidondo (20-2-1). Middle: Tureano Johnson (19-1) W PTS 12 Eamonn O’Kane (14-2-1). Light: Maurice Hooker (19-0-2) W PTS 10Ghislain Maduma (17-1) . Golovkin vs. Lemieux Golovkin beats down a brave Lemieux to defeat to unify the WBA and IBF titles. Golovkin showed that despite his impressive knockout statistics it is a powerful left jab that sets the opponents up. He demonstrated this in the first snapping the Canadian’s head back time and again with a ramrod left that Lemieux could not find a way past. The jab was doing more than just stopping Lemieux in the second, it was forcing him back and letting Golovkin work his other punches and he had Lemieux on the ropes and hurt with a left to the body. Both fighters score with good rights in the third but Golovkin sharper and more accurate and there is no sign of Lemieux finding a way into the fight. The fourth sees Golovkin opening up in earnest crashing home rights to the head and forcing Lemieux to the ropes where he can work the Canadian over. In the fifth Lemieux starts out trying to trade with Golovkin and although he scores with a good combination the return fire from Golovkin is hellacious and a body punch puts Lemieux down and Golovkin commits the grievous sin of landing a punch just after Lemieux’s knees touch the floor. Golovkin apologises profusely to the referee and gets away with the misdemeanour. Lemieux does well to get up and the bell goes before Golovkin can capitalise on the knockdown. Lemieux actually gets into the fight in the sixth landing a hard body punch that makes Golovkin pause but by the end of the round the Kazakh fighter is again the one landing the heavy punches which are starting to make Lemieux’s face a mess. The referee has the doctor examine Lemieux in the seventh with the Canadian possibly having suffered a broken nose, but the fight continues with Golovkin again landing with heavy artillery. Early in the eighth a left hook to the body and a right from Golovkin sets Lemieux back on his heels and the referee stops the fight. The mark of a great fighter is whether he carries his punch into successively tougher fights and Golovkin has now won 21 fights in a row by KO/TKO with 16 of those fights being for some version off the world title. Everyone thinks they have a way to beat GGG until they get in the ring. He has not unified the WBC title as he is only their interim title a gesture they made so that they could hang onto the Kazakh’s coattails. Lemieux only ever had a punchers chance in this which against GGG is no chance but the Canadian fought hard and loudly protested the stoppage but it was the right decision as he was only going to take even more punishment. He is an exciting fighter and there are plenty of big fights out there for him-but not against GGG. Gonzalez vs. Viloria Gonzalez just grinds down a brave Viloria and retains his WBC title. Viloria was willing to stand and trade with Gonzalez and scored with enough good straight shots and hooks to probably edge the first round and be competitive in the second after that it was a case of Gonzalez waging a war of attrition. The Nicaraguan just kept pressing and pressing getting in close and thudding home hooks and uppercuts. Viloria had no choice but to fight inside with Gonzalez but the power gap was evident. In the third a right dropped Viloria and although he got up he suffered more heavy punishment before the round ended. When he was working inside Viloria was probably doing well enough to give him the edge over almost any other flyweight but Gonzalez was unmoved and relentless banging away at the head and body with those short hooks and uppercuts which were slowly wearing the “Hawaiian Punch” down. Viloria was able to land some hard counters of his own and fire off jabs and hooks when he could make some space but he could not match the power or work rate of Gonzalez and began to tire and the punches from Gonzalez were starting to bust up Vilonia’s face. At the end of the eighth round the doctor had a look at the damage and swelling to the right side of Viloria’s face but let the fight continue. The ninth was a painful ending for Viloria as he was just being overwhelmed by the hooks and uppercuts from Gonzalez and being driven backwards around the ropes until the referee had seen enough and stepped in to save Viloria. Third defence of his WBC title for 28-year-old Gonzalez, who is 14-0 in title fights over three divisions, has 38 wins by KO/TKO and has won inside the distance in 15 of his last 16 fights. By the end of 2016 he could have erased both Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather Jr from the record books as it is difficult to see anyone capable of beating him in the lower divisions. At 34 perhaps it is time for two division champion Viloria to retire. He did his best here but was up against the best little man in the world. He might fancy a second fight with WBA/WBO champion Juan Francisco Estrada who only beat him on a split decision in the title fight in 2013 but then there would still be Gonzalez to face. Ortiz vs. Vidondo Ortiz wins the interim WBA title with too easy stoppage of limited Argentinian Vidondo. The first round lacked any action as both just prodded with their respective jab with Ortiz trying the occasional long southpaw left. Ortiz was more focused in the second putting some snap into his jab and letting the left go. Vidondo was standing and trading but his punches lacked power and was leaving himself open to counters. Two straight lefts from Ortiz sent Vidondo staggering back to the ropes and as he rebounded forward a short right from Ortiz put Vidondo down on his hands and knees. He was up at six but was wobbling and he was shaken again just at the bell. In the third Ortiz again sent Vidondo into the ropes and landed a right and a left to the temple of Vidondo who collapsed face down on the canvas and the referee did not bother to count. The 36-year-old Cuban “Real King Kong” now has 20 wins by KO/TKO. Vidondo, 39, was having his first fight in a year. It is a sign of how the WBA regards drug cheats in that Ortiz fought and won this same title only 13 months ago only to be stripped for a positive test and is here fighting for the title again. Disgraceful. It is also incredible that a fight for the interim title can be fought between someone rated as low as 8 (Ortiz) and someone inactive for a year and down at 15 (Vidondo) it makes a nonsense of the ratings. Johnson vs. O’Kane Johnson wins what is essentially an IBF eliminator with O’Kane. It was almost over inside the first three minutes as Johnson slammed home a left to the head and a right hook which put O’Kane down. The Irish fighter made it to the vertical only for Johnson to curve some hooks around O’Kane’s guard and put him down for a second time. Somehow O’Kane made it out of the round but Johnson was on top again in the second to already have a commanding lead. However, O’Kane showed some Irish fighting spirit as he steadied himself in the third and by working inside nullified the power of Johnson’s punches. Johnson came awake enough to take the fourth but O’Kane was getting into his stride and edged the fifth and sixth. Johnson’s power came into play again in the seventh as he rocked O’Kane but the Irishman again forced Johnson to fight his fight inside in the eighth. From there Johnson took over again switching guards and threading spiteful punches through O’Kane’s guard as he boxed his way to the wide unanimous verdict. Scores 119-107, 118-108 and 117-109 all for Johnson. The Bahamian 31-year-old was on the cusp of a title fight when he was well in front against Curtis Stevens until a controversial stoppage with less than a minute to go in the last round of their fight in April 2014. Since then Johnson has now won 5 in a row. He was rated IBF 4(2) and was also No 3 with both the WBC and WBA. However O’Kane, 33, was IBF 3(1) making him the top rated fighter by the IBF and Johnson’s win over another rated fighter means he can now be moved to No 1 and the mandatory challenger for new IBF champion Golovkin. Hooker vs. Maduma Hooker retains his WBO NABO title with split decision over Maduma. This was a close hard fight with a decision that was not popular with all. Hooker made a quick start shaking Maduma with left in the first and clearly taking the second. Maduma got into the fight by edging the third. Hooker had a big fourth as he floored the Canadian with a right to build a big lead. Things changed in the sixth with Maduma staggering Hooker and then trapping him on the ropes and battering away at him with shots to head and body. Hooker was in deep water and only survived by clinging to Maduma for dear life and then spitting out his gumshield for additional respite. He got away with that without being penalised and Hooker then tried to use his jab to keep Maduma out. The Canadian had much the better of the second half of the fight and it looked to be anyone’s fight going into the last but Hooker staged the stronger finish to take the decision. Scores 95-93 and 95-94 for Hooker and 95-93 for Maduma. Texan “Mighty Mo” Hooper, 26, was in his first real test and just about deserved the decision. DRC-born Maduma was rebuilding. He took a year out after losing to Kevin Mitchell in April 2014 and had won against low level opposition in June. Fairfax, VA, USA: Welter: Lamont Peterson (34-3-1) W PTS 12 Felix Diaz (17-1). Welter: Terrel Williams (15-0) W DISQ 9 Prichard Colon (16-1). Super Light: Anthony Peterson (36-1) W KO 1 Mike Oliver (26-7-1). Super Middle: Lennox Allen (20-0-1) W TKO 2 Istvan Zeller (24-9). Peterson vs. Diaz Peterson gets majority decision over Diaz in a tight fight of contrasting styles. Southpaw Diaz was effective early with fast combination punching which earned him the first round but over the next four rounds Peterson was busier and more accurate and was outscoring the little Dominican. Diaz had a good spell in the middle rounds as he allowed Peterson to come forward and countered again with those quick bursts of combination punching and was confident enough to do some showboating. Peterson stuck to his task and was still pressing the fight. Diaz scored with some hard counters in the seventh. Normally strong in the later rounds after a good ninth it looked as though Peterson would pull away over the last three rounds but instead it was the clever boxing and speed of Diaz that came to the fore and he easily took the last round to seemingly put the verdict very much in doubt-but not for the judges. Scores 117-111 and 116-112 for Peterson and 114-114. It was close enough not to argue over the result but certainly over the scoring which did not reflect the trouble that the better boxing of Diaz had given Peterson. The 31-year-old from Washington was stripped of his IBF title in April and was rebounding from a controversial majority decision loss to Danny Garcia in April. The IBF still have him rated at super light in the No 4(2) position with only Antonio Orozco above him. Diaz, 31, the DR’s only boxing gold medal winner, turned pro after the 2008 Olympics and has spent six years effectively getting nowhere. He fought well in this one and showed plenty of skill so hopefully will get more high profile fights. Williams vs. Colon Williams gets the win but with Colon fighting for his life in hospital that almost seems insignificant. The unbeaten Colon took the first two rounds being quicker to the punch. Williams clawed back the third with some good left hooks only for Colon to take the fourth with a late flourish. The fifth turned ugly with Colon rocked early and then landing a low punch which put Williams down in agony. The referee gave Williams time to recover and then deducted two points from Colon as he considered the punch to be deliberate. A fired up Williams finishes the round strongly. The bad feeling carried on into the sixth with the referee warning of a double disqualification if they continue the dirty stuff and Williams again finishing strongly staggering Colon with a left hook. Williams is chasing Colon down in the seventh with the young Puerto Rican short on confidence and being rocked by a right. Another right puts Colon down but as Colon rightly argues it landed on the back of his head. The referee deducted a point from Williams gave Colon some recovery time and Colon did some good work to the bell to edge the round. The eighth was an even round with both having some success but the ninth is another big round for Williams. He shakes Colon with a left hook and then floors him with a combination. Another hard combination sends Colon down face first but he rolls over and gets up and is saved by the bell. Colon’s corner then started to remove their fighter’s gloves thinking that that was the tenth round. By the time they realise their mistake and get him gloved again they have taken too long and as their man is not ready to fight at the end of the one minute interval Colon is disqualified. Back in his dressing room Colon became unwell and was quickly transferred to a nearby hospital. He had suffered a subdural hematoma (brain bleed) and was operated on. As I write he is in an induced coma and in a critical condition. Peterson vs. Oliver Peterson gets predictable first round win over Oliver. Peterson needed only one hard right to put Oliver down and Oliver made no attempt to beat the count. Inactivity has led to Anthony taking a back seat to elder brother Lamont and this was only his sixth fight in the last five years. Oliver 35 was inactive for 13 months and since his return in August has now lost two fights inside the distance. Allen vs. Zeller Allen finally seems to be serious about his career as he gets his third win of the year. The Guyanan southpaw gave Zeller a broken nose with a right in the first and floored him in the second with the referee stopping the fig ht. The 30-yerar-old Allen has been a pro for 11 years. He had just one fight in 2012 one in 2013 and was inactive in 2014. Hungarian Zeller now has 8 losses by KO/TKO. Carson, CA, USA: Light Fly: Donnie Nietes (37-1-4) W PTS 12 Juan Alejo (21-4). Super Bantam: Albert Pagara (25-0) W KO 6 William Gonzalez (27-6). Super Light: Jason Pagara (37-2) W KO 2 Santos Benavides (25-8-2). Feather: Mark Magsayo (12-0)0) W KO 1 Yardley Suarez (13-1). Nietes vs. Alejo Nietes retains his WBO title with wide decision over Mexican Alejo in his first fight in the USA. The Filipino was a class or two above Alejo and used slick boxing to open Alejo’s defence and score with punches from both hands. He opened a cut under the Mexican’s eye with a punch in the second. The fourth saw Nietes slotting punch after punch through Alejo’s defence with right uppercuts catching the eye and Alejo’s attention and another punch saw Alejo cut under his right eye. A right from Alejo opened a slight cut over Nietes’ left eye in the sixth. Nietes had a big seventh as he unloaded rights and left hooks with Alejo’s knees buckling but the Mexican refused to fold despite the punishment. It was a one-sided fight as Nietes was able to pierce Alejo’s guard time and again. An overhand right from Alejo did momentarily shake Nietes but it was his only success and the only doubt left in the fight was whether Alejo could last the distance. Scores 119-109 twice and 120-108 for 33-year-old Nietes who was making the eighth defence of his WBO title. When his reign as WBO minimumweight is taken into account he is 14-0-1 in 15 title fights and he beat the man who put the draw there inside the distance in a return. He is unbeaten for over 11 years and the one fight he did lose was a split decision to an Indonesian in Indonesia. A remarkable record. “Pinky” Alejo had recovered well from losing his first three pro fights but there are no bog names in his record so this was a huge, too big, step up in class for him. Pagara vs. Gonzalez Pagara finds Gonzalez unfazed by the young Filipino’s reputation as a puncher and Pagara is forced to prove he can box as well as punch before halting Gonzalez in the sixth. Nicaraguan southpaw Gonzalez tried to overwhelm the younger man from the start marching forward throwing punches and forcing Pagara on to the back foot by the sheer ferocity of his attacks. Pagara slammed home counter after counter as Gonzalez advanced. In the second round Pagara floored Gonzalez with a hard combination but ruined the good work by landing the last punch in the combination after Gonzalez was down. That punch cost Pagara a point deduction and gained Gonzalez a five minute recovery time. Pagara continued to let Gonzalez do the leading and the Nicaraguan had some success with hard rights. In the fifth Pagara chose to go toe-to-toe and although it allowed Gonzalez more opportunities it also led to Pagara sitting down on his punches and punishing Gonzalez with hard rights. In the sixth the punishment caught up with Gonzalez and a straight right from Pagara saw Gonzalez slump to the floor. He had nothing left and just sat out the count. For me the 21-year-old “Prince Albert”, the younger brother of Jason, has the skill, determination and punch to be a world champion if not in 2016 then in 2017 but he needs some stiffer tests first. This is his 18th win by KO/TKO and he wins the WBC Youth Inter-Continental title (that really is scraping the bottom of the barrel to needlessly make this a title fight) and he is rated IBF 3(2)/WBC 6/WBO 6. Gonzalez, 34, lost a majority decision to Joseph Agbeko for the IBF bantam title in 2008 but then had some indifferent form until beating Cornelius Lock in May 2014 which was his last fight. This is his third loss by KO/TKO the others being to Ricardo Cordoba and Jhonny Gonzalez. Pagara vs. Benavides Jason makes it a winning family double as he stops experienced Benavides in two rounds. In the first Pagara was boxing cleverly and slotting home quick combinations as Benavides pressed forward with crude swings. In the second a combination to the head put Benavides down. He made it to his feet badly shaken. A body punch sent him down again and with just seven seconds remaining in the round another raid fire combination had Benavides down and the referee did not bother with the count. Now ten wins in a row for 27-year-old Pagara and 23 wins by KO/TKO. He has lost only one of his last 26 fights and reversed that with an inside the distance victory. He has wins over Aaron Herrera (25-1), Vlad Baez (19-1-2) And Mario Meraz (21-3). He is rated No 4 by the WBO. Nicaraguan southpaw Benavides, 33, has now lost 5 in a row, 4 by KO/TKO but against world rated opposition. Magsayo vs. Suarez Hot Filipino prospect Magsayo blows away Mexican Suarez in two minutes. Magsayo drove Suarez to the ropes and unleashed a storm of punches with Suarez flopping down to the canvas under the bottom rope. He was up at 6 and when the fight restarted Magsayo just blasted away until Suarez dropped down in a corner propped up by the ropes and the referee waived the fight over. The 22-year-old “Magnifico” retains his IBF Youth title and has 10 wins by KO/TKO including 8 in his last 9 fights but Suarez was no test and had built his record against weak opposition. Birmingham, England: Super Fly: Khalid Yafai (17-0) W PTS 12 Jason Cunningham (17-3). Welter: Sam Eggington (17-2) W PTS 12 Dale Evans (10-2-2). Super Welter: Matthew Macklin (34-6) W PTS 10 Jason Welborn (17-4). Super Bantam: Gamal Yafai (8-0) W PTS 10 Nasibu Ramadhani (18-8-1). Welter: Karl Wiggins (7-1) W TKO 2 Rob Hunt (22-4-2). Yafai vs. Cunningham Yafai just too quick and clever for Cunningham as he wins the vacant British title. The exquisite skills of Yafai never allowed southpaw Cunningham a foothold in the fight. Scoring with ease Yafai shook Cunningham with a left hooks in the fifth and scored a dubious knockdown in the sixth from a left that looked to land on the back of Cunningham’s head and with their legs also getting tangled. Cunningham got up complaining but the knockdown stood and was not really a factor due to the dominance of local fighter Yafai. Yafai was comfortable enough to indulge in some showboating on his way to the verdict. Scores 120-107 twice and 119-108. The 26-year-olsd former undefeated CBC champion who competed at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships has the talent to go all the way. CBC champion Cunningham, 26 is s good fighter but Yafai a much better one. Eggington vs. Evans Eggington retains the CBC and British titles but has to climb off the floor against late substitute Davies to do it. After a feeling out first round the fight came to life in the second when an overhand right from Davies floored Eggington. The champion got up and fired back with punches of his own to the bell. Eggington took over the fight in the third landing accurately to head and body from distance but then allowed himself to be drawn inside by Davies in the fourth where he was less effective. The pace dropped in the fifth and sixth before Eggington again got on top scoring with hard rights and using his strength to put Davies on the back foot in the seventh and eighth. Both fighters suffered cuts in a clash of heads in the ninth and with his face bloodied Davies had to soak up some punishment in the tenth and eleventh as Eggington landed thumping head punches and uppercuts. Davies needed a knockout in the last and he landed a short series of punches that definitely rocked the champion but it came too late and Eggington ran out a clear winner. Scores 117-110 twice and 116-110. Second defence of his CBC title for 22-year-old Eggington and revenge for one of his two pro losses as Davies beat him a Prizefighter Tournament in 2013. His only other loss also came in a Prizefighter Tournament but he has now won 8 fights on the bounce including victories over former CBC champion Denton Vassell (20-1) and Shane Singleton (20-0). His big test could come in a re-scheduled fight against Frankie Gavin in December. Welshman Davies, 23, came in at short notice of just ten days when Gavin had to withdraw with a foot injury. He was coming off a win over Adil Anwar (21-4) and he gave Eggington a hard fight and can rebound from this loss. Macklin vs. Welborn Macklin finds things tough as he moves down to super welter and he fails to impress as Welborn pushes him hard all the way. Welborn forced Macklin to trade from the outset with both fighters scoring to the body and the fight produced plenty of excitement and some controversy. They battled away over the first four rounds with little between them. Welborn had been warned for a low left hook in the third and in the fifth during a sustained bout of pressure from Welborn and with Macklin on the ropes Welborn landed another low left hook. The referee stopped the action and after walking a couple of paces Macklin went down on one knee. The referee deducted a point from Welborn and gave Macklin time to recover. Welborn again had Macklin under pressure on the ropes and landed a left hook on the band of Macklin’s trunks. The referee stopped the action and again Macklin walked a few paces and went down on one knee. The referee ruled it was a low punch but did not deduct a point nor count it as a knockdown and again gave Macklin recovery time so Welborn lost the chance of a 10-8 round which would have been important with the fight so close and Macklin got another breather. Macklin was trying something new in attempting to let Welborn come forward and counter him and whilst he was scoring well to the body it was allowing Welborn to gain momentum. They fought hard to the final bell with most rounds being very close as they fought a fierce battle with a clash of heads in the tenth momentarily stunning Macklin but Macklin held on for victory. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 all for Macklin who wins the vacant WBC International title. Third win for Macklin, 33, since suffering a shock kayo loss to Jorge Heiland in November. He had a struggle to get the decision in this one with many seeing Welborn as the winner so he still has work to do to convince people he can be a force at super welter. Welborn, 29, may have lost the decision but he also improved his status. His two other losses were against Frankie Gavin for the British welter title and new WBO champion Liam Smith for the British super middle title and he was coming off a good win over Ryan Aston. Yafai vs. Ramadhani A bit of a rocky ride for younger brother Gamal. He injured his left hand early in the fight and it threw him off his game for a while. However he still had enough skill with just one hand to stop southpaw Ramadhani getting into the fight and by the fifth round had completed his adjustment to not being able to use the jab and mainly having to use right leads and right hooks. Ramadhani tried hard but just could not pin down the elusive Yafai and lost a point for holding in the eighth and was well beaten. Referee’s score 99-91 for the Birmingham 24-year-old a former British amateur champion. He has suffered from hand injuries in the past so may be sidelined for a while. Tanzanian Ramadhani lost to Cunningham for the vacant CBC title in May and was also beaten on points by prospect Thomas Patrick Ward in September. Wiggins vs. Hunt Wiggins pulls off minor upset as he flattens Hunt in two to lift Hunt’s BBB of C Midlands Area title. Wiggins was aggressive from the start putting Hunt under pressure and trying to land with some big punches. He finally landed a big right late in the second round that put Hunt down and out cold with the referee immediately waiving the fight off and Hunt needing medical attention and help to get back to his corner. Wiggins, 35, had never been in a bout schedule for more than six round and had been halted inside a round by Daza Usher in March. He had also scored only one other inside the distance victory so this one really came out of the blue. After 5 wins in a row Hunt had been hoping for a shot at the British title but this, his fourth loss by KO/TKO, shattered that dream for now. Karlsruhe, Germany: Super Middle: Vincent Feigenbutz (21-1) W PTS 12 Giovanni De Carolis (23-6). Middle: Nuhu Lawal (21-0) W PTS 12 Arman Torosyan (16-2-1). Heavy: Kubrat Pulev (21-1) W PTS 8 George Arias (56-14). Light: Richard Commey (23-0) W TKO 5 Ramaz Bebnadze (16-3). Light Heavy: Enrico Koelling (19-1) W PTS 8 Karel Horejsek (4-4-1). Feigenbutz vs. De Carolis Feigenbutz scrapes past De Carolis with unpopular decision which shows the flaws in the German fighter. In the first round De Carolis was all fire pressing Feigenbutz and getting through with rights. He drilled one straight right through the German’s guard which sent Feigenbutz tumbling backwards to the canvas. Feigenbutz was up immediately and indicating angrily that it was not a knockdown but it was. De Carolis continued to come forward landing more rights with Feigenbutz getting caught by the punches but dropping his hands and urging De Carolis to hit him again which the Italian did. It was a bad start for Feigenbutz and the momentum was with Carolis. He was able to force Feigenbutz back with a stiff jab and strong rights. Feigenbutz looked to have hurt De Carolis with a body punch at the end of the third but De Carolis had edged the round. In the fourth the Italian knocked out Feigenbutz’s gumshield with a punch and then landed a huge right which had Feigenbutz staggering back in to the ropes badly shaken. De Carolis kept punching away and landed some more rights but Feigenbutz fought his way to the bell. At that stage all four judges had De Carolis in front 39-36. Feigenbutz used his strength and hard rights to take the fifth and sixth rounds on all three cards but De Carolis took over again as Feigenbutz tired. De Carolis did better in the seventh which was a closer round. De Carolis had the better of the eighth and at that point was still ahead on two cards and level on the third. The German fought back hard in the tenth as De Carolis was now dropping his hands and singing wildly. He was still catching Feigenbutz but the German began to claw back the deficit being busier and more accurate but. He did not seem to have done enough to overcome the Italian’s early lead but the judges saw it differently with two of them giving Feigenbutz the ninth, tenth and eleventh rounds and they voted 2-1 for Feigenbutz in the last. Scores 115-113 twice and 114-113 for Feigenbutz. Despite that strong finish he looked very lucky to hold on to his interim WBA title and to collect the GBU title. He had been carefully matched and rarely pushed in his other fights and this succession of easy wins had covered up flaws in his technique which De Carolis exploited. The challenger was able to hit Feigenbutz in every round with his stiff jab and long rights and Feigenbutz looked slow and had no plan B. Still only 20 he has time to tighten his defence and smooth out his other faults but was lucky to hold on to his title. The 31-year-old De Carolis was very much a live challenger. The 31-year-old Italian was 11-1- going in with the loss on points to Arthur Abraham for the WBO Inter-Continental title in 2013 and was coming off a good win over Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye (24-2-1) and as normal WBA shenanigans was slipped into the August ratings just in time for the title fight. Lawal vs. Torosyan Nigerian-born Lawal gets another upset wins as he decisions favoured Torosyan to collect the vacant GBU title. In a grudge match Lawal bossed the fight with Torosyan never really competitive as Lawal shut him down and floored the Armenian. Scores 119-109, 117-111 and 116-111. The 33-year-old Lawal, now a German citizen, is a former undefeated GBC champion and had outpointed Ronny Mittag (23-1-1) in July. He is hoping for some big fights but even this good win is unlikely to raise his profile a great deal. Berlin-based Torosyan, 32, had beaten Reda Zam Zam (27-2) and knocked out then unbeaten Danish prospect Torben Keller inside a round but admitted he was well beaten here. Pulev vs. Arias Pulev unimpressive in his return to action but wins wide unanimous decision over Brazilian veteran. It was a messy fight with the limited Arias having trouble getting inside the guard of the much taller Pulev losing a point for a head butt in the second and Pulev at times looking flustered when Arias did attack. The big Bulgarian was slow and his normally powerful right rarely found the target as he plodded his way to a boring victory. Scores 80-71 twice and 79-73. First fight for Pulev since being knocked out in five round by Wlad Klitschko in November in a fight in which only Klitschko’s IBF title was on the line. The 44-year-old Arias is really just a fat cruiser but with highly honed survival skills. Commey vs. Bebnadze Commey marches on. The dangerous Ghanaian makes it 21 wins by KO/TKO with stoppage of very modest Georgian. The unbeaten 28-year-old CBC champion is rated IBF 4(3)/WBC 11 but has largely remained under the radar as this is the sixth different country he has fought in his last seven contests. He sits right up there alongside Frederick Lawson as one of the most promising Ghanaian fighters. Bebnadze, 38, has a typical Georgian record-three fights outside Georgian and three losses by KO/TKO. Koelling vs. Horejsek Koelling wins clearly but still fails to impress. The WBO rated German outpointed Czech Horejsek on scores of 78-74 twice and 77-75 but made hard work of what should have been an easy assignment as he rebuilds after losing his unbeaten tag against Mirco Ricci in February. He is somehow still No 12 with the WBO. Horejsek is 2-4-1 in his last 7 fights. Uncasville, CT, USA: Super Welter: Demetrius Andrade (22-0) W TKO 2 Dario Pucheta (20-3). Light: Henry Lundy (26-5-1) W TKO 5 Carlos W Velasquez (23-22-1). Andrade vs. Pucheta Andrade returns to action for the first time in 16 months and easy halts Pucheta in two rounds. No sign of rust as Andrade floored Pucheta twice in the first round. It was over early in the second as a right dropped Pucheta for the third time and the referee just waived the fight over. The 27-year-old Providence southpaw allowed himself to be stripped of his WBO title now he will have to win it all over again. He collects the vacant WBA and WBO International titles and makes it 16 wins by KO/TKO. He will almost certainly fight for a version of a title next year. Argentinian Pucheta 28 loses by KO/TKO for the first time. He was coming off an upset stoppage of WBO rated welter Bethuel Ushona in October last year, but he had no chance here. Apart from the big edges Andrade had in power and skill Pucheta was a little 5’6” (165cm) guy facing a 6’1” (185cm) guy so had nothing at all going for him. Lundy vs. Velasquez Lundy gets back on track with stoppage of Velasquez and collects the vacant WBC Continental Americas title. Lundy was slightly the more enterprising in a slow first round but he was firing heavy punches in the second. A left had Velasquez wobbling early in the round and Lundy closed it with another heavy left. Velasquez decided to attack in the second and risk some more of those Lundy lefts but after some early success a series of left hooks from Lundy had Velasquez over and although Velasquez made it to his feet Lundy still had time to land a hurtful right before the bell. Velasquez almost managed to get through the fourth unscathed but just before the bell yet another left hook had him down. Lundy launched an all-out attack in the fifth and with nothing coming back from Velasquez the fight was halted. The 31-year-old from Philadelphia has tended to come up painfully short in the big fights and was coming back after consecutive losses, a split decision against Thomas Dulorme and a majority technical decision against Mauricio Herrera. He is an exciting competitive fighter so could yet land a title shot if he gets the breaks Nicaraguan Velasquez is 3-8 in his last 11 fights so just the right level for Lundy to rebuild on. Budapest, Hungary: Cruiser: Imre Szello (9-0) W TKO 5 Alejandro Valori (17-9). Heavy: Joszef Darmos (1-0-1) W TKO 1 George Ubah (1-4-2). Szello vs. Valori Szello gets tough test from Valori before the Argentinian’s corner throws in the towel. In the first round Valori showed he came to fight walking in throwing punches but Szell did most of the scoring with his jab/straight right combinations. Both had success in the second with Szello again slotting home jabs and rights and Valori landing a couple of clubbing shots to the head. but he generally had trouble find a way past the local fighters jab. In the third Valori forced Szello to brawl instead of standing off and using his skill. A low punch from Szello saw the referee give the Argentinian time to recover and then it was back to brawling. It was more close action in the fourth until Szell landed a left which put Valori on the floor. He was up at five and after the eight count walked straight back at Szell scoring with a swinging left and a right. Now Szello was stepping back and countering and he shook Valori with a right late in the round. In the fifth Valori was constantly walking into counters as he marched forward and just before the bell Szello landed a thumping left uppercut and a following right as the Argentinian slumped to his knees. As the referee was still counting the towel came in from Valori’s corner. The 32-year-old former amateur star Szello makes it 5 wins by KO/TKO. Former Argentinian champion Valori showed plenty of aggression and made Szello fight hard. He is 2-4 in his last 6 fights having lost to Nat Cleverly, Noel Gevor and Micki Nielsen in those 6 fights. Darmos vs. Ubah Darmos dominated the 91kg scene in Hungary as an amateur from 2004 to 2011 and landed a couple of bronze medals at the European championships. However he could only get a draw with Ubah in his first pro fight. He registered his first win here by halting Ubah. Darmos drove Ubah into a corner with a long right and then banged home a series of head punches until the referee stopped the fight. At 30 Darmos has left it late to turn pro. Ubah protested the stoppage but he was in deep water at the time. Wieliczka, Poland: Heavy: Krzys Zimnoch (18-0-1) W KO 1 Gbenga Oluokun (19-13). Light Heavy: Bart Grafka (15-18-1) W PTS 8 Pawel Glazewski (23-5). Light Heavy: Marek Matyja (10-0) W PTS 8 Michal Ludwiczak (12-2). Zimnoch vs. Oluokun Zimnoch makes short work of used-up Nigerian. Zimnoch came out fast and put Oluokun down with a right with the Nigerian up at nine and only just surviving the round. In the second Zimnoch landed a left/right combination and a short right to the head that put Oluokun down and out. First fight for two years for the 32-year-old Pole and win No 12 by KO/TKO. Oluokun is 3-13 in his last 16 fights with six losses by KO/TKO. Grafka vs. Glazewski Grafka gets revenge with an upset win over fellow-Pole Glazewski. Glazewski wanted to keep this an open fight where he could use his jab but Grafka used all-out pressure to force the better boxer to trade. A punch from Grafka opened a cut on Glazewski’s right eyelid but he then lost a point in the same round for a butt. Glazewski took the sixth but Grafka outfought him over the last two rounds to get the split verdict. Scores 78-73 and 76-75 for Grafka and 78-75 for Glazewski. Grafka, 27, was 4-8 in his previous 12 fights but did have a victory over German hope Dustin Dirks (27-1-1) in July. Glazewski, 33, had won every one of the ten rounds when they fought in 2013 but he was knocked out in one round by Juergen Brahmer in a fight for the WBA secondary title in December and been clearly outpointed by Maciej Miszkin in April. Matyja vs. Ludwiczak Matyja remains a winner with unanimous decision over Ludwiczak. Matyja made a good start to the first round only for a punch from Ludwiczak to open a cut on his eyebrow. For a couple of rounds Matyja lost his cool over the cut but once he settled he was scoring with good left hooks and shook Ludwiczak with a right cross in the fifth. The sixth was even but Matyja took the seventh and a body punch in the last had Ludwiczak hanging on desperately to the finish. Scores 78-74 twice and 79-73. Good win for the 25-year-old former Polish Junior champion and EU No 17. Ludwiczak, also a former Polish Junior champion has lost 2 of his last 3 fights now. Mafikeng, South Africa: Super Feather: Jasper Seroka (26-4) W TKO 10 David Rajuili (6-3-1). Seroka retains the South African title with stoppage of game but limited challenger Rajuili. It was a one-sided fight with only Rajuili’s courage keeping him in the fight. The referee was considering stopping the fight in the eighth but Rajuili was not ready to surrender and insisted in fighting on. He stood up to the punishment in the ninth but the fight was finally stopped just before the bell in the tenth. Second defence of his title for Seroka and fifth win in a row in domestic fights. The 23-year-old Rajuili was No 4 in the BSA rankings and had won his last 5 fights but had never gone past four rounds before and was having his first fight for ten months. Torrelavega, Spain: Super Welter: Sergio Garcia (19-0) W TKO 6 Alan Casillas (5-9). Hometown fighter Garcia has no trouble with inexperienced Mexican. The Sergio Martinez managed Garcia floored Casillas in the first and only the ropes prevented him going down for a second time. Garcia continued to wear the Mexican down spearing him with left jabs and banging home rights to the body until the referee stopped the fight in the sixth. Now eleven wins by KO/TKO for the lanky 23-year-old from Torrelavega. Four losses in a row for Casillas. London, England: Cruiser: Matty Askin (18-3-1) TEC DRAW 1 Lawrence Burnett (7-1-1). Super Middle: Leon McKenzie (7-0-1) W RTD 6 John McCallum (7-1). Middle: Joe Mullender (9-1) W RTD 6 Ben Davies (7-3-1). Light: Floyd Moore (12-6-1) W TKO 4 Danny Carter (6-2). Super Welter: Kris Agyei-Dua (8-3-2) W TKO 3 Freddie Turner (11-0). Askin vs. Burnett Askin retains his English title after bizarre ending that sees both fighters fall out of the ring in the first round. Both landed a punch early Askin a strong right and southpaw Burnett a counter left. As Askin moved in Burnett swatted him on the side of the head with a right and Askin slipped down on one knee. The referee did not count it as a knockdown. After a couple of more exchanges Burnett pushed forward into Askin with his head under Akins right arm. They both stumbled back to and through the two top ropes landing outside the ring with Burnett on top. Aston got the worse of it being underneath and he was taken to the local hospital where it was reported he had suffered severe bruising to his ribs and back. Askin’s camp are lodging a protest saying that Bennett should be disqualified for deliberately barging Askin out of the ring. A disappointing ending for both fighters. McKenzie vs. McCallum The first round was close with both southpaw McKenzie and McCallum trying to establish their respective jabs. McKenzie started the second round well but McCallum finished it strongly to take the round. McKenzie had the better of the third and fourth rounds forcing McCallum back with his right jab dominating from ring centre and scoring with straight rights. It was all McKenzie in the sixth as he sent McCallum staggering backwards three times from straight lefts and although McCallum rallied at the end of the round a cut he had suffered over his left eye was too severe for him to continue and he did not answer the bell for the seventh round. McKenzie, 37, a former professional footballer with Crystal Palace, Norwich, Coventry City and Peterborough wins this British title eliminator. He did not turn pro until he was 35 and is still very raw but strong. Scot McCallum was having his first ten round fight and his first fight in 17 months which must have affected his sharpness. Mullender vs. Davies “Smokin Joe” Mullender wins English title eliminator with stoppage of Barnsley’s Davies to rack-up his fourth win in a row. Second loss by KO/TKO for Davies who had won his last two fights. Moore vs. Carter Moore wins the BBB of C Southern Area title for the second round with stoppage of gutsy Carter. The Fareham fighter used a sustained body attack to break down southpaw Carter and perhaps even break his ribs. Carter was competitive but lacked the power to hold Moore off and paid for it. In the fourth a storm of body punches put Carter down in a corner. He did well to get up but never got out of the corner as another volley of body punches from Moore saw him drop down again and the referee waived the fight off without a count. Remarkable win for Moore who broke his collar bone in a cycling accident and was only able to resume sparring four weeks before the fight. Second win for the 25-year-old “Pacman” after a disappointing run of three losses. Carter took a year out after losing to Andy Keats but had returned with a win in March. Agyei-Dua vs. Turner As with the main event this one too had an unfortunate ending. Turner started well flooring Agyei-Dua with a body punch in the first. Agyei-Dua got up and gave Turner some of his own medicine with a knockdown in the third. Turner twisted his knee when going down and was unable to continue. After a draw and two losses Agyei-Dua finally wins the Southern Area title at the fourth attempt. He had lost to Turner in a title challenge in July last year and this was his first fight since then. That win over Agyei-Dua was also Turner‘s last fight and he will feel unlucky to lose his unbeaten record and his title this way. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Light: Paul Hyland Jr (8-0) W PTS 8 Bence Molnar (13-6). Feather: James Tennyson (14-1) W KO 2 George Gachechiladze (18-21-1). Hyland vs. Molnar Hyland wins wide decision over Molnar but the Hungarian was always willing to trade and made it a good test for Hyland. After Hyland shaded the first round both fighters racked up the action in the next two with Hyland just out scoring Molnar but with both landing heavy punches. The action slowed a little in the fourth with the cleaner work of Hyland giving him those rounds. He also took the fifth but Molnar signalled he was still in the fight with a series of good uppercuts which shook Hyland briefly as the round ended. Hyland used his better skills to make room and outbox Molnar in the sixth and they fought hard over the closing rounds with Hyland having the edge but Molnar forcing the Belfast man to fight hard to the final bell. Referee’s score 80-73 for Hyland. Good eight rounds of work for the 25-year-old Hyland but a lack of a big punch makes these fights harder than they should be. Molnar, 20, keeps his record of never losing by KO/TKO. Tennyson vs. Gachechiladze Tennyson’s power too much for little Georgian. The first round was mainly one of feeling out with Tennyson trying to figure out how to deal with the spoiling tactics of the 5’3” (160cm) Gachechiladze. Once he figured that out the fight was over. A right put Gachechiladze down early in the second and a left to the body had the Georgian writhing in agony on the mat as he was counted out. Now eleven wins by KO/TKO for 22-year-old Tennyson. Since suffering a “just one of those things” stoppage loss to a fighter with a 2-64-5 record in 2013 Tennyson has scored 6 wins including a victory over Kris Hughes for the BBB of C Celtic title. Gachechiladze is 3-10 in his last 13 fights. Rotherham, England: Fly: Thomas Essomba (6-1) W TKO 11 Waleed Din (7-1). Super Middle: Liam Cameron (19-4) W TKO 4 George Beroshvili (21-7-2). Essomba vs. Din Essomba wins the vacant CBC title with late stoppage of Din. The Cameroon fighter was just too strong for Din and to some extent bullied his way to victory. He had Din on the back foot for much of the fight. He put the clever boxing Din down in the fourth and never really allowed the Sheffield fighter to use his skill. He was pushing Din around in the clinches and sometimes wrestling him over with Din not able to establish any rhythm. The pressure also saw Din spitting out his gumshield a couple of times as he tired and two knockdowns in the eleventh round saw Din’s corner throw in the towel. The 27-year-old Essomba has a curious background. After competing in the World Military Championships, the Commonwealth Games the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships BoxRec has him losing his first pro fight against Frenchman Yoan Boyeaux at the end of 2009. However he then represent Cameroons at both the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics in London where after losing to Paddy Barnes he absconded from the team finally settling in the North East of England where he “resumed” his pro career in July last year. Din was going past six rounds for the first time but just found Essomba too strong. Cameron vs. Beroshvili Cameron returned to the winning column with stoppage of yet another Georgian. The Sheffield fighter used a stiff jab to control the action and mixed in a good array of hard hooks to the body. The action was one-sided and the hooks to the body took their toll and a discouraged Beroshvili went down in the fourth with the fight being halted. . First fight for Cameron since losing a close verdict to Luke Blackledge for the vacant CBC title in April and his seventh win by KO/TKO. Beroshvili, 23, had won 5 of his last 6 fights and was knocked out in two rounds by Martin Murray in June. Phoenix, AZ, USA: Super Bantam: Jessie Magdaleno (22-1) W TKO 1 Vergel Nebran (14-10-1). Light Heavy: Trevor McCumby (21-0) W PTS 8 Dustin Craig Echard (11-,1ND). Magdaleno vs. Nebran No way was Magdaleno going to let it be two losses for the family in the month. He just blew Nebran away flooring the Filipino with a left to the body. Nebran made it to his feet but another body punch put him down and he was counted out. The 23-year-old southpaw, a former NGG and US National champion, has 16 wins by KO/TKO exactly half of them being first round endings. He is rated WBA 3/IBF (4)/WBC 11 and should get a chance late in 2016 to try to bring home a title after elder brother Diego failed to do so for the second time being stopped in two rounds by Terry Flanagan on 10 October. Nebran is 3-6 in his last 9 fights but has been in tough matches with Tomas Rojas, Rey Vargas and Cris Mijares in a fight in which he had Mijares on the floor. McCumby vs. Echard McCumby moves to 21 wins but has to come off the floor. The big puncher from Arizona has been used to seeing his opponent on the floor but this time it was McCumby who ended up there in the third round. He dusted himself off and although not being able to replay the favour and put Echard down he did box his way to a comfortable victory. Scores 79-73 for all three judges. First time the 23-year-old former US Under-19 champion has gone past the sixth round for a win. Echard, 29, had been stopped in two rounds by unbeaten Ahmed Elbiali in February. Quincy, MA, USA: Cruiser: Chris Traietti (19-3) W TKO 3 Gary Tapusoa (7-5-1). Traietti has to overcome an early shock to halt hard-punching Tapusoa. Early in the first a right from Tapusoa put Traietti on the floor. The local fighter was badly shaken when he got up but Tapusoa was wild with his follow-up punches and as Traietti’s head cleared he was able to bang back at the bell. Traietti made a fresh start in the second doing what he had planned to do in the first using his jab to set Tapusoa up and then banging home straight rights. That worked with a right putting Tapusoa down late in the round. It was all over in the third as Traietti scored three knockdowns and the fight was stopped. The 30-year-old Quincy fighter wins the WBC USNBC title and makes it 9 wins in a row by KO/TKO since losing inside the distance to Edwin Rodriguez in 2011. Tapusoa does not do distance fights as he has 6 wins inside the distance and now 5 losses by KO/TKO. Carlton, MN, USA: Light Heavy: Cornelius White (22-4) W Marcus Oliveira (26-1-1). White vs. Oliveira White just gets past Oliveira with a majority decision in a fight between two fighters trying to rebuild. Scores 97-92 twice and 95-95. Second win for the tall Texan White, 33, after a run of losses to Sergey Kovalev, Thomas Williams and Marcus Browne. Oliveira, 36, lost on points to Juergen Braehmer for the WBA secondary title in December 2013 and was then inactive until returning with a routine win in August this year. Vera Cruz, Mexico: Feather: Tomas Rojas (46-14-1,1ND) W TKO 9 Edward Mansito (13-3-2). Super Middle: Marco Periban (23-3-1) W KO 2 Joshua Okine (28-5-1). Rojas vs. Mansito Rojas rides out an early storm to stop Filipino. Mansito spent most of the fight trying to pin down the clever and elusive Mexican southpaw without much luck. He used up plenty of energy in the chase and as he tired Rojas began to slam home counter after counter. Mansito kept throwing punches but was taking too much incoming fire and the referee stopped the fight in the ninth. The 35-year-old former WBC super fly champion wins the vacant WBC Continental Americas title up at feather. He has won 10 of his last 11 fights with the loss being against Shinsuke Yamanaka for the WBC bantam title in 2012. Mansito, the GAB No 11 feather, had a ten bout winning streak broken when he lost to world rated Mexican Rey Vargas in May. Periban vs. Okine Periban takes out overmatched Ghanaian in second. Former CBC welter champion Okine was fighting way above his normal division and normal quality of opposition as well as having his first fight since May 2013. He was never in with a chance and a right from Periban put him down and out in the second which probably saved him from a more prolonged beating. Periban, 31, lost a majority verdict to Sakio Bika for the vacant WBC title in 2013 and drew with current WBC champion Badou Jack in the same year. Things went downhill from there with losses against J’Leon Love and James DeGale but he has won three fights this year so hopes to get a title shot against Jack in 2016. Fights had dried up for 35-year-old Okine in Ghana but this was a bad start to an attempt to get more fights. Auvillers-les-Forges, France: Light Heavy: Mehdi Amar (32-4-2) W PTS 12 Serhiy Demchenko (15-8-1). Cruiser: Arsen Goulamirian (12-0) W PTS 8 Lukasz Rusiewicz (20-22) Amar vs. Demchenko Amar retains his EU title with unanimous decision over Rome-based Ukrainian Demchenko. The champion made the better start showing more movement and accuracy than Demchenko who was pressing the fight and trying to keep it in close. At the end of four rounds Amar was ahead comfortably on two cards at 40-36 and 39-37 but the third judge was more impressed by the aggression of the challenger and had them even. Demchenko tried hard over the next four rounds to swing things his way as he stepped up his attacks but Amar was outboxing him and by the end of the eighth was in front on all three cards 78-74, 77-75 and 76-74. With only two points separating them it was close but Amar had a good ninth to taking it on all three cards leaving Demchenko with a tough task. The Ukrainian clawed his way back into the fight by being the busier fighter over the tenth and eleventh but Amar shut him out with a dominating last round. Scores 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.Good testing first defence for the 33-year-old from Marseilles as he prepares for a defence against fellow-Frenchman Hakim Zoulikha on November 21. Amar is now 9-0-2 in his last 11 fights. Demchenko was lucky to land the title shot after a run of 4 losses in 5 fights but a win and a draw against useful Finnish fighter Juho Haapoja had seen him creep into the EU ratings at No 22. Goulamirian vs. Rusiewicz French-based Armenian “Feroz” Goulamirian continues to make steady progress as he takes the unanimous decision over Pole. Goulamirian took the verdict on scores of 80-73, 78-74 and 77-75. He deserved the win; his fifth of the year but the rugged Rusiewicz gave his usual gritty showing and has only lost twice by KO/TKO
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A huge thanks to our good friend Eric Armit for this, as always.
The Past Week In Action 12 October 2015 Kissimmee, FL, USA: Feather: Orlando Cruz (22-4-1) W PTS 10 Gabion Cota (18-5-1). Super Welter: Emmanuel De Jesus (16-0) W TKO 4 Cosme Rivera (38-22-3,1ND). Cruz vs. Cota Cruz outpoints Cota but the Mexican makes him fight hard all of the way. The clever southpaw boxing of Cruz was allowing the Puerto Rican to get off first and Cota found Cruz an elusive target. Cota kept coming forward trying to get Cruz trapped on the ropes but Cruz was ducking and diving and countering with Cota wild with his punches. In the fifth both a left and right from Cota landed low and Cruz was given some recovery time. Cota continued to press the action in the sixth but was reaching with his punches and leaving himself open for bursts of combination punches from Cruz and the Mexican shipped a hard right hook and straight left at the end of the eighth. Cota started the ninth with a concerted ferocious attack pinning Cruz on the ropes for almost a minute with Cruz only able to block or absorb Cota’s punches with no chance to counter. That effort left Cota punched out and as the round closed it was Cruz hunting down Cota and trapping the Mexican on the ropes and unloading. Cruz landed a low punch and was given a stern warning to keep his punches up. Cota was walking Cruz down in the tenth taking the Puerto Rican to the ropes and swinging wide hooks from both hands. As in the ninth when the storm blew itself out Cruz was the one forcing Cota back and landing from both hands. As they tired Cruz missed a punch and slipped to the canvas but it was rightly not counted and Cruz finished strongly. Scores 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Cruz. The first score was unfair on Cota and the last too close. Cota had struggled to make the weight but it did not seem to affect him. The 34-year-old Cruz wins the vacant WBO NABO super feather title. He suffered back-to-back losses against Omar Salido for the WBO title in October 2013 and a ten rounder against Gamaliel Rodriguez in April last year. He was then inactive until returning in June with a win. “ Flash” Cota, 22, has lost 4 of his last 5 fights but Cruz was never able to relax against the young man from south of the border. De Jesus vs. Rivera De Jesus remains unbeaten with win over veteran Rivera. The bout was halted at the end of the fourth round due to a bad cut under the right eye of Rivera. The tall 22-year-old Puerto Rican “Pirate” now has 10 wins by KO/TKO. He was Puerto Rican amateur champion, Pan American Junior champion and represented Puerto Rico at both the World Youth Championships and the Pan American Games. He is one of the hottest prospects in Puerto Rico. Rivera is a former IBF/WBC/WBA welter title challenger but at 39 that is history and he is 3-7 in his last 10 fights. Ghent, Belgium: Cruiser: Dmytro Kucher (23-1-1) DREW 12 Bilal Laggoune (19-0-2). Super Welter: Sasha Yengoyan (33-2-1) W TKO 7 Fouad El Massoudi (13-6). Kucher vs. Laggoune The European title remains vacant after Kucher and Laggoune finish all even. Kucher was the favourite and started out that way forcing the fight and taking the early rounds. It was mid-fight before Laggoune sorted out a response and then he got into the fight and picked up a few rounds. Kucher got back into the fight and although Laggoune had a good ninth and looked to have edged the eleventh Kucher took the tenth and then the last round and with his early superiority looked to have won comfortably. The judges could not agree amongst themselves. Scores 118-112 for Kucher, 115-113 for Laggoune and 114-114 denying Kucher a deserved victory. It can be tough to win in the other guy’s backyard even with neutral judges. Hopefully the EBU will order a return. Ukrainian Kucher, 31, dropped a majority decision to Illunga Makabu for the vacant WBC Silver title in July 2013 and this is only his third fight since then. He is No 9 with the WBC. Former undefeated European Union champion Laggoune, 22, was in his first real tests. He was lucky to keep his unbeaten tag but Kucher was a tough opponent and he is young enough to take any lessons on board and can only improve. Yengoyan vs. El Massoudi “The Beast from the East” finally wears down and stops El Massoudi. There is nothing fancy about Yengoyan’s style which is built on strength and punching power rather than skill and accuracy. El Massoudi had the edge in those departments and after a couple of even rounds the Frenchman built a lead. Yengoyan’s strength began to tell, in the sixth as he was landing some heavy shots. A left in the seventh had El Massoudi on the ropes and in deep trouble. Yengoyan’s follow up barrage saw the referee stop the fight over the protests of El Massoudi but it looked a timely stoppage. The 30-year-old Armenian-born Yengoyan, a former WBFed champion, makes it 22 wins by KO/TKO. He has won 12 of his last 13 fights with the loss in there being to former IBF welter champion Jan Zavcek in a defence of the WBFed title in April. El Massoudi, 27, was 8-2 in his last 10 fights going into this one and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Cerete, Colombia: Bantam: Vargas Yeison (8-0) W PTS 10 Elkin Rosario (4-11-2). Super Bantam: Luis Diaz (16-2-1) W KO 3 Yael Made (6-2). Yeison vs. Rosario Yeison wins vacant national title with unanimous decision over Rosario. The unbeaten Yeison made his usual fast start having Rosario in trouble in the first from a series of hard lefts with Rosario only just lasting to the bell. Yeison continued to be on top in the next three rounds but Rosario banged back in the fifth with a series of hard body punches. The fight was more even from that point with both trading bombs in the eighth but with Yeison finishing stronger top take the decision and the national title. First ten round fight for promising 26-year-old former Colombian amateur champion Yeison. Four losses in a row for Rosario. Diaz vs. Made Local fighter Diaz extends his unbeaten run to 14 with knockout of Made. Diaz jumped on Mead in the first round and had the DR fighter under fire for the whole three minutes. Mead had a better second round but it was still Diaz landing the heavier punches. Within the first minute of the third a series of punches put Made down. He made it to his feet but a right from Diaz put him down again and Made was counted out. Now 9 wins by KO/TKO for the 22-year-old “Machete” Diaz. Second loss by KO/TKO for Dominican Made. Dojo, France: Light: Daouda Sow (18-0) W PTS 8 Bibi Ondoua (11-6). Former undefeated French champion Sow given eight goods rounds of work by Ondoua. The classy Sow, fresh from three weeks training in Florida, landed some hard shots in the first but fellow Frenchman Ondoua shook them off. The high pace set in the first continued through the eight rounds. Southpaw Sow’s speed, accuracy and pressure threatened to overwhelm Ondoua at times. Sow’s skills often had Ondoua swishing air but Ondoua was able land more punches than might have been expected against Sow but Ondoua is a light puncher. Sow won the unanimous decision but Ondoua also came out with credit. Only the referee scored this one and he had it 79-73 for Sow. The 32-year-old Sow was a silver medallist at the 2008 Olympics beating current IBF super feather champ Jose Pedraza in one of the early bouts in the series. He has also competed in the WSB and AIBI Professional League. His big test will come in November when he faces fellow Frenchman Yves Mendy. Ondoua had won 7 of his last 8 fights. Marcken Calais, France: Middle: Joffrey Jacob (11-0) W PTS 8 Nodar Robakidze (14-15-3). The Jacob clan’s youngest active member continues unbeaten but is given a good fight by travelling loser Robakidze. Jacob had to overcome a facial cut caused by an accidental elbow in the first. He is a quick stylish boxer but lacks real power and the good and the bad showed here as he generally dominated but never looked like stopping Robakidze. Scores 78-72 twice and 77-75 all for local fighter. For Jacob, 22, it was his second time over eight rounds. Robakidze, 22, is 0-6 in fights in Britain and is heading that way in France. Clermont-Ferrand, France: Light Heavy: Igor Mikhalkin (17-1) W PTS 12 Hugo Kasperski (26-6-1). Mikhalkin retains European title with convincing unanimous decision over hometown fighter Kasperski. Kasperski shook Mikhalkin with right early but the Russian southpaw had the superior technique outboxing and out-jabbing the Frenchman who just could not find an answer to the Russians southpaw jab and accurate lefts. Mikhalkin kept getting through with choice uppercuts and left hooks. He had his tactics spot on and even Kasperski admitted he had not been able to find an answer. Kasperski tried to find the punch he needed in the last round but even then he was walking onto counters as Mikhalkin picked him off in an impressive performance. Scores 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113. Second defence of his EBU title by 30-year-old Hamburg-based Mikhalkin, the WBC No 11, but he needs to be more active with just 6 fights in the last 5 years. The 28-year-old Kasperski had won his last 5 fights but says he will review with his coaches where he goes from here. Osaka, Japan: Feather: Hiroshige Osawa (28-3-4) W TKO 5 Shota Yamaguchi (13-2). Osawa beats Yamaguchi on a cut. Yamaguchi tried to use his youth, aggression and a body attack to wear down the more experienced Osawa. In the second a punch from Osawa opened a bad cut over the left eye of Yamaguchi. Knowing the cut was bad Yamaguchi launched wild attacks in the third and fourth forcing Osawa to the ropes but not being to land a decisive punch and Osawa was in control at the end of the fourth. In the fifth punches worsened Yamaguchi’s cut and at the end of the round the referee stopped the fight despite the protests from Yamaguchi’s corner. The 30-year-old former OPBF champion, the WBO No 11, is 12-0-1 in his last 13 fights. Yamaguchi, 25, had won 5 of his last 6 fights and was moving up to ten rounds for the first time. Prachuap, Thailand: Minimumweight: Samartlek (23-5) W TKO 8 Oscar Raknafa (12-12). Super Fly: Norasingh (17-0-1) W TKO 2 Kichang Kim (6-3-1). Samartlek vs. Raknafa Samartlek wins the vacant WBC ABC title with stoppage of Indonesian Raknafa in a poor match. The 30-year-old Thai was stopped in eleven rounds by Japanese star Naoya Inoue in a challenge for the WBC light fly title in September last year. This is his sixth win since then. Now 9 losses in a row for Raknafa. Norasingh vs. Kim Another bit of rubbish sees Norasingh halt Indonesian teenager Kim in two rounds. Norasingh, 29, retains his WBC ABC Silver title and has won 8 of his last 9 fights by KO/TKO. He is rated WBA 3/WBC 13. Kim, 19, “The Lion of Borneo”!! Goes to 3 losses by KO/TKO but as with many Indonesians I am not sure his record is complete. A pity to see the WBC lending its name to rubbish like this. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Feather: Victor M Rodriguez (38-4-1) W TKO 9 Diego Chaves (14-11-4). Rodriguez has to shed some rust before beating Chaves. In his first fight for 19 months Rodriguez made a slow start conceding the first round to Chaves and sharing the next two as Chaves looked quicker and sharper. Rodriguez got rolling in the sixth as Chaves seemed to tire. A right to the chin put Chaves down in the seventh and had him badly shaken and in real trouble with a right to the chin in the eighth and a follow-up shower of punches. Chaves was finished and he did not answer the bell for the ninth round. Rodriguez, 30 was beaten in three rounds by Adrien Broner for the vacant WBO feather title in 2011. Third loss by KO/TKO for Chaves who is 4-2 in his last 6 fights. October 10 Manchester, England: Light: Terry Flanagan (29-0) W TKO 2 Diego Magdaleno (28-2). Super Welter: Liam Smith (21-0-1 ) W TKO 7 John Thompson (17-2). Super Middle Luke Blackledge (20-2-2) W PTS 12 Lee Markham (14-3-1). Light Thomas Stalker (10-1-2) DREW 10 Craig Evans (14-2). Super Welter: Jimmy Kilrain Kelley (16-0) W PTS 10 Martin Fidel Rios (16-7-3). Super Light: Jack Catterall (13-0) W PTS 10 Jarkko Putkonen (12-1). Super Feather: Adrian Gonzalez (12-1) W TKO 4 Jon Kays (21-5-1).Bantam: Ryan Burnett (11-0) W KO 2 Robert Kanalas (10-5). Middle: Vijender Singh (1-0) W TKO 3 Sonny Whiting (2-2). Flanagan vs. Magdaleno Hugely impressive win by Flanagan as he retains his WBO title with second round stoppage of Magdaleno. Flanagan made a confident start establishing his jab early and with Magdaleno seeming to have trouble with his footing as he slipped to the canvas twice in the opening round. Magdaleno was down again from a slip at the start of the second but the next time he went down it was no slip. A heavy right hook from Flanagan put Magdaleno down. He was up and took the eight count but had not really recovered. Flanagan leapt on the challenger with a left uppercut and a fusillade of hooks with Magdaleno again going down. He got up but when the action restarted Flanagan had him trapped on the ropes and continued to unload punches from both hands to force Magdaleno to the canvas for the third time. The referee might have stopped it then but he gave Magdaleno every chance allowing the fight to continue but with Magdaleno again trapped on the ropes and not fighting back the fight was stopped. Great win for the 26-year-old local fighter. He won the title in unfortunate circumstances when Jose Zepeda suffered a dislocated shoulder in the second round of their fight for the vacant title in July but if that left with Flanagan with a feeling he had something to prove he did it here in the way he blasted out his No 1 challenger. He must feel he would have a good chance in unification fights with either WBC champion Jorge Linares or the winner of the WBA title fight between champion Darleys Perez and fellow-Brit Anthony Crolla if either fight can be made. Magdaleno, 28, had lost on a split decision against Roman Martinez for the WBO super feather title in 2013 but had successfully rebuilt with five wins. Smith vs. Thompson Smith overcomes a pedestrian start to catch up with and dispose of Thompson to win the vacant WBO title. He becomes the first of the four Smith brothers to win a world crown. The taller and quicker Thompson was the busier in the first round and although not always accurate he could put the first round in the bank. Thompson continued to utilise his long reach to score with jabs and straight rights and although Smith always looked dangerous Thompson was pocketing the rounds and building a good lead. Smith managed to score with some rights in the fourth but Thompson was proving an elusive target and Smith was having trouble getting past the jab as the American edged the fifth. Smith finally began to let his hands go in the sixth. He was stalking Thompson shaking him with a right and thumping home heavy rights and lefts. Thompson slipped over late in the round but was nailed by some brutal punches and was glad to hear the bell. Smith knew he had hurt Thompson badly in the sixth and went out to end it in the seventh. Smith had Thompson under fire but the American was trying to fight back until a crunching right put him face down on the canvas. Thompson tried to get up but pitched down onto the canvas again and the fight was over. Twenty-seven-year-old Liverpudlian Smith, a former undefeated CBC and British champion, was not a noted puncher in his early fights getting only 5 wins by KO/TKO in his first 16 fights but that has changed and he has won 6 on the bounce inside the distance. Brother Paul has failed in two shots at the WBO super middle title but his other siblings, Callum and Stephen could soon follow in Liam’s footsteps. “Apollo Kid” Thompson,26, had done nothing until he climbed off the floor to win the ESPN Boxcino Tournament in May but was No 5 with the WBO with other fighters above him unavailable. Blackledge vs. Markham Blackledge retains the CBC title with very close unanimous decision over Markham. This one was close all the way with neither boxer really opening a gap in the points. It started badly for Blackledge as he emerged from the first round with a cut over his right eye. He then began to pick up points when boxing from a distance and the injury situation was levelled up as Markham had a swelling by his left eye in another clash of heads. It was a very open fight with both fighters trying to dominate the ring centre with Markham making Blackledge fight in close and looking to be the heavier puncher. Blackledge gradually began to increase his work rate and was going to the body more. The contest was gruelling but not really catching fire but with neither dominating it was hard to score. Both tried to swing things their way over the closing rounds with Markham looking to have shaken Blackledge with a right in the eleventh but Blackledge outworking Markham in the last. Scores 116-113, 116-114 and 115-114 for Blackledge. First defence of his CBC title for the 25-year-old from Accrington. His losses were a close decision against Erik Skoglund in Denmark and a first round stoppage against Rocky Fielding for the CBC title in 2013. Since then Blackledge has won 6 in a row including a close unanimous verdict over Liam Cameron for the vacant CBC title. “ Banjo” Markham, 27, had shared a split draw with Frank Buglioni in May and deserves a return. Stalker vs. Evans Once more Stalker gets a disappointing outcome as he tries to fulfil the promise he showed as an amateur. Evans took the first round looking sharp and surprising Stalker with his fast start as he had Stalker stumbling. Stalker was unfazed by a hard right in the second and did enough to offset the deficit from the first round. Both landed some good punches in the third but Evans shaded it with a flourish at the end. After an even fourth Stalker took the next three rounds upping his work rate and making good use of his edges in height and reach to outbox the Welshman. Evans was not finished as he edged the eighth and looked unlucky not to be credited with a knockdown in the ninth when he seemed to land a punch before Stalker went down but it was ruled a slip. Stalker seemed to have made the decision safe by decisively winning the last round knocking out the Welshman’s gumshield with a left and landing some good combinations to round off a good fight. The judges were divided at the end of this entertaining all-southpaw contest with scores of 97-93 for Stalker, 96-94 for Evans and 95-95. The WBO European title remains vacant. The 31-year-old former Commonwealth Games gold medallist, European silver medallist and World Championships bronze medallist is now 1-1-2 in his last 4 fights having been stopped by Jack Catterall in October in a fight for the vacant WBO European title at lightweight. Evans, 26, was no slouch as an amateur himself being Welsh and British champion and getting a bronze medal at the EU championships and competing at the World Championships. He was coming off a creditable points loss to Scott Cardle for the vacant British title. Kelley vs. Rios Kelly wins the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title with decision over Argentinian Rios. The Wythenshawe fighter came close to ending this in both the second round when he floored Rios with a left and when he put the Argentinian down again in the third. A resolute Rios recovered to have good spells in the sixth and seventh but never really threatened Kelley’s victory. Scores 100-87, 99-89 and 98-89. Good win for Kelley as he goes ten rounds for the first time and looks strong. Former Argentinian middleweight champion Rios,23, lifted the Argentinian title in 2014 with an upset kayo of Billi Godoy(29-2) but is now going through a rocky spell and is 3-6-1 in his last 10 fights Catterall vs. Putkonen Classy southpaw Catterall wins but with a sub-standard performance. Catterall won every round but never seemed to be stretching himself. The Finn had no answer to Catterall’s jab to head and body and the Chorley southpaw was soon also slotting home right and left hooks. To his credit Putkonen stuck to his thankless task as Catterall clinically ground down his resistance on his way to the decision. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Catterall retains his WBO Inter-Continental title for the second time. Perhaps the 22-year-old WBO No 9 needs better opposition to bring out the best in him. First ten round bout for Putkonen who was out of his depth. Gonzalez vs. Kays Gonzalez wins grudge match as he floors Keys four times to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title. The danger signs were there for Keys in the first as Gonzalez puts him over with a right late in the round. Kays tries to impose himself in the second but Gonzalez slams home a left/right combination and Kays finds himself on the floor again. The third again saw a determined Kays trying to take control and he has a better round getting through with some punches. Kays is forcing the fight again in the fourth but is floored twice by thumping rights from Gonzalez and the fight is halted. The 24-year-old Gonzalez was born in California but has an English mother, an adopted English father in trainer Lee Beard and has spent long periods training in the USA so has his feet planted on both sides of the Atlantic. He turned pro at 17 but after losing to journeyman James Ancliff in 2010 did not fight again for almost 30 months. Since returning to action he has won 7 fights the last 3 by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for 32-year-old Kays a former English featherweight champion. Burnett vs. Kanalas Burnett wins the vacant WBO European title with ridiculously easy stoppage of late substitute Kanalas. Burnett spent the first round walking Kanalas down with the Hungarian just going backwards around the ring and pushing out an occasional southpaw jab. Burnett threw some fast rights but was unable to land solidly. At the start of the second Burnett caught Kanalas with a vicious right to the chin as the Hungarian was trying to slide along the ropes out of harm. Kanalas got up and convinced the referee he was able to continue. Burnett stepped in and Kanalas went down again under a series of punches. Again he got up and was allowed to continue but he was punched/bundled to the floor again and the referee stopped the fight without a count. Ten wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old Belfast prospect but this was a poor match-up and a waste of an opportunity for Burnett to get in some rounds before his fight with Jason Booth next month. Kanalas has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights three of those by KO/TKO and in his last fight in August he lost in a fight for the Hungarian light flyweight title! Singh vs. Whiting Indian Singh gets his pro career off to a flying start with a stoppage. Singh showed some classy movement in the first and had Whiting under fire at the end of the round. Whiting tried to take the fight to Singh in the second but as Singh settled he was looking more relaxed and bossing the bout. Whiting came out punching in the third but Singh let the storm blow itself out and then had Whiting eating punches until the referee stopped the one-sided beating. The tall 29-year-old was India’s most successful amateur, he represented them at three Olympic Games, five World Championships and the Commonwe4alth Games and Asian Games. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games and at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games and was a multi-time gold medallist at the Asian Games. He scored wins over Badou Jack and Sergey Derevyanchenko in his vested days. It will be interesting to see how he makes out as a pro. Caracas, Venezuela: Light: Jorge Linares (40-3) W KO 4 Ivan Cano (23-7-2). Middle: Alfonso Blanco (12-0) W PTS 12 Sergey Khomitsky (30-12-3). Heavy: Alex Ustinov (32-1) W KO 1 Maurice Harris (26-20-3,1ND). Light Fly: Carlos Canizales (10-0) W PTS 11 Robert Barrera (12-1). Cruiser: Max Vlasov (31-2) W PTS 6 Gusmyl Perdomo (22-6). Linares vs. Cano Linares gets an easy home defence of his WBC title and beats Mexican Cano inside four rounds. Linares shook Cano in the first and fired home some body punches on the inside with Cano getting through with a couple of rights. Cano ploughed forward in the second throwing plenty of punches but leaving himself open to counters from the sharper Venezuelan. The breakdown gets going in the third as a body punch puts Cano down late in the round. Cano tries to come forward again in the fourth but Linares fires a right to the head followed by a vicious left hook to the short ribs. Cano takes two or three steps back and then goes down on one knee clutching his right side. As the referee is counting it is obvious that Cano is in agony and is not going to get up and the count is completed. Second defence of his WBC title for the 30-year-old “Golden Boy” in his first fight in his homeland since 2010. He was due an easy defence after the vicious blood-filled match with brave Kevin Mitchell and this gives him 27 wins by KO/TKO. He seemed to be living up to that “Golden Boy “tag in winning his first 27 fights and collecting the WBC feather and WBA super feather titles but after inside the distance losses to Juan Carlos Salgado (73 seconds of the first round), Antonio DeMarco and Sergio Thompson he looked likely to fall short. However he is now a three division champion and has won 9 in a row so going in the right direction. Cano gave it a try but in his last six fights had won two, lost two and drawn two so was never really going to threaten Linares.. Blanco vs. Khomitsky Blanco wins the interim WBA title but not yet!. The Venezuelan was too quick and skilful for the Ukrainian and he was clever enough to stay off the ropes and stay centre ring where he had room to use his reach to spear Khomitsky with his jabs. He has a hands down constantly moving style that Khomitsky never really solved. Blanco would lean in with his hands at belt level pull back from Khomitsky’s punches and then with his superior hand speed score with quick combinations. Khomitsky just kept rumbling forwards banging to the body when he could but Blanco was an elusive target. The Venezuelan would occasionally take the lead forcing Khomitsky back with swinging hooks from both hands and then be moving again before Khomitsky could counter. One thing in Khomitsky’s favour was that Blanco is not a hard puncher. He tends to swing his punches rather than snapping them so that they are sweeping and spectacular but not powerful. Despite his best efforts, and he made plenty, Khomitsky was never really in the fight with a chance and Blanco was confident enough to dance his way through the last round with his hands way below his waist taunting Khomitsky with the Minsk-based Khomitsky not being able to land the bombs that have won him in other fights. Scores 119-109 twice and 118-112. The 29-year-old Blanco has had only 12 pro fights but he had a very successful time as an amateur winning silver and bronze medals at the World Championships and competing at the 2008 Olympics. He scored wins over James DeGale, Vijender Singh, Darren Sutherland, Ezequiel Maderna, Marco Periban, Shawn Porter and Dmitry Chudinov and was a gold medal winner at the South American Games. Khomitsky, 41, lost to Martin Murray on points in 2013 and was stopped inside the distance by Robert Stieglitz in July last year. However he had become a bit of a scourge for unbeaten British fights stopping Frank Buglioni and knocking out Adam Etches. The WBA title? Well only the idiots at the WBA could tie themselves in knots this way. This fight was for the interim WBA title. Yes that’s the one that Chris Eubank Jr currently holds and is going to defend against the WBA No 13 Tony Jeter on 24 October. However because he had not defended the title since winning it on 28 February (these are the guys who have allowed Andre Ward to go almost two years without a defence) they are going to take the title away from him and give it to Blanco-but not until after the Jeter fight!! That makes it a meaningless fight for Eubank as he losses the title whether he wins or loses and then there is the question of what happens if Jeter should win? He wins a title that the WBA have said will automatically be given to Blanco on 25 October. Only the idiots at the WBA are capable of tying themselves into such knots !!! Ustinov vs. Harris Ustinov wins in farcical fight. The Russian towered over Harris and used his height and strength to push Harris back to the ropes a couple of time throwing some cuffing punches with Harris complaining they landed on the back of his head. Harris prodded out a couple of jabs but Ustinov took him to the ropes threw a left hook to the side of Harris’s head and as Harris stumbled backwards Ustinov threw a right that made minor contact with the top of Harris’s head. Harris went down spread-eagled on the canvas and the referee waived the fight off. It was a long way from a convincing finish. The 38-year-old 6’7 ½” (202cm) Russian wins the vacant WBA International title. He has 23 wins by KO/TKO and wins over David Tua, Chauncy Welliver and Travis Walked but was halted in 11 rounds by Kubrat Pulev in 2012. Harris, 39, a pro for 22 years has 13 losses by KO/TKO. Canizales vs. Barrera Canizales wins the WBA Fedelatin title with majority decision over Colombian Barrera in a clash of unbeaten Latin American prospects. This was a close hard-fought contest that really could have gone either way. In Colombian Barrera would probably have got the verdict but in Venezuela it went to Canizales with two judges giving him the fight and the other seeing it as a draw. Canizales had won his previous 9 fights by KO/TKO without having to go beyond the third round. Barrera, the defending champion, had a win over world rated Gilbert Pedroza and was rated WBA 4/IBF 15(13). Both have talent and both will be heard from again. Vlasov v. Perdomo Vlasov outpoints Perdomo in pedestrian paced six rounder. Their styles did not mix well with Vlasov having trouble sustaining his attacks again the DR southpaw. Perdomo fought only in spurts and spent too much time with his back to the ropes and rarely raised his pace. The DR fight suffered a cut over his right eye and survived a doctor’s inspection but it remained a low key fight with Vlasov strolling to victory. Scores 60-54 twice and 59-55. Lowell, MA, USA: Welter: Gabriel Bracero (24-2) W KO 1 Danny O’Connor (26-3). Super Bantam: Jonathan Guzman (20-0,1ND) W TKO 9 Danny Aquino (17-3). Super Feather: Ryan Kielczewski (24-1) W PTS 10 Rafael Vazquez (16-2). Middle: Gary O’Sullivan (22-1) W KO 2 David Toribio (21-16).Light: Stephen Ormond (19-2) W KO 1 Michael Clark (44-14-1). Light: Patrick Hyland (31-1) W TKO 8 David Martinez (18-7-1). Heavy: Adam Kownacki (12-0) W PTS 8 Rodney Hernandez (8-3-1). Light: Fernando D Saucedo (57-6-3) W TKO 2 Carlos Fulgencio (19-17-1). Bracero vs. O’Connor Bracero ruins O’Connor’s plans for a revenge win as he knocks out the local star with one punch. They circled each other with southpaw O’Connor pushing out some tentative jabs and Bracero throwing a couple of rights that missed. O’Connor tried a straight left but without much menace behind it and as it slid past the right side of Bracero’s head Bracero threw a beautiful timed right over the left. O’Connor never saw the punch coming and after it slammed into his chin he went down and out after just 41 seconds with the referee immediately waiving the fight off and summoning aid for O’Connor. It was some time before O’Connor recovered enough to be helped to his feet and taken to his corner. The 34-year-old Brooklyn-born Bracero needed the win after being floored a couple of times and outpointed by Felix Diaz in his last fight in April. He is not a noted puncher with just 5 wins by KO/TKO. When these two met back in 2011 Bracero gave O’Connor his first pro loss on a wide unanimous decision. First loss by KO/TKO for 30-year-old O’Connor. He had gone 12-1 since losing that first fight against Bracero but may now have to consider his future. Guzman vs. Aquino Guzman impresses with stoppage of Aquino. The Dominican Republic (DR) fighter showed style and substance as he outboxed and out powered the useful Aquino. Guzman came close to finishing it when he had Aquino down twice with rights in the second round. Aquino got up and fought back hard but was aided by Guzman hurting both hands in that second round. The DR fight then settled down to showcase some excellent skills and slowly grinding down Aquino. However Aquino is too good a fighter to fold easily and gave Guzman a few problems and stayed competitive. Guzman was on top in the ninth when a right put Aquino down. He was badly shaken but protested bitterly when the referee stopped the fight without even giving him a count. Guzman, 26, has secured all of his victories by KO/TKO with only a No Decision scarring his otherwise 100% record. This is his fourth win in New England rings and he already has useful victories over Juan Guzman and Christian Esquivel. Connecticut-based Mexican Aquino, 26, loses inside the distance for the first time. He was coming off an upset victory over Ryan Kielczewski (22-0) in April. Kielczewski vs. Vazquez Kielczewski gets unanimous decision over Vazquez. Over the first two rounds Kielczewski peppered the slower Vazquez with a succession of jabs, straight rights and quick combinations. He had Vazquez in trouble in the third but Vazquez took the punishment and then finished the round strongly. Kielczewski again had Vazquez in trouble in the sixth but again Vazquez refused to fold and banged back to hurt Kielczewski in the best round of the fight. Vazquez was being outworked but kept plugging away and by the end of the ninth both fighters were showing the signs of battle with Vazquez showing swelling below both eyes and Kielczewski cut over his left eye. Vazquez needed a knockout in the last round and shook Kielczewski with a big left hook but the local fighter survived. Scores 97-93 twice and 96-94 for Kielczewski. The 26-year-old “Polish Prince” makes it two wins since that split decision loss to Aquino in April. Puerto Rican-born Vazquez, 37, had won his last 8 fights 7 by KO/TKO. He did not turn pro until he was 32. O’Sullivan vs. Toribio “Spike” O’Sullivan wins this one with a thudding body punch in the second round. The Irish fighter had Toribio down in the first before putting the DR fighter on the floor in agony with a body shot in the second and the referee waived the fight off. The 31-year-old from Cork makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO. Since being well beaten by Billy Joe Saunders in 2013 and stuttering to a majority verdict over modest journeyman Joe Medina in June 2014 O’Sullivan has scored 5 inside the distance wins in a row with none going past the third round. He is rated No 11 by the WBA. Toribio had been stopped inside a round by Immanuwel Aleem in May and has 9 losses by KO/TKO. Ormond vs. Clark Ormond disposes off oldie Clark inside a round. The Dublin “Rock” targeted the body immediately and Clark just could not take it. He was sent to the canvas twice and the fight was over in 109 seconds. First fight for 32-year-old Ormond under the Al Haymon banner and tenth win by KO/TKO. The former BBB of C Celtic and WBO European champion lost his European title when he was thrown out in the tenth round for illegal use of the head in a fight he was losing against the now WBO world champion Terry Flanagan. Clark, 42, has lost his last 6 fights by KO/TKO. Hyland vs. Martinez Hyland gets through an emotional night with late stoppage of Martinez. Fighting for the first time since the death in spring of his father and in his first fight in his time as an amateur and a professional without his father in his corner Hyland ground out a stoppage win over Martinez early in the eighth round. The 32-year-old “Punisher” from Dublin took 19 months out of the ring after losing on points to Javier Fortuna in December 2012 and this is his fourth win since then. Martinez, 32, was out for almost 7 years before returning to the ring in July with a stoppage loss against Miguel Roman. Kownacki vs. Hernandez Kownacki continues unbeaten with unanimous decision over Hernandez. The 26-year-old New York-based Pole took the decision on scores of 78-74 from all three judges. Twice a winner of the NY Golden Gloves the 6’3” (191cm) 260lbs Kownacki has yet to be put in against anything except modest opposition. Californian Hernandez had won his last 3 fights. Saucedo vs. Fulgencio Argentinian veteran Saucedo gets rare inside the distance win as he halts DR fighter Fulgencio in two rounds. “El Vasco”, 33, failed in challenges to Chris John foe the WBA feather title and Rances Barthelemy for the IBF super feather crown his only losses in his last 44 fights but only 10 of his wins have come by KO/TKO. Fuklgencio,34, needs to find another job. He has lost his last 12 fights 10 of them by KO/TKO. Caseros, Argentina: Super Fly: Omar Narvaez (44-2-2) W PTS 10 Diego L Pichardo L (16-7-1). Narvaez shows there is still life in the old boy as he gets wide unanimous verdict over Pichardo in this all-southpaw scrap. The little former double WBO champion started slowly with Pichardo probably doing just enough to edge the opening round as he switched guards to try to confuse Narvaez but after that it was Narvaez doing most of the scoring. As early as the third there was already signs of a swelling under Pichardo’s right eye which would be a concern throughout the fight. Whether swarming forward with quick combinations or counter punching Narvaez was the boss. Pichardo had to survive a doctor’s examination late in the fight and he did well to keep going with only limited vision out of that eye. Narvaez showed his trade mark stamina and although always in control he just could not find the punch to end it early. Scores 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91 as Narvaez wins the WBO International title. First fight for the 40-year-old Argentinian since losing his WBO title to Naoya Inoue in December now he wants a chance for revenge. The 30-year-old Buenos Aires-based Dominican Pichardo had won his last four fights. Rome, Italy: Super Bantam: Abigail Medina (15-3-2) W TKO 6 Emiliano Salvini (17-21-2) W. Light: Pasquale Di Silvio (19-7-1) W Vincenzo Finiello (10-1-2). Middle: Emanuele Blandamura (23-2) W Mugurel Sebe (18-79-4). Medina vs. Salvini Medina retains his EU title with stoppage of Italian veteran. Medina used his advantages in height and reach to score freely banging in punches to head and body with Salvini having difficulty getting onto the fight. Over the next three rounds Medina seemed to ease up and Salvini finally had some success. The Italian tried switching guards in the fifth but Medina came alive again in earnest in the sixth switching on the power and driving Salvini around the ring with a succession of heavy shots. The referee seemed willing to let it continue but Salvini’s corner climbed on the ring apron and the referee then halted the beating. Dominican-born “Bebe” Medina, 27, was making the first defence of his title. He put up a good performance when losing an eight rounder against Jamie McDonnell in 2013 and has rebounded with six wins. His mandatory challenger is Brit James Dickens which will be a tough test. Local fighter Salvini, 36, the Italian champion is now 2-4-1 in his last 7 fights. Di Silvio vs. Finiello Di Silvio makes successful defence of his Italian title. These two got to it straight away slugging away toe-to-toe with a few bits outside the rules thrown in. Di Silvio suffered a bad gash on his right eyebrow in the third round and despite Finiello having a good fifth round Di Silvio had the better of the action in the sixth and seventh. At the end of the eighth the doctor had a look at the wound on Di Silvio’s eyebrow and the fight was stopped and went to the scorecards. Scores 77-75 twice and 79-74 all for Di Silvio. First defence in his second reign as champion for the 36-year-old “Puma “from Rome. Two losses in consecutive fights in two shots at this title for Finiello. Blandamura vs. Sebe Blandamura eases back with points victory over Romanian veteran Sebe. The Italian started slowly and then wound things up in successive rounds. Sebe is a very experienced loser and knows how to slip, slide, duck and dive his way through six rounds and was never in real trouble. Blandamura, 35, was having his fight since a brutal knockout loss to Michel Soro for the vacant European title in June. Sebe, 39, has a whole heap of losses but only seven of those have been by KO/TKO. Los Cabos, Mexico: Bantam: Alberto Guevara (22-2) W TKO 6 Rolando Magbanua (25-4). Minimumweight: Luis Ceja (28-5-3) W TKO 3 Valentin Leon (38-31-3,1ND). Guevara vs. Magbanua Guevara halts Filipino to keep his hopes of another world title shot alive. Magbanua was looking to trade with Guevara from the outset feeling he had the harder punch. Guevara cleverly nullified the Filipino’s attacks and slotted home punches of his own. Magbanua kept forcing but Guevara continued to find gaps in the Filipino’s defence and eventually Magbanua began to wilt. By the sixth it was a one-sided fight and the referee stepped-in to save Magbanua from further grief. Guevara, 25, the IBF No 10(8) lost on points to Leo Santa Cruz for the IBF bantam title in 2012 and in 2013 was knocked out in nine rounds by Shinsuke Yamanaka in a challenge for the WBC title. He took a year out after that loss and this is his fourth win since then.”Smooth Operator” Magbanua, 30, won 6 on the bounce before being stopped by modest Rey Laspinas in June so now two inside the distance losses in a row. Ceja vs. Leon Ceja stops experienced Leon. Ceja had Leon down from a right in the first round and continued to chop away at Leon until the referee stopped the fight in the third round. Ceja lost only one of his first 26 fights but then went 2-4 in his next 6. He has started to rebuild with 4 wins. Leon, 36, has 19 losses by KO/TKO. Mexico City, Mexico: Super Welter: Ramon Alvarez (22-4-2) W TKO 4 Ben Tackie (30-13-1). Fly: Martin Tecuapetia (13-6-3) W TKO 3 Ronald Ramos (37-15-4). Welter: Alejandro Barrera (28-2) W PTS 10 Jose de Jesus Macias (18-3-3). Alvarez vs. Tackie Predictable inside the distance win for Alvarez over Ghanaian veteran. Alvarez was looking to take Tackie out in the first round with punches to head and body. From the second his main focus was the Ghanaian’s body and that quickly had an effect with an already slow Tackie slowing even further. Tackie was a bit more competitive in the third landing a few counters. Alvarez ended it in the four driving Tackie into a corner and unloading with both hands until the referee stopped the fight. “Inocente” Alvarez, the elder brother of Saul, has 7 wins and a No Decision in his last 8 fights with victories over Omar Chavez and Vivian Harris. He was to have fought Jorge Paez Jr but when Paez was injured Tackie stepped-in. The 42-year-old Ghanaian, a former IBF/WBA/WBC super light title challenger, was having his first fight for four years. Tecuapetia vs. Ramos Tecuapetia comes in as a late sub and halts Colombian. When former light fly champion Francisco Rodriguez was ruled out Tecuapetia stepped in a very short notice. He punched too hard for the veteran southpaw and halted Ramos in the third. He floored the Colombian who took the mandatory count whilst on his knees but was still unsteady when he got up and the fight was stopped. The Mexican “Devil” moves to 10 wins by KO/TKO. He lost to top rated Filipino Milam Melindo on a majority decision in May last year and has two wins and a draw since then. Southpaw Ramos, 39, lost to Julio Cesar Miranda in a challenge for the WBO fly title in 2010 Barrera vs. Macias Barrera wins the most competitive fight on the show with split decision over Macias. It was an even fight over the first five rounds but from the sixth although it remained close Barrera looked to have the edge. Scores 97-93 and 96-95 for Barrera and 97-94 for Macias. The Ignacio Beristan trained Barrera, 29, has now won 8 of his last 9 fights including good victories over Abner Lopez and Juan Macias Montiel but does not really seem to be going anywhere. Macias, 23, was a very live opponent being 13-0-1 in his last 14 fights. Managua, Nicaragua: Super Feather: Rene Alvarado (23-5) W TKO 1 Eusebio Osejo (28-16-2). “Twin” Alvarado wipes out Osejo inside a round in an all local battle. These two had fought each other back in 2012 when Alvarado halted Osejo in seven rounds. Osejo had claimed he was sick before that fight. This time he probably felt sick after the fight. A big right from Alvarado put Osejo down heavily. He made it to his feet but after the mandatory count but was defenceless against the follow up attack from Alvarado and the fight was halted. The 26-year-old former WBC Silver champion gets win No 16 by KO/TKO. He needed the win after going 2-3 in his previous 5 fights with the losses in important fights against Rocky Juarez, Eric Hunter and Joseph Diaz. Osejo, 29, a former Nicaraguan Feather champion, now has 6 losses by KO/TKO. Laviana, Spain: Super Middle: Jose Manuel Iglesias (10-4) W PTS 10 Blas Miguel Martinez (21-9-1). Iglesias wins the Spanish title with points victory over champion Martinez. The hometown fighter had huge physical advantages over Martinez (6’5” 196cm vs. 5’9” 175cm). Despite those advantages Iglesias often chose to fight inside making things harder for himself than they needed to be. Swiss-born Martinez was the harder puncher and he fought his usual aggressive style but with a sound defence. The fight was hard fought and close with the home advantage perhaps a factor as Iglesias took the unanimous decision. The 34-year-old “Punky” had lost to Xesus Ferreiro in 2014 in a previous shot at the national title and was knocked out in 77 seconds by Callum Smith in April. Martinez 34, was making the first defence of the title he won from Ferreiro in May and was coming off a one round stoppage loss to Brit Jamie Cox in July. London, England: ). Super Light: Johnny Coyle (11-0-1) W PTS 10 AJ Faizy (6-2-1). Middle: John Ryder (21-2) W PTS 6 Adam Jones (5-11-4 Coyle vs. Faizy Coyle wins the WBC Youth Inter-Continental title with unanimous victory over Faizy. Basically Coyle won this one on the basis of his better skills and excellent use of his southpaw right jab. Faizy pressed hard trying to get past the jab but never really had much success. As the rounds progressed whether on the front foot or the back foot Coyle scored well to the body and landed plenty of fast combinations. Faizy kept applying the pressure putting in a big effort in the seventh but Coyle blocked most of the shots and scored with uppercuts of his own. A left had Faizy hurt in the last but he was never really in any danger of failing to go the distance. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-89 for Coyle. The 22-year-old Southern Area champion from Essex is making good progress. Faizy, 22, put everything into this one but was just up against a much better boxer on the night. Ryder vs. Jones Ryder gets back to winning ways with decision over Jones. Ryder forced Jones to the ropes with some stiff jabs and worked the body in the first. Ryder continued those tactics over the remaining five rounds throwing in some wicked uppercuts along with hooks from both hands. Jones tried unsuccessfully to smother Ryder’s work inside but also fired some hard right hand counters to earn a round and show he was still in the fight. Referee’s score 59-56. The 27-year-old “Gorilla” Ryder only lost to world title challenger Billy Joe Saunders on a wafer-thin decision and scored a stoppage over Billi Godoy but lost last time out against Luke Blackledge for the vacant British title in May so his first win on his way back. Jones, 23, was coming off a good with over Anthony Fitzgerald. Newport, Wales: Light Heavy: Enzo Maccarinelli (40-7) W TKO 5 Jiri Svacina (12-167. Super Light: Mitch Buckland (10-0) W PTS 10 Ally Black (5-2). Maccarinelli vs. Svacina Maccarinelli has no trouble handling Czech Svacina. Maccarinelli eased his way into the fight without putting in full effort. By the third body punches already had Svacina looking as though he wished he was somewhere else. The Czech was down three times before the referee took pity on him in the fifth. Now 32 wins by KO/TKO for the 35-year-old former EBU, CBC and WBO cruiser champion and his second victory since his loss to Juergen Braehmer for the secondary WBA light heavy title in April last year. He is No 2 with the EBU and there is talk of a fight with Roy Jones. Svacina is 1-14 in his last 15 fights. Buckland vs. Black Cardiff fighter Buckland wins the vacant BBB of C Celtic title with decision over previous victim Black. Southpaw Buckland controlled the fight with his jab. Black was competitive without ever seeming to challenge Buckland’s ascendancy. The tough Scot had lost on a nose injury against Buckland in July and Buckland’s accurate punches again had Black’s nose a mess and he also had bruising around an eye by the end of the fight. Scores 99-92 and 100-91 for Buckland the 22-year-old brother of former British super feather champion Gary. Mitch is a former Celtic champion at lightweight. Black was up at ten rounds for the first time A HUGE thanks to Eric Armit for his latest results column.
The Past Week In Action 6 October 2015 October 2 Benavidez, Argentina: Cruiser: Victor E Ramirez (22-2-1) DREW 12 Ovill McKenzie (25-12-1). Despite a career best effort McKenzie has to settle for a draw and Ramirez retains the IBF title. It seems strange to be talking about the clever boxing on the back foot by McKenzie and his jab being a dominant punch but the British fighter fought the right fight and stuck to his game plan. The pattern of the fight rarely varied. Ramirez was rumbling forward trying to cut down the ring and work McKenzie over on the ropes. McKenzie was using his jab both to score points, set Ramirez up for counters and to unsettle him and take away the Argentinian’s jab and it worked well. When Ramirez did trap McKenzie on the ropes he scored with clubbing shots to the head and those shots sometimes had McKenzie scrambling along the ropes to escape. In mid ring McKenzie was the more accurate but it was Ramirez’s shots which were the more eye-catching. After shaking Ramirez with a right in the second McKenzie certainly seemed to have built a lead by the half way mark with Ramirez landing big shots in the fourth and sixth but being outworked by McKenzie in those rounds. Ramirez had his best period in the middle rounds with McKenzie seeming to tire in the eighth but more than matching Ramirez over the closing rounds. It could be that by constantly trying to walk McKenzie down together with his aggression and clubbing shots when he had McKenzie on the ropes impressed the judges and home advantage was a big plus for Ramirez. McKenzie looked to have done enough to win whilst Ramirez looked lucky to escape with a home draw. With the IBF President Daryl Peoples as the fight supervisor hopefully the appeal for a return might be received favourably. The 31-year-old Ramirez “El Tyson del Abasto” certainly did not have one of his better nights and fought well below the level he showed in beating Ola Afolabi for the interim title in April. He was to have fought Yoan Pablo Hernandez for the full title but when Hernandez decided to retire Ramirez was made full champion and this was his first defence of the title. McKenzie’s performance was an eye-opener. “The Upsetter” is more known for his robust style and battering opponents down rather than out boxing them. The 35-year-old Jamaican-born three-time CBC champion had only 11 days notice for the fight and stayed in London the Friday before the fight to received the prestigious Denny Mancini trophy from the CBC for his spells as their title holder. Right now Ramirez has no mandatory challenger as the first two positions in the IBF cruiserweight ratings are vacant so there is nothing to prevent him granting McKenzie the return he deserves. Not bad for a guy who was 5-6 in his first 11 fights. Los Angeles, CA, USA: Middle: Patrick Teixeira (26-0) W TKO 7 Don Mouton (14-10-1). Middle: Antonio Gutierrez (19-1-1) W PTS 6 Victor Fonesca (9-7-1). Welter: Zach Ochoa (13-0) W KO 3 Alejandro Rodriguez (24-19-1). Teixeira vs. Mouton Teixeira extends his winning run with stoppage of game Mouton. Over the early rounds Mouton was full of fire but the Brazilian southpaw was showing good skills and was more accurate and busier. Slowly Teixeira was making it a one-sided fight breaking Mouton down and with his right eye vision being badly affected by a swelling Mouton was warned at the end of the fifth that the fight would be stopped if it continued to be one-sided. Mouton had his high-water mark in the sixth when a left hook had Teixeira badly shaken and holding on to the bell. In the seventh Teixeira cut loose banging home punch after punch and with Mouton’s trapped on the ropes and with his right eye shut by the swelling the referee stopped the fight. The tall 24-year-old Teixeira goes to 22 wins by KO/TKO but so far he has not met any really testing opposition. He is a tall, loose-limbed fighter who certainly has power but due to the lack of any creditable opposition when attacking he leaves himself wide open to counters and against better opposition he could pay for that. Mouton came in as a late sub and the durable 37-year-old Texan suffers only his second loss by KO/TKO. He is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but in that opposition is Brandon Gonzales, Badou Jack, Anthony Dirrell and Antoine Douglas all of whom he took the distance. Gutierrez vs. Fonesca Gutierrez cleans up the draw in his record with unanimous verdict over fellow citizen of Tijuana. Gutierrez had a big edge in speed and skill and comfortably took the early rounds despite suffering a cut from a punch in the third. Fonesca landed a hard right in the fourth which shook Gutierrez but was himself cut over his left eye in a clash of heads. Gutierrez stood and traded more over the last two rounds and clearly won those rounds. Scores 59-55 twice and 60-54. Gutierrez, 21, was unbeaten in his first 19 fight before losing a majority decision to Paul Valenzuela in May. The draw in his record was against Fonesca back in 2012. Four losses in a row for Fonesca with the other three being against unbeaten fighters. Ochoa vs. Rodriguez Ochoa destroys experienced Rodriguez in three rounds. Ochoa landed some range-finding punches in the first and then exploded in the second. A combination dropped Rodriguez late in the third with what looked a possible second flooring ruled a slip. Immediately after the bell to start the third a right put Rodriguez down again. Rodriguez struggled to make it to the vertical and a series of follow-up punches from Ochoa put Rodriguez down again and the fight was stopped. The 22-year-old “Zungary” from Brooklyn has 6 wins by KO/TKO. Now ten losses by KO/TKO for Rodriguez. Philadelphia, USA: Super Feather: Jason Sosa (18-1-3) W KO 6 Jorge Pazos (14-9-1). Sosa dominates all the way before cutting down Pazos in the sixth. The Camden prospect put the Mexican under pressure from the first bell and round by round chopped away at the body with Pazos weakening. The Mexican tried to keep Sosa out but Sosa was relentless. He ended it in the sixth landing a booming left hook that saw Pazos go down on one knee and just stay there whilst the referee counted to ten. Now the 27-year-old Sosa is unbeaten in his last 17 fights and has 13 wins in a row by KO/TKO including an impressive first round kayo of Jerry Belmontes in August. Six losses in a row for Pazos all against top flight opposition. Mercedes, Argentina: Light Heavy: Walter G Sequeira (16-2) W PTS 10 Eli Heraldo Trosch (11-4-1). Sequeira retains his WBC Latino title with unanimous decision over Trosch. It was Trosch who made the better start edging the first two rounds. Sequeira had his jab working and took the third and fourth despite some roughhouse work from Trosch Those tactics began to count against Trosch as he seemed to have taken the sixth but was deducted a point for low punches. From then on Sequeira ran the fight. He took control of the ring centre and out boxed Trosch over the last four rounds with Trosch losing another point in the last and being lucky not to lose a third. Scores 98-90 twice and 95-93. Sequeira, 28, had a 14 bout winning streak broken in a split decision loss to Patricio Pitto in July and this is his second win since then. Trosch is 4-4 in his last 8 fights. Madrid, Spain: Super Light: Nicolas Gonzalez (15-0) W KO 3 Petar Zivkovic (17-2). Super Feather: Ruddy Encarnacion (35-23-4) W PTS 8 Santiago Bustos (7-8-1). Gonzalez vs. Zivkovic Gonzalez again shows both his power and his limitations. Over the first two rounds Gonzalez was trying to force the fight but Serb Zivkovic was scoring well with his jab a rights and showing the better skills. In the third Gonzalez decided to let Zivkovic take him to ropes and counter. Zivkovic landed a hard right but was nailed with a right from Gonzalez which put him down. Zivkovic complained that the punch had landed on the back of his neck. After Zivkovic got up and the eight count was completed a punch from Gonzalez put the Serb down and again he complained that the punch had landed on the back of the neck as he sat out the count. The 27-year-old Spanish champion from Madrid has 11 wins by KO/TKO and collects the vacant WBC Mediterranean title. Zivkovic, 32, loses inside the distance for the second time. His record had been built on low level opposition and this was only his second fight after 20 months of inactivity. Encarnacion vs. Bustos Encarnacion given a hard night by Bustos. He gets the majority decision but looked a clear winner. Bustos had early success when he shook Encarnacion with a right in the second. The third and fourth were close as Bustos kept rumbling forward but at the end of the fifth a right from Encarnacion had Bustos badly wobbling and he also crashed home a right uppercut but the bell went before he could capitalise of that success. Encarnacion then took the closing rounds to get the decision. Scores 79-75, 78-75 and 75-75. Warm-up win for the “Black Wolf” who is set to face Sofiane Takoucht for the vacant European title. The 36-year-old Dominican is 11-0-2 in his last 13 fights. Bustos, 32, has lost of his last 7 fights in tough matches away from home. Bangyai, Thailand: Feather: Cosmas Cheka (15-4-4) W TKO 7 Thewa Onesongchaigym (10-3). Super Feather: Chonlatarn (57-2) W KO 4 Samongkol (0-1). Super Fly: Kwanpichit (33-1-2) W TKO 4 Srisomdech (0-2). Cheka vs. Thewa Cheka gets upset win as he batters local fighter Thewa to defeat in seven rounds. Cheka was fleet-footed and had fast hands and danced around the plodding Thai. Thewa just kept walking forward eating counters trying to trap Cheka on the ropes and work to the body. Cheka was able to slot home punch after punch and as his confidence increased he was using hooks and uppercuts to catch Thewa as he ploughed forward. For a while it looked as though Thewa would overwhelm the skinny African but in the fifth a left hook had the Thai staggering back into the ropes which must have worried the Thai’s corner. Thewa scored with some clubbing rights in the sixth but Cheka ended the round with a barrage of hooks and uppercuts. Early in the seventh a series of punches had Thewa badly staggered and he grabbed Cheka. The African pushed him off and Thewa crashed to the floor. The referee halted the action to help Thewa up but he was finished. A four-punch combination to the head saw the Thai collapsing backward with referee catching him on the way down and immediately waiving the fight over. Indonesian-born Tanzanian Cheka gets only his second win by KO/TKO. He is 11-1-2 in his last 14 fights. Thewa, 25, showed his limitations and gets his second loss by KO/TKO. Chonlatarn vs. Samongkol Chonlatarn flattens novice Samongkol in four. Despite his total lack of experience Samongkol showed a willingness to walk forward throwing punches and had some success scoring with long rights. Chonlatarn was getting home with meaty hits to the body which were slowing Samongkol. In the fourth Chonlatarn landed a thumping left hook to the body and followed that with a perfect right uppercut which put Samongkol down and out cold. The 30-year-old Chonlatarn has had two unsuccessful shots at the feather title losing to Chris John and Vasyl Lomachenko. Nothing to say about Samongkol who should not have been in the ring with Chonlatarn. Kwanpichit vs. Srisomdech Another mismatch. Srisomdech scored with some straight lefts but was as green as grass. In the third a left to the chin put him down and he showed his lack of experience by getting up immediately. He was caught by another left and put down again but it was ruled a slip. In the fourth a left put Srisomdech down again and after he got up Kwanpichit battered him around the ring landing head punch after head punch until the referee stopped the massacre. Kwanpichit’s only loss came against Zou Shiming in November. Lvov, Ukraine: Welter: Viktor Plotnykov (33-3) W PTS 8 Nikolz Gviniashvili (10-3-3). Plotnykov boxes his way to wide unanimous decision over Georgian Gviniashvili. The visitor tried to take the fight to the tall local but Plotnykov boxed cleverly on the back foot. When the Ukrainian veteran started to dominate the exchanges and come forward Gviniashvili in his turn showed some good defensives movement and did his job in lasting the distance. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-73. They tall 37-year-old EBU No 1 has had a mixed year beating Brit Denton Vassell in February but the losing a technical decision to Jeff Horn in Australia in August. Gviniashvili, 26, has two visits to Ukraine and two losses. London, England: Super Middle: Darryll Williams (12-0) W TKO 1 Richard Horton (9-5). Middle: Elliott Matthews (15-0-1) W TKO 3 Ferenc Hafner (24-8). Williams vs. Horton Williams wins the vacant BBB of C Southern Area title with quick stoppage of Horton. Williams was pressing Horton from the start and scoring with some good body punches. A hard right uppercut sent Horton back to the ropes and a crunching right had Horton on unsteady legs with only the ropes keeping him vertical. The referee gave him a standing count but Horton was still wobbly and the referee halted the contest. The 26-year-old “Ferocious” Londoner makes it 5 wins by KO/TKO. He has won 4 of his last 5 fights that way including 3 in the first round. Horton, 33, has now failed in three attempts to win a Southern Area title. The last one was up at light heavy and in his last bout in May he was 181lbs. He had said he would retire if he did not win so this could be his last fight. Matthews vs. Hafner Matthews much too powerful for Hungarian southpaw. The local boxer used a good jab to control the first as Hafner just rushed in swinging wildly and walking onto counters. In the second a left to the body from Matthews put Hafner down. He beat the count but a left/right combination put him down again. Hafner gamely got up again only to be hammered with a right hook that floored him for the third time. Again he got up and was saved by the bell. The Hungarian came out swinging wildly in the third but a combination from Matthews opened a bad cut over Hafner’s right eye and another series of punches put him down. The visitor made it to his feet for the fourth time in the fight and when another combination saw him slump to the canvas the referee stopped the fight. The 34-year-old from Rickmansworth has 9 wins by KO/TKO and the draw was of the technical variety. He did not turn pro until he was 30 and has made good progress. Hafner, 39, now has 7 losses by KO/TKO and has been in with good opposition in Jan Zavek and Eamonn O’Kane. October 3 Carson, CA, USA: Super Light: Viktor Postol (28-0) W KO 10 Lucas M Matthysse (37-4,1ND). Super Light: Antonio Orozco (23-0) W PTS 10 Humberto Soto (65-9-2,1ND). Light: Mercito Gesta (29-1-2) W PTS 10 Miguel A Mendoza (22-7-2). Feather: Julian Ramirez (15-0) W PTS 10 Hugo Partida (21-6-2). Light Heavy: D’Mitrius Ballard (10-0) W PTS 6 Juan Carlos Rojas (10-13-1). Light: Marcelino N Lopez (32-1-1) W KO 3 David Rodela (17-12-3). Postol vs. Matthysse “Iceman” Postol springs major surprise as he out boxes and outlasts Matthysse to win the vacant WBC title. With Postol having big edges in height and reach but apparently lacking power it looked obvious that the fight would consist of Matthysse trying to pressurise the Ukrainian so that he could get inside and work the body with Postol using his jab and movement to fight on the outside. It pretty well worked that way for most of the fight. Over the early rounds Postol was slotting home jabs and tying Matthysse up when the Argentinian got inside. Matthysse was the harder puncher but Postol was busier and more accurate and was doing some good body punching of his own. With Postol aiming to dent Matthysse leverage by holding inside the fight was often dirty with both fighters landing numerous punches to the back of the head with some pushing and wrestling going on. The back-and-forth nature of the fight made it hard to score and there was never much of a margin between them with the styles not making for a good spectacle. Matthysse finally seemed to be taking charge in the sixth rocking Postol with a right and he had the Ukrainian hurt in the seventh with a similar punch but lost some momentum when he came out worst in a clash of heads. However far from fading Postol seemed to absorb the punches and get stronger and he landed some quick combinations to take the eighth and ninth. A tiring Matthysse must have realised the fight was getting away with him and he took more chances in the tenth and paid for it. As he walked in Postol feinted with his left and then drilled home a straight right that caught Matthysse on his head on the left side directly on the eye. Matthysse sank to the canvas and was pawing at his left eye. He was up on one knee and could have climbed up but instead sat out the ten count. The scores to the end of the ninth were 86-85 twice for Postol and 86-85 for Matthysse which shows how close the fight was and makes Matthysse’s surrender that more puzzling. Postol’s jab had been a huge factor but he was also clever at shutting down Matthysse on the inside for which a lot of credit has to go to his star corner tactician Freddie Roach. The tall slim 31-year-old from Kiev was hardly a high profile fighter with his best wins being over Hank Lundy and Selcuk Aydin but he boxed an intelligent fight, showed he had good punch resistance and a more than useful jab and will be a difficult handful for the top names in the division. Matthysse explained his failure to get up to the fact that he had felt a pop in his left eye and was worried that he had suffered serious damage to the eye and could endanger his sight if he fought on. The problem for the 33-year-old Argentinian is that whilst the eye has not suffered serious injury his reputation has as he blew any chance of a big money fight with Manny Pacquiao or Terrence Crawford etc. Orozco vs. Soto Orozco gets his best win so far but is given a tough test by veteran Soto which is not reflected in the scores. The action was hot from the start with Orozco full of confidence taking the fight to the former WBC champion with Soto showing his experience by scoring with well crafted counters. Orozco, a natural super light was the bigger and stronger man and he focused on Soto’s body hoping to tire the older fighter over the later rounds. To some extent Soto’s aim was the same as he blocked and countered hoping to cash in over the closing rounds as Orozco’s work rate might cause him to slow down. Orozco did show some signs of flagging in the eighth and Soto got a big boost in the ninth. What looked a legitimate body punch landed on Soto’s belt line and Soto went down claiming a low blow. The referee agreed and took a point off Orozco but in the end it was not important. Both fought hard in the last round with Orozco firing off hard combinations and Soto landing some sharp counters. Scores 97-92 twice and 98-91. The 27-year-old San Diego-based Mexican Orozco has wins over Ivan Hernandez, Martin Honorio, Steve Forbes and Emmanuel Taylor which is useful but not outstanding work. His problem is that after the IBF was caught fixing their ratings in the days of Bobby Lee Snr. those put in house to make them clean up their act made them put in place a rule that in order to be No 1 and the mandatory challenger you have to have beaten someone in the top 15 and as yet Orozco has still not managed that so he is their highest rated contender at No 3 with places 1 and 2 “Vacant”. At 35 former WBC super feather and light champ Soto has plenty left. This was his first fight for eleven months a proposed fight with Frankie Gomez was aborted when Gomez was well over the weight and a fight with Ray Beltran was nixed when results showed Beltran tested positive after beating Takahiro Ao. He was rated No 7 by the WBC going into this fight. Gesta vs. Mendoza Gesta gets up to win. The hard punching Filipino found himself on the floor in the second round from a right cross but he argued that it was a case of their feet getting tangled rather than a punch from Mendoza. The Mexican was dangerous with his roughhouse wild swinging aggressive style with too many of those swings getting through for the comfort of Gesta. Mendoza was leaving himself open to counters and his work rate dropped as he tired. Gesta was quicker and more accurate and was able to do enough to claw back the two points from the second round and won the unanimous decision. Scores 97-92 twice and 96-93. The 27-year-old southpaw was well beaten by Miguel Vazquez in an IBF title fight in 2012. He was then inactive for 16 months and now has 3 wins and a split draw with Carlos Moreno since his return. Mendoza had rebounded from 4 losses in tough fights to score a low level win in August so is now 1-5 in his last 6. Ramirez vs. Partida Ramirez wins wide decision. The undefeated nephew of the late great Genaro Hernandez out worked and out fought Partida who took some hard shots but stayed the full ten rounds. They exchanged hard punches over the first two rounds but after that southpaw Ramirez took over completely. He is a busy, busy fighter with both skill and power and Partida constantly found himself trapped on the ropes and getting a pounding. Ramirez had Partida on shaky foundations in the fifth and eighth but just could not get him out of there and had to settle for the points win. Scores 100-90 twice and 98-91. Second ten round fight for the 22-year-old former 4-time PAL champion. Mexican Partida, 27, had won 4 of his last 5 fights. Ballard vs. Rojas Ballard gets another win. The former top amateur was just too strong and aggressive for the tall Mexican. Ballard exerted the pressure in the first round and was still doing the same in the sixth. The only time the pressure eased was in the second when a low punch from Rojas put Ballard down. Rojas was deducted a point and Ballard got back to work. Scores 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55. The 22-year-old from Maryland was NGG champion in 2012 but lost out to Jesse Hart in the US Olympic Trials for London. Third loss in a row for Rojas. Lopez vs. Rodela Former Argentinian champion Lopez finishes Rodela in three. Lopez did some good body work in the first and then put the Oxnard fighter down in the second with a left hook. Rodela got up and fought back strongly to the bell. In the third Lopez landed a left hook to the body and followed that up with a left/right combination that put Rodela down for the count. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for the 29-year-old South American champion. Rodela, 33, is 2-8 in his last ten fights. Cincinnati, OH, USA: Super Light: Adrien Broner (31-2) W TKO 12 Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-2). Super Feather: Jose Pedraza (21-0) W PTS 12 Edner Cherry (34-7-2,1ND). Light: Robert Easter (16-0) W TKO 3 Juan R Solis (25-10,1ND). Light: Jamal Herring (14-0) W PTS 10 Yakubu Amidu (21-8-2).Welter Jamontay Clark (8-0) W TKO 2 Joe Wilson (3-3). Light Raynell Williams (10-0) W PTS 8 Eduardo Reyes (0-2). Broner vs. Allakhverdiev Some of the old Broner returns but some of the old arrogance is also on show as he halts limited Russian southpaw Allakhverdiev in the last round to win the vacant WBA title. Both fighters made a cautious start with only a few exchanges. In the second Allakhverdiev was looking to control things from ring centre and Broner seemed content to let him do so but already Broner’s punches brought the beginnings of bruising around Allakhverdiev right eye. Things heated up in the third with both letting their hands go and with Broner finding the target with rights and Allakhverdiev banging back with rights of his own. Allakhverdiev had a good fourth and did enough to share the fifth as the pace continues to increase with Broner showing his skills but Allakhverdiev always scoring enough to stay competitive. Broner began to open a gap in the sixth and by the end of the round his hard rights were beginning to mark up the face of Allakhverdiev and he had built a good lead. The seventh was Broner’s as he was threading rights and lefts through the Russian’s guard and even finding time for some show-boating and interaction with the crowd and ringsiders (old habits die hard). Allakhverdiev rallied in the ninth but it was really a last fling and he was showing swellings around both eyes. Broner again handed out punishment in the tenth and a barrage of punches at the end of the eleventh had Allakhverdiev shaky. It started to look as though Allakhverdiev might make it to the final bell but Broner thudded home a collection of head shots in the last and the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. Broner is now a three division champion and the 26-year-old “Problem” seems to be making an effort to improve his image but has a long way to go. Allakhverdiev is a former undefeated IBO and WBA secondary title holder and was in the fight early but once Broner was rolling he just did not have the power or skills to stay competitive. Pedraza vs. Cherry Pedraza retains his IBF title but needs a strong finish and a split decision to do so. The champion made the better start being quicker and slicker than the older challenger and mixing his punches well from head to body. Most of the exchanges consisted of hooks from both hands by both men with Pedraza having the edge. Cherry began to roll over the middle rounds by getting in close smothering Pedraza’s work and getting home with body punches. After seven rounds it looked as though Cherry had turned things around and had the momentum with Pedraza showing a growing swelling under his right eye. Pedraza then switched to southpaw and although Cherry was still strong in the ninth the new angles Pedroza was giving Cherry saw the Puerto Rican end the tenth strongly focusing on body punches and doing enough to share the eleventh and take the last. Scores 117-111 twice for Pedraza and 116-112 for Cherry. The decision was roundly booed but the fight was close and did not look a bad one. The 26-year-old “Sniper” was making the first defence of his IBF title and has said that he would be willing to give Cherry a return. Bahamian Cherry, 33, lost on points to Tim Bradley for the WBC light title in 2008 but was then inactive for 15 months. His best wins after returning were a stoppage of Vicente Escobedo in 2013 and kayo of Luis Cruz in July this year. He thought he won but was philosophical saying he should have ended the fight inside the distance and not left the decision to the judges. Easter vs. Solis This was supposed to be a testing fight for Easter but he simply overwhelmed the experienced Argentinian. From the first bell Easter was scoring with scorching body punches and having just as much success when he targeted the head. Solis survived two rounds of punishment but in the third a left to the body prompted the Argentinian’s corner ask for the fight to be stopped. The lanky 24-year-old from Toledo has 13 wins by KO/TKO including 5 in his last 6 fights. An elite amateur he just missed out at the US Trials but was Team Alternate i.e. first reserve. Solis had won 6 of his last 7 fights and was FAB No 9 at super feather. Herring vs. Amidu Herring just has too much speed and class for tough Ghanaian Amidu. Herring was able to pierce the Ghanaian’s guard all night with quick shots to head and boy and was rarely there when Amidu threw his counters. He had fast combinations bouncing off Amidu in round after round and if there was a downer it was Herrings inability to turn that dominance into an inside the distance win. Despite never really being in the fight Amidu never gave in and made Herring work hard in every round. Herring was going ten rounds for the first time and was still strong at the end. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. The tall “Semper Fi” a former US Marine was Armed Services Champion and USA National champion in 2012 beating Jamontay Clark and Julian Ramirez and that took him to the US Olympic Trials and through to the Olympics in London but he failed to medal there. The 30-year-old “Black Mamba” Amidu has only lost twice by KO/TKO against Ricky Burns and Ivan Redkach but is now 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights. Clark vs. Wilson Southpaw Clark halts Wilson in two rounds. The 6’2” (188cm) Clark floored Wilson twice in the first before putting him down again early in the second to force the stoppage. The 21-year-old “Quiet Assassin” has 5 wins by KO/TKO and Wilson was way out of his league. Clark was US Amateur champion and competed for the USA at the 2013 World Championships. Second loss by KO/TKO for Wilson. Williams vs. Reyes Olympian Williams remains unbeaten as he boxes his way to win over late stand-in Reyes. No real highlights here. Williams used his stiff jab to control the action with Reyes just too slow with his counters. Williams wrapped up the win with a strong finish. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73. Williams, a former US National C champion fought at the 2008 Olympics and in the WSB but lost to Juan Carlos Ramirez at the 2012 Trials. First fight in 16 months for Reyes. Quilmes, Argentina: Super Light: Gustavo D Vittori (17-2) W TKO 2 Elias L Vallejos (17-5-1). Vittori wins the interim WBO Latino tile as he destroys champion Vallejos with body punches. After an even first round a long southpaw left from Vittori saw Vallejos collapse down by the ropes in obvious pain. He got to his knees and crawled across to a corner and used the ropes to drag himself up to beat the count. Vittori moved in with another devastating straight left to the body and as Vallejos fell to his knees on the canvas the referee immediately stopped the fight. Vittori, 26, gets his fourth victory by KO/TKO and has now won 13 of his last 14 fights that way. Hometown fighter Vallejos, also a former interim WBO Latino champion at welter, takes his second loss by KO/TKO. Perry Park, Australia: Super Bantam: TJ Doheny (13-0) W TKO 5 Denkaosan (63-6-1). Bantam: Vic Darchinyan (41-8-1) W TKO 2 Mongkolchai (12-5). Light: Darragh Foley (7-1) W TKO 6 Valentine Borg (10-2). Welter: Cameron Hammond (14-0) W KO 7 Denkamon (22-7). Doheny vs. Denkaosan Irish southpaw Doheny gets a “name” on his record as he stops Thai veteran in five rounds. Doheny was in charge of this one from the start flooring Denkaosan in the first. The Australian-based Irishman maintained the pressure and had Denkaosan under constant pressure until he put Denkaosan down again in the fifth and the fight was stopped. Fifth defence of his WBA PABA title for the 28-year-old “Power” and ninth win by KO/TKO. He is rated No 11 by the WBA. Thai Denkaosan, 39, a former WBA fly and WBA interim super fly champion has now lost 3 of his last four fight all inside the distance but one of those was a WBA title fight and the other against an outstanding Japanese prospect. Darchinyan vs. Mongkolchai Easy fight for Darchinyan as he floors Thai twice before the referee stops the fight in the second round. The 39-year-old “Raging Bull” was having his first fight since his kayo loss to Jesus Cuellar for the WBA secondary feather title. He was 3-5 in a succession of high profile bouts so is still very much in the picture but will need stiffer tests than this before we know how much he has left. Poor Mongkolchai gets his third loss in a row by KO/TKO in fights in Australia having failed to last one round against Corey McConnell and Doheny. Foley vs. Borg Foley wins battle of young prospects in the most anticipated fight of the night. As with Doheny Foley put down a marker in the first round by flooring Borg twice. The fight was by no means over as they swapped knockdowns later in the fight . Foley had Borg down again in the fourth only for Borg to rebound and floor Foley in the fifth. Foley closed in style in the sixth. As Borg threw a left Foley crashed home a straight right that sent Borg staggering into the ropes. Borg tried to fight back but was nailed by a series of head punches before a right uppercut scythed through his guard and sent him staggering sideward with the referee jumping and stopping the fight. The Kentish-born Foley, 27, the New South Wales State champion gets his fifth win by KO/TKO. Borg has to take his second loss by KO/TKO which will cost him his No 15 rating with the WBO. Hammond vs. Denkamon Hammond keeps on track for his aim of a shot at the CBC title. “The Hammer” had the Thai down in the fifth and forced a standing count in the sixth. He was well on his way to a points win when he uncorked a wicked left hook that put the experienced Thai down and out cold. The 26-year-old from Brisbane, the WBA No 14 and a member of Team Hatton, makes it 8 wins by KO/TKO the last four on the bounce. A visit to the UK for a CBC title fight would give him the chance to erase the disappointment of not medalling at the 2012 Olympics in London. Denkamon is a man on the slide with 4 losses in his last 5 fights. Kotka, Finland: Super Middle: Niklas Rasanen (11-1) W TKO 2 Sergey Beloshapkin (12-16-1). Middle: Paul Klemetti (5-0) W PTS 10 Timo Laine (10-6). Light Heavy: Janne Forsman (21-2) W PTS 6 Dmitry Shovenko (0-6). Rasanen vs. Beloshapkin In an all-southpaw fight Rasanen disposes off late substitute Beloshapkin in quick time. After a probing first round Rasanen lashed out with a straight left and a right hook which sent Beloshapkin flying backwards to the canvas. The Russian managed to drag himself up but was in no condition to continue. Sixth win by KO/TKO for Rasanen who has a win over useful Geard Ajetovic in August. The 29-year-old won a bronze and two silvers before finally winning the Finnish amateur title in 2013. He was to have fought Brit Tobias Webb but there was a problem with Webb’s clearance. Six losses in a row for Beloshapkin and his third loss in seven weeks. In fairness he had less than 24 hours notice for this fight. Klemetti vs. Laine Klemetti makes it a good night for Finnish southpaw as he wins the vacant national title with wide unanimous decision over Laine. Scores 100-90, 100-91 and 98-92. Klemetti’s four previous fights had been 2 of 4 rounds and 2 of 6 rounds so it was new territory for him. Laine, 31, had failed in a previous attempt at this title and has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Forsman vs. Shovenko Forsman takes another easy fight as he rebuilds. The Finn won every round and punctuated his victory by flooring the Uzbek-born Russian in the fifth. Scores 60-53 twice and 60-54. The 32-year-old Forsman was halted in two rounds by Ovill McKenzie in July. Other than that he has been carefully protected with his last two opponents now having combined records of 0-8. First fight in 10 months for Shovenko who is still looking for his first win. Compiegne, France: Middle: Karim Achour (20-4-3) W PTS 10 Jose Yebes (12-7-1). Light: Yvan Mendy (32-4-1,1ND) W TKO 3 Rey Mora (7-6-1). Light: Guillaume Frenois (38-1) W PTS 6 Dame Seck (9-11-2). Achour vs. Yebes “Amazigh” Achour out boxes solid Spanish opponent to extend his current unbeaten run to 7 fights. The local boxer started strongly and kept control of the fight although Yebes had a measure of success in the middle rounds. Achour paced the fight well and was the stronger over the closing rounds. Scores 98-92 twice and 99-91 for the 28-year-old from Picardy. Algerian-born Achour moved to France at the age of eleven having already trained in the martial art of Budo. He is now a licensed master of sports training and disability sport. Rated No 5 by the EBU he is looking to challenge for the European title. Yebes has lost 5 of his last 6 fights but has never lost by KO/TKO. Mendy vs. Mora Mendy forces Nica boxer Mora out of the fight in the third round. Mendy was trying too hard over the first two rounds and not working his openings. He took a pace back at the start of the third, worked an opening and floored Mora with Mora’s corner throwing in the sponge. Mark-time win No 16 by KO/TKO for the former undefeated French champion and EBU title challenger and second win since losing on points to Edis Tatli for the EBU title in April. Spanish-based 21-year-old Mora has now lost his last 6 fights Frenois vs. Seck Frenois also keeps in shape with a routine win over fellow-Frenchman Seck. The experienced southpaw landed plenty of lefts but is not a puncher. Seck soaked up a lot of punches and was never in the fight. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. Frenois’s lone loss came against Devis Boschiero for the EBU title in 2013 and he has won 7 fights since then and is now No 1 with the EBU. Six losses in his last seven fights for Seck. Braamkamp, Germany: Middle: Rafael Bejaran (19-2) W PTS 8 Bart Grafka (14-18-1). Super Middle: Juergen Doberstein (19-2-1) W TKO 7 Daniel Regi (26-13). Light Heavy: Abel Gevor (11-0) W PTS 8 Steve Kroekel (19-28-3). Bejaran vs. Grafka Hamburg-based Dominican Republican fighter Bejaran has to go the distance for victory over Grafka. Bejaran was quickly on the offensive with Grafka showing a stiff jab and some good movement. Bejaran sent a couple of rights whizzing past the chin of Grafka but at the end of the first connected with one which sent Grafka stumbling back across the ring and down. The Pole was up quickly and the bell went as the referee completed the eight count. From then on the technically superior and quicker Bejaran was pressurising Grafka with the Pole showing some good survival skills, a solid chin and a modicum of skill but losing every round against the dangerous and accomplished Bejaran who took a comfortable unanimous decision. The 33-year-old Bejaran is a former WBO European champion and has won 8 of his last 9 fights with the loss to Ante Bilic (26-2) in 2012 costing him his WBO title. Grafka, 27, is better than his record indicates and in July scored an upset victory over German hope Dustin Dirks (27-1-1). Doberstein vs. Regi Doberstein gets inside the distance win over Hungarian. Doberstein worked his jab well and scored with some hefty rights but Regi was only looking to defend and frustrated the local ticket seller. It took Doberstein some time before he broke down the Hungarian’s resistance but by the seventh round Regi had nothing left and the fight was stopped. The 26-year-old Kazak-born Doberstein had a 12-0-1 streak broken when losing a wafer-thin decision to modest Cagri Ermis in February and this is his second win since then and his sixth win by KO/TKO. Regi 34 was 4-3 in his last 7 fights with the wins being against very low level opposition and his losses to Dominic Boesel, Enrico Koelling and Sean Monaghan. Gevor vs. Krokel Gevor boxes his way to unanimous decision over Krokel. Gevor, the younger brother of world rated Noel, fought almost all of the fight on the back foot. As Krokel plodded forward Gevor was spearing him with southpaw jabs and firing 4/5 punch combinations. Gevor was showing plenty of lateral movement, sometimes too much, slotting jabs home with Krokel just too slow to cut off the ring. Finally in the seventh Gevor started to go toe-to-toe and although it gave Krokel a chance to land some punches the hand speed of Gevor meant that he was out-landing Krokel in the exchanges but never really had Krokel hurt. Gevor won every round. He has lots of skill and speed but perhaps is a bit light in the rower department. Krokel/Kroekel, 33, was slow and static and an easy target but he never stopped coming forward. He is 2-6-1 in his last 9 fights. Rome, Italy: Light: Manuel Lancia (13-1-1) W PTS 12 Jean Pierre Bauwens (37-2-1). Middle: Salvatore Annunziata (18-7-6) W PTS 10 Daniele Moruzzi (16-2). Lancia vs. Bauwens Lancia wins the European Union title with split decision over champion Bauwens. After an even first round it was almost all over in the second. Bauwens floored the local fighter heavily and it seemed impossible for the badly hurt Italian to last out the round. Somehow he did and really never looked back. It must have shaken the champion to find Lancia so full of fight after just a one minute rest from near disaster. Lancia was coming forward taking the fight to Bauwens. The Belgian was the better boxer and the heavier puncher and eventually he brought out a swelling under the left eye of Lancia that slightly affected the Italians vision. Lancia’s heart and aggression saw him take rounds three through seven but then Bauwens stemmed the tide and fought back hard over the latter rounds scoring well with his jab and counters with Lancia having to absorb some hard shots but doing his scoring with hooks from both hands. They traded punches all the way to the last bell in an exciting scrap which could have gone either way but the decision went to Lancia. Scores 115-113 twice for Lancia and 115-113 for Bauwens. When Lancia went down in the second round it looked as though it was going to be a repeat of his eighth round stoppage loss against Massimiliano Ballisai in December which cost Lancia his Italian title and his unbeaten record but he showed real strength of character to get up and win. The Italians were calling the 28-year-old from Guidonia a small town “Rocky” after this. Bauwens had to be disappointed. I am sure he felt he won this fight and the loss of his EU title is a big blow to the 27-year-old from Ghent as it will also cost him his No 5 rating with the EBU. He has strong support back home and will go back and start to climb again. Annunziata vs. Moruzzi Unfancied Annunziata wins the vacant WBC Mediterranean title with split decision over Moruzzi. It was the aggression of the Naples southpaw over the better technical boxing of Moruzzi. Annunziata was not as accurate with his punching but he had an edge in quantity that outweighed Moruzzi’s edge in cleaner but less frequent counters. Annunziata was handicapped by a cut over his left eye but kept up the pressure and although it was close he looked to deserve the decision. Scores 96-93 and 95-94 to Annunziata and 96-94 to Moruzzi. The 32-year-old Annunziata is a former WBC Mediterranean super welter champion but moved up to middle after losing in a challenge for the Italian title. He had been inconsistent going 3-4-3 in his last 10 fights. Local fighter Moruzzi, 31, had won 9 in a row but this was his first ten round fight. Tokyo, Japan: Feather: Akifumi Shimoda (30-4-2) W TKO 5 Jerry Nardo (21-8). Super Welter: Yoshihiro Kamegai (26-3-1) W TKO 3 Nelson Gulpe (8-6). After some indifferent form Shimoda finally seems to be settling down at feather. He showcased some of his old skills to completely out box the limited Filipino. Shimoda floored Nardo in the second and opened a cut over the Filipino’s left eye in the fourth. The Japanese fighter remained in control until a series of punches in the fifth brought the referee’s intervention. After dropping his WBA super bantam title in a shock kayo loss against Rico Ramos in 2011 he moved up to feather. He won 5 fights but a draw with Roli Gasca and a kayo loss to Marvin Sonsona made him take time out. He was inactive between the loss to Sonsona in February 2014 until coming back with a win this year. He has dropped out of the world rating and those of the OPBF but is No 2 with the JBC. Only the second loss by KO/TKO for Nardo the GAB No 12 super bantam. Kamegai vs. Gulpe Kamegai gets back into the winners circle with knockout of Filipino Gulpe. Kamegai had an impressive first round as he scored with a right uppercut and a left hook which shook the Filipino. Kamegai weakened Gulpe with good body punches in the second and he put Gulpe down with a right to the body at the end of the third with the count continuing after the bell. Now 23 wins by KO/TKO for Kamegai. He was 22-0-1 in his first 23 fights before losing to Johan Perez in 2013 and then went on to lost to Robert Guerrero in a slam bang war in 2014 and to Alfonso Gomez in March this year. Gulpe has now lost his last six fights. Merida, Mexico: Super Fly: Junior Granados (14-3-1) W PTS 10 Samuel Gutierrez (12-13-4). Neighbourhood fighter Granados gets a win but has to settle for a majority verdict over experienced Gutierrez. Granados did most of the leading but he found Gutierrez an elusive target and had to eat numerous counters as he pressed the fight. If he made a mistake it was not using his trade mark body punches enough but he just deserved the decision. Scores 97-93, 97-94 and 95-95. First fight for 22-year-old Granados since he gave Jamie Conlan a very difficult time in Dublin in July. Granados had Conlan down twice from body punches in the seventh round of their fight but the Belfast boxer recovered to win the decision. Gutierrez, 27, is the reigning WBC Fecombox champion and was 4-0-1 in his last 5 fights going in to the contest. Wolverhampton, England: Middle: Tommy Langford (14-0) W PTS 10 Cristian Rios (20-673). Super Welter: Ryan Aston (17-2-2) W TKO 4 Nathan Graham (17-7-1). Super Bantam: Paul Butler (19-1) W KO 1 Hector R Guzman (14-2). Langford vs. Rios Langford continues to improve and impress as he retains his WBO Inter-Continental title with near shut-out of Argentinian. Langford set the scene in the first landing a cracking right to the chin. Langford out boxed the South American southpaw clearly in the second and although he edged the third and fourth Rios got home with some good body punches of his own as the traded. Langford took the fifth and in the sixth as he shook Rios with some hard combinations and a tasty left hook. Langford took the seventh and eighth and although Rios staged a strong finish and Langford was taken beyond the eighth round for the first time in his career he showed he had paced the fight well taking the ninth and tenth. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-91. Double joy for the 26-year-old WBO No 7 as he was recently advised that his wife was pregnant so plenty to be pleased about for the Birmingham fighter. Argentinian champion Rios,32, was 7-0-1 going into this one and preserved his record of never losing inside the distance. Aston vs. Graham The “Tank” rolls over Graham in English title eliminator. Dudley southpaw Aston took a couple of rounds before he began to break down Graham. In the third it was one-way traffic as Aston took complete control of the fight. Early in the fourth he hurt Graham with a left and then trapped him in a corner and kept punching until the referee stopped the fight. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for Aston who is 9-1-2 in his last 12 fights with the loss in those figures being a very close decision against Jason Welborn. Aston has a win over Langford from their amateur days. Former Southern Area champion Graham, 33, loses by KO/TKO for the second time. He had won 4 of his last 5 fights but had trouble making weight here having to shed 2 ½ lbs Butler vs. Guzman Former undefeated IBF bantam champion Paul Butler was a late addition to the card but did not hang around long. One left hook to the body put Guzman down and the fight was over in just 30 seconds. Second win for 26-year-old Butler since his crushing loss to Zolani Tete in March. Butler has talent and power and will fight for a world title again for sure. Second loss by KO/TKO in consecutive fights for Argentinian Guzman. He was knocked out in six rounds by world rated Zhanat Zhakiyanov in May but had Zhakiyanov on the floor in the fight. Oklahoma City, OK, USA: Light: Zapir Rasulov (30-0) W TKO 7 Rene Mahling (20-3-1). Rasulov adds to his already substantial total of win inside the distance as he halts Mahling in seven rounds. Mahling was doing the boxing making good use of his jab and fast combinations with Rasulov just that bit slower but the one with the punch. Mahling was working around the flat-footed Rasulov jabbing and moving with bombs from Rasulov just whistling past his chin. At the start of the sixth it looked as though Mahling might box his way to victory but late in the round Rasulov land a series of head punches that sent Mahling skittering along the ropes. Mahling recovered quickly and avoided any more trouble in the round. In the seventh as Mahling came forward Rasulov landed a heavy left hook inside. Mahling was badly shaken and Rasulov fired 4 or 5 head punches with Mahling tottering sideward and down. He managed to get up but after the eight count the referee took a good look at Mahling and stopped the fight. The 28-year-old Russian has 27 wins by KO/TKO including 17 in his last 18 fights but had only one fight in 2012 and one in 2013 and has yet to face a name opponent. German Mahling is the same. He had won 9 of his last 10 fights but the wins were against low level opposition. 4 October Incheon, South Korea: Welter: Randall Bailey (46-8,1ND) W TKO 7 Shusaku Fujinaka (12-6-2). Super Light: Ryan Sermona (18-7) W TKO 2 Taek-Min Kim (15-8). Bailey vs. Fujinaka Bailey shows he is still a fearsome puncher as he halts brave Japanese fighter in seven rounds. Both had their moments in an even first round but in the second a punch from Bailey opened a gash on the Japanese fighters left eyelid. Fujinaka was taking the fight to Bailey and scored with some good body punches in the third. The doctor examined Fujinaka’s cut but allowed the fight to continue. Fujinaka increased his attacks in the fourth and fifth knowing that the cut, which later required almost a dozen stitches, was too severe for the fight to go the full route but Bailey was the one doing most of the scoring and was ahead 58-56 on all three cards at the end of the sixth round.. That attacking spirit was the undoing of the Japanese fighter in the seventh. As he came forward Bailey backed towards the ropes. Fujinaka then threw a right which Bailey ducked under and as Fujinaka threw a left Bailey came up under the punch with a left hook that thudded into Fujinaka’s chin. The Japanese fighter went down heavily lying spread-eagled on the canvas. Somehow he got up but was in no condition to continue. The 41-year-old “Knockout King” gets win No 39 by KO/TKO and collects the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title. He has signed a contract with promoter Andy Kim so will continue his career in fights out there. Fujinaka, 28, is a reasonable level Japanese prelim fighter who gave it his best shot but that punch would have put any fighter down. Sermona vs. Kim Filipino Sermona ends this one with one punch. Sermona was getting the better of the battle of the jabs over the first round. In the second a crunching southpaw straight left from Sermons dumped Kim down into the ropes. Kim climbed to his feet but could not stand upright and was obviously incapable of defending himself. He did not know what had happened and was waiving his arms trying to get them in front of his face. Amazingly the referee actually pulled Kim’s gloves into the correct position and let the fight continue. Sermona leapt in with another straight left and a couple more head punches with the referee stopping a fight that should never have restarted. Filipino Sermona, 27, a former GAB and WBC International champion makes it 11 wins by KO/TKO. Kim, 29, gets his fourth loss by KO/TKO in his last 5 fights This coming Saturday sees a number of great fights in the US with 3 world title bouts and and another really mout watering match up.
On paper the bout of the night is to take place in California where power punching Argentinian Lucas Martin Matthysse (37-3-0-1, 34) takes on unbeaten Ukrainian boxer Viktor Postol (27-0, 11) in a bout for the WBC Light Welterweight title. This is a puncher Vs boxer bout and really could see both men go through some spells, however the result really depends on whether Postol can make Matthysse respect him or not. If Postol's jab can be effective then he could well claim the title here, if not Matthysse will likely score a late stoppage again the talented, but light punching, Ukrainian. On the same card in California fans will see the all action Antonio Orozco (22-0, 15) take on Mexican veteran Humberto Soto (65-8-2-1, 35), who is fighting for the 77th time! Whilst we've loved following Soto's career we're expecting his 35 year old body to simply wear away here against the very aggressive Orozco who will be hoping to announce himself on the world stage with a win here. A second US show, in Ohio, features a couple of world title bouts in what could end up being a very entertaining show. The main event sees local enigma Adrien Broner (30-2, 22) take on Russian fighter Khabib Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9) in a bout for the vacant WBA Light Welterweight title. Both men come in to this one following a loss last time out but should make for a good match up together. Broner, looking for a 4th divisional world title, will likely need to let his hands go more than he has in recent bouts, whilst Allakhverdiev will be looking to become a 2-weight world champion but will know that he needs to dominate to win. This really could be something brilliant to watch. In the co-feature IBF Super Featherweight champion Jose Pedraza (20-0, 12) will be defending his belt against the in form Edner Cherry (34-6-0-1, 19). On paper it's hard to bet against the wonderful Pedraza who can box, brawl, fight or move however if there is a weakness it could be his chin and Cherry, who has won his last 6, can certainly punch at 130lbs. This could be a shut out for Pedraza or it could be a knockout for Cherry, it really is one of those bouts where one punch could see the title change. Saying that however we're expecting to see Pedraza retain his title. This coming Friday international fans have a few things to look forward to.
In Argentina we get the most notable fight of the day as the heavy handed Argentinian slugger Victor Emilio Ramirez (22-2-0-1, 17) takes on Britain's likable Ovill McKenzie (25-12, 13) in a bout for the IBF Cruiserweight crown. McKenzie got the bout at late notice, following the pull out of Yoan Pablo Hernandez, who was supposed to fight Ramirez before announcing his shock retirement recently. It's going to be a huge ask for the 35 year old Brit, however he has been dubbed the “Upsetter” and may well pull out the performance of his life against the very aggressive Ramirez. Another major bout on Friday comes from Germany where female star Susi Kentikian (34-2-0-1, 17) looks to defend her WBA female Flyweight title against Mexican challenger Susana Cruz Perez (17-6, 8), who is coming into this one following a shock win over Anne Sophie De Costa. Coming into this one Kentikian is in form and has won 5 in a row, following back-to-back losses in 2012 and she'll be hoping to prove she is still one of the best female boxers on the planet. The Mexican on the other hand is in her biggest fight to date, though not her first world title bout. |
InternationalWe know that not every fight involves an Asian fighter but a lot of fights do affect Asian fighter. As a result we've decided to add this new section to Asian boxing where we look at selected International bouts. Archives
December 2015
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