This past weekend, for many fans, has been a write off and a chance to vent at Al Haymon, Showtime, Golden Boy Promotions and various other American boxing personnel. We're not going to rant and rave about how bad the action was and how badly matched up the 3 televised bouts on Showtime were, instead we're just going to give you the results in succinct manner. You've already read the rants and anyway, why should we waste your time and why should we pretend the card was actually worth caring about?

So here we go.

Daniel Jacobs (28-1, 25) claimed the WBA "regular" Middleweight title with an easy 5th round TKO over Australian Jarrod Fletcher (18-2, 10). Jacobs will now paraded around the world with a paper title whilst Fletcher will be feeling relieved that he wasn't forced into a fight with Gennady Golovkin, as was looking likely at one point early this year.

Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17) put on a 1-sided beating against Edgar Santana (29-5, 20) with Santana looking more like a punch bag than a legitimate challenger for the IBF Light Welterweight title. It was one-sided from the opening round and eventually the doctor stopped it to protect Santana from further punishment.

Danny Garcia (29-0, 17) almost beheaded the criminally over-matched Rod Salka (19-4, 3). This bout, fought at 142lbs, looked similar to seeing a college kid beating up a high school kid and Salka, despite being a really charming guy, had no real reason to be in the ring.

That's all we are going to say on that stinking, awful and ridiculous card.

Thankfully there was more action from the US as NBCSN put on an interesting card that featured a number of notable fighters. The most competitive of the action here saw Heavyweight hopeful Vyacheslav Glazkov (18-0-1, 11) struggle past journeyman Derric Rossy (29-9, 14) in a bout that was significantly more competitive than it looked on paper. The only black mark here in terms of the fight was the outlandish 98-92 score card from judge Pierre Benoist, a card that would have been shamed had it not been tucked away on a card many fans didn't seem to watch.

Another Heavyweight on the same card was Joseph Parker (10-0, 9) who again very deservedly got rave reviews. Parker, fighting for he second ime in he US, dismantled the over-matched Keith Thompson (7-3, 4). Parker did what he was supposed to do but still generated the great feedback from fans who appear to be warming to him more than many other Heavyweight prospects.

In female action we had a pair of world title bouts. At 105lbs fans in Mexico saw Victoria Argueta (13-1, 4) out point fellow Mexican Alondra Garcia (9-2, 1) in what appeared to be a relatively one sided bout, unless you were judge Joe Garcia who some how had Garcia winning 97-93, a scorecard even a close relative would have struggled to have had considering the dominance of Argueta.

The other female world title bout saw historic Chilean fighter Carolina Rodriguez (13-0, 1) become the first Chilean in history to successfully defend a world title as she took a split decision over Colombian teenager Dayana Cordero (13-5-1, 9). The bout was very close despite an outlandish scorecard of 99-91 to Rodriguez. We understand that Rodriguez is a national boxing icon in Chile but the least she should do is offer a rematch to Cordero who was very unfortunate here.

(Image courtesy http://foxsports.com.au)

For many boxing fan this past Saturday was all about the action Stateside as we saw a new Heavyweight champion crowned, but that wasn't the only bout of major international significance.

It's with that US bout that we start though and what a fight it was as Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21) stopped Chris Arreola (36-4, 31) in a genuine throw back fight that saw both men tearing pumps from the other. Stiverne, who went through hell in rounds 2 and 3, eventually turned the tables and stopped Arreola in round 6 to claim the WBC title and become the first Haitian born Heavyweight world champion.

The Arreola/Stiverne fight brought back some memories of fun to watch Heavyweight battles and, whilst not as good as the brilliant bout between Lamon Brewster and Siarhei Liakhovich it was still a great Heavyweight fight, arguably the best since the aforementioned Brewster/Liakhovich bout.

A second male "world title" fight took place in Venezuela as Johan Perez (19-1-1, 13) defended his WBA "interim" Light Welterweight title with a 10th round retirement of the very undeserving Fernando Monte de Oca (15-3, 12). De Oca entered as the #15 ranked WBA challenger, somehow having one of those unexplainable ranking, and managed to come in as a Lightweight for the bout. Although Perez is talented, as he showed in back-to-back victories over Yoshihiro Kamegai and Paul Spadafora, we don't view him as a world champion and farces like this won't make us change our mind about him.

In regards to female action we had a fair few interesting contests and a fair few surprises.

On result that wasn't a surprise came on the under-card of Perez's title defence and that was a bout that saw Perez's compatriot Ogleidis Suarez (20-3-1, 8) over come big hitting Dominican Calixta Silgado (11-4-2, 8) with a well fought 10 round decision to claim the WBA interim female Super Featherweight title. Suarez, who has more outside interests than many fighters, was given some tough rounds by Silgado but did come out on top in an entertaining female scrap.

In Mexico we had two female IBF title fights. One of those saw the IBF female Minimumweight title changing hands as Nancy Franco (12-6-2, 4) lost in her first defence, dropping a decision to the once beaten Victoria Argueta (12-1, 4). Both of these fighters will be familiar to Japanese boxing fans with Franco having beaten Kayoko Ebata last November for the title in a very hard fought contest whilst Argueta, the new champion, suffered her sole defeat to Japanese boxing queen Naoko Fujioka.

The other IBF female title bout saw the unbeaten Carolina Rodriguez (12-0, 1) becoming Chile's first "big 4" champion as she claimed the IBF Bantamweight title with a majority decision over the defending champion Janeth Perez (19-3-2, 4). Perez, like Franco and Argueta, will be known to Japanese boxing fans for her wins over Riyo Togo and Tenkai Tsunami though since her fight with Tsunami she has been a completely different fighter and could well have been 0-5. For Rodriguez, who has apparently been offered Argentinian citizenship, this will be a career defining victory and the sort of thing that will put her name in the record books as the first "recognised" world champion from Chile.

(Image courtesy of Thesweetscience)

This past Saturday was one of the most interesting days so far this year in terms of scheduled fights. Unfortunately however the day proved to be better on paper than it was in reality with very few fights living up to their promise and very few fighters really shining like they could have done.

The biggest disappointment of the night came in Quebec, Canada in easily the most anticipated fight of the year so far. In one corner there was Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17), a Haitian born Canadian based fighter who had been the WBC Light Heavyweight champion, whilst in the other corner was Lucian Bute (31-2, 24) a Romanian based in Canada who had previously held the IBF Super Middleweight title. The fight, viewed as potentially the biggest Canadian fight in history, was disappointing from the off with both men looking nervous and struggling to get in to any sort of a groove. Unfortunately the nerves took a long time to wear off and this meant there was very little clean action from either man for long swathes of the fight.

The fight was meant to set up an opponent for a bout with for Adonis Stevenson though Pascal, who took the victory, looked unwilling to commit to that bout and instead seemed to hint at a rematch. Unfortunately after this stinker we can't imagine fans wanting to see a re-do. Interesting we also can't see either man wanting to be the next victim of Russian puncher Sergey Kovalev who, on this showing, would dismantle either man.

The same card also saw a disappointing Heavyweight performance from Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12) who gave a lackluster performance in a draw with Carlos Takam (29-1-1, 23). The bout was supposed to be a chance for Perez to build on his victory over Magomed Abdusalamov, unfortunately however it appears that that bout took it all out of Perez who looked mentally done as a fighter. The Perez/Abdusalamov fight, late last year, left the Russian in a coma and it seems that Perez has been seriously effected by that which is a shame considering how great he had looked in that fight.

Staying with the Quebec card for just a moment a moment longer. There was another televised Light Heavyweight contest. This one saw Canadian based Colombian Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8) take a hard fought decision over the tough Andrew Gardiner (10-1, 6). This bout was meant to be a show case for Alvarez though unfortunately for the Colombian he failed to really impress and actually managed to turn fans against him by the end of the contest. Considering his potential and skills this was highly disappointing from Alvarez.

Outside of Canada we had 2 fights, not involving Asian's, that were of interest in Mexico. One of these saw the highly ranked Felipe Orucuta (29-2, 24) defeating Gabriel Pena (5-5-1, 2), who retired at the start of round 10, whilst the other saw female starlet Yazmin Rivas (29-8-0-4, 9) dominate Calixta Silgado (11-3-2, 8). For Orucuta the fight was likely about staying active and little else, though he certainly didn't impress as some, including ourselves had expected. Rivas however wasn't just out to stay busy but was fighting to force a rematch with Jessica Gonzalez who claim an absolutely robbery against her last year. On her performance Rivas is a fighter that isn't to be messed with in her current mood.

Staying with female action there was a major upset in Argentina as Ana Laura Esteche (10-3-1, 2) ripped the WBA female Light Welterweight title from the previously unbeaten Monica Silvina Acosta (19-1-2, 5). This was probably the shock of the night and one of the biggest shocks of the year so far. One result that wasn't a shock however was in Chile was the wonderfully talented Carolina Rodriguez (11-0, 1) dominated Simone Da Silva Duarte (14-5, 6) to defend her WIBA Bantamweight title.

Whilst we weren't impressed by the fighters in Canada we need to admit that Yazmin Rivas, Carolina Rodriguez and Ana Laura Esteche all deserve a good mention for their performances.

With a number of Asian fighters fighting on Asian soil this weekend we may have been forgiven a little for forgetting about this weekend's international action. Instead however we've actually become rather excited about it and more interestingly is the fact it takes place over several countries, proving that boxing is starting to really get underway for the new year.

For most boxing fans the key fight is in the Light Heavyweight division where we get 3 really interesting bouts all on the same card in Quebec, Canada.

The biggest of those Light Heavyweight bouts is a brilliant match up between Jean Pascal (28-2-1, 17) and Lucien Bute (31-1, 24). Although the bout has the NABF title on the line it's actually a bout that doesn't need any belt at all to sell it with it being the biggest bout one could make in Canada. The fighters have shown a dislike of each other, their fans have shown a general resentment of the other man and the fight it's self is as close to a 50-50 contest as we could have. To be frankly honest this is what domestic level boxing is all about and we really appreciate the promoters for putting it together.

On paper the winner of Pascal/Bute should walk in to a bout with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, though we'd not be hugely shocked if WBO champion Sergey Kovalev managed to get one of the two men in his next fight as well.

The other Light Heavyweight bouts on the card include 3 very interesting unbeaten fighters. The most notable unbeaten man is Russian's Artur Beterbiev (3-0, 3) who takes on the tough Gabriel Lecrosnier (16-25-3, 1) in what should be a bout to get rounds under Beterbiev's belt. The other bout, an all-unbeaten clash between Eleider Alvarez (13-0, 8) and Andrew Gardiner (10-0, 6) is a bout we love the look of and should be a thriller for as long as it lasts.

One final bout from this Canadian card that we want to talk about is a Heavyweight bout between Cuba's Mike Perez (20-0, 12) and the once beaten Carlos Takam (29-1, 23). Perez, who fought in a tragic bout with Russian Magomed Abdusalamov late last year, will be hoping that that bout doesn't have lingering effects on him, though if it does he could well find his career unwinding here against the dangerous Takam in a bout that does scream "must watch".

Outside of Canada we have a several female bouts that interests us. The most notable is the Super Bantamweight bout in Mexico between Yazmin Rivas (28-8, 9) and Calixta Silgado (11-2-2, 8). This bout, which shares the headline of the card in Jalisco alongside Fernando Lumacad's bout with Horacio Garcia, is only a secondary title bout though really it should be for a world belt with Rivas having been cruelly robbed of her title late last year.

In Chile we have another female Super Bantamweight bout with the unbeaten Carolina Rodriguez (10-0, 1) defending her WIBA title against Brazil's Simone Da Silva Duarte (14-4, 6). Rodriguez, Chile's first ever world champion, is unlikely to really have the big bouts her talent deserves but will be happy in being a national boxing hero.

The final interesting female bout is in Argentina where Monica Silvina Acosta (19-0-2, 5) defends her WBA Light Welterweight title against Ana Laura Esteche (9-3-1, 2). This should be a very easy bout for the highly talented Acosta, though unfortunately she doesn't have too many options in her division and this bout may well be as good as it gets for 2014.

Back to the men, the most interesting bout, other than the ones in Canada, is in Hermosillo, Mexico, as the very highly regarded Felipe Orucuta (28-2, 23) takes on Efrain Perez (16-4, 11). Orucuta, the WBO #1 at Super Flyweight, will be eying up a potential rematch with Omar Andres Narvaez, the WBO champion who beat him via a split decision last year. Of course Orucuta isn't the only man looking to fight Narvaez with Daiki Kameda said to be angling for a fight with him and a loss for the Mexican puncher would see him falling from graces with the WBO and a door being left open to various Asian fighters.

Of course we believe a few Asian fight fans will be tuning in to the Hermosillo show to see the potentially explosive encounter between Marco Demecillo and David Sanchez in what is potentially the best fight of the weekend.

We believe that's all the big international bouts for this weekend and hopefully we'll see a few of the bouts living up to their potential.