This past Saturday was an amazing day for boxing fans with a fantastic show in the US. The show, one of the best of the year, at least on paper, was thoroughly interesting but sadly not always the most entertaining.

The show, at least the televised portion of it, kicked off with an enthralling WBO Bantamweight title fight that saw Tomoki Kameda successfully defending his title and leaving an excellent impression on US fans. The fight, which ended when Tomoki landed a brutal body shot to Pungluang Sor Singyu, should have been impressive enough to impress US audiences in to wanting to see more of Tomoki.

Following the all-Asian show starter we then had the fight of the night as Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7) took a majority decision over Johan Perez (19-2-1, 13) and claimed the WBA interim Light Welterweight title. The fight, which was action packed through out, swung several times as the two men unloaded shots on each other in a high paced and highly skilled contest that was genuinely enjoyable. 

The action from the Herrera/Perez was great to watch but neither guy had the power to really hurt the other and as a result it never looked like we were going to get a stoppage, though Perez was rocked very late in the fight. In the contest that followed however there was no chance the contest was going to go the distance as all action Francisco Vargas (20-0-1, 14) stopped the hard hitting but very shop worn Juan Manuel Lopez (34-4, 31). Lopez was rocked hard in the second round before being dismantled in round 3 by a very sharp Vargas who seemed to announce himself on the world stage. Sadly for Lopez this was another painful loss and it seems time that he called quits on his career before he ends up with serious long term health issues.

Sadly the excitement all vanished in the very next fight as Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14) put on a controlled but dull performance to over-come Jonathan Oquendo (24-4, 16). This was Mares first bout since being blasted out in a round by Jhonny Gonzalez and although that set back was a bad one the tactics Mares used in this fight really were disappointing for the most part.

In the main event of the show fans saw the hugely popular though very divisive Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (44-1-1, 31) take a highly disputed split decision over Cuba's Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12). The bout saw Lara boxing and moving for vast parts of the fight whilst Alvarez stalked with mixed results. The men both felt their tactics had seen them controlling the bout though in all honesty no one truly "controlled" it with plenty of rounds that could be debated. Sadly one judge managed to see the fight 117-111 to Alvarez, a result that simply didn't make sense, despite the numerous close rounds. Each man seemed to clearly win 4 rounds with their tactics whilst the remaining 4 were up for debate. The only thing that the fight really told us is that whilst both men were evenly matched Canelo struggles with movers and Lara struggles with body shots.

Sadly the 117-111 card in the Alvarez/Lara fight as well as the draw card in the Herrera/Perez fight and a card of 58-56 to Pungluang, prior to the stoppage, all leave major question marks about judges and we wonder if they were watching the same fights as our selves

Prior to the American card fans also had the chance to watch some fights from the UK. These including a bout with Super Featherweight contender Stephen Smith (20-1, 12) who looked terrible against journeyman Pedro Navarrete (28-19-3, 17). Navarrete is better than his record indicated but Smith really was awful and if he's thinking about fighting Takashi Miura he probably needs to think again or he'll end up badly beaten.

On the same British card we had a trio of Olympic medal winners including Super Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (7-0, 7), who stopped veteran Matt Skelton (28-9, 23) in a bout that saw Skelton looking his 47 years of age, and Luke Campbell (6-0, 4) who sadly looked lacking in his decision victory over the brave Craig Woodruff (5-4, 2).

The main action on the British show was in the Cruiserweight as we had two bouts of note. The first saw former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (28-1, 14) make light work of the limited but fun Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-5, 11) whilst the second saw the big mouthed Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14) stopping Brazil's Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-3, 23). Both the visitors came with the intention of scoring a KO but neither had the ability against the more well known British fighters who are now set to face each other, in fact they almost had an impromptu fight last night, suggesting that neither man had had to work hard enough to score their wins.

(Image courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions)

One thing boxing is lacking right now is a number of real stars in the sport. Sure we have some international names such as Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao but it's hard to argue that there is a lack of them.

On man who is hoping to become the next megastar of the sport is Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (43-1-1, 31) who looks to re-establish his claim as one of the most exciting men in boxing this weekend when he takes on WBA Light Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12) in a non-title fight.

Alvarez is a Mexican icon but one who seems to really split the general fan base of the sport with many feeling he has been given opportunities based on his marketability as opposed to his actual talent. This bout however could prove he is as talented as he is marketable and could convince many that he is as good as people say. A win for Lara however will see the "American Dream" likely becoming the man fans will be demanding to see fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. For a non-title fight this is a major contest for both men involved in the bout.

On the same card as the Alvarez/Lara bout we find several other interesting contests. One of those is the WBO Bantamweight title bout between Tomoki Kameda and Pungluang Sor Singyu whilst another is a WBA interim Light Welterweight bout between Johan Perez (19-1-1, 13) and Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7). Perez, a skilful Venezuelan, was the first man to defeat Japanese slugger Yoshihiro Kamegai whilst Herrera, a skilled American, recently schooled Danny Garcia in one of the most controversial bouts of the year and holds a win over Ruslan Provodnikov. Although the bout is likely to be a very technical affair both guys can be fun to watch and do throw plenty meaning this could be an entertaining high speed chess match between two practitioners of boxing and moving.

Whilst the Perez/Herrera bout will be technical the same cannot be said for the bout between former 2-weight world champion Juan Manuel Lopez (34-3, 31) and Francisco Vargas (19-0-1, 13). Puerto Rico's "Juanma" is a crude, hard hitting and exciting fighter but is also a man on a serious downslide in regards to his ability to take a shot. Vargas, an unbeaten Mexican, is stepping up in class for this fight but has looked excellent in recent contests and will be viewed by many, including ourselves, as a very live under-dog.

One more bout on this card features former 3-weight world champion Abner Mares (26-1-1, 14). Mares, who was linked to Takashi Miura earlier this year, will be facing Puerto Rico's Jonathan Oquendo (24-3, 16) in what should be a comfortable return to action after a notable lay off following his first career defeat, an opening round stoppage to Mexican puncher Jhonny Gonzalez.

Whilst the card of the day is in the US there is also a show in the UK that is being viewed as a "set up" card as opposed to one with any sort of competitive match up. The idea seems to be to match former WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (27-1, 13) and Tony Bellew (21-2-1, 13) up against each other, as long as they both get past their tests here. For Cleverly his test comes in the form of Argentina's Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-4, 11) and from what we understand Valori isn't a tough guy and even the light hitting Cleverly should be able to see off his challenge inside the distance. For Bellew the challenger is 36 year old Brazilian Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-2, 23) who, unsurprisingly, has been beaten by his only "name" opponent.

(Image courtesy of http://www.goodrichqualitytheaters.com and Golden Boy Promotions)

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)