On paper this coming Saturday is one of the biggest days in boxing this year. There are numerous world level fighters in action and several fighters who attract a lot of attention. In all honesty however we feel that the weekend is one full of style over substance and, as a result, we feel we've a point to make at a weekend where the action really could be lacking despite a host of big name fighters. The most notable action of the night comes from Las Vegas and whilst it is notable it is also, on the whole, rather disappointing and doesn't have a “big fight feel”. The main event will see the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” Floyd Mayweather Jr (48-0, 26) put his unbeaten record on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23). The bout, for the WBC and WBA “super” titles at Welterweight is a bout that failed to get fan support, is expected to be a commercial flop and is shrouded in controversy with Mayweather having recently come under-fire for the use of an IV prior to his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Whilst we have often been in awe of Mayweather's in ring ability we must confess the act has gone stale and we're looking forward to his retirement which he has promise will come after this bout. Given that he's lied regularly in the past however we're expect he'll return in 2016, if he wins as expected here, to go to 50-0. In one of the chief support bouts Englishman George Groves (21-2, 16) will face WBC Super Middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12). Without trying to sound harsh Jack may well be the worst world champion in the sport and the way he won the title said more about Anthony Dirrell than it did about Jack. Groves, who has lost 2 of his last 4 to Carl Froch, once looked like the heir to the Super Middleweight throne but recent performances have been less than inspiring. Although they should match up well it's certainly not a top quality bout as some are trying to paint it. A third world title bout on this card, and probably the bout that will excite fans, is at Super Featherweight where Puerto Rican Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17), a 3-time world champion, battles Mexican tough guy Orlando Salido (42-13-2-1, 29), himself a 4-time champion. These two met in a barn burner back in April, in Martinez's homeland, and although Salido was beaten he gave one of the year's most stirring efforts, getting up from several knockdowns to run Martinez close down the stretch. This bout has been widely over-looked though is probably going to have more action than the other 4 major bouts on the show, combined. In a non-title bout former world champion Ishe Smith (27-7, 12) battles against Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1, 21). Both guys have got solid “name” value but it's hard to see this being anything but a dull contest as the talented, but tedious, Smith makes life difficult for the equally frustrating Martirosyan. Although both are skilled both have struggled to even be involved in “exciting” bouts and it's hard to see either changing that here. Yet another former champion is on this card, which has been stacked in terms of names even if the match ups have seriously lacked competitiveness, is Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49) who will be facing Jonathan Oquendo (25-4, 16). For Gonzalez this is the next step towards a potential show down with a Super Featherweight champion, likely to be the winner of the recently announced bout between Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas, but it's hard to see what Oquendo brings to the table, especially at 130lbs. Given the PPV price tag of the show it does seem like the card has been a case of “names above match ups” and we'll rarely support that, especially on PPV. There is another card in the US, which is scheduled to take place before the Mayweather show. Unfortunately this is just as uninspiring as the other show. In the most meaningful bout of the card fans will see veteran Cornelius Bundrage (34-5, 19) defending his IBF Light Middleweight title against Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16). The 42 year old Bundrage has had a fairytale career to become a 2-time world champion, claiming the first of those titles aged 37, but is a clear under-dog against the much touted, and much younger, Charlo who should claim his first world title fight. An intriguing 10 round bout will see former world champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12) take on Marcus Browne (15-0, 11). For Campillo a loss here would likely spell the end of his career, which saw him holding the WBA title and earn a number of solid paydays, however Browne has failed to convince fans, despite having an Olympic pedigree and an unbeaten record. This could be one of the nights many possible gems, despite a lack of major build up. Another former champion on action here is former WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22), who continues to destroy what good standing his career once had. The former champion will be facing little known Australian Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9) as he continues to tease a potential showdown with Daniel Jacobs. Quillin once looked like the man who could have given Gennady Golovkin problems but has since become boxing's version of a joke fighting Light Middleweights in title defenses, turning down a career payday and vacating the title then failing to make weight. This bout, win or lose, will do his reputation no good at all. Before the action Stateside British fans will get the chance to watch two of their Heavyweight hopefuls in action as well as a third meeting between two men who have given local fans two incredible wars already. The most notable of the men in action is 2012 Olympic champion Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13) who faces Scottish giant Gary Cornish (21-0, 12). On paper this looks a great bout but footage of Cornish has shown him to be rather uncoordinated and it's hard to see him providing any sort of a test to Joshua. This bout will be for the WBC International and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles and if Joshua he will likely face amateur nemesis Dillian Whyte in December. The aforementioned Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12) is also in action here as he takes on veteran Brian Minto (41-9, 26) in a bout for the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title. In the amateurs Whyte scored a win over Joshua and will be hoping to do the same when the two men meet. This is a tougher assignment than Joshua's but should still be a simple win for the Englishman. Arguably the highlight of the show however will be the third meeting between Dave Ryan (17-8, 4) and John Wayne Hibbert (15-3, 9). The two men are fighting for the unified WBC International and Commonwealth titles, just as they did back in May, and will be hoping to put on another thriller. The two men first met back in 2013 in a thrilling back-and-forth war but it was their bout this year that really captured the attention of fans and stole the day with 4 knockdowns and gritty come from behind win for Ryan. This really has the potential to be the sleeper fight of the weekend.
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September 11th-Stevenson faces Karpency whilst Spence and Valdez both take on interesting tests9/10/2015 Love it not or not this weekend is a big one for boxing fans and of course it kicks off on Friday with with numerous fights, sadly though few really excite us.
The most notable action comes from Canada where we have a male world title bout, a former Heavyweight contender and a man that many in the US are viewing as the most promising prospect in the west. The world title bout, the most notable bout of the night, is a bit of a farce if we're being honest as WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (26-1, 21) defends his belt against the undeserving Tommy Karpency (25-4-1, 14). Stevenson, who is widely viewed as one of the top Light Heavyweights, should be facing much better competition than Karpency who has scored only one win of note, an upset over Chad Dawson. Coming in to the bout Karpency is 4-2, though one of those losses was a shut out to Nathan Cleverly and it's be a huge surprise if this bout was even close to being semi-competitive. It really is a farcical defense by Stevenson. A much better bout will see Errol Spence (17-0, 14) take on Chris Van Heerden (23-1-1, 12). On paper this is a great match up with Spence finally taking on a guy who will be well prepared and confident. Sadly paper can be wrong and we're expecting Spence to make it look relatively easy against a some-what padded Van Heerden who is likely to be broken down in the middle rounds. A third bout, albeit another relative farce, will see 51 year old former contender Donovan Ruddock (40-5-1, 30) take on Dillon Carmon (8-2, 7) in a bout for the Canadian Heavyweight title. Ruddock, once one of the most exciting Heavyweights on the planet, is fighting for the third time since making his comeback to the ring earlier this year however he is a shadow of the man who fought Mike Tyson twice back in the early 1990's. Aged 29 Carmon is significantly younger than Ruddock but is relatively limited and hasn't really scored a win of note. Although a farce, given Ruddock's age, this could be an entertaining one. In the US we have 3 bouts of note, including possibly the bout of the night. One of the bouts will see Olympic champion Egor Mekhontsev (9-0, 7) take on the heavy handed Jackson Junior (18-3, 16) in what should be an explosive affair. It's hard to see Mekhontsev losing here though we would like to see him step up sooner, rather than later. Interestingly Junior's last fight came against Korean veteran Seung Kue Park, who was stopped inside a round by the Beazilian puncher, Park was 51 years old though and had been blown out in his previous 4. Another will see the promising, and very exciting, Jesse Hart (17-0, 14) battle against Aaron Pryor Jr (19-8-1, 12) in a bout for a couple of titles. Hart really does look to be one of the most fun to watch American fighters and he should see off Pryor here, despite the fact Pryor has only been stopped twice in 28 bouts. The bout of the show, and possibly the bout of the night, will see touted Mexican puncher Oscar Valdez (16-0, 14) take on former world title challenger Chris Avalos (26-3, 19). On paper this is a huge step up for Valdez but it's one that his team will feel confident about. Avalos, who has fought once since being demolished by Carl Frampton, is the under-dog but is certainly “live” coming in to this one. In Argentina fans will see a female world title bout as WBO Light Welterweight champion Fernanda Soledad Alegre (21-2-1, 11) defends her belt against Lely Luz Florez (15-6-1, 9). The long reigning champion has held her title for close to 5 years and this will be her 12h defense of the belt. As for Florez she will be hoping to score her biggest win since a 2009 shock win over Chris Namus in Uruguay. It's hard to see Alegre losing here though hopefully Florez will give the champion a good test. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for once again sharing his results article with us.
The Past Week In Action 8 September 2015 September 4 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Super Bantam: Diego De La Hoya (12-0) W PTS 10 Jesus Ruiz (34-7-5). Super Light: Everton Lopes (4-0) W PTS 8 Omar Tienda (13-1). Super Feather: Christian Gonzalez (11-0) W TKO 2 Luis Ruiz Lizarraga (5-6-1). De La Hoya vs. Ruiz De La Hoya come through his first big test and first ten round fight with wide unanimous decision. De La Hoya boxed his way to victory and overcame a couple of facial injuries on the way. He controlled the fight on the outside exhibiting good skills and punch selection. Ruiz fought hard but was never really in the fight even though De La Hoya looked the worst for wear at the end. De La Hoya shook Ruiz with a left in the ninth and ran out a clear winner. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. De La Hoya had a cut by his right eye from the seventh and a swelling under his right eye from the same round but neither hampered him noticeably. The 21-year-old from Mexicali wins the vacant WBC Youth title. Ruiz, 25, had won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss being against Leo Santa Cruz in a challenge for the WBC title in January so a notable win for De La Hoya. Lopes vs. Tienda Welcome to the pros Everton. The former star member of the Brazilian amateur team had to climb off the floor twice to get an unpopular majority verdict over unsung Mexican Tienda. Lopes looked comfortable in taking the first round on the strength of an educated left jab. The Brazilian but paid his first visit to the canvas in the second round but it was a questionable knockdown and he quickly recovered. His superior skills and speed saw him reassert himself late in the third and take the fourth. He was thrown out his stride again in the fifth when a right put him down and this time there was doubt about it being genuine. After that he had to fight hard to maintain his unbeaten record and just scraped through on scores of 76-74 twice and 75-75. Lopez, 27, was a World Championships and World Military gold medallist and beat guys such as Jose Pedraza, Jeff Horn and Anthony Yigit. Tienda was a good test as he had been in ten round bouts in Mexico. Gonzalez vs. Lizarraga Californian teenage hope Gonzalez gets another inside the distance win. In the second Gonzalez dropped Lizarraga with a left hook to the body. Lizarraga made it to his feet but another series of hooks put him down again and although he got up his second climbed into the ring and the fight was over. The 19-year-old Gonzalez has 10 wins by KO/TKO including a run of seven first round finishes in his first seven fights. Mexican Lizarraga has lost four in a row now all to unbeaten fighters. East London, South Africa: Light Fly: Nkosinathi Joyi (25-4,1ND) W TKO 5 Sinethemba Magibisela (8-7-2). Super Fly: Zolani Tete (21-3) W TKO 8 Diuhi Olguin (11-3-3). Middle: Giovanni Bushby (7-4-2) W PTS 12 Johannes Salie (12-6-1). Light: Xolisani Ndongeni (19-0) W KO 2 Miguel A Escalada (12-7). Joyi vs. Magibisela Joyi keeps his career alive with stoppage of felloe South African Magibisela in an all-southpaw contests. The former IBF minimum champion made a slow start with Magibisela finding a home for some sharp punches. Once Joyi started to attack the body the fight became one-sided with Joyi putting Magibisela down twice on the fourth and again in the fifth and the fight was stopped. Joyi, 32, had lost his IBF title on a knockout against Mario Rodriguez and also lost a split decision against Hekkie Budler in a challenge for the IBO title. He then went into free-fall with crushing consecutive inside the distance losses to Filipino Rey Loreto. This was his first fight since the second of those losses when he failed to even last two minutes against Loreto in March AND LORETO IS STILL WAITING TO BE PAID!!! Magibisela, the BSA No 4 was 2-0-2 in his previous four fights and this is his second loss by KO/TKO. Tete vs. Olguin Southpaw Tete takes a while to wear down Mexican prelim fighter Olguin. Tete had speed, power and experience over Olguin and after hurting Olguin in the second he put him down twice in the third. That should have been the end of it but Tete then stopped going to the body. Although he was still receiving heavy punishment and although never in the fight Olguin managed to survive until the eighth round when Tete trapped him in a corner and was scoring with punches up and down until the towel came in from Olguin’s corner to save their man. The 27-year-old former undefeated super fly champion was having his first fight since relinquishing the IBF title rather than fight McJoe Arroyo for a ridiculously low purse. He has 18 wins by KO/TKO and is a classy fighter who has now formed his own promotional group. Olguin, 26, had only appeared in supporting bouts and had only once gone past six rounds. Bushby vs. Salie Busby wins the vacant WBA Pan African title with wide unanimous decision over Salie. The fight lacked any real highlights with Busby controlling the action. He had Salie in deep trouble in the sixth but let him off the hook and had to settle for the points win. Scores 119-109, 118-111 and 118-112. Local fighter Busby, 29, the BSA No 5 fought a draw for this title in March but against another opponent. He took almost 4 years out of the ring between 2009 and 2013 and is 5-2-2 since his return. Salie “The Pride of Paarl” the BSA No 5 but at welter was having his first fight since August last year. Ndongeni vs. Escalada Escalada no real test for rising star Ndongeni but no need to rush this young talent. Ndongeni floored the Argentinian with a flashing right in the first and then put him down and out in the second with another stunning right. The former undefeated South African feather and current light champion has nine wins by KO/TKO and just may be the next star from down there. “The Magician” Escalada needed more than a magic wand in this one but he had won 7 of his last 8 fights with a 7 wins by KO/TKO. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Middle: Martin F Rios (16-6-3) W PTS 10 Jose C Paz (17-4). Rios wins by building a lead and then holding off a late surge from Paz to take the unanimous decision. Rios made good use of his height and reach setting a fast pace and controlling the action with his jab and adding right uppercuts inside. He rocked Paz with a left in the third and although in trouble Paz stayed on his feet. Rios had Paz bleeding from the nose and raised a swelling under his right eye. Over the second half of the fight Rios started to tire from the pace he had set and Paz was able to get inside and work the body slowing Rios even more. Rios rallied in the seventh but Paz took the eighth and ninth before Rios rallied again in the last to clinch the decision. Scores 98-94, 98 ½-95 ½ and 96-94. Former Argentinian champion “El Terrible” Rios, 23, gets revenge for a points defeat in May and a much needed win after going 0-3-1 in his previous four fights. After an early loss, Paz, 24, the FAB No 6, had run up a 15 bout winning streak but is now 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Dusseldorf, Germany: Super Feather: Sebastian Tlatlik (9-0) W TKO 2 Sandro Bordewick (3-3). Welter: Aria Najafi (3-0-1 W PTS 10 Dominic Tietz (3-1). Super Middle: Jay Spencer (10-0) W TKO 1 Suleyman Dag (10-66). Tlatlik vs. Bordewick Tlatlik brushes aside poor Bordewick inside two rounds. Tlatlik was coming forward stabbing out a stiff jab and scoring with rights. Bordewick was much taller but was just skin and bones and had only very basic technique. The end came in the second with a piece of incompetent refereeing being on display. Tlatlik hurt Bordewick with a body punch he followed that up with a right cross and a left hook to the body. Bordewick was looking distressed and after another stiff jab from Tlatlik he turned his back on Tlatlik putting his arm in the air in surrender. As the referee had not said for the action to stop Tlatlik looped a right around Bordewick on to his chin. Bordewick slumped to the canvas. The referee sent Tlatlik to a corner but did not start a count. Instead he helped Bordewick up and escorted him to the opposite corner and signalled them to box on. Bordewick came out of the corner threw a couple of jabs from out of distance and before Tlatlik could even throw a single punch of any significance the referee stopped the fight ! The 27-year-old Polish-born Tlatlik was making the first defence of his German International title. He has 8 by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights but abysmal opposition. His brother Robert is also unbeaten as a pro. German Bordewick had somehow won his last two fights by KO/TKO but was outclassed here Najafi vs. Tietz This all-German contest was a much better fight as Najafi wins the vacant German International super welter title on a unanimous decision. Najafi, a small southpaw was up against the much taller Tietz and they gave three minutes of action in every round. Najafi was quicker and able to get inside Tietz’s guard but also took some punishment getting there. He scored the only knockdown but it also transpired that he had suffered a fracture of his left hand in the fifth round. Although he only had less than six rounds of boxing as a pro he paced the fight well. Tietz, 18, was in a similar position with less than seven rounds behind him but he tired badly and only just survived a torrid ninth round but went the distance. Scores 99-90 from all three judges which did not accurately reflect Tietz effort who whilst clearly beaten had made look a lot closer. Neither Najafi nor Tietz will get far they did OK here where they stepped up to ten rounds due to the main event falling out. Spencer vs. Dag This was farcical. Ghanaian Spencer was head shoulder above Dag who had rolls of fat around his midriff and no idea of how to fight. Spencer floored Dag with a left and after Dag got up he took his time before sending Dag down again with a flurry of light punches. Again Dag got up and saw out the round and then retired claiming an injury to his right arm. That developed into an argument first with the referee who wanted Dag to fight on and then with the promoter and then to an exchange of punches between Dag and the promoter with Spencer and a few other joining in. Order was eventually restored. Seven wins by KO/TKO for Spencer who wins the vacant German International title but his opposition has been at best inept. Turk Dag, if it was Dag as he had a lot more fat and a lot less hair and looked nothing like his BoxRec photo, had lost on points over four rounds against Spencer in 2012 and this was his 45th loss by KO/TKO. The title fights were under the German GBA body. Bangkok, Thailand: Iwan Zoda (7-1) W KO 12 Petchchorhae (13-1). Zoda gets revenge for previous loss as he hands out a terrifying beating to Petchchorhae. Both started confidently with southpaw Petchchorhae just getting the better of the exchanges. They swapped head-jarring punches in the third and fourth with Petchchorhae throwing more and landing more but also using up too much energy with flashy moves to please the crowd. The sixth was a turn around as Zoda forced Petchchorhae back and handed out a solid beating for the whole three minutes with Petchchorhae already looking tired. His work was ragged and Zoda landed so many clean head shots on Petchchorhae that the fight could have been and should have been stopped. The seventh eighth and ninth were worse with Petchchorhae hardly able to lift his hand and Zoda able to use the Thai as a punch bag driving him around the ring and even being able to steady Petchchorhae’s head with a left so he could slam home a right. Petchchorhae was reduced to wild swipes which when they landed had no effect and when they missed left him wide open. In the ninth I counted over 40 clean head shots landed by Zoda not counting jabs and that was not the worst round for Petchchorhae. Amazingly he rallied at the start of the tenth and for two minutes was on his toes and moving well but by the end he was soaking up head punch after head punch. He was still banging home punches in the eleventh but looking arm weary. In the twelfth Petchchorhae could hardly lifts his hands and Zoda was snapping his head back time and again with hooks and uppercuts. A left drove Petchchorhae’s head back and as it snapped forward a right to the chin saw Petchchorhae pitch forward face down on the canvas and thankfully the fight was finally over. Indonesian Zoda, just 18, had lost over six rounds to Petchchorhae in his second pro fight in October but this was brutal. He wins the interim WBO Asia Pacific title. Petchchorhae showed remarkable courage but should have been saved from his own bravery by his corner or the referee at any time from the sixth round onwards. I have never seen anyone take the beating that Petchchorhae had to endure and I hope I never see it again. The referee should never referee another fight. Glasgow, Scotland: Light: Charlie Flynn (5-0) W TKO 5 Sylwester Walczak (4-17-2). Former top amateur Flynn gets his first win inside the distance with stoppage of Pole Walczak who retired at the end of the fifth round of their fight. The 21-year-old mailman Flynn won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is one of the best young prospects in Scotland. Walczak just a travelling loser and is 0-13-1 in his last 14 fights. Walsall, England: Super Light: Andy Keates (10-2) W PTS 10 Luke Paddock (12-1). Keates wins the BBB of C Midlands Area title with paper thin points victory over local fighter Paddock in a great little scrap. Champion Paddock had the skill and Keates the aggression so their respective strengths made for a good fight. Keates won by making Paddock fight his fight with both men looking to constantly exchange punches in every round. Paddock was cut on his left eyebrow in the seventh and seemed to fade a little as a result. In the end it was Keates’ aggression that won out with the referee scoring the fight 96-95 for Keates but the verdict could have gone either way and in such an exciting contest it was a pity either boxer had to lose. Keates, 24, won his first 7 fights and then went 2-2 in his next four so this victory nets him a title and gets him a needed win. “Cool Hand” Paddock, 23, was making the first defence of his title and will be looking to get back in the winner’s ranks once his cut heals. September 5 Leeds, England: Feather: Josh Warrington (22-0) W PTS 12 Joel Brunker (28-2). Super Middle: Martin Murray (32-2-1) W TKO 5 Jose Miguel Torres (31-7). Super Feather: Andy Townend (14-3) W KO 7 Lee Glover (9-3). Feather: Isaac Lowe (11-0) W TKO 9 Jamie Speight (13-8). Cruiser: Tony Bellew (25-2-1) W TKO 5 Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5). Super Fly: Khalid Yafai (16-0) W KO 1 Aron Juarez (6-3-1,1ND). Super Fly: Jason Cunningham (17-2) W PTS 6 Marlon Prado (6-2-1). Bantam: Stuart Hall (18-4-2) W PTS 6 Arnoldo Solano (14-11). Warrington vs. Brunker Both fighters got into their stride quickly with Brunker coming forward and both looking to exchange from the off a with Warrington just edging the round. Brunker was on the front foot again in the second but Warrington scored with quick punches including a hard straight right that momentarily halts Brunker’s forward march. It was Warrington’s round again and in the third he started to put pressure on the Australian and scored with some quick combinations and finished the round strongly. The fourth saw less action with Warrington getting home some good counters against the advancing Brunker with the challenger not able to score with any consistency. Brunker was still coming forward in the fifth and a clash of heads saw him cut on his left temple. Brunker was getting home with occasional punches but Warrington was dominating the action with his left jab and left hooks. The sixth followed a similar pattern with Brunker coming forward and landing a few punches only for Warrington to fire back harder and a left to the body stopped Brunker in his tracks. Warrington turned it on in the seventh lashing out with fast combinations of punches from both hands with Brunker unable to do much to counter or halt the pressure and seeming to be tiring. The eighth saw Brunker revived and having a good round letting his punches go but with Warrington again stealing the points with great left hand work and more accuracy. Brunker just never stops coming even though he is walking into counters and that is the pattern in the ninth with the Australian making some rounds close but never doing enough to win the round. The tenth was painful for Brunker. His cut worsened and Warrington just seemed to be getting stronger The Leeds man was peppering Brunker with fast, accurate if not heavy shots in the eleventh and opened up in the twelfth trapping Brunker on the ropes and letting fly looking to try and get the stoppage but Brunker was never in real trouble even though losing by a mile. Scores 120-108 from all three judges as Warrington again signals that he is a force to be reckoned with in this division. He was making the third defence of his CBC title and the first defence of his WBC International title. The fast rising Leeds 24-year-old dental technician is rated WBC 5/IBF 8(6)/WBA 9 with a world title shot in 2016 looking a good bet. Brunker, 29, the IBF No 9, was stopped in nine rounds by Lee Selby in October but had returned with a win in February. Now he has to start again. Murray vs. Torres Murray wins the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title with stoppage of Torres. Confident start from Murray as he had a tight guard and was sticking out a stiff jab and keeping Torres on the back foot. He drove Torres to the ropes and landed a right cross which sent the Colombian down on his knees. Torres was up at nine and Murray was unable to find a finishing punch. In the second Torres came out more aggressively and was forcing Murray back. He went down twice in the round. Each time it was partially because Torres was stooping low when he came in and the combination of being unbalanced and a light punch put him down both times although he was up immediately and protested. Murray ended the round with a series of hurtful left hooks to the body. Torres was lively again in the third with Murray finding him an elusive target as he ducked under Murray’s punches but the local fighter was still scoring with a stiff jab and yet another knockdown came although again it was questionable as Torres sunk to his knees avoiding a punch. Murray was finding it frustrating with Torres ducking low and almost touching the canvas but when there was action it was Murray doing the scoring with jabs and long rights. Torres went down twice in the round the first from a right uppercut when again he was so low he just dropped to his knees and the second after a right to the body that sent him stumbling into the ropes with a glove touching down. In the fifth Torres was given a severe warning about constantly dropping to his knees but continued to do it and after he went down once more the referee stopped the fight as Torres was turning it into a farce. Murray, 32, is looking strong at super middle as he gets his third win since his loss to Gennady Golovkin. This is a very strong division in Britain and Murray will want to be in the mix with James DeGale, Geroge Groves, Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Luke Blackledge and Frank Buglioni. Torres, 36, was once a good level fighter and had won 10 of his previous 11 fights but here he went on his knees more often than a certain White House internee and it was farcical. Townend vs. Glover Townend overcomes slow start to halt Glover and retain his English title. Both were working their jabs over the first three rounds with Glover being quicker to the punch and getting through with good hooks to the body and Townend showed a cut by his right eye from a clash of heads in the first round . Townend upped the pace in the fourth and shook Glover with a couple of overhand rights. He kept up the pressure finding the target again with rights. One landed on the back of Glover’s head and as he stumbled forward Townend crashed home a right cross that put Glover down on his hands and knees. He was up immediately but shaken and Townend went a bit right hand but and managed to shake Glover again before the end of the round. Glover boxed his way through the fifth with Townend again too anxious to throw rights rather than working his openings. Townend dominated in the sixth forcing Glover back and although Glover scored with some good counters those rights from Townend were the eye-catchers. The end came in the seventh. Ironically after throwing so many rights it was a vicious left hook to the body that put Glover down his hands and knees in agony and he was unable to beat the count. The 26-year-old “KO Kid” makes it 10 wins by KO/TKO and extends his current winning run to 7 contests. Glover 28 was making his second try at winning the English title. He had won his last two fights and has only lost to good quality opposition. Lowe vs. Speight Lowe wins vacant English title with stoppage of Speight. Lowe was the more skilled of the two and boxed his way to a lead over the first three rounds. Speight came into the fight more in the fourth and fifth rounds before Lowe took over again in the sixth and was in charge in the seventh and eighth. His pressure paid off in the ninth as a tiring Speight was not able to hold off the furious attack of Lowe’s and the referee made a timely intervention to save Speight further punishment. Lowe, 21, makes it four wins by KO/TKO. He was stepping up to ten rounds for the first time and impressed. Southern Area champion Speight is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but was coming off a win Bellew vs. Kulikauskis Bellew wins a keep busy fight against limited Latvian. Bellew had little to fear from the Latvian’s power and was able to come forward and in the first opened up Kulikauskis with a stiff jab and staggered him with a right. Bellew kept pressing in the second but with southpaw Kulikauskis going into survival mode it was difficult for Bellew to nail him with any big punches. In the fourth Bellew began to widen his punch selection and work the openings and the Latvian spent most of the fourth round soaking up punishment on the ropes. Bellew continued to pound away at Kulikauskis in the fifth until the referee had seen enough and stopped the unequal contest. A world title fight must be on the books for the 32-year-old Bellew in 2016. Since losing to Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light heavy title in 2013 Bellew has moved up to cruiser with good wins over Valery Brudov and Nathan Cleverly and is rated in the top ten by all four sanctioning bodies at WBO 3/IBF 7(5)/WBA 9/WBC 10. Kulikauskis, 24, was giving away height and weight to Bellew so was never going to be a threat. He has won only one of his last seven fights. Yafai vs. Juarez Yafai destroys Juarez inside a round. The young Brummie star only needed two left hooks to the body to end this with Juarez failing to beat the count. The 26-year-old former undefeated CBC champion has 11 wins by KO/TKO and two first round finishes in a row. He will face Jason Cunningham next month for the vacant British title. Southpaw Juarez, a 20-year-old from Nicaragua, had won 6 of his last 7 fights but this was his first contest outside Nicaragua. Cunningham vs. Prado Cunningham wins a warm up fight. The Doncaster fighter was a comfortable winner taking every round but picked up a small cut over his right eye in the second round which hopefully will not affect his fight with Yafai. Referee’s score 60-54 for CBC champion Cunningham. , 25, beat Tanzanian Nasibu Ramadhani for the CBC title in May and is No 11 with the EBU. Prado, yet another Nicaraguan have gloves will lose fighter was also having his first fight outside Nicaragua. Hall vs. Solano Former IBF champion Hall stays busy whilst waiting for another big fight. He took every round against the overmatched Nicaraguan Solano with the referee’s score 60-54. At 35 Hall needs to get that big fight soon. Spanish-based Solano has lost 7 in a row, 6 on points and 1 on a disqualification. Dresden, Germany: Light Heavy: Juergen Braehmer (47-2) W TKO 7 Konni Konrad (22-2-1). Cruiser: Mateusz Masternak (36-3) W TKO 2 Carlos Nascimento (12-2). Cruiser: Noel Gevor (19-0) W PTS 10 Daniel Sanabria (20-5). Cruiser: Agron Dzila (22-1) W RTD 1 Grigol Abuladze (21-9). Super Middle: Stefan Haertel (7-0) W PTS 6 Ivan Jukic (21-6,1ND). Super Middle: Leon Bauer (3-0) W TKO 1 Darko Knezevic (7-9). Braehmer vs. Konrad Comfortable defence for Braehmer as Konrad has little to offer and retires at the end of the seventh round as he complains of an eye injury, not due to a cut or swelling but a punch to the eye seriously affecting his vision. Braehmer made a good start getting the better of a frantic exchange and then sending Konrad stumbling across the ring with southpaw straight right and scored with a couple of left uppercuts as the round ended. There was more sparring than fighting in the second but again Braehmer was the only one landing scoring punches and he fired home some straight lefts just before the bell. Braehmer started the third with a couple of quick attacks before settling to stalking the retreating Konrad. The challenger finally threw a flurry of punches near the end of the round but as the round ended it was again Braehmer scoring with left hooks. Braehmer took a breather in the fourth but Konrad was hardly throwing any punches and Braehmer easily took the round again using his straight left and left hooks to score. The fifth followed the same pattern. One left uppercut from Braehmer was the best punch of the round and Konrad’s contributing was a couple of right swings that missed the target. In the sixth Konrad decided to be more aggressive and paid for it. He caught Braehmer with a left hook but in coming forward ran onto a short right hook that sent him stumbling forward to the canvas. He indicated he had stumbled but it looked a genuine knockdown and the referee applied the eight count. Brahmer tried hunting down the retreating Konrad but apart from a couple of uppercuts had no success. Braehmer dominated the seventh and near the end of the round Konrad was worrying at his right eye rubbing it and after the bell he decided not to continue possibly having suffered a corneal injury. Now five successful defences of his WBA secondary title for Braehmer and win No 16 in a row. He seems content to continue to defend his title and has shown no interest in fighting the real WBA champion Sergey Kovalev or WBC champion Adonis Stevenson and at 36 time is running out for that to happen. Next up is Thomas Oosthuizen in Monaco in November. German-based Montenegrin Konrad, 30, turned pro in 2002 but after losing to Denis Inkin in 2006 had only one fight in the next 6 years. His WBA rating was down to him winning the WBA International title but he really had no other qualification for rating and was out of his depth here. Masternak vs. Nascimento Masternak gets a win to rehabilitate himself after controversial loss to Johnny Muller in June. In the first round Nascimento had height and reach over Masternak but no real leverage in his punches. Masternak was walking down the retreating Nascimento. but only let his punches flow over the last 30 seconds. Early in the second Masternak shook Nascimento with a left hook and then landed a thunderous right cross that put Nascimento down heavily on his side. He made it up before the end of the eight count and walked a step forward when asked to but the referee had a hard look at the Brazilian and waived the fight off. Nascimento protested but was very shaky as the referee led him back to his corner. Now 26 wins by KO/TKO for the 28-year-old Pole, a former EBU champion. He won his first 30 bouts but losses to Grigory Drozd, Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim WBA title and that disputed decision against Johnny Muller in June have left him with some rebuilding to do. He wins the WBA Inter-Continental title and is rated WBO 7/IBF 10(8)/WBC 14. Second loss by KO/TKO for Nascimento who was having his first fight outside Brazil. Gevor vs. Sanabria Gevor wins the WBO International title with unanimous decision over Sanabria. Gevor started confidently forcing the action with a strong jab and some good rights. Sanabria had a height and reach advantage and showed a good jab but was mainly fighting on the back foot. Gevor was dominating the action for the first three rounds but in the third a left hook from Sanabria opened a bad cut on the right eyelid of Gevor. This gave Sanabria some confidence and he was coming forward more with Gevor not wanting to take too many chances of the eye injury worsening but still mainly being in charge out-jabbing the taller man and working Sanabria over on the ropes. The Argentinian was looking tired in the seventh and Gevor hurt him with a couple of right crosses and thumped home a left uppercut with Sanabria glad to hear the bell. Sanabria started the eighth brightly but Gevor was quicker to the punch and confident enough to be boxing with a low guard and was scoring with left hooks to the body but a clash of heads saw Gevor with a bruise high on his forehead. Sanabria came forward through the ninth and had some success when they traded punches but leaving himself open to counters with Gevor alternately dancing around the ring with his hands down and firing quick burst of punches. Gevor finished the last round in style slamming home hooks and uppercuts at a very tired Sanabria. The 24-year-old Armenian-born German-based Gevor won on scores of 100-89, 99-90 and 98-91 and preserves his WBO 6/IBF 10(8)/WBA 12 ratings. The cut he suffered was in a bad place and I have seen fights stopped for less but he took it in his stride and gave a solid performance. Argentinian and South American champion Sanabria, 32, was slow but showed a good jab and did much better than some other South American imports to Europe have. Dzila vs. Abuladze Dzila retains his GBU title as Abuladze retires at the end of the first round with an elbow injury. Based in Switzerland but licensed elsewhere the 27-year-old Macedonian Dzila has won 12 of his last 13 fights inside the distance but this one hardly counts. Georgian Abuladze has lost four times this year, all four inside two rounds. Haertel vs. Jukic Haertel extends his winning run but again shows a lack of power. Haertel controlled the fight with his jab and mixed in a variety of hard, accurate combinations. Jukic’s only taste of success came in the third when a punch made Haertel stagger but he recovered quickly and continued to outbox the experienced but limited Croatian southpaw and took the unanimous verdict. The 27-year-old German took bronze medals at the European Union and World Military Championships but has yet to win a fight inside the distance as a pro. Both Chris Eubank Jr and Frank Buglioni disposed off Jukic inside a round. Bauer vs. Knezevic Bauer gets another quick win. The youngest pro boxer in Germany destroyed Serb Knezevic with three knockdowns in the opening round and Knezevic retired at the end of the round. Bauer only turned 17 last month and needed special dispensation when he turned pro at 16 in April. He has ended his three bout so far in a total of less than four rounds. He is a former German youth champion and turned down a chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics so worth watching. Knezevic now has 8 losses by KO/TKO. Csomor, Hungary: Light Heavy: Norbert Nemesapati (19-2) W KO 7 Jacob Maganga (6-3-3). Middle: Ferenc Albert (19-7) W KO 2 Adam Mezner (3-2). Nemesapati vs. Maganga Hungarian hope Nemesapati wins the vacant GBU title with kayo of Maganga. Nemesapati made a slow start but did some good work inside over the first two rounds. Tanzanian Maganga fought back hard and the third and fourth rounds were fairly even. Nemesapati did most of the scoring in the fifth and six with Maganga tiring. Nemesapati ended it in the seventh with a body punch that put Maganga down and he was unable to beat the count. The 20-year-old suffered back-to-back losses to Jason Escalera in the USA and Schiller Hyppolite in Canada in 2014 but has rebounded with four wins and is a big draw in Hungary. First loss inside the distance for Maganga the UBO African champion. Albert vs. Mezner Albert wins the Hungarian Youth title with kayo of Mezner. Albert had Mezner down in the first and down and out in the second. The 22-year-old Romanian-born Albert has 9 wins by KO/TKO and has won his last 9 fights but against weak opposition. Hungarian Mezner, 20, a novice in over his head. Tokyo, Japan: Super Light: Masanobu Nakazawa (18-1-1) W PTS 10 Masayoshi Kotake (9-10-2). Nakazawa wins the interim Japanese title with close decision over Kotake. Nakazawa had big edges in height and reach but it was the busy southpaw attacks of Kotake that showed prominently over the early rounds and at the end of the fifth round he was in front on two of the three cards 49-47, 48-47 and 47-48. Nakazawa increased his work rate from the sixth and had Kotake hurt with a series of rights in the seventh as he swept the closing rounds to take the decision on scores of 96-95 twice and 97-95. The 33 year-old Nakazawa, he did not turn pro until he was 26, was rated No 1 by the JBC but this was his first ten round fight and he has now won 15 in a row. Kotake, 28, the JBC No 6, was having his second shot at winning the title. He is now 3-6-2 in his last 11 fights. Mexico City, Mexico: Bantam: Daniel Rosas (19-2-1) W TKO 8 Jhon Gemino (12-5-1). Rosas overcomes a cut to halt Filipino. The early rounds were even but Rosas suffered a bad cut over his left eye in the second round. As the fight progressed Rosas got stronger but Gemino was staying in the fight. He finally began to crack in the seventh and in the eighth a couple of head punches and a hook to the body put a tiring Gemino down. He made it to the vertical but the fight was stopped. The 25-year-old Mexican “Bad Boy” was beaten twice in 2014. He was halted in seven rounds by Rodrigo Guerrero and lost on points to Alejandro Hernandez for the interim WBO title. He also ended the year on a low note when he only squeezing past novice Mario Villella on a majority decision. This is his first fight this year and win No 12 by KO/TKO. Filipino champion Gemino suffers his second loss in two months in Mexico and his second career loss by KO/TKO. Metepec, Mexico: Super Bantam: Rey Vargas (24-0) W PTS 8 Lucien Gonzalez (21-9-2). Vargas has to climb off the canvas to beat late substitute Gonzalez. Vargas took the first round but was put on the floor by a right in the second. He was not badly hurt and soon took control of the fight. He was scoring freely with fast combinations and shook Gonzalez a few times with uppercuts as he boxed his way to the unanimous decision. Scores 78-73, 78-74 and 77-76. “King” Vargas, 24, is currently rated IBF 4(3)/WBC 4/WBO 7 and provided he can avoid any banana skins he should get a title shot next year. Gonzalez from the Dominican Republic came in as a late choice and was more dangerous than his small total of 5 wins by KO/TKO suggested. Auckland, New Zealand: Super Welter: King Davidson (18-1,1ND) ND 2 Joseph Kwadjo (21-10,1ND). This one was all over before it even had time to warm up as Kwadjo suffered a dislocated shoulder in the second round and the fight was ruled a no decision. Nigerian Davidson was looking to get some much needed action as he had not fought since December 2013. Fijian-based Ghanaian Kwadjo had lost 7 of his last 8 fights so needed a win. Nobody got what they wanted! Edinburgh, Scotland: Cruiser: Stephen Simmons (12-1) W PTS 8 Jiri Svacina (12-16). Super Middle: Dave Brophy (14-0-1) W PTS 6 Dan Blackwell (6-46). Middle: John Thain (13-2) W PTS 4 Lewis van Poetsch (4-23). Simmons vs. Svacina Simmons returns with a win. The local fighter was the only one making this fight as Svacina was only there to survive and collect a pay day. Simmons had trouble nailing down the elusive Czech but had no trouble winning every round. Referee’s score 80-72. First fight for 31-year-old Simmons since losing his WBC International Silver title to Jon-Lewis Dickinson in April and he hopes to be in action again in Edinburgh in December. Now 9 losses in a row for Svacina, six of those losses in the UK. Brophy vs. Blackwell Brophy remains unbeaten as he eases to unanimous decision over Blackwell. Referee’s score 60-54. Brophy, 25, is known as the “Miracle Man”. The 25-year-old Scot was on his way to a career as a pro footballer with Dundee United until a serious injury almost caused him to have a leg amputated and he was told he might never walk again. Twelve losses in a row for Blackwell but he has only failed to go the distance once so gives value for money. Motherwell, Scotland: Light: Jordan McCrory (9-1-1) W TKO 3 Sean Watson (4-3-1). McCrory wins Scottish Area title with stoppage of Watson. Second win by KO/TKO for 24-year-old from Cambuslang as he rebounds from loss to Fife-based Latvian Andrei Podusov in February. Second loss inside the distance for Watson. Hollywood, FL, USA: Heavy: Shannon Briggs (59-6-1,1ND) W KO 2 Mike Marrone (21-5). Briggs gets another win as he knocks out pathetic Marrone. Biggs had Marrone down late in the first. In the second Marrone was leaning against the ropes as Briggs patted out a couple of rights that fell short and then landed a right to the body. Marrone stood there waiting for the next punch. Briggs scored with a left hook to the head and one to the body and Marrone collapsed to the canvas. Some were impressed by this but they shouldn’t be. Yes it is win No 52 by KO/TKO for Briggs but Marrone had been inactive for almost one year and had only one fight in almost four years. He was 30lbs heavier than when he faced Guillermo Jones for the WBA cruiser title in 2011and that extra 30lbs was all on his waistline. Rating wise BoxRec has Briggs rated No 47 and Marrone No 272. IBO Ratings have Briggs at 45 and only list 100 so Marrone does not even figure in their list. Still impressed? The WBA are they have Briggs at No 5! Briggs policy is shout loud and fight low and hope no one looks at the quality of the opposition. Only idiots are taken in by that-which brings us back to the WBA. Peyrano, Argentina: Super Bantam: Alan Castillo (16-3) W TKO 4 Guillermo Soloppi (19-7,1ND). Castillo retains the interim WBC Latino title with inside the distance win over Soloppi. Although there was not a lot of action over the first two rounds Castillo made good use of his longer reach to dominating them. In the third he went to the body and a series of hard punches saw the referee give Soloppi a standing count. In the fourth a right from Castillo opened a gash on the left cheek of Soloppi and then Castillo landed a couple of uppercuts that saw Soloppi going down again just as the towel came flying in. The 24-year-old Castillo, the FAB No 1 bantam, has 7 wins by KO/TKO and has won 7 of his last 8 fights. Soloppi, 29, the FAB No 4 super bantam is 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Heubach, Germany: Super Welter: Kasim Gashi (6-0) W TKO 2 Adnan Oezcoban (6-10-2). Gashi collects the vacant GBA version of the German title with second round win over ancient Oezcoban. Fighting in his adopted home town Gashi floored poor Oezcoban twice in the second round and the Turk decided he had had enough and retired at the end of the round. The 25-year-old Kosovo-born Gashi now has four wins by KO/TKO and was in his first ten round fight. Oezcoban, 49, “The Last Ottoman” came into this one at short notice and this is his sixth loss in a row. A poor title fight. September 6 Corpus Christi, TX, USA: Bantam: Jamie McDonnell (27-2-1) W PTS 12 Tomoki Kameda (31-2). Super Middle: Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1) W PTS 10 Marco A Rubio (59-8-1). Super Fly: Victor Ruiz (20-5) W PTS 8 Daiki Kameda (29-5). Super Feather: Mario Barrios (11-0) W KO 4 Jose Cen Torres (13-9). McDonnell vs. Kameda McDonnell retains WBA secondary title with repeat points win over Kameda. These two are so well matched that they could fight half a dozen times and they would all be close fights. How you saw this one depended on whose style you preferred and what you felt counted most in scoring a round and although the judges saw McDonnell a clear winner the media and fans were much more split on whether the right man won. The first round saw both fighters using a punch that would be their most effective weapon in the fight. McDonnell with a big edge in reach was pumping out his jab and Kameda firing home left hooks. Kameda got that left hook home in the second with McDonnell doing most of the pressing adding his own left hook to his work with the jab. Both men were scoring with a variety of punches over the early rounds with neither clearly dominating making the rounds close. The punch stats showed that after five rounds Kameda had thrown more and landed more than McDonnell and did look to have built a small lead. However McDonnell’s punches saw Kameda sporting a swelling under his right eye although the Japanese fighter probably did enough to take the sixth with his left hook and showing good movement to counter the reach advantage of the champion. Both scored with good punches to head and body as they traded shots in the seventh, eighth and ninth all of which could have been scored either way but with Kameda just doing enough to be in front. McDonnell turned up the heat over the championship rounds pressing hard, scoring with his stiff jabs and getting home good combinations but Kameda was countering well and was just that bit quicker although Mc Donnell took the round and had shortened or eliminated Kameda’s edge. McDonnell’s jab again bossed the eleventh as Kameda showed signs of tiring but going into the last it seemed as though the fight could go either way. McDonnell wrapped up the decision by flooring Kameda with a right with Kameda’s leg slipping out from under him at the same time but it was a legitimate knockdown. If the fight had been close on the scorecards it could have been important but as it was the judges had McDonnell far enough ahead after eleven rounds for the knockdown in the last to not be a factor in the outcome. Scores 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 all for McDonnell who was defending his title for the third time. The tall 29-year-old Doncaster fighter has taken the hard route beating Stuart Hall and Julio Ceja on his way to the IBF bantam title only to be unfairly stripped off the title just five months after winning it. His route to the WBA title has seen him beat Tabtimdaeng, Javier Chacon and Kameda in their first fight with those three having combined records of 103-4 when he beat them. Now he is looking to challenge Scott Quigg for his WBA title at super bantam. If he keeps beating quality opposition and winning overseas he could soon don the mantle relinquished by Carl Froch of taking tough fights. OK a long way to go yet but some great performances. Kameda was sure he had won this one and a lot of people agreed with him but importantly the judges did not. Kameda, 24, the youngest member of the Kameda clan, will get another chance to win a world title and is a good bet to do so. Dirrell vs. Rubio Dirrell wins one-sided victory over Rubio but fails to sparkle. Dirrell was just too quick and slick for Rubio who has fought as low as welter and occasionally at super middle but recently at the top level at middle. The 169 ½ lbs he weighed here was a career high so the Mexican was carrying some spare poundage and has never been the quickest of fighters. Dirrell swept the first three rounds moving around Rubio and peppering him with fast combinations. Rubio was unmoved but his arm were also unmoving as he was not letting his punches go and Dirrell was having it easy. Rubio came to life in the fourth momentarily shaking Dirrell with a left hook but not following up and Dirrell was back in control in the fifth. Dirrell was banging home body punches in round after round beating Rubio to the punch and showing a tight guard whenever Rubio tried to counter. Rubio’s only chance was to take Dirrell to the ropes but he did not achieve that often and when he did Dirrell would cover up, turn off the ropes and bang home fast combinations. Rubio was never quick enough to be competitive but Dirrell was unable to get Rubio out of there and it was a wide unanimous decision but not an impressive one. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Dirrell is looking to get right back into the title picture to regain the crown he lost to Badou Jack on a majority decision in April but he has dropped down to No 5 in the WBC ratings so he will have to fight his way back to contention. The 35-year-old Rubio was having his first fight since being blasted out in two rounds by Gennady Golovkin in October and this is the first time he has lost consecutive fights since way back in 2006. He is no longer rated but still a name and there a few young rising fighters who would fancy having his scalp on their belt so there are fights there and he will probably continue. Kameda vs. Ruiz It was a bad night for the Kameda family as elder brother Daiki lost a split decision to Mexican Ruiz. This was not intended to be a tough test for Kameda as it was his first fight since losing a split decision to Liborio Solis in a unification fight in December 2013. He looked on his way to victory when he put Ruiz down in the second but Ruiz got up and fought back hard with Kameda tiring and finally losing the spilt decision. Scores 77-74, 76-75 for Ruiz and 78-75 for Kameda. Big win for Ruiz over a former double world champion so he can expect quite a few offers on the back of this after having been stopped in three rounds by McWilliams Arroyo in March. Discipline has never been Kameda’s strong point and he failed to make the weight for this fight. Barrios vs. Torres Highly touted prospect Barrios makes it six wins by KO/TKO with knockout of Torres. The 20-year-old from San Antonio is tall for his weight at 6’0” (183cm) and he had a big edge in reach which he used over the first three rounds with Torres in survival mode from the start. In the fourth a combination of punches to head and body put Torres down and out. “Golden Boy” Barrios, a former PAL and Silver Gloves champion has 6 wins by KO/TKO. Mexican Torres, 24, is 2-8 in his last 10 fights. General Santos City, Philippines: Super Bantam: Drian Francisco (28-3-1) W KO 1 Jilo Merlin (13-24-2). Predictable win for Francisco as he moves up to super bantam. A left hook and a right to the body were all that was required to add another kayo to Francisco’s record and a sixth loss by KO/TKO in a row for Merlin. Last time out in May the former WBA interim super fly champion was caught cold, floored three times and stopped inside a round by Jason Canoy so an easy first step back. Nine losses in a row for Merlin so no magic there. Takaoka, Japan: Light Fly: Juan Landaeta (27-8-1) W TKO 9 Walter Tello (21-9). Landaeta gets a win as he halts Panamanian Tello. Lacking some of the speed he had in earlier days Landaeta boxed conservatively against a defensive minded Tello. Once he was in his stride he was scoring with southpaw right jabs, hooks and uppercuts and clearly outboxing Tello. Landaeta had a winning lead going into the ninth but he made the judges superfluous. A body shot hurt Tello and the referee gave him a standing count. When the action started again Landaeta landed a series of punches that had Tello defenceless and the fight was stopped. The 36-year-old Venezuelan a former interim WBA minimum champion has failed in two attempts to win the full WBA light fly title. He was inactive for almost 5 years before returning with a win in Venezuela in December but then lost clearly on points against Filipino Mark John Yap in June so needed to win this one. Tello, 28 had lost in four tries at winning a world title. This coming Saturday is a less than exciting day in international boxing. Much of the action is taking place in Europe, though there is some notable female action in Mexico.
The only male world title fight of the day takes place in Germany, however it's a less than exciting title bout that really shows how farcical the WBA are. The bout in question sees the very talented WBA “regular” Light Heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer (46-2, 34) defending his belt against Konni Konrad (22-1-1, 11). Breahmer is talented, but he's a league lower than WBA “super” champion Sergey Kovalev. Konrad on the other hand is a pitiful challenger who is ranked #133 by boxrec.com, an accurate ranking showing just what a joke he is as a challenger. The German card does feature some interesting hopes, such as Cruiserweight Noel Gevor (18-0, 10) and Super Middleweight prospect Stefan Haertel (6-0), both of whom should continue their perfect runs. The other European card of note comes from Leeds where fans get the chance to see a number of notable fighters, though unfortunately the bouts are, on the whole, horrible mismatches. On paper the most interesting of the bouts will see the unbeaten, and hugely popular, Josh Warrington (21-0, 4) take on Australian Joel Brunker (28-1, 16). This looks a good bout on paper but Brunker has got a padded record and Warrington has been relatively over-hyped, based on his fan base. It should be an entertaining fight but one that won't really effect the world scene. One fighter who may be eyeing up a future world title fight is former IBF Bantamweight champion Stuart Hall (17-4-2, 7) who takes on the horribly matched Arnoldo Solano (14-10) in what is a farcical mismatch. Another terrible mismatch will see former world title challenger Tony Bellew (24-2-1, 15) take on Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5, 8). Another former world title challenger on this card is Martin Murray (31-2-1, 14) who faces Jose Miguel Torres (31-6, 27). On paper the Murray bout looks good but the reality is that Torres is a limited opponent who was beaten black and blue by David Lemieux not too long ago. The most notable action in Americas comes from Mexico where fans will get a couple of female world title fights. On paper the most exciting of those comes at 108lbs where Ibeth Zamora Silva (23-5, 9) will defend her belt against Esmeralda Moreno (31-7-1, 10). On paper this could actually be the fight of the day. On the same card fans will also get the chance to see the much touted Rey Vargas (24-0, 20), who many are tipping to become a world champion. Another female title fight set to take place in Mexico will see WBA female Minimumweight champion Anabel Ortiz (17-3, 3) defending her title against the once beaten Sandra Robles (11-1, 5). This will be Ortiz's first bout since defeating Nana Yoshikawa back in April and we don't expect to see her struggle with Robles, despite the fact Robles is on a 9 fight winning streak. A huge thanks to Eric Armit for his excellent look over the last weeks results from around the boxing world.
August 27 Oceanside, CA, USA: Super Middle: Roamer Angulo (16-0) W PT 8 Izaak Cardona (14-2). Super Welter: Dashon Johnson (17-19-3) W PTS 8 Elias Espadas (9-2). Angulo vs. Cardona Colombian Angulo impresses in his first fight in the USA with unanimous verdict over Cardona. Angulo took the lead from the bell getting his punches off quicker than Cardona and easily took the first three rounds. His work rate dropped in the fourth which allowed Cardona to score with some good counters. Angulo picked up the pace again in the fifth and dominated the rest of the way against a tiring Cardona. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73. The 31-year-old Angulo, a South American Games silver medallist, did not turn pro until he was 26 and has been a bit of a gypsy with bouts in Dominican Republic, Argentina, Germany, Turkey and of course Colombia. Cardona, 23, had won his last 5 fights. Although a good class amateur he failed to qualify for the Olympics losing out in a “Last Chance Qualifier” tournament. Johnson vs. Espadas “Fly Boy” Johnson again shows that he is not a reliable loser. The experienced Californian looked to be on his way to another loss as Espadas had the better of the first three rounds. Johnson needed to turn the fight around and he did it in the fourth round flooring Espadas with a right. From then on it was Johnson’s fight as he got stronger whilst Espadas gradually faded. Scores 77-74 twice and 78-73. Johnson, 27, was 1-8 in his last 9 fights going in but has wins over Adam Trupish and Craig McEwan which shows he can be a good fighter on his night. Mexican Espadas had won his last 8 fights but against modest opposition. Costa Mesa, CA, USA: Super Welter: Terrell Williams (14-0) W PTS 8 John Williams (15-4-1). Light: Victor Betancourt (20-1,1ND) W PTS 8 Jose Esqivel Porras (9-4). Williams vs. Williams Williams-Terrell that is- extends his unbeaten run but has to go the distance. Terrell had height and reach over John W and used those edges well. Both landed some hard rights but Terrell was the busier and more accurate and got the unanimous decision but was pressed hard. Scores 79-73 twice and 77-75. The 31-year-old from LA had won 12 in a row by KO/TKO including six in the first round and without having to go past the third round for victory so this a tougher test. He was inactive for two years before returning to action in May. John’s only loss inside the distance came at the hands of Demetrius Andrade in the last round of a fight in 2009. He had won 8 of his last 9 fights. Betancourt vs. Porras Mexican Betancourt wins wide unanimous decision over fellow-countryman Porras. Scores 80-72 twice and 78-74. The 24-year-old from Mexicali had a 17 bout unbeaten streak broken in a loss to Sergio Lopez in August last year but has rebounded with 4 wins. Three losses in a row for Porras. Houston, TX, USA: Light Heavy: Cedric Agnew (28-2) W PTS 6 Kevin Engel (20-13). Light Heavy: Cornelius White (22-4) W TKO 2 William Johnson (10-42-1), Agnew vs. Engel Agnew gets much needed win but only after a big scare. The former WBO title challenger had this fight well in hand over the first three rounds and looked to be just one punch away from victory when he dropped experienced Engel with a body punch in the fourth. The St. Louis fight has lost ten times by KO/TKO so it looked like No 11 coming up. That’s what Agnew decided and almost paid the price for over confidence. As he moved in to finish it a right from Engel, who has won 16 of his 20 victories by KO/TKO, crashed into Agnew’s jaw and Agnew went down badly hurt. He was shaky when he got up and only the bell saved him from certain defeat. Agnew managed to recover well enough to see out the last two rounds and take the unanimous verdict. After losing by kayo against Sergey Kovalev in March last year the 28-year-old southpaw was back with a win two months later. He was then inactive until February this year when he suffered an upset defeat against Sam Clarkson in February so could not afford another loss. The 35-year-old Engel had lost 6 in a row, 5 by KO/TKO so looked a safe pick. White vs. Johnson Johnson also needed a win and his came much easier than that of Agnew. The 6’2” local hunted Johnson down in the first and ended it in the second. He took Johnson to the ropes and unleashed a volley of punches forcing the referee to step in to save Johnson. Wins over Yordanis Despaigne and Dmitry Sukhotsky earned 33-year-old White a shot at Kovalev but he only lasted three rounds and then went on to lose to Thomas Williams inside a round and Marcus Browne. Now 12 losses in a row for Johnson and 19 losses by KO/TKO. August 28 Las Vegas, NV, USA: Heavy: Trevor Bryan (16-0) W PTS 10 Derric Rossy (30-9). Super Middle: Decarlo Perez (15-3-1) W PTS 10 Juan Ubaldo Cabrera (23-1). Heavy: Joey Dawejko (16-4-2) W TKO 1 Natu Visina (11-2). Bryan vs. Rossy Don King’s heavyweight hope Bryan gets good win over experienced Rossy. Bryan got a great start hurting Rossy in the first with left hooks before putting him down with a right. Rossy was up quickly and not badly hurt. He took the fight to Bryan and they traded to the bell. They continued the high level trading in the second and third with both getting home some good punches. It looked set to be a classic but Rossy started to tire after the fourth. Bryan had a big fifth with Rossy not going down but in deeper trouble than he was in the first. Despite tiring Rossy was still competitive and even though the pace had dropped there was still plenty of action but with Bryan having the edge and being the busier in round after round on his way to a deserved unanimous decision. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92 for Bryan. The 24-year-old 6’4” (193cm) Bryan a former PAL gold medal winner just came up short in other major amateur tournaments losing in the quarter finals of both the NGG’s and the US Championships. He has been carefully protected but showed real promise in this win which gives him the Junior NABF title. Rossy, 35, showed all of his experience as he came in to this fight with only one weeks’ notice and fought back hard after the early knockdown with the wider scores being a bit hard on the veteran. He beat Joe Hanks on majority verdict but was less lucky in losing a split decision to Joey Dawejko and very unlucky in losing a majority verdict to unbeaten Vyacheslav Glazkov. Perez vs. Cabrera Yet another upset as late sub Perez ruins the unbeaten record of Dominican Cabrera. The Dominican was the favourite and that held up for three rounds. Despite suffering a cut over his right eye in the second round Cabrera had the fight under control. From the fourth Perez was timing his shots and countering well and gradually taking over the fight. Cabrera seemed to tire and could not match the work rate of the Atlantic City fighter. Frustration/desperation saw Cabrera losing a point in the seventh for holding and Perez cruised to a clear victory. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92. The 24-year-old “3mendo” Perez came in with only a week to prepare but he had won 8 of his last 9 fights beating reasonable opposition in Tyrone Brunson and Jessie Nicklow in his last two fights. Cabrera, 36, had been considered a good prospect when he turned pro after winning gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games (where he beat Jean Pascal) and competing at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. However he had only one fight in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012 and was inactive in 2013. Dawejko vs. Visina Dawejko gets his second one round win in a row as he crushes Visina in 76 seconds. Dawejko came out firing and put Visina down from a series of punches just 30 seconds into the fight. Visina got up only to run into another storm of punches and he was wobbling badly and not punching back when the referee stopped the fight. Dawejko, 25, is 8-1 in his last 9 fights with the loss being in a tough contest against Amir Mansour in May. Six of his eight wins in that sequence have all been one round finishes. It’s a pity that at 5’10” (178cm) and with a relatively short reach Dawejko is at a disadvantage when he faces many heavyweights. He would be better suited to cruiser but the lightest he has weighted is 230lbs. Samoan Visina loses inside the distance for the second time. He had Steve Cunningham on the floor in their fight in October but was pulled out of the fight at the end of the seventh round. He was 73lbs heavier than Cunningham and had 37lbs over Dawejko. Washington, DC, USA: Light: Jonathan Maicelo (22-2,1ND) W PTS 10 Brandon Bennett (19-2) . Super Middle: Phillip Jackson Benson (16-2) W TKO 3 Jinner Guerrero (8-6). Light: Jamel Herring 13-0) W TKO 3 Ariel Vasquez (12-9-2,1ND). Light: Robert Easter (15-0) W TKO 6 Osumanu Akaba (32-9-1). Welter: David Grayton (12-0) W TKO 6 Jose M Valderrama (4-11). Light: Raynell Williams (8-0) W TKO 2 Jose Miguel Castro (5-6). Maicelo vs. Bennett Maicelo returns with a win as he takes unanimous decision over Bennett. Maicelo easily took the early rounds. Showing plenty of quick movement and scoring with fast, accurate combinations he effectively shut southpaw Bennett out of the fight. Bennett came into it over the middle rounds as Maicelo’s work rate dropped. The local fighter was now the one throwing combinations and he looked to be on his way to victory. Maicelo found another gear over the ninth and tenth and swung the fight his way to get a fairly comfortable victory in the end. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91 with the first two score being a better reflection of Bennett’s efforts in the middle rounds. Maicelo, 32, a North Bergen-based Peruvian, was floored and lost by a wide margin against Darley’s Perez for the interim WBA title in January so a good first step as he builds towards another title match. Bennett, 27, gets blown off course in his rehabilitation plan. After 16 wins on the bounce he was well beaten by Mexican Francisco Vargas in 2013. Since his return he had scored three wins. Benson vs. Guerrero Benson yet another boxer on a rebuilding course. He got off to a good start with a win over very modest Guerrero. Benson bossed to fight from the early action scoring two knockdowns in the first two rounds. In the third he was hammering Guerrero against the ropes when Guerrero’s corner threw in the towel. The 30-year-old from New York had a run of 13 wins with 12 of those victories by way of KO/TKO then he ran into the totally unpredictable Darnell Boone in April and was stopped in six rounds. Boone has a stoppage win over Adonis Stevenson, a split decision loss against Sergey Kovalev and a win over Willie Monroe Jr as well as his victory over Benson. Ecuadorian Guerrero now has 5 losses by KO/TKO. Herring vs. Vasquez Olympian Herring keeps his winning streak going. This was as one-sided as a fight can get. The talented Herring was too quick, too accurate and too powerful for southpaw Vasquez. A body punch put Vasquez down in the first and Herring had him on the deck again in the second. A desperate Vasquez lost two points in the third for holding and was taking a beating when the referee stopped the fight. The lanky 29-year-old “Semper Fi” Herring a former national and armed forces champion represented the USA at both the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He has 8 wins by KO/TKO. Nicaraguan Vasquez, 28, was having his first fight in the USA. He is now 1-5-2 in his last 8 fights. Easter vs. Akaba Easter overcomes some problems set by Akaba to force the finish in the sixth round. Easter had height and reach over Akaba and made good use of his jab to give himself punching room so that he could slowly pick Akaba apart. However it was not all one way with Akaba, an awkward southpaw showing good movement and scoring enough to be competitive over the five completed rounds. By the fifth Easter’s tactics were proving successful with Akaba fading fast and when Akaba went down from a series of punches his corner signalled that they wanted the fight stopped. The unbeaten 24-year-old from Toledo has been matched with some experienced if fading pros. Unlike Herring Easter did not win his way to the 2012 Olympics but was an alternate (reserve) in case someone fell out. He has 12 wins by KO/TKO. Ghanaian Akaba ,35, lost to Paul Truscott and Ricky Burns in CBC title fights and has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights against some tough opposition. Grayton vs. Valderrama Another former top amateur, another unbeaten fighter, and another win. Grayton almost finished this in the first round when he floored Valderrama with a body punch but the Puerto Rican got up and fought on. Grayton was winning the rounds but Valderrama some good skills but his lack of power meant that Grayton could let his punches go freely. By the sixth Valderrama was tiring and Grayton put him down twice with the referee stopping the fight after the second knockdown. “Day Day”, 28, is a former NGG champion and scored a win over Errol Spence in the amateurs. He has 9 wins by KO/TKO. His father, also David, was a pro who ran up a 17-5 record in the 1980’s. Valderrama, 27, has now lost 11 of his last 12 fights. Williams vs. Castro Williams completes the quartet of former top amateur winning on this show. The Cleveland fighter had a slight edge in the first round but exploded in the second. He put Castro down early in the round with a left to the body only for Castro to beat the count and try to survive the remaining time. He was unsuccessful as a head shot from Williams put Castro down again with the fight being stopped. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for Williams. As an amateur he was US Champion and represented the US at the World Championships and 2008 Olympics but lost out to Juan Carlos Ramirez at the US Trials for the 2012 Olympics. He scored a win over Carl Frampton in a USA vs. Ireland match. Puerto Rican Castro is 1-5 in his last 6 fights with all of the losses being against unbeaten fighters. San Miguel, Argentina: Light: Jonathan Chavez (14-1-1) W PTS 10 Damian Yapur (11-1-2). Chavez wins the vacant WBO Latino title with majority decision over Yapur. This was a disappointing fight with neither at their best. Chavez showed his normal neat boxing with a stiff jab and good accurate right crosses and Yapur was presenting too static a target. A right from Chavez opened a cut high on the left side of Yapur’s forehead but the doctor allowed the fight to continue. Chavez had built a commanding lead over the first six rounds but he faded out of the fight from the seventh to the ninth but finished strongly in the tenth to take the decision. Scores 98-92 twice for Chavez and 95-95. Good result for the 27-year-old from Buenos Aires who now has 8 wins in a row. This should get him a FAB rating. “El Chino” Yapur, also 27, was 5-0-2 in his last 7 fights and was FAB No 5. Perth, Australia: Super Middle: Rohan Murdock (18-1) W PTS 10 Jorge D Caraballo (13-5-1). Super Middle: Wes Capper (11-1) W DISQ 3 Joe Rea (10-22-5). Murdock vs. Caraballo Murdock wins every round but gutsy Caraballo refuses to fold. The local fighter handed out a steady diet of punishment with punches from both hands to the head and body of Caraballo. Body shots, head shot, jabs, hooks and uppercuts Caraballo absorbed them all. He also managed to score with a few punches of his own but never came near winning a round. The fight could have been stopped in any of the last three rounds but Caraballo stayed the full route. The 23-year-old Murdock, a former top amateur, dropped from No 6 to No 9 in the latest WBO ratings but is hoping for a world title fight next year. Caraballo, 26, a former Argentinian and South American title challenger, is now 5-5 in his last 10 fights and is not rated by the FAB but did his job here. Capper vs. Rea Capper makes it a winning double for the locals as he beats Rea on disqualification. Capper had Rea down in each of the three rounds. In the third Rea put in a low punch to get a break only for Capper to repay him in kind and put Rea on his knees with a low punch of his own. When action resumed Rea stuck an elbow in Capper’s face and the referee disqualified him. The 27-year-old Capper lost a majority verdict to more experienced Tony Hirsch in Las Vegas in March but has now scored two wins since returning home. Rea, from Ballymena, has now gone 0-8-4 in his last 12 fights. Ancona, Italy: Feather: Nicola Cipolletta (11-4-2) W TKO 5 Antonio Cossu (12-3-2). If at first you don’t succeed then try, try, and try again. Finally Cipolletta wins an Italian title at the fourth attempt. The Naples veteran boxed cleverly over the opening rounds keeping Cossu on the outside and not allowing the Sardinian to get close. Cossu had to force the fight and when boring in was dangerous with his head. Cossu did enough to share the third round but otherwise it was Cipolletta doing most of the scoring. In the fifth Cossu was trying to thrust his way inside when Cipolletta landed a solid right. Cossu was badly shaken and a series of hard punches including three cracking rights had Cossu in deep trouble and very groggy and the referee stopped the fight. Cipolletta had managed a loss and two draws in national title fights at super feather so dropping down to feather was a smart move. He gets his third win by KO/TKO. Cossu, 41, was having his second shot at the feather title and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Kobe, Japan: Light: Masayoshi Nakatani (11-0) W TKO 5 Kazuya Murata (11-5). Easy night for Nakatani as he retains his OPBF title. The tall, 5’11 ½” (182cm) champion was able to keep Murata at arm’s length and on the end of his jab. After comfortably taking the first three rounds Nakatani unloaded some heavy hits to head and body in the fourth and by the end of the round Murata’s right eye was almost closed. Further punishment from Nakatani in the fifth saw the eye totally closed. The doctor took a look at Murata’s eye at the end of the round and the injury was too bad for the challenger to continue. Murata may have suffered a broken orbital bone. Fourth defence of his OPBF title for the 26-year-old WBC No 14 and his sixth win by KO/TKO. Murata, the OPBF No 4 had won his last 6 fights. Tijuana, Mexico: Middle: Tony Hirsch (19-6-2) W PTS 10 Roland Paredes (9-3-2). Hirsch makes it 2 wins in 2 outings in Tijuana. The Californian made a slow start and was hampered by a cut from the first round. It was the fourth before he began to eat into the lead Paredes had built. Hirsch took the fifth with some stiff jabs combined with right hooks and uppercuts. The sixth was close with Hirsch just edging it but the seventh could have been scored to either fighter as there was very little clean work. Paredes was tiring and that helped Hirsch to collect the eighth and ninth with the last again a close round. Scores 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Hirsch. He wins the vacant IBU title- whatever that is? Hirsch, 31 has been in some tough fights losing to Shawn Estrada, Dmitry Chudinov-a majority decision-and John Jackson but now has 5 wins and ND in his last 6 fights. Mexican Paredes must have a detachable leg. He was 191 ¼ lbs for his last fight in March. Telcor, Nicaragua: Fly: Felix Alvarado (21-2) W TKO 1 Guillermo Ortiz (13-9-3,1ND). Super Bantam: Orlando Rizo (19-6) W PTS 8 Rafael Castillo (12-22-3,1ND). Light: Winston Campos (22-3-4) W TKO 4 Leonel Hernandez (9-8-2,1ND). Feather: Miguel Corea (4-12,3ND) W KO 2 Lester Medrano (15-6-2). Alvarado vs. Ortiz This looked a poor match and obviously Ortiz also thought so. He was like a rabbit in the headlights before the fight started and went downhill from there. Alvarado did not need to land any big punches as Ortiz was ready to go down at any excuse. After two knockdowns a quick combination ending with a right to the chin saw Ortiz go down again and just sit out the count. The 26-year-old “Gemelo” –it means twin as his twin brother Rene is also a pro-lost back-to-back fights for the WBA light and light fly titles in 2013/2014 but has rebuilt with three wins in a row by KO/TKO. Fellow Nica Ortiz had scored a big win by beating Juan Palacios in March but just wanted to be somewhere else on this night. Rizo vs. Castillo Rizo just edges out the younger but more experienced youngster Castillo. This really was a very close fight with each fighter having good spells and in the end the split decision could have gone either way but two judges went for southpaw Rizo and he got the decision. Scores 77-75 twice for Rizo and 77-75 for Castillo. Both fighters were in need of a win. The 30-year-old Rizo was 4-4 going in including a split decision loss to Castillo. The 23-year-old Castillo was 2-5-1ND. This was the third fight between these two and Rizo is 2-1 up now and the first fight in 2012 was also a split decision. Campos vs. Hernandez Campos makes it 7 wins in his last 8 fights with stoppage of Hernandez just 10 seconds into the fourth round of another all-Nica fight. The 23-year-old southpaw has 13 wins by KO/TKO. Third loss by KO/TKO for Hernandez. Corea vs. Medrano They were looking to get a win for Medrano here but Corea had other ideas. The fight went to script over the first round and for about 45 seconds of the second. Medrano was controlling the fight and looking to be on his way to his second quick win over Corea who was just throwing wild swings. All of that changed in the first minute of the second round when Medrano walked onto an overhand left that put him down and out. It was a bad knockout and Medrano was out for some time but eventually recovered. Only the second win by KO/TKO for Corea, 22, who was knocked out in three rounds by Medrano in 2013. Medrano had a good run of 8 wins before losing to Chris Mijares over ten rounds in November. He then went an uneven 1-2-1 in local fights. Now he is 1-3-1. Galati, Romania: Heavy: Christian Hammer (18-4) W PTS 10 Sherman Williams (37-14-2,1ND). Heavy: Adrian Granat (8-0) W TKO 3 Konstantin Airich (21-13-2). Light: Viorel Simion (19-1) W TKO 3 David Kis (10-19-2). Hammer vs. Williams Hammer gets wide unanimous decision over Williams. Over the first three rounds the fight was close with Williams landing some meaty rights and left hooks and doing enough to be in front. From the fourth Hammer was the busier fighter with Williams slowing and eating jabs. By the late rounds Williams was a static target with Hammer able to work the jab and bang home body punches with Williams too slow and tired to respond. Scores 98-92 twice and 100-90. The 27-year-old German-based Hammer –real name Cristian Ciocan-was fighting in his hometown for the first time in two years. This is his first fight since losing to Tyson Fury in February. “Tank” Williams, 42, has only lost by KO/TKO once and that was way back in 1999 against then unbeaten Robert Davis. Granat vs. Airich Giant Swede Granat was just too big and too young for a very faded Airich. It was a one-sided fight. Granat’s inexperience showed with his defence far from tight but Airich just could not capitalise on those errors. Granat shook Airich with a right in the third and Airich’s corner had seen enough and threw in the towel. The 24-year-old 6’7 ½” (202cm) Swede also had a 22lbs edge in weight and used that to help him get his 7th win by KO/TKO. He was twice Swedish amateur champion but is still largely untested. Airich came in as a late sub. At 36 that is his future, a late fill-in to get the local prospect a win over a “name”. He is 2-9 in his last 11 fights and also lost to Anthony Joshua in three rounds. Simion vs. Kis Former amateur star Simion has no trouble in stopping young Hungarian. The 33-year-old Romanian “Bombardierul” forced the referee’s intervention late in the third round. Simion’s only loss was on a unanimous decision against Lee Selby in July 2013. This is only his third bout since then but he looks to be serious about his career again. Kis, just 20, has lost his last 10 fights Secunda, South Africa: Light: Mzonke Fana (35-8) W PTS 12 Said Zungu (14-10-1). Fana wins vacant WBFed International title against mediocre Tanzania’s Zungu. Fana had too much skill and experience for Zungu but looked jaded and although winning every round laboured and looked a shadow of the fighter he was. Scores 100-90 from all three judges. Now 41, “The Rose Khayelitsha” twice an IBF super feather champion, who simply never bothered to defend his title the second time and was stripped, is now 4-4 in his last 8 fights but the big fights have been the four that he lost. Zungu was inactive from December 2012 until returning with a loss in a four round fight in July. Puerto Banus, Spain: Middle: Matthew Macklin (33-6) W KO 1 Chris Hermann (19-7-1). Macklin needs only 104 seconds to end this one. A couple of left hooks to the body put Hermann down and he could not beat the count. It looked to be the end of the career of the former undefeated European champion and world title challenger when he suffered a knockout at the hands of Jorge Heiland in November but the 33-year-old from Birmingham is slowly rebuilding. This is his second win this year and he has a third fight scheduled for October. German Hermann (just trips off the tongue that) has lost three in a row by KO/TKO. Mdantsane, South Africa: Super Fly: Rene Dacquel (15-5-1) W PTS 12 Thembelani Nxoshe (13-6-1). He came he saw he conquered. Filipino Dacquel upset the odds as he scored two knockdowns on the way to a split decision over local fighter Nxoshe. He came close to getting an inside the distance win when Nxoshe wanted to quit after being floored by a body punch in the sixth but his trainer Dudu Bundu talked him into continuing. Dacquel got the deserved decision. The 24-year-old from Manila had lost his national title in a twelve round fight on 11 July so has wasted no time in rebounding. Nxoshe had achieved a career best win in November when he outpointed the more experienced Doctor Ntsele to win the national flyweight title but the South African Board have withdrawn recognition of him as champion so he has a battle outside the ring as well. Bangkok, Thailand: Minimum: Jaysever Abcede (10-3) W TKO 11 Pigmy Kokietgym (57-8-2). Filipino springs major upset with kayo of world rated Thai. From the opening round southpaw Abcede showed good movement and fast hands. He was also taller with a big edge in reach and was content to box on the retreat and fire quick combinations one of which sent Kokietgym stumbling into the ropes. Kokietgym just kept trying to walk Abcede down but the Filipino was too quick and was catching Kokietgym with counters from both hands with Kokietgym getting frustrated and stumbling into punch after punch. The local fight had a better fifth round landing some hard rights but Abcede never looked troubled. In the sixth round Kokietgym tried staying back and luring Abcede in but again the hand and foot speed of the Filipino were more than a match for the local and again he landed a left that made Kokietgym stumble. In the eighth and ninth Abcede’s confidence was growing and he was standing and trading more and one choice uppercut in the ninth snapped Kokietgym’s head back. In the tenth the Filipino was taking pot shots at a static Kokietgym who was missing badly whenever he lunged forward trying to hit his tormentor. In a frantic eleventh Kokietgym was just swing wild punches and leaving himself wide open. The Thai had some success but Abcede landed some thumping counters to head and body and as Kokietgym drew back his left to throw a punch Abcede beat him to it with a straight right that crashed into Kokietgym chin. The Thai went down heavily. He tried to get up at six but fell into the ropes and the referee waived the fight over. Huge win for the 20-year-old Abcede as he lifts the vacant WBO Oriental title. He has now won his last 7 fights, including 5 wins by KO/TKO in that run. He was No 2 light fly with the GAB. Kokietgym, 33, never really got into the fight as Abcede was just too quick for him. It may be the end for the former WBA and IBO title challenger. Hinckley, MN, USA: Cruiser: Phil Williams (15-7-2) W TKO 2 Al Sands (15-2). Middle: Rob Brant (17-0) W TKO 3 Lekan Byfield (6-10-2). Romon Barber (5-9) W TKO 5 Cerresso Fort (18-4-1). Welter: Mohammed Kayongo (18-4-1) W KO 1 Raul Munoz (23-20-1). Williams vs. Sands Williams springs upset and wins contest for local bragging rights with quick stoppage of Sands. Williams came out pressurising the taller Sands and they traded hard punches. A short southpaw left hook from Williams staggered Sands who backed up to the ropes. Williams followed and landed two more left hooks and a right that sent Sands into a corner. Two more rights had Sands stumbling forward and Williams thundered home some more head punches as Sands sprawled across the ring and down. He was up at five then walked to a corner and stood with both arms resting on the ropes. The referee had a good look at Sands and waived the fight off over the protests of Sands but it look a good stoppage. The 38-year-old Williams had a spell of poor results and was coming off a stoppage loss against Jordan Shimmell in December but was a known punches with 13 wins by KO/TKO in his previous 14 victories. Sands “The Haitian Sensation”, 28, had won 13 in a row 11 by KO/TKO and he lost his State title in this fight so you can be sure he will want a return and soon.. Brant vs. Byfield Brant continues his climb with stoppage of Byfield. Brant was walking Byfield down over the first two rounds with Byfield showing some good survival skills. He ran out of ring in the third and a series of hard accurate punches from Brant brought the referee’s intervention. The 24-year-old “Bravo” is ready for some higher level exposure. He has good amateur credentials having represented the USA at the World Junior and Senior Championships and taking gold at both the US Nationals and the NGG. He has 11 wins by KO/TKO with all of those wins coming inside the first three rounds. Now 6 losses in a row for Byfield. Barber vs. Fort This was just as big an upset in local terms as the Williams win. Barber looked a safe record padder for Fort. Barber shook Fort early and the local fighter never really recovered. Instead of going into his shell until he had recovered Fort chose to trade with Barber but still looked unsteady. Barber had a big fifth bombarding Fort with heavy punches and at the end of the round the doctor examined Fort and recommended the fight be stopped. Prelim fighter Barber, 33, should not have been in with a chance having gone 2-9 in his last 11 fights including 6 losses by KO/TKO but he will get plenty of work on the back of this upset win. Fort had won his first 17 fights but then stumbled as the opposition got tougher losing to John Jackson, Caleb Truax and Vitaliy Kopylenko who had combined records of 59-2-1, but he had won his last fight. Kayongo vs. Munoz Ugandan Kayongo returns from a two-bout losing streak with kayo of Munoz. The “African Assassin” slammed home a body punch in the first round and Munoz went down in agony and stayed there throughout the count. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for the locally-based Kampala-born Kayongo. He had lost consecutive fights to unbeaten fighters in Jamal James and Frederick Lawson and had then been inactive for 17 months. Mexican Munoz has now lost 7 of his last 8 fights with all seven losses by KO/TKO. August 29 Los Angeles, CA, USA: Feather: Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1) W PTS 12 Abner Mares (29-2-1). Super Bantam: Julio Ceja (30-1) W TKO 5 Hugo Ruiz (35-3). Light: Alejandro Luna (19-0) W TKO 4 Sergio Lopez (19-9-1). Super Middle: Alfredo Angulo (24-5) W TKO 5 Hector Munoz (23-16-1). Middle: Brian Castro Castano (10-0) W DISQ 5 Jonathan Batista (14-7). Super Middle: Paul Mendez (19-2-2,1ND) W TKO 2 Andrik Saralegui (8-3,1ND). Welter: Jessie Roman (20-2) W PTS 8 Hector Serrano (18-4). Middle: Alan Castano (9-0) W TKO 4 Tom Howard (8-5). Santa Cruz v. Mares Santa Cruz wins the vacant real WBA title with majority decision over Mares that should have been unanimous. Mares came out firing in this one going straight into Santa Cruz taking him to the ropes and working away to the body. The taller Santa Cruz was firing counters but the frantic attacks from Mares were pushing Santa Cruz back and giving him no chance to work his jab. It was the same picture in the second with Mares working inside and throwing combinations at a pace which he could not hope to sustain over twelve rounds. In the third Santa Cruz was on the front foot and catching the on-rushing Mares with sharp hooks and uppercuts and not allowing himself to be pushed back. Mares was still throwing more punches but Santa Cruz was picking and placing his punches much better. A clash of heads in the third saw Santa Cruz cut over his right eye and Mares cut over his left eye. From the fourth Santa Cruz started to dominate the action. He was throwing Mares out of his stride with stiff jabs and when Mares did rush forward he was countering with hooks and uppercuts inside. Mares was doing more wrestling than punching in the fifth as he tried to take Santa Cruz from ring centre to the ropes an hold him there whilst he punched away with hooks inside but as the round progressed Santa Cruz again created some space and worked his jabs and counters. Mares’s tactics were now to back up trying to draw a lead from Santa Cruz and then leap in with his combinations but Santa Cruz was too smart and was taking a step back after the jab and then had room to catch the incoming Mares with counters. Mares was still throwing lots of punches but the more accurate and harder shots from Santa Cruz were winning the rounds. Over the seventh, eighth and ninth the pattern remained the same with Santa Cruz taking centre ring, spearing Mares with jabs and straight rights and gladly trading in the many exchanges with Mares usually being the one to break off the action and go onto the back foot before plunging forward again. Santa Cruz also dominated the tenth. His jab was stifling many of Mares attacks before they even got going and not allowing Mares to get close. Mares staged a big effort in the eleventh just walking forward throwing punches as in the first round but Santa Cruz finished the round stronger. Both were tired in the last and were trying too hard with not much in the way of skill but plenty of effort and it was a close round with Santa Cruz a clear winner of the fight. Scores 117-111 twice and 114-114. Santa Cruz, 27, becomes a three division champion and his management were talking a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko which would be a great match but Al Haymon and Bob Arum are not on the best of terms. The WBA have said that Santa Cruz has to defend against the holder of their secondary title Jesus Cuellar-but within 18 months! Cuellar and the holders of the other versions of the title Lee Selby and Gary Russell would not have the same attraction as a Lomachenko fight but Nicholas Walters would be an attraction if Walters could make feather. The loss was obviously a big set-back for Mares. His tactics were not working but he had no plan B. He had recovered well from his first round kayo against Jhonny Gonzalez in 2013 scoring wins over good level opposition in Jonathan Oquendo, Jose Ramirez and Arturo Santos Reyes. He felt he won this one and is still a top level fighter so will probably get another title shot next year. Ceja vs. Ruiz Ceja comes off the floor and wins interim WBC title. Both fighters started cautiously probing with jabs with Ceja coming forward and Ruiz countering. Ceja scored with a good left hook but Ruiz shot back a right and edged the round. Ceja forced the pace in the second but Ruiz was boxing coolly getting his punches off first and was quicker and more accurate. The third started to deliver more of the same with Ceja pressing and pressing but with Ruiz now letting his own punches go more banging home a stiff jab and catching Ceja every time he left an opening. Ceja forced Ruiz back to the ropes and as he moved in Ruiz caught him with a short left hook that put Ceja down. He was up at five and after the eight count was completed Ruiz punched away catching Ceja with some hard head punches but Ceja survived to the bell. Ceja continued his forward march in the fourth but Ruiz was giving him a boxing lesson threading his left jab through Ceja’s guard and jerking Ceja’s head with straight rights. Ceja was ignoring his own jab and just throwing quick four-punch combinations but rarely getting through and Ruiz’s punches seemed to have more venom. In the fifth Ruiz was finding the target with jabs and rights and Ceja was scoring with hooks inside. As they traded punches in mid ring Ruiz fired a right and started a left hook only for Ceja’s left hook to land first and put Ruiz down flat on his back. Ruiz was badly hurt but stumbled up at six. When the fight resumed Ceja jumped on Ruiz driving him to the ropes and landing a series of head shots and as a left uppercut sent Ruiz tumbling backwards into a corner the referee stopped the fight. Still only 22 “Little Chicken” Ceja gets a version of the title at the second attempt. He had lost a majority decision to Jamie McDonnell for the vacant IBF title in 2013. He was losing this one but he always had a puncher’s chance as his 27 wins by KO/TKO attest. “Little Twin” Ruiz, 28, had been boxing beautifully until the Ceja left hook exploded. A former interim WBA champion Ruiz had lost only one of his last 27 fights and that was a close decision against Koki Kameda for the secondary WBA title in 2012. He can come back as he has the skill to match any in the division. Luna vs. Lopez Luna’s pressure wears down a gutsy Lopez in four rounds. No cautious start here as they both came out looking to establish dominance and were throwing hard combinations from the first bell. Lopez was throwing more punches but Luna’s punches were shorter and more accurate. A clash of heads saw Luna cut over his left eye but it was not serious. In the second. Lopez was coming forward again throwing lots of leather but a left hook and right cross combination had Lopez backing up and Luna was on top. Luna was again the man in charge in the third and he was loading up on his punches driving Lopez along the ropes and scoring with hard straight rights. Lopez banged back bravely at the end of the round scoring with a couple of good rights. Luna just walked through Lopez in the fourth again forcing Lopez to the ropes. He unleashed a series of punches that saw Lopez’s head snapping and with Lopez not punching back the referee stopped the fight over protests from Lopez. The 23-year-old “El Charro” now has 14 wins by KO/TKO. He has wins over some reasonable tests coming off a decision victory over a fading former IBF feather champion Cristobal Cruz in June. He has quick hand speed and real power. Lopez came in at very short notice but was just out-powered by Luna. He was 5-1-1 coming in and in his last two fights had stopped Victor Betancourt (16-0) and drawn with useful Joksan Hernandez but had been inactive since the Hernandez fight in December. Angulo vs. Munoz Angulo gets the win but looks to have the same strengths and the same weaknesses. “The Dog” had said he was going to box more and use his jab but from the start he was getting caught with too many punches and relying heavily on hooks to the body. Munoz had decided that attack was the best form of defence so he just chugged forward into punishment. Angulo was grinding Munoz down. He opened a bad cut over the right of Munoz with a punch in the fourth and floored the Albuquerque fighter in the fifth. At the end of the round the cut was too bad for the fight to continue and Munoz retired. The 33-year-old former interim WBO super welter champion now has 20 wins by KO/TKO. He took nine months out after losses to Erislandy Lara, Saul Alvarez and James De la Rosa but returned with a low level win in June. The 37-year-old Munoz is 3-9 in his last 12 fights but is only ever brought in to fight hard-and lose. Castano vs. Batista Argentinian hope Castano gets painful victory over Batista. Castano floored Batista in the second and from then on Batista was just looking to survive. His tactics were to slow Castano with body punches but instead he kept landing punches a lot lower than that. The referee deducted two points for low punches in the third round and another in the fourth. Batista was unable to kick the habit and more punches below the belt in the fifth saw him disqualified. A disappointment for the 25-year-old from Isidro Casanova as he had won his last 6 fights by KO/TKO and was hoping to make it lucky 7. A former South American Games gold medallist he scored wins over Errol Spence and Esquiva Falcao as an amateur but lost to Oscar Molina at the America’s Olympics Qualifier so did not make it to London. Six losses in a row for Dominican Batista Mendez vs. Saralegui Quick win for Mendez as he extends his current unbeaten run. Mendez was just too young and too quick for Mexican Saralegui. He floored him with a right in the second and also opened a cut over Saralegui’s right eye with a punch. The Mexican retired at the end of the round. After a couple of close decision losses early in his career the 26-year-old “El Gallo Negro” is now unbeaten with 14 wins and 2 draws in his last 16 fights. Saralegui, 34, was 6-1, 1ND in his last 8 going into this fight with the loss being a stoppage against Ricardo Mayorga in December. Roman vs. Serrano Roman makes it three points victories in a row as he eases to win over useful Serrano. He was too slick for Serrano outboxing him all the way and scoring a knockdown in the seventh to punctuate the victory. Scores 79-72 from all three judges. The tall 24-year-old from Santa Ana won his first 16 fights but then lost two very close decisions to modest opposition but has rebuilt with three wins this year. Serrano was also on a rebuilding process. He had won his first 13 fights and then lost three on the bounce. His recovery had seen him scores 5 wins but it is back to start all over again for him. Castano vs. Howard Castano makes it a family double as he halts Howard. The Argentinian was handing out a hiding from the start with Howard bravely soaking up the punches. One of those punches opened a cut over Howard’s left eye in the second and with Castano pouring on the punishment if the fourth the referee stopped the fight. Alan, the younger brother of Brian, was having his first fight in the US and gets his sixth win by KO/TKO. Four losses in a row for Howard. Inglewood, CA, USA: Super Welter: Shane Mosley (48-9-1) W KO 6 Ricardo Mayorga (31-9-1,1 ND). Light: Joel Diaz Jr (20-0) W TKO 4 Luis Areco (28-14-4). Super Middle: Ronald Ellis (12-0,1ND) W TKO 2 Jas Phipps (5-6-2). Mosley vs. Mayorga Mosley took the first round scoring with a couple of good overhand rights and a left hook to the body. Mayorga had said he would knock Mosley out in the first round but apart from a brief flurry late in the round he hardly threw a punch. At the start of the second Mayorga came out in a rush throwing wild punches getting through with a couple of rights. Mosley then drove Mayorga back and nailed him with a big right cross. Mayorga backed up to the ropes clearly hurt as Mosley landed two more rights. For a while Mayorga was trapped on the ropes but eventually punched his way forward only for Mosley to score with three left jabs and a left to the body. A good round for Mosley but heads were bumping dangerously on the inside. In the third Mosley landed some more of those big rights. Mayorga signalled Mosley to stand and fight. When Mosley refused Mayorga held both arm away from his body and just stood with his chin stuck out as Mosley crashed home two hard left/right combinations. He let Mosley have another couple of free shots and when Mosley backed off Mayorga did an obscene hip thrusting gesture indicating that Mosley lacked “cojones”. Mayorga also did some clowning before swinging some wild punches late in the round. They both did some clowning in the fourth but Mayorga actually settled down to doing some real work scoring with jabs and driving Mosley back but he was wild with his rights. The fifth was a big round for Mosley. He landed another big right and then was teeing off on Mayorga whilst the Nicaraguan was on the ropes. When the action moved to ring centre it was all Mosley as he scored with a right cross/ left hook combination a series of jabs and another big right with Mayorga now cut under his right eye. In the sixth Mosley was slamming his jab through Mayorga’s defence and nailing the Nicaraguan with those rights again. Suddenly Mayorga banged home two over hand rights and Mosley briefly stumbled. Mayorga was having his best round forcing Mosley back and Mosley was suddenly looking very tired. As they came together for an exchange Mayorga landed a left hook to Mosley’s body and Mosley sunk a left hook of his own in to Mayorga’s body. Mayorga stepped back and then went down on his knees and was counted out. Mayorga indicated he thought the punch was low but it landed just above his waistline. Mosley gets the win but the fight was slow-paced and at 43 Mosley is very much a spent force. His name will get him big fights but he will have to be carefully matched. Mayorga was on a $50,000 bonus if he made the contract weight. He came in over 7lbs overweight so blew that. He is 41 and has said he wants one more fight at home in Nicaragua and then will call it a day. Diaz vs. Areco Both fighters were letting their punches flow in the first Diaz was more accurate with his combinations and at the end of the first had Areco hurt with a double left hook and a straight right but he was leaving openings and Areco was able to get in some licks of his own. In the second the action continued with both willing to exchange with no thought of defence. Areco was getting home some good punches but Diaz was landing more helped by Areco’s bad habit of letting his right drop exposing his chin to the left hooks of Diaz and he was showing a small cut over his right eye. Diaz was laying on some punishment in the third with hooks to body and head and Areco was marching forward and trading and getting the worse of the exchanges. A short left sent him staggering backwards to the ropes but he marched forward again and was forcing Diaz back just by his non-stop punching. He was again finding gaps in Diaz’s defence but was wide open himself and shipping some real hard head shots and now had an even worse cut over his left eye and on the bridge of his nose. The doctor examined the cuts but let Areco continue. He just walked into punch after punch and was marching forward again when he was nailed by a right cross and went down. He made it to his feet but with his face a mask of blood the fight was stopped. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for 23-year-old Diaz. He has plenty of talent but needs to tighten his defence. Mexican Areco, 36, has been in some tough fights and has now lost his last three but he is too brave for his own good. Ellis vs. Phipps Ellis remains unbeaten with stoppage of Phipps but a disappointing finish. Ellis was warming to the task in the second and landed a series of punches that put Phipps down. Phipps was indicating he had injured his shoulder but the fight continued only for Phipps to go down again. When he got up the referee asked the doctor to examine Phipps and on the doctor’s advice the fight was stopped. “Akeem” 25 is a former NGG champion beating Terrell Gausha in the 2010 final. His brother Rashidi was a National PAL gold medallist and is also unbeaten as a pro. Kiev, Ukraine: Cruiser: Olek Usyk (8-0) W TKO 3 Johnny Muller (19-5-2). Feather: Oleg Malinovski (16-0) W PTS 8 Bahyt Abdurahimov (11-9-0). Super Welter: Olek Spyrko (19-0) W KO 1 Eduards Gerasimovs (6-4-1). Super Light: Denys Berinchyk (1-0) W TKO 4 Tarik Madni (19-9-1). Usyk vs. Muller Usyk’s power proves too much for Muller. Over the first two rounds both fighters concentrated on getting their jab working. Despite giving away height and reach Muller was matching Usyk jab for jab and the South African ended the second round by landing a couple of good rights that saw the Ukrainian’s head snapped back. In the third Muller was coming up short with his jabs and Usyk was snapping his home time and again. Usyk finished a combination with a southpaw left hook that sent Mueller tumbling to the canvas. Muller was up at four and when the fight resumed after the eight count Usyk again slammed home head shots and with Muller on the ropes another left hook floored Muller. The South African got up immediately and Usyk scored with a fusillade of head punches taking Muller to the ropes and landing a savage left uppercut and more head punches. The referee leapt in and stopped the fight just as Muller started to punch back. Muller protested the stoppage but the referee did make the right decision. The 28-year-old 6’3” (190cm) Ukrainian retains his WBO Inter-Continental title and makes it 7 wins by KO/TKO. He seems to have something against South Africans having stopped both Daniel Bruwer and Danie Venter in previous fights. Usyk has shown great improvement since turning pro losing many of his amateur habits and punching harder.. He has great amateur credentials winning the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and the 2011 World Championships beating Artur Beterbiev 17-13 in the quarterfinals of both competitions. Muller fought a good intelligent fight over the first two rounds but in the end Usyk’s power proved just too much. Malinovski vs. Abdurahimov Kiev southpaw Malinovski boxes his way to comfortable victory over Uzbek Abdurahimov. Not a big punches Malinovski is quick and clever and took every round against a rusty Abdurahimov. Scores 80-72 from all three judges. No real tests yet for Malinovski who competed at the 2010 European Championships but he looks a good prospect. First fight for 18 months for former Uzbek champion Abdurahimov. Spyrko vs. Gerasimovs Spyrko wastes no time in dismissing overmatched teenager Gerasimovs. The tall Ukrainian landed a crippling left hook to the body and the fight was over in just 88 seconds. Now 11 wins by KO/TKO for Spyrko, 26, who deserves better opposition than this. Latvian Gerasimovs, 19, is 1-4-1 in his last 6 fights. Berinchyk vs. Madni Another former star member of the Ukrainian amateur team turns pro with a win. Berinchyk put on a quite amazing performance. The Ukrainian’s work rate was incredible and Madani was under pressure for three minutes of every round as Berinchyk never stopped punching for a moment. To make it worse for Madni Berinchyk switched from southpaw to orthodox and back again effortlessly even in the middle of a combination he would switch. He was also switching angles and moving left and right with Madni not knowing where the next punch was coming from. Having said that Madani did not lie down. He scored with some good rights at the end of the second round but was badly shaken twice by hard rights in the third and was pounded in the fourth with his nose looking to have been broken by a punch. The doctor looked at Madni’s nose and at the start of the fifth the referee sent Berinchyk to stand in a neutral corner until the decision was finally made that Madni could not come out for the fifth. Berinchyk, 27, a former World University Champion took silver medals at the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He beat Cuban Ronny Iglesias in the Worlds but lost to him at the Olympics. Belgian-based Madni, 39 deserves credit for fighting back hard in every round but he just could not live with the pace Berinchyk was setting. Mississauga, Canada: Cruiser: Denton Daley (14-1) W KO 2 Giulian Ilie (20-10-2). Light: Steven Wilcox (12-1-1) W PTS 8 Luis A Juarez (19-10-2). Super Welter: Kevin Higson (7-0) W TKO 5 Francesco Cotroni (10-6-1). Daley vs. Ilie Daley gets his second win this year with crushing kayo of pathetic Ilie. At one time Romanian Ilie was reasonably competent fighter but he has slipped a long way. Daley put Ilie down in the first and ended it emphatically in the second. He drove Ilie to a corner and Ilie just stood still with his high guard open invitingly and Daley crashed home a right cross that sent Ilie down on his hands and knees to be counted out. No test at all for 33-year-old Daley as he gets his second win since losing on a twelfth round stoppage against Youri Kayembre Kalenga for the interim WBA title in November. He has 7 wins by KO/TKO. The 38-year-old Italian-based Ilie is 2-6 in his last 8 fights but all of the losses have been to good opposition. Wilcox vs. Juarez Wilcox gets his first win of the year as he outpoints Argentinian Juarez. Easy victory for Wilcox as he has height and reach over the limited import and was able to outbox Juarez. The Argentinian tried hard but was never really effective. Wilcox scored a questionable knock down in the fifth as he cruised to victory. Scores 80-71 twice and 78-73. Now 4 wins and a draw for the 25-year-old from Hamilton since losing his unbeaten record against Mexican Christian Uruzquieta in 2013. Second loss in a row in visits to Canada for Juarez who was beaten on a wide unanimous decision by Logan McGuinness in March. Higson vs. Cotroni Higson makes it a double on the night for Hamilton fighters as he wins the vacant Canadian title with stoppage of Cotroni. The first round was about even but Higson emerged with a cut over his left eye. The cut never became a factor as Higson proceeded to take charge of the fight and slowly chipped away at Cotroni until the Quebec fighter’s corner threw in the towel in the fifth to save their man from further punishment. First ten round fight for the 26-year-old Higson and also a first win inside the distance. Cotroni had lost two split decisions in his last two fights but was well beaten here. Hong Kong, S.A.R China: Super Fly: Rex Tso (18-0) W TKO 7 Brad Hore (5-2). Middle: Kerry Hope (22-7-1) DREW 12 Petchsuriya (14-10-1). Tso vs. Hore Tso gets win No 18 with stoppage of Australian Hore in an all-southpaw scrap. Hore lived up to his “Pocket Rocket” nickname over the early rounds as he stood and traded punch for punch with the taller Tso. He took a lot of punishment in the third as Tso began to take over but again Hore did not take a step back but stood his ground and traded. Tso was slowly grinding Hore down and ended it emphatically in the seventh. A left to the head and right to the body put Hore down for the first time. The Australian got up and Tso slammed home a left/right combination which saw Hore go down on one knee. When the fight restarted Hore just stood and swung wildly trying desperately to stem Tso’s attacks but a right hook staggered Hore and he went down on one knee again from a right hook to the body with the referee waiving the fight off. Now eleven wins by KO/TKO for the tall 24-year-old Hong Kong southpaw as he wins the vacant WBC ABC title. He is rated WBO 3/IBF 5(3)/WBA 8 and has a big following out East so a title fight in 2016 looks a good bet. Hore, 33, a 4-time Australian amateur champion who competed at the 2004 Olympics, 2005 World Championships and 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games has taken three years to arrive at just 7 fights as there are just too few little man for him to fight back in Australia. Hope vs. Petchsuriya Hope gets a rough deal all round here. The Welsh former EBU champion had to give away weight when Petchsuriya came in 6lbs over the contract weight and then had to contend with some very dubious scoring as he looked a clear winner but had to settle for a split draw. The score were 117-111 for Hope and 114-114 from two Thai judges? Hope has rejuvenated his career with a couple of wins in Australia and the Merthyr southpaw will continue his campaign there and hope for better judges next time. Petchsuriya, a former WBC Youth champion had been 9-2 in his last 11 fights but got lucky here. Tijuana, Mexico: Super Welter: Humberto Gutierrez (30-6-2) W Daniel Yucopicio (6-30-2). Evan a grossly overweight Gutierrez was too much for poor Yucopicio Body punches hurt Yucopicio in the first and in the second more of the same saw Yucopicio go down twice and the referee stopped the fight. Back in 2009 Gutierrez was the interim WBC champion at super feather. By January this year he had gone up to 147lbs but for this one he was 172lbs! Nine losses in a row and 16 losses by KO/TKO for Yucopicio San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Welter: Jorge Paez Jr (39-6-2) W PTS 10 Daniel Echevarria (18-1). Fly: Jesus Silvestre (31-6) W PTS 8 Mario Andrade (7-6-5). Light: Fernando Carcamo (19-6) W TKO 4 Luis Ulloa (10-8-1). Paez v. Echevarria Paez returns to the winning column with a majority decision over previously unbeaten Echevarria. Paez started well but Echevarria finished strongly. At the one minute mark of the first round Paez was coming forward trying to get inside the guard of the tall southpaw and as Echevarria backed up to the ropes a left hook from Paez clipped him on the side of his head and sent him tumbling backwards. He broke his fall with his hands and was up immediately and if anything had the better of the action in the rest of the round. Paez continued to get inside the long reach of Echevarria and although there was too much holding by Echevarria Paez did enough to take the second and had Echevarria hurt at the end of the third. Echevarria did not have the power to stop the forward march of Paez but in the fourth he scored with a series of hooks and uppercuts only for Paez to fire home a short right hook to the body which saw Echevarria slump to his knees. He was up at seven but then got a bit more recovery time as his mouthguard had come out and had to be recovered and replace. Paez shook him again with a left to the chin at the end of the round. Paez continued to march forward in the fifth just walking through Echeverria’s punches to work inside. Paez was still pressing the action in the sixth and scoring with hooks inside but also starting to look tired. In the seventh and eighth Paez’s was looking exhausted and his work rate dropped dramatically with Echeverria finally using his height and reach to score at distance and was working Paez’s body inside. In the ninth both were exhausted with Echevarria doing what clean work there was but Paez scoring with some solid hooks inside at the end of the round. In the last Paez got home three left hooks only for Echevarria to fire back with a right/left/right combination and just before the bell Paez scored with a series of hard shots to perhaps with the knockdowns just do enough to earn the decision but it was close. Scores 95-93 and 9594 to Paez and 94-94. First fight for 27-year-old Paez since his stoppage loss against Jose Benavidez for the interim WBA super light title in May. Echevarria, 23, had won 9 of his last 10 fights by KO/TKO but Paez was able to walk through everything he threw. He has time to develop and mature and can only get better. Silvestre vs. Andrade This one had the judges very split as Silvestre takes the decision over novice Andrade. With both looking to stand and punch what skill there was came from former Interim WBA minimum champion Silvestre and his experience looked to have taken him to a clear decision. Two judges saw it that way giving the fight to “Negrito” 79-73 and 78-74 but third had Andrade winning every round and his card was 80-72 for Andrade. After losses to Ryo Miyazaki for the WBA minimum title and Hekkie Budler for the IBO and WBA titles the 25-year-old WBA No 7 is hoping to work his way to a third shot. Andrade is now 4-1-4 in his last 9 fights. Carcamo vs. Ulloa Former ESPN Boxcino finalist Carcamo gets his second win in 2015 with stoppage of Ulloa. The tall southpaw almost took Ulloa out in the second round with two knockdowns but Ulloa survived. Carcamo scored another knock down in the third and dished out more punishment in the fourth with the referee finally ending it late in the round. The 24-year-old Carcamo had a good run which saw him beat Vicente Escobedo and then in the Boxcino score wins over Samuel Kotey Neequaye and Miguel Angel Gonzalez to reach the final in May last year. Unfortunately in the final he was outclassed by Petr Petrov and stopped in eight rounds and was then inactive for almost ten months. Ulloa drops to six losses by KO/TKO. Maplewood, MN, USA: Marcus Oliveira (26-1-1) W KO 3 Dionisio Miranda (22-13-2). After a slow start Oliveira gets the job done inside three rounds. This was Oliveira’s first fight for 20 months and he took a couple of rounds to get geared up letting Miranda do all the work. Early in the third he found his range with some jabs and then banged home a straight right that put Miranda down and out. Oliveira, 36, was having his first fight since losing on points to Juergen Braehmer for the vacant WBA secondary title in December 2013. Colombian Miranda 33 goes to 11 losses by KO/TKO and has lost 7 of his last 8 fights. Moreno, Argentina: Welter: Cristian N Romero (16-7-1) W KO 3 Adrian L Veron (14-1) . Veron was the favoured one here and he quickly established his superiority stalking forward as Romero spent most of the round with his back to the ropes. As Romero moved forward a short southpaw right to the head combined with a slip knocked him off balance forcing him to touch the canvas with his glove which was counted as a knockdown. Veron continued to boss the round catching Romero in a corner and scoring with some good left hooks and right uppercuts. The second round saw Romero fighting a much more intelligent fight staying off the ropes and testing Veron with long rights. Veron scored a cracking right of his own but Romero ended the round with a quick combination. Romero came out firing in the third taking the fight to Veron and scoring with some hard left hooks to the head. Veron was on the back foot but getting home uppercuts and hooks. As they exchanged punches Romero fired home a wicked left hook to the body and Veron went down on his knees in agony. He was up at five but then walked half crouching across the ring and went down again on his knees and the referee completed the ten count. Romero had pulled off what was a big surprise in domestic circles and wins the WBO Latino title. He had been 2-4-1 going into this one and was No 8 with the FAB. Southpaw Veron, 26, the FAB No 6 was supposed to be the puncher with 10 wins by KO/TKO but paid the price for over confidence. Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania: Middle: Thomas Mashali (16-3-1,1ND) W PTS 10 Ibrahim Tamba (15-5). Super Middle: Karama Nyilawila (21-13-2) W KO 1 Shabani Kaoneka (5-5-2). Super Bantam: Nasibu Ramadhani (17-6-1) W TKO 2 Kasim Rajab (1-4-2). Mashali vs. Tamba Mashali retains the East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation (ECAPBF) title with unanimous decision over fellow-Tanzanian Tamba. Tamba had a good first round but then Mashali began to control the fight with stiff jabs and good combination punching. Tamba came back into the bout over the middle rounds smothering Mashali’s work. Mashali’s had slowed but he picked up the pace over the last three rounds to get the verdict. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93. The 25-year-old Mashali was making the second defence of his ECAPBF title and is now 6-0 1 ND in his last 7 fights. Tamba who contested this title previously at super middle is 3-3 in his last 6 fights. Nyilawila vs. Kaoneka Nyilawila blows away Kaoneka inside a round. Hard jabs had Kaoneka backing up and unsteady on his feet and a couple more punches sent him down and almost out of the ring as the referee completed the ten count. The 31-year-old Nyilawila has 13 wins by KO/TKO. He is a former WBFed and Tanzanian champion. Kaoneka was 2-0-1 going in but out of his league against Nyilawila Ramadhani vs. Rajab Too easy for Ramadhani as he halts novice Rajab in two rounds. The 23-year-old southpaw gets his second win since losing to Jason Cunningham for the vacant CBC title in Sheffield in May when he was forced out of the fight with a shoulder injury. He is the UBO African champion. We've had a relatively quiet month or so though thankfully it does end with a flurry of notable bouts.
On paper the two stand out bouts are set to take place in California and feature 4 Mexican fighters in bouts that both promise a lot of action. The “lesser” of those bouts will see Hugo Ruiz (35-2, 31) take on Julio Ceja (29-1, 26) in a bout for the WBC “interim” Super Bantamweight title. Of the two men Ruiz is the more experienced and the more tested, having had a run as the WBA “interim” Bantamweight champion and having fought several notable fighters, including Koki Kameda. Ceja on the other hand is a fast rising youngster who, at just 22, appears to have been around for years. For many Ceja's stand out bout was a loss, in the UK, to Jamie McDonnell though he has improved since then. This looks like it's got the ingredients to be a FOTY contender. The “bigger” bout sees the unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17) battle against the once beaten Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15) in a bout for the WBC “Diamond” Featherweight title. Cruz is stepping up to 126lbs for this bout though should fill in to the weight comfortably given his frame. For Mares this is the first significant bout since he was stopped, in just 175 seconds by Jhonny Gonzalez more than 2 years ago. Sadly this fight, which looked like an amazing one 30 months ago, now seems likely to fall short of expectation with both fighters looking poor in recent bouts. A couple of notable under-card bouts here will feature fast rising Argentinian brothers Brian Carlos Castano (9-0, 8), who faces Jonathan Batista (14-6, 7), and Alan Emmanuel Castano (8-0, 5), who faces Tom Howard (8-4, 4). Whilst both of these are mismatches we do suggest keeping an eye on both of the unbeaten men who will likely go to title level over the coming years. Staying in California, albeit on a different show, fans will get two notable bouts. The headliner here will be a rematch between former multi-weight world champions as Shane Mosley (47-9-1-1, 39) battles Ricardo Mayorga (31-8-1-1, 25). Given that the men have a combined age of 84 and have rally failed to score a win of note in years this really resembles a farcical cash grab. The other bout of note is a female world title bout as Yulihan Alejandra Luna Avila (12-2, 1) defends her IBF female Super Bantamweight title against Maureen Shea (24-2, 12). We'd really not be shocked by this one outshining the supposedly bigger bout, at least in terms of action. The remaining action of note comes from Ukraine where two talented fighters have caught out eye. One of those is Cruiserweight sensation Oleksandr Usyk (7-0, 7), who looks to extend his perfect record against Johnny Muller (19-4-2, 13). Usyk looks almost ready to challenge for a world title and we'd not be shocked at all if his next bout is for a major belt. For Muller he's been picked to be the next victim and we can't see him doing anything to really trouble the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner. The other is Denys Berinchyk (0-0) who makes his long awaited professional debut against Tarik Madni (19-8-1, 1). On paper it's a tricky debut for Berinchyk but given his amateur pedigree it's hard to see anything but a a win for the 2012 Olympic, and 2011 World Amateur, Silver medal winner. With out trying to sound too over-the-top this kid has the potential to be moved very quickly as an amateur and it'd be a huge surprise if he's not looking at world title fights in the next 24 months. A massive thanks, as usual, to Eric Armit for his weekly review
The Past Week In Action 25 August 2015 August 19 Melbourne, Australia: Cruiser: Danny Green (35-5) W PTS 10 Roberto F Bolonti (36-5,1ND). Welter: Jack Brubaker (9-1-1) WKO 4 Yang Xing Xin (10-4-2). Super Bantam: Jason Maloney (4-0) W TKO 5 Danilo Gabisay (6-5). Super Bantam: Andrew Maloney (4-0) W PTS 6 Ronerex Dalut (9-17-2). Green vs. Bolonti Green eases his way back with decision over Bolonti. In his first fight since November 2012 Green took a couple of round to shed the rust. Despite that rust he took those first two rounds with good use of his jab with Bolonti aiming to soak up the pressure and get lucky with a big right. The third saw Bolonti complaining about Green’s head as he had in the second round and at the bell the Argentinian was showing a cut over his left eye. In the fourth Green was landing good punches to head and body and following his corner’s instructions to work on the outside. Over the middle rounds the pattern remained one of Green working the jab and hard combinations hurting Bolonti with a body punches in the sixth and the seventh whilst the Argentinian was still trying to get inside and looking to land one big right. Green ended the eighth with a hard right that shook Bolonti but in the ninth Green threw away the game plan and found himself up against the ropes and trading shots with Bolonti who was probably having his best round in the fight. Green boxed his way through the last to finish ten good rounds of work. Scores 100-90 for Green from all three judges. Now the 42-year-old former undefeated IBO cruiser and interim WBC super middle champion says he wants one more warm-up and then a grudge match with Anthony Mundine to get revenge for a 2006 loss. Bolonti, 36, did his job well. He came in as a very late replacement for Tamas Kovacs. He has tended to lose the big fights having been beaten by Tony Bellew and Juergen Braehmer but keeps his record of never losing inside the distance. Brubaker vs. Xin Brubaker wins the vacant WBC Youth title with knockout of Xin. The Australian nearly ended this in the first when he floored the Chinese fighter twice with rights. He tried to get that third knockdown that would have ended the fight but Xin survived. Xin surprised in the second by coming out aggressively looking to trade but by the end of the round Brubaker was landing again with Xin’s face covered in blood. The fight was a bit more even in the third and despite Brubaker’s dominance in the fourth it looked as though Xin was going to get through the three minutes until late in the round a thudding right from Brubaker put Xin down and the fight was over. The only loss for the ANBF No 6 was on points against unbeaten Qamil Balla for the vacant Australian title in 2013. This is his fourth win since then and his fourth win by KO/TKO. Xin, 23, “The Chinese Warrior”, had won his last 4 fights and this is his third loss by KO/T Maloney vs. Gabisay Maloney climbs off the floor for win. The Australian had Filipino Gabisay under heavy pressure from right hands in the first. The second was following the same pattern when a right from Gabisay exploded and put Maloney down. The local fighter was back in the groove in the third and fourth with Gabisay showing guts to suck up the punishment. A hard right from Maloney in the fifth had Gabisay in deep water and the referee stopped the fight. The Croydon 24-year-old has won his four fights by KO/TKO and with this one he took his total of rounds to 10 as he had not gone beyond the third previously. Filipino Gabisay is 2-5 in his last 7 fights but all of the losses are to unbeaten fighters with his last fight being a defeat on a close decision over 12 rounds in Thailand. Maloney vs. Dalut Maloney wins every round but gets useful ring time against a Filipino who did not come to lie down. Maloney controlled the fight with his jab. As the rounds progressed he was getting through with hard punches bringing his right into play more but Dalut was banging back with rights of his own. They both traded hard in the last round with Maloney getting the unanimous decision. Scores 60-54 for Maloney from all three judges to make it a Maloney family double by the twins. The Victoria State champion looks a top prospect. He has impressive amateur credentials having been Australian champion and he competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games then won a gold medal at the 2014 Games as well as representing Australia at the 2009, 2011 and 2013 World Championships. Dalut is 1-8-1 in his last 10 fights but there a couple of 12 round fights in there. Budapest, Hungary: Light Fly: Jozsef Ajtai (6-0) W PTS 10 Robert Kanalas (9-4). Teenager Ajtai wins the vacant national title with points win over Kanalas. Ajtai was giving away height, reach and a big edge in experience against former top amateur Kanalas. The work rate and sheer aggression of little Ajtai won the fight for him. Kanalas was always competitive but Ajtai was throwing too much leather for Kanalas to be able to keep the smaller man out and although both had good spells in the fight Ajtai was a clear winner. Scores 97-93 twice and 97-92 all for Ajtai. There are very few genuine light flyweights in Europe for the 18-year-old 5’2” (157cm) “Peacemaker” so he is going to have to give away height and weight to find fights. Kanalas, 23, the former Hungarian flyweight champion, was coming off two inside the distance losses in Canada and the UK and as with Ajtai has to give away weight to get fights. August 20 Tokyo, Japan: Feather: Satoshi Hosono (28-2-1) W PTS 10 Tatsuya Otsubo (8-7-1). Fly: Akira Yaegashi (22-5) W KO 3 Said M Said. Super Bantam: Ryo Matsumoto (15-0) W KO 5 Luis May (17-9-1). Hosono vs. Otsubo Hosono retains his Japanese title and keeps his hopes of another title fight alive with wide unanimous decision over Otsubo. The challenger made a good start scoring with a strong jab and straight rights in the first but from the second Hosono took charge and never relinquished his hold on the fight. Hosono was getting through with left hooks and with uppercuts and hooks with his right. After five rounds Hosono was ahead 49-46 on two cards and 50-46 on the other. Hosono came close to a stoppage as he hurt Otsubo with body punches in the seventh but Otsubo has never lost by KO/TKO and refused to fold and was still there at the final bell. Scores 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 all for Hosono. The 31-year-old Japanese champion was making the third defence of his national title. In past title challenges he lost a majority verdict to Poonsawat in 2010 for the secondary WBA super bantam title and to Celestino Caballero in 2011 for the secondary WBA feather title. In a third shot his challenge to Chris John in 2013 for the real WBA feather title ended on a technical draw after John was cut in a clash of heads. He is rated WBA 4/IBF 6(4)/WBO 7 and WBC 11. Otsubo, 26 was rated No 11 by the JBC. He had won his last six fights but this was his first ten round fight. Yaegashi vs. Said Predictable end as former two-time world champion Yaegashi destroyed Indonesian novice Said in three rounds. Yaegashi softened up Said with stiff jabs and shots to head and body before ending it in the third with one right that put Said down and out after 70 seconds of the round. The 32-year-old former WBA minimumweight and WBC light fly champion was returning after back-to-back losses to Roman Gonzalez and Pedro Guevara. He is a big enough draw in Japan to be sure he can get another title match although currently his only rating is No 2 light fly with the WBO but after returning with a win he will be in the ratings with most of the sanctioning bodies. He is said to have his eyes on Donnie Nietes WBO light fly title. Said just fodder. I have seen his record given as 10-6-1, 10-4-1 and 2-3? Matsumoto vs. May Hot Japanese youngster Matsumoto looks a good bet to win a world title in 2016. He was outclassing the rated Mexican when the fight came to a disappointing end in the fifth round. Matsumoto was punishing May with his jab, straight rights and a series of body punches in all four rounds with the Mexican lacking the skill or power to be competitive. May was already fading when in the fifth round he stopped fighting and indicated an injury to his right wrist. The referee ignored May’s claims and as he was not fighting and proceeded to count May out. A win yes, but not my idea of a “knockout”. The 21-year-old former undefeated OPBF super fly champion has 13 wins by KO/TKO including five in a row with wins over useful Orient opposition in former champion Denkaosan and Rusalee Samor. He is rated IBF 8(6)/WBC 11/WBA 11 at light fly and No 10 bantam by the WBO. May, 31, was vastly overrated by the WBC at No 10. He lost an eight round fight in Japan in December and his two wins in 2015 were over opponents with 4-7-1 and 9-5-0 which is not world rating material in my book. August 21 Buenos Aires, Argentina: Light: Pablo M Barboza (24-6) W PTS 10 Ruben D Lopez (9-5-3). Barboza climbs off the floor to retain Argentinian title on a split decision in a disappointing fight. The Rosario southpaw had too much skill and experience for the challenger and took the first three rounds by landing the cleaner and more accurate punches. The fight was going to script but Barboza paid for some over confidence in the fourth when Lopez dropped him with a hefty left. Barboza recovered and was getting back on top when Lopez had him shaken again in the sixth. Barboza was thrown for a while but then had his southpaw jab working and Lopez tired over the late rounds as the champion boxed his way to a victory. Scores 98-92, 96 ½-95 ½ for Barboza and 96 ½-95 ½ for Lopez. “Bad Boy” Barboza, the 30-year-old brother of former world title challenger Sebastian Lujan, was making the second defence of the national title. Barboza had climbed off the floor to win the title with a points win over Marcelino Lopez (29-0-1) last year but had suffered consecutive losses to Chad Bennett and Horacio Centeno (18-1-1) this year. Lopez, also from Rosario, the FAB No 8 is really just a prelim fighter and this was the first time any of his fights had gone past the sixth round. San Juan, Argentina: Super Feather: Ezequiel V Fernandez (24-1) W PTS 10 Carlos R Rodriguez (30-12). Super Feather: Mauricio Munoz (31-6) W KO 9 Paulo M Ojeda (6-2). Super Bantam: Fabian O Orozco (26-4-2) W PTS 10 Maximiliano E Mendez (11-18-1). Fernandez vs. Rodriguez “Pac Man” Fernandez overcomes slow start to decision Mendez and defend his Argentinian title. Mendez made the better start over the first two rounds but fell away after that. Fernandez used a stiff jab to take control of the fight and he outboxed Rodriguez for what was in the end a comfortable win. Scores 99-92, 98-92 and 97-93. Second successful defence for the 24-year-old local. His only loss was against Pablo Barboza in 2013 and he has scored 7 wins since then. Rodriguez, 35, the FAB No 3, has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Munoz vs. Ojeda Munoz given harder than expected fight by Ojeda but wins in the end. Ojeda came in as a late replacement but fought hard against the harder punching and more experienced Munoz. Ojeda was a long way behind at the start of the ninth round but gambled on an all-out attack and had Munoz briefly in trouble but later in the round two left hooks to the body saw Ojeda on the canvas in agony and unable to beat the count. In title world title fights the 29-year-old local, the FAB No 2, had lost to Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC super bantam and Evgeny Gradovich for the IBF feather titles but in recent action had won the South American title and scored good wins over Bruno Godoy and Daniel Brizuela. Ojeda was 6-1 in his last 7 fights going into this one but had never been past six rounds before. Orozco vs. Mendez Orozco makes it a treble for boxers from San Juan as he easily decisions Mendez. Orozco controlled most rounds with Mendez only able to steal one or two rounds where Orozco took a breather with the former Argentinian champion just having too many skills for Mendez. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 which were generous to Mendez. Orozco, 29, the FAB No 5 is 6-1 in his last 7 fights.Mendez had won his last three fights. St Albans, Australia: Super Welter: Anthony Buttigieg (9-0) W TKO 7 Fred Tukes (12-3-2). Heavy: Justin Whitehead (6-0) W KO 3 Clarence Tillman (11-23-2). Buttigieg vs. Tukes Buttigieg remains unbeaten with stoppage of Tukes. Buttigieg was just too young and too mobile for the much older Tukes. He was able to out-manoeuvre Tukes and slot home plenty of hard shots in every round. Tukes had a short period of success in the third round but after that Buttigieg gradually broke Tukes down with body punches and it was no surprise when the sponge came in from his corner in the seventh round and the referee stopped the fight. Third defence of his Victoria State title for the 26-year-old local ANBF No 5. He gets only his second win by KO/TKO. American-born southpaw Tukes, 42, a former undefeated Australian welter champion did not turn pro until he was 30, and has had a number of spells of inactivity until he moved to Australia in 2012. Whitehead vs. Tillman Former Australian champion returns to the ring with a win in his first fight for five years. The 6’5” (195cm) 44-year-old was a top amateur winning the Australian title and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games a silver at the Commonwealth Championships and two golds at the Oceania Games but did not turn pro until he was 37. It will be interesting to see what he has left at 44. No 15 losses in a row for 37-year-old New Zealand-based American Tillman Calgary, Canada: Welter: Steve Claggett (22-3-1) W TKO 3 Stephane Benito (22-20-3). Claggett much too good for fading French veteran Benito. “The Dragon” waited out a fast start by Benito and then began to slot home hurtful body punches. He was breaking Benito down methodically but with Benito trying to punch with him. Claggett landed a vicious body shot in the third which had Benito hurt and in trouble. The Frenchman refused to go down but the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight over protests from Benito. Claggett, 26, the Canadian champion, was having his second fight since losing a very disputed decision to Konstantin Ponomarev in January and looked good. Benito, 36, the former French super light champion, is on the slide and this was his eighth loss in a row. Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Masao Nakamura (20-3) W PTS 10 Daiki Kaneko (21-4-3). Nakamura gets important win as he beats favoured Kaneko on a split decision in a bloody battle. Nakamura was quickest out of the starting gate getting through with hard shots. By the end of the second Kaneko was sporting a bloody nose and a cut on his left eyelid caused by a punch from Nakamura. As the fight developed it was a case of Nakamura the busier fighter taking the fight to Kaneko throwing and landing more with Kaneko the more accurate countering cleverly. It was Nakamura’s turn to be cut by his left eye in the fourth and he was staggered by an overhand right from Kaneko in the fifth. There was plenty trading in each round with Kaneko’s face bearing the marks of the battle. Nakamura had a big ninth round with Kaneko under fire and almost overwhelmed by the furious attacks from Nakamura. There was no thought of countering from Kaneko in the last he went for broke shaking Nakamura with a left hook but just lacking the punch to get the knockout he needed. Scores 97-93 and 96-94 to Nakamura and 96-95 to Kaneko. Former OPBF champion Nakamura does not usually do distance fights. With 19 wins and 2 losses by KO/TKO only one of his previous 22 fights had gone the distance. He had losses in consecutive fights last year against unbeaten Masayuki Ito and Filipino Rey Labao but had a win in April-by KO in two rounds naturally. The 27-year-old from Osaka was JBC No 10. Kaneko, also 27, a former Japanese super feather champion had lost on points against Takashi Uchiyama for the WBA title in December 2013 and was coming off a very close points loss against Thai Jomthong Chuwatana in January so a big blow for him here. Playa del Carmen, Mexico: Super Fly: Edgar Jimenez (20-11-2) W PTS 10 Ivan Morales (28-1). Super Light: Sharif Bogere (27-1,1ND) ND 2 Daniel Ruiz (33-8-2,1ND). Light Fly: Ricardo Perez (9-2) W TKO 9 Noe Medina (5-4). Jimenez vs. Morales Jimenez springs a big surprise as he gets majority decision over previously undefeated Morales. Jimenez was really just supposed to be another stepping-stone for the latest member of the Morales Clan but it did not work out that way. Jimenez was forcing the action over the first two rounds with Morales on the back foot but defending well. The third saw Jimenez totally in control with Morales not able to launch any sustained attacks of his own. Both had good spells in the fourth with Jimenez scoring well to the body early and Morales hitting back strongly at the bell. The fighters took a breather in a quieter fifth with Morales probably doing enough to win it. Jimenez was still coming forward in the sixth but Morales was getting home with good uppercuts to keep the fight tight. The seventh went to Jimenez who was forcing Morales to fight off the ropes for much of the round. Morales blasted back into the fight in the eighth having Jimenez on wobbly legs with a right uppercut and it was Jimenez on the ropes and shipping punishment as the round ended. Jimenez took the fight away from Morales over the last two rounds. They traded in the ninth with Jimenez almost overwhelming Morales who was trying unsuccessfully to swing the fight his way. Jimenez continued that advantage into the last round which he also won. Scores 97-93 twice for Jimenez and 95-95. “Power” Jimenez, 23, a former Mexican fly champion, had a spell of 5 losses in a row, but had steadied the ship by going 4-1-1 in his next six fights. The opposition had not been high quality but winning the WBC Fecarbox title had raised him to No 8 bantam in their ratings. As with many fighters Jimenez has taken a lot of short notice fights but on the plus side living in Mexico City has given him an edge of training at altitude. “Nino Maravilla” Morales, 23, the brother of Erik and Diego still has hope of joining his brothers in winning a world title but he has a rebuilding job to do now. Bogere vs. Ruiz Bogere robbed of what looked to be a valid win. The Ugandan “Lion” was punching too hard for Ruiz and had the Mexican down twice in the first round. In the second a right from Bogere landed behind the ear of Ruiz who stopped fighting went down on one knee and then got up and walked back to his corner with the referee deciding the punch had landed on the back of Ruiz’s head and instead of counting Ruiz out he decided to rule it was a no decision. Very strange. Bogere is rebuilding. He took a year out after losing to Richar Abril for the WBA secondary title in March 2013 and had scored four wins prior to this contest. Ruiz, former IBO title challenger, had three wins and a draw in his four fights previous to this including a kayo of Irish prospect Jamie Kavanagh. Perez vs. Medina Perez wins the WBC Silver light fly title with stoppage of Medina. Perez came out in a style in keeping with his “Baby Bull” nickname looking to end this early. He got careless and almost paid for it when a right from Medina put him on the floor in the second round. Perez was up quickly and got back into the fight but with a little more caution. That caution did not last long and by the fifth he was pounding on Medina who was spending most of the round trapped on the ropes and shipping shots to head and body. Perez kept up the pressure in the sixth and although the pace slackened in the seventh and eighth Medina was being broken apart. In the ninth a heavy right slammed into Medina’s chin and Medina spat out his mouthpiece just as the towel came in from his corner with it later being claimed that a hand injury caused the corner to pull Medina out. Eight win by KO/TKO for 24-year-old local Perez. He was WBC Silver champion at minimumweight but relinquished that and despite the poor quality of his opposition he is already WBC No 7 in his new division. First fight for 15 months for Medina and third loss by KO/TKO. Corona, CA, USA: Bantam: Carlos Carlson (19-1) W PTS 8 Pedro Melo (13-10-2). Carlson keeps his winning run going and collects the vacant WBC Latino title but is pushed very close by fellow-Tijuana fighter Melo and has to come off the floor for victory. After an even first round Melo landed a series of punches with Carlos sinking to the canvas. Unfortunately he continued to punch when Carlson was down so instead of getting a 10-8 round he received a warning from the referee. To his credit Carlson then took over the fight out-throwing and out-landing Melo and seemingly working his way to victory over the middle rounds. Melo got into the fight again in the sixth and sprang another surprise in the seventh with a right that had Carlson wobbling and did enough to take the eighth. Scores 76-75 for Carlson from all three judges. The 25-year Carlson lost his first pro fight so is now unbeaten in 19 on the bounce and is No 11 with the WBC. Melo, 26, did not look to be a difficult opponent. He had won his last two fights but prior to that had gone 2-4-1 in 7 fights. August 22 Grozny, Russia: Heavy: Mairis Briedis (17-0) W KO 5 Manuel Charr (28-4). Briedis moves up to heavyweight and gets a huge win over former title challenger Charr Briedis was giving away height and over 30lbs in weight but fought a smart fight. He spent the first round on the back foot moving around the slower Charr threading punches through Charr’s high guard to head and body and staying off the ropes and out of corners with Charr just plodding after the Latvian and waiting too long to let his punches go. Charr tried to pressurise Briedis more in the second but the Latvian kept on the move and increased his punch output. Charr was catching a lot of the punches on his high guard but most were getting through although Briedis was not setting himself to get full leverage. Charr did not have a Plan B and Briedis kept punching and moving, staying out of corners and on the back foot slotting home punches to head and body and some sharp right uppercuts inside. When Charr did get close he was wrestling instead of punching so Briedis was having an east night. In the fourth Charr tried standing back and luring Briedis in but the Latvian did not fall for the ploy. Charr did land a good right and threw a flurry of punches at the end of the round but again Briedis was moving and punching and he scored with a nice left uppercut. Charr was pressing more in the fifth and scored with a good right. Briedis was looking a bit arm weary. The Latvian scored with a lovely right uppercut but Charr forced him along the ropes to a corner and as Charr moved in Briedis thumped home a right uppercut to the head and a left hook as Charr tumbled face first down through the bottom rope where he hung suspended with his legs inside the ring and his head almost off the ring apron-out cold. The referee did not bother to count and even Briedis looked a little surprised at what he had done. The 30-year-old Latvian weighed his heaviest so far and whether he is big enough to run with the big boys is doubtful but he showed a good brain and a hard punch so who knows. He has 14 wins by KO/TKO including 6 in his last 7 fights but this was a big step-up in quality of opponent for him. Charr made no use whatsoever of his physical advantages and his frustration made his careless and he got nailed. The 30-year-old Lebanese-born fight has no thoughts of retiring. He had lost only on a majority decision to Johann Duhaupas in April and easily beaten Alex Leapai in May so was not on the down slope. Juarez, Mexico: Super Light: Nery Saguilan (34-4-1) W PTS 12 DeMarcus Corley (42-24-1). Light: Miguel Roman (52-11) W KO 3 Leonardo Doronio (14-11-3). Light: Adrian Estrella (23-1) W KO 3 Alex Monterrosa (23-12-3). Saguilan vs. Corley Saguilan gets very close and controversial unanimous verdict over veteran Corley. The former WBO light welter champion outboxed Saguilan from the start using his edges in height and reach, his southpaw jab and extensive experience to control the fight. Tempers flared at the end of the third with the referee having to step in to prevent the fight continuing after the bell and Corley was lucky to get away without a point deduction after a backhand punch in the sixth. The erratic Mexican spent too much time showboating. He was much quicker and scored with fast combinations when he focused but despite being much younger and on a winning run he was unable to wear down or break down Corley. Many rounds were close and the expectation was that Corley would fade over the late rounds but he stayed competitive and had done enough to win. The judges saw it differently scoring it 115-113 twice and 115-114 for Saguilan with the crowd booing the decision. The 27-year-old “Panther” Saguilan retains his WBC Fecarbox title and makes it 8 wins in a row. He is No 7 light with the WBC but no big wins in there. Corley, 41, is not brought in to win and usually fights in the other guys backyard so is not going to get any breaks. He is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights. Roman vs. Doronio Routine win for Roman over modest Filipino. A series of punches from Roman saw the referee giving Doronio a standing count in the first. Despite the bad start Doronio had the crowd holding its breath in the second when an overhand right forced Roman to take a knee. The hometown fighter was up quickly, took the eight count and then launched furious attacks that put Doronio twice. Roman ended it in the third with a series of punches to head and body that put Doronio down and the Filipino did not beat the count. The 29-year-old “Mickey” has 39 wins by KO/TKO and has 14 wins in a row including victories over Juan Carlos Salgado, Daniel Ponce De Leon and Edgar Puente. He is WBC No 5 and will be hoping to get a world title fight at his correct poundage after losing on a fifth round kayo when challenging Antonio DeMarco for the WBC light title in 2012. Two losses and a draw in his last three fights but all away from home on his travels Estrella vs. Monterrosa Estrella eases back with stoppage of Colombian. After pressuring Monterrosa for three rounds a left hook put the Colombian down and out. The 23-year-old “Diamond” has 21 wins by KO/TKO but still needs to work on the defensive weakness that led to his second round stoppage loss to Eden Sonsona in May. Now 5 losses in 5 fights in Mexico for Monterrosa. New Plymouth, New Zealand: Light Heavy: Rob Powdrill (6-1) W PTS 10 Sam Rapira (11-2). Australian Powdrill built a lead over the early rounds and did enough to hold on over the late rounds to get the split decision. Powdrill’s punch power gave the local fighter trouble over the early rounds as Powdrill forced the fight and heavy rights often drove Rapira back forced him to focus on defence. As the fight progressed Rapira was scoring with more counters and he was closing the points gap but he lacked the punch to hurt the Australian and the decision looked right. Scores 98-92 and 97-94 for Powdrill and 97-94 for Rapira. The 31-year-old West Australian wins the vacant IBO Inter-Continental title. He was inactive from February 2009 through to July 2014 but since returning he scored a huge upset when kayoing Australian hot prospect Damien Hooper in 21 seconds and also reversed his only loss by outpointing David Letizia. Former New Zealand champion Rapira, also 31, had won 7 of his first 8 fights by KO/TKO and had won his last three fights. Matagalpa, Nicaragua: Minimum: Byron Rojas (16-2-3,1ND) W PTS 10 Byron Castellon (7-3-2). Fly: Cristofer Rosales (14-2) W KO 2 Herald Molina (17-12-3). 12 Rojas vs. Castellon Rojas wins clearly but fails to impress. The young local fighter always had control of this fight and won more easily than the scores suggest but lacked his trademark fire and was not as aggressive as usual but then he did have some rust to shed. He failed to produce the knockout he had forecast but took the unanimous decision. Scores 98-92, 97-92 and 97-93. He retains the national title and is 10-0 1 ND in his last 11 fights. The 25-year-old “Gallito” is rated IBF 4(2)/WBC 3/WBO 7 so a title fight in 2016 is a possibility. Castellon, 22, is 5-2-1 in his last 8 fights. Rosales vs. Molina Rosales goes over some old ground but gets the job done quicker second time around. The young Nica had taken ten rounds to stop Molina last time but this time he handed out enough of a beating to have the referee stop the fight in the second round. Rosales, 20, had beaten Molina in January to win the national title. His only loss in his last 13 fights was on points against British prospect Khali Yafai in March. Four losses in a row for 33-year-old Molina including a second round kayo against the same Yafai. David, Panama: Feather: Bryan De Gracia (16-0-1) W TKO 8 Samuel Moreno (9-4-1). Super Fly: Jonathan Arias (17-10) W KO 5 Israel Hidrogo (10-7-1). De Gracia vs. Moreno Local favourite De Gracia continues his winning streak and defends the national title with stoppage of Moreno. The David fighter again showed his power as he had Moreno on the back foot and under pressure all the way. After taking heavy punishment in the middle rounds it looked as though Moreno might last the distance but a left hook to the body in the seventh left him in agony and the fight was stopped. The 21-year-old De Gracia drew in his first pro fight so has now won 16 in a row, 13 by KO/TKO. He also wins the vacant WBA Fedecaribe title and is rated No 13 by the WBA. Moreno, also 21, was coming off a good performance where he floored former world title challenger Manuel Vides before losing a split decision. Arias vs. Hidrogo Arias makes it 6-2 in fights in Panama as he gets upset kayo victory over Hidrogo to win the WBA Fedebol title. Arias had vowed to retire if he lost so he will presumably happily fight on. He has won 4 of his last 5 fights in the Isthmus including a kayo of former world title challenger Ricardo Nunez. He now has 15 wins by KO/TKO in his 17 victories so the 32-year-old fighter from the Dominican Republic was a known danger. Hidrogo, 22, a former Panamanian champion, had lost his last two fights but on a split decision and a majority decision respectively against world rated fighter Gilberto Pedroza and Luis A Rios. Miedzyzdroje, Poland: Middle: Kamil Szeremeta (11-0) W PTS 10 Arthur Hermann (16-2). Cruiser: Michal Cieslak (9-0) W KO 1 Jarno Rosberg (18-2-1,1ND). Super Welter: Artem Karpets (21-0) W PTS 6 Lukasz Janik (14-13-1). Super Middle: Tomasz Gargula (17-0-1) W PTS 6 Sebastian Skrzypczynski (11-11-2). Szeremeta vs. Hermann Szeremeta continues to improve his skills as he convincingly outpoints Hermann. The Pole was working his jab well in the first and shook Hermann with a left hook near the end of the round. He was scoring well in the second with left hooks under the right elbow of Hermann but it was not all one-way as Hermann stung Szeremeta with a straight left and a right to the chin in the third. Szeremeta scored well with body punches again in the fourth and fifth and had Hermann badly shaken by rights at the end of the sixth. Szeremeta looked on his way to a stoppage but he is not a power puncher and Hermann showed a good chin and landed some heavy punches of his own and the fight was more even over the closing rounds. Scores 99-91, 99-93 and 97-93 all for Szeremeta. The 25-year-old EBU No 10, a former Polish amateur champion, was having his second ten round fight and paced the contest well. London-based Kazak Hermann had won his last 5 fights but just met a better boxer on the night. Cieslak vs. Rosberg This looked a tough test for Cieslak on paper but it lasted just 106 seconds. The local fighter came out pressing Rosberg and took him to the ropes. Once there a left hook to the body put Rosberg down. He was in considerable pain and after he got up Cieslak unleashed a series of punches with the final right to the head putting Rosberg down and out. The 6’3” (190cm) Pole, 26, wins the vacant Polish Youth International title and gets win No 5 by KO/TKO. Finn Rosberg, 34, was knocked out in two rounds by Deontay Wilder’s challenger Johann Duhaupas in 2013 but had then gone 4-0-1in his last 5 fights. Karpets vs. Janik Karpets has no trouble with moderate Janik. The Polish-based Ukrainian won every round as he works his way back to full ring fitness. Scores 60-54 from all three judges. Karpets was inactive from August 2013 until returning with an unconvincing split decision win over Mariusz Biskupski in April this year. Janik is 2-6 in his last 8 fights. Gargula vs. Skrzypczynski Gargula continues unbeaten in fierce battle with Skrzypczynski. They went to war from the bell as Skrzypczynski slammed home a right which sent Gargula tumbling into the ropes only for Gargula to shake Skrzypczynski with a right and Skrzypczynski finish the round with another big right. Skrzypczynski continued to attack in the second until a left hook sent him down and after he got up it was Gargula in control. The pace dropped in the third with Gargula on the back foot and countering well but the fourth featured plenty of exchanges with Gargula showing a swelling by his right eye. Gargula had the better of the fifth and they just slugged away in the sixth which again Gargula edged. Scores 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55 for Gargula. The 40-year-old Gargula retired in 2004 and only returned to the ring in June this year after 10 years and two months out. He remains unbeaten but his horizons must be limited. Three losses in a row for Skrzypczynski Fajardo, Puerto Rico: Bantam: Emmanuel Rodriguez (13-0) W TKO 7 Alex Rangel (16-5-2). Rodriguez continues to impress as he stops Mexican Rangel in seven. Rangel decided his best chance lay in taking the fight to the Puerto Rican prospect and fighting on the inside. The problem was that Rodriguez was banging home hurtful jabs, straight rights and left hooks to the body all night. Rangel faded out of the fight and a volley of hard punches from Rodriguez in the seventh put Rangel down with the referee having seen enough and stopping the fight. The 23-year-old “Manny” wins the vacant WBO Fedelatin title and has 9 victories by KO/TKO. His last four fights have all been scheduled for ten rounds but this is the first of those fights to go past the third round. He is a former World Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner and is the spokesman for a foundation that helps children who have suffered severe burns having himself recovered from suffering second degree burns over 66% of his body in an accident. Rangel has lost 4 of his last 5 fights but took former world title challenger Cesar Seda the full ten rounds in his last visit to Puerto Rico in June last year. Fallon, NV, USA: Light: Saul Rodriguez (18-0-1) W PTS 8 Ramsey Luna (12-4). Rodriguez remains unbeaten in a good fight with Luna. Both were letting their punches go in the first with Luna more than willing to mix it. Rodriguez scored well at the start of the second with over hand rights and left hooks to the body. In the third it looked as though Rodriguez was going to add to his score one of his quick wins as he drove Luna to the ropes and lashed out with rights and left hooks with Luna looking in deep trouble. Luna survived and was fighting back at the bell. The fourth saw Luna still fighting back strongly forcing Rodriguez to retreat and scoring with a couple of choice uppercuts. Rodriguez hurt Luna with a long right in the fifth but Luna had Rodriguez against the ropes and was working inside as the round ended. The sixth saw both have good spells with Luna perhaps just having the edge. Rodriguez was back on top in the seventh landing long rights and his trademark left hooks to the body. Rodriguez also took the last forcing Luna back and hammering home rights but with Luna getting off some good counters. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. The 22-year-old “Kid Dinamita” has 13 wins by KO/TKO. After a run of 8 inside the distance wins on the bounce he has now gone the full ten rounds in consecutive fights so some useful ring time. Texan Luna, 23, has now lost 4 of his last 5 fights but Rodriguez is the third undefeated fighter he has faced in those 4 losses alongside Toka Kahn Clary and Ryan Kielczewski and he gave Rodriguez a good fight. August 23 Yalta, Crimea: Light Heavy: Felix Varela (13-0) W PTS 12 Stas Kashtanov (33-2). Middle: Dmitry Chudinov (15-1-2) W PTS 8 Geard Ajetovic (26-13-1). Super Light: Ramal Amanov (9-0) W DISQ 3 Ranses Payano (19-2). Varela vs. Kashtanov Varela win the vacant interim WBA title with split decision over Kashtanov. This was a spectacle to behold. Varela has a style even more eccentric than Chris Eubank Senior and poor Kashtanov had no chance of adjusting to such a weird puzzle that faced him. In the first Varela was boxing with his hands on his hips throwing quick light punches from both hands and his constant change of guards, ducking, bobbing weaving stalking and walking around the ring then changing direction and trotting in the other direction just froze Kashtanov who could not find a target to aim at. It was the same in the second but more so with the bizarre antics of Varela seeing him throwing punches from weird angles ducking almost to the canvas and at times creeping sideward’s around the ring which again bamboozled Kashtanov who was trying to stick to an orthodox approach. It was the fourth round before Kashtanov finally managed to get into the fight by letting his hands go more and closing down some of Varela’s space. Kashtanov also had a good fifth as Varela was boxing in a more orthodox style and Kashtanov was able to get home with a good right and a left hook. The sixth and seventh were both close rounds and in the eighth for the first time in the fight Varela stood toe to-toe with Kashtanov and just had the edge due to his much quicker hands. Kashtanov had a better ninth but his frustration with the antics of Varela had him throwing the Dominican to the floor and later in the round pushing him down but again Varela was the one scoring with quick light punches. Varela resorted to his antics over the closing rounds with Kashtanov in constant pursuit but never able to nail down the elusive Varela who was at his most eccentric but also getting through with those quick combination and making sure he was somewhere else when Kashtanov countered. I thought that the “style” of Varela might count against him but he got the decision. Scores 116-112 and 115-113 for Varela and 117-111 for Kashtanov. First fight outside the Dominican Republic for the 27-year-old Varela who was his country’s super middle champion. As an amateur he fought in a range from 75kgs to 81kgs competing at the Pan American Games and World Championships. Kashtanov, 31, had lost a split decision to Karoly Balzsay for the vacant WBA secondary super middle title in 2011 and was inactive from August 2013 until April this year, and in June won the Russian light heavy title when his opponent Konstantin Piternov was forced to retire with a shoulder injury. Somehow that light heavyweight win entitled him to fight for the interim WBA super middle title. Chudinov vs. Ajetovic Chudinov eases back after losing his WBA interim title to Chris Eubank Jr with a win over a very passive Ajetovic. Chudinov was forcing the fight with Ajetovic taking a passive role goiung backwards until he was leaning with his back against the ropes hiding behind a high guard and letting Chudinov just punch away. Chudinov was not doing much harm but Ajetovic was throwing only occasional counters. It was the same at the start of the second until Ajetovic unleashed a right that definitely staggered Chudinov. For a few seconds Ajetovic threw punches from both hands and then inexplicably just went back to his old tactics and spent most of the round on the ropes. Apart from a sharp right uppercut from Chudinov in the fourth and a brief spell of hands down defence in “Varela” style from Ajetovic in the sixth the fight had no highlights. It was repetitive round after round of Chudinov coming forward trying to find a way past the high guard of Ajetovic and the Serb throwing occasional flurries and then going back into his shell which was a pity as he looked capable of hurting Chudinov if he had tried harder. No scores given but Chudinov got the unanimous verdict and it had to be 80-72 as Ajetovic never threw enough punches to come close to winning any round. For the 28-year-old “Russian Wolf” it was virtually eight rounds of sparring as he works his way back. For Ajetovic it was a payday and his fourth loss in his last five fights. Amanov vs. Payano Amanov wins vacant WBA International title as Dominican Payano is disqualified. Payano looked to be in control using his edges in height and reach to outbox and pressurise southpaw Amanov. He was doing fine until he lost control and landed a low punch in the third. The referee deducted a point but Payano repeated the offence almost immediately and was disqualified. The 30-year-old Azeri-born Amanov gets a lucky win and probable a world rating from the WBA. “The Pharaoh” Payano, 21, is the Dominican welter champion and he can only blame himself for losing this one. As always a huge thanks to Eric Armit for his review of the results from around the world.
August 13 Panama City, Panama: Super Feather: Juan Huertas (10-1) W TKO 2 Moises Castro (31-26-4). Light Fly: Leroy Estrada (14-2) W PTS 6 Jose Sanchez (5-4-2). Huertas vs. Castro “El General” Huertas continues to show promise as he halts the experienced Castro in two rounds. The taller Huertas, he is 6’0 ½” (184cm) had no trouble winning this one initially he tried boxing on the outside. When that did not work he went inside and to the body. He put Castro down on his hands and knees early in the second with a body punch and although Castro made it to his feet the fight was stopped. Now 8 wins by KO/TKO for the 23-year-old Panamanian who lost to Felix Verdejo at the 2012 Olympics. He is No 12 with the WBA. Now 5 losses in a row for Nicaraguan “Cobra” Castro Estrada vs. Sanchez World rated Estrada gets unanimous decision over fellow Panamanian Sanchez. Southpaw Estrada suffered a shock knockdown in the third round but dominated all of the other sessions. Scores 58-55 from all three judges. “Sensacional” Estrada, 21, has won 7 of his last 8 fights and is rated as a minimumweight at WBC 5/WBA 12/WBO 13. “Policia” Sanchez now has three losses in a row. August 14 Newark, NJ, USA: Heavy: Antonio Tarver (31-6-1,1ND) DREW 12 Steve Cunningham (28-7-1). Cruiser: Krzys Glowacki (25-0) W KO 11 Marco Huck (38-3-1) W. Heavy: Artur Szpilka (20-1) W TKO 2 Yasmany Consegura (17-2). Super Bantam: Luis Rosa (21-0) W TEC DEC 6 Giovanni Caro (24-17-4). Super Welter: Jarrett Hurd (16-0) W TKO 7 Jeff Lentz (5-1). Middle: Maciej Sulecki (21-0) W TKO 1 Jose M Rodriguez (21-9). Heavy: Travis Kauffman (29-1) W TKO 1 Rich Carmack (13-7,1ND).Feather: Kamil Laszczyk (21-0) W PTS 8 Oscauris Frias (16-1). Tarver vs. Cunningham Tarver and Cunningham end up all even with a split draw after an interesting if not exciting technical fight. It was close all the way with Cunningham the busier but Tarver landing more of his power punches. Cunningham had the better of the first three rounds but in the fourth a left from Tarver staggered Cunningham and sent him into the ropes. Tarver fired a quick combination but Cunningham quickly recovered and went back to the attack. Tarver was fighting on the back foot and countering and with Cunningham usually the one coming forward Tarver was finding gaps for his punches. He had Cunningham hurt again in the fifth but was being outworked in many rounds and Cunningham looked to have built a lead by the end of the tenth. Tarver took the eleventh shaking Cunningham with a southpaw left but despite a swelling by his right eye making the right side of his face a mess Cunningham staged a big twelfth only to be rocked again at the end of the round by a final left from Tarver. Scores 115-113 for Cunningham, 115-113 for Tarver and 114-114. It was a close as the scores indicate with Cunningham having they edge in punches thrown and landed and Tarver scoring with more of his power punches. The draw does not really advance either fighter’s chance of a title shot. The 39-year-old Cunningham levels out at 1-1-1 that is one good win over Amir Mansour, one loss to Vyacheslav Glazkov and now this draw and his only rating is IBF 6(5) with the IBF. Tarver, 46, was coming off a seventh round kayo of Jonathan Banks in December and was only rated by the WBA at No 9(8). Glowacki vs. Huck The Cunningham vs. Tarver fight was unlucky to follow the exciting, dramatic fight between Glowacki and Huck and looked tame by comparison. Glowacki came off the floor to score a big upset and lift Huck’s WBO title. The Polish challenger was off the mark quickly in this one as he came forward behind a wide stance probing with his southpaw jab and ended the first round by shaking Huck with a right. Glowacki was even more dominant in the second forcing Huck back and doing the scoring and he also took the third with a frustrated Huck getting a severe warning for punching after the bell ending the round. Huck finally started to land some heavy punches in the fourth and won that round. After four rounds the scores were 39-37 for Glowacki on all three cards. Huck began taking control and he scored with hard right hands in the fifth before flooring Glowacki with an overhand left in the sixth. Glowacki was down on his back and badly hurt but he was up at eight and then took the fight to Huck and they banged away at each other for the rest of an exciting round. Incredibly Glowacki came out strong in the seventh and won the round on the back of left hook. Huck outscored Glowacki to take the eighth and the fight had turned around with Huck now in front 76-75 on all three cards. The pace dropped in the ninth with Huck just doing enough to shade the round. Both were a little more lively in the tenth with Huck scoring with a series of shots to take the round and be up on the cards at 96-93, 96-93 and 95-94. In the eleventh Huck was stabbing out long punches but was noticeably more tired and was holding his guard low. Huck stepped in and threw a couple of punches and Glowacki cracked home a thunderous left hook and a straight right over Huck’s non-existent guard which sent Huck crashing back into the ropes and down on his back. Huck made it to his feet but was really finished at that point. On completion of the eight count Glowacki stepped in and landed the same left hook straight right combination which sent Huck to the ropes. The Pole landed three more head shots and as Huck slumped down to the canvas again the referee stepped in and waived the fight off. The 29-year-old Pole was the mandatory challenger but Huck was a huge favourite and already talking about going up to heavyweight and was looking to impress in his American debut. It was Glowacki’s first fight outside of Poland and his 16th win by KO/TKO. He had only faced medium opposition to this point which made it even more of a surprise. Serb-born German-based Huck, 30, was making the 14th defence of his WBO title. His only loss in his last 21 fights had been against Alex Povetkin in 2012. Huck had burned his boats for this one, leaving his promoter, leaving his coach and now he finds himself with no title. He has competed in kickboxing in the past and had been talking to UFC but a return with Glowacki is what he wants most. Szpilka vs. Consegura Szpilka wins as Consegura retires with a knee injury. The Polish southpaw started the first round well scoring with a straight right and a left to the body. Consegura scored with a right but a left hook from Szpilka sent the Cuban tumbling into the ropes and he appeared to twist his knee but did not go down. They traded equally at the start of the second until late in the round when a right hook from Szpilka put Consegura down. The bell went before Szpilka could build on that but Consegura’s knee was examined by a doctor and the fight was stopped. “Pin” Szpilka lost on a tenth round stoppage against Bryant Jennings in January 2014 but beat Tomasz Adamek in his next fight and has now added three more wins. He is rated IBF 7(6)/WBC 7/WBO 10 so is well down the queue for a title shot. Consegura had been stopped in three rounds by Dominic Breazeale in June so it is two inside the distance losses in a row for him. Rosa vs. Caro Rosa gets technical decision in a fight he was on his way to winning. The young Puerto Rican was too quick and accurate for the worn Mexican veteran. He had Caro hurt in both the first and second rounds. Caro did a bit better in the third but Rosa was on top again in the fourth. He was also taking the fifth and sixth until a clash of heads saw Caro cut over his right eye. The cut was too severe for the Mexican to continue so the cards decided it. Scores 60-55, 59-55 and 58-56. The 24-year-old WBC No 15 already has wins over Jorge Diaz and Luis Orlando Del Valle. “El Ruso” Caro, 32, a former IBF title challenger, is on the slope with this being his sixth loss in a row. Hurd vs. Lentz Hurd halts Lentz with blitz in the seventh. Hurd was punching too hard for Lentz but was not accurate enough to get this over as early as he should have done. He was breaking Lentz down with punches from both hands and the punishment came to fruition as Hurd landed a couple of punches in the seventh which staggered Lentz and saw the referee stop the fight. Now 10 wins by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old “Swift” Hurd who was in his second fight scheduled for eight rounds. Lentz was in his first eight round fight. Sulecki vs. Rodriguez Pole Sulecki halts Rodriguez inside a round. Sulecki got the job done with left hooks under the right elbow of Rodriguez and although the Colombian made it to his feet the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Sulecki goes to six wins by KO/TKO as he adds to impressive wins over Grzegorz Proksa and Darryl Cunningham. The 40-year-old Venezuelan-based Rodriguez was a late replacement and has lost 8 of his last 9 contests. Kauffman vs. Carmack Kauffman returns to action with a quick knockout of a very fat Carmack. Kauffman had no trouble reaching Carmack who was carrying too much weight to be mobile. A right from Kauffman ended the fight in 127 seconds. The 29-year-old 6’3” (191cm) “My Time” Kauffman was having his first fight since January 2014 and he was fed an easy win here. The former PAL gold medallist and US Championships silver medal winner has 21 wins by KO/TKO but this was farcical. “Silverback” Carmack’s weight was not given but he weighed 331lbs (150kg) in his last fight. Laszczyk vs. Frias North Bergen-based Pole Laszczyk easily handles Dominican Frias and wins unanimous decision. The Polish hope scored with a heavy right cross in the first to stamp his authority on the fight. In the second and third it was his sharp left jab interspersed with left hooks to the body that gave Frias trouble. The Dominican threw a couple of punch after the bell at the end of the third round and the referee deducted a point. A straight right floored Frias in the fourth but he got up and made it to the bell. It was all Laszczyk in the fifth as he was again using the left jab and left hooks to the body and for a change in the sixth it was a straight right that made Frias buckle at the knees. Laszczyk hurt Frias again in the both the seventh and eighth but just could not end the bout early. Scores 80-70 from all three judges. The 24-year-old WBO No 6 is yet to face a real test but he looks good. Frias yet another with an inflated Dominican record. He had won his last 4 fights against opponent with combined records of 4-104-6. Flemington, Australia: Heavy: Lucas Browne (23-0) W KO 9 Julius Long (16-19). Light: Will Tomlinson (24-2-1) W PTS 10 Adones Aguelo (24-12-2). Light Heavy: Trent Broadhurst (16-1) W PTS 6 Affif Belghecham (21-9-1). Middle: Dwight Ritchie (12-0,4ND) W PTS 6 Mark Dalby (4-9). Cruiser: Jai Opetaia (2-0) W TKO 1 Rob Manual (0-4). Browne vs. Long I can hear Browne muttering “all’s well that ends well” after this fight. The highly rated Australian had struggled to look convincing against the very tall late substitute Long (well named). The 7’1” (216cm) American was an awkward opponent who Browne found hard to score against. Things started to go badly wrong in the second when Browne broke his right thumb and could only use that hand sparingly. He was forcing the fight and since Long is not a puncher-or a mover- was doing most of the scoring. Long came in at very short notice for this fight and tried switching guards to confuse Browne but started to fade from the sixth. Browne almost ended it in the eighth when he floored Long with a series of punches but Long just made it to his feet and out of the round. Browne ended it in style in the ninth. He drove Long into the ropes with a left hook which jerked the American’s head back and as a result Long did not see the second short left hook which dumped him on the canvas with the referee not bothering to count. The 36-year-old Browne, a former kick boxer and MMA exponent, did not look good but the broken thumb and the change of opponent to someone as tall as Long both need to be taken into account. He is rated WBA 3(2)/WBC 6/IBF 13(12) and with only Ruslan Chagaev and Tyson Fury ahead of him in the WBA ratings he could be in with a chance of a fight against the winner of Wlad Klitschko vs. Fury. He has the power but is slow. Long, 38, has now lost 11 of his last 12 fights as his height is about all he has going for him. Tomlinson vs. Aguelo Tomlinson gets the majority decision over Aguelo but it seems everyone else except Will and the judges thought Filipino Aguelo won this one clearly. Aguelo walked in forcing Tomlinson to work hard in every round and looked to be outscoring the Australian. Certainly Tomlinson looked the worse for wear by the end after being forced to brawl when he should have boxed. Tomlinson looked a shadow of the boxer who had won the IBO title. He did manage to finish the fight strongly over the last two rounds but by then Aguelo looked to have the fight won and Tomlinson had a cut over his left eye and was bleeding from his nose and chin and had blurred vision. Scores 97-93, 97-94 and 95-95. Promoter Jeff Fenech even described it as robbery and the newspapers and social media were incensed all seeing the Filipino a clear winner but that won’t affect the record book entry. Losses to Jerry Belmontes and Francisco Vargas had convinced Tomlinson to move up to lightweight but this was a bad start in the new division. He has said he will take a holiday and consider his future but with this fight he won the interim PABA title and my guess is that he will box on. Aguelo, the GAB No 4 super feather and former interim Philippines champion, had won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss being against Mexican star Adrian Estrella. On his other visit to Australia in 2011 he had taken then world rated Joel Brunker to a close decision loss so he was a good level opponent who came to win. Broadhurst vs. Belghecham Queenslander Broadhurst was too good for French southpaw Belghecham and won the unanimous verdict to go to 8 wins in a row. The 27-year-olod ANBF No 1 was Australian champion at Cadet, Junior and Senior level and competed at the World Junior Championships. His only loss was to New Zealander Robert Berridge in 2011. Belghecham, 41, has been in with Andy Lee and Darren Barker and had lost on points to world title challenger Blake Caparello in June. Ritchie vs. Dalby Australian champion Ritchie keeps busy with unanimous verdict over Dalby. The 23-year-old Ritchie’s no decisions were four wins he scored when under the permitted age to turn professional. Now 5 losses in a row for 36-year-old Dalby. Opetaia vs. Manual Hot prospect Opetaia demolishes poor Manual inside a round. The 20-year-old 6’4 ½” southpaw was having his second fight in less than two weeks. He competed at the 2012 Olympics as a 17-year-old and also won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships. Jeff Fenech described as potentially the best Australian fighter ever! No pressure then Jai. New Zealander Manual, 39, lost for the first time inside the distance. East London, South Africa: Bantam: Mzuvukile Magwaca (16-1-1) W PTS 12 Jose Santos Gonzalez (22-3). Minimum: Siyabonga Siyo (9-0) W PTS 12 Lito Dante (9-5-3). Fly: Luzuko Siyo (14-3) W TKO 7 Mfundo Gwayana (18-8-3). Super Fly: Sithembiso Faye (9-0-1) DREW 10 Lindile Tshemese (6-2-1). Middle: Siphiwe Lusizi (1-0) W KO 1 Bongani Ngceshe (1-1) Magwaca vs. Gonzalez Magwaca wins the vacant WBA International title with unanimous decision over Mexican Gonzalez. Local prospect Magwaca used his longer reach to build an early lead but once Gonzalez started to find his way inside it was a much closer fight. The Mexican tried to throw Magwaca off his game plan with changes to southpaw but it was the inside pressure that was most effective for Gonzalez and he was dangerous with left hooks. Magwaca stuck to his boxing although most often on the back foot and both fighters tried hard to swing the fight their way with strong finishes but Magwaca’s early lead just allowed him to take the victory but it was a lot closer than the scores show. Scores 116-112 twice and 116-111. The 24-year-old “Old Bones” Magwaca makes it three wins since losing to unbeaten Makazole Tete in 2013. Gonzalez, also 24, had lost only one of his last 16 fights but the opposition has been fairly low level but he gave Magwaca a tough night here. Siyo vs. Dante Siyo also wins a vacant WBA International title with a win over Filipino Dante. The quick, slick Siyo outboxed Dante but the Filipino never stopped coming and made it a hard twelve rounds for the South African. A former top amateur Siyo used good movement and hand speed and as long as he was able to keep Dante out he was in charge. Dante had to force the fight and was a busy if wild forcer and Siyo did not have the punch to turn his counters into knockout punches but he did open a cut under the Filipino’s right eye and also survived a slip in the seventh which could have resulted in a leg injury. Siyo’s skills were enough to see him a deserving winner but again the scores of two of the judges did not reflect how hard Dante worked. Scores 119-111, 118-110 and 115-113 with the first two way out and the third whilst getting the right decision also a fair representation of Dante’s efforts. Siyo already holds the WBA Pan African title and is rated No 14 light fly by the WBA and is making good progress. He nearly pulled out of this fight having suffered a stomach problem a couple of days before the fight but was OK by fight time. Dante, 26, had put his career on a firmer footing with 5 wins in his last 6 fights and put up a good effort here. Siyo vs. Gwayana Siyo comes back from a slow start to halt Gwayana in a clash of former national champions who were both coming off a loss in their last fight. Southpaw Gwayana looked good in the early rounds but once Siyo warmed-up he began to take charge and wore Gwayana down. Siyo was dominating the fight and handing out continuous punishment until he put Gwayana down in the seventh at which point the referee halted the fight with the towel coming in from Gwayana corner at the same time. Siyo, the brother of Siyabonga, is a former South African light fly champion who had lost to Filipino Ray Tabugon for the IBO Inter-Continental title in December. Gwayana, 31, had two spells as South African light fly champion and has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Faye vs. Tshemese Faye looks to have done enough to get the verdict but has to settle for a draw. Both fighters tried hard but the fight never really caught fire and there were few highlights. Faye seemed to do the cleaner work but did not convince the judges. Scores 97-94 Faye, 98-95 for Tshemese and 95-95. This was to have been for the vacant South African title but was reduced to ten rounds with no title on the line. Faye, the BSA No 1 remains unbeaten. Southpaw, Tshemese the BSA No 3, was having his first fight for 14 months and it was also his first ten round fight. Lusizi vs. Ngceshe Lusizi turns pro with quick win. The former top amateur took only 60 seconds to put poor Ngceshe down and out. Lusizi, a 26-year-old southpaw and fashion model was South African amateur champion in 2009,2010,2011 and 2012 and competed at the World Championships, the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2012 Olympics. He was one of South Africa’s big hopes for Rio so his defection to the pro ranks was controversial. One to watch. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Super Fly: Carlos R D Ruiz (21-6) W PTS 10 Hugo Verchelli (11-3). Ruiz survives a couple of very rocky rounds to outpoint Verchelli. Over the early rounds a lot of ring rust was showing in Verchelli’s case. He is usually a slow starter and this was his first fight for almost two years. That gave the first four rounds to Ruiz as he outboxed Verchelli and was looking comfortable. That changed in the fifth when Verchelli nailed Ruiz with a left hook and landed a couple of quick combinations. Ruiz was badly shaken and the referee gave him a standing count. Ruiz boxed his way through the sixth and seventh only for Verchelli to again land a left to the chin and two more head punches forcing the referee to give Ruiz a second standing count. Ruiz survived and then took the last two rounds to get the unanimous decision. Scores 95-92, 96 ½-94 and 95-94 ½ for Ruiz. A needed win for the FAB No 4 a former interim South American bantam champion who had lost three on the bounce to some good quality opposition. Southpaw Verchelli, 26, was having his first fight since being floored three times and stopped in four rounds by Hekkie Budler in a challenge for the IBO and interim WBA minimum titles in November 2013. Davao City, Philippines: Welter: Adones Cabaquinto (21-0) W KO 3 RJ Ano-os (8-7-1). Bantam: Aston Palicte (19-1) W TKO 4 Fernando Ocon (13-10-1). Light: Jay-ar Inson (8-0) W Victor Mausul (9-3-2). Cabaquinto vs. Ano-os Mark-time fight for unbeaten Cabaquinto as he knocks out overmatched Ano-os. The 27-year-ol Filipino super light . He has 14 wins by KO/TKO.champion looks to have stalled instead of moving on wards and upwards with his only rating being at No 12 super light with the WBO. Ano-as has lost 4 of his last 5 fights. Palicte vs. Ocon Big puncher Palicte gets another inside the distance win. The first round saw Palicte slam home a head punch that put the experienced Ocon in survival mode. From then Ocon was running and holding but still taking punishment when his corner threw in the towel in the fourth round. The 24-year-old GAB No 1 super fly has 17 wins by KO/TKO including 8 in a row. Southpaw Ocon, 24, has won only one of his last seven fights but this is only the second time he has failed to go the distance. Inson vs. Mausul Southpaw prospect Inson crushes Mausul inside two rounds. Inson was scoring with heavy combinations in the first with Mausul pretending confidence by signalling Inson to bring it on. He did and put Mausul down heavily in the second and although Mausul managed to beat the count he was on shaky legs and the fight was stopped. The 24-year-old 5’10” (178cm) prospect from Manny Pacquiao’s team (this was a MP Promotions show) has 6 wins by KO/TKO and in theory was moving up to ten rounds. He wins the interim WBO Oriental title. Indonesian Mausul was having only his fifth fight in nine years. Pergamino, Buenos Aires: Super Bantam: Julian E Aristule (27-6) W PTS 10 Lucas R Baez (27-14-4). Aristule retains the Argentinian and WBO Latino titles with unanimous decision over Baez. It was a comfortable fight for the southpaw champion as he outboxed Baez for 9 of the 10 rounds. It did not help Baez’s cause when he lost a point in the ninth for a butt. Knowing he needed a knockout to win he went for it in the last round and had Aristule in trouble with a hard right but ran out of time. Scores 98-91 twice and 97-92, Aristule, 31, has won his last three fights including a good victory over useful Fabian Orozco (25-3-2) in February. Baez, 29, the FAB No 4, had won his last 10 fights mainly against at best modest opposition. August 15 Santos, Brazil: Middle: Acelino Freitas (40-2) W KO 3 Matteo D Veron (21-17-2,2ND). Freitas vs. Veron Freitas destroys Veron with four knockdowns. Freitas looking a lot plumper than in his prime went looking for Veron from the start and scored a knockdown in the first round with a straight right. Veron was up at six and made it to the end of the round. Freitas was hunting again in the second but Veron was using his edge in reach to stay out of trouble. In the third a long right cross put Veron down again. Veron was up at six and did not seem badly hurt. Freitas was hunting the Argentinian down throwing plenty of punches and floored Veron again although the last punch landed on the back of Veron’s head. This time he was hurt and as Freitas unleashed a series of punches Veron bent forward into the path of an uppercut that put him face down on the canvas out cold. First fight for the 39-year-old for three years and only the second in eight years for the former WBA/WBO super feather and WBO light champion. At 153 ¾ lbs he was a chubby 20lbs over his weight when he was in his prime but he still showed some speed and lots of power so he will stick with his return and try a few more fights with a challenge thrown out to Manny Pacquiao already. Veron, 26, now has 6 losses by KO/TKO and falls to 2-8 in his last 10 fights. Montreal, Canada: Light Heavy: Eleider Alvarez (18-0) W PTS 12 Isidro Ranoni Prieto (24-1-3). Light Heavy: Lucien Bute (32-2) W TKO 4 Andrea Di Luisa (17-3). Super Light: Yves Ulysse Jr. (9-0) W TKO 2 Ryan Wagner (5-3). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (13-0) W TKO 2 Ed Perry (20-6-2). Alvarez vs. Prieto Alvarez gets unanimous decision over Prieto and wins the important WBC Siler title. In a fight between two South Americans it was the skills of Alvarez and his work rate that got him the verdict but not without some scares along the way. The first round set the pattern for what was to follow with Alvarez taking the early part of the round only for Prieto to score with a punch at the end that had Alvarez shaken. Alvarez outworked Prieto in the second but in the third the Paraguayan landed another big punch which had Alvarez holding on. The Colombian was back in control in the fourth outscoring Prieto and finding gaps for his hard counters. The most dramatic moment of the fight came in the sixth when a left from Prieto had Alvarez in deep trouble. Alvarez was trying to hold to give his head time to clear but Prieto kept the pressure on with Alvarez pushing Prieto to the canvas and getting a brief relief which helped him see out the round. From the seventh Prieto seemed to tire and although he was still dangerous Alvarez was firing home lefts to the chin and body shots and putting the fight beyond the Paraguayan. By the last round only a knockout would do for Prieto but Alvarez was never going to let that happen and he boxed his way to the bell without taking any chances. Scores 117-111 from all three judges. The 31-year-old Colombian “Storm” showed he has skill and power in equal measure as when beating Anatoliy Dudchenko and Ryno Liebenberg. It is tough at the top in the light heavy division with the titles shared between Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson but after winning the WBC Silver title Alvarez will be targeting that title. Argentinian-based Prieto, 31, had very impressive stats but this was his first fight outside South America so he was very much an unknown quantity. He gave Alvarez some scary moments and I feel sure that there will be more fights in the USA if he wants them. Bute vs. Di Luisa Bute takes a couple of rounds to shake of the rust and then stops Di Luisa. The first round saw both fighters make a cautious start with Di Luisa coming forward and probing with his jab and firing some combinations and Bute lunging forward with his southpaw jab with neither boxer really landing any punch of note. Bute stepped up the pace in the second scoring with long lefts to the body with Di Luisa still staying with the jab and quick but light combinations. Bute was looking to trade in the third with Di Luisa making the mistake of standing in front of Bute and exchanging but not having the power to win that battle and Bute scored with a straight right left cross combination the two best punches so far. Di Luisa started the fourth well penetrating Bute’s guard with quick punches from both hands. Bute suddenly fired back with a left to the head and Di Luisa took a couple of steps back and then collapsed onto his knees. The referee interrupted the count a six to tell Bute to go to a neutral corner and Di Luisa got up and the referee completed the eight count. Bute walked in and blasted home four or five head punches and the towel came in from Di Luisa’s corner. The 35-year-old Romanian/Canadian was having his first fight since losing to Jean Pascal in January 2014 and Di Luisa was reasonable level comeback fight but we will need a couple more fights under his belt to assess where he stands now. Di Luisa, 33, a former Italian and EU champion showed some nice skills but no real power. Ulysse vs. Wagner Ulysse marches on. The hot young prospect was on top from the start with his quicker hands and a big edge in skill. He was looking to end this early and he did in the second round with a right uppercut to the solar plexus which put Wagner down on his hands and knees in agony and the fight was stopped. The 27-year-old from Montreal makes it 6 wins by KO/TKO. He represented Canada at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he beat Frederic Lawson but lost to Brit Bradley Saunders in the quarter finals and also fought at the 2011 World Championships. Wagner, loses inside the distance for the second time. Dinu vs. Perry Romanian Dinu hits too hard for Perry. The big Canadian-based Dinu floored Perry in the first and ended in the second with a big right which left Perry slumped up against the ropes with no chance of continuing the fight. The 28-year-old 6’5” (196cm) Dinu now has 9 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in his last 8 fights. The big Romanian was a World Cadet gold medallist and won bronze and silver at the World & European Junior championships respectively as well as competing at the 2005 World Championships. Perry, 28, loses inside the distance for the second time. He was knocked out by Lateef Kayode in December 2010 and was inactive until returning last year with a couple of wins. Guamuchil, Mexico: Super Fly: Carlos Cuadras (33-0-1) W TKO 5 Dixon Flores (11-3-2). Light Fly: Juan Hernandez (28-3) W PTS 8 Ramon Garcia (20-6-1). Cuadras vs. Flores Fighting in the city of his birth Cuadras retains the WBC title with stoppage of game but out-gunned Flores. The challenger showed a lot of enterprise in the first round with a quick jab and some 3-4 punch combinations. Cuadras looked slower but more powerful. Both landed good rights and Flores fired some quick combinations at the end of the round. Cuadras was letting his punches go at the start of the second wakling Flores down and scoring with left hooks to the body and long rights to the head. Late in the round Flores fired back and had Cuadras backing up and ducking and diving to avoid the combinations of Floes but Cuadras was back in control at the end of the round. Cuadras upped the pace in the third pursuing Flores relentlessly and scoring with long rights and double and triple left hooks to the body. Flores kept trying to bang back but by the end of the round was clinching for the first time in the fight. Cuadras was throwing heavy stuff in the fourth. Once again the left hook/right cross combination was getting home and a left hook/left uppercut/left hook had Flores going back. Now the Nicaraguan was doing more running and holding and less punching as Cuadras increased the pressure. At the start of the fifth Cuadras took Flores to the ropes and unloaded two left/right thudding combinations followed by a left hook that sent Flores back to the ropes and down with Cuadras throwing a couple of more shots as Flores was on his way to the canvas. Flores gamely made it to his feet at nine and the referee let the fight continue. Cuadras was wild with his punches trying to end it but for a couple of seconds Flores was up on his toes and throwing punches. Cuadras cut that short by forcing Flores to the ropes and landing left and right hooks that put Flores down for the second time. The Nicaraguan dragged himself to his feet but as the referee completed the eight count he then waived the fight off. Fourth successful defence of his WBC title for Cuadras and 26th win by KO/TKO. Flores, 21, showed good skills and plenty of guts and performed much better than a might be expected from a prelim fighter who had not fought at the super fly limit since 2013 and who the WBC manipulated their ratings to make acceptable. He just lacked anything in his arsenal to keep Cuadras out. Hernandez vs. Garcia Hernandez gets revenge over Garcia with unanimous decision. Southpaw Garcia made the better start and clearly took the first. After that Hernandez was the one in control. Hernandez had the superior skills and was quicker than former champion Garcia. Their styles did not mix well and there were plenty of heads banging together as the rounds progressed. The only moment of danger for Hernandez came in the sixth when the referee had the doctor examine a lump on Juanito’s right cheek but he survived the examination. A frustrated Garcia ended whatever chance he had of winning when he threw Hernandez to the floor in the seventh and had a point deducted allowing Hernandez to take the verdict comfortably. Hernandez, 28, lost a unanimous decision to Kazuto Ioka for the WBC minimum title in 2011 and was knocked out in eight rounds by Garcia in July 2013. He has rebounded well from that with six victories including a points win over Saul Juarez. The 32-year-old Garcia, a former WBO light fly champion, has been treading a hard road as he lost his title to Donnie Nietes, was knocked out by Roman Gonzalez in a fight for the WBA light fly title and was coming off successive losses to Javier Mendoza for the IBF title and to Filipino Jonathan Taconing. Bayamon, Puerto Rico : Super Feather: Jason Sosa (17-1-3) W TKO 1 Jerry Belmontes (19-8). Feather: Chris Diaz (12-0) W TKO 1 Alcides Santiago (5-2). Sosa vs. Belmontes Huge win for Sosa as he flattens Belmontes inside a round. The Puerto Rican hope slammed home a thunderous left hook followed by a right which put Belmontes face down on the canvas and the fight was stopped. The 27-year-old Camden-born banger is unbeaten in his last 15 fights and makes it 13 wins by KO/TKO including 12 in a row. Belmontes, 26, lost a split decision to Omar Figueroa for the WBC light title in April last year. He also took Abner Cotto to a split decision in August and went the distance with Miguel Vazquez and Dierry Jean earlier this year. This is his first loss by KO/TKO making Sosa’s achievement look even better. Diaz vs. Santiago Diaz ends this all-Puerto Rican contest one 13 seconds quicker than Sosa. Santiago was taking the fight to Diaz who was looking to catch Santiago with counters. Santiago continued to lunge forward and Diaz caught him on the inside with a short right. Santiago’s legs wobbled and Diaz pounced with a couple of follow-up punches as Santiago went down heavily. He had trouble getting up trying and tumbling over the first time. He made it at the second attempt but was still badly shaken and was bleeding heavily from the nose. Diaz slammed home some head shots with Santiago trying to punch his way out of trouble but getting nailed and he slid along the ropes to a corner and as Diaz landed more head punches the referee jumped in to end the fight. The 20-year-old Diaz was moving up to 8 rounds for the first time which became irrelevant with that right hand. Now 7 wins by KO/TKO for Diaz. Santiago had won his last three fights and this is his first loss by KO/TKO. Krasnodar, Russia: Heavy: Vyacheslav Glazkov (21-0-1) W KO 4 Kertson Manswell (24-12). Super Light: Aik Shakhnazaryan (16-2) W TKO 4 Hamza Sempewo (12-5). Glazkov vs. Manswell Glazkov wins in messy fight with veteran loser Manswell. Glazkov took the first round scoring with overhand rights over the low guard of Manswell with Manswell trying to take Glazkov to the ropes but not doing much when he got him there. The second was a long round as in one exchange Glazkov seemed to catch Kertson on the chin with his elbow. Manswell went down clutching his chin but the referee did not count. Instead he sent Glazkov to a corner and signalled for Manswell to get up. The Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) fighter took a while to get up. The referee then took him back to his corner and told the T&T fighter’s corner why he had halted the fight gave Manswell even more time to recover, warned Glazkov and then let the fight continue. For the remaining minute it got ugly with both landing punches to the back of the head and Manswell getting warned for a low punch. Glazkov was going to the body more in the third with Manswell just trying to land one big punch and tumbling to the canvas after missing with a big swipe. Glazkov put Manswell down with two punches to the back of the head but the knockdown was counted anyway. In the fourth Glazkov threw a right which Manswell blocked and a left hook that was half blocked and Manswell went down on his knees and made no more than a token attempt to get up and was counted out. The 30-year-ols Ukrainian“ Czar” gets win No 13 by KO/TKO. The draw on his record was with Malik Scott in 2013 since then he has climbed the ratings with 7 wins including victories over Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham although a majority decision win over Derric Rossy last August is also in that list of wins and he did not impress then. Manswell, 38, at 267 ¾ lbs (121kgs) was just too slow to be a threat and he is now 1-9 in his last 10 fights. Shakhnazaryan vs. Sempewo Shakhnazaryan has no problems in overwhelming Sempewo. Shakhnazaryan was taking the fight to Sempewo who had height and reach over the Armenian-born Russian and showed some neat boxing on the retreat but no power and was throwing one punch at a time.. Both fighters traded more in the second round with Shakhnazaryan switching guards and landing beefy hooks to the body of Sempewo. In the third Shakhnazaryan was coming forward relentlessly. Sempewo scored with a couple of nice uppercuts but with no leverage. Late in the round a left hook to the body put the Ugandan down. Shakhnazaryan was already jumping on the ropes celebrating but Sempewo got up and the bell went before Shakhnazaryan could get any more punches home. In the fourth Shakhnazaryan forced Sempewo back into a corner but before he could land a punch Sempewo turned away and lifted his arm in surrender and the fight was stopped. The 22-year-old “Humanoid” is rebuilding after back-to-back losses to Abner Lopez and to Eduard Troyanovsky for the vacant IBO title. Ugandan Sempewo showed some neat touches but was out muscled by Shakhnazaryan and suffers his first loss by KO/TKO. Adejo, Spain: Super Feather: Sandro Dominguez (7-1) W TKO 6 Antonio Rodriguez (5-10-6). Local fighter Dominguez wins the vacant Spanish title. Dominguez edged the first two rounds and then put Rodriguez down in the third. Rodriguez tried to get back in the fight but was hampered by a nose injury and his corner pulled him out at the end of the sixth round. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 24-year-old Dominguez who was in his first ten round fight. Rodriguez, 21, is now 0-5-3 in his last 8 fights including 3 losses and 2 draws in 5 Spanish title fights. Fort McDowell, AZ, USA: Middle: Louis Rose (13-2-1) W TKO 8 Andrew Hernandez (9-2-1,1ND). Rose retains his NABF Junior title with a late stoppage of Hernandez. This was made the main event after the Giovanni Segura vs. Juan Palacios fight fell through. It was a chance to shine for both fighters but neither really grasped the chance. The fight lacked any real highlights with Rose having opened a cut over the right eye of Hernandez in the fourth seemingly on his way to an uninspired points victory when he produced a right in the last round that put Hernandez down. Hernandez made it to his feet but a barrage of punches from Rose then saw the referee stop the fight. Now 5 wins by KO/TKO for the 26-year-old and his second win by KO/TKO since being blasted out inside a round by Ievgen Khytrov in November. Local fighter Hernandez loses inside the distance for the second time having been knocked out in the first round by Jerry Odom in March, which saw Odom putting right a disqualification loss to Hernandez in January Miami, FL,USA: Light Heavy: Avni Yildrim (6-0) W PTS 10 Glen Johnson (54-21-2). Welter: Dusty Hernandez Harrison (27-0) W TKO 5 Carlos W Velasquez (23-21-1,1ND). Super Bantam: Neslan Machado (10-0) W TKO 2 Christian Esquivel (27-7). Middle: Luis Arias (13-0) W KO 1 Yoryi Estrella (11-11-2). Middle: Zach Kelley (5-11) W TKO 3 Alptug Oener (8-1) Yildrim vs. Johnson The youth of Yildrim gave him the edge in this one but only just. The young Turk was trying to set a fast pace and tire Johnson. The old Road Warrior has been there before and although often having to fight with his back to the ropes he was conserving energy and counter punching cleverly. Many rounds were close and hard to score but Johnson was never out of the fight. Yildrim tried hard to find a way to end the fight inside the distance in the ninth and tenth but Johnson was never really in trouble and had paced the fight well. Scores 96-94 twice and a way out 99-91. A big win for the relatively inexperienced Turk as he almost doubled his pro experience in this one fight (he had fought less than 11 rounds in his previous 5 fights). At 46 Johnson showed that he is still a force even though this is his third loss in a row. Harrison vs. Velasquez Just a keep busy fight for Harrison and he floors and halts Nicaraguan Velasquez. Harrison always had the fight under control and the only real question was how quickly he would win. He came near to ending it when he put Velasquez down with a right in the third then handed out punishment in the fourth and fifth with Velasquez retiring at the end of the round. The lanky Washington fighter has 13 wins by KO/TKO but is yet to be given a real test. Velasquez, 35, now has 5 losses by KO/TKO. Machado vs. Esquivel Cuban hope Machado gets impressive quick win over experienced Mexican. The teenager was just too quick with his combinations punching for a worn Esquivel. A knockdown in the first and another in second round was enough for Esquivel who retired at the end of the second round.. The 19-year-old “Pitbull” has 8 wins by KO/TKO. This was to have been one of the supporting bouts but when the joint main event fell apart Machado took his chance to get some high level exposure. He had won seven of his fights inside the first round so had less than 17 rounds on his record before agreeing to take on Esquivel and looks a good prospect. . Esquivel, 28, had a run of 13 wins that landed him a fight with Shinsuke Yamanaka for the vacant WBC title in 2011. He lost that and is now 3-5 in his last 8 fights including 4 losses in a row. Arias vs. Estrella Too easy for Arias as he kayos Estrella inside a round. The 25-year-old former amateur star now has 6 wins by KO/TKO. As an amateur he was US national champion in 2009 and 2010, won a silver medal at the NGG’s and a World Juniors bronze and beat guys such as Dominic Wade, Shawn Porter, Marcus Browne, Demetrius Ballard and Jesse Hart. That’s all in the past now so we will have to wait for better opposition than this to test him. Dominican Estrella, 35, is 1-9-1 in his last 11 fights. Kelley vs. Oener This was not supposed to end like this. Kelley was there simply because someone had to be in the other corner when Oener made his US debut and Kelley had all the credentials for an inside the distance loser to make Oener shine. The script was follow for two rounds as Oener took the first and was well on top in the second. It all went wrong in the third as Kelley suddenly came alive and put Oener down twice before the fight was stopped. The 29-year-old Kelley was 2-8 in his last 10 fights going in so looked very safe but that’s boxing. Twenty-five-year-old Turkish southpaw Oener will regroup and bounce back. Atlantic City, NJ, USA: Heavy: Chazz Witherspoon (34-3) W TKO 3 Nick Guivas (11-3-2). Heavy: Zhang Zhilei (5-0) W TKO 6 Dennis Benson (2-7-1). Witherspoon vs. Guivas Witherspoon keeps his hopes alive with routine win over Guivas. Witherspoon had oodles of height and reach over late sub Guivas and dominated the first with his jab/ right cross standard approach. In the second he again set Guivas up with the jab and then put Guivas down with a right. Guivas was up but unsteady. Witherspoon did not rush the job but again used the jab to set Guivas up and then banged home a right uppercut that had Guivas ready to go only for the bell to save him. In the third Guivas was shipping more heavy rights and the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. Fourth win by KO/TKO for Witherspoon since returning to action after taking two years out of the ring following his crushing loss to Seth Mitchell in 2012. He was the promoter of this show. Guivas had won his last 4 fights but against very low level opponents. Zhilei vs. Benson Chinese heavy Zhilei overcomes his first cut as a pro to halt Benson. Southpaw Zhilei had the edge in height and almost 30lbs in weight but Benson had not come to fall over and was willing to trade with Zhilei. In the third Zhilei looked as though he had scored a knockdown but it was ruled a slip but Benson ended the round with a nose injury leaking blood. It was Zhilei who shed blood next and this was much more serious as it was over the Chinese fighter’s left eye. Zhilei boxer cautiously over the fourth and fifth due to the cut but in the last round he put Benson down with a heavy left. Benson made it to his feet only for another right to put him down and the fight was stopped. Third win by KO/TKO for the 32-year-old 6’6” (198cm) Zhilei. As an amateur he won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics but lost to Anthony Joshua in 2012 Games. He also won a bronze medal at the World Championships and scored wins over Vyacheslav Glazkov and Joseph Parker. First loss inside the distance for Benson. Tacoma, WA, USA: Super Middle: Mike Gavronski (19-1-1) W PTS 10 Laatekwei Hammond (21-10). Gavronski makes it five wins in a row as he decisions experienced Hammond. Both traded jabs in the first with Gavronski throwing enough other shots to take the round on his work rate. Gavronski was throwing the right in after his jabs in the second and scoring well to the body with Hammond finishing the round strongly but not doing enough to steal it. In the third an overhand right from Gavronski put Hammond on the floor. The Ghanaian beat the count and then stayed out of trouble for the remainder of the round. Both showed good skills over the middle rounds with the fifth seeing some exciting trading but Gavronski having the edge in skill and work rate. As he was losing the battle of the jabs Hammond tried to take the fight inside but Gavronski just shortened his punches and was winning the battle inside as well. Hammond tired over the closing round and was holding more. He paid for that with a point deduction as Gavronski boxed his way to a wide unanimous decision. Scores 100-88 from all three judges. Gavronski’s only loss so far was to world rated Tureano Johnson and he has built sensibly since then. Hammond, 35, a former CBC title challenger and Ghanaian champion has lost four in a row since basing himself in the USA. This evening promise to have more than just a little bit of interesting action.
For us the pick of the action is in Mexico. This show is headlined by a very hard to defend WBC Super Flyweight world title bout which will see Carlos Cuadras (32-0-1, 25) defending his belt against 21 year old Nicaraguan Dixon Flores (11-2-2, 3). The match up is horrible but it will probably be Cuadras's final defense before a rematch with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The more exiting fight on this show is at Light Flyweight as Ramon Garia Hirales (20-6-1, 12) takes on Juan Hernandez (27-3, 19) in a bout for a WBC International title. Hirales will be fighting for the first time since he was stopped by Jonathan Taconing back in April and enters following back-to-back losses. Hernandez on the other hand will be looking for revenge against his fellow Mexican who stopped a couple of years ago in a world title eliminator. This really could be the hidden gem of the weekend. In Canada fans will see local favourite Lucian Bute (31-2, 24) battle against little known Italian fighter Adrea Di Luisa (17-2, 13). This is a must win for Bute, who's career really is at the stage where he must win to remain relevant following 2 losses in his last 3. For De Luisa this is a big opportunity to become a “known” fighter but with 2 stoppage losses on his record it's likely he's been selected to make Bute look good. Also in Canada is an intriguing bout between unbeaten fighters each looking to make a statement. This fight sees unbeaten Canadian based Colombian Eleider Alvarez (17-0, 10) take on unbeaten Argentinian puncher Isidro Ranoni Prieto (24-0-3, 20). On paper this looks like the fight of the night and really could an explosive one if the styles gel we expect them to. A third bout of note in Canada is at Heavyweight as the touted Bogdan Dinu (12-0, 8) takes on Ed Perry (20-5-2, 11). The 6'5 Dinu is a Canadian based Roman who some have tipped very highly though anything but a stoppage against Perry would be considered a disappointment. Perry has only been stopped once from his 5 losses but he hasn't really faced many punchers, other that Lateef Kayode who did stop him. The only major card tonight comes from New Jersey, US where we get several bouts of note.
The most significant of those is a WBO Cruiserweight title fight between long term champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26) and the unbeaten Krzysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15). Huck will be seeking his 14th defense of the title and will also be making his US debut after a very successful career in Germany, where hs is a star. Whilst Huck will be the favourite Glowacki is seen as a very live under-dog. The co-feature of the show will see former Cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (28-7, 13) battle against former Light Heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (31-6-0-1, 22) in a bout at Heavyweight. The contest is a really intriguing one and it's fair to say that if either man suffers a clear loss it could be the end of their career, at least as a notable contender. Another exciting Heavyweight bout here will see popular Polish slugger Artur Szpilka (19-1, 14) battle against Cuban Yasmany Consuegra (17-1, 14). Both men will view this as a potential stepping stone to a major fight but both will know that the other man brings power and desire. This really could be a very good bout. |
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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