Tag Archives: cuba

Posted on 05/02/2017

3 Olympic Boxing Gold Medal Winners in Papp, Stevenson & Savon!
By: Ken Hissner

Hungarian southpaw Laszlo Papp won Olympic Gold Medals in boxing in 1948, 1952 and 1956. When the Communist country of Hungary finally allowed Papp to turn professional in 1957 he was not permitted to box other than in Europe. Boxing promoter Lou Lucchese informed this writer that when he tried matching middleweight champion Joey Giardello with Papp the FBI showed up on his door step in Leesport, PA, questioning his interest in Papp. The fight was never made.

As a professional Papp was 27-0-2 (15), and became the European middleweight champion in 1962 and defended that title six times before being forced into retirement for refusing to coach the Russian boxing team in 1962. He boxed in Germany, Austria, France, Spain and Denmark. He defeated four Americans with the most known being Ralph “Tiger” Jones.Papp passed away in 2003 at the age of 77.His amateur record was 301-12-6 and was inducted into the IBHOF in 2001. In Helsinki, Finland in 1952 he defeated American Spider Webb. In 1956 he defeated future world champion Jose Torres.

Cuban Teofilo Stevenson was the Olympic Gold Medal winner in 1972, 1976 and 1980. Cuba withdrew from the Olympics in 1984. In 1972 he avenged a loss in the 1971 Pan Am Games to American Duane Bobick defeating him in the Olympics. He was awarded the Val Barker Trophy as the best boxer in the Olympic Games. In 1976 he defeated future world champion John Tate. He won World championships in 1974 defeating American Marvin Stinson and in 1978 defeating future world champion Tony Tubbs. In 1982 he lost to future world champion Francesco Damiani.

In the Pan American Games Stevenson in 1975 defeated future world champion Michael Dokes for the title. In 1979 he defeated American Rufus Hadley for the title. In USA-Cuba meetings he defeated Jimmy Clark three times and Tyrell Biggs the 1984 Olympic Gold medalist twice. He defeated American Philipp Brown in 1979. He was 302-22 in the amateurs. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 60.

Cuban Felix Savon won Olympic Gold Medals in 1992, 1996 and 2000. 362-21 was his amateur record. In 1992 he defeated American Danell Nicholson and Nigerian David Izon. In 1996 he defeated Luan Krasniqi. In 2000 he defeated American Michael Bennett and future world champion Russia’s Sultan Ibragimov. He defeated David Tua and future world champions Lamont Brewster and Shannon Briggs. Savon is 49 years-old.

Posted on 03/29/2017

PBC on Fox Sports 1 Results: Leduan Barthelemy and Kyrone Davis Win Tuesday in CA!
By: Ken Hissner

At the Robinson Rancheria in Nice, CA, over PBC in the main event southpaw Cuban Leduan Barthelemy, 13-0 (7), now out of Las Vegas, from the Barthelemy family, after a tough eight rounds stopped Dominican Reynaldo Blanco, 14-4 (8), at 1:30 of the ninth round when Blanco’s corner threw in the towel shortly after Blanco was dropped.

The much taller Barthelemy dominated the first round as Blanco dropped down to 130 from his usual 135 on two weeks notice and used his right hand when possible. In the second and third rounds Blanco became the aggressor back Barthelemy up in a close round. In the fourth round it was Barthelemy being the aggressor hurting Blanco with a counter right hand to the head. Blanco’s right eye was starting to swell.

In the fifth and sixth rounds Barthelemy continued countering as Blanco was the aggressor throwing right hands against the southpaw. In the seventh round after an even six rounds Barthelemy kept setting up Blanco with a long jab and hook hurt Blanco. It looked like Blanco’s corner was not letting him out for the ninth but out came Blanco for the ninth round. Barthelemy dropped Blanco with a right hook to the chin. His corner waved to him to stay down but up he was at eight. It wasn’t seconds before Blanco’s corner threw in the towel at 1:30 of the ninth round.

In the semi-final as expected it was a war with southpaw Kyrone “Shut It Down” Davis, 12-1 (5), of Wilmington, DE, won a split decision over Mark Hernandez, 9-1 (2), of Fresno, CA, over ten rounds of action.

In the opening round though only having two knockouts in his nine wins Hernandez showed power with right uppercuts while Davis forced the action driving Hernandez into a neutral corner setting the stage for the entire fight. In the second round Hernandez came back in this round and near the end of the round rocked Davis with a left hook and a pair of right uppercuts. In the third round Davis outpunched Hernandez three to one but Hernandez had power on his right uppercuts. The corner of Davis in his trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards out of Philadelphia kept warning him about the uppercuts from Hernandez. In the fourth and fifth round Davis put on a vicious display of body shots that were breaking down Hernandez.

In the sixth round Hernandez was landing some left hooks to the head of Davis while being pushed into a neutral corner. Davis continued working the body taking several warnings from referee Dan Stell.

In the seventh round in what looked like a border line shot from Davis referee Stell stopped the action and took a point from Davis. Davis did enough to earn a 9-9 round. In the eighth round Davis continued outworking Hernandez who was slowed down with a barrage of body shots.

In the ninth round which was a first for both fighters Davis continued to keep Hernandez on the ropes outworking him but on several occasions would be hit with a right uppercut or left hook both to the chin. In the tenth and final round halfway through Hernandez rocked Davis with a counter right to the chin forcing Davis to hold on. Hernandez was not able to take advantage though taking the round.

Scores were 96-93 for Davis, 95-94 for Hernandez and 96-93 for Davis while this writer had it 97-92 for Davis.

Posted on 03/17/2017

The Cuban Heavyweights Professional and Amateur!
By: Ken Hissner

TEOFILO STEVENSON was 6:03 andin 1972, 1976 and 1980 won Olympic Gold Medals.He won World Gold Medals in 1974, 76 and 1980. He won Pan Am Gold in 1975 beat future WBA championMichael Dokes, 79 and a Bronze in 1971. He stopped Duane Bobickin 1972 after losing to him in 1971. He won the Val Barker Trophy in 1972. In 1976 he KO1 John Tate, future WBA champion andin 1981 defeated Jimmy Clark 1978 twice and in 1980 once and in 1982 he lost tofuture WBO champion Francesco Damiani. In 1984 he defeated future 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs and in 1986 beat Alex Garcia. He also defeated future WBA champion Tony Tubbs, Marvin Stinson and Phillip Brown. Stevenson was awarded the Merited Master of Sport of the USSR in 1972, 1976 and 1980. He is the only boxer to have received this. He died in June of 2012 at age 60 from heart failure.

FELIX SAVON was 6:00 and in 1992, 96 and 2000 won Olympic Gold Medals as a heavyweight. In Pan Am Games in 1987, 1991 and 1995he won Gold Medals. He won4 Central American& Caribbean Games and 4 World Cups. He was 362-21 with all losses avenged. He defeated RuslanChagaev twice. He KO’d DaVarryl Williamson. In 2000 Olympics he defeated Michael Bennett and retired at age 33. He won 6 world championships and aSilver Medal. He defeated Danell Nicholson and David Izon in 1992 Olympics. In 1996 he defeated Georgi Kandelak, Luan Krasniqi and David Defiagbon. In 2000 he defeated Michael Bennett, Sebastian Kober and Sultan Ibragimov. He defeated in Pan Am Games Michael Bentt, Shannon Briggs and Lamon Brewster. He is 67.

ALEXIS RUBALCABA was 6:08 and in 1999 he wonthe Pan Am Gold Medal. He representedCuba in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics at Super heavyweight. In 1997 World Games he won a Silver Medal. He is 44.

JORGE LUIS GONZALEZ at 6:07 was 31-8 as a professional. In 1983 won Pam Am Gold. He defeated Tyrell Bigss. In 1987 he won Pan Am Gold defeating Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis. In 1987 North American Championships he lost to Lewis.
ROBERT BALADO was 6:00 and was the 1992 Olympics super heavyweight Gold Medalist defeating Larry Donald and Brian Nielsen. He was World Championship Gold Medalist in 1989, 1991 and 1993. He was Pan Am Games Gold Medalist in 1991. He died in 1994 at age 25 in car accident.

JULIO CARLOS “BLACK PANTHER” GOMEZ was 6:03 1/2 and was the WBC cruiserweight champion and finishing at 55-4-1nc (39). He had 10 successful title defenses and moved up to heavyweight fighting twice with former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall winning the first which got reversed to NC but winning the second. He lost to VitaliKlitschko for the WBC heavyweight title and moved back to cruiser. He was 158-12 as an amateur and moved to Germany as a professional. He reversed 2 of his losses as a professional.

MIKE “THE REBEL” PEREZ at 6:01 won the World Junior championship in 2004. In 2007 he defeated Louis Ortiz in the Cuban National championships but lost to Osmay Acosta in the final. In 2007 he defected to Cork, IRE. He was 21-2-1 (13) as a professional finishing up in 2015 losing to Alexander Povetkin for the WBC Silver title at age 30.
ODLANIER SOLIS FONTEat 6:01 ½ was 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist defeating Sultan Ibragimov and David Haye. He won 3 consecutive World Championships in 2001, 03 and 05. In 1999 he defeated Felix Savon for the Cuban title and took 2 of 3 from him. He won the 1999 and 2003 Pan Am Games Gold Medals. His amateur record was 227-14. He is 22-3 (14) as a professional losing to WBC champion VitaliKlitschko in 2011. He won the WBC International, IBF Inter-Continental and the WBA Fedelatin titles. He is 36 and lives in North Miami, FL.

YANQUI DIAZ at 6:04 in 2002 came to Mexico and then Las Vegas, NV, and won 13 of his first 14 fights stopping Juan Carlos Gomez and defeating Vaughn Bean while losing to Tony Thompson. Then in 2005 and 2006 losses to Samuel Peter and Kirk Johnson followed by a pair of nc’s before losing to Damian Wills and Oliver McCall retiring at 30 the end of 2006 with a 13-5 (8) record.

ERISLANDY SAVON the nephew of Felix Salon in 2016 was Olympian Bronze Medalist. He won the Pan Am Games in 2015 and a Silver in the World championships. He won the World Junior championships in 2008. At the National Championships he lost in semi-final by DQ to Osmay Acosta. He is 26.

OSMAY ACOSTA DUARTE won the 2007 Pan Am Games Gold Medal and was the 2008 Olympic heavyweight Bronze Medalist. In 2009 he was the Silver Medalist in the World Amateur championships. At the 2006 National Senior championships he lost to Odlanier Solis at super heavyweight and dropped back to heavyweight winning the Central American Games. He qualified for Beijing in an Olympic qualifier defeating current WBC champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder. He retired in 2009 after finishing with a Silver Medal in the World Amateur championships at age 24.

LOUIS “KING KONG” ORTIZ at 6:04 was 343-19 as an amateur. In 2005 he won the PAN AM championships. In 2010 he came to Miami, FL, and won 5 minor titles as a professional in 2010 the FECARBOX, 2011 the Fedelatin, in 2012 the Inter-American, WBC and WBO Latino titles. In 2015 he won the interim WBA World title. He is currently 27-0-2 nc’s (23). He is the current No. 1 WBA, No. 2 WBC and No. 6 IBF contender at 37 turning 38 this month.

NANCIO CARRILLO represented Cuba in the 1968 Olympics losing in the first round to East German Bernd Anders.
Other Cuban heavyweight professionals: Nino Valdez, 48-18-3 (36), OmelioAgramonte, 50-21 (32), Federico Malibran, 34-22-1 (25), Antolin Fierro, 8-8 (8), Santiago Esparraguera, 46-21-4 (42), RoleauxSaguero, 25-21-1 (23), Goyito Rico, 28-12-1 (25), Young John Herrera, 42-22-3 (28) and trained Stevenson, Elieser Castillo, 30-7-2 (17), Julio Mederos, 21-19-3 (14) who was managed by Jake LaMottaand Jose Ribalta, 38-1-1 (27), 55-8 (26) as an amateur in Cuba.

Posted on 11/29/2016

Castro Cast A Long Shadow Over Boxing
By: Sean Crose

Cuban strong man Fidel Castro died this weekend. Some are undoubtedly saddened, others – many others – joyous. Me? Well, truth be told, I’m no expert on Cuban history. I know that the government Castro overthrew was far from good to its people. Yet I also know Castro was a cruel guy…as in lots of dead bodies cruel. Interesting, sure? Charming? No doubt. But deeply cruel. Yet I find myself thinking a lot about the man’s impact on the sport of boxing here in the immediate days after his death. For Castro, in his own way, cast a long shadow over the sweet science.

To be sure, Cuba has long had an illustrious history in the ring. However, after Castro’s successful overthrow of the Batista regime, professional sports were banned on the island nation. Why get paid in money, the argument went, when you can represent and earn the love of millions of your countrymen? Some might argue that people could do both, but no matter. Cuban athletes became more than just athletes – they became national symbols. This was particularly true in the case of boxers.

For Cuban amateurs were a dominant force in the international boxing scene for decades. Indeed, it was Cuban fighters who were known to be masters of three round, Olympic style boxing. And they had the medals and awards to prove it. Yet there was, of course, a flip side to the coin. What did Cuban pros get for all their hard work besides government approved adulation? Didn’t other top fighters from around the world get adulation, as well…along with lots of money?

Under Castro, Cuba was long-suffering economically. A lack of American business, along with the eventual fall of the Soviet empire, really harmed the nation’s (but perhaps not Castro’s) wallet. And so many Cuban fighters did what fighters have been doing since they started getting paid to fight – they worked to make life better for themselves. These words may come across as hokey, but facts are facts. Notable boxers, including contemporaries like Guillermo Rigondeaux, Erislandy Lara and Yuriorkis Gamboa defected from Cuba…against the will of Castro’s government.

Make no mistake about it, Cuban boxers excelled athletically during the Castro regime. To argue otherwise is to become too partisan for one’s own good. But Castro’s unwillingness to let Cuban fighters reach their potentials in the pro ranks was simply wrong. And it had an overall negative impact on the sport in general. Who knows, after all, what the world of pro boxing lost out on due to an oppressive dictator’s stubbornness?

Posted on 08/07/2016

Gonzalez Triumphs in Aftermath of the Storm
By: Ron Scarfone

A&T Events and Promotions in conjunction with Mundo Boxing presented an event titled “Miami Boxing Storm” on August 6 at the Miami Airport Convention Center in Miami, Florida. In addition to the boxing storm, there was a storm in the sky with thunder, lightning, and rain. There was so much rain that some of the streets were flooded and looked like rivers. There were many people who arrived late to the event. Boxing events usually start late in South Florida, but not this event. After 45 minutes, 3 four-round bouts had already been completed. The main event featured light heavyweight Yuniesky “The Monster” Gonzalez who is originally from Cuba and now lives in Miami. Gonzalez was previously undefeated at 16-0 and a rising star when he faced former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in a ten-round bout. Despite pummeling Pascal throughout the fight, Gonzalez lost by unanimous decision due to three identically biased judges’ scores of 96-94. After that heartbreaking loss, Gonzalez faced legitimate contender Vyacheslav “Lion Heart” Shabranskyy in another ten-round bout. The fight was close and arguably could have been scored as a draw, but only one of the three judges felt that way. This judge scored it 95-95, but the other two judges who were both in favor of Shabranskyy scored it 98-92 and 97-93. As a result, Gonzalez lost by majority decision. Orlando Cuellar was the trainer of Gonzalez. Cuellar is best known for being the trainer of former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson when he was at an elite level. Nevertheless, Gonzalez’s handlers felt a change needed to be made and decided to hire Pedro Diaz to be Gonzalez’s new trainer.

In order to get back into world title contention, Gonzalez needed to win again. The panacea proved to be Jackson “Demolidor” Junior of Brazil. Junior was previously undefeated at 15-0 and had won the Brazilian light heavyweight title and the WBO Latino light heavyweight title. However, he is no longer unbeaten as he has lost six of his last twelve fights prior to this fight against Gonzalez. Junior tried to regain the WBO Latino light heavyweight title, but lost by TKO. He had a couple more title shots for minor belts, but lost both by knockout. Junior’s nickname is in Portuguese and means “Daredevil.” As his nickname suggests, Junior is courageous. Gonzalez was definitely a step up in competition for Junior. Their fight was in the cruiserweight division because they were about three pounds above the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds. Gonzalez looked bigger and stronger than Junior and Gonzalez’s punching power was apparent in the first round. Gonzalez knocked down Junior three times and the fight was stopped by referee Frank Santore because the three knockdown rule was in effect. The time of stoppage was 2:35 of the first round. Gonzalez improves his record to 17-2, 13 KOs. Junior’s record is now 21-7, 19 KOs. Gonzalez said that he wants to fight again on HBO which is the television network that broadcasted his two losses against Pascal and Shabranskyy.

The best fight of the event was between Courtney Jackson of Miami, FL and Ramesis Gil of the Dominican Republic. Jackson weighed about a pound under the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds whereas Gil weighed 140.8 pounds. Jackson was the hometown favorite from Miami and had never lost in his pro career. Although Jackson was undefeated, the vast majority of his previous opponents had losing records. Gil had a losing record himself, but he has mostly fought opponents with winning or undefeated records. Gil did not always lose to those boxers and was able to beat a few of them which included two wins over two previously undefeated boxers. In this fight against Jackson, Gil was landing punches often in the first half of the six-round bout and Gil seemed to have the advantage. In the fourth round, Gil knocked Jackson down with a punch to the head. Jackson survived the round and came back in round five with a left hook to the head that staggered Gil, but Gil remained standing. There were furious exchanges in the sixth and final round. The three judges each identically scored the fight 57-56, 57-56, and 57-56. There was a consensus among the judges, but journalists and fans in attendance may have had a difference of opinion as to who they believe deserved to win. Gil was hurt in the fifth round, but he did knock down Jackson in the fourth round and did well in most of the rounds. Jackson was fortunate to get the win here and remains undefeated at 12-0, 6 KOs. Gil’s record falls to 10-16-5, 7 KOs.

Tyrone “King of the Ring” Spong of Miami, Florida is a former kickboxing champion whose goal is to have similar success in the boxing ring. Spong is a heavyweight with punching power reminiscent of Mike Tyson in his prime. In his previous four fights, Spong won by knockout or technical knockout. His devastating power was in full effect for his fifth fight which was against Tracey Johnson of Boston, Massachusetts. In the second round, Spong hurt Johnson with a smashing punch to the head which sent Johnson reeling. Spong pursued him and unleashed more punches. Johnson was eventually just trying to protect himself and not attacking, so referee Frank Santore stopped the fight. Spong won by TKO in the second round and improves his record to 5-0, 5 KOs. Johnson’s record is now 4-3-4, 0 KO.

The co-main event was a short skirmish that lasted for about one minute between legitimate super middleweight contender Roamer Alexis Angulo of Colombia and Zoltan Papp of Hungary. Papp has a winning record, but lost whenever he stepped up in competition. Not surprisingly, Papp got smeared by Angulo. In the first round, Angulo knocked out Papp in a corner of the ring. Papp slumped down while sitting on the canvas. Angulo won by KO and remains unbeaten at 19-0, 16 KOs whereas Papp falls to 11-3-1, 7 KOs.

Two junior middleweights from Miami, Florida boxed for four rounds. John David Martinez made his professional debut against Jon Clifford Gray. Martinez had the height advantage over Gray and that probably made the difference in this even matchup. Two judges each scored it 39-37 in favor of Martinez while the third judge scored it 40-37 in favor of Gray. Therefore, Martinez won by split decision. Martinez won his debut and is now 1-0, 0 KO whereas Gray falls to 1-3, 0 KO.

Leider Pena of Miami, Florida won his pro debut as a super middleweight and defeated Ryan Soft of Minnesota. Soft was a soft opponent for Pena. Soft took a beating and was bleeding on his face which could have been from his nose, mouth, or both. Pena landed several punches as Soft fought valiantly, but referee Sam Burgos stopped the fight at 2:21 of the second round to save Soft from further punishment. Pena won by TKO and is 1-0, 1 KO after winning his debut and Soft is 3-6-1, 1 KO.

Antonio “Bang” Williams of Fort Lauderdale, FL is also undefeated at 4-0, 3 KOs after winning by unanimous decision against Brian Santos of Puerto Rico in a four-round bout which was in the super featherweight division. The three judges all scored the fight 40-36 in favor of Williams. Santos’ record is now 0-2-1, 0 KO.

Lightweight Ivan Jimenez of Ecuador is still undefeated at 5-0-1, 3 KOs after winning by unanimous decision in a four-round bout. Jimenez’s opponent was Ryan Picou of Las Vegas, Nevada. Picou’s record is now 2-11-1, 0 KO.

Junior middleweight Henrique Oliveira of Brazil stays unbeaten at 3-0, 2 KOs after defeating Miguel Queliz of the Dominican Republic by unanimous decision. Queliz’s record is now 6-2-1, 3 KOs.

Posted on 07/17/2016

Rigondeaux’s Left Leaves Dickens a Broken Man
By: Oz Ozkaya

The WBA World Super-Bantamweight clash between champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, and challenger Jamie ‘Jazza’ Dickens, certainly didn’t fail to produce the world class touch that many had paid to see. Sadly, in the short two rounds that were witnessed, it was only Rigondeaux who produced that small glimmer of class. After a steady start, Rigondeaux quickly got his eye in and dealt a fatal left-handed hook shot that broke the jaw of Jamie Dickens.

Leading up to this fight, Rigondeaux, or as he is better known ‘Rigo’, had been caught up in a Visa complication which ultimately led to the cancellation of the previously arranged fight with Dickens, back in March. However, with everything during the build-up running much smoother this time; the fight was all that was left to complete.

Rigondeaux and Dickens, as you could suspect, both talked about defeating one another in their own spectacularly envisaged ways pre-fight. But with Rigondeaux appearing extremely focused through all the press that he had done, in addition to the public pad work sessions where he showed off how quick and skillful he is, it was widely thought that he was going to make light work of Dickens and claim yet another scalp to add to his perfect record of 16-0.

In all fairness his opponent cannot really be criticised for last night, after all, despite receiving a few lightning quick combinations from Rigondeaux in the first, of which he countered twice respectably, he never really got the chance to get going. Once he was back in the corner at the end of the second after Rigondeaux’s venomous overhead left, it was unanimously decided among the Dickens team that it was game over. The heart of Dickens wanted to fight on, but sadly for him the heads in his corner knew it was too big a risk to continue.

Speaking after the fight, a dejected Dickens tells of the motions when Rigondeaux’s left connected.

“Yeh, I knew straight away it was broken. I felt the crack when he landed. I felt it hanging off but I thought that I could carry on. I thought if it was meant to be I could get him but I knew that if he connected again, it was just going to come right off.

“We all made the call at the end of the (second) round. It was sensible really. Paul and Mick (Stevenson) said they had to pull me out, that I couldn’t go back out like that. I wanted to think I could get him but realistically it wasn’t worth it.”

It is unknown at this point as to how bad the damage on his jaw is, but one thing is for certain; The sound that the overhand left Rigondeaux delivered could probably have been heard all the way back in Miami, Florida. It was crisp, clear-cut, powerful… and thrown at the speed of light. Dickens was wobbled and appeared confused from damage, but, somehow managed to survive the onslaught.

After the fight speaking to Box Nation (Who hosted the fight on U.K television), Rigondeaux said that he wanted to stay in the U.K and fight again but only if Frank Warren would like him to. Frank Warren (Queensbury Promotions) was, of course, grinning from to cheek at the mere notion of that idea, Rigondeaux and he then subsequently shook hands in the post-ringside interview.

“I’m not the best, but I’m the most complete,” Rigondeaux said. “I ripped his jaw out. All those guys that want their jaws ripped out, I’m here!”. He then went on to say: ”Not 100 of those guys add up to 1 of me. I want hard fights. People make it boring [against me] once they feel my power.”

The future for Rigondeaux remains to be seen, at 35, this may be his last push to secure some big main event clashes. Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg were two of the fighters named post match, and Rigo appeared un-phased about who could potentially be put in front of him, the only question on his mind; when and where?.

An interesting night of Boxing in Cardiff for sure. The British & Commonwealth Super Welterweight Championship match between Luke Williams and Gary Corcoran producing arguably the best fight of the evening, in what actually turned out to be more of a highly energetic street fight than a boxing match. Williams landing some crushing blows to Corcoran in the early rounds, more memorably a swiftly executed hook managed to open up a large gash above the left eye of Corcoran. His corner then left with the job of keeping patched up thereafter.

Going into the final rounds it was all very ‘from me to you’ with the ever-changing shift in momentum. Despite somehow managing to remain composed from an earlier knockdown (which wasn’t classed as a knocked down as he miraculously bounced off the ropes and landed back on his feet) Corcoran was trying absolutely everything he could to try and slay Williams. But, the opposite happened and after withstanding a lot of tidy jab-by-jab work and meaty body shots, Williams pulled out a stunning KO from his almost empty locker.