Tag Archives: results

Posted on 09/29/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Under his own promotion Devin Haney Promotions the unbeaten Devin “The Dream” Haney took on Juan Carlos Burgos in the main event ShoBox: The New Generation. This card took place at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing were also part of the promotion.

In the Main Event No. 15 IBF ranked Devin “The Dream” Haney, 20-0 (13), of Las Vegas, NV, won a lopsided decision over Juan Carlos “Miniburgos” Burgos, 33-3-2 (21), of Tijuana, MEX, for the vacant IBF North American Lightweight Title, over 10 rounds.

Photo Credit: Showtime Twitter Account

In the first round Haney moved using his jab while Burgos landed several left hooks. Burgos landed a long right to the head of Haney who was moving away at the time. In the second round Burgos kept throwing the left hook to the body while Haney mainly used his jab. Burgos ended the round with several left hooks to the body ending with a hook to the chin of Haney.

In the third round Haney missed quite a bit before landing a pair of chopping rights to the head of Burgos. Burgos landed a left hook to the chin of Haney. Haney missed with a right but followed thru landing a left hook to the chin of Burgos. Haney ended the round with a right to the chin of Burgos. In the fourth round Burgos from southpaw landed a lead left to the chin of Haney. Haney landed a chopping right to the head while Burgos landed a left hook to the chin of Haney. Haney stalks while Burgos stays against the ropes moving side to side.

In the fifth round Haney sticks and moves while Burgos lands solid left hooks to the body of Haney. Haney landed a lead right to the chin of Burgos who keeps chasing Haney. Haney hurt Burgos with a right uppercut to the chin. In the sixth round while against the ropes Haney landed half a dozen rights to the head of Burgos. Haney’s hand speed has made a major difference but the fans are starting to boo as Haney does too much running and countering when he stops moving.

In the seventh round Haney decides to stand his ground for close to a minute at the start of the round before he started moving again landing the jab. Referee Zachary Young warns both boxers about talking to one another. There was little action in the round with the crowd booing again near the end. In the eighth round both started landing body shots while in the middle of the ring. Burgos warned for rabbit punch. Burgos landed three left hooks to the body of a moving Haney as the booing starts up again.

Photo Credit: Showtime Twitter Account

In the ninth round Haney is going to work landing lead rights and chopping rights to the head of Burgos. With just under a minute left in the round Haney rocks Burgos with several rights to the head. Burgos did little fighting in the round. In the tenth and final round Haney landed a double left hook to the chin of Burgos. Haney landed a solid right after landing the jab to the chin of Burgos who just can’t handle the hand speed of Haney. Burgos landed a double left hook to the head and body of Haney. The booing started again in the final minute. Haney landed the final punch of the fight a lead right to the head of Burgos.

Scores were 97-93 and 100-90 while this writer had it 98-92.

In a rematch Super Lightweight Thomas “Gunna Man” Mattice, 13-0-1 (10), of Cleveland, OH, ended in a disputed split draw with Lightweight Armenian Zhora Hamazaryan, 9-1-1 (6), of L.A., CA, over 8 rounds. Mattice came in 3 pounds over the 135 contract weight.

In the first round Mattice starts out moving around the ring with Hamazaryan chasing. At the halfway point of the round Hamazaryan landed a solid right uppercut to the chin of Mattice. Just under a minute Mattice landed his best punch of the round a right cross to the chin of Hamazaryan. Hamazaryan landed a right followed by a left both to the head of Mattice. In the second round Hamazaryan opened up with half a dozen unanswered punches. A left hook to the chin by Hamazaryan drove Mattice back several steps. Hamazaryan landed a left hook to the chin while Mattice came back with a chopping right to the head.
In the third round after each landing well Mattice got on his bicycle. Mattice is using his jab keeping Hamazaryan at bay. Hamazaryan warned for hitting Mattice behind the head. Mattice landed a combination at the bell. In the fourth round after both mixed it up Hamazaryan rocked Mattice with a left hook to the chin forcing Mattice to continue to hold for most of the remaining round. Hamazaryan rocked Mattice with a left hook to the chin driving him into the ropes.

In the fifth round Hamazaryan landed a 3-punch combination. Going into the final minute Hamazaryan was having his way with Mattice continuing to do more holding than punching. In the sixth round Hamazaryan landed a right uppercut to the chin of Mattice. Mattice warned for hitting on the break. Mattice landed a combination and then started moving around the ring again. Mattice landed a solid right just after the bell. The referee Ray Corona has done little to prevent Mattice from fouling.

In the seventh round Mattice was warned for holding down the head of Hamazaryan. Mattice landed a hard left knocking out the mouthpiece of Hamazaryan. Hamazaryan continued chasing Mattice landing punches and getting held and pushed by Mattice. In the eighth and final round Mattice was moving and jabbing until a right from Hamazaryan to the chin rocked Mattice. Mattice started showboating as Hamazaryan is all business. Hamazaryan landed the last punch of the fight a right to the chin of Mattice.
Scores were 77-75 Mattice, 77-75 Hamazaryan and 76-76. This writer had it 78-74 Hamazaryan.

German Super Middleweight Cem “The Champ” Kilic, 12-0 (7), of Sherman Oaks, CA, defeated DeAndre “The Axe Man” Ware, 12-1-2 (8), of Toledo, OH, over 8 action packed rounds.

In the first round there was no feeling out as both opened up. Originally set to be a middleweight bout Ware could not make it so they are in the super middle division. Kilic is much taller and landed several rights to the head of Ware. He landed four punches to the body. Both exchanged rights to the chin just prior to the bell. In the second round Kilic rocked Ware with a left hook to the chin while Ware came back with a solid right to the chin. Ware landed a hard right to the chin of Kilic. A Ware combination rocked Kilic just prior to the end of the round.

In the third round Ware landed a 3-punch combination. Kilic drove Ware into a corner but Ware came back rocking Kilic with a right hand to the chin. Ware worked his right well against the taller Kilic who used a good right uppercut. In the fourth round both came out throwing leather. Kilic showed blood from his nose. Kilic knocked out the mouthpiece of Ware with a right to the chin. Kilic landed half a dozen unanswered punches to the head and body.

In the fifth round Kilic started using his jab more setting up Ware with right hands. Ware landed three body shots at the halfway point of the round. Kilic landed a flurry of punches to the head and body of Ware. Both continue to throw a good amount of punches. In the sixth round Ware kept coming forward but walking into solid punches by Kilic. Ware landed his lead right to the chin of Kilic which has been his best weapon so far. Once again a Kilic right knocked out the mouthpiece of Ware.

In the seventh round Kilic landed half a dozen unanswered punches while Ware came back pushing Kilic with his head and gloves. Ware got a warning from Referee Tony Crebs for using his head. Both landed punches by bunches up to the end of the round. In the eighth and final round Ware came out throwing possibly he may be behind. It may have been the first clinch in the fight at the halfway point of the round. Ware has Kilic moving backwards. Kilic has never gone beyond four rounds. It was a very good fight.

Scores were 78-74, and 79-73 while this writer had it 77-75.

Posted on 09/29/2018

By: William Holmes

Top Rank put on a fight card live from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on the ESPN+ streaming service.

The undercard featured several prospects and contenders, including Genesis Servania, Askhat Ualikhanov, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and Joshua Greer Jr.

The opening bout of the main card was between Jerwin Ancajas (30-1-1) and Alejandro Santiago (16-2-4) for the IBF Junior Bantamweight Title. Ancajas looks at Manny Pacquiao as a mentor and is the longest reigning current champion in the junior bantamweight division.

Ancajas, a southpaw, was the taller fighter of the two and had moderate success with the jab in the opening round, and was pressing the action in the opening half of the second, but a right uppercut to the chin by Santiago in the second led to a fierce round ending exchange.

Photo Credit: Top Rank Twitter Account

The action picked up in the third and fourth rounds, with Santiago often getting the better of their exchanges. Santiago landed a blistering right hand in the fourth round that was the best punch of the fight to this point.

Santiago landed several hard shots in the fifth round but Ancajas may have stolen the sixth and seventh rounds with a consistent and accurate jab, but none of his shots appeared to hurt Santiago.

In the eighth round compubox stats showed that Ancajas had landed more power shots, but Santiago’s had a more noticeable effect on his opponent. Santiago’s overhand right found it’s home several times in the ninth round, and even though he was tagged more often in the tenth, he still appeared to be landing the more damaging shots.

The final two rounds were close, with the straight left of Ancajas finding its home in the eleventh and Santiago doing better damage in close in the final round, but could have rationally been scored for either fight.

The final scores were 116-112 Ancajas, 118-111 Santiago, and 114-114 for a draw. The scores were met with a chorus of boos from the crowd.

The main event was between Jose Uzcategui (27-2) and Ezequiel Maderna (26-4) in the super middleweight division.

Uzcategui looked like the stronger fighter early on and had Maderna fighting of of his back food. Maderna was able to land his check left hook early on, but Uzcategui was clearly landing the harder punches.

Uzcategui was walking throw the shots of Maderna in the second and third round while landing heavy blows to the head and chin. In the middle of the third round he had a 31-11 edge in power shots.

Uzcategui pressed the action in the fourth and fifth rounds, and didn’t appear to be worried about the power of Maderna at all as he at times switched to a southpaw stance.

Photo Credit: Top Rank Twitter Account

Uzcategui had clear control in the sixth and seventh rounds, but was met with some derision from the fans when the fighters tied up instead of willingly exchange. Maderna, to his credit, was taking some heavy shots form Uzcategui but was still fighting back.

Uzcategui appeared to step off the gas pedal in the eighth and coasted through the round, but he picked up his aggression in the final two rounds, landing heavy shots at will from all angles, but Maderna was able to stay standing and survive.

The final scores were 98-92, 100-90, and 100-90 for Jose Uzcategui.

Posted on 09/22/2018

By: William Holmes

Wembley Stadium in London, England was the host site for tonight’s Heavyweight Championship fight between Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin for the IBF, WBA, and WBO Heavyweight titles.

A mega fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was just announced for December 1st on Showtime, and the winner of the Joshua and Povetkin fight will likely, and hopefully, face the winner of tonight’s bout in the near future.

Photo Credit: Matchroom Boxing Twitter Account

The undercard featured several good prospects. Sakhram Giyasov defeated Julio Laguna by a fourth round KO, Sergey Kuzmin defeated David Price by 4th round TKO, and Lawrence Okolie defeated Matty Askin by points.

The co-main event of the night was between Yvan Mendy and Luke Campbell in a lightweight eliminator for the WBC title. Luke Campbell was in clear control for a majority of the fight and pulled out the decision win with scores of 119-109, 118-111, and 116-112.

Anthony Joshua (21-0) and Alexander Povetkin (34-1) met in the main event of the evening before a very pro Anthony Joshua crowd.

Povetkin, the first man to enter the ring, was met with a loud chorus of boos and whistles.

Joshua towered over Povetkin, who had to use good head movement early on to avoid the jab of Joshua. Povetkin was able to land some good right hands to the body, and ended the opening round with a good combination.

Joshua came out aggressive in the second round but had a bloody nose by this point. Povetkin was able to land some good right crosses to the head and body, but Joshua started to pump his jab with more regularity.

Joshua opened up the third round with a solid short right hand, but Povetkin was able to answer with an over the top right hand. Joshua landed a few good uppercuts and left hooks and likely took the round with his accurate punching.

Povetkin had a cut open up by his left eye in the fourth round, and by the fifth round Joshua had landed 30 jabs to the 2 jab that Povetkin landed. But Povetkin was throwing and landing more power shots than Joshua at this point.

Povetkin got tagged with several good jabs by Joshua in the sixth round. Povetkin was aggressive and tried to hurt Joshua with short right hands, but often landed on the guard of Joshua or swung at air.

Joshua opened up the seventh round circling away from Povetkin, who was coming forward with straight right hands. Joshua landed a sudden straight right hand that hurt Povetkin and followed it up with a combination that ended with a right hook that sent Povetkin down.

Povetkin looked hurt but was able to get back to his feet, but was still badly hurt. Joshua jumped on Povetkin with another combination that forced the referee to jump in and stop the fight.

Anthony Joshua wins by TKO at 1:59 of the seventh round.

Posted on 09/15/2018

By: William Holmes

The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada was the host site for tonight’s HBO Pay Per View Offering featuring a main event between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.

Three fights were show on the undercard, and the opening bout was between former champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez(46-2) and Moises Fuentes (25-5-1) in the super flyweight division.

Photo Credit: HBO Boxing Twitter Account

Fuentes looked like the taller and bigger fighter in the ring, but had to deal with Chocolatito’s jab and good head movement early on. Chocolatito was also able to land some decent left hooks to the body and outland Fuentes 22-6 in the opening round.

Chocolatito continued to rip hooks to the body and combinations in the second round and had Fuentes bleeding from his face as he walked to his corner.

Chocolatito continued to overwhelm Fuentes and had a solid up jab working in the fourth round. Fuentes was able to land a decent combination to the body in the fourth that momentarily slowed Chocolatito down, but he didn’t offer much more than that.

The end came in the fifth round when Chocolatito landed a short right hook to the chin of Fuentes with his back against the ropes, and he went crashing down and did not come close to getting up by the count of ten.

Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez wins by knockout at 1:44 of the fifth round.

The next bout of the night was between Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (28-2) and David Lemieux (39-4) in the middleweight division.

Photo Credit:HBO Boxing Twitter Account

Lemieux outweighed O’Sullivan by about fifteen pounds by the time they stepped in the ring, and the difference in power showed early.

Lemieux was aggressive early and threw good hooks to the body and often tripled up on his jab. Lemieux applied heavy pressure and was landing strong shots, but did get momentarily stunned by an O’Sullivan jab.

Lemieux later responded with a resounding left hook that sent O’Sullivan spinning and crashing to the mat.

Lemieux wins by knockout at 2:44 of the first round.

The next bout of the night was between Jaime Munguia (30-0) and Brandon Cook (20-1) for the WBO Junior Middleweight Title.

Photo Credit: HBO Boxing Twitter Account

Munguia looked a weight class bigger than Cook and started off as the more aggressive fighter, landing combinations to the body and head early on. He was warned early for low blows, but continued to land heavy shots to the body and was pummeling him as the round came to an end.

Munguia took a right cross from Cook early in the second round, but retook control with a solid right uppercut followed by more blows to the body. He boxed more in control during the second round, but ended the round strong again with another barrage of punches.

Munguia opened up the third round with heavy digging hooks to the body, and knocked Cook down after a body head combination, including a punch that landed as Cook was falling to the mat.

Cook was able to get back up, but got obliterated with punches to the body that forced him to cover up. Cook was not fighting back and the referee jumped in to save him from further punishment.

Jaime Munguia wins by TKO at 1:03 of the third round.

Posted on 09/13/2018

By: Sean Crose

The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas hosted a card of boxing that was aired live on various ESPN affiliates on Thursday night. The card began with 12-2 Maricela Cornejo facing the 3-1 Franchon Crews Dezurn for the WBC Female Super Featherweight title. Cornejo, who signed with Golden Boy Promotions in 2017, fought to keep range and tie up her foe during the first portion of the bout. Dezurn, however, kept pressing the attack. Cornejo held her own through the middle rounds, but Dezurn continued to relentlessly attack. Even in the later rounds, things stayed effectively the same. Dezurn came forward while Cornejo employed footwork and attempted to hold her opponent off with her jab.

In the end, the judges rewarded Dezurn’s aggression with the WBC belt, via majority decision.

The main event featured undefeated Kazach Ruslan Madyiez (12-0) against Pablo Cesar Cano (30-7-1) in a junior welterweight 10 rounder. Cano came out aggressively against the up and comer. Madyiez, on the other hand, decided early on to remain patient, to employ his footwork, and to pick his shots. The second round essentially offered more of the same. The question started to arise as to whether (or when) Madyiez’ more deliberate strategy would begin paying off. Cano kept up the pressure in the third, but Madyiez was able to land clean at times. Unfortunately for Cano, a head butt bloodied his face up at round’s end.

Cano tossed a terrific combination at the start of the fourth, leaving the impression that, if the man could hit harder, he could have had his opponent in real trouble. The fifth showed more of the same. The active Cano was starting to make it seem as if Madyiez’ patience was betraying him. Then, however, Madyiez rocked his man hard at the end of the round. It was an accidental butt, though, that truly damaged Cano’s face at round’s end. So serious was the cut that the fight was stopped. Maydiez was at first given a TKO victory, even though Cano’s savage gash may well have come from the butt, which had occurred just before Maydiez landed the shot that rocked Cano.

After reviewing the tape, the officials decided that the cut did indeed open with the head butt, rather than the punch. This led to the fight going to the cards…and Cano winning a unanimous decision victory. Cano’s activity and work rate had paid off.

In a walkout bout afterwards, Raul Curiel, 4-0, engaged in a scheduled 6 rounder with fellow welterweight Ryan Pino, 8-2. Curiel walked away with a UD win.

Posted on 08/18/2018

By: Oliver McManus

Up in Windsor Park in front of a raucous crowd of 25,000 – all out in support of their hometown hero – Carl Frampton completed a lifelong dream in competing at the home of the Northern Irish football team and, in doing so, stamped his authority all over the featherweight scene thanks to a convincing win over Luke Jackson.

Jackson, 16-0 before the fight, came into the fight with the heavy tag of underdog and despite this was determined to put in a performance to be proud of. Frampton meanwhile was cautious not to overlook the Australian but was steadfast in his belief that there bigger things lay visible on the horizon.

Dusk was settling over the skies of Belfast when the first bell rang and the fight kicked off with Carl Frampton taking to the centre of the ring and lurching out with a pawing left hand to signal his intentions – a swift right hand marked out the early danger, pushing Jackson onto the ropes momentarily within the opening minute.

Jackson, from a crouched stance, leaned in with left hands of his own but offered relatively little in way of genuine threat throughout the, admittedly quiet, opening rounds but the attacking mind set of Frampton was, undoubtedly, enough to notch up the rounds on the scorecards.

A rhythm was found with a consummate ease by The Jackal as he rocked back on forth on his toes, taking his time before offering up some solid body shots, moving with grace, crisp on his feet and displaying the technical ability and footwork that has seen him claim so much glory in the past.

Frampton was able to put Jackson near the red without having to break out of stride or launch any particularly vicious flurries – all he had to do was stay busy, stay present and that seemed to be enough to make life uncomfortable for the Australian challenger.

Big right hands, chipping uppercuts and solid hooks rendered a stiffness in the legs of Jackson and a left hand caught the right hand side of the Aussie – whilst he was off balance – to wobble his man and Jackson was being outworked in all departments, the work rate of Frampton was superior as he moved through the motions and the uppercut of Frampton proved to be a crucial punch throughout the contest before he dropped down to target the body.

Moving into the second third of the contest and much of the same followed with Frampton working the angles against a game, gutsy Luke Jackson who wasn’t looking particularly hurt but, equally, wasn’t really offering much in terms of counter punches.

Jackson, a Commonwealth bronze medallist was trying to attack, trying to find the body of Frampton but he failed to find any regularity with his punches, looking sluggish on his feet and half-hearted with the hands.

A solid sequence of punches in the fifth round signalled the start of the end for Jackson with Frampton starting to tee off, hammering the body of Jackson with alarming consistency and power, uppercuts snapping the head back of his counterpart and, to put it simply, looking a class above the challenger.

Having declared prefight that he wanted to secure a knockout victory there was a definite change in tempo at the halfway mark from Carl Frampton but with that brought a renewed vitality from Jackson who began to throw punches with the full swivel of his body – nothing Frampton couldn’t handle, mind.

With the Australian tiring yet continuing to show heart throughout each round, he began to wander more into range of Frampton who set about making him pay with repeated shots to the body and as the rain came cascading down onto the ring, Frampton’s shots continued to cascade towards his gritty opponent.

Looking in ferocious shape, Frampton started to piece combinations together and sent a beautiful uppercut followed by sickening shot to the livers of Luke Jackson, dropping him towards the end of the eight and with blood in the water, it was time for The Jackal to set finishing the fight off once and for all.

Holding on groggily, Frampton continued to target the body of Jackson with his shots now packing extra venom, extra power, shot after shot towards the big cage of Jackson were causing visible pain and it was only a matter of time before the Australian was pulled out by his corner – so it came, with 1 minute and 21 still left on the clock of the ninth round.

Next stop? Josh Warrington for the IBF Featherweight title of the world.

On the undercard of such a memorable occasion featured Tyson Fury, lineal heavyweight champion, in his second contest since returning from his much-publicised layoff and he was up against, two time world title challenger, Francesco Pianeta.

Underwhelmed sighs greeted the announcement of his opponent but, since then, the near-inevitable showdown with Deontay Wilder towards the backend of this year has seen the spice factor significantly raised and excitement abound.

He had to get the job done first, though, in Belfast and was set about doing his business without the showboating that blighted his encounter with Sefer Seferi and weighing in at 18st 6lbs he looked the real deal and incredibly nimble.

Pianeta came into the first round with an incredible ferocioty and pace to the encounter, showering shots in towards Fury but the Tyson merely swivelled his hips, weaved his head and avoided the punches without blinking an eye.

Looking cool and comfortable the mobile figure of Fury was able to bounce around the ring, establishing a convincing jab with his long levers against an opponent who, actually, came to fight and spring a surprise.

Controlling the pace of the bout with ease it was all about Tyson Fury and with Deontay Wilder in attendance, Fury looked like sending a statement to him and the Belfast crowd.

Firing shots in with a snap of the wrist, Fury looked fast, looked comfortable and, more importantly, looked happy to be in the ring and happy with his performance. Taking it vastly more serious than his contest in Seferi, this was the Tyson Fury of old and he found his range quickly, looping in shots round the guard and exploiting the, perhaps, over-eagerness of Pianeta.

Switching stances from time to time, Fury was free flowing and quick on his feet. Elusive in his movement it was clear to see who the superior fighter was and Tyson always looked like his reflexes were one step faster than Pianeta, making the German-Italian miss by a good few inches whilst staying alert throughout the full duration of each round.

Each round seemed to follow the same sort of theme with Pianeta looking to be brute in his manner of fighting whilst Fury nullified the sting with cultured and classy movement, a cat and mouse sort of game, controlling the contest with complete and utter ease, never looking fazed and, frankly, never looking out of second gear.

Taking each round on the scorecard of Steve Gray to win the contest by 100-90 the fight didn’t produce the explosive knockout that many were expecting but it did provide crucial rounds in the bank for Tyson with his world title challenge confirmed shortly after the fight – this may not have been the exact outcome that we wanted but, certainly, it was a performance that we needed and proved, beyond doubt, that, yeah, Tyson Fury is back.

Deontay Wilder will be next – in November or December – and to use Dillian Whyte’s words, “Wilder, let’s go baby, LET’S GO!!!”.

As always, then, boxing and Belfast just seems to be that magical combination that works each and every time.

Posted on 08/04/2018

By: Sean Crose

Sam’s Town in Las Vegas and Bounce TV hosted a PBC card on Friday evening which featured Ladarius Miller going up against Dennis Galarza in a lightweight affair. First, though, Kevin Watts, 12-2, faced off against Juan Heraldez, 13-0, in a scheduled 10 round welterweight battle. Heraldez, known as a fighter to keep an eye one, dropped his man in the very first round. Watts got up, but Heraldez was able to continue dominating throughout the first half of the fight.

Photo Credit: Mayweather Promotions Twitter Account

The man’s effective jab and solid punches were telling the tale. Watts himself began to have some success in the eighth, but it was too little, too late. Heraldez ended up taking a well deserved Unanimous Decision win.

The next match featured the 22-7 Oscar Bravo and the 31-1 Sharif Bogere in a ten round lightweight match. Bogere’s more accurate and sharper punches told the tale in the first half of the match. He carried that success into the second half of the fight, as well. As the PBC broadcast team stated, Boegere’s jabs to the body were proving successful. Bravo came forward gamely, and actually looked rather effective in spots. Bogere, however, ended up looking like the more advanced fighter. It was no easy win, but Bogere’s Unanimous Decision victory was clearly well deserved.

It was time for the main event. Miller, 16-1, entered the ring riding a seven fight win streak and with the support of Floyd Mayweather’s Money Team. The 16-3 Galarza, on the other hand, was undoubtedly eager to move on from an April loss to Edner Cherry. The first round of the scheduled 10 rounder was simply a feeling out affair. The second round was nearly as cautious in nature as the first. The third round saw Miller firing and largely missing while Galarza hardly threw any punches at all. Gatti-Ward this was not. Round four consisted of both men feinting, firing once or twice every second or so, and tying each other up. Heading into the midway point of the fight, neither man had landed close to anything telling.

Things picked up in the middle rounds, with Galarza appearing more eager to pick up the pace. By the seventh, it was Galarza who was asserting himself by applying pressure on the smaller Miller. The final rounds saw a still cautious, but considerably more effective, Galarza getting the better of his man. Miller was able to contain Galarza to some degree with his jab, but he was never able to assert himself or mount anything impressive. Surprisingly, Miller walked out of the ring with a UD win.

As a walkout bout, the undefeated 4-0 Rolando Romero engaged in a scheduled six round lightweight affair with the 4-4 Javier Martinez. A stand up and fight boxer, Romero attempted to dominate his foe, but Martinez was more than willing to engage. Romero was still able to walk away with a UD win.

Posted on 07/01/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Top Rank promoted a championship main event at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK, Saturday over ESPN.

In the Main Event WBO World Super Middleweight champion Mexican southpaw Gilbert “Zurdo” Ramirez, 38-0 (25), defended his title for the fourth time Saturday easily defeating No. 10 ranked Roamer Alexis Angulo, 23-1 (20), of Bogota, COL, over 12 rounds.

Photo Credit: Top Rank Boxing Twitter Account

In the first round Ramirez landed a left uppercut and was countered by Angulo who landed lead overhand rights to the chin of Ramirez with little effect. Ramirez landed his jab and a right uppercut well. In the second round Angulo pinned Ramirez against the ropes landing half a dozen punch some on the arms and gloves of Ramirez. Ramirez used his reach keeping the muscular Angulo at bay.

In the third round Angulo rocked Ramirez with a right to the chin. Ramirez regained control in an interesting round. In the fourth round Ramirez controlled with his jab as Angulo was loading up and when he landed a punch had a bad habit of backing up dropping his hands.

In the fifth round it was more of the same with Ramirez controlling with his jab. He rocked Angulo with a left to the chin at the midway point of the round. In the sixth round Ramirez landed a lead left on the chin of Angulo getting his attention. The fans were getting restless after being entertained by the great co-feature.

In the seventh round Angulo rocked Ramirez with a left hook to side of the head but failed to follow up. Ramirez gained control for the remaining of the round. In the eighth round Angulo missed with a right and was countered with a left from Ramirez to the chin. Ramirez came back with a hard left to the head pinning Angulo to the ropes. Angulo dug in with a left to the mid-section doubling Ramirez up.

In the ninth round Angulo landed three right upper cuts to the chin of Ramirez who had his back to the ropes. In the tenth round Angulo’s corner is yelling “go to the body” but Ramirez will not let him get inside keeping the jab in his face.

In the eleventh round Angulo comes out rushing right into a Ramirez straight left to the chin. Angulo landed a hard right uppercut to the chin putting Ramirez against the ropes. Ramirez came right back. Angulo landed a right on top of the head of Ramirez who was leaning in. Angulo who never went past eight rounds looked near exhausted. In the twelfth and final round knowing he needs a knockout Angulo starts throwing wild punches as the back pedaling Ramirez lands his jab. Then Ramirez opens up landed several punches to the head of Angulo. Ramirez pins Angulo against the ropes with a flurry of punches with a minute left in the round. Angulo is landing right uppercuts but getting countered by Ramirez lefts to the head.

119-109 twice and 120-108 as did this writer have it 120-108.

“I’m not happy for I want to unify titles and be the best,” said Ramirez.

In the co-feature unbeaten WBA-NABA USA Super Lightweight champion Mexican Alex “El Cholo” Saucedo, 28-0 (18), of Oklahoma City, OK, in a bloody war stopped Australia’s Leonardo “Lenny Zappa” Zappavigna, 37-4 (27), at 2:31 of the seventh round in a scheduled 10 rounds.

In the first round Saucedo used a good jab keeping Zappavigna on the defense. Both boxers mixed it up well and with ten seconds left in the round Saucedo landed a right to the chin and Zappavigna countering returning the favor just before the bell. In the second round Saucedo landed a hard right uppercut to the chin of Zappavigna. Halfway through the round a left hook from Saucedo opened up a cut under the left eyebrow of Zappavigna who is prone to cut.

In the third round a Zappavigna missed with a right and was countered with a right to the head from Saucedo and down went Zappavigna on the seat of his trunks. He beat referee Gerald Ritter’s count. By the end of an exciting round Zappavigna gained control. In the fourth round Zappavigna was all over Saucedo rocking him with body and head punches causing a cut over his right eye. It turned into a war with blood coming down the face of both fighters. Saucedo was forced to hold on but fought back with both exchanging punches at the bell. Zappavigna also suffered a small cut along his left eyebrow.

In the fifth round it was Saucedo’s turn to rock Zappavigna with blood flowing from both fighters. The fans have been screaming throughout. In the sixth round they picked up where they left off brawling to the delight of the fans. Zappavigna gained control for the first half of the round. Then Saucedo took over the rest of the round.

In the seventh round with Zappavigna’s corner letting him come out for one more round he comes out with his face covered with blood. Saucedo used a jab to set up his right. Zappavigna would come back on occasion with a left hook. Zappavigna’s corner stopped the fight as the Saucedo fans went wild! Zappavigna’s left eye was closed shut. “He was tough and I have to give him credit. The cuts continue to hurt me,” said Zappavigna. “I want to thank God for the victory. I want to thank the fans for their support. This is just the beginning of bigger fights,” said Saucedo. This will be up for “fight of the year” at years end. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said “He will be fighting Maurice Hooker for his title by the end of the year.” This writer had Saucedo ahead after six rounds 59-56.

Welterweight Mike “Mile High” Alvarado, 39-4 (27), of Thornton, COL, stopped Martin Angel “El Arcangel” Martinez, 18-5-1 (11), of Sonora, MEX, on a cut in the 9th in a scheduled 10.

2016 Olympic Gold Medalist super featherweight Robson Conceicao, 8-0 (5), from Salvador, BRZ, stopped Ecuador’s Gavino “Huesitos” Guaman, 5-3 (1), out of River Falls, WI, at 0:56 of round 3 in a scheduled 8.

In the first round Conceicano had his way with rights over a jab and left hooks to the body. A lead right uppercut on the chin of Guaman and down he went on the seat of his pants just prior to the bell. In the second round Conceicano landed a 3-punch combination to the body and head of Guaman. Guaman is throwing wild punches missing most. Conceicano landed a left hook to the chin driving Guaman back several steps into the ropes. Conceicano scored a pair of knockdowns before the round came to an end with referee Ritter still counting a Guaman was upright.

In the third round a right from Conceicano dropped Guaman in a complete mismatch. The referee counted to eight asking Guaman to step forward and he fell backwards against the ropes before the referee “finally” waved it off.

Heavyweight Trey Lippe “Morrison”, 15-0 (15), of Tulsa, OK, stopped Byron “The Bear” Polley, 30-23-1 (13), of St. Joseph, MO, scoring 5 knockdowns stopping him in the 3rd round of a scheduled 8.

Posted on 06/30/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions went south of the border Friday at the Grand Oasis Arena, in Cancun, over ESPN.

In the Main Event “Speedy” Rashidi Ellis, 20-0 (13), of Lynn, MASS, won a lopsided decision over southpaw Alberto “Metralleta” Mosquera, 25-4-2 (16), of Panama City, PAN, over 10 rounds.

Photo Credit: Rashidi Ellis Facebook Account

In the first round Ellis was throwing and landing more punches as Mosquera was on the defense for the most part landing few punches. In the second round Mosquera comes out throwing punches with Ellis countering while backing up. It was a close round that could have gone either way. Mosquera did better but was it enough?

In the third round Ellis is countering well with lead rights to the chin of Mosquera. Mosquera continues to force the action but is catching as much as he has landed. Mosquera was warned twice for low blows by referee Florinto Lopez. In the fourth round in another close one Ellis countered well though not with the power of Mosquera who seemed to get out worked.

In the fifth round Ellis continues to show faster hands as Mosquera was walking into many punches. During the round the corner of Mosquera yells to “go to the body!” He replied “I’m trying but he won’t let me!” It was a big round for Ellis. In the sixth round Ellis landed an obvious low blow with referee Lopez warning him while giving Mosquera a minute rest. Ellis landed a flurry prior to the bell.

In the seventh round Mosquera continued to come forward throwing few punches getting countered well by Ellis. Mosquera has bleed from the mouth and suffered a small cut on his left cheek. In the eighth round Ellis dished out a beating to the exhausted Mosquera.

In the ninth round Ellis landed a very low blow and got a point deducted from referee Lopez. Ellis comes back again outworking Mosquera. In the tenth and final round a tired Mosquera wrestled Ellis to the canvas. Ellis came right back and easily out punched Mosquera the rest of the round.

The scores were 97-92, 98-91 twice while this writer had it 98-91.

In the co-feature super bantamweight Francisco “Panchito” Horta, 18-3-1 (10), of Cancun, Mexico, won an exciting decision over the former WBC Silver champion David “Zamorita” Reyes, 17-4-1 (6), of Sonora, MEX, over 8 rounds.

In the first round both fighters mixed it up well with neither having a solid edge in a “you pick em round!” In the second round Reyes continues to force the fight occasionally being caught by a Horta counter right uppercut to the chin. Horta landed a solid counter righ to the chin of the aggressive Reyes. Both were landing punches in bunches at the bell.

In the third round Reyes has out punched the local favorite Horta. Reyes keeps the pressure on Horta who counters well but not landing as much. In the fourth round while mixing it up Horta intentionally head butted Reyes and it cost Horta a point. At the end of the round Horta through a flurry of solid punches rocking Reyes.

In the fifth round Horta landed a solid right to the chin of Reyes stopping him in his tracks early in the round. Horta has decided to occasionally stand in and fight landed hard right hands to the chin of Reyes. A right counter right from Horta to the chin of Reyes had his knees buckled just prior to the bell. In the sixth round Horta started the round standing in slugging it out with Reyes rocking him with right hands to the chin. Then Horta started moving around the ring again. Reyes punches haven’t been as numerous in this round.

In the seventh round Reyes is back being the aggressor being countered by Horta. In the final minute of the round both were in a heated exchange. In the eighth and final round Reyes continues chasing Horta and lands an overhand right to the head of Horta. Horta comes back landing heavy punches to the head of Reyes. Reyes had his mouth open for the past two round breathing heavy but still game. Horta finished strong in a war of a last round.

Scores were 79-72, 78-73 and 80-72. This writer had it 79-72.

Featherweight Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez, 10-1 (10), of Sinaloa, MEX, was upset by Hiram Gallardo, 7-2-2 (1), of Chetumal, MEX, over 6 rounds.

In the first round Nunez comes out looking for his eleventh straight knockout. Gallardo continued to move around the ring landing an occasional lead right to the chin of Nunez. The first round was entertaining. In the second round the light hitting Gallardo has landed his share of right hands to the head of Nunez with little effect. At the end of the round Nunez landed four border line punches of which a few may have gone low.

In the third round the referee Lauro Sanchez took a point from Nunez for a low blow. A right to the body from Nunez staggered Gallardo who fought back as best he could. In the fourth round Nunez continues to work the body of Gallardo and is warned by the referee for a low blow. Gallardo lands a flurry of punches before Nunez fights back. The referee stops the action warning Nunez of yet another low blow without taking an earned point away from him. There was a third warning to Nunez from the referee for a low blow prior to the bell.

In the fifth round Nunez continues to land heavy punches to the body and head of Gallardo who has taken most of them well. Nunez countered Gallardo with a solid left hook to the chin. Gallardo came back with a right uppercut to the chin of Nunez. Gallardo continues to show plenty of heart mixing it up with the harder punching Nunez.

In the sixth and final round Nunez continues going to body and head trying for the knockout as Gallardo continues fighting back. Both were throwing punches at the bell to the delight of the crowd.

Scores were 57-56 twice and 58-55 for Gallardo as this writer had it 57-55 Nunez. For Gallardo it was his third win over an unbeaten opponent.

Posted on 06/24/2018

By: Sean Crose

Miguel Berchelt, the 33-1 Mexican superfeatherweight titlist faced the 41-5-1 Argentine Jonathan Victor Barros for the WBC World Superfeatherweight title in Berchelt’s home country of Mexico on Saturday evening. The bout, which was carried live on various ESPN+ streaming services, was a high octane affair. With the Mexican crowd cheering him on, Berchelt engaged in an active first round, then actually dropped his man with a left hook at the very end of the second. Barros got to his feet, but, as ringside analyst Teddy Atlas claimed, the champion was “just bigger and younger.” Sure enough, Barros went down a second time in round three.

Photo Credit: Top Rank Twitter Accounted

Barros subsequently tried to run, but the man was dropped yet again later in the round. The challenger’s corner stepped in and ended things at that point, much to Barros’ dismay. It was the third defense of Berchelt’s belt. The brief affair was a story of Berchelt simply tossing far, far too many punches Barros’ way, which didn’t allow Barros to react in any effective manner. From the opening second of round one, Berchelt was determined to impress his countrymen in the audience. He was all forward motion and violence throughout the proceedings. In short, he made quick work of his overmatched opponent.

Posted on 06/23/2018

By: Oliver McManus

JOSH TAYLOR’s rampant rise up the rankings in the super-lightweight division showed no sign of slowing on Saturday night as he fought Viktor Postol, in Glasgow, in a WBC final eliminator.

Promoted by Cyclone Promotions and live on free-to-air television in the United Kingdom, Taylor was in the toughest fight of his 13 bout professional career and against a granite-chinned Ukrainian, The Tartan Tornado would need to be on the top of his game in order to out-box the shrewd Iceman.

Postol was performing in only his second clash over the course of the last 24 months but there’s little doubting the quality of the 34 year old – now living in California – with the former WBC World champion claiming his crown via 10th round knockout against Lucas Matthysse; against Terence Crawford he extended the pound-for-pound great to the full 12 rounds but did little to threaten the reputation of Bud. Taylor, then, represents an immediate path back to world honours as The Iceman Cometh… to Glasgow, he cometh to Glasgow.

The fight started off with the Scottish southpaw and the orthodox-stance Ukrainian circling in the middle of the ring, Taylor punching high with his right jab – against an opponent taller than him – whilst Postol searched in an aggressive fashion, looking to land lunging punches.

Postol found moderate success with some round-the-guard right hands but nothing too concerning for the fans packed into the SSE Arena, left hands from Taylor were finding the body and into the second round, Postol lost his balance from a heavy-shot resulting in him momentarily on one leg.

These early stages of the fight witnessed a plethora of aggressive intent, promising intent, but an unpolished end-product.

Footwork was good from Taylor, keeping his lead left on the outside of Postol’s foot, allowing him the freedom of movement not often allowed to southpaws and the target was clear from Taylor. He was intent on working the body.

Towards the end of round two a cut opened up on the eye of Viktor Postol but it had very little impact going into the rest of the opening third with the continuous trade of punches occurring in the centre of the ring – Postol’s jab popped out less frequently but the pair landed a flurry of good punches each.

A HUGE left jab in the third round sent the crowd into ecstasy but the impact seemed relatively minimal on his experienced counterpart.

Both fighters looked to target the inside of one another, trying to fatigue the bodies but neither boxer was extended to discomfort with both men having periods of success, big shots landed by both with styles meshing to produce an aesthetically attractive fight.

A high tempo with heavy pressure bore great success transitioning into the second stanza of the fight, scampering towards Postol, switching stances and finding considerable success with his jab.

The Ukrainian, former champion, was working well himself, though, fighting from distance and keeping the threat of the, theoretical, challenger at bay. Taylor landed a fierce uppercut, followed by a sweeping left-hook, to render Postol visibly hurt and the first real sign of power-punching came from the home-favourite.

Confidence started to flow from Josh Taylor’s corner but the fight was still being taken at a pulse-shattering pace, and Postol began to emerge back into the contest with a continual jabbing presence as well as acute angle work ensuring that you couldn’t discount the Ukrainian.

Taylor began to look a bit nervous, Postol pushing the Scot back onto the ropes and landing big right hands of his own, snapping the head back of Josh. Both fighters were showing grit, each finding pockets of success.

The final quarter beckoned and the pace didn’t slow but the better work came from Viktor, working a nice short, chipped uppercut to keep Taylor in check. Postol looked tense but had a good work-rate.
Taylor, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed his posture and stance, more patient, and when he managed to open up the body of the Ukrainian he capitalised with punch after punch.

Into the ninth round Josh Taylor resumed his role as the aggressor with a serious of shots landing to the body of Postol – thrown with the full conviction of the Scotsman who twisted his whole body into each and every punch.

An unbelievable right hand connected from Josh but Viktor took it as though it was nothing, Taylor dropped down to the body, landing two, three right hands to the liver of Postol, landing with ease in front of a home crowd and leading the Ukrainian to resort to holding.

Overhand lefts with Postol in the neutral corner got the crowd on the feet and it seemed to hurt Viktor and Josh’s movement proved far superior, toying with his opponent, forcing his man onto a huge counter-hook.

Taylor took to the centre of the ring in the championship rounds, rallying off his previous success, and controlling the pace of the bout; both fighters returned to the jab looking to gain the final rounds on the judges’ scorecards.

A gigantic left hand in the 10th round sent Postol down to the canvas for the fourth time in his last two fights and he looked shocked, his legs began to betray him as Taylor showed superior stamina – despite never having been to 10 rounds before – a straight left hand to the temple of his opponent secured a 10-8 round.

This was the Josh Taylor that British fans have got used to and with that knockdown under his belt there was an air of belief from Josh but Postol returned with solid left hooks in the 11th round before returning to the middle of the ring, pawing left hands being thrown repeatedly before exploding to life with scintillating combination shots.

Taylor started the 12th round like his life depended on it, coming out all guns blazing and looking the fresher of the two men, landing body shot after body shot towards the sides of Postol and Taylor continued to hunt his prey, despite Postol’s best efforts to get away.

The jab of Josh looked like it would be the winning component for him as we entered the final minute and with both fighters continuing to trade the bell sounded to signal the end of the fight – 12 rounds in a final eliminator sanctioned by the WBC – with the crowd fully aware that they had seen one hell of a fight.

To the scorecards we went… 117-110, 118-110, 119-108 all in favour of the new MANDATORY challenger, Josh Taylor who retained his unbeaten ledger, stretching that to 13 fights, 11 knockouts and both eyes firmly on the world title.

Scotland best keep hold of their hats because a tornado’s incoming…

Posted on 06/23/2018

by: Ken Hissner

Salita Promotions over USA Showtime brought two of the best female middleweights in the world in separate title defenses Friday night at the Masonic Temple, in Detroit, MI.

2-time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, 6-0 (2), of Flint, MI, the IBF and WBC Super Middleweight champion came off the canvas in the opening round to win two vacant belts in the IBF and WBA Middleweight division over the WBA and WBO World Female Super Welterweight champion Hanna “La Amazona” Gabriels, 18-2-1 (11), of Alajuela, Costa Rica, over 10 rounds.

Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing Twitter Account

In the first round Gabriels threw a right but was countered with a right to the chin. A clash of heads caused swelling on the left cheek of Gabriels. A right uppercut from Gabriels on the chin of Shields dropped her. She beat the count of referee Garard White at 8. In the second round it was a close round as Gabriels moved well and would attack Shields who had a better second round.

In the third round Gabriels with hands low got hit with a Shields right to the chin. Gabriels came back with a left hook to the head in another close round. In the fourth round Shields continues to load up too much. Gabriels bounced around staying loose. Shields landed to rabbit punches ending the round while referee White warns her after the bell.

In the fifth round Shields countered Gabriels with a right to the head. Shields landed a 3-punch combination with a minute left in the round. Gabriels looks winded at the end of the round. In the sixth round at the halfway mark Shields landed a solid right to the chin driving Gabriels into a neutral corner. With under 30 seconds left in the round Gabriels landed a 3-punch combination. Shields landed a solid pair of right’s to the chin just prior to the bell.

In the seventh round Gabriels landed a right to the ribs followed by a right to the chin of Shields. In the eighth round both boxers slow the action with Shields landing a left hook to the chin of Gabriels. Once again there was a clash of heads. In the ninth round at the halfway point both fighters flurried with the best action of the fight. Shields landed a hard right to the head with seconds to go in the round.

In the tenth and final round Gabriels is forcing the action but Shields is countering her well. The final round was the best round of the fight. Shields landed 3 punches then Gabriels came in with her head. An accidental clash of heads caused a small cut under the left eye of Shields.

Scores were 98-91 and 97-92 twice This writer had it 95-94.

In the co-feature WBC & WBO World Female Middleweight champion Christina “Lady” Hammer, 23-0 (10), born in KAZ, living in Dortmund, Germany, easily defended her title successfully defeating the former IBF and WBC World Female UBF and IBA World Welterweight champion Tori “Sho Enough” Nelson, 17-2-3 (2), of Chase City, VA, over 10 rounds.

In the first round the much taller Hammer used an effective jab. The jab of Hammer has power behind it. The 41 year-old Nelson was too defensive. Best part of the round was a 4-punch combination from Hammer to the head of Nelson. In the second round Hammer continues to dominate the fight with Nelson landing an occasional right hand to the head of Hammer.

In the third round Hammer lands a pair of rights followed by a left to the mid-section. With a minute left in the round Nelson lands a right to the head of hammer who counters her with a flurry of punches. In the fourth round Hammer continues to dominate the much shorter Nelson. Her jab continues to control and she lands enough power punches with her right to win round after round.

In the fifth round Hammer continues to move well keeping the fight in the middle of the ring for the most part. In the seventh round Hammer kept Nelson at bay except for a few rushes to get inside. Hammer pushed Nelson into the ropes as referee Garza just looks on. With half a minute left in the round Hammer landed a good 3-punch combination to the head of Nelson.

In the eighth round Hammer landed a leaf right to the head of Nelson. Hammer rarely leads with her right instead of her jab and would like to score a knockout since Nelson has never been knocked down. In the ninth round Hammer is warned about holding behind the neck of Nelson. Inside the final minute both boxers landed right hands at the same time to each others chin.

In the tenth and final round it’s all Hammer until a minute to go when Nelson lands a lead right to the chin of Hammer. Hammer did more clinching in the final round than at any other time in the fight.

Scores were 100-90 twice and 99-91 while this writer had it 100-90.

“I wanted a knockout but she is a tough fighter and I am still the champ. I want to fight the winner of tonight’s main event,” said Hammer.

“I felt I may have landed more punches but she was too strong. I am still super welter champ,” said Gabriels. “I am the best in the world of all time (her opinion) winning every round after the knockdown,” said Shields. Unfortunately when Hammer entered the ring Shields showed her immaturity yelling and causing an ugly scene with too many people in the ring at the time.

Russian Light Heavyweight Umar Salamov, 21-1 (16), of Henderson, NV, stopped Brian Howard, 13-2 (10), of Atlanta, GA, in the ninth round for the vacant IBF North American Light Heavyweight title.

In the first round it was a battle of jabs. Few right hands were thrown in this “sparring session”. In the second round with a minute left Salamov landed his first combination. With half a minute left in the round the 38 year-old Howard hurt Salamov with a right near the back of the head as Salamov was moving away. Inside with ten seconds to go Howard landed a right uppercut to the chin of Salamov.

In the third round the awkwardness of both fighters looks like a pair of amateurs. The referee is allowing them to do whatever they want hitting behind the head telling Howard not to duck for that is why it’s happening. Salamov also uses an illegal “straight arm” ala Larry Holmes. In the fourth and fifth rounds it’s more of the same.

In the sixth round Salmov landed a slapping roundhouse to the head of Howard at the mid-point of the round. It’s been jab’s, straight arms and rabbit punches. There is very little to say as the fans are getting restless. The Howard corner is trying to get Howard to throw punches. In the seventh round Howard continues to “pose” except inside he lands an occasional right uppercut to the chin of Salmov. Howard continues to pull up on his trunks. With seconds to go in the round Salmov missed with a right and Howard countered with a right hand knocking the head of Salmov back. The rounds are close but Salmov seems to get the edge.

In the eighth round the jabs continue with plenty of misses from right hands. With seconds to go Salmov lands a right and follows with a left to the head of Howard. In the ninth round a chopping right hand from Salmov to the chin with drops Howard as Salmov lands a left as Howard takes the full count.

This writer had it 79-73 for the winner through 8 rounds. Sam Williams was the referee.

Posted on 06/16/2018

 

By: William Holmes

 

Errol Spence Jr., the man many consider to be the top welterweight in the world, returned to his home state of Texas in Frisco at the Ford Center to defend his IBF Welterweight Title against his mandatory challenger.   The Dallas Cowboys Organization strongly supported Errol Spence’s return to his hometown. 

 

The opening bout of the night was between Javier Fortuna (33-2-1) and Adrian Granados (18-6-2) in the super lightweight division. 

Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing Twitter Account

 

Fortuna was former champion in the super featherweight division and is fighting up to two weight classes higher than he normally does.  Granados had both a reach and height advantage and it was obvious in the ring. 

 

Grandaos was on the attack early on and landing shots to the body.  Fortuna was sharp with his straight left hands and was landing the cleaner shots early on.  Fortuna continued to land the cleaner punches in the second round but Granados was using his size to push around Fortuna.

 

Granados had a good third round and again was using his size to his advantage.  Fortuna lost two points this fight for holding, but those points may have been taken away too early.

 

The fight came to a sudden end in the fourth round when Fortuna was pushed out the ring in between the ropes and may have hit his head on the ring steps on equipment outside.  They had to place his neck in a brace and get a stretcher to take him to be evaluated.

 

The official result of the fight was a no decision due to a fighter getting hurt before the end of the fourth round.  The fight was stopped at 2:50 of the fourth round. 

 

The next bout of the night was between Daniel Roman (24-2-1) and Moises Flores (25-0) for the WBA Super Bantamweight Title. 

 

Flores came in overweight at the weigh ins and looked like the significantly bigger man in the ring.  Flores was swinging wildly and wide early on and Roman appeared to be more settled.  Roman highlighted the opening round with a good lead right hand left uppercut combination. 

 

Roman was focusing to the body for most of the fight and was doubling his left hooks and uppercuts in the second and third round. 

 

Flores kept coming forward in the fourth and fifth rounds, but Roman’s counters were finding his target while he was able to side step around his oncoming opponent.  Most of Flores punches bounced off the shoulders and guard of Roman in the sixth round, but he had a good seventh round and may have stolen it.

 

By the ninth round both boxers had thrown over 1000 punches combined but Roman was landing at a higher clip Roman was lighter on his feet in the tenth round and his body shots had slowed Flores down tremendously.

 

Flores needed a knockout in the final round to pull out a victory, but he didn’t have enough energy to seriously threaten Roman.

 

The final scores were 116-112, 118-110, and 120-108 for Danny Roman.

 

The main event of the evening was between Errol Spence Jr. (23-0) and Carlos Ocampo (22-0) for the IBF Welterweight Title. 

 

This was the first world title fight for Ocampo against the highly talented southpaw Errol Spence.  Spence slowly inched forward in the opening stanza and took some surprisingly good body shots from Ocampo.  Spence was able to land a good straight left to the chin of Ocampo that slowed him down momentarily, but Ocampo was making a good showing of himself early on. 

 

With time running out in the first Errol Spence landed two blistering hooks to the body of Ocampo that immediately dropped him to his knees.

 

Ocampo was unable to get up before the count of ten.

 

Errol Spence wins by knockout with one second left in the first round.

 

Posted on 06/15/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Oscar de La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions featured a Main Event between Filipino Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta and Mexican Robert “Tito” Manzanarez for the vacant WBO NABO Lightweight title at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, Thursday over ESPN2.

Filipino southpaw Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta, 32-2-2 (17), out of Cebu, PH, won a majority decision over Robert “Tito” Manzanarez, 36-2 (29), out of Phoenix, AZ, for the vacant WBO NABO Lightweight title over 10 rounds.

Photo Credit: Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

In the first two rounds the much shorter Gesta was the much busier of the two getting inside of the taller Manzanarez. In the third round Manzanarez was guilty of too much holding when Gesta got inside. In the fourth round Manzanarez landed several lead rights to the chin of Gesta and then Manzanarez grabbed Gesta forcing a clinch.

In the fifth round Gesta landed a left to the head of Manzanarez who leaned down and grabbed the leg of Gesta causing the referee to intervene. Gesta continued to land more than Manzanarea who couldn’t keep the shorter Gesta at a distance. Manzanarez was cut on the right eye brow at the finish of the round. In the sixth round Gesta gets inside of a good jab by Manzanarez but continues to hold too much with little warning from the referee.

In the seventh and eight rounds Manzanarez is countering well as Gesta comes in for the first minute. Then Manzanarez goes back to clinching whenever Gesta gets inside. Gesta gets in with the right hook and follows with the left before Manzanarez forces him into a clinch.

In the ninth round Gesta continues to chase Manzanarez landing an overhand left to the head of Manzanarez. In the corner of Gesta is trainer Freddy Roach. In the tenth and final round right away Manzanarez is holding. Referee Jerry Cantu has done little if anything about the continuous holding by Manzanarez. Though many of the rounds were close it seemed Gesta won the majority of them.

Gesta was coming off his second attempt at a world title fight in January while Manzanarez was riding a fifteen bout winning streak after suffering his only loss back in 2012.

Judges DeLuca and Russell scored it 96-94 and Young 95-95. This writer had it 97-93.

In the co-feature a pair of L.A., CA, unbeaten featherweights battled for the vacant NABF title. Mexican Edgar Valerio, 13-1 (8), was halted by Manny “Chato” Robles, III, 16-0 (8), at 2:31 of the 9th round of a scheduled 10 rounds to win the NABF title. Valerio was knocked down in the 3rd and 9th rounds.

In the first round Robles used a lead right to the chin of Valerio. Valerio used his left hook to the chin when he was able to land in a close round that Robles seemed to have an edge. In the second round Valerio was able to land more punches with a stiff jab and his left hook. Robles mostly used his jab throughout the round. This was the first fight Robles father was not in his corner in his amateur and professional career.

In the third round Valerio landed a right to the chin but was countered by Robles landing a left hook to the chin and down went Valerio. He beat the count and became the aggressor seemingly more embarrassed than hurt. In the fourth round Valerio continued to force the action. He was left hook happy but it was working for him. Only when Robles stopped to counter Valerio went on the defense. Valerio missed with a left hook but his elbow landed on the face of Robles who suffered a small cut outside his right eye.

A minute into the fifth round Robles landed a solid right to the chin of Valerio. Near the end of the round they clashed heads but neither were cut. Good round for Robles. In the sixth round it was Robles landing a right and getting countered by a Valerio left hook knocking Robles back a few steps off balance. Robles came right back after Valerio and continued to follow Valerio around the ring.

In the seventh round both fighters landed rights at the same time and it was Robles that was hurt. As Valerio went after Robles he walked into a right to the chin from Robles. In the eighth round Valerio on occasions turns southpaw for a few seconds. Robles was forcing the fight landing a lead right to the chin of Valerio. It was another close round.

In the ninth round Robles dropped Valerio with a right hand with his hand keeping him from only touching the canvas with his gloves in a crouch. He took the 8 count. As Robles came in he got hit with a left hook but swarmed all over Valerio who was defenseless until referee Hernandez called a halt. Valerio’s right eye was almost closed at the end.

Super Lightweight Luis Feliciano, 7-0 (4), out of Rancho Cucamonga, CA, knocked out Danny Montoya, 11-7 (8), out of Reynosa, MEX, at 0:50 of the fourth round in a scheduled 8 rounds. Welterweight Herbert Acevedo, 14-2 (6), out of Oxnard, CA, takes on David “Terminator” Thomas, 6-2-1 (2), of Orange, TX, over 6 rounds.

Posted on 06/09/2018

By: Sean Crose

The Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford card on ESPN+ began at 9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night as the 23-1-0 Jose Pedraza faced the 23-2 Antonio Moran for the WBO Latino Lightweight Title. The first few rounds of the bout made for an exciting, see-saw affair, as both men fought energetically and with aggresion. Yet Moran got his nose busted, a war wound that got to look quite ugly as the fight wore on.

Photo Credit: Top Rank Boxing Twitter Account

There ended up being no stoppage. There wasn’t a knockdown to be found throughout the bout, either. It proved to be an entertaining match, though. Moran never gave up. Pedraza was simply stronger and was able to put his puches together better. Ultimately, Pedraza also proved to be the more energetic fighter as the bout wore on. The Puerto Rican ended up with the unanimous decision win and WBO Latino Lightweight Strap.

It was time for the main event. The 32-0 Crawford stepped into the ring favored to beat the 18-0-1 Horn, even though Horn was the WBO World Welterweight Champion and had won that title by besting the great Manny Pacquiao – albeit by a highly controversial decision. For Crawford entered the weekend widely regarded as one of the best practitioners in the entire sport. He might have been moving up in weight to face Horn, but it was Crawford who boxing’s writers and analysts expected to walk away with the victory.

Crawford tagged his man early in the first. Yet Horn tagged Crawford clean a moment later. Crawford, however, landed the cleaner, more effective punches throughout. Crawford landed a hard left to the body in the second and then started to pick up the pace. Horn, however, was tough and kept moving forward. Crawford began the third landing clean, though Horn was able to land clean himself. Crawford, however, was landing the better shots more frequently. The man from Nebraska was really starting to go to work.

Horn kept being a warrior in the fourth, but it appeared that he was being outclassed as the first third of the bout ended. The man did, however, have a good moment in the fifth, when he got Crawford against the ropes. Horn tried to play rough and got a warning from referee Robert Byrd. Crawford then physically rough housed Horn. It had become a one sided affair. By the midway point of the fight, Crawford was continuing to beat his man up.

One thing had to be said for Horn – the man was as rough and as brave as they came. At no point through the first seven rounds (which must have been gruelling for the man) did the champion give up or cease to fight with incredible heart. It simply didn’t matter, though. Crawford was simply far too skilled. And still, Horn kept fighting on, trying to land, trying to muscle his man around. It was to little avail. Crawford kept dominating.

Crawford exploded late in the eighth, causing his man to stumble. In fact, Horn came very close to hitting the canvas. The brutality continued through the ninth – where Horn finally went down. The champion got back up, but Crawford went right back to work and referee Robert Byrd steped in and stopped the fight.