The Past Week in Action 13 November 2012

                        

 

November 9

 

Singapore: Feather: Chris John (48-0-2) W PTS 12 Chonlatarn (44-1). Feather: Daud Cino Yordan (30-2,1ND) W PTS 12 Choi Tseveenpurev (36-6). John retains WBA title with wide unanimous decision over unbeaten Thai but the night was tougher for “The Dragon” than the scores show. John was quickly into his stride and took the early rounds as he was faster and more accurate than the Thai. John was working the body and it was the sixth before a right from Chonlatarn rocked John and had him badly hurt. From then on the Thai was in the fight more and there were good exchanges with both fighters landing good shots. In the ninth a right from the challenger put John down. The champion claimed it was a slip rather than a knockdown. John took the next two rounds, but a big last round effort by Chonlatarn had John hanging on. Scores 119-109 twice and 117-11 with the last score looking a more accurate reflection of the fight. The 33-year-old Indonesian was making his 15^th defence of the full title. This is the seventh time in a row that he has had to go all twelve rounds for a win. Chonlatarn, 27, had been carefully protected with not a single rated fighter on his record. He will go home and get another long string of meaningless wins and hope for another title shot. Can’t remember the last time that fighters with a combined total of 93 fights unbeaten clashed. Nearest I can think off is Eder Jofre (46-0-3) and Bernard Caraballo (39-0-1) back in 1964. Indonesian Yordan retained his IBO belt with a unanimous points win over British-based Mongolian Tseveenpurev. The 25-year-old Yordan won a wide decision, but the challenger gave him a hard fight, and it was only in the later rounds that Yordan really pulled away. He got through with some heavy punches over the last two rounds but the Mongolian has a great chin and has never lost inside the distance. Scores 119-110, 118-110 and 117-111. First defence for Yordan who lost a close decision to John for the WBA title in 2011. His only other loss was to Celestino Caballero in 2010.Tseveenpurev, 41, has been popular inBritain and won the 2011 featherweight Prizefighter. May be another first, as I am not sure if an Indonesian and a Mongolian have ever contested a version of a world title?

 

Liverpool, England: Light Heavy: Ovill McKenzie (21-11) W TKO 2 Enzo Maccarinelli (35-6). Light Middle: Liam Smith (12-0-1) W PTS 10 Gary McMillan (16-3-1). Super Fly: Paul Butler (9-0) W KO 1 John Donnelly (13-3). Super Middle: Paul Smith (32-3) W TKO 4 Tommy Tolan (4-13-1). McKenzie retains Commonwealth title with controversial stoppage of Maccarinelli. Many felt that the former WBO cruiserweight champion’s punch resistance had gone and expected an early finish, but this was not really a vindication of that opinion. McKenzie was looking to land his big rights from the start and had Maccarinelli covering up and retreating. However over the last minute Maccarinelli opened up and got through with some good jabs and body punches. The pattern was the same early in the second but with Maccarinelli throwing a few more punches. Unfortunately he was allowing himself to be backed up to the ropes where McKenzie would unleash shots from both hands. McKenzie landed a combination including a punch which jerked Maccarinelli’s head back as he covered up behind his high guard. Suddenly the referee step in waving the fight off. For a moment after he had stepped in the referee seemed to be unsure whether Maccarinelli was as hurt as he had thought. However, effectively he already had already stopped the fight and could not change his decision. Maccarinelli was furious. It looked a very premature stoppage and you had to wonder whether the referee shared the perception of Maccarinelli’s vulnerability, and was going to stop the fight at the first sign that Maccarinelli was hurt. Jamaican-born McKenzie, 32, retains his Commonwealth title for the second time in his second reign as champion. Maccarinelli was coming back after a six month ban for testing positive for a banned substance. The former WBO cruiser champion, also 32, loses inside the distance for the sixth time. Due to the controversial ending he may look for a return, but that concern over his punch resistance remains. Liam Smith wins wide unanimous verdict over McMillan. Smith was taking the fight to the Scottish southpaw and was too busy and setting too high a pace. McMillan lost a point for holding in the third and a bit of success with a left in the fourth. Other than that Smith was in control. Scores 99-91 twice and 98-92. The 25-year-old Smith will now be looking for a shot at the British title. McMillan, 25, had won 7 of his last 8 fights. Former top amateurButler destroys English champion Donnelly in 69 seconds.Butler shook Donnelly with a right and then put him down with crunching left hook to the body. Donnelly went down and never looked like beating the count. The 23-year-old “Baby Faced Assassin” wins the vacant British title and looks a real prospect. Donnelly, 28, had been stopped in five rounds by Stuart Hall in a challenge for the British bantamweight title in April 2011. All three of his losses have come by way of KO/TKO. Paul Smith made it a family double as he beat Tolan. The former British champion was a couple of classes above Tolan. A left hook almost had Tolan down in the first and he was badly hurt by uppercuts in the second. Smith was on top again in the third and at the end of the fourth, with the additional handicap of a cut over his left eye, Tolan retired. The 30-year-old Smith lost his British title to James DeGale in 2010 and was halted by George Groves in a challenge for the Commonwealth and British titles in November last year. This was Smith’s first fight since then. Tolan is 0-10-1 in his last eleven fights.

 

Indio, USA: Feather: Gary Russell Jr (21-0) W KO 3 Roberto Castaneda (20-3-1). Russell, 24, just seems to go from strength to strength. Two fairly even rounds, saw Russell much the quicker of the two, and Castaneda trying to pressurise Russell on the ropes. In the third Russell again proved that he has power to go with his classy skills. One right put the Mexican down and out cold. It was some time before they managed to get Castaneda back on his feet. That makes it 13 wins by KO/TKO for southpaw Russell and his third win in a row that route. He had carried out a one round blitz of experienced Heriberto Ruiz and a stoppage of Chris Perez. He is No 4 with the WBA, which is too high at this stage, and he is ready for better opposition. The 21-year-old Castaneda has now lost three of his last fights inside the distance. The other losses were to good opposition in Felipe Orucuta (22-1) and Chris Martin (23-2-3). American Olympians Terrell Gausha, Errol Spence, Marcus Brown, Dom Breazeale and the vastly experienced Rau’Shee Warren all turned pro on this card and all scored wins.

 

Caseros, Argentina: Light Middle: Javier F Maciel (24-2) W K0 4 Anderson Clayton (39-8). “La Bestia” lives up to his nickname and is just too strong, and punches too hard for Brazilian. Maciel was walking Clayton down and trying to trap the Brazilian on the ropes. Clayton used some good defensive moves but was hurt by a right at the end of the first round. The pattern was the same in the second and third rounds. In the fourth Maciel had Clayton in a corner and landed heavily with right and left hooks to the body. Clayton escaped only to be cornered again. This time a right to the chin effectively ended the fight. Maciel also got through with another left hook to the body and Clayton went down, slumped against the ropes where he was counted out. The 28-year-old Maciel retains his WBO Latino title for the third time. The WBO No 7 light middle has 17 wins by KO/TKO. He lost on points to Dmitry Pirog for the WBO middle title in March 2011, his only loss in his last 17 fights. Clayton, 33, suffers his third loss by KO/TKO. He has mixed in good company such as Lukas Konecny and Joachim Alcine.

 

Santiago, Chile: Heavy: Billy Wright (39-4) W TKO 2 Saul Farah (41-16-3). Super Fly: Miguel Gonzalez (15-0) W PTS 8 Ricardo Toledo (14-25-3,1ND). Wright makes third defence of his PABA title with stoppage of Bolivian. At 47 Wright continues his second comeback. “Bronco” fought from 1986-1999. He was then inactive until 2007. He had one fight that year but did not fight again until 2011, since when he has scored six wins over third-rate fighters. In these mad days since he holds a title of sorts he could find himself world rated (currently the WBC have him as “Latino champion at No 36). In his younger days Wright lost inside the distance to Michael Moorer, Frans Botha and Tony Tucker. His impressive figures were built in the backwoods against low quality fighters. Farah, 31, also has a very padded record and has lost inside the distance ten times. Young Gonzalez given a good fight by 36-year-old Argentinian but wins unanimous decision. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75. The 23-year-old fromSantiago lacks a punch, which will be a handicap against better opposition.Toledo once lost a majority decision against Omar Narvaez but that was over four rounds back in 2001.

 

Celano, Italy: Feather: Sofiane Takoucht (25-2) W PTS 12 Davide Deli (11-3). Welter: Stefano Castellucci (21-2) W PTS 6 Mugurel Sebe (16-67-2). Former European champion Takoucht goes into the lion’s den and comes away with the EU title. As expected Roman Deli was the aggressor with Takoucht using his southpaw jab to blunt the attacks of Deli.  The French challenger built an early lead but from the eighth Deli tried to claw that back and was almost successful. Scores 116-113, 115-113 and 113-116. “Baby Face” Takoucht, 27, makes it four wins since losing his EBU title to Alex Miskirtchian on a split decision in September last year. Former undefeated Italian champion Deli, 33, was making the first defence of his European Union title. Mark time fight for former undefeated Italian champion Castellucci. His losses have been to Nikola Stevanovic and also to Leo Bundu in a European title fight in July. The durable Romanian Sebe is 3-14 in his last 17 fights.

 

Tokyo, Japan: Light: Yoshitaka Kato (23-4-1) W TKO 5 Shoji Kawase (29-5-5). Kato retains Japanese title with impressive stoppage of No 1 challenger Kawase. Kato floored Kawase twice in the fourth and another knockdown in the fifth saw the referee stop the fight. Third defence of his title for 27-year-old Kato, but only his seventh win by KO/TKO. The 30-year-old Kawase was having his second try at winning the national title.

 

Merida, Mexico: Super Feather: Miguel Berchelt (17-0) W KO 2 Oliver Flores (23-1-2). Dramatic kayo win for Berchelt. Both fighters had a high percentage of wins by KO/TKO so they were cautious in the first round. In the second the shorterFlores tried to get inside but was hit with a fast combination finished off by a thunderous left hook which pitched the Nicaraguan face down on the canvas out cold. TheYucatan fighter “Scorpion” Berchelt, 20, makes it 14 wins by KO/TKO and retains the WBC Youth Intercontinental title. The previously unbeaten Flores, 21, was having his fifth fight inMexico.

 

Cetinje, Montenegro: Middle: Predrag Radosevic (27-0 W TEC DEC 9 Virgilijus Stapulionis ((19-2). Montenegrin Radosevic retains his IBF International title in his second defence with a technical decision over Lithuanian. Giving away height and reach the powerful Radosevic scored well with right crosses but Stapulionis was a tough opponent. Finally in the ninth after a Doctor’s inspection of a cut suffered by Stapulionis in a clash of heads the fight was stopped and went to the scorecards. The 28-year-old Radosevic wins on scores of 87-83 twice and 85-85. In his last fight the 26-year-old Lithuanian had stopped Richard Williams in one round inLondon

 

Kalispell, USA: Heavy: Chauncy Welliver (54-7-5) W TKO 1 Donnie Davis (8-25,1ND). Body punches from Welliver are enough to close the show early. Welliver wasted no time in going to the body of late subDavis. Welliver hadDavis on the ropes and delivered a series of body punches which hadDavis wincing. The referee gaveDavis a standing count. The next set of body punches hadDavis turning away in agony and the referee stopped the fight.Davis, 43, has won only one of his last 14 fights with the last seven all being losses by KO/TKO. Welliver badly needed a win as losses to Sherman Williams and Japanese novice Kyotaro Fujimoto had cost him his inflated world  ranking. Horrible match as the 33-year-oldDavis had been inactive from 2007 until October 2010 then did not fight again until March this year when he lost in two rounds. Two fights, both losses in five years!

 

November 10

 

Los Angeles, USA: Super Bantam: Abner Mares (25-0-1) W PTS 12 Anselmo Moreno (33-2-1). Light Heavy: Nat Cleverly (25-0) W TKO 8 Shawn Hawk (23-3-1). Bantam: Leo Santa Cruz (22-0-1) W TKO 9 Victor Zaleta (20-3-1). Light Middle: Alfredo Angulo (21-2) W KO 1 Raul Casares (19-3,1ND). Light Welter: Antonio Orozco (16-0) W KO 6 Danny Escobar (8-2). Mares wins clearly but again uses tactics which can at best be described as questionable. The decision is unanimous but with one score so far out as to be inexplicable. Mares was on top ofMoreno for most of the fight not giving the Panamanian any space to work. When the fight was in the ring centreMoreno showed his class and was able to use his classy right jabs, but Mares was always pressing and forcingMoreno to fight inside or on the back foot. The middle rounds belonged to Mares and he hadMoreno down from a right in the fifth. As Mares tired and southpawMoreno found space to work the WBA bantam champ began to win some rounds, but did not have the power to keep Mares out for long. Mares shookMoreno with right hook in the sixth andMoreno landed a good right in the tenth which sent the Mexican reeling back to the ropes.Moreno did some good work in the eleventh, but Mares was a big winner in the twelfth. The two controversial aspects of the fight were Mares once again fighting dirty, and getting away with it. He was warned time and again for low blows and butts and it was farcical that the only deduction was againstMoreno for pushing Mares head down in the eleventh. The other controversy was the scoring by one judge. Two judges saw Mares winning by a score of 116-110, which with the knockdown and the deduction was really a 116-112. The third judge gave it to Mares by 120-106 which was a total travesty. The 26-year-old Mares, the former IBF and IBO bantam champion retains his WBC title in his first defence and was a clear winner. Now he wants Donaire. “Chemito”Moreno, 27, still has his WBA bantam title. He had been unbeaten in his last 27 fights going in. He will stay at bantam and defend that title. Cleverly got hisUS exposure and won a one-sided fight in the fourth defence of his WBO title. Over the first three rounds the Welsh WBO champion found the limited Hawk an easy target for his jabs. He was also getting through with hard body punches and hooks to the head. Hawk was trying to match Cleverly but did not have the power and Cleverly was busier, more accurate and the harder puncher. A left hook had Hawk hurt in the third and when Hawk tried to take the initiative in the fourth Cleverly again finished the round on top. The body attack paid dividends in the seventh as 25-year-old Cleverly put Hawk down with a combination from head to body. Hawk got up only to be floored by right to the body and he only just made it to his feet as the bell rang. In the eighth a right put Hawk down on his knees. Once again Hawk got up but was floored again and the fight was stopped. Cleverly had to adjust to changes of opponent and unfortunately Hawk was not of high enough quality as a challenger to impress the Americans. Cleverly could only fight what was in front of him and he did that. Cleverly has twelve wins by KO/TKO. Hawk, who showed guts, but was way out of his depth and his class, lost inside the distance for the first timeSanta Cruz makes successful second defence of his IBF title with stoppage of fellow Mexican Zaleta.Santa Cruz seems to be growing into the title. He was totally dominant here with his trademark aggression and body attack. Zaleta managed to stay withSanta Cruz in the first three rounds, but a left to the body floored the former top amateur in the fourth. From then on it was when and not ifSanta Cruz was going to win. The challenger was floored again in the seventh and after a third knockdown in the ninth the referee stopped the fight. “Teremoto”Santa Cruz now has 13 wins by KO/TKO. He has now won 11 of his last 12 fights that way. At 24 he can only go on getting better. He was just too strong and punched too hard for Zaleta who competed at 48kg as an amateur. “Nene” Zaleta had lost to Omar Narvaez for the WBO super fly title in February 2011 and in his last fight had a draw with Juan Jose Montes (22-2). Emotional return for Angulo who flattens Casarez with a left hook after just 56 seconds. The former interim WBO champion had only recently been released from custody with the US Immigration officials holding him for having out-of-date papers. He paid the price of both his six round loss to James Kirkland in November last year and his period in detention, as all of the major sanctioning bodies had dropped him from their ratings, but you can expect to see him back and looking to make up for lost time. The 30-year-old has 18 wins by KO/TKO. Casarez, 25, another one with a deceptive record. His wins have all been on theTexas backwoods circuit with a March win over 38-year-old Juan Carlos Candelo his only claim to fame. Orozco marches on, but Escobar makes a fight of it for four rounds. Both fighters wanted to trade so it was a lively, well contested fight. However, Orozco lived up to his “Relentless” nickname. He had the power and he was slowly breaking down the Californian. In the sixth a left hook followed by a right ended the fight. The 25-year-old Mexican has twelve wins by KO/TKO. Escobar, 23, has a good win over Jose Emilio Perea (21-0) and will come again.

 

Hamburg, Germany: Heavy: Wlad Klitschko (59-3) W PTS 12 Mariusz Wach (27-1). Cruiser: Rakhim Chakhkiev (16-0) W PTS 10 Andres Taylor (21-3-2). Welter: Rafal Jackiewicz (42-10-2) DREW 10 Rick Godding (18-0-1). Light Middle: Tony Harrison (11-0) W PTS 6 Daniel Urbanski (21-12-3). Ho hum, another Klitschko victory over an opponent who talked the talk but who it turned out really just had his foot in his mouth. Klitschko totally dominated the fight. He landed jab after jab and right after right. Wach was just too slow to make the fight even remotely competitive. The “Viking” landed one good right at the end of the sixth that shook Klitschko, but apart from that round after round followed the same pattern with Wach showing a very solid chin but little else. Even a cut on his left eyelid caused Klitschko no real concern. Scores 120-107 twice and 119-109. Even a 36 “Dr Steelhammer” still does not look remotely beatable. Title fight No 22 for Klitschko and 50 wins by KO/TKO. Wach, 32, matched Klitschko in height but that was all, and his record is made up of the usual unrated trial horses. However, he did show a strong chin plenty of guts as he soaking up punishment for all twelve rounds. The only real excitement came before the fight when a spectator wearing a “Peace” T-shirt somehow managed to get into the ring before the fight started. He was hustled out of there not too gently, but it was poor security. Southpaw Chakhkiev wins unanimous decision but not at his best. The Russian had a bit of a worry in the second round when a clash of heads saw him suffer a cut over his right eye. The Doctor examined the cut and the fight continued with a points deduction againstTaylor.Taylor rarely took a forward step but stayed off the ropes and showed good body movement to frustrate the Russian southpaw. Chakhkiev just could not pinTaylor down. The American was always dangerous with his head and Chakhkiev suffered a cut on his left eyelid in the eighth which costTaylor another point. Chakhkiev hadTaylor staggering twice in the ninth and again in the last butTaylor was too elusive. A clear win but a frustrating night for Chakhkiev. Scores 100-89 twice and 99-89. Chakhkiev had won 6 of his last 7 fights inside the distance andTaylor had been stopped in twelve rounds by Garrett Wilson in April, but no early finish this time. Brit Godding built an early lead with his speedy in-and-out tactics and fast counters. The Pole just could not match the speed or the workrate of Godding. However, from the eighth Godding began to tire and Jackiewicz was getting through with hard rights which were shaking the Brit. Jackiewicz scored heavily in the ninth and it looked as though Godding might crumble, but the Bolton fighter gutted though and with the early lead looked to have done enough to win. The judges though otherwise with two scoring it 95-95 and the third seeing Goddard the winner by 96-94. The 27-year-old Godding will have improved his stature considerably with this fine performance against the former European champion and IBF title contender. Jackiewicz, 35, is still a force. He has lost only twice in his last 28 fights, a majority decision to Jan Zaveck for the IBF title (he had beaten Zaveck in a European title defence before that) and Kell Brook. Harrison, 22, who was one of the late Manny Steward’s charges, extended his winning by taking every round against Pole Urbanski. Scores 60-54 from all three judges.Harrison is the grandson of Henry Hank, a great middleweight who had 97 fights and fought everyone who was anyone in the 50’, 60’s and early 70’s. Urbanski has lost 7 of his last 8 fights.

 

Las Vegas, USA: Light Middle: Vanes Martirosyan (32-0-1) TEC DRAW 9 Erislandy Lara (17-1-2). Super Feather: Miguel Angel Garcia (30-0) W TKO 8 Jonathan Barros (34-4-1). Super Bantam: Jesse Magdaleno (12-0) W KO 1 Jose Silveira (19-7-1). Light Welter: Terry Crawford (19-0) W TKO 6 Sid Siqueira (19-7-1). Disappointing end in the Martirosyan vs. Lara fight as a clash of heads at the start of the ninth sees Martirosyan go down and also suffer a bad cut over his left eye. The cut was too severe so it went to the cards with the ninth somehow also having to be scored even though it only lasted 26 seconds. The judges scored it 86-85 for Martirosyan, 87-84 Lara and 86-86, so a draw. This was the expected battle between the aggression of Martirosyan against the good defensive skills and counter punching of the Cuban southpaw. The fight was very much in the balance at the end of the eighth although Lara seemed to be getting on top with fast, accurate counters just before the stoppage. Lara’s standing had actually gained a huge boost from his controversial loss to Paul Williams in July last year and he had since scored impressive wins over Ronald Hearns and Freddy Hernandez. After only one fight in the last 13 months Armenian-Martirosyan had some rust to shed. With Martirosyan No 3 and Lara No 2 this was a WBC eliminator and they may need to meet again. “Mikey” wins but not impressively. This was more of a tactical battle than a punch fest. Garcia’s superior skills saw him build an early lead being more accurate, but not really letting his punches go. Argentinian Barros got into the fight more from the fifth. The end came in the eighth as a Garcia left hook put Barros down. The Argentinian got up but was still badly shaken and indicated that he did not want to continue.  The 24-year-old fromOxnard has 26 wins by KO/TKO, the last eight in a row, but until that finishing punch he seemed to lack some fire on the night. He is No 1 feather with the WBO and has wins over Matt Remillard, Rafael Guzman and Bernabe Concepcion, so it should be Orlando Salido next. Former secondary WBA title holder at featherweight 28-year-old Barros lost inside the distance for the first time. He lost his secondary WBA title to Celestino Caballero in October last year and was beaten by Juan Carlos Salgado in a challenge for the IBF super feather. Three losses in his last four fights, so some rebuilding to do. Magdaleno is certainly one to watch. If the younger brother of unbeaten Diego keeps going the way he is the focus will change and they will soon be describing Diego as the elder brother of Jesse. Late in the first Magdaleno landed a left which sent Silveira reeling back to the ropes. Magdaleno just kept throwing shots until Silveira slumped to his knees and stayed there for the count. That is now nine wins by KO/TKO for the 21-year-old southpaw, seven in the first round. Mexican Silveira, 33, is now 2-6 in his last eight fights, but in his last 19 fights only the current WBC bantam champion Shinsuke Yamanaka has beaten him inside the distance, and he took nine rounds to do the job. Crawford also looks a hot prospect. The 25-year-old fromOmaha won ever round before finishing Brazilian Siqueira. A flashing combination of jabs followed by a left hook and a right put Siqueira down and the fight was stopped. That makes it 15 wins by KO/TKO for Crawford. He has ended 11 of his last 12 fights before the last bell. As an amateur he beat Luis Ramos and Danny Garcia and twice won against Diego Maldonado, but lost to Sadam Ali in the Olympic Trials. The 35-year-old Siqueira had lasted the full twelve rounds against Paulus Moses in September 2011.

Kempton Park, South Africa: Super Middle: Thomas Oosthuizen (21-0-1) W PTS 12 Fulgencio Zuniga (25-6-1). Super Fly: Gideon Buthelezi (13-3) W PTS 10 Edrin Dapudong (27-5). Cruiser: Thabiso Mchunu (12-1) W PTS 8 Danie Venter (15-5). Light Heavy: Ryno Liebenberg (10-0) W KO 9 Don Kampamba (6-3-1). Oosthuizen struggled to make the weight, needing three attempts, but make it he did, and went on to retain his IBO title with a wide unanimous decision. The 6’4” southpaw had big height and reach advantages (and probably weight too by fight time) and he was also much quicker so the Colombian challenger struggled to get into the fight. Oosthuizen was always in charge scoring with fast combinations which Zuniga just shrugged off. On the other hand when Zuniga got through with shots to the chin of the big South African Oosthuizen was similarly unmoved. Scores 120-108 and 119-109 twice. Still only 24 it must be questioned as to how long Oosthuizen can stay at super middle. There is talk of a fight with WBA middle champion Gennady Golovkin but that will only be feasible if a mutually acceptable catch weight can be arrived at. Zuniga, 35, was having only his second fight since December 2010. He is a former IBO champion, but lost in fights for the WBO light middle and super middle titles and IBF super middle and light heavy titles. Buthelezi, 26, wins the vacant IBO super fly title with controversial decision over Filipino Dapudong. The Filipino took the early rounds clearly with Buthelezi trying to spoil by constantly clinching from the start. Poor officiating let the home fighter continue this tactic without a warning or a deduction. The South African finally started fight in the middle rounds. However, in the ninth a left put Buthelezi flat on the canvas. Somehow Buthelezi made it to his feet but was floored again, only to have the genuine knockdown ruled a slip. Buthelezi recovered and as Dapudong’s workrate dropped the South African staged a strong finish. Scores 115-113 twice and 113-114. Despite the late surge by Buthelezi Dapudong looked a clear winner and the Filipinos were rightly claiming a robbery had been committed. Southpaw Buthelezi, a former South African and IBO strawweight champion, and IBO light flyweight title holder, was destroyed in two round by Adrian Hernandez in a WBC title challenge in September last year. This was his first fight since then, and he is now a three division IBO champion. Dapudong, also 26, had crashed the WBC ratings when he flattened Jesus Jimenez to win the vacant Silver title in 2010. However, he lost the Silver title to Wilbert Uicab in his next fight and was halted in three rounds by Herman Marquez in a WBF flyweight title fight in July 2011. He will want a return naturally. The cruiserweight “Last Man Standing” tournament ended with Thabiso Mchunu flooring Danie Venter three times. Mchunu had won his first two fights in the tournament with first round kayos of Flo Simba so he made it a clean sweep. Venter had impressed with wins over Daniel Bruwer and Zack Mwekassa, and was a slight favourite. Venter, 6’4 ½” tall was able to use his height and reach to score and stay out of trouble in the first three rounds, but southpaw Mchunu always looked dangerous. For some reason Venter was coming forward instead of using his advantages to box on the outside. He paid for it in the fourth as heavy shots from Mchunu had Venter reeling. In the fifth a left put Venter down. He got up but was floored twice more and the fight was stopped. Former South African champion Mchunu had outpointed Venter in 2011, but only on a majority decision. The 23-year-old “Rock” has been rebuilding after a surprise stoppage loss to Zack Mwekassa in September last year. He also wins the vacant ABU title. Venter’s wins over Simba, Bruwer and Mwekassa had revived his career, but this loss was so crushing that retirement may beckon. Liebenberg made heavy work of what should have been an early night. The South African floored Zambian Kampamba in both the first and third rounds, but failed to finish the fight. Instead it was the ninth before he landed two lefts which put Kampamba down and out. Liebenberg retains IBO All-African title and has seven wins by KO/TKO. Kampamba had lost on points to Johnny Muller in his previous trip toSouth Africa.

 

Malargue, Argentina: Fly: Juan Carlos Reveco (29-1) W PTS 12 Julian Rivera (13-6). Reveco totally outclasses his Mexican challenger and retains his interim WBA title for the third time. The pattern was monotonous with Reveco making light of the physical advantages of the taller Mexican. The Argentinian was just too fast of both hand and feet. He was able to score and be away and change the angle and come in again with Rivera just rooted to the spot. Rivera lost a point in the seventh for butting and was never in the fight with any sort of chance. Over the last couple of rounds Reveco just coasted. Scores 120-107 from all three judges for the 29-year-old former WBA light flyweight champion. Reveco has won 12 in a row since losing his WBA light fly title to Brahim Asloum in 2007. Typical WBA with Rivera having done nothing of consequence suddenly appearing at No 14 in their rating.

 

Helsinki, Finland: Heavy: Robert Helenius (18-0) W PTS 10 Sherman Williams (35-12-2,1ND). Middle: Patrick Nielsen (17-0) W PTS 10 Jamel Bahki (24-4-2). Feather: Andreas Evensen (17-2-1) W PTS 10 Philippe Frenois (15-7-1). Light Heavy: Erik Skogland (13-0) W TKO 1 Gyorgy Marosi (16-7). Middle: Ahmed Rifale (8-4-2) W TKO 8 Timo Lane (7-2). “The Nordic Nightmare” returns with a win. Convincing but not spectacular. Helenius boxed his way to victory. He took a while to shake off the ring rust against the clever Williams. There was a scare when Helenius  was badly stunned by a right from Williams in the sixth, and was in deep deep trouble, but the big Finn had recovered by the end of the round. After that he boxed more cautiously and was never again troubled. Scores 99-91, 99-93 and 98-93. His eleven months out due to injury has seen him drop out of the IBF/WBA/WBC ratings, but the WBO still have the 28-year-old at No 9. He will now get back into the ratings and look to make up lost time. The 40-year-old Williams had resurrected his career with a good showing in a No Decision fight with Evander Holyfield and an upset win over highly (over) rated Chauncy Welliver. The Bahamian “Tank” has a great chin and is a good test for the next generation, but needs to be more active. Nielsen remains unbeaten after tough fight with Belgian Bahki. The visitor had the better start and was well in front after three rounds. From then on Nielsen had his right jab working and picked up rounds. He was hampered by a cut on his right eyelid from a clash of heads but stuck to his boxing although tiring at the end. Widely varying scores of  99-91, 97-95 and 96-94 with the first looking way out. The 21-year-old Dane makes successful second defence of his WBA Inter-Continental title. Bahki had won nine of his last ten fights and put up a creditable performance. Colombian-born Norwegian Evensen wins wide decision over Frenchman. Neither fighter is really a puncher so this was strictly a boxing match. Evensen worked hard in every round and was the busier fighter. Frenois is a well condition, skilful fighter, but fought a very defensive fight. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. The 26-year-old Evensen lost a wide points verdict against Ricky Burns when challenging for the WBO super feather title in 2010, but was coming off a majority decision over Willie Casey in April. Frenois, 27, was coming off a loss against Alex Miskirtchian for the European title in April. He is 4-7 in his last eleven fights. Swedish prospect Skogland wins poor mismatch. He floors Marosi twice with body punches and the fight was halted with just one second left in the round. Really just a record padder for 21-year-old Skoglund who probably could have finished earlier with head punches. Now seven wins by KO/TKO for Skoglund, but he is learning nothing in fights like this. Hungarian Marosi, 35, was stopped in 99 seconds by Enzo Maccarinelli in 2011. This was his third one round loss. A minor upset saw Frenchman Rifale halt Finn Laine in the last round. Laine was aggressive, but in swinging big, wide hooks he was leaving himself open to counters. Rifale took full advantage and was handing out a beating. Laine was not helped when he suffered a cut by his right eye in the sixth. He was just soaking up punishment when the fight was halted. The 32-year-old Rifale had won only one of his last six fights, but Laine’s style played right into his hands. First loss inside the distance for the Finnish champion.

 

Aix-en-Provence, France: Light Heavy: Nadjib Mohammedi (29-3) W TKO 4 Sergey Beloshapkin (10-7-1). WBFederation champion Mohammedi halts Russian in non-title fight. The 27-year-old local fighter just hit too hard for the normally durable Beloshapkin. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for Mohammedi and five wins in a row. He put up a good performance when losing to Nat Cleverly for the WBO title in 2010, but was destroyed in two rounds by Dmitry Sukhotsky in 2011. Southpaw Beloshapkin, 31, had been unlucky to only get a draw with Ukrainian prospect Artem Redko (20-2-1) in December.

 

Campbon, France: Welter: Sebastien Allais (16-6-3) DREW 10 Loic Foure (19-8-2). Welter: Steven Bloyer (13-6) W PTS 10 Ahmed El Hamwi (8-2-1). Total confusion marked the end of this bout for the vacant French title with the local boxer Allais being given the championship belt even though two of the judges scored the fight a draw. As for the fight Allais did all of the pressing, but Foure boxed well and showed good defensive skills. Allais was behind early but took the seventh and eighth rounds only for Foure to bounce back and win the last two and he looked to have edged the decision. The scoring was 95-95 from two judges and 97-93 for Allais. There was confusion over whether there had to be a winner in a fight for the vacant title and the belt was presented to Allais. However, the rules governing French boxing allow for a draw in a fight for the vacant title so Allais will have to return the belt and then there will a return match for the still vacant title. Allais had outpointed Foure in the League Cup tournament in 2011. Foure, 32,who lost to Chris Sebire for the French light welter title in 2009, had won his last four fights. No controversy in the other fight as local Bloyer won a unanimous verdict over French-based El Hamwi to win the UBO title. Bloyer had to take the fight inside against the taller Belgian and he kept up the pressure throughout the fight. Bloyer is a light puncher, but has a busy style. A tiring El Hamwi had trouble with the pace set by the local and had to spit out his mouthpiece for a breather. In the end all three judges gave it to Bloyer on scores of 97-93. First tem round fight for Bloyer, and he was coming off a loss, but now he is a champion.

 

Civitavecchia, Italy: Welter: Gianluca Branco (45-3-1) WPTS 12 Krzys Bienias (42-4-1). Middle: Domenico Spada (36-4) W PTS 6 Sandro Ramocsa (12-22). Age does not appear to mean anything to the Branco family. At 42 Gianluca wins another title as he outpoints Pole Bienias for the vacant EU title. The home town fighter made the better start taking two of the first three rounds with his jab and long left hooks. In the fourth Branco had Bienias hurt in the middle of the round and continued his pressure in the fifth. Again his jab was the dominant punch in the sixth, and Bienias showed signs of tiring in the eighth and his work rate dropped. Early in the ninth a clash of heads saw both fighters cut. The Doctor examined the cuts and let the fight continue. Both fighters lost some of their fire after the cuts. Knowing he was behind Bienias stepped up the pace and had Branco rocking with a right in the tenth and edged the eleventh. The Pole also scored well at the start of the last round, but Branco found the energy to fire back . Scores 117-111, 117-113 and 116-113. First fight in a year for Branco. In a 17 year career he has been Italian champion, twice been European champion and challenged unsuccessfully for the vacant WBC title (losing to Arturo Gatti) and the WBO title (losing to Miguel Cotto). His only other defeat was against Matthew Hatton for the vacant European title in March 2010. Brother Silvio who is 46 is still rated No 3 cruiser by the WBC, so a remarkable pair of brothers. Bienias, a mere 32, has no luck where European titles are concerned as he lost to both Oktay Urkal and Junior Witter in EBU title fights. He also has no luck against British fighters with Kell Brook stopping his in six rounds in 2010 to snap a run of 17 wins. Paid sparring for Spada as he takes it easy against Hungarian. Spada picked up the pace a bit in the third, but then just settled down to use Ramocsa for some practice. Spada is No 2 with the WBC, not because he has won any big fights since losing to Darren Barker in April 2011, but because he won the WBC Silver title. Ramocsa has fought inItaly 18 times, and lost 18 times.

 

Ecatepec, Mexico: Welter: Humberto Soto (59-8-2) W PTS 12 Jose Lopez (17-3-1). Light Welter: Antonio Lozada Jr (29-1) W KO 2 Edgar Llanes (13-4). Super Bantam: Rodolfo Hernandez (24-3-1,1ND) W TKO 7 Dennis Contreras (15-1). Soto wins “world” title in fourth division as he takes unanimous decision over “Piston” Lopez to win the WBFederation title.  The greater experience of Soto was a big factor but Lopez made it a tough fight in more ways than one. Lopez came out and pressured Soto in the first round and a low blow sent Soto to the canvas where he writhed in agony. Seeing that no disqualification and no deduction was forthcoming Soto got up and fought on. From the third the better boxing and superior speed of Soto saw him build a lead. Lopez was still coming forward and scoring with hooks to the body, but he overstepped the mark in the sixth. In this round a series of low blows saw Lopez twice suffer a one point deduction. Lopez was still scoring well with hooks to the body and took the next three rounds. Soto had to use all of his experience to stay in the fight and he finished strongly to win. Scores 115-111, 115-112 and 114-112.  The 32-year-old “Little Fox” is kidding himself if the thinks people will accept winning a WBF title  makes him a real four division champion, but that’s boxing today. Lopez, 21, will be a force in years to come if he can find consistency. Losses to Jhonny Navarrete and Viktor Postl are not good performances, but here he gave Soto a hard night. Lopez has wins over Cesar Soto and Jorge Paez Jr and won the WBF title with a decision over Jose Emilio Perea (21-1). “Canitas” Lozada gets it over quickly. In the second a right to the chin puts Llanes down. He gets up only to be dropped again by a left hook and a third knockdown from a combination finishes the fight. The tall 22-year-old makes it 25 wins by KO/TKO. Now six wins since stoppage loss to Roberto Ortiz in June 2011. Third loss by KO/TKO for Llanes who took David Lopez to a majority decision. He has been in with Saul Alvarez, Mike Alvarado and Jesus Soto Karass. Hernandez makes it 22 wins by KO/TKO with stoppage of Contreras. This was close until the seventh when Hernandez broke through and had Contreras in a shaky condition when the referee stopped the fight. “Flabby” Hernandez has impressive figures, but losses to Jesus Galicia and Aaron Bobadilla are poor results. Contreras has been built up on poor opposition with only two of his victims having won more than they have lost.

 

Donetsk, Ukraine: Super Middle: Stas Kashtanov (30-1) W PTS 12 Server Yemurlayev (22-1). Cruiser: Iago Kiladze (20-0) W PTS 12 Ismail Abdoul (46-25-2). Feather: Oleg Yefimovych (23-2) W KO 10 Franklin Teran (33-7-1). Light Middle: Artem Karpets (17-0) W PTS 10 Semjons Moroseks (17-21-1). In a clash of Donetsk-based fighters Kashtanov wins interim WBA title with points victory over stable mate Yemurlayev. It was a close fight which saw both fighters have their periods on top. In the end Kashtanov was just the busier and won on scores of 118-110, 116-113 and 113-115. The 28-year-old lost a split decision to Karoly Balzsay for the secondary WBA title in August 2008. Yemurlayev was rated No 4 going in. Kiladze retains his WBA Inter-Continental title with a unanimous decision over experienced 36-year-old Belgian. Typical Abdoul performance as he shows a great chin but not much else. Kiladze won every round, but like all but one of Abdoul’s 73 opponents (Krzys Wlodarczyk stopped him in 12 rounds back in 2002) he could not put the Belgian away. Scores 120-108 from all three judges for the 25-year-old WBA No 6. Former European champion “Doctor” Yefimovych almost blows it against “Destroyer” Teran. The Ukrainian was much the better boxer and piled up the points over the first eight rounds. In the ninth the tables turned completely as the Colombian-born Spanish-based Teran dropped Yefimovych twice with hard shots. Yefimovych beat the count on each occasion but he was only saved from a stoppage defeat by the bell. Yefimovych must have been still shaky at the start of the tenth but amazingly he straight away exploded with a barrage of punches and put Teran down for the count after just 26 seconds. Yefimovych retains his WBA Inter-Continental title for the third time. He has five wins since losing his European title on a split decision to Sofiane Takoucht in 2010. In one of his defences he kayoed Esham Pickering in three rounds. AnotherDonetsk fighter, Ukrainian champion Artem Karpets, won a unanimous verdict over Latvian Moroseks.

 

Accra, Ghana: Light: Emmanuel Tagoe (20-1) W PTS 12 George Ashie (23-4-1). Super Bantam: Ray Commey (7-2) W TKO 10 Emmanuel Quartey (13-1). Bantam : Isaac Owusu (15-3) W TKO 4 Kamarudeen Boyefio (4-4). Tagoe wins vacant WBA International title with a majority decision over Ashie. It was Ashie who made the better start getting through with some hard body punches. Tagoe was on the defensive over the first three rounds. He took temporary control in the fourth only for Ashie to fire back in the fifth. From the sixth the Azumah Nelson trained Tagoe used good boxing skills to blunt the attacks of Ashie and score with quick combinations. Ashie’s hands-down approach also left plenty of gaps for Tagoe’s counters but it was a tough close fight. Scores 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114. Tagoe had entered the ring in a king’s regalia so had to win or look silly. “Game Boy” Tagoe’s only loss was in his first fight and he is a former Ghanaian feather and WBO African super feather champion. There are no big names on his record, but he is hoping this win will bring big fights his way.  “Red Tiger “ Ashie ( real name Attoh Quarshie) had vowed to retire if he lost, but almost certainly will want a return. Ashie also lost his first fight. His other two losses had been to Martin Watson and on points against Kevin Mitchell for the vacant Commonwealth super feather title in 2006. He had won the vacant Commonwealth title with a victory over Bilal Mohammad in April, but is now an ex-champion. Under Commonwealth Council rules Ashie loses his Commonwealth title by losing to another Commonwealth boxer at the weight limit. However, as no sanction fee was paid Tagoe could not win the title. Commey sprang an upset as he came from behind to sensationally beat highly touted Quartey at the end of the tenth round to retain his national title. Commey has won his last five fights. Quartey had won all of his fights by KO/TKO but tellingly ten of his victims had never won a fight. Ghanaian champion Owusu punched too hard for Boyefio in a non-title fight and Boyefio retired at the end of the fourth round. After three losses inBritain in 2009, one to Don Broadhurst for the Commonwealth super fly title, he has won his last 13. Again the matching has been abysmal with ten of his opponents never having won a fight. The night also included music from top Ghanaian artists and was attended by  Azumah Nelson, David “Poison” Kotey, Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko.

 

Providence, USA: Heavy: Jason Estrada (20-4-1,1ND) W TKO 5 Galen Brown (38-22-1,5ND). “Big Six” Estrada make it four wins in a row. He had little to beat in Brown. Estrada softened Brown up with body punches then floored him in the fifth. Brown got up but was unable to escape further punishment and the fight was stopped. As an amateur Estrada was outstanding winning theUS championships three times and a gold medal at the Pan American Games. However, as a pro he has lost all of the big fights, being beaten by Travis Walker, Alex Povetkin, Tomasz Adamek and Franklin Lawrence. He took eleven months out after theLawrence loss and this was his fourth win since his return. At 31 it looks as though he is not going to make it to the top as a pro. Southpaw Brown, also 31, is 3-7 in his last ten fights.

 

Koblenz, Germany: Cruiser: Dennis Ronert (13-0) W TKO 2 Ergin Solmaz (6-28-3). Cruiser: Enad Licina (22-4) W TKO 2 Koeksal Orduhan (0-16-2). Local 20-year-old Ronert wins a rubbish fight as 40-year-old Turk Solmaz retires at the end of the second round claiming injury. Ronert has eleven wins by KO/TKO but against modest opposition.  Former IBF cruiserweight challenger Licina almost finishes it in the first, but ends the job 25 seconds into the second. First fight for Licina since loss to Alex Alekseev for vacant European title in February. It would be flattering this match to describe it as rubbish.

 

November 13

 

Ayutthaya, Thailand: Super Fly: Denkoasan (58-3-1) W TKO 3 Rodel Tejares (20-24-4). Straw: Kwanthai (38-1-1) W PTS 6 Ichal Tobidal (7-10). Keep busy fight for former WBA flyweight champion as he goes to 24 wins by KO/TKO. He has won eight in a row since being blown away in 90 seconds by Luis Concepcion in 2010. The current WBA No 3 retains his PABA title. Tejares, not rated in the GAB top 15, has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights. Just a walk in the park for former WBA champion Kwanthai. He has won his last seven after dropping his WBA title to Muhammad Rachman in April last year.

 

Sara Buri, Thailand: Super Flyweight: Oleydong (44-1-1) W PTS 12 Hiroyuki Hisataka (21-10-1). Former WBC strawweight champion Oleydong makes fourth defence of his WBC International title but given twelve good rounds by Japanese fighter Hisataka. Oleydong wins on scores of 116-113 twice and 117-111. Oleydong skipped two divisions and is now the WBC No 3 at super fly. Although never the Japanese champion Hasataka had gone the distance in three WBA title challenges losing at flyweight to Takefumi Sakata and Denkoasan (split decision) and to Hugo Cazares at super fly. He is currently No 2 in the Japanese ratings.

 

My last report for 2012 as I will be busy on boxing and family business in November and December. Back in the new year.