Friday Worldwide Results - Montiel survives, anarchy in Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium

Randall Bailey NC-2 Said Ouali - Bailey and Ouali met up in Belgium in an IBF welterweight title eliminator for the right to face Jan Zaveck.  Contrary to most common sense, Ouali was nearly a 3-1 favorite coming into this one, despite Bailey having the biggest right hand in boxing, and Ouali having heen knocked out by Kermit Cintron and knocked down in his last fight.  Right off the bat, this was a dogfight, with both men focused on offense.  In the second round, Bailey twice found the distance with his right hand, knocking down Ouali each time.  But about halfway into the round, in some kind of mental lapse, Bailey picked up Ouali, pretty much placed him on the turnbuckle, and Ouali fell out of the ring.  After five minutes, Ouali was still unable to continue and the bout was declared a no contest.  A rematch seems very likely.

Saltillo, Mexico

Fernando Montiel KO-2 Jovanny Soto - Montiel just needed to not look past Soto to set up a big money fight with Nonito Donaire in February.  Montiel came out hard, knocking Soto down in the first and twice in the second en route to a knockout.  After the fight, Montiel said he felt strong and is ready to face Donaire.  The two pound-for-pound entrants are scheduled to meet on February 19 on HBO.

Kissimmee, Florida

Ed Paredes SD-12 Antonio Pitalua - Paredes has become somewhat of a draw in Florida these days.  On the heels of an impressive knockout victory over the man with the worst nickname in boxing, Joey "Twinkletoes" Hernandez, Paredes took on former lightweight titlist Paredes a couple hundred miles north of his usual home base.  Early going, the fight went as you might expect - the much longer and fresher Paredes was able to put rounds in the bank, outboxing Pitalua on the outside, while Pitalua kept looking for that big knockout punch.  However, as the fight wore on, Pitalua was able to provide significant suspense, taking many of the later rounds on aggressiveness and even knocking down Paredes in the 11th.  By the end of the fight, Paredes looked much worse for wear, and while there were two fair scores of 114-113 Paredes and 115-112 Pitalua, judge Peter Trematerra turned in one of the worst scorecards of the year, scoring it 117-110 for Paredes.

Chubut, Argentina

Hector David Saldivia TKO-5 Jorge Daniel Miranda - On the same night that Said Ouali ended up in a strange fight, his last opponent also fought for the first time since their one round mini-war on the Mayweather-Mosley undercard. Saldivia had no problems with Miranda, an Argentine journeyman who Saldivia had stopped once before.  After five one-sided rounds, Miranda's corner stopped the fight by stepping onto the apron.  After the fight, Saldivia announced that he has reached a deal to fight Sebastian Lujan next, a fight that could have solid implications in what has quickly become a very thin welterweight division.