Saturday Night Results: Moreno defeats Cermeno; Vazquez dominates Kim; Garcia defeats Lock; Mijares back on streak

Panama City, Panama

Anselmo Moreno SD12 Nehomar Cermeno - Moreno was able to narrowly defeat Cermeno in a fight that was close throughout and fairly tough to score (at least on a choppy feed).  The two fighters alternated, almost round by round, as to who was the aggressor, while the other fighter was looking to defend and counter.  Much like the previous encounter, this was a dirty fight, with almost non-stop clinching and a few warnings for various infractions.  The final scores were 115-113 Cermeno, 117-112 Moreno, and 115-113 Moreno, although it seemed that the fight really could have gone either way for the second time in a row.  After the fight, Moreno called out pretty much everyone in the bantamweight class, and said he'd be happy to participate in Showtime's tournament.

Gennady Golovkin KO1 Milton Nunez - Nunez, who as some kind of bad joke was sanctioned to face Gennady Golovkin for a vacant interim middleweight title, was flattened quickly in an embarrassing mismatch.  Despite the big gap in skill level, Golovkin still should become one of the rising stars in the middleweight division.  The 2004 Olympic gold medalist is a technically solid southpaw who has two-handed power.  Next on tap, he'll be facing fellow Olympian Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam for the full vacant title in what could be a great fight between two of the future stars of the weight class, along the lines of Pirog-Jacobs.

Luis Concepcion KO1 Wilfrido Valdez - Interim titlist Concepcion did what he was supposed to do against lesser competition, and preserves his fight in two months against full titlist Denkaosan Kaovichit.

Eric Castro KO8 Whyber Garcia - Well, I guess Yuriorkis Gamboa's demolition of Garcia doesn't look quite as impressive now.  Castro moves to 8-2.

Montreal, Quebec

Jean Pascal UD12 Chad Dawson - In the biggest upset of the year to this point, Jean Pascal was able to claim the light heavyweight championship by convincingly beating Chad Dawson.  While Pascal is no longer the same fighter he was when he fought Carl Froch a couple of years ago, this still makes the current complexion of the super middleweight division look that much better.  Our full write-up of the fight is here. 

Laredo, Texas

Miguel Vazquez UD12 Ji Hoon Kim - In a solid action fight, Vazquez (right) was able to utilize his straighter, cleaner punches and win a wide unanimous decision over Ji Hoon Kim. While Kim tried his absolute hardest as usual, his wide, looping punches just weren't able to reach their target before Vazquez was able to throw a straight shot and get out of the way.  Kim still landed enough to make the fight exciting, including causing a cut on Vazquez's hairline, but Vazquez was able to take nearly every round close but clear.  In addition, Vazquez moved better overall and was able to dominate Kim whenever he got inside. The former Antonio Margarito sparring partner, whose career got off to a rocky start, wins a vacant lightweight title and now will have some leverage to make major fights in the division. Frankly, I wouldn't count him out.  Kim hits a speedbump in his career.  He still has great power and great heart, but it's obvious that he needs a retooling in his mechanics to get much further than he already has.  With the right people in his corner and a willingness to learn, this loss can become a growing experience rather than an end to his career as a contender.

Mikey Garcia TKO11 Cornelius Lock - While Lock put up a tough fight, Garcia was able to beat him up in a way he'd never been beaten up before, even though Lock has been in there with a lot of tough competition over the years.  After 10 rounds, Lock was bloodied and battered.  In the 11th, Garcia landed a big right hook that send Lock to the floor, and the referee stopped the bout without a count.

Sinaloa, Mexico

Cristian Mijares TKO4 Franklin Solis - This is former pound for pound entrant Mijares's fourth straight win over subpar competition since losing three straight to Vic Darchinyan and Nehomar Cermeno (twice).  The rumor du jour is that unified titlist Fernando Montiel will try to face Mijares in late September before facing Nonito Donaire in December.

Norfolk, Virginia

Hasim Rahman, KO6 Damon Reed - Mr. Bill, this one's for you.  It's Rahman's third win over journeymen since getting shellacked by Wladimir Klitschko, although he came into this one in better shape, at 252 pounds.