Catch the previous weekly installment here.
2013-01-28 Bangplama School, Suphan Buri, Thailand
Thailand TV 7
Nawaphon Por Chokchai TKO8 Ronerex Dalut
I haven't actually seen this main event, but apparently Chokchai successfully defended his WBC Asian Boxing Council flyweight title. His record is now 12-0 with 9 knockouts.
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai TKO1 Yodpichai Sithsaithong
This was the one fight I did see on this card. It was really just a stay busy mismatch for Srisaket, but it was important in that it leads to a world title shot against Yota Sato in April. In any event Srisaket just steam rolled over Yodpichai in less than 80 seconds. Despite the brevity of the fight, accumulation of punishment (to the head and body) caused Yodpichai to fold. Srisaket hasn't fought anyone on Sato's level yet, but he should give Sato a good fight and I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled off the upset.
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2013-01-29 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Camcorder
Rey Megrino TKO3 Kenji Kubo
Although technically not the main event this was easily the highest profiled bout on this obscure town hall card. Megrino is the man who retired the great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. But before that, Megrino was just a run of the mill journeyman who had lost to 1-0 fighters like Kubo in the past. However, Kubo was not as fortunate as his predecessors.
This fight was a war from start to finish. Kubo took the worst of the punishment in every round but the momentum swung back and forth. Round 2 was easily one of the best rounds I've seen all year. Had the fight went on much longer it was shaping up to be a fight of the year. But unfortunately Kubo was taking far too many clean bombs to the head and was only human. Ultimately a 1-2 combination put Kubo down in the 3rd round and follow-up left hooks dropped him again while he was defenseless against the ropes. The referee jumped in to stop the fight just before Megrino landed his final shot.
Megrino is now riding a 4 fight winning streak, the longest of his career. If he wins his next bout he'll have as many wins as he has losses (he's currently 19-20-3).
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2013-01-30 Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
This card, televised by Main Event Australia / Foxtel / SKY Arena, was previously recapped here.
Daniel Geale UD12 Anthony Mundine (116-112, 117-111, 117-111)
Kevin Ferguson KO2 Shane Tilyard
Daniel Ammann UD10 David Aloua (98-92, 99-91, 99-91)
Joel Brunker UD8 Ivan Hernandez (80-72, 79-73, 78-75)
Jamie Pittman UD8 Zac Awad (80-72, 80-72, 80-72)
Lauryn Eagle UD8 Nadine Brown (78-72, 78-74, 78-74)
Steve Lovett UD6 Jeremy Allan (57-56, 57-56, 57-56)
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2013-01-30 Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Azteca America
Jose Cayetano TKO2 Jesus Lopez
Lopez, off balance, was dropped 3 times by right hands in round 1. Lopez made the mistake of pulling straight back to avoid punches and Cayetano punched in bunches and kept coming forward. Usually a referee would wave a fight off after 3 knockdowns, but Juan Jose Ramirez was able to realize they were more due to poor balance than anything else. However, after the referee saw a 4th knockdown in round 2, enough was enough. Lopez had his feet planted in the center of the ring prior to the last knockdown. His confidence following some brief success of his own betrayed him.
El "Tigre" Cayetano improved his record to 14-1 while "Piriguas" Lopez fell to 6-9-1.
Jose Estrella UD6 Saul Hernandez
Jolene Blackshear UD6 Linda Soto
Alejandro Solis TKO1 Eduardo De La Cruz
Both fighters went down, the 2nd of which came in highlight reel fashion.
Erick Martinez TKO2 Miguel Angel Garcia Nava
Nava had trouble seeing and quit. I think blood got into his eyes, but there wasn't a lot of it. In any event he could hardly fight back before the bout ended.
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2013-02-01 Prankatai Pittayakhom School, Phran Kratai, Thailand
Thailand TV 7
Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo RTD4 Arief Blader
After Chonlatarn punished Arief with uppercuts in the 4th round, the Indonesian retired in his corner prior to round 5. Piriyapinyo had already stopped Blader last year, also in 4 rounds, but I suppose Chonlatarn just wanted to knock out an Indonesian after failing to get the job done against Chris John.
As a result the 28 year old Thai fighter retained his WBO Asia Pacific featherweight title and improved his record to 45-1. Hopefully we don't have to wait for him to accumulate another 44 straight wins before he steps up to world level again. He's a fun fighter to watch.
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2013-02-01 ISS Dome, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
UK BoxNation / Germany SAT1 / Australia Main Event / Argentina TyC Sports / Denmark TV 3 Sport 1
Sam Soliman UD12 Felix Sturm (116-111, 114-113, 114-113)
This bout was previously recapped by Scott Christ here. I agree with everything he wrote.
Susi Kentikian UD10 Sanae Jah (99-90½, 98-93, 97½-92)
In the female main event of the evening Kentikian got back to her winning ways against 7 fight novice Jah. Although Jah had never fought someone with a winning record, she was surprisingly skilled so I didn't really mind that the interim WBA female flyweight title was up for grabs. It's also worth noting that this was the first time the half point scoring system was used in a female title fight in Europe.
Previously I've reserved passing judgment on Kentikian, former female p4p star, following her back to back losses to Melissa McMorrow and Carina Moreno. McMorrow is a really good fighter in her prime and the Moreno decision is widely considered a robbery (I scored it 97-94 Kentikian). However, although she clearly beat Jah, it was much more difficult than it should have been. Jah gave Kentikian a black eye and had her jittery for much of the bout.
Kentikian is only 25, but after amassing a record of 30-2 [1 NC], I think we've seen the last of her winning at the top level. And you could argue that she'd never won at that level to begin with, despite being unbeaten in her first 16 world title fights. Nonetheless I remain a fan and eagerly await her future fights. Kentikian should be able to win a rematch with WBA full champion Moreno, who was 1-4 in her previous 5 fights before upsetting Kentikian.
Lolenga Mock UD8 Patrick Dobroschi
Maurice Weber UD6 Mariusz Biskupski
Adnan Redzovic UD6 Niko Falin
Arman Torosyan UD6 Marcen Gierke
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2013-02-02 Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TyC Sports
Elias Leandro Vallejos MD10 Gumersindo Lucas Carrasco (94-94, 96-91, 96-93)
Carrasco, previously unbeaten in Argentina, at least officially, had a reputation for being an action fighter but not a very clean one. Against Vallejos, who has more of a spoiling style, Carrasco's action went down and his dirty tactics went up. Both fighters would go on to lose points. But while Vallejos-Carrasco wasn't entertaining, it was competitive. Through 6 rounds the fight was about even. But from about the 7th round on Vallejos was able to out box Carrasco for most of the remaining rounds. TyC scored the bout 96-91 Vallejos, as did judge Juan Carlos Palmieri.
As for the point deductions, Carrasco lost a point for an intentional headbutt in round 5. When the action resumed another headbutt opened up a bad cut above Vallejos' left eye. The 2nd headbutt wasn't obviously intentional, but Carrasco clearly intentionally lead with his head (which is illegal whether you injure your opponent or not). Consequently the referee docked Carrasco a 2nd point. Vallejos lost a point of his own in the 6th, although I'm not quite sure why.
Ironically, despite the dirty nature of the fight, both fighters embraced at the start of the final round. Then they proceeded to foul each other some more. Each fighter thought they deserved the decision and nearly had an altercation after the scorecards were read, arguing about headbutts (both were cut from them). But just when you thought things could get out of hand, they hugged each other again and Carrasco may have kissed Vallejos (hard to tell with the camera angle). In any event, it was far too touchy feely for my liking.
Carrasco's record drops to 17-2 [1 NC] while Vallejos improves to 13-1-1. After losing 2 of his last 3 perhaps a rematch with Juan Manuel Bonanni will finally happen. Their first fight in 2010 was my pick for fight of the year. Carrasco was lucky to escape victorious to say the least.
Diego Luis Pichardo Liriano SD6 Carlos Ariel Farias
Luis Alberto Vera UD4 Daniel Alberto Behm
Pablo Ariel Gomez UD4 Dario Jesus Mussa
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2013-02-02 Berkeley Institute Gym, Pembroke, Bermuda
BerNews.com
Teresa Perozzi D10 Tori Nelson (96-95, 95-95, 94-97)
In a rematch between a southpaw boxer (Perozzi) and an orthodox puncher (Nelson), no victor was announced for a 2nd time. That being said, I did enjoy the rematch more than their first fight.
After a thin opening round with nothing really between them, Nelson was dropped in round 2 only to be ruled down by a slip. To be fair she did in fact trip, but it wasn't over anything but a dry canvas following legal punches that landed as she pulled out. Ironically Perozzi ended up floored in the very next round. It was official, and she was clearly hurt. Nelson jumped on Perozzi immediately to try to end the fight early but ended up on the deck again herself, this time officially. Nelson however was not nearly as stunned as Perozzi and held her own for the rest of the round, so she still deserved to win it.
As for the rest of the fight, it was murky to say the least. There were simply very few clean, effective punches landed by either party. Nelson struggled to get on the inside and Perozzi primarily disengaged as opposed to punishing Nelson as she came in. Then when effective work would actually get done, it was usually give and take. It's no wonder the fight was ruled a draw again; there really wasn't much for judges to choose from. Each fighter won a couple clear rounds and the rest could have gone either way. The crowd cheered when the two wrestled on the inside and threw wide, ineffective bombs at each other but they basically just cancelled each other out.
Due to the draw, the WBC female middleweight title remained vacant and Perozzi remained the WBA female middleweight champion. It appears Nelson will just move on and fight Maria Lindberg for the WIBA middleweight title next. I would prefer if Perozzi unified with WBO/WBF female middleweight champion Christina Hammer, but fat chance... Unfortunately the pickings are really slim in the female middleweight division.
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2013-02-02 Salle Pierre Scohy, Aulnay-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
IHTEP
Max Bursak TKO3 Julien Marie Sainte
Former France middleweight champion Sainte, riding a 16 fight winning streak, was not unskilled but apparently didn't throw with enough power to make Bursak respect him. Bursak walked Sainte down and beat him up. Sainte's right eye was bloody after only 1 round and he was no longer remotely competitive by round 2. Early in round 3 Bursak unleashed a barrage while Sainte was pinned against the ropes. Sainte went down and the ref waved the fight off. Sainte wanted to continue and easily got up in time, but it was pointless to let the mismatch go on.
Bursak, a former interim WBO middleweight title challenger, picked up the vacant EBU middleweight title for dismantling Sainte. The Ukrainian's only loss is to Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, which quite frankly is nothing to be ashamed of.
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2013-02-02 Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
DirecTV PPV live / Azteca 7 (Mexico) delayed
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO9 Aldimar Silva Santos
Although JuanMa had his resilient opponent in trouble as early as round 3, and floored in rounds 5 and 7, he couldn't finish Santos off until the penultimate round. Santos was floored for a 3rd time by a series of straight left hands in the 9th round. He beat the count and the action resumed, but the referee waved the fight off while Santos was still standing with his back to the ropes. On the basis of the punches thrown / landed while Santos was against the ropes the stoppage was early. But the ref was just being merciful once you factor in the one sided nature of the rest of the bout.
Despite the easy win, Lopez showed no signs of improvements since losing to Salido for a 2nd time. Nonetheless it was more than enough to get the job done against Santos. In the last year and a half Santos was stopped in 2 rounds by Robinson Castellanos (mandatory for winner of Ponce De Leon - Velez) and Jesse Magdaleno (unbeaten prospect whom Lopez decided not to fight). Logic would suggest that someone of JuanMa's accomplishments should have been able to wipe out Santos early, but stranger things have happened. This was JuanMa's first fight since his suspension after all.
Will super featherweight be the 3rd weight class where Lopez picks up a world title? I suppose against WBO champion Rocky Martinez, anything is possible. But other than that, I believe Lopez has reached his ceiling. A guy like WBA champion Takashi Uchiyama could end his career.
Jose A Gonzalez RTD5 Alejandro Rodriguez
McJoe Arroyo TKO4 Felipe Rivas
McWilliams Arroyo KO4 Miguel Tamayo
Jonathan Gonzalez NC1 Omar Salado
Salado was unintentionally clipped behind the head by an overshot right hook. You could say he quit, but the blow was illegal, and maybe he simply could not recover in time. What I found odd was that they decided to stop the fight before even taking 2 minutes to let Salado attempt to recover. They should have asked Salado if he could continue after giving him 5 minutes (standard procedure).
Felix Verdejo TKO3 Jose Santiago
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2013-02-02 Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Fox Sports
Frankie Gomez UD10 Lanard Lane (98-92, 100-90, 100-90)
Gomez proved his worth in the 2nd real challenge of his career (the 1st coming against Adrian Granados) by dominating Lanard Lane from about round 5 onward. Gomez was in shape (which he sometimes is not, making for difficult fights) and arguably won every round against Lane. There was nothing pretty about what Gomez did, but he was busier and inflicted the most damage. Lane was reluctant to let his hands go, hinting that he was uncomfortable with Gomez's power. Gomez still only fought in spurts but exploded and did more in a few seconds than Lane would do in minutes.
As commentator Doug Fischer pointed out, someone who could apply consistent pressure on Gomez and force him to fight the full 3 minutes of a round could break him down. In other words, the junior welterweight prospect should probably stay far away from a Brandon Rios or Lucas Matthysse. But there's hardly any shame in that...
Mickey Bey Jr KO3 Robert Rodriguez
This was a highlight reel knockout.
Luis Arias TKO2 Joshua Robertson
Joseph Diaz TKO2 Jose Ruiz
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2013-02-02 Convention Center, McAllen, Texas, USA
UniMas (formerly known as Telefutura)
Andre Dirrell UD10 Michael Gbenga (100-87, 100-87, 100-87)
UniMas didn't televise this bout, but since it's probably the only fight most readers care to know about I figured I list the result anyways. From the live TopRank twitter reports that I read Dirrell dominated the entire fight. Apparently Dirrell scored an official knockdown in the 9th and an unofficial knockdown in the 10th.
Jose Felix Jr UD10 Gerardo Robles (98-91, 97-92, 96-93)
Felix, the taller and more slender fighter, kept most of his shots straight and worked off his jab as he moved around the ring. Robles, wide in the shoulders, applied pressure and threw mostly hooks and overhand rights. Robles did not jab his way in and consequently did not let his hands go enough to win rounds, as Felix was easily able to keep him at a distance.
Robles was rocked by a counter left hook in the 4th round but it was mostly a balance issue. Ironically Robles would later rock Felix with a jab at the end of the round. Felix then put on a boxing clinic for the remainder of the bout.
Ultimately Felix Jr advanced his record to 23-0-1 and has beaten every opponent he has ever faced. I believe he's a legitimate lightweight prospect worth following. Robles was hardly the opponent to prove his worth against but Felix did beat Luis Cruz a few fights ago. The only thing that bothers me is that Cruz dropped Felix with a jab and Robles was able to stun him with one. Neither Cruz nor Robles are particularly adept with their jabs, so what happens when Felix fights someone like a Miguel Vazquez, Ricky Burns, or Kevin Mitchell?
Then again, Felix is only 20 years old. He has plenty of time to develop. Let's take things one step at a time before defining his limitations.
Hardy Paredes KO2 Rafael Reyes
Up until the end it appeared that if anyone was going to be knocked out, it would be Paredes. Welcome to boxing, the theater of the unexpected.
David Rios UD4 Noe Santamaria
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Only 2 more official entries to #QuitCounter2013 this week, which appear in bold.
2013-01-05 Reyes Sanchez RTD5/TKO6 Ramiro Alcaraz
2013-01-11 Brandon Holmes TKO4 Javier Esparza
2013-01-11 Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym TKO4 Noli Morales
2013-01-12 Hector Alfredo Avila RTD6/TKO7 Emilio Ezequiel Zarate
2013-01-12 Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda RTD3/TKO4 Sergio Alejandro Blanco
2013-01-18 Brandon Riddell TKO1 Eric McNorris
2013-01-19 Khalid Yafai RTD4 Gonzalo Garcia
2013-01-19 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti RTD7/TKO8 Franco Raul Sanchez
2013-01-23 Delen Parsley RTD2 Tyrone Selders
2013-01-23 Eugene Russell KO1 Granson Clark
2013-01-25 Brian Vera TKO10 Serhiy Dzinziruk
2013-01-25 Edgar Santana TKO3 Eddie Soto
2013-01-25 Franklin Lawrence RTD2 Mark Brown
2013-01-25 Omar Douglas RTD2 David Warren Huffman
2013-01-30 Erick Martinez TKO2 Miguel Angel Garcia Nava
2013-02-01 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo RTD4 Arief Blader
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If a bout is not mentioned which took place on one of the above cards it’s most likely because I haven’t got around to watching it yet. In the event that I do watch such a bout at a later time it’s still unlikely I will update this recap. My recaps will be posted on Mondays and/or Wednesdays, devoted to cards that most casual American boxing fans haven’t seen or heard of. For available footage of the previously reported bouts follow @sweetboxing on twitter. You may also email the author of this piece at rgbivins@gmail.com.