Here are the purses from last week's ESPN Friday Night Fights card from the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas.

Televised Fights

Note: Purses for the Magomed Abdusalamov vs Pedro Rodriguez fight were not on the sheet.

[ Recaps: Miranda vs Chilemba / Barthelemy vs Williams ]

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It was the first truly busy weekend of the year, and it was a pretty good one overall with a lot of telling fights, some questions raised, and maybe even a couple actually answered.

San Antonio, Texas

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr UD-12 Marco Antonio Rubio: I said at one point that the fight appeared to be drowning in Ambien but fighting to stay away. I didn't mean that to say it was a terrible fight or anything -- it was doing sort of what was expected, but slower and without the oomph. The last two rounds were very good, and Chavez kept his undefeated record and his WBC title belt. After the fight, Rubio unfortunately threw a PEDs accusation toward Chavez, but I think it's pure bunk even more than just sour grapes, since Chavez freely admitted he was out of shape and it bothered him. [ Chavez vs Rubio Recap ]

Nonito Donaire SD-12 Wilfredo Vazquez Jr: It's certainly not that Donaire was perfect in this fight, but the split decision verdict was shocking. Judge Ruben Garcia has some splainin' to do with his 115-112 Vazquez card. Donaire injured his left hand early in the fight, and word going around the gossips after was that there was a double fracture. [ Donaire vs Vazquez Recap ]

Vanes Martirosyan TKO-3 Troy Lowry: I've had my pretty hate-filled say about this sham of a fight twice already, so I won't go into it again. [ Undercard Recap / Video Highlights ]

Wale Omotoso TKO-6 Nestor Rosas: Rosas has fought once in six years, so this was a true step back for Omotoso from his last fight against the credible Lanardo Tyner. It wasn't particularly impressive, but Rosas took a good shot and had to be thankfully pulled out by the referee when it became totally pointless.

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South Africa's Isaac Chilemba replaced Yordanis Despaigne in tonight's ESPN Friday Night Fights main event just two weeks ago, and he made the chance count. Chilemba won a clear unanimous decision over veteran slugger Edison Miranda on scores of 97-91, 96-92, and 96-92. Bad Left Hook scored it 97-91 for Chilemba.

Chilemba (19-1-1, 9 KO) didn't look particularly good in the early stages of the fight, as he was a bit off-balance and seemed slightly uncomfortable against Miranda, who was boxing patiently and landing the better shots in the opening two rounds.

In the third round, the two clashed heads hard, with both coming in head first, which opened a cut outside of Miranda's left eye. The cut immediately began pouring blood, which would eventually wind up all over those seated ringside, including ESPN commentators Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas.

From that point on, it was Chilemba's fight.

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Cuban lightweight Rances Barthelemy was too big and too strong for a game Hylon Williams Jr in a meeting of undefeated prospects tonight on Friday Night Fights, winning a strong and clear unanimous decision in the night's first of three televised bouts.

Barthelemy took the fight on scores of 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73. Bad Left Hook scored it 78-74 for Barthelemy, which was as close as one could reasonably see the fight, probably.

Barthelemy (15-0, 11 KO) dictated most of the fight with his height and ability to effectively crowd Williams (15-1, 3 KO), who simply didn't have enough power to back the Cuban down or keep him at bay.

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Tonight's edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights is live at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and ESPN3, with a triple-header headlined by a light heavyweight crossroads bout.

In the main event, former middleweight contender Edison Miranda (35-6, 30 KO) is back in the ring in a 10-round bout against late replacement opponent Isaac Chilemba (18-1-1, 9 KO). It's a good fight for Chilemba, a 24-year-old South African with some real potential, who is replacing Yordanis Despaigne in this fight, meant to be a rematch of a controversial FNF main event last year, after Despaigne pulled out about two weeks ago, following a loss in December to Cornelius White.

Miranda, 31, is still a pretty entertaining fighter who talks some good trash, but at light heavyweight he's small and doesn't have the same power he used to have as a middleweight. This was even a problem at super middleweight for the limited Colombian brawler. If Chilemba beats Miranda, it's a step forward. But if Chilemba isn't good enough to turn into a contender, Miranda could let us know tonight, win or lose.

Miranda vs Chilemba is set for 10 rounds.

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Here are some quotes from tonight's fighters featured on ESPN Friday Night Fights.

Edison "Pantera" Miranda

"I've been hearing what he's been saying on the Internet. I want him to know this is not Africa with lions and tigers. This is ESPN."

"This fight won't last five rounds."

"I've fought so many great fighters. Give me one name of who you have fought. He hasn't fought anybody. I'm going to destroy him."

"I feel sorry for all the other light heavyweights in the world."

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Isaac Chilemba is getting a big chance on the February 3 edition of Friday Night Fights, when the South African light heavyweight faces former middleweight and super middleweight title challenger Edison Miranda, the hard-punching Colombian veteran, in the main event on ESPN2.

Here are a few quotes from Team Chilemba as he gets ready for the date.

Isaac Chilemba:

"I have a great deal of respect Edison Miranda, he's a worthy opponent, but I'm coming to make a statement come fight night. There is no room for error, and I'm not going to leave it up to the judges to decide the outcome. Make no mistake about it...I'm gunning for a knockout."

On Training with Dan Birmingham
"Training camp has been rough, but at this level nothing comes easy. I've been working hard on some new training techniques and I know I'm getting better every day. Sparring has been great and Dan has given me the perfect game plans to come out victorious. He's the best trainer in boxing."

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Following an upset loss to Cornelius White on December 17 (also check out the full fight video) on the Ward vs Froch undercard, Cuban light heavyweight Yordanis Despagine says he's "not mentally ready" for his scheduled February 3 rematch with Edison Miranda, which was to air on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, and has pulled out of the fight.

Replacing Despaigne is Isaac Chilemba of South Africa which actually makes for a better fight at this point. To put it kindly, with Despaigne losing his last time out and never really being all that impressive, this was sort of a "Repeat or Who Cares?" rematch that wasn't going to ignite much interest even among the diehard Friday Night Fights crowd.

Leon Margules, who promotes Miranda with Warriors Boxing, says this is a tougher fight for the veteran Colombian.

"With Despaigne pulling out we lost what could have been a good fight, but Chilemba is actually a much tougher opponent for Edison. Miranda was able to hit Despaigne fairly often, that's not a guarantee with Chilemba. He's very tricky and has a long reach. It's going to be an intriguing fight."

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