There was a handful of notable fights last night leading into tonight's Guzman-Soto bout on Boxing After Dark, plus the replay of Cotto-Mosley prior to that.
On Shobox, Joey Abell decisioned Teke Oruh in a heavyweight fight and super middleweight super prospect and Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward scored a fifth round TKO of Roger Cantrell. Abell -- a late substitute for Cristobal Arreola -- won on scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95, a majority decision victory. Ward is now 14-0 with nine knockouts, and there have been lots of interesting rumors about potential future opponents for next year, including Edison Miranda.
On the untelevised undercard, 37-year old William Joppy won his fifth straight, knocking out Etienne Whitaker in 1:58, and Hector Camacho, Jr., continued his ridiculous career with a sixth round TKO win over Joshua Smith (17-36-1). Camacho is now 43-3-1, which is perhaps the biggest horseshit record in boxing.
In Cicero, Illinois, Jhonny Gonzalez returned to the ring with a 10-round decision win against Jose Angel Beranza (30-11-2). The former bantamweight titleholder won on scores of 98-91, 98-91 and 96-93. Gonzalez (35-6, 29 KO) weighed in at 123 pounds for the fight, one pound over the super bantamweight limit. Gonzalez has proven that he can be competitive at 122 pounds, as he was beating Israel Vazquez last year prior to Vazquez's incredible rally. And Gonzalez looked gaunt and weak in his loss to Gerry Penalosa in August. He needs to be at 122.
In Florida, Francisco Figueroa improved to 18-2 with a unanimous decision of Noel Rodriguez (13-2).