Santa Ynez, California
- Lateef Kayode UD-10 Matt Godfrey: This was about the fight I expected. Kayode (17-0, 14 KO) definitely looked better here than against Nicholas Iannuzzi, but now I wonder, very reasonably I think, if Iannuzzi isn't pretty significantly better than Godfrey, too, because this wasn't close. Kayode dropped Godfrey (20-3, 10 KO) three times en route to decision scores of 98-89, 98-90 and 97-90. At one point Godfrey spit at Kayode, which was about his most effective offense. The word I've heard is that Kayode will look to fight Troy Ross next in August in Canada. I think Ross chews Kayode up, but it is about the logical next step for him.
- Chris Avalos UD-10 Khabir Suleymanov: Avalos (19-1, 15 KO) has definitely made some adjustments since losing to Chris Martin last year, but I'm still not sold on him having much of a ceiling. What matters is that he can make for fun fights, and this would have been more entertaining were it not for Suleymanov (11-1, 5 KO), who came to win ugly if he had to. Good for him and all, but bad for my viewing. Avalos appeared to suffer a bit of a right arm injury mid-fight, but if he did, its effects were fairly brief.
- Art Hovhannesyan KO-6 Archie Ray Marquez: There goes that bubble. I think Brick was with me -- and quite a few other people who pay attention to this level -- in insisting that Marquez (12-1, 8 KO) was largely hype. Hovhannesyan (14-0-1, 8 KO) confirmed the suspicions about the young New Mexican fighter by battering Marquez and knocking him flat out in the sixth, after sending him to the canvas on multiple occasions. I mean, Hovhannesyan just flat beat the hell out of Marquez, who to his credit kept it a fight and tried to do what he came in to do. I admired Marquez's gusto here, but the chin was shaky (as a nice way of putting it) and he was just a step or three behind the far lesser-regarded Hovhannesyan at all times. It's back to the drawing board for Archie Ray, who could still have a good action star career, but I just don't think he'll ever be a contender.
- Rashad Holloway UD-8 Jhon Berrio: Holloway (12-2-2, 5 KO) has been a noted sparring partner over the years, but now at 30 is hoping to make his own mark. He got the win over Berrio (15-10, 11 KO), who has a mediocre record that still gives him too much credit.
New York, New York
- Kenny Galarza SD-10 Irving Garcia: This was a flat ass robbery and there ain't no two ways about it. Galarza (15-1, 14 KO) looked awful in this fight, and Garcia (17-7-3, 8 KO) largely boxed circles around him. He also busted Galarza up, and was helped by Galarza himself, as "Battlestar" did very little in this fight. Scores were 97-94 and 96-94 for Galarza, and 96-94 for Garcia. I didn't have Galarza winning more than three rounds at the very most. This fight was not close, and the wrong guy won.
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Thomas Dulorme UD-10 DeMarcus Corley: All respect to Corley being a savvy and crafty guy, but after a while this fight became a chore, and Dulorme (12-0, 10 KO) just didn't press the way he might have. Corley (37-18-1, 22 KO) was down in the third round, but managed to survive the fight without offering any real resistance, and Dulorme was happy to cruise. Now don't get me wrong -- getting 10 rounds in with Corley is hardly the worst thing for a 21-year-old prospect taking a leap up in competition, but it really felt like around the 7th or 8th that Dulorme could have been doing more, and he didn't. Still, he showed his talent, and showed that he's not just a knockout guy. He still won the rounds.
Las Heras, Argentina
- Sergio Medina UD-12 Carlos Ricardo Rodriguez: Medina had one memorable night in his career, for all the wrong reasons. I went into his Oscar vs Manny undercard fight with Juan Manuel Lopez arguing that he had no business being ranked highly by The Ring, and I maintain I was absolutely right, and then of course Medina folded like a cheap tent in the first round, and afterward claimed Puerto Rican gangster threats. But that aside, he has started rehabbing his career. He gave Daniel Ponce de Leon an OK fight last year, and now he's the South American featherweight champ.
- Juan Carlos Reveco KO-2 Jean Piero Perez: Reveco (27-1, 16 KO) picks up the interim WBA title at 112 pounds, leaving behind his interim WBA title at 108 pounds. He was highly rated by me at 108, not sure if he gets into the rankings at 112. Hmmm. These are the things I spend my time thinking about.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Holly Holm UD-10 Victoria Cisneros: If you want to know why we don't cover women's boxing, it's because fighters as good as Holm (30-1-3, 9 KO) fight against fighters as not so good as Cisneros (5-12-2, 1 KO) on a fairly regular basis. And this was their second meeting! The good news is that Holm (right) will be facing Anne Sophie Mathis (23-1, 20 KO) in her next fight, which is the real deal.
- Fidel Maldonado Jr TKO-4 Eddie Ramirez: Maldonado (11-0, 10 KO) is a Golden Boy/Dunkin prospect from Albuquerque who might now be the state's No. 1 hope after Marquez took a dump. That or they could just pay attention to Austin Trout, not that anybody else does either.
- Elco Garcia UD-8 Joaquin Zamora: Yeah, Garcia's still around at 40. He's now 25-7 (12 KO).