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Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of the "Weekend Recap". I opted to push this one to Tuesday because while I was writing this up on Monday a world title event was going down in Russia that I figured would be worth including. Check out last week's recap here. It feels like these recaps of mine keep getting longer and longer...and I even intentionally left out fights I could have added this week too. Nevertheless I'm sure I provide just about every fight you wanted to know about from the past 7 days that wasn't already handled on this website previously.
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2012-12-11 Convention Towers and Exhibition Center, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
EuroSport
Rex Tso RTD10 Timur Shailezov
Early on it looked like Shailezov was going to knock Tso out. Shailezov got inside the taller man easily, bombed away with overhands, and ripped the body with hooks. But Tso took the shots really well. Upon closer inspection you could notice Shailezov was slapping with many of his shots even if they were hard. But perhaps Tso would have taken them regardless. In any event Tso was clearly losing the opening rounds. Even Shalizov's jab was getting through with ease.
But Tso just kept coming and walked Shailezov down. After beginning to punish Shailezov in the 5th, Tso's corner instructed him to take Shailezov out in the 6th. Tso went on to unleash all hell on Shailezov but the little southpaw from Kyrgyzstan was tough enough to take the beating. Shailezov's right eye was nearly swollen shut going into round 7. Tso slowed the pace back down but continued to do more of the same until Shailezov retired in his corner after the 10th round.
Shailezov need not kick himself for fading as the judges weren't crediting him for winning rounds anyways. Open scoring revealed Tso was already winning after 4 rounds. Nonetheless Tso is now the WBC Asia Council Continental super flyweight champion, for whatever that‘s worth. Considering this was only Tso's 8th pro fight, I was impressed by his performance.
Lucas Browne TKO3 Jason Gavern
As far as EuroSport was concerned this was the main event of the evening. Since it involves people you may actually know, I'll briefly sum it up for you: Gavern was out of shape and got his ass handed to him. Big Daddy Browne is no slouch. A sick right uppercut dropped Gavern at the end of the 1st round. Lead straight right hands put Gavern down twice more in round 2, although only the first was ruled a knockdown. A short right hook put Gavern down again early in the 3rd while he was looking away talking to the referee. Then later in round 3 a lead straight right hand dropped Gavern for the last time. The referee waved the bout off without bothering to count. Gavern was clearly finished.
Browne is now 14-0 with 13 KOs. If this 6'4" bald, tatted man could get himself down to about 240lbs I'd consider him a real threat in the heavyweight division. He weighed in at ~255 for Gavern, the lowest of his career, but has been as high as ~275. His hand speed and power are too good to waste. I hope his physical fitness keeps improving.
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2012-12-11 Ginasio Baby Barione, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Amateur Camcorder
Robson Assis KO2 Adailton Dos Santos
Although there was controversy surrounding the "knockout", Assis was dominant throughout the fight. A straight left hand out of the southpaw stance took Dos Santos to 1 knee in round 2. Although he clearly beat the count and the referee never even began to say 10, the ref immediately waved the fight off as soon as Dos Santos was up. Dos Santos was more than capable of continuing and the shot that put him down wasn't devastating in the first place. Rumor has it a large bet was placed on the outcome of this fight and may have influenced the referee. In any event Assis is the new Brazilian welterweight champion.
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2012-12-12 Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina
TV Publica
Marcos Rene Maidana KO3 Angel Martinez
Maidana and Lucas Matthysse don't fight in Argentina as often as they used to, but they sure like to share opponents while they're there. DeMarcus Corley fought Maidana in 2010 and Matthysse 5 months later in 2011. Angel Martinez fought both Maidana and Matthysse in 2012 in the opposite order. You could say Maidana finished Martinez off easier because he scored a true knockout in half the time while Martinez quit on his stool against Matthysse, but in both cases Martinez was dominated. The fights with Corley on the other hand are a different story entirely. Maidana went life and death with Chop Chop on his way to a somewhat questionable decision while Matthysse dropped Corley 9 times before it was waved off in round 8.
But I digress. The subject at hand is Maidana-Martinez. Martinez was on his bicycle from the get-go while Maidana tried to cut the ring off and punish him with power shots. Maidana's defense, footwork, and even offense have shown noticeable improvements under the tutelage of Robert Garcia. He slips and blocks more shots now, doesn't square up as much, and he isn't as wide with his punches. Martinez could do absolutely nothing do Maidana the entire fight, besides once pushing Marcos down between his legs in the 3rd round. Maidana didn't take kindly to being put in the pre-power bomb/DDT position and took Martinez out with a left hook to the body less than a minute later. Maidana set it up beautifully by leading with a straight right hand. Martinez never saw the left hook coming.
Not that it matters, but, this was Maidana's first defense of his WBA International welterweight title which he won by beating Jesus Soto Karass in a thriller. After the fight Maidana called out Roberto Guerrero and Paulie Malignaggi, wanting to acquire their world titles. Malignaggi however is looking in the direction of Shane Mosley while Guerrero is hoping to get Floyd Mayweather. Maidana might have to settle for Andre Berto as far as big fights possible in the near future go.
Maximiliano Luis Marquez TKO5 Luis Emmanuel Cusolito
This was the fight of the night. Knockdowns were traded and Marquez pulled off the upset.
Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar KO1 Gustavo Daniel Gonzalez
Not only was this the knockout of the night, it was the best I've seen all week and a legitimate candidate for KO of the year.
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2012-12-14 Ergife Hotel, Rome, Lazio, Italy
Rai Sport (Television) / Cicalone Productions (YouTube)
Emanuele Barletta TKO7 Mirko Ricci
The bout began much as a feeling out process. Barletta, Italy's reigning light heavyweight champion, used his greater experience and craftiness to overcome his physical disadvantages against previously unbeaten prospect Ricci. Ricci, the crowd favorite, used his superior height and length to frustrate Barletta by picking him off from a distance and staying out of range. When Barletta got inside Ricci was smart enough to hold.
However, while Ricci was likely putting rounds in the bank he wasn't really hurting Barletta. Barletta's defense was deflecting most of what came to him and Ricci wasn't throwing bombs regardless. Eventually Barletta got Ricci on the ropes in the 7th round and caught him with a series of hooks that weakened his legs and eventually put him down. After Ricci was hurt he opted to fight back and not hold. Ultimately it was his undoing. When Ricci beat the count Barletta pounded him on the ropes again until the referee issued a standing 8 count. The bout resumed one last time before Barletta continued his assault and the referee waved the fight off while Ricci was still standing and conscious.
Riccardo Lecca PTS6 Orlando Membreno
Manuel Lancia PTS6 Mickael Lacombe
Monica Gentili PTS4 Elisabeth Alonso
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2012-12-14 Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia
EuroSport
Quarter-Final 1: Oleksiy/Alexei Mazikin UD3 Evgeny Orlov
Fight ended prematurely by 1 min with Orlov coming on strong.
Quarter-Final 2: Fabrice Aurieng UD3 Wojciech Jastrzebski
Quarter-Final 3: Sergej/Sergei Maslobojev UD3 Konstantins Gluhovs / Constantin Glukhov
Quarter-Final 4: Mairis Briedis TKO2 Evgenius Lazaridis
Semi-Final 1: Fabrice Aurieng UD3 Oleksiy Mazikin
Semi-Final 2: Mairis Briedis TKO2 Sergej Maslobojev
Final: Mairis Briedis UD3 Fabrice Aurieng
After blowing out his opposition in the preliminary bouts Briedis found a stiffer test in the southpaw Aurieng. Briedis was the aggressor and threw the bigger shots but Aurieng defended himself well and did his best work while he jabbed and moved. All of the rounds were close but I felt Briedis deserved to win.
This was the final Bigger's Better tournament of the year and it pitted previous winners against each other. It's ironic that a cruiserweight ended up walking away as "King". Nonetheless the crowd was happy a local fighter won. I think the Latvian is talented enough to succeed in more meaningful fights should he decide to step away from these 3 rounders.
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2012-12-14 Chaiya, Thailand
Thailand TV 7
Norasing Kokietgym TKO1 Michael Escobia
A quick left hook dropped Escobia in the middle of the opening round and he was never able to recover despite easily beating the count. His legs were gone. Kokietgym immediately pounced on him when the action resumed and had him down again quickly. The referee waved it off without issuing another count. With the victory Norasing picked up the vacant PABA super flyweight title.
Decha Kokietgym UD6 Jen Yu Jia
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2012-12-14 Winter Gardens, Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Loaded TV
Brian Rose UD12 Sam Webb (116-113, 116-112, 116-112)
In a very competitive fight with both fighters fighting behind tight guards, Rose and Webb waged phone booth war on each other and whoever let their hands go the most won the rounds. Although I didn't score the fight I felt the decision easily could have gone either way. Rose had the height advantage but did his best work exchanging on the inside. When the two were separated I felt Webb generally gave Rose a boxing lesson.
With the victory Rose successfully defended his BBBofC British light middleweight title and is now 22-1-1. He's expected to move on to bigger and better things after a solid 2012. On the other hand Webb, 31 years old with only 3 losses since turning pro in 2005, announced his retirement following this defeat.
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2012-12-14 Hallo Omnisport La Préalle, Herstal, Liege, Belgium
ESPN UK
Stephane Jamoye TKO8 Lee Haskins
Upon the completion of this bout I dubbed Stephane Jamoye the Belgian Arturo Gatti. I watched the fight live and the comment was clearly in the heat of the moment but I wouldn't take it back today. This all-out war made a case for both fight and round of the year, clearly trumping Pacquiao-Marquez IV in both categories.
In round 2 Jamoye went down on a lead left hand and was basically getting his ass handed to him. Haskins was doing a pretty good imitation of Naseem Hamed and was thoroughly in control of the fight. But Haskins would go on to get cut in the 3rd round and the tide changed. All of a sudden it was Jamoye's fight to lose unless Haskins could dig deep and pull off something dramatic. Haskins began to mount a comeback in the 5th and would go on to make his last stand in the 6th.
Jamoye started the 6th quickly and dropped Haskins with volume punches. Haskins got up and Jamoye went right back to pounding him...but Haskins fought back. He fought back with everything he had and nearly managed to get Jamoye out on his feet. But then Jamoye came back as the round ended with the 2 more or less on even terms. It was all downhill for Haskins from there on although he did have his moments in the 7th round. But after going down 3 times in the 8th the referee had no other decision but to wave the fight off. To Haskins' credit he actually managed to do pretty well between the 1st and 2nd knockdowns of the last round.
With the victory Stephane Jamoye captured the EBU bantamweight title and his first big win since his epic war with Giovanni Jaramillo in 2010. I have yet to see Jamoye in a dull fight and all of his losses have been questionable apart from the one to Leo Santa Cruz.
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2012-12-14 Estadio Boxing Club, Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina
TV Publica
Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna TKO7 Claudio Ariel Abalos
Maderna was taller, longer, better technically, and overall just a better athlete. Abalos was game but just really didn't have any advantages in the fight. Abolos didn't bob, weave, or roll and was just too easy to hit. Abolos had the right idea about getting close to Maderna, but whenever he did there was holding and the "action" was quickly broken up. About the best thing Abolos did all fight was step on Maderna's lead foot in order to get a clean shot in, made possible by the southpaw/orthodox matchup. Maderna was orthodox.
Anyways, eventually Abolos just had enough and never left his corner after the 6th round. The towel was thrown in at the beginning of the 7th. It's either a RTD6 or a TKO7, neither of which BoxRec currently reports. It was announced as a TKO7. Maderna, now 19-0 with 13 KOs, made the 2nd defense of his Argentina (FAB) super middleweight title with this victory. He represented Argentina in the 2008 Olympics and genuinely is expected to go somewhere in this business.
Adrian Luciano Veron KO1 Claudio Esteban Romero
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2012-12-14 Gimnasio Municipal Luis Estrada Medina, Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico
Azteca America (US) & Azteca 7 (Mexico)
Genaro Camargo KO5 Ruben Tamayo
A tentative opening round didn't really see either fighter with a distinct advantage. There was a lot of nervous energy and hitting air. But as the fight went on Camargo increasingly found it easier to get inside of the taller Tamoyo's range. Both fighters did a lot of pulling straight back when their opponent would punch and if they threw in combinations that usually meant whoever pulled out was getting hit. Carmargo's pulling out cost him the 3rd round and lead to a more aggressive 4th where he stalked Tamayo and ducked under his return fire. Carmargo maneuvered beautifully to get on the inside and away from danger, but didn't accomplish much offensively. Carmargo then started the 5th more laid back and was seemingly giving Tamoyo exactly what he wanted, the space and pace of his choosing.
But suddenly Carmargo started pressing again and was no longer reserved about it. He was clearly looking for the knockout and he got it. Tamoyo was taken out with a right hook to the body. Azteca America reported Camargo's new record to be 41-14 and BoxRec actually agrees with it. Did I mention that Carmargo is only 25 years old? If you thought the days of fighters reaching 100+ fights were over, think again. The tradition is still alive and well in Mexico. And I almost forgot: Carmargo retained his Mexico super bantamweight title.
Miguel Zamudio SD8 Gilberto Bolanos
This decision was controversial.
Arturo Camargo RTD? Roberto Tamayo
I honestly can't say how this ended or when. First of all Azteca America showed the 4th round and came back after the break showing a 6th round graphic with no indication that they skipped ahead. They then showed the complete "6th round" and cut straight to the studio where Carmargo was announced as the winner by TKO. I assume Tamoyo never came out to start the next round. And just in case you're wondering, it's not a coincidence that these fighters have the same last names as those in the main event. This was a family affair.
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2012-12-15 Hilton Garden Inn Hotel & Casino, San Miguel, Tucuman, Argentina
TyC Sports
Omar Andres Narvaez UD12 David Quijano (120-106, 119-109, 120-108)
I'm a pretty big Narvaez fan and I know super flyweights like most people know heavyweights. But even I won't tell you that Quijano was a good opponent. He "earned" this title shot following a questionable win over a faded Juanito Rubillar earlier this year. It goes without saying that Narvaez, although 37, was clearly the most difficult challenge of Quijano's career. This is a typical trend with Narvaez opponents and the WBO doesn't seem to mind. All things considered Omar is a pretty big draw in Argentina and he fights often. He gave the WBO 3 title fights this year and 4 the year before. His only career loss is to Nonito Donaire in a division Omar never belonged in the first place, bantamweight.
But getting back to the fight itself, Narvaez pretty much did whatever he wanted with Quijano in this fan friendly affair. Maybe it's because Omar is older and doesn't/can't move his legs like he used to or maybe it's because Quijano's offense didn't concern Narvaez whatsoever, but Omar stood his ground and went blow for blow with David. Omar's reflexes were still good enough to either slip, block, or ride David's punches enough such that they did him no harm. But since Omar isn't a big puncher, even though he landed clean and often Quijano wasn't going anywhere. Thus the fight was actually action packed although one sided in regards to who was effective.
With the victory Narvaez made the 6th defense of his WBO super flyweight title and is now 23-1-1 in world title fights overall. He's 1 career defining win away from making the hall of fame someday, but it's increasingly unlikely he'll ever get it. Fights with Tepparith Kokietgym (WBA champ), Yota Sato (WBC champ), and Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. (IBF champ) should be sought after. Junior bantamweight is one of the few divisions where the 4 major world champions are actually the best it has to offer. Consequently unifying belts would actually be quite significant. A tournament like Showtime did for bantamweights Abner Mares, Joseph Agbeko, Vic Darchinyan, and Yonnhy Perez would be perfect for the top junior bantamweights.
Alejandro Emilio Valori TKO3 Orlando Antonio Farias
Cristian Rafael Coria UD6 Leandro Almagro
Claudio Alberto Esperante UD4 Ariel Agustin Bustos
Walter Gabriel Sequeira TKO1 Claudio Marcelo Rodriguez
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2012-12-15 Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Fox Deportes (USA) / Televisa (Mexico)
Bruno Sandoval TKO2 Alberto Martinez
Sandoval came forward and let his hands go while Martinez retreated and did not counter. It didn't take long to figure out how the fight would end. Martinez was overmatched. He was dropped 3 times in the 2nd round and lost his mouthpiece each time. The referee immediately waved it off after the 3rd KD. Sandoval made the first defense of his WBC United States (USNBC) middleweight title.
Mariana Juarez UD10 Tenkai Tsunami
Juarez was dominant in this 10 (not 8) round battle of former world champions. It was nice to see females headline a mostly male card. And as usual they did not disappoint. Both women impressed me with their skills. Tsunami used a lot of head movement to work her way inside Juarez's range and varied her attacks well. But Juarez kept pumping her jab and brought straight right hands down the middle, making it difficult for Tsunami to sustain her offense. But once fatigue set in there was increasingly more standing and trading.
Open scoring announced a shutout for Juarez after 4 rounds, but rather than cruise to a decision Mariana actually turned up the heat on Tsunami. But just as Tenkai looked like she was ready to go, she climbed back into the fight and displayed tremendous toughness and heart. By the 6th round Tsunami was taunting Juarez to hit her and Juarez obliged in combination. Open scoring announced another shutout after 8 rounds and before all was said and done Juarez practically hit Tsunami with everything but the kitchens sink. But there was no quit in Tsunami and she fought to the end. She just couldn't match Juarez's output or accuracy.
This was Juarez's first fight back since losing her WBC flyweight title after dropping a decision to Ava Knight in October. Considering the WBC champion is now Renata Szebeledi, who won it in a vacant title fight, I could see Juarez getting her belt back pretty soon.
Oscar Cortes UD10 Alejandro Barrera
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2012-12-15 Salinas Storm House, Salinas, California, USA
Telefutura
Paul Mendez TKO5 Lester Gonzalez
This fight was pretty basic. One boxer was wild and the other was composed. Gonzalez telegraphed his punches and pretty much asked to be hit. Mendez fought off the back foot and gave Gonzalez a boxing lesson. In the middle of round 3 a right uppercut nearly had Gonzalez out on his feet but he managed to regroup and lasted until the end of the round before a left hook to the body dropped him. The 3rd was nearly a 10-7 round. But rather than go in for the kill in the 4th Mendez just sat back and let Gonzalez come to him. It was a fairly uneventful round as Mendez didn't do too much offensively and Gonzalez was ineffective with his aggression. In the 5th round heavy body shots wore Gonzalez down and a right hook to the head stole his equilibrium. Mendez continued to pound Gonzalez as he wobbled around the ring until the referee rightfully stepped in.
Mendez is now 11-2-1 as a pro and the new IBA middleweight champion. He came off a controversial 7th round KO of DonYil Livingston to beat Gonzalez legitimately. Mendez clearly stopped Livingston on a low blow back in September. For whatever reason, knocking fighters out with low blows seems to be OK these days. Amir Khan stopped Zab Judah on a low blow and Mike Jones did the same to Irving Garcia. I blame referee Jim Crowley for awarding Max Schmeling the heavyweight championship of the world off a low blow disqualification of Jack Sharkey. Boxing went from one extreme to the other.
Jonathan Garcia KO1 Rodolfo Armenta
Oscar Godoy TKO3 Javier Gomez
Preston Freeman UD4 Vicente Guzman
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2012-12-17 Crocus City Hall, Myakinino, Russia
Russia TV 2
Denis Lebedev KO4 Santander Silgado
In the 1st round Silgado was stiff, reaching, and falling into strong Lebedev counters. Silgado loaded up on his lead right hand (an effective weapon against a southpaw like Lebedev) but couldn't find his range. But then things drastically changed in round 2 as Silgado practically couldn't miss with the straight right hand (keyword straight). Silgado continued his success and won the 3rd round as well. All of a sudden Silgado went from a big underdog to a guy that might actually win.
But just when it looked like Lebedev was in trouble, he rocked Silgado with a left hook in the 4th and pounced on his prey. The fight turned into a brawl and gave Lebedev the opportunity he needed to turn Silgado's lights out, which is exactly what he did. A picture perfect left uppercut face planted Silgado on the canvas where he remained motionless for half a minute. And thus 2012 was given yet another candidate for KO of the year.
Although Silgado proved he could hold his own against Lebedev, if only briefly, one does have to question how he got this WBA cruiserweight title shot in the first place. Silgado's most recent win came against Joell Godfrey, a journeyman on par with most of his resume. Lebedev was recently upgraded from interim to regular champion as the long reigning Guillermo Jones was given the status of "champion in recess". Jones and Lebedev should have fought at least twice by now and their bout seems about as likely to happen as Mayweather vs Pacquiao.
Anyways, perhaps the WBA's options were limited to make a world title fight on short notice. But the future looks promising for the next WBA world cruiserweight title fight. In his post-fight interview Lebedev showed interest in fighting Eddie Chambers (who recently made the decision to move to Cruiserweight) at Madison Square Garden. Chambers confirmed on twitter that he's more than willing to throw down.
Grigory Drozd UD12 Jean Marc Monrose
Eduard Troyanovsky TKO2 Walter Estrada
Vladimir Goncharov TKO6 Bedarin Toma
Oleg Liseev TKO6 Carlos Galvan
Dmitry Chudinov KO2 Jhonatan Ricar
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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.