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Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of "The Weekend Recap". The previous weekly installment can be viewed here. Since I've been too sick to leave the house in the last week my schedule opened up to work on different days. Consequently I took an extra day to come out with this, the mother of all recaps. Please refrain from telling me I have no life outside of boxing after reading this, I'm aware...
2012-11-26 Royal Lancaster Hotel, Bayswater, London, United Kingdom
Seconds Out Boxing uploaded this event to YouTube.
Arturs Kulikauskis PTS8 Leon Williams (80-72)
Kulikauskis out boxed Williams from the opening bell. He was too fast, too long, and too tricky for Williams to figure out or catch up to. Williams stood up to the punches but could not deal with the overall pace. That is of course until the pace slowed down in round 3, allowing Williams to close the gap and work the body. Williams did his best when he pinned Kulikauskis against the ropes. But Kulikauskis would consistently come back and work his way off them. After the bout appeared even after 4 rounds the fight became harder to score over the next 2 rounds. But, by the 7th round the Latvian started to pick the pace up again and took control. By the last round Kulikauskis was honestly beating the hell out of his British opponent. Williams, a former BBBofC British cruiserweight champion, hasn't won a fight since winning a controversial split decision over Rob Norton in 2011. Coming into this bout Kulikauskis's losses doubled his wins. Although Williams was KOed in 1 round by Tony Conquest in his previous outing, I'd say Kulikauskis is the most embarrassing loss of his career. And that's not factoring in that the referee scored the bout a shutout.
Paddy Gallagher TKO1 Andrew Patterson
Joel McIntyre PTS4 Darren McKenna
Danny Ahrens PTS4 Rick Boulter
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2012-11-26 Nong Khai, Thailand
Thailand's channel 7 broadcasted parts of this card. I can only verify the main event.
Sod Kokietgym KO3 Elmar Francisco
Kokietgym walked his man down during the bout with limited success until the 3rd round when he put Francisco down for the count with a straight left hand to the chin. Power punching southpaws are seemingly a dime a dozen in Asia. This was Kokietgym's 5th defense of the WBC Asian Boxing Council super bantamweight title.
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2012-11-27 Royal Lancaster Hotel, Bayswater, London, United Kingdom
Seconds Out Boxing uploaded this event to YouTube.
Cello Renda PTS10 Kirill Psonko (99-94)
Renda, a former 'Prizefighter' Middleweight Tournament finalist and British Masters Middleweight champion, did what he was expected to do and out boxed a game Psonko. Psonko has only won 2 of his last 11 bouts but displayed skills in the ring. Unfortunately for Psonko those skills were utilized more so in a sparring session manner as opposed to someone trying to take his opponent out. Most of the time he did a nice move or landed a nice punch, he didn't bother to follow up on it. Consequently Renda improved his record to 20-9-1 without much trouble and picked up the vacant International Masters light-heavyweight title in the process.
Alfredo Meli PTS4 Danny Brown
James Fryers PTS4 Kristian Laight
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2012-11-28 Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Azteca America televised the main and co-main events days later on their usual Saturday slot.
Edivaldo Ortega UD10 Francisco Pina (99-91, 100-90, 100-90)
Ortega was the aggressor from the onset and just bossed Pina around the ring on his way to a lopsided decision win. Pina proved he was more than capable of defending himself but had little to offer in terms of offense. By the final round Pina knew what he had to do to win but merely got beat up when he let his hands go in the early going. Azteca America gave Pina only 1 round, the 6th, seemingly for landing a decent left hook that may have staggered an off balance Ortega. I didn't feel it was enough to steal the round as Ortega controlled the action before and after and staggered Pina on two separate occasions. Two of the official judges had it a shutout while one scored it 9-1 like the Azteca team. Not that it matters, but, Ortega apparently walked away as the Baja California State Super Bantamweight Champion.
Julio Cesar Felix UD8 Noe Medina
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2012-11-29 Sala Polivalenta, Craiova, Romania
Romania's Pro TV televised the main event and 2 undercards.
Viorel Simion TKO4 Ryan Sermona
This fight was a shootout between 2 fighters that often fought off the front foot, kept their heads low, and punched in combination to the body and head. There was a lot of quality slipping and blocking from both fighters combined with the entertaining offense. Simion's combinations were a bit longer and he was busier overall, thus deserving to be ahead in the fight through 4 rounds. But despite the shutout on all the judges' scorecards this was very much a nip and tuck affair.
In any event Sermona retired in his corner after 4 rounds, seemingly complaining that he pulled a muscle in his right leg. Expectedly he limped over to the center of the ring so the referee could make the proper result announcements. But what I found odd was that Sermona didn't limp on his way back to his corner at the end of the 4th round. He didn't feel pain until he sat down? Anyways, Simion is still undefeated and retained his WBC International featherweight title. He's a legitimate prospect worth watching in the future.
Bogdan Dinu TKO5 Ben Nsafoah
Lucian Bot TKO5 Aleksandrs Selezens
Selezens retired in his corner after the 4th round. Currently BoxRec incorrectly has this as a UD6.
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2012-11-30 Mansfield Tavern, Mansfield, Queensland, Australia
Australia's Fox Sports televised multiple bouts from this card. I think I was too late to catch one of the televised undercards however.
Mark Flanagan TKO11 Kariz Kariuki
Through 9 rounds this was anyone's fight. But then with about a minute to go in the 10th Flanagan, seemingly where Kariuki wanted him (backed into a corner), countered a lazy Kariuki jab with a big right hand that caused the veteran to practically fall on his face. Kariuki easily beat the count but was clearly ready to go. Flanagan didn't press enough to finish him off but at the same time avoided potentially punching himself out. In the 11th round another right hand from Flanagan wobbled Kariuki into a corner and had him out on his feet. The referee rightfully stepped in to stop the fight.
The 22 year old Flanagan improved his record to 11-3 and picked up the vacant WBO Oriental light heavyweight title, a belt which the 35 year old Kariuki held in the past. This was essentially a prototypical meeting of a fighter on his way up against one on his way out.
Jason Cooper UD10 Roberto Lerio
David Aloua UD8 Balazs Varga
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2012-11-30 Wat Samanrattanaram, Chachoengsao, Thailand
Thailand's Channel 7 televised a few bouts. I can only confirm the main event.
Pharanpetch Tor Buamas TKO4 Anshori Anhar Pitulay
Through a round and some change this was a fight that looked like it could go either way. But then a few big right hands from Buamas sent Pitulay from one side of the ring to the other...and it was all downhill from there. Shortly afterward Pitulay took a knee after he failed to duck another right hand. He beat the count and survived the round but found himself on the canvas several more times in the next round, although "only" 2 of them were officially ruled knockdowns. The corner probably should have thrown in the towel at this stage but they let it go to the 4th round. Buamas merely had to land a jab to put Pitulay down for the final time and the ref had finally seen enough.
With the victory Buamas improved his record to 8-0 and retained his interim WBC Asian Boxing Council super featherweight title. Not bad for a kid that debuted last year.
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2012-11-30 Foro Polanco, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Telemundo and TyC televised different bouts from this card. I recapped the main events from each.
Fernanda Soledad Alegre TKO4 Diana Ayala
It goes without saying that this rematch didn't need to happen. Ayala had done nothing to earn another title shot since losing to Alegre the 1st time. To be honest when Ayala is in shape she's a super bantamweight at best. She hardly looked like she even trained for this fight. Consequently Alegre pretty much just ran over. Ayala quit on her stool at the start of the 4th round and Alegre retained her WBO female light welterweight title. She's now 8-0 in world title fights against 6 different opponents. But fortunately the first rematch actually made sense. Chris Namus gave her hell, twice.
Pablo Munguia UD12 Antonio Pitalua (119-111, 116-112, 116-113)
Pitalua, 42 years old on his 61st fight after a 20 year career, looked and fought his age. He still had the heart and he could still let his hands go (so much so that this bout was quite entertaining) but the reflexes and legs just weren't there anymore. He was too slow and too easy to hit. Munguia, a shorter and more robust fighter who was no spring chicken himself, controlled the fight when he forced Pitalua to the ropes and banged away. However much of the fight was fought from a distance where Pitalua had the physical advantage. But even at range Munguia showed good countering ability. Munguia was pretty crafty. He picked off shots, moved his head well, and was awkward in general. There were multiple rounds where I could see judges disagreeing.
When the decision was announced I wouldn't have been surprised if it went either way, but ultimately I do think the right man won. Telemundo scored the fight 116-112 for Munguia like one of the official judges. The 119-111 card made about as much sense as the one in Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout the next day. Although this was held in Mexico, Munguia's WBC United States (USNBC) Silver welterweight title was apparently on the line, which he also won in Mexico... Anyways in the post-fight interview Pitalua hinted that he'll retire. It's about time.
Alfredo Chavez TKO4 Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez
Victor Trejo TKO2 Efren Sevilla
Pablo Oscar Natalio Farias TKO3 Santiago Ramos
Gonzalo Omar Basile KO5 Jose Carlos Rodriguez
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2012-11-30 Centro Recreativo Municipal Néstor Carlos Kirchner, Barrio Santa Paula, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TV Publica televised the main event and two undercards.
Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar TKO1 Jean Javier Sotelo
About 20 seconds into the fight a short left hook put Sotelo down. Sotelo beat the count but rose on unsteady legs. Cuellar quickly jumped back on Sotelo and was on the verge of dropping him again when the referee jumped into to stop the fight. Nearly simultaneously the corner threw in the towel, but I don't think the ref saw it. Cuellar improved his record to 21-1 with this spectacular performance. Level of opposition however does not suggest he has a bright future on the world class level.
Juan Jose Dias MD6 Guillermo Suarez
Fernando Diego Arguello UD4 Pablo German Caldini
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2012-11-30 Salle Japy, Paris XI, Paris, France
Thankfully someone in attendance brought their camcorder and recorded the main event.
Youri Kayembre Kalenga KO2 Jozsef Nagy
Undefeated cruiserweight prospect Kalenga made quick work of Nagy by taking him out with a single left hook to the body in round 2. This followed an interesting 1st round where both fighters swung wildly and often missed in embarrassing fashion. Kalenga is a strong and looks very fit but fights crudely. Nagy, who appeared in the opposite shape of Kalenga, was difficult for Kalenga to predict. Nonetheless Kalenga improved to 14-0 while Nagy fell to 28-13. Still, I wouldn't put the CW division on notice quite yet. Kalenga needs a lot of work.
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2012-12-01 Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort, Chester, West Virginia, USA
GFL.TV streamed the full event online.
Paul Spadafora UD10 Solomon Egberime (98-91, 97-94, 100-90)
Paul Spadafora is not the fighter he used to be and quite frankly I never thought that highly of him to begin with. But against the opponents he's fought in his career, "all he does is win", well, minus the Leonard Dorin "draw". Nonetheless, Spadafora deserved to win this fight against Egberime and has positioned himself such that someone who is actually relevant in the welterweight division might actually consider fighting him. Spadafora hasn't beaten a noteworthy opponent since Angel Manfredy in 2002, which is likely the best win he's ever had or ever will have. And to be honest I thought Manfredy, who was clearly past his prime, deserved a draw.
But I digress, no need to talk about how irrelevant Spadafora was in his prime when I can focus on what he's got left to offer at 37 years of age! Egberime, no spring chicken himself at 34, actually gave a decent account of himself in this fight. He landed flush on Spadafora in several rounds. The main reason Egberime didn't deserve the victory is because Spaddy easily out worked him and controlled distance. Spadafora showed he still has the defensive techniques and skills of old, but his reflexes are clearly diminished.
Although power was never one of Spadafora's best assets, the little he once had seems like more than he has now. Power is supposedly the last to go on a fighter. Roy Jones Jr (Spadafora's promoter) might think about cashing him out sooner rather than later. Honestly if Spadafora worked his way up to WW title contention the right way by fighting someone like a Carson Jones or Marcos Maidana, he's just going to lose. So RJJ and Square Ring will probably keep feeding Spaddy soft touches until the "right fight" finally pops up. Here's one certainty though: it will NOT be Floyd Mayweather.
Joey Holt KO1 Alan Moore [4 Rounds - Light Middleweights]
Bill Hutchinson TKO2 Jose Caraballo [6 Rounds - Welterweights]
Morgan Fitch TKO1 Cameron Allen [6 Rounds - Super Middleweights]
Peter Oluoch TD5 Jake Giuriceo[8 Rounds - Light Welterweights]
Monty Meza Clay UD8 Emmanuel Lucero [8 Rounds - Lightweights]
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2012-12-01 Club Social y Cultural El Cruce, Malvinas Argentinas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TyC televised the thrilling main event and 2 undercard bouts.
Carlos Ruben Dario Ruiz TKO10 Ariel Humberto Alassia
The bout began with Alassia more accurate and better defensively while Ruiz was aggressive but wild. But it didn't take long for Ruiz to start connecting and he was able to drop Alassia as early as round 3 when a straight right hand sent Alassia to his knees. Right hands put Alassia down again in round 4. But then the fight turned once more as Alassia went on to fight the 5th and 6th rounds like there was no tomorrow. It was remarkable to watch. Alassia kept pouring it on Ruiz in the 7th but was dropped by a left hook to the body at the end of the round, signaling the final momentum shift of the fight.
Ruiz edged the 8th on legal shots but often went low by trying to go back to the body. Alassia had previously complained about low blows in previous rounds. The ref warned Ruiz a few times throughout the bout but never deducted a point. The 9th round was similarly competitive but also controlled by Ruiz. In the last round Allasia was put down twice more by right hands and the referee waved the bout off. To Alassia's credit he was able to get up each time and I have no doubts he could have finished the bout. This fight is a legitimate fight of the year candidate and was the best one I saw all weekend. The super flyweight division may not have added talent with these guys, but it's certainly added entertainment.
Hector Alfredo Avila DQ1 Walter David Cabral
Honestly you just have to check this out yourself. I'm not sure why this ended the way it did. Cabral was opened up by a headbutt. The doctor checked him out and a decision was rendered that he would not continue. Whether he said he didn't want to continue or the doctor told him not to, I don't know. But for whatever reason the referee disqualified him. I could have understood a "no contest" or even a technical knockout, but not a disqualification. If you can figure it out let me know.
Adrian Luciano Veron TKO1 Luis Alberto Vera
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2012-12-01 Georgie Duke Center, Vacaville, California, USA
Telefutura's Solo Boxeo Tecate series televised the main/co-main events along with an unusual 5 rounder. The fight itself wasn't unusual, just the scheduled distance.
Manuel Avila TKO8 Ricky Lopez
In this firefight scheduled for 8 rounds, which somehow nearly went the distance, Ricky Lopez's knees touched the canvas as early as round 3. Lopez didn't revisit the canvas until the 8th and final round when he ran into a counter left hook while Avila was going backwards. Lopez got back to his feet easy enough but his legs betrayed him and Avila quickly put him down again with a less devastating left hook. The referee had seen enough and waved the fight off before allowing Lopez a chance to get back up. Lopez's timing looked off during most of the fight and he tweeted that he wasn't himself after the loss.
Avila came into the bout 10-0 while Lopez was 9-1. Lopez says he's tried to secure rematches immediately after both of his losses but while Derrick Wilson declined Avila is apparently willing. However a rematch between Wilson and Lopez now, both coming off 8th round stoppage defeats, is probably a more suitable fight and perhaps Wilson will have changed his mind now.
If you're interested, Ryan Maquiñana has written a more detailed recap of the entire card for BoxingScene.
Alan Sanchez TKO2 Miguel Angel Munguia
Bruno Escalante UD5 Pablo Cupul
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2012-12-01 Burg-Waechter Castello, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
This event was broadcasted by multiple outlets around the globe: Germany - SAT1, Argentina - TyC, Poland - Orange Sport.
Carina Moreno SD10 Susi Kentikian (96-94, 96-94, 93-97)
Some will say this fight was debatable, some will say Kentikian got robbed, and some will say Moreno clearly won. Honestly, all opinions are believable enough. This fight was FILLED with swing rounds. But it all came down to the opinions of 3 men, who could have just as easily been 3 different men, or women, or sat on different sides of the ring on different nights and scored the same fight, differently. Luck matters. And in the case of the hometown fighter Kentikian, luck was clearly not on her side this night.
But before we get to the fight itself let's recap how we arrived at this joke of a world title bout in the first place. It's not that Kentikian or Moreno aren't world class fighters deserving of a title shot; it's just that neither of them should have actually been champion going into this bout. Moreno was 0-3 in her last 3 world title fights while Kentikian was fresh off a thrilling loss to Melissa McMorrow. At the time most thought Kentikian had lost all 3 of her world title belts, the WBO, WBA, and WIBF, but it turns out the WBA title was never on the line. Champions losing fights and keeping their belts reminds me of the old days. Difference is back then there was only one belt to hold and fighters fought 3-6 times more frequently...
But once again, I digress. Through 5 rounds I alternated for whom I scored for each round. It wasn't until the 6th when I felt someone undeniably won a round as Kentikian rocked Moreno with head snapping shots at the end of the round. The fight went back to its murky ways in rounds 7 and 8 before Kentikian gave Moreno an absolute boxing lesson in the 9th. But then the 10th was debatable too. My final tally read 6-3-1 Kentikian, more formally scored as 97-94. Polish judge Leszek Jankowiak nearly agreed with me, scoring it 97-93 Kentikian. But he was overruled by Polish and Finish judges Pawel Kardyni and Erkki Meronen who had the bout 96-94 for Moreno.
However, contrary to my opinion flyweight queenpin Ava Knight did not think the fight was that close upon viewing a replay on YouTube and said, "If you don't feed into the one sides crowd, Carina outboxed her." Ironically the video Knight watched had "WBA - CORRUPTION" written in the title, so clearly the uploader thought otherwise. ... No, I did not upload this fight. ... OK, I didn't upload THIS version of the fight, which I might add was aired by Argentina's TyC. TyC scored the bout 98-92 for Kentikian. Then again, TyC also had their golden girl Tuti Bopp on commentary this time around, who was jockeying to land a big money fight with Kentikian... Oddly enough the only 2 rounds TyC scored for Moreno are rounds I gave to Kentikian...
In any event this was just one of those fights where honest people are going to disagree by wide margins. It's just another failing of the 10 point must system. Different judges score different ways. Some are swayed by volume punching and would likely score the bout for Moreno. Some are swayed by clean, eye catching shots and would likely score it for Kentikian. Either way, even though I disagree with the decision it was by no means the robbery which Felix Sturm so vehemently complained about. He went as far as to claim decisions like this bring disrepute to the sport. It's understandable that any promoter would say such things on the behalf of their fighter, but to hear it come from Felix Sturm of all people? Priceless.
Moving back to Ava Knight, she now finds herself in a position where 2 of the remaining marquee world title holders in her division reside in her home state of California (Moreno and McMorrow). None of them have fought each other as of yet but surely it's bound to happen now? The WBC is in no position to stop it. Please make it happen, boxing gods.
Andreas Reimer KO1 Mike Keta [vacant Germany BDB light middleweight title]
This upset is well worth watching. That's all I'm going to say. It's short and oh so sweet. Well, not if you're a Keta fan... I however remember the deplorable intentional headbutt Keta landed on Victor Dick in the 4th round of their 2011 meeting.
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