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Schwerin, Germany
Karoly Balzsay TKO-12 Dimitri Sartison: This is probably the best win of Balzsay's career, as the Hungarian notches a W over a man who had previously lost only to Mikkel Kessler. Both were fringe contenders at 168 coming into this one, but Balzsay's last win over Stas Kashtinov was a bit controversial. In this one, he floored Sartison in the 12th round on an uppercut, and followed up with a barrage of punches, which forced the referee's hand. Balzsay holds the WBA's "regular" title, but will never be fighting Andre Ward, unless Andre Ward is really weird. Balzsay 25-2 (18), Sartison 29-2 (18).
Juergen Braehmer UD-10 Vikapita Morero: Braehmer is back, winning again over the level of opposition he loves to face, guys with sharp-looking records but not much by way of challenging skill sets. Scores for this one were 99-92, 98-91, and 97-92. Braehmer matters, sort of, because he'll be a contender getting title shots as soon as something really easy opens up, but he's not going to fight anyone particularly good. He's kind of a local fighter in that sense. He'll fight in Germany, he won't be facing top contenders, but he's got the right connections to maybe land another belt. Braehmer 38-2 (30), Morero 21-4 (9).
Ruslan Chagaev KO-3 Billy Zumbrun: Chagaev was not in peak shape to say the least, but he easily won because his opponent was an easy mark. Usually the former WBA titlist has been right about 230, sometimes in the high 220s, but for both of his time-filler fights in 2012, he's weighed in at 242½. There's really no chance that the 33-year-old Chagaev gets back into legit contention. It's not just that he lost so badly to Klitschko and Povetkin. He hasn't looked good in a long time at this point. Chagaev 29-2-1 (18), Zumbrun 25-13-1 (15).
After the Jump: More results from Germany, plus results from Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, France, Australia, and the United States.
El Paso, Texas (Showtime Championship Boxing)
Mares UD-12 Morel | Moreno TKO-9 De La Mora
Bryant TKO-3 Andrade | Ramos UD-10 Attah | Vargas TKO-3 Lora
Mathews TKO-6 Crolla | Dickinson UD-8 Askin
Fredrikshavn, Denmark (BoxNation)
DeGale TKO-4 Sanavia | Nielsen KO-10 Vega | Evensen UD-12 Casey
Biloxi, Mississippi (ShoBox)
Taylor UD-10 Truax | Lara TKO-1 Hearns
Montreal, Quebec (ESPN Friday Night Fights)
Stevenson TKO-2 Gonzalez | Alvarez UD-8 Saunders
Schwerin, Germany (cont.)
Rakhim Chakhkiev KO-1 Jaidon Codrington: This fight absolutely should not have happened. The 27-year-old Codrington is best known for his war with Sakio Bika in what was by far the best fight ever on "The Contender," and also for his scary KO loss to Allan Green on ShoBox in 2005. After the loss to Bika, Codrington fought William Gill, who was 8-20, on TV from Providence on the Manfredo-Bika show that aired on Versus, and he looked truly terrible. Not just like a guy who couldn't fight anymore, but his body language was awful and he seemed mentally lost in the ring, constantly grabbing onto the top rope. Following that, he was out for two years and then returned in October 10, stopping another guy who always loses in one round. But he hasn't fought since then. Having Chakhkiev, a legit prospect, a former Olympian, and a real cruiserweight (Codrington is not, if you haven't figured that out yet), fight Jaidon Codrington is so beyond pointless that it defies explanation. There was no way in hell that Codrington was going to hold up. What did Chakhkiev prove with this win? What did he gain? What does he get out of it? There are hundreds of crummy cruiserweights he could have fought. Why was he fighting Jaidon Codrington instead? For attention? Well, here's the attention: This matchup sucked and shouldn't have been signed. Codrington was knocked down twice and quit. Chakhkiev 13-0 (10), Codrington 20-3 (16).
Juan Carlos Gomez TKO-4 Darnell Wilson: This was a rematch, as you might recall that the "Ding-a-Ling Man" scored an upset over aged Cuban Gomez back in September. Gomez continues to fight but he's mostly operating at a high club level at this point. He's never going to be a contender again. At 38, he's way past his best, and he really never did anything particularly memorable as a pro. When he was at his peak, he was a hell of a good fighter, but it always seemed like part of that was wasted. The ending to this one wasn't really conclusive, as the fight was stopped on a cut caused by a headbutt, which was ruled to be caused by a punch. Maybe they'll have a rubber match buried on one of these undercards. Gomez 50-3 (38), Wilson 24-15-3 (20).
Ante Bilic UD-12 Rafael Bejaran: Bilic is a Croatian who ran up an undefeated record and then lost two of three in 2006-07. Since then he's been pounding out a bunch of wins over lousy fighters. Bejaran isn't much better of a win than anyone else, really, but the win gets Bilic back in the WBO rankings since he won their WBO European belt with this one, so now folks can call him "world-ranked middleweight Ante Bilic." Scores were 118-109, 117-110 and 116-111. Bilic 27-2 (13), Bejaran 14-2 (6).
Marcel Meyerdiercks UD-12 Santiago Allione: 24-year-old Meyerdiercks is a German featherweight hopeful and this win netted him a minor WBO title. Allione is an Argentine veteran who has lost whenever he's stepped up, including fights with Scott Quigg and Jorge Solis, who both stopped him. Meyerdiercks 22-0 (5), Allione 19-8-1 (7).
Morelia, Mexico
Cristian Mijares KO-4 Eddy Julio: Mijares totally overmatched Julio as expected and won his third straight by stoppage at 122 pounds, which no doubt will be part of the selling point for his expected July date with Nonito Donaire. As I said before, the only way Mijares hangs around in that fight is if he stinks out the joint, which he's capable of doing, and the only way the fight is good is if Donaire blows him out with a highlight reel KO, which he's capable of doing. Mijares is a natural super flyweight who's had limited success over 115 pounds, and is a safe matchup for Donaire and Top Rank to take. He's not a big puncher, not particularly slick anymore (not so slick Donaire won't find him), and he represents no real threat. There's been talk of that fight on July 21, but if Top Rank is rolling with a PPV on July 14, it really does make more sense for that card, and would fit the Mexico vs Philippines lineup they're reportedly targeting. Mijares 45-6-2 (21), Julio 13-4-1 (11).
Marvin Quintero TKO-9 Al Sabaupan: Quintero hands Filipino Sabaupan his first loss as a professional, and now is the mandatory challenger for IBF lightweight titlist Miguel Vazquez, who may currently be the best in the world at the weight. Quintero said after the fight that he wants the Vazquez fight, and promoter Gary Shaw noted he'll be getting to work on making it happen this week. Vazquez-Quintero would be no worse a fight than Vazquez has been running through lately; Quintero is chinny, but does have real power and generally makes entertaining fights. On paper, I think Vazquez chews him up, but Quintero did what he had to do and is as ready as he's going to get. Quintero 25-3 (21), Sabaupan 18-1-1 (13).
San Juan, Argentina
Omar Narvaez UD-12 Jose Cabrera: I saw someone remark yesterday on Twitter that in their opinion, Narvaez is a top 20 P4P fighter, noting the length of his title reign. The problem with taking boxing results at face value is you wind up with things like that being said outside of Narvaez's hometown. I'm not saying Narvaez isn't a good fighter -- he is, because if you're not, you lose to guys like Jose Cabrera eventually, if you fight them as often as Narvaez has, and that's really the issue with ranking Narvaez as an elite fighter. Neither of his title reigns at 112 or 115 saw him fight any of the other real top fighters in his division. He took the Donaire fight at 118 last year for money, plain and simple, and good for him. He went, he stunk out New York City as anyone who'd ever seen Narvaez before could have expected, and now he's back home wrapping up a career that will be well-remembered in Argentina. At 36, he's unlikely to take any further risks. He'll probably retire without ever losing the WBO super flyweight title, because he's probably never going to fight anyone with more than a 20% chance of beating him. Narvaez 36-1-2 (19), Cabrera 20-3-2 (8).
Biloxi, Mississippi
Kelvin Price UD-10 Arron Lyons: I figured these fights were worth noting from the off-TV ShoBox undercard at the Beau Rivage -- the jewel casino of the South, according to Lou DiBella -- because the fighters who won will probably be on ShoBox cards soon enough. If you recall Kelvin Price's name, one of two things is possible: You're a heavyweight fetishist constantly scouting the American club scene to find someone, God, ANYONE! who might be an American star in the division, or you remember that he beat Tor Hamer back in 2010. Since beating Hamer, Price has, uh, done nothing, really. I mean, he's fought, just against a bunch of scrubs. He's a former basketball player so he's a bit of a project still, which is unfortunately what most of the American "prospects" really are: Projects. He's 36 years old so don't expect him to go anywhere. The Hamer win was probably as good as it's gonna get, and it's not even clear how much that meant, plus a lot of people thought Tor won, anyway. Price 13-0 (6), Lyons 12-12-1 (9).
J'Leon Love KO-3 Ibahiem King: Love has become a prospect of note because of many things. For one thing, he's a solid prospect, period, but he was also featured in the Margarito camp on "24/7" late last year, and he keeps his name out there well, which is something Twitter has helped a lot of young fighters do. He's a Michigan native (like me!) but thankfully hasn't wasted his time fighting in his home state, as he's had just one bout there. He's probably not even close to a ShoBox date unless he gets a fight that probably shouldn't be on there, but he's on the rise and worth keeping tabs on. Love 11-0 (7), King 10-7 (4).
Steve Martinez KO-2 Marcus Thompkins: This was a comeback win for Martinez, who really disappointed in just about every way in a split decision loss to Denis Douglin on the Friday Night Fights season premiere in January. Martinez seems like he would have to be better than he was that night, but then Douglin wasn't really impressive, either. It was kind of a double-whammy. Martinez 12-1 (10), Thompkins 5-7-1 (2).
Caguas, Puerto Rico
Jose Miguel Cotto UD-10 Eric Cruz: Miguel's big bro got this Solo Boxeo headliner because Golden Boy booked him to fight Erik Morales' chubby buddy Jose Luis Castillo in March, and then when Castillo shocked the whole wide boxing world by not making weight for the off-TV veteran collision, GBP had a situation where they kind of owed Jose a favor, and since they're working with Miguel right now, too, obviously, y'know, the situation had to be addressed. So they got him an easy fight in Caguas and put it on TV on a series they care increasingly less and less about as time goes on, and he won. Scores were 99-89, 98-90, and 97-87, which may be the first time I've seen a 97-87 card. Cotto 33-3-1 (24), Cruz 13-9-3 (13).
Mandaue City, Philippines
Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr KO-9 Alex Buckie: Not a big win or anything, but Dodie Boy Jr is picking up a few headlines as he works his way through prospectdom. Filipino prospects often seem to come and go, but one thing worth noting is it seems like Dodie's fights have point deductions as often as they don't, which is a little weird. Penalosa 9-0 (9), Buckie 13-26-6 (7).
Michael Farenas SD-10 Jason Egera: 27-year-old "Hammer Fist" Farenas is a fringe contender at featherweight who could wind up in a title fight at some point, I guess. Both of these dudes also got docked a point. They're point deduction wild in the Philippines, I guess. Not the worst thing -- I happen to think more points should be taken for fouls and misconduct in a lot of fights. Eric Morel probably should've lost a point for a late hit on Abner Mares last night, for instance. This is why I didn't rant and rave about Amir Khan losing points for shoving. It's illegal. But most referees don't truly follow the rulebook. It's a lot looser than the actual rules for the most part. Farenas 36-3-3 (26), Egera 16-8 (7).
Santa Fe, Argentina
Sebastian Lujan UD-10 Jose Maria Pombo: Lujan is still kicking, and supposedly has a fight set for June 16 in South Africa against Chris Van Heerden, who recently beat the great Kaizer Mabuza, destroyer of worlds, man who made Zab Judah relevant again. Lujan 39-6-2 (24), Pombo 11-10 (5).
Bosley Park, Australia
Lenny Zappavigna TKO-3 Brad Milner: Zappavigna, like, isn't very good. At all. But he's a fighter, and I like that about him. He's going to lose to good fighters because he's not good enough to beat them, but matched at his level he'll also provide exciting fights. He told Aus-Boxing.com that his losses to Miguel Vazquez and Ameth Diaz were "a wake-up call." Zappavigna 26-2 (18), Milner 4-7-1 (2).
Bouches-du-Rhône, France
Nadjib Mohammedi UD-12 Mohamed Belkacem: Mohammedi once gave Nathan Cleverly more of a test than was expected or hoped, yet another chink in the Cleverly armor. He followed that up by getting blown out by Dmitry Sukhotsky last October. Maybe that's why Cleverly isn't in any rush to fight Sukhotsky. Mohammedi 26-3 (13), Belkacem 20-5-1 (9).
Fort Worth, Texas
Brian Vera UD-8 Taronze Washington: Vera returns with a win in his first fight since getting pretty well handled by Andy Lee last October, beating stepping stone Washington at home in Fort Worth. I know this isn't what the Vera camp would want to hear, really, but he's not going to be a contender, ever, but does have a lot of potential value as a gatekeeper between 154 and 168. Vera 20-6 (12), Washington 14-17 (7).