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Before we begin I'd just like to say these recaps took so long I had to take a nap in the middle of writing them... It was a busy weekend and I picked up some of the slack around here. Last week's recaps can be found here.
2013-01-21 Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Loaded TV
Willie Limond TKO1 Eddie Doyle
The last 2 times Limond fought an undefeated fighter he was stopped in 8 rounds (against Alex Arthur and Amir Khan). History would not repeat itself on this night against the 12-0 Doyle. Overhand rights and a right uppercut unsettled Doyle quickly and a left hook put him down while he was trying to pull out. As soon as Doyle recovered Limond separated him from his senses once more with an overhand right / left uppercut combination. Doyle easily beat the count again but his legs were gone and the ref rightfully waved it off.
With the victory Limond picked up the vacant Commonwealth (British Empire) light welterweight title. His record improves to 36-4 (37-3 in the minds of those who think he should have beaten Khan by KO). Limond's promoter Tommy Gilmour said they are eyeing a fight with Lee McAllister in the near future.
Gary Cornish PTS6 Tamas Bajzath
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2013-01-23 BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York, New York, USA
This edition of Broadway Boxing was broadcasted live by GFL.TV.
Luis Rosa UD8 Derrick Wilson (80-72, 77-75, 77-75)
In the "main event" of the evening (which was also effectively a walkout bout) Rosa, an undefeated prospect, took on perhaps the toughest challenge of his career against the 9-3-2 Wilson. It was a close fight with Wilson playing the sharper boxer while Rosa was the more conditioned aggressor. Ultimately Wilson got out worked.
Yuri Foreman UD6 Brandon Baue (60-54, 60-54, 60-54)
Former junior middleweight world champion Foreman pitched a shutout against the club fighter from Missouri. Foreman looked rusty, expected after 2 year layoff, but also looked fast and fit. Foreman didn't really commit to his punches and try to inflict pain on Baue, but he clearly outpointed him. Foreman's foot speed and ability to move in, out, and laterally were practically vintage. The surgery on Foreman's right knee appears to have gone well.
However, Foreman still wants to take it slow and gradually get himself back to world level. Promoter Lou Dibella said Foreman's next bout will be no longer than 8 rounds.
Lamar Russ UD8 Jose Medina
Russ continues to impress against very respectable opposition for a 12 fight prospect.
Heather Hardy UD4 Peggy Maerz
Hardy, a participant in the 2012 Female Round of the Year, was entertaining as always. Maerz was competitive and gave Hardy a mouse under her left eye.
Delen Parsley RTD2 Tyrone Selders
Selders took a beating in the 2nd round and quit in his corner.
Eugene Russell KO1 Granson Clark
Clark took a knee at the very end of the first round (which was action packed). All Clark had to do was beat the count and he would have been given a full minute to recover, but he chose to stay down. As soon as the referee got to 10 Clark got back up.
Skender Halili TKO6 Roberto Crespo
The fight ended on a left uppercut in the last round. Halili improves to 8-0 with 8 knockouts. Crespo started strong but faded late.
Patrick Day KO1 Zachariah Kelley
A counter left hook caught Kelley coming in. Kelly took a knee but failed to beat the count.
Neuky Santelises TKO2 Juan Javier Guerrero
For all intents and purposes the only thing technical about this knockout was the fact that the referee immediately waved it off and didn't bother to count. Guerrero was knocked out cold by 1 right hand.
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2013-01-25 Teatro Griego Juan Pablo Segundo, San Martin, Mendoza, Argentina
TyC
Yesica Patricia Marcos D12 Marcela Eliana Acuna (96-94, 93-97, 95-95)
In the biggest female fight of the year thus far, 40,000+ people were in attendance to witness 26 year old undefeated WBO/WBA super bantamweight champion Marcos defend her title against the 36 year old Argentine legend Acuna. The bout pitted the best of the old generation against the best of the new. And to be perfectly honestly, the new generation got taken to school.
Acuna came into this bout following a controversial decision loss to Carolina Raquel Duer. That bout in my eyes was still debatable although I had Acuna a comfortable winner. Marcos-Acuna on the other hand is only debatable among people who don't seem to understand that clean punching compromises 90% of scoring. Such people are also likely to tell you that Tomasz Adamek deserves both wins over Steve Cunningham.
But for those of us who play by the book, we know to award rounds to fighters landing clean punches rather than fighters missing harder punches. Personally, I only gave Marcos 1 round against Acuna (the 7th, where she also may have been robbed of a knockdown). Other than that, Marcos backed Acuna up but got picked apart in the process. TyC gave Marcos the 6th as well but agreed with me otherwise. Acuna's timing and accuracy was on a level that Marcos was simply incapable of this night.
Marcos, most recently rated #8 pound for pound by Bad Left Hook, will drop in the next ratings in light of her limitations. Ana Julaton, who narrowly lost her WBO title to Marcos (not reflected on the scorecards), also agrees that Acuna deserved the nod. I may report on what she has to say about the "politics" of this decision later.
Fabian Oscar Orozco TKO3 Ramon Contreras [IBF Latino super bantamweight title]
Diego Jesus Ponce MD6 Segundo Ariel Senteno
Juan Carlos Cano NC2 Jorge Samuel Fredes
An accidental clash of heads from the 1st round stopped the fight at the beginning of the 2nd round. Cano won the 1st round.
Walter Reta D4 Fabio Gabriel Barros
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2013-01-25 Palasport Pininfarina, Santena, Piemonte, Italy
Sportitalia2
Andrea Scarpa TKO2 Floriano Pagliara
Pagliara was given two standing 8 counts in the 2nd round before the referee waved it off. Scarpa successfully defended his Italy super featherweight title. The 25 year old 6 footer is now 10-2.
Riccardo Pintaudi TKO2 Rocco Di Palmo
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2013-01-25 Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, Dover, Delaware, USA
Amir Mansour KO1 Dominique Alexander
Although announced and reported as 24 second knockout, the GFL clock indicates 1:22 went by before the referee counted Alexander out. He was blitzed by a series of hooks. Mansour, an undefeated 40 year old southpaw that's fairly explosive, called out Tomasz Adamek after this win. Considering some of the opponents Adamek takes, it wouldn't surprise me if Mansour landed the fight.
Mansour went to prison in 2001 and was first released in 2010. Then following his December 2011 victory over Epifanio Mendoza he went back to prison for violating his probation. Alexander was Mansour's first fight since his second release. Mansour debuted in 1997 but due to his time behind bars has only had 17 pro fights.
Franklin Lawrence RTD2 Mark Brown
Edgar Santana TKO3 Eddie Soto
Soto was down in rounds 1 and 3. A double left hook to the body put Soto down in the 3rd. He beat the count but didn't want to continue.
Omar Douglas RTD2 David Warren Huffman
Cornelius Lock TKO2 Damon Antoine
Frankie Filippone UD6 Richard Starnino
John Bowman UD4 James Denson
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2013-01-25 Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA
This event was broadcasted by ESPN2 as part of the "Friday Night Fights" series. Bad Left Hook's Andrew Fruman was in attendance and released his story the same day I put this out. I usually never bother covering FNF in my weekly recaps, but Scott never did his usual post-fight report and I had no idea Andrew was going to cover it...
Brian Vera TKO10 Serhiy Dzinziruk
This was certainly among Vera's 3 best career wins and his performance was impressive. But it can't be ignored that Dzinziruk was clearly past his best. Dzinziruk showed a lot of heart to survive the first and eighth rounds of this fight, but his effort was all for naught when he quit in the 10th. Dzinziruk was knocked down twice in the 1st round (the first of which should have been ruled a slip) and once more in the 10th. He looked to be nearly out on his feet early in the 8th round but rallied back and briefly lived up to his nickname "Razor" when he cut Vera. In the 10th round when Dzinziruk was taking a beating in a corner (a regular occurrence throughout the fight) he basically sat down on his own volition. Upon returning to his feet the referee gave Dzinziruk an 8 count and asked him if he wanted to continue. I'm not sure of the specific words he used, but the Ukrainian clearly acknowledged he had enough.
Thus, Vera has successfully defended his WBO NABO middleweight title and is now riding back to back wins over Sergio Mora (questionable) and Dzinziruk (clear). He's made himself a viable opponent for the winner of Peter Quillin-Fernando Guerrero, who square off for the WBO world title later this year (tentative date currently April 27th).
Jose Hernandez TKO8 Tony Luis
Hernandez upset the undefeated Luis despite taking the fight on short notice. Hernandez's own trainer didn't think his fighter should take the fight as he doubted his conditioning. Luis was dropped in the 10th and his corner threw in the towel later that round while he was taking a beating against the ropes.
Antoine Douglas UD4 Emmanuel Medina
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2013-01-25 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, USA
Showtime aired another edition of their ShoBox series. The scheduled bouts were previewed here.
Demetrius Andrade UD10 Freddy Hernandez (100-89, 100-89, 100-89)
Andrade, often criticized for fighting subpar opposition, was arguably given his toughest pro career assignment to date and passed with flying colors. The 2008 Olympian pitched a shutout and dropped Hernandez in the 6th round with a right hand. Hernandez may not have survived if he didn't spit out his mouthpiece to buy extra time. He came to win but was ultimately out classed. ShoStats reported Andrade landing 326/759 punches (43%) while Hernandez landed 149/589 (25%). I thought Hernandez did much better in his previous bout with the highly regarded Erislandy Lara.
This was the first fight where 2011 Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter worked with Andrade. If their in ring relationship gets much better than this, Andrade is the future of the junior middleweight division. Then again, this 6'1" fast, coordinated, and skilled southpaw defies the laws of physics being a junior middleweight in the first place. If he wants a world title in this division, he should probably move sooner rather than later. Showtime commentator Steve Farhood suggested that Andrade should consider fighting WBO light middleweight champion Zaurbek Baysangurov. The WBO currently rates Andrade #3 behind Keith Thurman (2) and Vanes Martirosyan (1).
Update: The following Wednesday a press release emerged confirming that wheels are in motion to make the WBO title fight happen. Arthur Pelullo, CEO of Banner Promotions, had the following to say:
That was the kind of performance [Andrade-Hernandez] that any fighter would want to have just before a title shot.
Demetrius is clearly clicking on all cylinders now. He's twenty-four years old and now is putting everything together at the right time. He has always been one of the most skilled fighters out there and all he needed was the experience. My partners Joe DeGuardia, Darren Libonati and I have him in position for a title shot. We will hope to fight the WBO champion Zaurbek Baysangurov this spring and we are already putting the wheels in motion for that shot.
Emmanuel Taylor TKO6 Raymond Serrano
Taylor dominated the fight and had Serrano out on his feet in round 6. Good stoppage and overall performance by referee Steve Willis. "Tranzformer" Taylor improves his record to 16-1 while "Tito" Serrano falls to 18-2 with back to back knockout losses. Serrano probably shouldn't be matched against another dangerous opponent for a while.
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2013-01-26 Polideportivo Municipal, Monte Hermoso, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TyC
Yesica Yolanda Bopp TD10 Marisa Johanna Portillo (100-90, 100-90, 98-91)
Portillo used her ring intelligence, height, reach, and speed to stylistically make it as difficult as possible for Bopp. But ultimately Bopp was just too skilled. Bopp slipped her way inside, landed over hand rights, and banged the body. Eventually Portillo got frustrated and started getting desperate. She lead with right hands that had no chance of landing and she lost a point for punching Bopp in the back a few times in the 9th round. Then an accidental clash of heads in the 10th round opened a huge gash on Portillo's forehead and the fight had to go to the cards a bit early. Two judges had Bopp winning every round, and I agreed with them.
Bopp is now 23-0 and still the WBA/WBO female light flyweight champion. There's really not much left in the division for her besides a fight with WBC champion Esmeralda Moreno. However, the flyweight division is stacked and when Bopp does move up it will make things very interesting.
Sergio Mauricio Gil KO1 Domingo Mariano Aguirre
Ruben Valverde UD4 Ariel Agustin Bustos
Patricio Antonio Pedrero KO1 Juan Eleuterio Lencina
Lencina, unbeaten in 23 prior bouts, was knocked out by a right hook to the body.
Brian Carlos Castano UD6 Pablo Martin Roldan
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2013-01-26 Gimnasio Manuel Bernardo Aguirre, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
Televisa
Hugo Fidel Cazares UD12 Rey Perez (114-113, 114-113, 114-112)
Cazares, former light flyweight and super flyweight world champion, found himself in a tougher than expected matchup against the unheralded Filipino Rey Perez. Ultimately Cazares eeked out the decision, but it was questionable to say the least. Cazares played chess with the 22 year old yet his reflexes just aren't what they used to be. From the outside Cazares ate jabs and right hands because he didn't keep his hands up or move his head. He usually outworked the upstart on the inside but it was hardly consistent. Personally I thought Perez won the fight but there were certainly a lot of swing rounds which make the decision reasonable.
After 4 rounds the official judges had the fight even and after 8 rounds they had it 76-76 even, 77-75 Cazares, and 78-74 Cazares. Cazares was deducted 1 point in round 10 per WBC rules on account of an accidental clash of heads that opened a cut outside of Perez's right eye. Overall Perez landed the vast majority of head snapping shots. He took advantage of Cazares being a southpaw and landed lead right hands. And more often than not, Perez was first. Cazares spent far too much time waiting and trying to be cute when the reflexes simply were not there to do so without getting hit. Cazares (who hasn't been stopped since the 90s) probably wasn't getting hurt but Perez was still out pointing him. The only thing that made the fight close in my eyes was Hugo's body work. When Cazares let his hands go on the inside he clearly won rounds. Every other round that Cazares won was murky at best.
Perez is now 17-3 with 2 of his losses against former world champions. He's only 22 years old; expect to hear more of him in the future. As for Cazares, now the WBC International Silver super bantamweight champion, I wouldn't be surprised if he got 1 more world title shot before hanging them up. However, it's hard to imagine him winning if the opportunity comes in this weight class.
Ava Knight UD10 Susana Vazquez
Knight once again beat Vazquez convincingly but still had kind words for her opponent after the fight. Knight tweeted, "Susana Vazquez is the real deal. ... [She's] a warrior and never backs down even when hurt." She wasn't just being nice, either. Vazquez really did walk through fire against Knight and never stopped trying to win.
For reasons beyond that of which I desire to comprehend, this fight was apparently for the vacant WBC Silver female flyweight title. Knight, already the WBC Diamond champion, had about as much need for a Silver title as Lucas Matthysse needed Amino 4500 to beat Mike Dallas Jr. And unless Knight ditches her IBF title, the WBC isn't going to allow her to win the "gold" title anyways (which she should have won when she beat Mariana Juarez). Meanwhile Renata Szebeledi is the current "gold" champion...
As for the other female world champions in the flyweight division, Melissa McMorrow (WBO/WIBF) and Carina Moreno (WBA), Knight claimed trying to get them in the ring is like pulling teeth. It's a shame because these women usually have to travel for big fights and they could all fight each other right in their home state of California.
Oscar Molina UD4 Hector Mendoza
Mexican Olympian Molina was victorious in his pro debut but did not impress like Olympic team mate Oscar Valdez did months earlier. Televisa only showed highlights of Molina-Mendoza but the most impressive work I saw came from Mendoza...
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2013-01-26 Auditorio del Bicentenario, Morelia, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico
Azteca America & Mexico
Jorge Paez Jr TKO9 Francisco Fuentes
Paez Jr clearly didn't have the hardest body in the fight, but he may have had the hardest punch. At the very least Paez knew how to make better use of his power. Fuentes often squared up, leaned in, and consequently didn't get his full body weight behind his shots. Paez was just too skilled and experienced for Fuentes to compete with. Fuentes looked more like a sparring partner than a real opponent. Paez was fortunate in that regard because he did not appear in shape if a real opponent showed up. That being said, Azteca America gave Fuentes the first 3 rounds...
But after Paez dropped Fuentes twice with hooks to the body in round 6, Azteca America finally agreed with me that Paez was winning the fight. Paez would go on to practically have Fuentes out on his feet in the 8tt. Then, just as Fuentes was unloading a good combination on Paez in the 9th, Fuentes squared up, got countered, and was put on his butt. He barely beat the count but the referee ruled him unfit to continue.
With the victory Paez is now 34-4-1 with 20 knockouts. He'll never live up to what his father (a unified world champion) accomplished but his career is nothing to be ashamed of. Fuentes, a former South American welterweight champion, drops to 16-4.
Felipe Orucuta KO1 Fernando Lumacad
Francisco Rodriguez Jr TKO3 Manuel Vargas
Ismael Garnica UD4 Jaime Jimenez
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2013-01-26 Bon Pastor, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Camcorder
Robert Stieglitz TKO3 Michal Nieroda
Late in round 2 Nieroda was battered against the ropes and dropped to 1 knee by a series of hooks and uppercuts. Nieroda easily beat the count but the end was signaled. Stieglitz flurried when the action resumed and had Nieroda in trouble again just before the bell rang. Stieglitz continued to walk Nieroda down in the 3rd round and dropped him again with a right hook to the body. This time Nieroda was down on both knees and took some time to get up. He beat the count once more but was ruled unfit to continue.
This was clearly a stay busy fight for the former WBO super middleweight champion who can't afford to not be sharp going into his rematch with Arthur Abraham (currently scheduled for March 23). Abraham won a narrow unanimous decision in the first fight.
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2013-01-26 TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Boston Bruins TV
Danny O'Connor MD10 Derek Silveira (100-89, 97-93, 95-95)
The last time O'Connor fought an undefeated prospect he lost an 8 round unanimous decision to Gabriel Bracero. But against 8 fight novice Silveira, O'Connor's experience proved to be the difference. O'Connor, a defensively sound southpaw, picked his shots better and landed the harder and cleaner punches. However, apparently because Silveira kept plowing forward regardless, he did enough to earn himself a draw in the eyes of 1 judge. The general "aggressor" bias doesn't apply here though as O'Connor walked Silveira down just as much as Silveira came forward (and accomplished little). As the fight went into the late stages Silveira appeared to exhibit the most signs of fatigue. Consequently he was out boxed even more. This was not a close fight by any stretch of the imagination. One judge even found a 10-8 round for O'Connor despite no knockdowns.
With the victory O'Connor improved his record to 20-1. I know Bracero is a better fighter than Silveira, but O'Connor didn't look as sharp or strong back then. O'Connor weighed in at 137¾ lbs for Bracero and 146 lbs for Silveira.
Ryan Kielczewski TKO2 Washington Hago
In round 2 Hago was dropped twice by hooks to the body and generally out classed but was capable of continuing and hadn't taken a bad beating yet. However, his corner threw in the towel much to his dismay.
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#QuitCounter2013 had a busy week with 6 new additions (listed in bold). These aren't the only fights in the world where someone quits, but they're the ones that I watched. It's only January but I've already seen 14 fighters quit while they were, well, behind. But I'm sure someone will quit while they're ahead before the year is out...
2013-01-05 Reyes Sanchez RTD5/TKO6 Ramiro Alcaraz
2013-01-11 Brandon Holmes TKO4 Javier Esparza
2013-01-11 Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym TKO4 Noli Morales
2013-01-12 Hector Alfredo Avila RTD6/TKO7 Emilio Ezequiel Zarate
2013-01-12 Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda RTD3/TKO4 Sergio Alejandro Blanco
2013-01-18 Brandon Riddell TKO1 Eric McNorris
2013-01-19 Khalid Yafai RTD4 Gonzalo Garcia
2013-01-19 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti RTD7/TKO8 Franco Raul Sanchez
2013-01-23 Delen Parsley RTD2 Tyrone Selders
2013-01-23 Eugene Russell KO1 Granson Clark
2013-01-25 Brian Vera TKO10 Serhiy Dzinziruk
2013-01-25 Edgar Santana TKO3 Eddie Soto
2013-01-25 Franklin Lawrence RTD2 Mark Brown
2013-01-25 Omar Douglas RTD2 David Warren Huffman
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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.