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Sorry for being late with this; there was an odd schedule of fights this week that interrupted me from submitting this. Catch last week's recaps column here.
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2013-05-06 Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
TV Tokyo
Takashi Uchiyama KO5 Jaider Parra
Uchiyama, long reigning super featherweight kingpin, retained his crown but not without difficulty. Uchiyama is far from the best pure boxer and laying hands on him is not the most difficult thing in the world. However, the thing keeping him from losing is what happens when he lays hands on his opponents. They crumble. Uchiyama's right hand is particularly deadly, a weapon he sets up with a range-finding jab. Parra was very much in the fight until the end of the 4th round, when the right hand finally broke him. He stayed on his feet but the writing was on the wall. Uchiyama finished him off in the next round.
Parra was on his bicycle from the onset of round 5. Midway through the round there was a brief electrical scare where the lights dimmed. Moments later Parra was downed by a low blow and was given time to recover. Rather than making Uchiyama gun shy about going to the body, he attempted the same left hook again, this time legally, and put Parra down for the count.
Thus Uchiyama improved to 20-0-1 and successfully defended his WBA super featherweight title. His only real competition left in the division at the moment are two guys moving up in weight, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Argenis Mendez. Gamboa is scheduled to debut at lightweight in June and Mendez wants to chase Adrien Broner, all the way up to welterweight if need be. He tweeted that he thinks he's only got 1 fight left at 130 in him. Back to Uchiyama, we may be able to look forward to a showdown between him and Thai legend Jomthong Chuwatana down the line. Jomthong is only 7-0 as a pro boxer right now but the 23 year old has well over 200 muaythai bouts.
Liborio Solis MD12 Kohei Kono (113-113, 114-112, 115-111)
Kono's reign as world champion was destined to be short lived. He was a limited fighter before he upset Tepparith Kokietgym with a 4th round blitz and he's a limited fighter today. Solis had Kono unsure of himself from the very first round. Yet, even so, it appeared as if lightning struck twice when Kono dropped Solis with an overhand right in round 2. Solis got a little careless in the beating he was dishing out and walked right into it. Solis recovered quickly and controlled the rest of the round. It was a clear 10-9 Kono round in my eyes; he was dominated apart from the knockdown.
A right hand followed by a left uppercut and a left hook was a bread and butter combination for Solis throughout the fight. Sometimes the order changed and one punch was left out, but they just kept landing over and over and over again. Kono was nearly shaken in each round and in serious trouble for the first time in round 3. Kono clearly won rounds 2, 12 and might have won rounds 5, 6, and maybe 7. But that's about it. Still, it was a damn good fight. Solis came out aggressive to start round 8 and dropped Kono with a left hook. Kono's nose began to bleed but he actually managed a mini-comeback before the round ended.
Nonetheless, the 8th was a clear 10-8 round for Solis. Round 9 was nearly as thrilling without a knockdown and Solis had the better of that too. Kono went on to have a pretty good round 10 but lost a point for repeated low blows. Kono fought the final round as if he knew he needed a KO to win, and he pretty much did. Kono waged war and earned the 12th round but couldn't take Solis off his feet.
Thus Solis, previously the interim WBA World super flyweight champion, earned the full title. His career has come a long way in the last 3 years, unbeaten since losing an 8 round unanimous decision to Ricardo Nunez in 2011. His record now stands at 15-3-1. Meanwhile, Kono fell to 28-8.
Daiki Kameda is the next highest rated contender according to the WBA, but he's been fighting as a super bantamweight ever since he failed to capture the super flyweight title from Tepparith Kokietgym in 2011. Is he going to move back down for another title shot? I don't know. But he's definitely not challenging for the belt at bantamweight, where his brother Koki is "champion", and he's most definitely not challenging for it at super bantamweight, where Guillermo Rigondeaux would decapitate him. But fear not Daiki, if you can't make 115 anymore I'm sure the WBA will make up a bogus interim title fight for you at a higher weight. Though to be honest, even interim WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg would probably be too much for Daiki. But I digress... Daiki won't leave Japan for a big fight anyways.
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2013-05-08 Bodymaker Colosseum, Osaka, Osaka, Japan
TBS Japan
Kazuto Ioka KO9 Wisanu Kokietgym
This fight seemed a like a joke on paper and it didn't look much better to me in the ring. Ioka has been getting "world title fights" against obscure opponents ever since he went life and death with Akira Yaegashi in 2012. However, to Wisanu's credit he did make it to the 9th round before he got knocked out.
Unfortunately the finish was about as anti-climactic as it gets. Ioka landed an uppercut to the body, took a step back, and then did it again. The punches were swift and delivered well, but not particularly with bad intentions. Nonetheless Wisanu went down and stayed there long after the 10 count. It's not every day you see a guy laid out flat on his back from a body shot... And so went Wisanu's 7th defeat by stoppage. Among those who stopped him before, I'd only expect people to know Z Gorres. If you don't even know who that is, that says it all about this "world title fight" then, doesn't it?
In any event Ioka advanced to 12-0, making himself the 2nd most accomplished 12-0 fighter in boxing today after Guillermo Rigondeaux. But unlike Rigondeaux, Ioka is only 24 years old. It's because of his pending long future that his handlers opted out of challenging the real WBA light flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez, who was conveniently promoted to super champion so that Ioka could grab a vacant "regular" title. 35 year old interim champion Alberto Rossel, a respectable world class opponent, should be next in line for Ioka if he keeps defending his version of the WBA light flyweight title. That's a fight I won't actually mind.
Ryo Miyazaki TKO5 Carlos Velarde
All you really need is to watch how the fight ended (video above). It was a good competitive fight through 4 rounds and even on every official scorecard. Then 1 punch (a left hook) changed everything. Velarde was out cold flat on his back and the referee didn't bother to count. It's an obvious candidate for KO of the year.
Thus Miyazaki made the first successful defense of his WBA minimumweight title that he narrowly won on the final day of 2012, fending off Pornsawan Porpramook. He used his youth to beat Pornsawan and his power and timing to beat Velarde. Miyazaki, now 19-0-3 and 24 years of age, is one to watch. Mexico's Jesus Silvestre, 27-3 and 23 years of age, is Miyazaki's #1 contender. Bad Left Hook currently rates both fighters among the top 10 in their division and hopes the 2 will square off.
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2013-05-08 KBS Sports World, Seoul, South Korea
Camcorder
Hyun-Mi Choi UD10 Shannon O'Connell (97-93, 97-93, 96-94)
South Korea's Choi, the only person I know of who can say he/she won a world title in his/her 1st fight and has been involved in nothing but world title fights, made yet another title defense against Australia's O'Connell. O'Connell was game but was too jittery and unsure of herself. Choi was fluid and full of confidence. But because the fighters fell into clinches nearly every time there was infighting, I didn't particularly enjoy the fight. From the outside O'Connell was out boxed and from the inside she didn't really want to work. Left hooks from Choi landed throughout the fight and were probably responsible for O'Connell's swollen right cheek.
Thus Choi improved to 7-0-1, her exact record in WBA female featherweight title fights. Accomplishment aside however even BoxRec has no delusions about where this 22 year old fits in the world, rating her at #9 in the featherweight division. She's not yet in the league of, let's say, WBC female featherweight champion Melissa Hernandez. Hernandez, the only featherweight listed in Bad Left Hook's female pound for pound ratings, is scheduled to complete a trilogy with Jelena Mrdjenovich at the end of this month (May).
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2013-05-08 Piboonmangsahan, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand
Thai TV 7
Petch Sor Chitpattana UD10 Ma Wu Ling (97-93, 97-93, 96-94)
19 year old Petch was given a stern test against China's 20 year old Ling, contrary to what their records going in indicated. Open scoring revealed the fight was 39-37 on all scorecards after 4 rounds and 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75 after 8 rounds, all for Petch. It was a close fight, but Petch's consistent jab was the difference.
Subsequently Petch, born Tassana Sanpattan, defended his WBC Youth Silver super flyweight title and improved to 18-0.
Oleydong Sithsamerchai UD6 Falazona Fidal
Oleydong is a talented and relevant super flyweight. Unfortunately he's just been taking a lot of easy fights, including this rematch against a guy he beat earlier this year. I can't be bothered to discuss it, but combat-asia's James Goyder did. All I'll tell you is that Fidal did a lot of posing when he got hit. It might have been funny if he didn't get hit all the time...
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2013-05-09 Royal International Convention Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Fox Sports Australia
Jarrod Fletcher TKO6 Philip Kotey
Fletcher pitched a shutout up until the stoppage, knocking Kotey down in round 3 along the way. Kotey was awkard with his wide, wild shots. And that allowed him to land a few good shots of his own. But ultimately Kotey's shaky defense and conditioning failed him. In round 3 a left hook knocked Kotey back into the ropes, which supported him, and the ref ruled it a technical knockdown. Kotey later took a beating against the ropes in round 6 and the ref stepped in. It was an early stoppage, but Kotey wasn't offering much back offensively. After the fight Kotey argued with the referee Phil Austin, asking him, "What the **** was that?" He carried on quite a bit after that too, even talking directly to Kotey. It was pretty funny. He was more energetic running his mouth than he was letting his hands go.
In any event Fletcher improved to 16-1 and is scheduled to defend his PABA middleweight title in July. Kotey fell to 28-7-2.
Alex Leapai KO1 Joe Lloyd
This bout wasn't actually shown on the Fox Sports broadcast (at least initially) because Lloyd was a last minute opponent and he couldn't jump on an early enough flight. Leapai was originally scheduled to fight John Napari for the vacant WBO Africa title, but Napari failed his pre-fight medical exam and withdrew this very day.
Damien Hooper TKO1 Kashif Mumtaz
Ronald Branford KO1 Cameron Cooper
Jeff Horn TKO1 Nuengsiam Kiatsongsang
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2013-05-10 Auditorio Presidente Néstor Kirchner, Mercado Central, Tapiales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TV Publica
Marcela Eliana Acuna UD10 Edith Soledad Matthysse (99-91, 99-91, 99-91)
In a battle of legend vs fringe contender who do you think wins? The legend wins of course. Acuna's not shot yet. Her left landed at will and she rolled under Matthysse's shots with ease. And yes, this is the sister of Lucas Matthysse in case you were curious. It goes without saying that Lucas is a bit better than she is, but they do have similarities in the way they fight. To be honest with you the way Acuna boxed Matthyse from the outside and moved laterally around the ring is probably how Lamont Peterson should go about fighting Lucas Matthysse this weekend. I wonder if Lamont watched this fight. Probably not...
In any event Acuna improved to 38-6-1 and picked up the vacant IBF Inter-Continental female super bantamweight title. I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't think Acuna won a fight. Actually that'd probably be against Alicia Ashley, who has her number like Marquez has Pacquiao's. Fortunately for Acuna she managed to escape with a victory in their 3rd and final fight. I would have preferred her going 0-3 and getting the decision against Yesica Patricia Marcos instead...but I digress.
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2013-05-10 Urania Hall, al. Pilsudzkiego 44, Olsztyn, Poland
Polsat
Geard Ajetovic UD12 Przemyslaw Opalach (119-108, 118-110, 117-111)
I feel a little sorry for Przemyslaw Opalach. This Polish prospect, who nearly always wins by knockout, was originally scheduled to fight Karama Nyilawila. Nyilawila is no world beater by any means, but he's still probably better than anyone Opalach has beaten before. Ajetovic, a former Olympian with a 310-15 amateur record, is at least another few levels above Nyilawila. As a pro Ajetovic has always lost at the top level against the likes of Daniel Geale, Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, and Maxim Vlasov, but at least he was worthy of being in the ring with them and has that experience. This was simply too big of a step up in class for any non-elite prospect to deal with. Opalach had the height and youth advantage but ultimately got walked down and beaten up.
Thus Ajetovic improved to 23-8-1 and picked up the vacant IBF International super middleweight title while Opalach fell to 12-2. Polish promoters should have known better really. They flew Ajetovic over to fight their #1 super middleweight Piotr Wilczewski in 2012 and Wilczewski had to settle for a split decision. Opalach had only once been past the 5th round before this day and he lost that fight (to Eberto Medina).
Dariusz Sek UD8 Farouk Daku
Maciej Sulecki UD8 Francis Tchoffo
Michal Syrowatka UD6 Laurent Ferra
Norbert Dabrowski UD6 Olegs Fedotovs
Sasun Karapetjan UD4 Adam Grabiec
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2013-05-10 Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, USA
ESPN
Vernon Paris UD10 Manuel Perez (97-93, 96-94, 98-92)
If you like fighters that come forward and go "balls deep", Perez was your guy. If you like "cute" fighters who pick their shots and make them count, Paris was your guy. If you just judge primarily based on clean punching, which is what you're supposed to do, the fight was about even. Teddy Atlas had it as just that, 95-95. Facebook fans had the fight 8-2 for Perez, which is honestly probably just as "bad" as the judge Herman McKalpain's card that had the same score in the other direction. But at the end of the day people must acknowledge the reality of swing rounds. And this fight was full of them. When you divide them evenly you'll get a scorecard that's about even. If you give them all to 1 guy you'll have it wide for him. Small observational differences in a fight can produce large scorecard variances. That's just the nature of the 10 point must system.
In any event the home town fighter won. And by looking at the faces of each fighter, he looked like he won the fight by the margins the judges gave him. Manuel's face was busted up, Vernon's was not. It might have looked like Perez was throwing the bigger shots, but Paris is heavier handed and landed the better ones. Paris got hit clean more than a defensive fighter should, but he at least rode the shots. Perez pretty much always took the impact fully. Paris improved to 28-1 while Perez fell to 19-9-1, the draw coming against Brandon Rios.
Cornelius Lock UD10 Lonnie Smith (97-91, 96-92, 95-92)
Apart from 2 whack knockdowns that should have never been scored in round 4 and 5, I thought Lock won every single round of the fight. My final scorecard should have read 100-89 for Lock, since Smith rightfully lost a point for spitting out his mouthpiece in round 10. But because things went the way they did the final tally reads 98-91 Lock, the same way Teddy Atlas had it. In no good conscience could we score rounds 4 and 5 10-8 Smith given Lock won the rounds apart from the bogus knockdowns. Smith tried to maul Lock to death but was given a boxing lesson. The official judges were kind to Smith, who was shocked that he lost.
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2013-05-10 Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma, USA
Showtime
Dierry Jean TKO4 Cleotis Pendarvis
This bout was previously recapped here.
John Thompson UD8 Giovany Rodriguez
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2013-05-11 Ufgauhalle, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Baden TV
Alexander Petkovic UD12 Timo Hoffmann (116-112, 118-110, 118-111 [announced as 118-117])
Hoffman, last seen getting blitzed out in the 1st round of the 1st stage of a Prizefighter tournament, lasted an additional 11 rounds on this day but still came up short. The shorter, fatter, yet more mobile and elusive Petkovic soundly out boxed him en route to a unanimous decision. Hoffmann couldn't use his reach advantage to keep Petkovic at bay because Petkovic kept slipping his punches. Once inside Hoffman's range Petkovic was content to just land rather than try to go for the KO. Jabs to the body made up many of the scoring blows and right hands clearly lacked conviction.
But ultimately whatever Petkovic did easily got the job done. He retained his Global Boxing Union heavyweight title and improved to 47-4-4. Hoffman dropped to 40-9-2 [1 NC], winless since 2011. This was a rematch from a 2010 meeting that ended in a draw.
Vincent Feigenbutz KO1 Lazar Rostas
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2013-05-11 Casino Hipodromo Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Azteca 7
Alberto Beltran D8 Rafael Cobos (77-75, 76-76, 74-79)
In a classic matador vs bull matchup the higher profiled Beltran, the matador, was lucky to escape with a draw in the eyes of the Box Azteca commentary. They thought Cobos pitched a shutout and were in awe of the official cards. I saw a close fight with enough swing rounds that the draw seemed reasonable, but Cobos was clearly the aggressor and landed the shots that were more eye opening. But it was Beltran who was landing the shorter, cleaner shots, even if he was being bullied around the ring. Cobos probably should have won, but this wasn't a robbery per se.
In any event Beltran walked away 14-1-1 while Cobos left 12-4-5. Interestingly four of Cobos' last six bouts have ended in a draw.
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2013-05-11 Deportivo Agustín Ramos Millan, Toluca, México, Mexico
Televisa
Adrian Hernandez UD12 Yader Cardoza (116-112, 118-110, 116-112)
Relative unknown Cardoza, still 24, gave Hernandez a tougher than expected fight. Actually let's be honest here. Hernandez went life and death with Cardoza in a fan friendly war. Cardoza lacked the experience to get the job done, but he put forth a great effort. Overall the shorter, more accurate work came from Hernandez. However, from looking at their faces, it was Cardoza who did the most damage. I felt Cardoza did his best work in the early and late rounds while Hernandez was more dominant in the middle rounds. Cardoza impressively closed the show in the 12th and final round, doing enough in my eyes to earn 4 or 5 rounds in total. His record dropped to a modest 15-5, but I think he may have a bright future.
Nonetheless Hernandez retained his WBC light flyweight title and improved to 27-2-1. He's currently rated among the very best light flyweights in the world but I suspect once he fights one of the other top guys he'll lose his title.
Ava Knight UD10 Linda Soto (no scorecards announced)
In the female main event of the evening flyweight queenpin Knight defended her WBC Silver female flyweight title against overmatched Linda Soto, competing in her first 10 rounder. Soto had never won a fight that went past 4 rounds. Knight, 1 step closer to being considered the best female boxer on the planet in the wake of Holly Holm's retirement, dominated Soto from a physical and technical standpoint. Knight dropped Soto with a counter right hand in round 5 but Soto easily got up and went the full distance. All things considered Soto gave a decent account for herself.
Anyways, Knight improved to 12-1-3 while Soto dropped to 5-3. The "Gold" WBC champion Renata Szebeledi, scheduled to defend her title against Shindo Go on May 19, has her days numbered should Knight decide silver isn't really her color.
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2013-05-11 Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Sky Sports
Ricky Burns RTD9 Jose A Gonzalez
Scott Christ previously recapped this main event here and some of the undercard here.
John Simpson UD12 Choi Tseveenpurev
Stephen Simmons RTD3 Michael Sweeney
Rocky Fielding KO1 Michal Nieroda
David Brophy PTS6 Gary Boulden
Michael Roberts PTS6 Mariusz Bak
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2013-05-11 Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Primetime PPV
Jamie McDonnell MD12 Julio Ceja (114-114, 118-110, 115-113)
In one of the best fights of the year thus far, McDonnell narrowly overcame the tough, rugged Ceja in front of his hometown fans (who were few in number but extremely vocal). If I was a certain kind of boxing writer I'd go off into a diatribe right now about how this fight was held in an empty stadium, but alas I'm only concerned with what happened in the ring. And that was great action.
The only thing unspectacular about this fight was the scorecard of judge Dave Parris, who only thought Ceja deserved 2 rounds. He clearly missed a good fight. The judges who saw it 7-5 McDonnell and 6-6 even saw what really happened. The cleaner shots, mostly to the head, came from McDonnell but the bulk of the body work and more devastating punches came from Ceja. But ultimately McDonnell's footwork was the real difference in the fight. He moved in and out of range, front to back, side to side, from round 1 to round 12. And he always kept his hands up. When Ceja tried to connect while McDonnell was on the move, his accuracy was pretty dismal. But when Ceja got McDonnell's back to the ropes, he put in work.
Personally I had the fight even. I couldn't split the fighters in the first 2 rounds, gave Ceja round 3 and 4, McDonnell rounds 5 and 6, Ceja round 7, McDonnell rounds 8 and 9, Ceja rounds 10 and 11, and McDonnell round 12. I felt Ceja won at least 3 or 4 of those rounds clearly, making the 118-110 McDonnell scorecard unrealistic. He was really putting a hurt on McDonnell in rounds 10 and 11 and simply out hustled and bullied him in round 7. But what do I know? I thought Stephane Jamoye should have beaten McDonnell a few years back.
In any event McDonnell improved to 21-2-1 and picked up the vacant IBF bantamweight title. He's unbeaten since a 2008 loss to Lee Haskins by a single point. Ceja lost his first career pro fight and fell to 24-1. The Mexican knockout artist will probably be back in the world title picture soon enough. But before that I'm hoping for a showdown with Stephane Jamoye. That has fight of the year written all over it.
Stuart Hall UD12 Sergio Perales (117-111, 117-111, 115-113)
Hall picked up the vacant IBF Inter-Continental bantamweight title.
Jamie Sampson PTS6 Lee Connelly (59-56)
Carl Spencer TKO2 Ferenc Zsalek
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2013-05-11 Club One Fitness, Millersville, Maryland, USA
Tony Jeter vs Victor Hugo Correa - Cancelled (original main event)
Phillip Jackson Benson TKO7 Maxell Taylor
Benson stopped Taylor in the 7th round with a volley of punches that had Taylor staggered and retreating. The referee stepped in out of mercy. Thus Benson picked up the vacant WBC FECARBOX super middleweight title and improved to 12-1.
Dwayne McRae NC1 Dennis Benson
A fight nearly broke out before the bell rang when McRae entered the ring and immediately began to trash talk Benson. Then, nearly as soon as the fight officially began the two fighters fell into a clinch and wouldn't stop punching. Thus the fight was called off entirely. The crowd chanted "let them fight," but to no avail. The referee disqualified both fighters. It was one of the oddest things I've ever seen in a boxing ring.
Nick Kisner UD4 Willie Chisolm
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2013-05-11 Route 66 Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
TyC
Holly Holm UD10 Mary McGee (100-90, 100-90, 100-90)
Holly Holm dominated May McGee from the onset of this, her "final" boxing match. She was simply too fast and too good. Holm's ability to tie McGee up after quick flurries basically reduced the little offense McGee had in her to nothing. Even when Holm wasn't doing anything McGee would often just stare at her, waiting for opportunities that never came. In the end Holm pitched a shutout.
While I'm glad a Holly Holm fight was finally televised I can't help but find it ironic that McGee was the reason the fight made TV. McGee is the mandatory for Erica Anabella Farias, one of the marquee fighters TyC Sports airs. Farias was even in studio to call this fight. I can't say McGee's performance against Holm made me particularly interested in a Farias showdown. I wish I could see Holm-Farias instead. But alas, The Preacher's Daughter has forsaken us for MMA... She "ends" her hall of fame worthy boxing career with a record of 33-2-3, retaining her IBA and WBF female light welterweight titles. If you'd like to know more about that career, check out my write-up on the 2012 Female Fighter Awards. Holm won Comeback Fighter of the Year.
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2013-05-11 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, USA
Vinny Maddalone TKO3 Richard Carmack
Carmack, a 324 lb knockout artist roughly the same height as Maddalone, 229 lbs, was unbeaten and coming off a career best win over Carl Davis. The 24 year old showed promise, on paper, if you ignored his weight and lack of a resume.
Unfortunately the reality was even a career journeyman like Maddalone, who at least fought some of the best even if he always lost, was too big a step up for the inexperienced Carmack to handle. Carmack was gassed out by the 3rd round and stopped with seconds to go as he sat on the second rope. Maddalone punished him with uppercuts and hooks until the referee stepped in.
Thus Maddalone advanced to 37-8 [1 NC] while Carmack fell to 12-1 [1 NC]. Maddalone praised Carmack after the fight for working a full time job where he helps special needs children.
Lionell Thompson UD8 Yathomas Riley
Alan Gotay TKO6 Bryan Acaba
Anthony Karperis UD4 Carlos Nieves
Soumana Nandou Abdoulaye TKO1 Dave Meloni
Marcus Beckford D4 Carlos Lopez
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2013-05-11 Uni-Trade Stadium, Laredo, Texas, USA
UniMas
Vic Darchinyan TKO4 Javier Gallo
In a brief but entertaining slugfest former multi-division world champion Darchinyan overcame a few shaky moments to put away his game foe in the 4th round. Darchinyan was staggered toward the end of the 1st round but responded by rushing Gallo at the start of round 2 and put him on the canvas, twice. But then Gallo came back and wobbled Darchinyan with a lead left hook! Darchinyan had to briefly hold on to stay on his feet. But Darchinyan came back yet again to score a 3rd knockdown at the bell! All of Darchinyan's knockdowns came from combination punching where he finished with his left hand.
Comparatively round 3, void of knockdowns, was a quiet round. But Darchinyan clearly won that as well. Then a lead straight left hand from Darchinyan early in round 4 dropped Gallo for the final time. The referee waved it off without bothering to give a 10 count. Thus Darchinyan improved to 39-5-1 and keeps himself in position for a mandatory WBC title shot against Victor Terrazas. That being said, it's not clear to me if Darchinyan is even interested in pursuing that fight...
Oh yea, MMA superstar Ronda Rousey was 1 of Darchinyan's corner "men" for this fight. Don't care? Cool. Neither do I...
Oscar Valdez TKO1 Rocco Espinoza
Kendo Castaneda MD4 Victor Rosas
Radames Montes D4 Martinez Sharod Porter
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#QuitCounter2013 goes up by 4 this week as I went through some older fights I hadn't seen yet. New entries appear in bold. The total count now stands at 79.
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
2013-01-30 Erick Martinez TKO2 Miguel Angel Garcia Nava
2013-02-01 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo RTD4 Arief Blader
2013-02-08 Kevin Bizier RTD8 Nate Campbell
2013-02-09 Carlos Gabriel Ozan KO1 Modesto Rodriguez
2013-02-09 Javier Francisco Maciel TKO5 Emilio Julio Julio
2013-02-09 Micki Nielsen KO1 Josef Krivka
2013-02-09 Saul Juarez KO10 Armando Torres
2013-02-16 Brandon Cook RTD3 Raul Saiz
2013-02-16 Demetrius Hopkins RTD6 Charles Whittaker
2013-02-16 Jamel Herring RTD3 Carlos Lopez
2013-02-16 Joel Tambwe Djeko TKO6 Bassam Belkhir
2013-02-21 Czar Amonsot RTD6 Addisu Tebebu
2013-02-21 Patrick Day RTD1 Dominique Foster
2013-02-22 Ariel Vega TKO4 Jose Rodriquez
2013-02-22 Christian Hammer RTD6 Oleksiy Mazikin
2013-02-22 Manuel Charr RTD2 Yakup Saglam
2013-02-22 Simona Galassi RTD2 Gabriella Vicze
2013-02-22 Yunier Dorticos RTD3 Willie Herring
2013-02-23 Chris Avalos RTD4 Jose Luis Araiza
2013-02-26 Petch Kokietgym RTD8 Albert Alcoy
2013-03-01 Michal Syrowatka KO2 Laszlo Robert Balogh
2013-03-02 Genesis Servania TKO7 Angky Angkotta
2013-03-08 Renato De Donato TKO6 Antonio Santoro
2013-03-09 Darren Barker RTD4 Simone Rotolo
2013-03-09 Giovanni De Carolis RTD4 Artem Solomko
2013-03-09 Jon Hill RTD1 Greg Maynard
2013-03-10 Michael McLaughlin RTD1 Jimmy LeBlanc
2013-03-15 Armando Cruz RTD2 / TKO3 Carlos Martin
2013-03-15 Gary Cornish TKO5 Humberto Evora
2013-03-15 Levan Ghvamichava RTD3 Angel Rios
2013-03-15 Sultahn Staton RTD2 Kenneth Brown
2013-03-16 Gustavo David Vittori TKO2 Diego Fernando Neira
2013-03-16 Marco Antonio Periban KO2 Samuel Miller
2013-03-16 Yesica Yolanda Bopp RTD5 Carolina Alvarez
2013-03-22 Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo TKO5 Nathan Bolcio
2013-03-22 Luciano Leonel Cuello RTD7/TKO8 Joaquim Carneiro
2013-03-22 Marc Pagcaliwangan RTD1 Jose Adan Fernandez
2013-03-22 Michael Walsh vs Krisztian Laufer
2013-03-22 Pedro Campa RTD4/TKO5 Ivan Gutierrez
2013-03-23 Robert Stieglitz TKO4 Arthur Abraham
2013-03-25 Petch Kokietgym KO8 Dondon Jimenea
2013-03-29 Josh Wale RTD9 Ashley Lane
2013-03-29 Oleydong Sithsamerchai TKO7 Richard Garcia
2013-03-29 Tony Ingelrest RTD3 Ivica Cukusic
2013-03-30 Apti Davtaev RTD2 Ivan Bogdanov
2013-03-30 Callum Smith RTD1 Iain Jackson
2013-04-06 Azea Augustama RTD2 David McNemar
2013-04-06 Mark de Mori RTD4 Jonathan Pasi
2013-04-06 Roman Skerlo TKO1 Tarik Ipek
2013-04-06 Travis Clark TKO1 Martez Williamson
2013-04-08 Shinsuke Yamanaka TKO12 Malcolm Tunacao
2013-04-09 Saiyok Poompanmuang KO2 Muhammad Sapata
2013-04-12 Mikael Zewski KO2 Daniel Sostre
2013-04-18 Teerachai Kratingdaenggym KO3 Ronnel Esparas
2013-04-19 Andy Townend RTD8 Ben Wager
2013-04-19 Konstantin Airich TKO1 Claudiu George Dinu
2013-04-19 Konstantin Airich TKO1 Wieslaw Kwasniewski
2013-04-20 Artur Szpilka RTD1 Taras Bidenko
2013-04-20 Callum Smith KO1 Ruslans Pojonisevs
2013-04-20 Luis Alejandro Tejerina TKO3 Claudio Esteban Romero
2013-04-26 Mark de Mori TKO1 Iko Dzafic
2013-04-27 Terry Flannigan RTD4 Nate Campbell
2013-05-04 Badou Jack TKO3 Michael Gbenga
2013-05-11 Ricky Burns RTD9 Jose A Gonzalez
2013-05-11 Stephen Simmons RTD3 Michael Sweeney
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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 once a week, 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.