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Another week. Another installment of recaps. Catch last week's here.
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2013-04-21 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Camcorder
Min-Wook Kim UD12 Shinya Iwabuchi (117-115, 116-113, 116-114)
From the onset 3 things were clear. Iwabuchi was the crowd favorite. Kim was a conventional orthodox fighter who kept his hands high and applied pressure. And Iwabuchi was a slick southpaw who liked to fight with his hands down. In a way the fight reminded me of Martin Murray vs Sergio Martinez, except the visiting boxer caught a break on the scorecards this time around. The entire fight was good but a few rounds were exceptional, like round 10, which Iwabuchi won big. There were no knockdowns during the bout, unlike Martinez-Murray, but I felt it was a superior fight regardless. Kim made sure he gave everything he had in the championship rounds. The decision was certainly debatable yet the Japanese crowd could do nothing but cheer. No boos could be found. They respected the Korean champion too much.
With the victory Kim improved to 10-1 and defended his OPBF light welterweight title for the 3rd time. Kim hasn't lost since his pro debut...also to a man named Kim. Iwabuchi, who gave up his Japanese light welterweight title for this OPBF opportunity, a step towards a WBC world title shot, fell to 21-4. Kim, previously rated #8 by the WBC, could advance further in the May rankings.
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2013-04-24 Bungnamtao, Lom Sak, Thailand
Thai TV 7
Bualuang OnesongchaiGym UD12 Rodynie Rafol (115-114, 115-114, 115-114)
Through 4 rounds open scoring revealed Bualuang was ahead 39-37 on all scorecards. Bualuang's blistering combinations weren't the most effective, but they scored points. The judges however became less impressed over the next 4 rounds and the scores became 78-74, 77-75 (both for Bualuang), and 76-76. Rodynie proved quite crafty. But ultimately he wasn't busy enough to win the fight, even though Bualuang lost a point for an accidental headbutt along the way.
Thus Bualuang, born Jakkri Wongnala, improved to 11-0 and successfully defended his WBC Asian Boxing Council featherweight title.
Buakaew OnesongchaiGym UD10 Norj Guro (97-93, 98-92, 99-91)
In the female main event 19 year old Buakaew, born Nimaphon Musika, picked up the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council female flyweight title in only her 8th fight despite losing her pro debut. But paper titles aside, it was clear both girls were still raw.
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2013-04-26 Kulturhaus Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Camcorder
Mark de Mori TKO1 Iko Dzafic
Top Aussie heavyweight Mark de Mori continued his Germany journeymen tour with a 1st round TKO of Iko Dzafic. Dzafic injured his left arm early in round 1 when he threw a hook and never recovered. The referee twice gave Dzafic an 8 count before the German quit. After the fight Mori said, "Whenever I hit guys in the body they get sore shoulders." Maybe they do. However, Dzafic said he was still injured from training camp.
In any event Mori improved to 23-1-2. He remains one of Australia's top 3 heavyweights along with Alex Leapai (whom he drew with in 2004) and Lucas Browne.
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2013-04-26 Central Gym, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
MBS
Hozumi Hasegawa TKO3 Veerapol Sor Chantasith
Hasegawa, still determined to drop down to super bantamweight for his 3rd world title in as many weight classes, took no steps closer to that goal by dispatching journeyman Veerapol inside 3 rounds (struggling in the 1st round to boot). Nonetheless, it makes 3 wins in a row for Hasegawa and his record now stands at 32-4 (2 of those losses coming very early in his career).
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2013-04-26 Khon Kaen, Thailand
Thai TV 7
Kompayak CP Freshmart TKO6 Jean Piero Perez
In the main event of the day fans got the pleasure of witnessing another Thai world champion change his name. Goodbye Porpramook, hello CP Freshmart. Fortunately with the name change seemed to come a re-invigoration. Kompayak, born Suriyan Satorn, looked a lot like a spent fighter in his 2 previous world championship fights but managed to walk through Perez's best shots and broke him down. Body shots and pressure were Kompayak's key to victory. Perez was clearly the superior technician but wasn't durable or in good enough shape to last. Whenever he languished on the ropes he took a beating. Perez also refused to hold on, which wasn't wise but it made this a very enjoyable fight.
Utimately Perez was ruled unfit to continue in round 6 even though he never left his feet. Kompayak was amidst a long combination and Perez wasn't returning fire. Thus Kompayak became the new interim WBA flyweight champion (even though the real champion Juan Carlos Reveco defended his title 2 months prior). Hopefully the WBA will make it up to fans by forcing those two to unify. Otherwise they're just continuing to make a joke out of this sport...
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam TKO1 Nimrod Daniel
When I saw BoxRec reactivate the retired Thai legend the week before this bout I got curious. To my dismay he actually showed up on a card I was watching live without me knowing in advance. But when I found out the debutant he dispatched in less than a round was named Nimrod I just said to myself, "Figures." Nimrod was dropped 4 times by punches that didn't look particularly devastating (3 of which were ruled knockdowns) before the referee stepped in.
Thus the great Pongsaklek picked up his 88th victory in his 95th fight. I reckon he'll keep fighting until he breaks 100 fights. Hopefully he won't go for 100 wins. After stringing together a series of wins he'd probably get the bad idea to fight someone legit again. Given his form before retirement I seriously doubt he could win a rematch with Edgar Sosa, even though that happened less than 2 years ago. Forget about the guys rated ahead of Sosa...
Also, I suppose Wonjongkam will have to delay his IBHOF induction at least another year...
Knockout CP Freshmart TKO5 Mark Anthony Florida
Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep TD5 Jerry Tomogdan
Noknoi Sitthiprasert UD6 Morakote Patanakan Gym
Morakot CP Freshmart TKO1 Petchchumpol Sor Visetkit
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2013-04-27 Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina
HBO (USA) / TyC & TV Publica (Argentina) / Kombat Sport (France) / Russia TV 2
Sergio Gabriel Martinez UD12 Martin Murray (115-112, 115-112, 115-112)
This bout was previously recapped by Kory Kitchen here.
Luis Carlos Abregu UD10 Antonin Decarie (97-92, 97-92, 99-90)
Abregu weathered an early boxing lesson to break Decarie down in the later rounds, dropping him in the 8th with an overhand right. Even though the fight was apparently reduced from 12 rounds to 10, Abregu had more than enough time to catch up. With the victory Abregu improved to 35-1 and picked up the vacant WBC Silver welterweight title. Does this mean he's in line to fight the winner of Floyd Mayweather vs Robert Guerrero? No, not really...
Dahiana Santana UD10 Claudia Andrea Lopez (96-94, 97-93, 97-93)
Lopez found herself at a severe athletic advantage and struggled to find range. The taller, younger, faster, and more mobile Santana kept her distance as much as possible. However, Santana had a problem of either pulling straight out or standing still after throwing her right hand, lacking lateral foot and head movement. In these spots Lopez was given ample opportunities to counter. In the end both women thought they won. TV Publica had it 96-94 for Santana as did one of the judges while the other 2 judges had Santana winning 7 round to 3. The judges must have preferred Santana's more abundant leads to Lopez's more effective counters.
Subsequently Santana improved to 32-6 and retained her IBF female featherweight title. She's in a pretty hot division and her #1 contender is former triple world champion Ina Menzer. I've been waiting for Menzer to rebound from the loss to Jeannine Garside for 3 years now. She's 4-0 since then but has yet to step back up to the world stage. If I didn't know any better I'd swear Menzer was from Thailand... (most people won't get that joke)
Magomed Abdusalamov TKO1 Sebastian Ignacio Ceballos
Abdusalamov dropped "El Grandote" 3 times in en route to a mercy stoppage. This was a shameful fight. Nonetheless Abdusalamov advanced his knockout streak to 18 in his unbeaten career and retained his WBC United States (USNBC) heavyweight title. Imagine him vs Deontay Wilder? What would the over/under be?
Kiko Martinez TKO2 Damian David Marchiano
This was an easy comeback fight for Kiko following his grueling war with Carl Frampton. Marchiano was knocked down once in each round and stopped on his feet. Body shots did the trick in the 2nd round.
Diego Luis Pichardo Liriano UD6 Ivan Ruiz
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2013-04-27 Velika Gorica, Croatia
Camcorder
Ivica Bacurin TKO2 Vaclav Karafiat
After a tentative opening round Bacurin dropped Karafiat with a series of right hands and left hooks, thrice. After the 3rd knockdown the referee waved it off.
Thus Bacurin rebounded from his debatable loss to Vincenzo Rossitto in 2012 and picked up the vacant WBC Mediterranean cruiserweight title. His record now stands at 14-3-1 while the previously unbeaten prospect Karafiat fell to 10-1.
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2013-04-27 Salle l'Albanais, Rumilly, Haute-Savoie, France
Mont-Blanc 8
Anderson Clayton TKO2 Sebastien Madani
Madani complained about getting punched in the back early in round 1 (looked like a legal body shot to me) in the middle of action and Clayton was kind enough to stop hitting him despite no break being called. Shortly afterward Madani's right eye was practically swollen shut from other punches (I believe a lead right hand was most responsible). From there on he couldn't see Madani's jab coming and the ref waved it off in the first half of round 2.
Consequently Clayton pulled off the upset and is now the World Boxing Federation light middleweight champion, his first "world" title in 50 fights. His record improved to 42-8 while Madini's fell to 34-2. Madini hadn't lost a fight in over a decade but was fighting a significantly lower breed of opponent than those on Clayton's resume, albeit usually in the loss column.
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2013-04-27 Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany
ARD (Germany) / Polsat (Poland)
Juergen Braehmer TKO2 Tony Averlant
Braehmer may have lost most of the hair on top of his head but the 34 year old still seems to have the reflexes and power of his youth. He looked as good as I've ever seen him against Averlant, who had given Eduard Gutknecht a run for his money just last year. Averlant could barely land a punch as Braehmer danced around him, dominated with the jab, and ripped combinations when Averlant poorly shelled up. A left hook to the body ultimately took Averlant out. He beat the count but was in no shape to continue and needed to take a 2nd knee. The referee waved it off in between knees.
Thus Braehmer improved to 40-2 and defended his EBU light heavyweight ttile. He's now the mandatory for the WBO title he never lost in the ring. Will a fight with Nathan Cleverly finally materialize? I hope so. Braehmer could be Cleverly's toughest opponent to date (only competition being Karo Murat and Tony Bellew). How do you think Cleverly will do against a tricky, hard hitting southpaw like Braehmer?
Guido Nicolas Pitto SD12 Jack Culcay
Pitto pulled off the upset and took Culcay's zero along with his WBA Inter-Continental light middleweight title. Pitto's cleverness trumped Culcay's activity.
Oleksandr Cherviak TKO10 Dustin Dirks
Dirks was nearly KOed in round 2 and things only got marginally better for him throughout the rest of the fight. He certainly had his moments, and deserved to win some rounds, but was taking a beating overall. Dirks' corner threw in the towel in round 10 following a uppercut that snapped Dustin's head back. It's not that Dirks was about to be KOed, but he had no business getting hit by an uppercut from so far away and had taken too many clean shots already. Bar some bizarre German robbery (OK, maybe not that bizarre) there was no point to let Dirks go the full 12.
However, since Cherviak didn't make weight for this bout Dirks actually retained his WBA Inter-Continental light heavyweight title. Cherviak's extra weight seemed to be in his flabby midsection, so I doubt it helped him win the fight. His record improved to 11-2-1 while Dirks fell to 27-1. This just wasn't a good day for undefeated German prospects.
Firat Arslan UD10 Varol Vekiloglu
Arslan, following his dubious decision defeat to Marco Huck, dominated his overmatched opponent as expected. The 42 year old was thought to be shot 3 years back but continues to impress.
Enrico Koelling UD8 Leo Tchoula
Anthony Yigit UD4 Andrei Hramyka
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2013-04-27 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Televisa
Riyo Togo TKO1 Mariana Juarez
In the main event of the evening I witnessed what can only be described as the upset of the year. Juarez, a 20-1 favorite and top pound for pound fighter, was shocked in the 1st round by the little known Riyo Togo. The only bout I had previously seen of Togo was her match with Janeth Perez, where she lost via a shutout. Togo ate a lot of flush shots in that fight but kept walking through Perez's best. Juarez may have thought she could do better and stop Togo. Perez was merely an up and coming world champion who didn't have the power, experience, or skills of "La Barbie". Togo, a knockout artist, hurt both fighters (Perez in an excellent round 3) but it was Juarez who made the rookie mistake of trading rather than trying to survive.
Of course, it did help that Togo had Perez hurt at the end of round 3 while Juarez was hurt at the beginning of round 1. But just as Juarez appeared to have recovered Togo caught her with a devastating left hook that sent her crashing to the canvas. Juarez arose on shaky legs and the referee waved it off. Juarez protested the stoppage, and many believe it was early, but it wasn't bad. Her legs CLEARLY buckled as she was told to take a step forward to see if she was fit to continue.
All that being said, former 2 time super bantamweight world champion Ana Julaton told me she wasn't surprised. Julaton expected Juarez to box and move as Togo, a natural super bantamweight, drained to 112.75 lbs for this fight. Juarez standing and trading gave Togo the only real chance she had. On another note Julaton almost had a fight with Togo in the Philippines awhile back. She's never been stopped in her pro career and often fights like a "Hurricane", but would have given Togo a lot more respect. I'm sure Juarez will too if there's a rematch.
In any event Togo is the new vacant WBC International female super flyweight champion. She's 10-4-1 with 9 KOs.
Jhonny Gonzalez TKO4 Akihiko Katagiri
In the male main event of the evening former 2 division world champion Gonzalez, fresh off a dubious victory over Eusebio Osejo, had a much easier time against Katagiri, a Japanese fighter yet to advance to national level. Needless to say Katagiri was in over his head against Gonzalez, who took him out in round 4. Katagiri was first dropped by a massive left hook then floored again by a short left uppercut. The ref immediately stopped the fight following the second knockdown.
Thus Gonzalez improved to 54-8 and remains in the mix at featherweight among the best in the world, even if he is fighting on tape delayed, female undercards that only Mexicans really know about...
Dante Jardon TKO8 Akinori Kanai
Jardon successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas super featherweight title. Unlike Jardon's previous bout, this ending was actually pretty straight forward. Kanai took a beating and the referee took mercy.
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2013-04-27 Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza, Caguas, Puerto Rico
WAPA
Felix Perez UD8 Miguel Robles (78-73, 78-73, 76-75)
Going into this bout Perez had never beaten a fighter with a winning record nor had he won any of his last 3 fights. The odds were against him but he overcame his demons and out boxed Robles over 8 rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory. Perez is now the WBC FECARBOX super flyweight champion with a modest 8-4 record. Robles fell to 12-2-2 after a passive, uninspiring performance. Robles didn't really go for it until the last minute of the final round, and then screamed at Perez like he beat him emphatically...
Carlos Cotto KO2 Victor Pizarro
Alberto Machado UD4 Luis Quezada
Joel Collazo UD4 Pedro Ortiz
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2013-04-27 City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom
Camcorder
Lee Haskins TKO5 Martin Ward
Both fighters looked fast and sharp early but it was Haskins who did the damage, stunning Ward toward the end of the 1st round. In round 2 Ward seemed to lose confidence and allowed Haskins to walk him (and throw him) down. But Ward sucked it up and close the round strong, wobbling Haskins in the process. Round 3 saw close back and forth action where neither fighter wilted, leading to a touching of gloves out of mutual respect at the end. Round 4 was similarly competitive. And so was round 5...until Haskins hurt Ward again and rallied until the referee stepped in. Ward tried to hold on to survive but Haskins pulled away and spun him around. He was in the process of fouling Ward when the ref had seen enough. Ward protested the stoppage halfheartedly.
Nonetheless Haskins rebounded from his year end war with Stephane Jamoye, improved to 27-3, and picked up the vacant BBBofC British bantamweight title. I'd like to see him fight Khalid Yafai to determine the 2nd best bantamweight in the UK, #1 being Jamie McDonnell, but it's probably too soon for Yafai...
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2013-04-27 Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, USA
UniMas
Raymundo Beltran UD10 Alejandro Rodriguez
Sugar Ray Beltran dominated his limited opponent but couldn't get him out of there. Thus I sat through a 10 rounder that I didn't really want to see. Anyways, a clash of heads caused Beltran to bleed outside of his left eye in round 4, essentially his biggest obstacle in the fight. That said Rodriguez gave as good of an account of himself as could be expected. Even Beltran was impressed and congratulated him. Sometimes I think Beltran's nice guy attitude outside of the ring shows up during fights too...
In any event Beltran improved to 28-6 and remains a top 10 lightweight awaiting his first shot at a world title. But who will give it to him?
Jose Carlos Ramirez UD4 Antonio Martinez
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#QuitCounter2013 had a slow week, only increasing by 2. That's the good news. The bad news is a former world champion has now made the list twice. The total now stands at 74 with new additions listed in bold.
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 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
2013-03-23 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
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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.