Behind The Results w/e September 7

Eric gets his teeth into his eclectic diet of...can you tell I'm running out of these intros?

September 1

Brakpan, South Africa: Super Feather: Mzonke Fana (30-4) W PTS 12 Cassius Baloyi (37-5-1,1ND).Fly: Moruti Mthalane (26-2) W TKO 5 Zolani Tete (13-1). Straw: Katsunari Takayama (24-4) W TKO 6 Tshepo Lefele (17-4). Super Bantam: Takalani Ndlovu (31-6) W PTS 12 Jeff Mathebula (23-3-2).

“Vinnige” Fana, 36, regained the IBF title with a dominating performance against another former champ Cassius Baloyi. Although the older boxer, the speed and variety of Fana’s attacks were more than the flat-footed Baloyi could handle. Baloyi did get home some hard counters, but never really got untracked, even going back to the wrong corner at the end of the sixth. Fana won on scores of 118-110 twice and 119-109 to lift the vacant title. These two had fought each other in 2008 when Baloyi, 36, won a majority verdict to take the title from Fana It is a long time now since Dean Pithie beat Fana by a big margin back in 1999.

Mthalane had his troubles in the early rounds with the height, reach and southpaw style of Tete, but found his punch in the third. Mthalane broke through to hurt Tete with a right at the end of the round. It was all Mthalane from then on as he floored the inexperienced Tete twice in the fifth to force the stoppage and retain his IBF title in his first defence. “Babyface” 27, lost on a cut to Nonito Donaire in a challenge for the IBF title in November 2008, the only loss he has suffered in the last six years, and won the vacant title by easily beating the current WBO champion Julio Cesar Miranda in November last year. Southpaw Tete can come again.

The strength and experience of Takayama, 27, were too much for South African champion Lefele who took as beating before turning away from Takayama in the sixth to signal he had suffered enough. A former WBC strawweight champion, Takayama had lost in two subsequent shots at the WBA title. A good, close fight was decided by a point deduction that “Mongoose” Mathebula suffered in the last round for careless use of his head. After a slow start this turned into a hard contest between two of South Africa’s best fighters and “Panther” Ndlovu, 32, won the IBF eliminator on scores of 114-113 twice and an unbelievable 118-109. But for the point deduction it would have been a majority draw. Ndlovu has lost to Steve Molitor twice in world title shots. Mathebula was unlucky to lose a very disputed decision to Celestino Caballero for the WBA and IBF titles in April 2009.

New York, USA: Light Middle: Dmitriy Salita (31-1-1) W PTS 8 Franklin Gonzalez (13-6). Ukrainian-born Salita eases back with unanimous points win over tough Dominican Gonzalez, 34. After three slow rounds Salita takes control with his better skills and sweeps later rounds to win on scores of 78-74 on all three cards. First fight for Salita since being crushed by Amir Khan in December and he weighed 10lbs more for this one.

September 2

Lilyfield, Australia: Heavy: Kali Meehan (36-4) W PTS 12 Evans Quinn (18-5-1). Feather: Joel Brunker (16-0) W KO 2 Carlos Lopez (20-7). Super Feather: Billy Dib (28-1,1ND) W TKO 6 Ceferino Labarda (19-2). Cruiser: Adam Forsyth (9-0) W TKO 4 Chris Thomas (17-13-2). Fijian-born former WBO title challenger Meehan, 40, makes advantages in height, reach and strength tell as he dominates with his jab. Hurts Nicaraguan Quinn, 27, in seventh but has to settle for unanimous decision to win vacant IBF Pan Pacific title. Scores 118-110, 117-113 and 117-114. First fight for Meehan since loss to Ruslan Chagaev in May. Meehan was kayoed in 32 seconds by Danny Williams in June 2001 and his only losses since then have been to world champions or former world champions.

No contest as Australian champion Brunker, 24, floors poor Indonesian three times with body punches to win vacant WBO Youth title. Impressive performance from Dib as he outclasses tough southpaw. Floors him in fifth and Argentinian retires at the end of the round. Dib’s only loss was a wide points verdict to Steve Luevano for the WBO feather title in October 2008. Olympian Labarda, 29, lost to Steve Molitor for the IBF bantamweight title in 2008 and had been inactive for nine months. Forsyth had to survive a rocky first round before flooring and halting American Thomas in fourth. Eight by KO/TKO for promising Forsyth 29, who turned pro late, but nine losses in his last ten fights for Thomas.

September 3

Managua, Nicaragua: Light Fly: Roman Gonzalez (26-0) W TKO 2 Jesus Limones (9-2-1). Light Welter: Jose Alfaro (24-6,1ND) W TKO 2 Joel Juarez (25-11-1). Super Bantam: Alvaro Perez (19-2-1,3 ND) W TEC DEC 5 Bismark Alfaro (11-12). In non-title bout WBA straw champion “El Chocolatito” floors Mexican teenager “Tyson” Limones in first and stops him in second. Now 22 by KO/TKO for 23-year-old Gonzalez, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters around. Easy for former WBA secondary lightweight champion Alfaro as he floors soft-chinned Mexican veteran Juarez three times. Alfaro, 26, a loser to Erik Morales in March has 22 wins by KO/TKO. Clash heads sees Perez cut too badly to continue and he takes technical verdict on scores of 49-46 from all three officials. Perez lost in four rounds to Hozumi Hasegawa for the WBC bantam title in December. Head clashes feature prominently in the fights for Perez. Bismark has won only one of his last eleven, and that was when he beat Gavin Reid in January 2009.

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Straw: Olyedong (34-0-1) DREW 12 Pornsawan (22-3-1). A fight of three sections. Not often two top Thais fight each other. The better boxing skills of WBC champion Olyedong, making his sixth defence, puts him ahead in the first third. Pornsawan takes over as his aggression creates openings and he floors Olyedong with a body shot in sixth. Olyedong gets back into the fight as Pornsawan tires, and wins later rounds. Scores 114-114 twice and 114-113. Olyedong won a wide unanimous decision when retaining his title against Pornsawan in November 2008. This was the fourth attempt by 32-year-old Pornsawan to win a world title.

Turfontein, South Africa: Welter: Bethuel Ushona (22-0) W TKO 7 Pius Dipheko (9-10-5). Feather: Oscar Chauke (26-5-2) W TKO 1 Gottleib Ndokosho (9-2,1ND). Namibian Ushona, 28, takes a while to figure out Dipheko, floors him with a low blow in the fourth, puts the pressure on in the sixth and has South African in trouble and down on his knees when the fight stopped in seventh. Not really a big puncher, Ushona has a 2004 win over former Commonwealth champ Ali Nuumbembe but his career has moved slowly. Former South African and WB Foundation champ Chauke,29, makes it two first round wins in a row as he overwhelms Namibian super feather champion Ndokosho near end of first round.

September 4

Cologne, Germany: Middle: Felix Sturm (34-2-1) W PTS 12 Giovanni Lorenzo (29-3). Middle; Ben Simon (19-1) W TKO 5 Magomed Abdurakhmanov (15-5). Slow start from Sturm in his first fight for 14 months, but he picks up pace from second being able to hit Lorenzo at will and blocking the counters to build up a lead. Dominican Lorenzo, 29, tried to put on the pressure in the later rounds, but Sturm was too quick and was never really troubled. Sturm , sidelined by a promotional dispute but now has own promotion group, wins on scores of 117-111 twice and 118-111 and retains WBA title. Lorenzo had lost to Sebastien Sylvester for the vacant IBF title in September last year.

Ljubljana, Slovenia: Welter: Jan Zaveck (30-1.1ND) W PTS 12 Rafal Jackiewicz (36-9-1). Light Heavy: Denis Simcic (24-1) W KO 9 Istvan Varga (17-12). Heavy: Goran Delic (17-0) W PTS 6 Attila Makula (3-6). Light Heavy: Predrag Radosevic (20-0) W TKO 4 Tome Hengstberger (14-29-3). Zaveck finishes strongly to take majority verdict over Jackiewicz on scores of 117-111 twice and 114-114, retains his IBF title and revenges his only defeat. Despite scores (the Polish judge had it a draw) Zaveck was a clear winner, something that even the sporting Jackiewcz had no trouble confirming. Second defence for (Dejan Zavic) Zaveck,34, who lost to the Pole in a challenge for the European title in 2008. Jackiewicz who lost to Ted Bami and Michael Jennings in 2004, was unbeaten in his last 21 after winning only twelve of his first twenty.

Slovenian Simcic scores brutal kayo over Romanian who is stretchered out of the ring. Bosnian Delic, 35 has routine win over Hungarian. Rado, from Montenegro, halts poor Austrian who has won only one of his last 16.

Mar del Plata, Argentina: Light Fly: Luis Lazarte (48-9-1,1ND) W PTS 12 Nerys Espinoza (29-6-1,2ND). Welter: Rodolfo Martinez (38-4-1,1ND) W KO 3 Uilian Barauna (10-3-1). Heavy: Gonzalo Basile (48-4,1ND) W PTS 6 Daniel Bispo(22-15). Speed and aggression win it for 39-year-old Lazarte in his hometown as he overcomes a cut in the first round to slow down his younger Nicaraguan challenger. “El Mosquito” offset the height and reach advantages of Espinoza with his movement and fight was mostly at close quarters and not always a gentlemanly affair. The lead right was Lazarte’s best scoring punch. Espinoza had a good tenth but Lazarte was enough in front to stroll through the last round, with the frustrated Nicaraguan being deducted a point for hitting on the break, to widen the gap even more. Scores 116-111 from all three officials as Lazarte retains IBF title for the first time. Espinoza had lost to Ulises Solis and Roberto Vazquez in previous world title shots, with the loss to Solis being his only defeat in his previous 13 fights.

Easy for former IBF welter title challenger Martinez, 28, as he punches too hard for Brazilian. Has a scare when a clash of heads leaves him with a gash on his forehead, but softens up previous points victim Barauna with body shots and puts him down for the count with a right cross in the third. Martinez, who was halted in twelve rounds by IBF champ Zaveck in April, wins WBC Mundo Hispano title for second time. With a big advantage in height, weight and reach, Basile, 36 has little trouble with passive Brazilian southpaw and wins on scores of 60-55 twice and 59 ½ -57 ½ . Now 14 wins in a row for Basile, but Alex Dimitrenko put him away in 54 seconds which puts his wins in context. Bispo, also 36, has two wins in his last nine fights.

Guadalajara, Mexico: Light Fly: Omar Nino Romero (30-3-2,1ND) W TKO 6 Ronald Barrera (27-8-2). Super Feather: Jorge Solis (40-2-2) W TKO 6 Cicso Cordero (23-1). Feather: Rafael Guzman (26-2) W TKO 5 Sergio Lopez (11-2). “Giant Killer” Nino retains WBC title in first defence as he wears down switch-hitting Colombian with body attack. From third onwards Nino handing out punishment and, after a painful sixth, Barrera retires in his corner. Nino has bounced back from failing a post fight drugs test after beating Brian Viloria for this title in 2006. Barrera 25, has lost now in four world title shots, three at strawweight. A body shot from defending WBA interim champ Solis, 30, puts over-rated Colombian Cordero, 24, down with a body punch in the first round. Cordero continues his aggression, but Solis picks him off and floors him with another shot to the body in fourth. Another body attack in the sixth sees Cordero not fighting back and the referee stops the fight. Second title defence for Solis whose losses have been to Manny Pacquiao and to Cristobal Cruz in a challenge for the IBF title in 2009. The previous six fights for Cordero had been three six round bouts and three eight round fights, so despite his inflated record he had no right fighting for a title. Home towner Guzman, 24, makes it 18 by KO/TKO as he halts Lopez in fifth.

Monterrey, Mexico: Fly: Julio Cesar Miranda (33-5-1) W TKO 9 Ron Ramos (29-9-3). Super Fly: Hugo Ruiz (26-1) W PTS 10 Jesus Vazquez (19-5). Feather: Eduardo Escobedo (29-3 ) W TKO 7 Lupe Hernandez (6-22-2). “Pringo” Miranda goes after poor but game Colombian challenger from the first bell and has him under pressure all the way. Ramos right eye cut and swollen from fifth and after more punishment and does not come out fore the ninth round. First defence of WBO title for switch-hitting southpaw and 14 wins by KO/TKO in his last 16 fights. Ramos had done nothing to be worthy of a title shot. Blood and thunder contests sees Ruiz climb off the floor in the third and floor Vazquez twice on the way to a unanimous decision to retain the WBC Continental Americas title. It is the first time that a Ruiz fight has gone the distance as his previous 25 winning fights and his lone loss had all ended by KO/TKO.

Now eight wins in a row for Texas-based Mexican Escobedo, as Hernandez retires at the end of the seventh round. Escobedo, a loser to Daniel Ponce De Leon for the WBO super bantam title in 2007 has 21 wins by KO/TKO and a points win over prospect Joksan Hernandez. Lupe Hernandez just two wins in his last 14. Ciudad Constitucion, Mexico: Light Fly: Raul Garcia (28-1-1) W TKO 7 Sammy Garcia. Former IBF straw champ Raul Garcia,27, moves up a division with the aim of winning a second world title. Has a rocky first round but then gets to work and has Sammy Garcia in trouble on the ropes when the referee stops it. Raul lost his title to South African Nkosinathi Joyi in March.

Cincinnati, USA: Super Feather: Adrien Broner (17-0) W TKO 7 Memo Sanchez (11-1-1). Now 14 by KO/TKO for “The Problem” as 21-year-old Broner halts Puerto Rican who had lost a close decision to Domenic Salcido in May. This for the IBF Youth Inter-Continental title. Tokyo, Japan: Light Middle: Charlie Ota (15-1) W PTS 12 Tadashi Yuba (37-6-2). Light: Nihito Arakawa (18-1-1) W TKO 5 Mitsuya Omura (13-5). Charlie “Ota” Bellamy, an American based in Japan, retains his OPOBF and Japanese titles with unanimous decision over experienced southpaw Yuba. Giving away height and reach Ota came on strong over the last four rounds to win on scores of 116-113 twice and 115-114. Yuba was trying to win a title in a fourth different division which would have been the first for a Japanese fighter. Easy first title defence for Japanese champion Arakawa, a 28-year-old southpaw. He floors wild challenger Omura in round two and forces a finish with a vicious attack in the fifth.

Toronto, Canada: Heavy: Nevan Pajkic (14-0) W PTS 10 Raphael Butler (35-9,1ND). Good win for 33-year-old Bosnian-born Canadian champion Pajkic, giving away over 40lbs in weight, outscores Butler, 26, in a tough fight. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91. Fight much tougher for Pajkic and closer than scores suggest as Butler’s big right hand always a danger and Pajkic possibly suffers broken nose in second. Pajkic aggressor and busier whilst Butler looking to counter.

Helsinki, Finland: Light Welter: Denis Shafikov (25-0) W PTS 8 Peter Semo (19-6). Super Middle: Amin Asikainen (28-3) W TKO 4 Jaudiel Zepeda (12-4-1). Russian southpaw Shafikov, 25, remains unbeaten with wide unanimous verdict over Swedish-based Ugandan Semo. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72. Former EBU middle champ Asikainen, now up at super middle, continues rebuilding, as a big right hurts Mexican in fourth and follow-up attack has referee stopping the fight. Second win for Finn since first round stoppage loss to Matthew Macklin in September 2009.

Cuernavaca, Mexico: Welter: Antonio Pitalua (49-4) W KO 5 Rivera (8-5). Now 40, Colombian Pitalua puts Rivera away with a right to the chin to win the vacant WBC Fecarbox title. Pitalua has had two shots at the lightweight title, losing to Art Grigorian for the WBO title in 2000 and being halted by Edwin Valero in April 2009. Mexico-based, the Valero loss is his only defeat in his last 18 fights, and he has won the other 17 by KO/TKO in a total so far of 43 wins by KO/TKO.

Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine: Middle: Max Bursak (21-0-1) W PTS 12 Bryan Vera (17-5). Impressive win for “Tiger” Bursak. With his superior speed and busier work rate he dominated tough Vera and retained the WBO Inter-Continental title with a wide unanimous verdict on scores of 118-110 twice and 119-110. Third good win in a row for 26-year-old Ukrainian. Vera has lost four of his last five, but the former participant in “The Contender” series is the only man to have beaten Andy Lee, and he upset world rated Canadian Sebastien Demers in his last fight.

September 5

Nagoya, Japan: Fly: Rocky Fuentes (27-6-2) W TKO 8 Yasuto Aritomi (17-2-2). Filipino puncher Fuentes uses strong body attack to wear down challenger Airtime and halts him in eighth to retain OPBF title. Second defence for 24-year-old from Cebu City who has now lost only once, a split decision to Richie Mepranum in his last 15 fights. They are putting him in tough. His last three opponents had between them lost only four of 62 fights. Aritomi, 30, was unbeaten in thirteen going in.