May 13
Santa Ynez, USA: Light Welter: Kendall Holt (27-4) W TKO 3 Julio Diaz (38-7). Light Middle: Jonathan Gonzalez (13-0) W TKO 7 Rudy Cisneros (12-3,1ND). Super Middle: Anthony Dirrell (21-0) W TKO 3 Alberto Mercedes (14-18-1). Good win for Holt as he tries to get back into the title picture.
Holt, 29, wins the first round scoring with some hard rights against former IBF light champion Diaz. In addition Diaz suffers a cut over his left eye in a clash of heads. Diaz shades second round and is finally getting through with some punches in the third. Seems to be winning the round when a double left hook to body then chin puts him down. Diaz up at seven, but is no condition to continue. Second won for former WBO champion Holt after back-to-back losses to Tim Bradley and Kaizer Mabuza. Diaz had fought his way back into the picture with a win over Herman Ngoudjo last May, but now has to rebuild again.
Olympian Gonzalez beats a ring rusty Cisneros. The 21-year-old wears down for “The Contender” participant Cisneros who, although the aggressor throughout, never really troubled the talented Puerto Rican. In the seventh Cisneros comes apart and is taking heavy punishment when his corner throw in the towel. Unfortunately the towel got stuck on the ropes and the corner men of Cisneros have to throw it in again as the referee stops the fight. Gonzalez, who represented Puerto Rico in both the world championships and the Olympics, keeps 100% record of wins by KO/TKO. Only the third fight in almost four years for Cisneros. Dirrell, the younger brother of the Super 6 contestant, floors and then halts Dominican Mercedes. Now 18 wins by KO/TKO for Dirrell, but ready for better opposition. Mercedes 2-12 in his last 14.
Primm, USA: Heavy: Seth Mitchell (22-0-1) W KO 1 Evans Quinn (20-6-1). Light: Sharif Bogere (20-0) W PTS 10 Ray Beltran (24-5). Too easy for “Mayhem” as he waits out some flurries from Nicaraguan and then floors him with a volley of punches. Quinn takes the count on his knees. Mitchell, 28, and a former All-American Collegiate football player, has 16 wins by KO/TKO, including nine in his last ten fights. Quinn, 27, had lost to Sergey Lyakovich and Kali Meehan.
The Ugandan “Lion” just edges out Mexican Beltran on a close unanimous decision. Beltran generally the aggressor, but Bogere sharper and busier. Bloody match due to numerous head clashes. Beltran cut over the left eye in the third and on his forehead in the ninth. Bogere cut below left eyebrow in fourth. Beltran has big ninth round, nearly flooring Bogere, but too late to turn excellent scrap his way. Scoring 96-94 twice and 97-93. This for the vacant WBO NABO title. Beltran, one of Manny Pacquiao’s main sparring partners, had won eight of his last nine by KO/TKO so it was a real test for Bogere who boxed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games where he lost top Australian Luke Jackson in the Quarter-finals.
Rio Cuarto, Argentina: Welter: Sebastien Lujan (37-5-2,1ND) W PTS 10 Jorge Miranda (42-11,1ND). The strength and constant aggression of Lujan too much for Miranda, but “Iron”, 31, leaves himself open and takes more punishment than needed on the way to a unanimous verdict on scores of 99-95, 99-96 and 98 ½ -96, to retain WBC Latino title for second time. Lujan, rated No 5 by the WBA, lost in title shots to Antonio Margarito and Sergey Dzinziruk, but has won ten in a row since losing to Jamie Moore in 2007. “El Chino” Miranda, 27 who lost to Jon Thaxton in 2006, had won six of his last seven.
Fortitude Valley, Australia: Middle: Jarrod Fletcher (8-0) W PTS 8 Ade Alfons (14-14-3). Fletcher, 27, a top amateur, and one of the best prospects in Australia, floors 33-year-old Indonesian three times for stoppage. Seven by KO/TKO for Fletcher who competed at the 2002 Commonwealth championships, lost to Craig McEwan in the Arafura Games but won a Commonwealth gold medal in 2006 beating both McEwan and future Olympic champion James Degale in the process.
Flemington, Australia: Super Middle: Serge Yannick (13-1) W PTS 10 Shannan Taylor (51-10-3). Heavy: Ben Edwards (3-0-1 DREW 10 Mike Kirby (9-3-2,1ND). Cruiser: Brad Pitt (8-0) W KO 2 Daniel Ammann (21-5-1). Big win for Yannick, 28, as gets off to a good start and then outworks the aggressive Taylor who lands fewer, but harder punches. Contrast leads to some bizarre scoring as split verdict goes to Cameroons fighter at 116-111, 115-112 and a strange 109-118. Yannick, who has won his last eight, lifts vacant PABA and WBA Pan African titles. The stocky, muscular Yannick may go down to middleweight. Taylor, 39, is now 3-3 in his last six fights.
Two relative novices put up good scrap for vacant Australian title. Kirby, 35, leads early by pressurising the younger and less experienced Edwards, but Edwards started to make space over the second half of the fight to even things up. Scores 96-94, 94-97 and 95-95 so title remains vacant. Prospect Pitt, 29, a Commonwealth gold medalist, where he eliminated Dan Price in the first series, wins a big one as. after edging the first round, he kayos southpaw Ammann, a former Australian champ, with a big right, to win the vacant national title. Six wins by KO/TKO for Pitt.
Catania, Italy: Light Heavy: Danilo D’Agata (10-0-1) W PTS 10 Emanuele Barletta (6-1). Good, close title fight sees D’Agata makes a successful first defence of his national title. It was the jab of D’Agata against the hooking attacks of Barletta. It looked even at the end of the seventh with D’Agata taking two of the last three rounds to win on scores of 96-94 twice and 94-96.
Mazatlan, Mexico: Middle: Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez (16-0) W TKO 7 Francisco Villanueva (11-23-2). Southpaw Ramirez, 19, sweeps first three rounds, but then the aggression of Villanueva puts him into counter punch mode. In the seventh a big right stuns Villanueva and the fight is stopped.
Santa Rosa, Argentina: Fly: Adrian Mendoza (13-1-1) W KO 6 Adrian Garzon (8-10). “The Flea” retains Argentinian title for first time with kayo of Garzon. Garzon struggles to make the weight, and is never in the fight. Mendoza on top in every round and after a good fifth finishes Garzon with a left cross. Seven wins by KO/TKO for 24-year-old Mendoza, who also hold the South American title.
San Francisco, Philippines: Straw: Jether Oliva (17-0-1) W PTS 12 Fernando Ocon (6-1). Super Bantam: Ciso Morales (14-1) W PTS 10 Eman Labanza (7-6). Oliva, 23, wins vacant WBO Oriental title with unanimous decision over 20-year-old southpaw Ocon. Oliva scored repeatedly with his left hooks and had Ocon rocking in the second. Ocon fought his way back into the contest and Oliva was cut on the left eyebrow by a clash of heads in the fifth. The Davao fighter put in the stronger finish and won on scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113. Former WBO bantamweight title challenger “Kid Terrible” Morales found southpaw Labanza a difficult opponent and refused to trade with him. Morales used hit-and move tactics to stay ahead and took the unanimous decision on scores of 97-94, 96-94 and 98-92.
Salinas, Puerto Rico: Super Bantam: Jhonatan Vidal (14-0) W PTS 8 Cecilio Santos (25-19-3). Light: Mike Perez (13-0-1) W TKO 3 Ira Terry (24-5). Prospect Vidal in an excellent learning fight against experienced 31-year-old Mexican. Santos keeps the 21-year-old busy and makes him work for the win. Scores 79-73, 78-74, 77-75. Santos, who has had four world title shots, has won only three of his last 15 fights, but is a good test. Easy for 21-year-old Perez. He takes first two rounds, putting Terry down in the second, and was handing out punishment to Terry in the third when the fight is stopped. Newark-based Perez has six wins by KO/TKO. Terry with a deceptively impressive record has lost his last three by KO/TKO.
Benidorm, Spain: Super Middle: Roberto Santos (17-5-1) W TKO 10 Francois Bastient (41-9-1). Heavy: Leif Larsen (14-0) W TKO 4 Ivica Perkovic (15-12).Comprehensive victory for “El Tigre de Benidorm”. In WBO European title fight Santos, 29, hands out a boxing lesson, but former French middleweight champion Bastient, 29, stays in there and takes the punishment. Finally the referee has seen enough and stops it in the tenth. In a battle of 36-year-olds 6’6” Norwegian Larsen pounds away at poor Perkovic for four rounds and the Croatian does not answer the bell for the fifth. Eleven by KO/TKO for Larsen.
Glasgow, Scotland: Feather: Kris Matthews Hughes (13-1) W PTS 10 James Ancliffe (11-12-2). Good little battle as the contrast in styles led to an interesting fight. Champion Ancliffe, 27, getting inside and brawling to take the better boxing southpaw out of his stride. Hughes, 23, counter punching well, and scoring freely as aggressive Ancliffe leaving plenty of openings. As Ancliffe tires the Hughes jab dominates and earns him the Scottish title on score of 97-94. The only loss for Hughes was to Jamie Arthur for the Commonwealth title last October.
Montevideo, Uruguay: Super Middle: Noe Gonzalez Alcoba (27-1) W TKO 9 Ruben Padilla (18-3-1). Feather: Caril Herrera (28-1,1ND) W KO 3 Cris Faccio (21-7). Feather: Javier Fortuna (15-0) W PTS 10 Hugo Gomez (11-4). “El Carbonero” feasts on limited Mexican. Gonzalez going for the finish from the first bell, and scoring with heavy jabs and right crosses, whilst Padilla spends his time on the ropes defending. When the Mexican champ does fire back he is throwing arm punches and not troubling Gonzalez. Padilla shows guts and a good chin as Gonzalez constantly nailing him with hard shots. Finally in the ninth a right stuns Padilla, 31, and another one puts him down. He reluctantly beats the count but is shipping more heavy rights when the referee stops the fight. Now 19 wins by KO/TKO for Gonzalez who retains WBC Silver belt. The only loss on the 32-year-old Uruguayan’s record was on points to Felix Sturm for the WBA middle title in 2007, since when he has won 13 in a row, twelve by KO/TKO.
Herrera crushes Faccio to win the Uruguayan title. Southpaw Herrera hunting down Faccio from the first round and has him on the retreat and taking punishment. Early in the third a tremendous right drapes Faccio over the bottom rope and he rolls back into the ring and sits out the ten count. Herrera’s seventh win since defeat against A J Banal in IBF eliminator in 2008. Former WBC bantam challenger Faccio, a loser to Bernard Dunne and Alex Collado, was outgunned. Flashy Dominican Fortuna showcases his talent with speed and accuracy, but with his showboating makes it harder than it should have been against modest southpaw Gomez. Retains his interim WBC Youth title on unanimous decision.
Guadalajara, Mexico: Super Bantam: Horacio Garcia (19-0) W TKO 2 Ricardo Carmona (10-3). “Violento” marches on. Irritated at having a count given against him in the first when his glove briefly hit the canvas, 20-year-oldGarcia floors Carmona in same round and breaks down Carmona in the second and now claims 17 wins by KO/TKO.
May 14
Carson, USA: Super Middle: Andre Ward (24-0) W PTS 12 Arthur Abraham (32-3). Heavy: Chris Arreola (31-2) W TKO 3 Nagy Aguilera (16-6). Super Middle: Dominick Britsch (23-0) W TKO 5 Delray Raines (18-10). Light Heavy: Shawn Estrada (12-0) W KO 1 Joe Gardner (7-3-1). Abraham was in this Super 6 semi-final for three rounds, and then Ward took the initiative and with his superior work rate and excellent jab kept Abraham from getting back into the fight. Ward gets stronger as Abraham fails to get his punches off and fades. Ward wins unanimous decision to retain WBA title. Scores 120-108, 118-110 and 118-111. Abraham claimed that he had suffered cramps from the fourth round. Both fighters guilty of infringements in a rough but not dirty fight.
A slimmer Arreola disposes of Aguilera in three rounds. Arreola stuns the Dominican early in the first, but they both exchange heavy shots in the second. Arreola, 30, gets through again early in the third and although Aguilera tries to fight back another combination has him pinned on the ropes and in trouble when the referee stops the fight. Arreola’s weight his lowest since 2007. The former WBC title challenger has 27 wins by KO/TKO. Aguilera, 24, has now lost four of his last five since upset first round win over Oleg Maskaev in 2009. German Britsch, 23, outclasses poor Raines. Floors Raines in every round except the first and when a right drops Raines in fifth the referee does not even bother to count. Raines had lost in the first round in two of his previous three fights. Disgraceful match sees Estrada kayo poor Gardner in 87 seconds. Apart from the gap in class, Olympian Estrada, 26, had an 8lbs weight advantage. A left hook flattened 35-year-old Gardner and he also appeared to suffer a broken nose. Eleven wins by KO/TKO and ten in the first round shows abysmal matching for the over protected talented Estrada.
Durango, Mexico: Super Fly: Cris Mijares (42-6-2) W PTS 12 Carlos Rueda (16-5-1,2ND). Super Bantam: Alex Valdez (24-5) W TKO 4 Jose Gutierrez (13-10). Routine defence of IBF title for southpaw Mijares. Too good for modest Nicaraguan late substitute. Constant use of the head by Rueda and a clash of heads in the third sees Mijares, 29, cut on the bridge of his nose, but it is never a factor. Mijares cuts Rueda on the left eyelid with a punch in the eighth and hands out plenty of punishment. Has Rueda hanging on at the end as he cruises to a wide unanimous decision in his first defence. Scores 120-108 twice and 118-110. Mijares is a former WBA/WBC champion at the weight. Rueda, 27, was not even rated by the IBF when the match was made. Former WBC bantamweight challenger Valdez, 27, gets back into the winning column as he hands out punishment in every round until the referee stops the fight to save the Nicaraguan. Valdez lost a close decision to unbeaten Rico Ramos in his last fight in February.
Los Mochis, Mexico: Bantam: Hugo Ruiz (28-1) W PTS 12 Francisco Arce (31-7-3). Super Bantam Daniel Rosas (10-0) W TKO 8 David Gaspar (16-4-1). Light: Mahonri Montes (21-0-1) W TKO 2 Rafael Urias (22-20-2). Tremendous battle between two fighters who had been pals since childhood. Arce starts better and has Ruiz cut on the nose and with a swelling on his right cheek in the first, and scores a knockdown in the third. Arce down in the fifth, but more of a slip than a punch. Ruiz, 22, scoring well but floored again in the eighth. Arce loses a point in the tenth for a low blow and in the eleventh a Ruiz punch/slip sees Arce, 29, go right through the ropes and off the ring apron. He climbs back in, and no count is given, but Ruiz seems to win that round and the last to retain his interim WBA title on a very controversial decision. Scores 114-109 twice and 112-111. “Panchito”, the brother of Jorge Arce looked very unlucky not to get at least a draw and a rematch is very likely. Ruiz is known as Little Twin”. He is not a twin, but his elder brothers Edel and Heriberto, who are both experienced pros, are.
Azteca tournament winner Rosas, 21, gets impressive win as he wears down more experienced Gaspar for stoppage. Seven wins by KO/TKO for Rosas. Gaspar had won six of his last seven. After a quiet first round between these two local fighters Montes and Urias exchange bombs in the second. Montes proves the faster and more accurate and floors Urias twice for stoppage with one second left in the round. Montes, 21, has 17 wins by KO/TKO. Urias has a hard punch but a soft chin, so most of his fights end on KO/TKO-one way or another.
Neuquén, Argentina: Middle: Billi Godoy (22-0) W TEC DEC 9 Claudio Abalos (23-11-3). Hugely controversial ending with a near riot, bottles in the right, a ring invasion and the referee being pushed and shoved. Godoy, 24, in command early and floors Abalos in the second. Abalos uses his experience to get back into the fight, but loses a point in the sixth for pushing Godoy to the canvas. Abalos comes back to take the eighth, but the ninth is chaotic. A butt from Abalos leaves Godoy with a badly gashed nose and loses Abalos another point. Godoy stunned by the butt, given a standing count, by now bottles are coming in from Godoy’s local fans. The fight continues and with Godoy badly hurt and taking punishment the referee fails to hear the bell and stops the fight declaring Abalos the winner. Godoy’s corner men invade the ring and more bottles and some chairs start flying. It took some time to restore order. The referee is prevailed upon to examine the TV replay, which is allowed under the local rules, he accepts that the final attack of Abalos came after the bell, and with Abalos ungloved, and Godoy unable to continue, it is decided to go to the scorecards. Godoy wins the Argentinian title on scores of 89 ½ -82 ½ , 86 ½ -83 ½ and 88-81.
Red Deer, Canada: Super Feather: Arash Usmanee (13-0) W KO 5 Alejandro Barrera (21-7). Usmanee in front in this one from the start and taking the fight to Barrera who is more than willing to trade. Usmanne hurting Barrera with body shots and hard combinations, but the tough Mexican firing back. In fifth Usmanee, 29, again scoring heavily, has Barrera hurt and chases him from corner to corner before putting him down with a right. Barrera takes the count on his knees. Good win for local fighter as Barrera’s losses have only been to good quality opposition
Atlanta, USA: Heavy: Travis Walker (36-6-1) W PTS 10 Alonzo Butler (28-2-1). In battle of 31-year-olds “Freight Train” Walker, gets his second points win in last two fights as he takes majority verdict over Butler. Again strange scoring as it goes to Walker on scores of 94-89, 96-92 and 93-93. Walker, who had lost consecutive bouts to Johnathon Banks, Alex Leapai and Ruslan Chagaev, wins NABA US title. First fight in 17 months for Butler.
Mexico City, Mexico: Fly: Omar Soto (21-7-2) W TKO 2 Valentin Leon (20-25-3). Body attack of “Lobito” too much for Leon who is rescued in the second round. Soto, 31, who has had two world title shots, retains WBC Fecarbox title. Leon has won only one of his last twelve.
May 15
San Remigio, Philippines: Light Fly: Jerson Mancio (13-1-3) W PTS 12 Jason Canoy (9-1-1). Plenty of blood spilt in this one as butts from Canoy open cuts on Mancio’s face in fourth (left cheek) and fifth (left eyelid). The butts cost Canoy a point deduction in each of the two rounds. Canoy the harder puncher, but Mancio, despite his left eye being nearly closed, used an effective body attack and a strong finish to take the unanimous verdict on scores of 116-110 twice and 115-111. Mancio, 23, unbeaten in his last eight wins vacant Philippines title.
