August 31
Hobart, Australia: Middle: Daniel Geale (26-1) W PTS 12 Ermosele Albert (24-5-1). Super Middle: Serge Yannick (14-1) W TKO 2 Jamie Pittman (21-3). Feather: Joel Brunkner (20-0) W PTS 8 Rey Belandres (14-3-2). Successful first defence of his IBF title for Geale. The 30-year-old Tasmanian scores cleaner and harder punches as the 37-year-old Nigerian comes forward in every round putting Geale under pressure. Geale injured his right hand early in the fight but clearly out boxed Albert. Scores 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Geale may have one more fight in Australia, with a return against his only conqueror-Tony Mundine Jr on a split decision in 2009-as a possibility. Albert had not earned a title shot, but he gave his best.
Disappointing ending to fight between Yannick and Pittman. The fight was just warming up when a punch opened a bad cut on Pittman’s left eye. Yannick, 28, from Cameroon, has beaten Joseph Kwadjo and Shannan Taylor recently, but a return with Pittman would seem to be justified. Southpaw Pittman, 30, lost to Felix Sturm for the WBA middle title in 2008, and was rebuilding after a kayo loss to Kwadjo in April last year. Brunkner, 25, remains unbeaten, but pushed hard by Filipino “Boy of Steel” Belandres who cuts him early and pushes the Aussie all the way. Scores 78-74, 78-75 and 77-75. Brunkner is a former Australian amateur champion who represented Australia at the 2004 Olympics. He has a good offence, but as in this fight he can get drawn into scraps instead of boxing his way to victory. Belandres has now lost all three of his fights in Australia.
Tokyo, Japan: Bantam: Koki Kameda (26-1) W PTS 12 David De la Mora (23-1). Super Fly: Tomonobu Shimizu (19-3-1) W PTS 12 Hugo Cazares (35-7-2). Tough second defence of WBA secondary title for southpaw Kameda, 24, and if Mexican De la Mora had been less wild with his attacks he might have sprung an upset. Kameda took the first two rounds with clever, accurate counter punches. The fight changed in the third. Suddenly upping the pace, De La Mora’s furious attacks had Kameda at bay for most of the round. However a southpaw left hook surprised the Mexican and put him down. De La Mora got up, but Kameda had also suffered a bad cut over his left eye. As a result from then on the 23-year-old De La Mora decided to persist with his furious attacks trying to overwhelm Kameda, and Kameda fought a more cautious fight defending the cut. The Mexican took rounds four to seven with his aggression, but Kameda took the eight and ninth with his clever counters. De La Mora came back to take the tenth and eleventh but Kameda showed his experience by scoring well with fast combinations to take the last. Scores 115-112, 115-113 and 114-113, with the 10-8 third round making the difference. Now that Anselmo Moreno-the real WBA champion-has Golden Boy behind him the Japanese will find it difficult to get the talented Panamanian to agree to an “away” match, so it will be interesting to see where Kameda goes from here. This was a huge step up in class for De La Mora, as he had never faced a rated opponent, but with experience he can come again.
Shimizu, 30, wins world title at his third attempt as he gets close split decision over unlucky WBA champ Cazares. Although cut on his nose, Shimizu takes the early rounds by scoring at a distance and not letting southpaw Cazares take the fight inside. Mexican Cazares, 33, sweeps the middle rounds as he closes the distance and works to the body of his taller, faster challenger. Carrizo seemed to tire over the late rounds, but it was anyone’s fight with Shimizu’s stronger finish perhaps just giving him the edge and the split verdict. Scores 115-113 twice and 114-116. Shimizu had lost inside the distance to Pongsaklek and Daisuke Naito in shots at the WBC fly title, and has said he may go back down to that division. Cazares has talked of moving up to bantam, but first wants a return with Shimizu.
September 1
Morogoro, Tanzania: Francis Cheka (23-6-1 W PTS 10 Mada Maugo (12-7,1ND). In front of his home town supporters Cheka, 29, given a tough night by clever former victim. Maugo seems to be in front after four rounds with his better boxing, but Cheka comes on strongly over from the fifth to the ninth with Maugo coming back at him in the last. Scores show a lot of fence-sitting at 100-98, 99-98 and 99-99. Cheka had beaten Maugo on a majority verdict in January.
September 2
Bayamon, Puerto Rico: Light: Jose A Gonzalez (17-0) W KO 1 Eddie Soto (12-3). Super Fly: McJoe Arroyo (8-0) W TKO 2 Ivan Moxey (2-6). Heavy: Epifiano Mendoza (32-12-1) W TKO 3 Carlos Negron (13-1). “Chelo” Gonzalez, 28, showed his power again as he flattened poor Soto with a thunderous right after just 70 seconds of the first round. Now 13 wins by KO/TKO for Gonzalez, the last eight in a row. He retains the WBO Latino title. Soto, 35, a Puerto Rican based in Rhode Island, was out of his class and has lost his last three.
Former top amateur Arroyo took just 25 seconds longer to overpower Bahamian Moxey, who has lost his last four. A right put late sub Moxey down and the fight is stopped. Southpaw Arroyo, 25, is a former World Championships bronze medal. His twin brother McWilliams won the gold at the 2007 Pan American Games and they both competed in the 2008 Olympics. Arroyo was returning after a lay-off due to a fractured jaw. Negron, 23, also represented Puerto Rico in Beijing, and won a silver medal at the Pan American Games, but it was a black night for him. He was expected to brush aside 35-year-old Colombian Mendoza, who was 2-8 in his last ten fights. However, the important statistic proved to be that 27 of Mendoza’s 31 wins had come by KO/TKO. Negron took the first round, but in the second he was caught with a hard left and Mendoza was scoring heavily and only the bell saved the 6’6” Puerto Rican. The end was only delayed for a short while as Mendoza scored three knockdowns in the third and the fight was stopped. Mendoza started his career as a light middle and had also lost to Chad Dawson for the WBC light heavy title in 2007, so he brought a goodly portion of fat with him at heavyweight, but also his punch.
Salinas, USA: Super Feather: Eloy Perez (22-0-2,1ND) W KO 2 Daniel Jimenez (20-4-1). Middle: James Parison (15-1) W PTS 6 Paul Mendez (6-2). Impressive win by “The Prince” Perez. He has experienced Puerto Rican down twice if the first round and then finishes him with a left hook in the second. A right hand counter from Perez brought the first knockdown and the second came from a left hook with 20 seconds left. The left hook in the third dumped Jimenez down on the ropes and the referee did not even bother to count. Fourth defence of his NABO title for Perez, 24, who is rated No 4 by the WBO. With wins over Dannie Williams, Domenico Salcido and Roger Gonzalez behind him, he could be in line for a shot at the winner of the Ricky Burns vs. Adrien Broner fight. Jimenez, 30, was a good class opponent who had won his last three. His only losses in the last ten years had been to Roman Martinez (2007) and Jesus Chavez (2008).
Former National Golden Gloves champion Parison just squeezes by Mendez as he takes unpopular slit decision on scores of 59-55, 58-56 and 56-58. Mendez doing well until he forgot his boxing and began to fight inside and tire against the stronger Parison. Only loss for Parison was to Craig McEwan in 2009, and this his third win after taking a year out. Mendez, 22, had won his last four, but was having his first fight for almost 13 months.
Mar Del Plata, Argentina: Light Fly: Luis Lazarte (49-10-2,1ND) W PTS 12 Nerys Espinoza (29-7-1,2ND). Light Welter: Cesar Cuenca (41-0,2ND) W PTS 12 Sergio Priotti (24-10-1). Not a fight for the purists as Lazarte and Espinoza, as fight is littered with clinches, exchange of fouls and insults, and with both boxers sometimes scoring their best punches after the bell. The referee was the busiest man on the night. Lazarte, 40, did what clean scoring there was, and came on strong in the late rounds as Espinoza tired. “Mosquito” wins on scores of 117-111 twice and 116-113. This makes Lazarte mandatory challenger for the IBF title he lost to Ulyses Solis in April. Lazarte had beaten the 30-year-old Nicaraguan in an IBF title defence in September 2010. Lazarte had won the IBF crown in his fifth shot at a title. Espinoza has had three title shots. Although inactive for a year, Espinoza was still the third rated fighter with the IBF (he was No 5, but positions 1 and 2 were vacant).
Another poor fight sees Cuenca remain unbeaten. The light punching southpaw (only one win by KO/TKO) had too much speed and skill for Priotti. After a slow start, Argentinian champion Cuenca, 30, began to control the fight and a frustrated Priotti began to lose his temper, and points. A butt in the third saw the referee take a point from Priotti. Another butt in the eighth saw Cuenca suffer a small cut and Priotti, 31, lose another point. Cuenca was finding Priotti an easy target and in the last round the referee deducted a third point due to further infractions by Priotti. “The Different” Cuenca, WBO No 1 challenger to Tim Bradley, wins on scores of 98-89 twice and 99-88, and retains WBO Latino title for the third time.
Norman, USA: Cruiser: Eric Fields (19-1) W TKO 2 Rubin Williams (29-16-1). “Danger” Fields, 29, continues his backwoods campaign with stoppage of poor 35-year-old Williams. Now eight wins for the former 2005 and 2006 National Golden Gloves champion since 2008 loss to Ola Afolabi. Now 14 losses in a row for Williams, a one-time IBF super middle title challenger with a 27-1 record, but now a washed-up travelling loser. Eight of those 14 losses by KO/TKO.
Patung, Thailand: Feather: Thailand Chonlatarn (39-0) W KO 6Roel Laguna (12-7-2). Chonlatarn, rated No 1 by both the WBC and WBO, gets second successive kayo victory over Filipino and retains WBO Asia Pacific title. Laguna tries to take the fight to the Thai, but is floored at the end of the third. Laguna survives until the sixth when another volley from Chonlatarn puts him down and out. Now 23 wins by KO/TKO for 26-year-old Chonlatarn. Laguna, 30, had been kayoed in ten rounds by Chonlatarn in June and has lost 5 of his last 7 fights.
Santiago, Chile: Super Fly: Miguel Gonzalez (7-0) W PTS 8 Enrique Marcos (0-4). Chilean prospect “Needle” Gonzalez, 22, remains unbeaten with uninspiring win over poor Peruvian opponent. Marcos, 34, only interested in survival and Gonzalez had trouble early with the Peruvian’s southpaw stance. Gonzalez is not a puncher so had to settle for a points win on scores of 80-73 twice and 80-75.
September 3
Biloxi, USA: Welter: Andre Berto (28-1) W TKO 5 Jan Zaveck (31-2,1ND). Super Middle: Tom Oosthuizen (16-0-1) W PTS 12 Aaron Pryor Jr (16-4). Welter: Randall Bailey (42-7,1ND) W PTS 10 Yoryi Estrella (10-6-2). Feather: Gary Russell Jr (18-0) W PTS 8 Leonilo Miranda (32-4). Feather: Luis Orlando Del Valle (14-0) W TKO 3 Tony Napunyi (14-11). Former WBC champion Berto lifts the IBF title as Zaveck unable to continue due to bad facial injuries. Berto set a fast pace from the start going forward and throwing lots of leather from both hands. Champion Zaveck could not match the work rate of Berto, but he was scoring the cleaner and more accurate punches. It was an exciting fight, fought at a fierce pace, and looked to be a candidate for fight of the year with Zaveck doing good work well in the fourth and fifth rounds. Unfortunately in the fifth Zaveck had suffered a cut over his left eyelid and another cut on his right eyelid, and with that eye rapidly swelling his corner pulled him out of the fight at the end of the fifth. After five successful defences, Berto, 27, had lost his WBC title to Victor Ortiz in his sixth defence in April. The 35-year-old Slovenian was making his fourth defence of his IBF title which he won by beating Isaac Hlatshwayo in 2009. Berto now wants a return with Ortiz.
Despite a nasty cut over his right eye South African Oosthuizen scores convincing victory over Pryor. This battle of 6’4” super middles was dominated by Oosthuizen. Pryor just did not seem to know how to deal with southpaw style of Oosthuizen and constant changes of guard by Pryor seemed to throw him off more than Oosthuizen. The fight started at a good pace with Oosthuizen taking an early lead as he scored well in the second and put Pryor down in the third. It was the body attack of Oosthuizen that was catching the eye. Pryor had some success with the right in the sixth as Oosthuizen showed little head movement. The South African picked up the pace again in the eighth, and, despite Pryor scoring again with rights, Oosthuizen showed the stronger finish. Scores 117-111 from all three judges as Oosthuizen retains his IBO title and gets his biggest win. Pryor, 33, was coming off his best win, a decision over Libardo Andrade in May, so this was a serious set back for the son of the great Aaron Snr. Rare distance win for Bailey. He dominates the action against Dominican and scores a knockdown in the fifth. Can’t nail it after that and has to settle for winning unanimous verdict by a wide margin. Scores 100-89 twice and 98-91. Bailey, 36, was the top rated challenger for the IBF title, but stood aside to let stable mate Berto have the title shot. It will be interesting to see whether Bailey gets to challenge Berto now, at 36, time is not on his side.
Russell marches on. The southpaw skills, hand speed and movement of 23-year-old Russell are just too much for plodding Mexican. Russell scores easily doubling and tripling his right jab, and is never there when Miranda swings. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-72. Russell was National Golden Gloves and US Amateur champion at the age of 16, but lost the chance of an Olympic medal when he collapsed in the dressing room before his first fight in Beijing. His next match will be later this month-at the altar. Fellow southpaw Miranda, 28, once had a run of 26 wins by KO/TKO in a row, but since moving up in class he is 2-4 in his last six fight. Dell Valle body attack slows experienced Kenyan and a straight right at the start of the third sees him hit the canvas. Napunyi gets up but the fight is stopped. Now eleven wins by KO/TKO for Puerto Rican “Orlandito”, a former US National Golden Gloves champion.
Yerevan, Armenia: Bantam: Vic Darchinyan (37-3-1) W PTS 12 Evans Mbamba (18-2). Messy, untidy bout as the two southpaw styles do not mix well. Darchinyan going forward just throwing volleys of hooks from both hands and Mbamba, 29, only firing back in spurts, and spending a lot of the fight with his back to the ropes with his hands up letting Darchinyan, 35, fire away. Darchinyan scores early knockdown, but Mbamba not ready to go. Heads constantly clashing and both fighters cut on their left eyebrow. Referee having to constantly issue warning as Mbamba dives in with head down and Darchinyan pushing South African head down even further. Darchinyan has big tenth as he twice sends Mbamba staggering but Mbamba survives. Darchinyan much the busier fighter but wild with his attacks and Mbamba only fighting in spurts, and only with right jab left cross and no variety in his work. Darchinyan retains IBO title on scores of 120-107 twice and 119-107. This was only the second fight in almost two years for Mbamba, and his first in ten months. He showed great durability by standing up to the constant barrages of Darchinyan. The South African lost to Tomas Rojas for the WBC interim super fly title in 2009.
Los Mochis, Mexico: Light Welter: Humberto Soto (56-7-2,1ND) W TKO 2 Jose Alfaro (25-8,1ND). Light Welter: Carlos Urias (45-26-1) W TKO 3 Juan Pablo Lopez (20-1). Super Fly: Julio Ceja (16-0) W TKO 1 Alex Morales (12-1). Light Welter: Antonio Lozada Jr (24-1) W TKO 5 Joel Juarez (30-17-2). Light: Marvin Quintero (23-3) W TKO 1 Victor Dominguez (7-4) .Soto wins but in confused ending. Soto scoring well with quick combinations in the first. Early in the second a clash of heads sees both fighters suffer bad cuts over their right eye and Alfaro walks back to his corner shaking his head. Both receive quick examinations on their cuts and the fight resumes. A left hook from Soto unhinges Alfaro and Soto scoring heavily as Alfaro stumbling around the ring. The Nicaraguan, still unsteady on his legs goes wild throwing punches with no thought of defence. Soto again getting in the harder shots and at one point Alfaro turns his back on Soto. The referee breaks them and the action starts again. A chopping right from Soto seems to open a gash on Alfaro’s left cheek, but simultaneously their heads clash again. Alfaro under pressure and goes to the ropes and once more turns his back, shaking his head and indicating the cut was due to a head butt. Referee stops the fight.
Upset as veteran Urias kayos previously unbeaten Lopez to win WBC Fecarbox title. After a quiet first round Urias floors Lopez twice with lefts. A still shaky Lopez tries to take the fight to Urias in the third, but a right followed by an overhand left puts Lopez down again and the fight is stopped. Urias, 36, who had won only one of his previous five fights, rarely goes the distance. He has 34 wins by KO/TKO and 18 losses the same way. Lopez had built his record on some easy victims. Prospect Ceja wastes no time in disposing of previously unbeaten Morales as he floors him twice and halts him in the first to retain his WBC Fecarbox title. Now 15 wins by KO/TKO, the last 14 in a row, for 18-year-old who turned pro at 16, and may be one to watch. Lozada gets back to winning ways as he halts veteran Juarez in five. A left hook floors Juarez in the fourth, and he does not come out for the fifth. The 21-year-old “Canitas” has 21 wins by KO/TKO, but had his bubble burst by a stoppage loss to Roberto Ortiz in June, and says that he may return to the lightweight limit, which could be a struggle with his 5’10” frame. Southpaw Quintero, 24, has an easy one as he halts poor Dominguez in just 100 seconds. That’s three wins in a row by KO/TKO for Quintero. He looked to be going somewhere after wins over Nick Casal and Wes Ferguson, but a second round kayo loss to veteran Daniel Attah in November derailed him.
San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Middle: Marco Rubio (52-5-1) W TKO 5 Mohammed Akrong (13-4). Light Middle: Mike Rosales (31-4) W PTS 10 Julio Cesar Garcia (43-5). Super Feather: Alejandro Sanabria (28-1-1) W TKO 4 Alejandro Barrera (21-8).Light: Mauricio Pintor (17-0) W TKO 3 Fernando Silva (5-5-2). Rubio just too tough and too powerful for too brave Akrong. Rubio scoring with both hands over a static Akrong in the first two rounds. In the third Akrong comes forward throwing hard shots with both hands, but also walking into heavy hooks from Rubio. Both taking punishment, no defence on show from either, but the superior power of the Mexican evident. More of the same in the fourth with neither fighter bothering with defence. Again Akrong getting through with his punches, but Rubio’s having the bigger effect with Akrong stunned on a couple of occasions. In the fifth Rubio on top and threading hooks through the non-existent defence of Akrong. A left to the body sends the Ghanaian falling into the ropes. The referee starts a mandatory count and then after looking at the damage to Akrong’s almost closed left eye and his battered features, stops the fight. WBC No 1 Rubio sent out a message to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr saying “look no further if you want an opponent-here I am”. Since losing to Kelly Pavlik for the WBC/WBO titles in 2009 “El Veneno” has won his last nine, eight by KO/TKO, and has a current career total of 45 wins by KO/TKO. This was the first fight outside Ghana for Akrong. The former Ghanaian and ABU champion showed some power, and a lot of guts, perhaps too much.
Rosales and Garcia in a good scrap. It was anyone’s fight going into the late rounds, but Rosales came on strong in the ninth and tenth to take the unanimous decision. The lanky 28-year-old “El Bravo” Rosales has lost to Jesus Soto Karass, Mike Alvarado and Saul Alvarez, and in his last fight in March dropped a majority verdict to David Lopez, but he holds wins over Luis Uribe, Mark Melligan and Amilcar Funes, so is a top flight fighter. After a run of 32 wins in 33 fights, “Baby Face” Garcia, still only 24, was once consider a good prospect, but losses to Troy Browning and Danny Perez saw him walk away for almost three year and he is now 2-1 on his comeback.
Sanabria and Barrera was a close fight for three rounds, but Barrera was having trouble coping with the height and reach of Sanabria. It all became academic in the forth as Sanabria broke through and scored three knockdown for a stoppage win. An upset win over Rocky Juarez in February has helped the 24-year-old to put a shock to Robinson Castellans in June 2010 behind him. Barrera, 31, once a prospect, has now lost 4 of his last five, but two of those were to world rated Filipino Rey Bautista. Prospect Pintor marches on as he floors Silva in second and has him in trouble again in the third when the fight is stopped. Eleven wins by KO/TKO for Pintor. This bout was part of a tournament with a big prize waiting for the eventual winner. Mauricio’s uncle-Lupe Pintor-Carlos Zarate and Humberto Gonzalez were all in attendance.
Herning, Denmark: Super Middle: Rudy Markussen (36-2,1ND) W KO 1 Mike Recloux (19-12-2). Light Middle: Jack Culcay (9-0) W PTS 10 Dee Mitchell (9-15-1).Light Welter: Kasper Bruun (12-0) W PTS 8 Almin Kovacevic (10-9-1). Light Welter: Kim Poulsen (19-1) W PTS 8 Jay Morris (14-20-2). Middle: Patrick Nielsen (11-0) W PTS 8 Farouk Daku (12-2). Welter: Christian Bladt (38-11-2) W TKO 6 Aliaksei Volchan (17-10-2). Markussen, rated No 7 by the WBC, continues his comeback with quick win over modest Belgian. A heavy right from Markussen put Recloux down. He beat the count but the follow-up attack from Markussen forced the referee to call it off with one second left in the round. After almost four years out, the former undefeated European champion and IBF title challenger Markussen, 34, returned to the ring last year, but had been inactive since November. Now 23 wins by KO/TKO for Dane and the first time that Recloux, 27, had failed to last the distance.
Comfortable victory for Ecuadorian-born former World amateur champion and European silver medalist. Culcay, 25, always in command against Brit Mitchell and won on scores 100-92 twice and 99-91. Culcay is the top prospect in German boxing and this was his first fight under the Sauerland banner. Mitchell is 0-1-11 in his last twelve, but has only lost once inside the distance, and that was due to an injury.
Comfortable win for Bruun against game but outclassed Croat. Not being a big puncher, Bruun, 24, content to box his way to victory. Scores 79-72 twice and 78-73. Kovacevic has lost 4 of his last 5. Poulsen finds experienced Brit Morris a difficult opponent. In control early, Poulsen unable to nail down the clever survival skills of Morris in a bad tempered fight with a few infractions of the rules thrown in. The Brit came on in the middle rounds and caught Poulsen with sneaky counters. Poulsen picked up the pace again over the last two rounds, but he is not really a heavy hitter, and settles for boxing his way to unanimous verdict on scores of 78-74 twice and 79-73. Extends his unbeaten run to 16. Southpaw Nielsen, 20, a competitor in the Danish Strictly Come Dancing, maintained his 100% record, but just could not finish Daku who was there just to survive. Lanky Nielsen punished the Dutch-based Ugandan throughout, almost flooring him in the fourth and sweeping all the rounds for scores of 80-72 from all three judges. Former European welter champ Bladt too good for Belarus fighter. Has to overcome a gash in his forehead, but always well in front. Bladt scores a knockdown in the sixth and Volchan is retired at the end of the round. Only one loss in his last nine for 36-year-old Bladt. Volchan has lost his last four, but all to good opposition.
Mexicali, Mexico: Welter: Omar Chavez (27-0-1) W TKO 1 Alberto Martinez (15-2). Welter: Jorge Paez Jr (29-4-1,1ND) W TKO 3 Rodrigo Juarez (15-14-1). Quick wins for the “sons of the fathers”. “The Businessman” Chavez, 21, waits out the early storm from Martinez and then finishes it with a peach of a left hook to go to 20 wins by KO/TKO. Martinez had built his record on poor opposition. Paez Jr, 23, goes for broke and floors experienced Juarez at the end of the first. Juarez beats the count and is saved by the bell. After his exertions in the first, Paez takes a breather in the second. Opens up again in the third and Juarez is down again, gets up but the fight is stopped. Paez holds a win over former WBC light champ Jose Luis Castillo, but has lost three tight decisions which have halted his progress. Juarez has lost 8 of his last 9. Both Julio Cesar Chavez and Jorge Paez were there to watch their sons win, and now there is a talk of the two “Juniors” fighting each other in November.
Cuxhaven, Germany: Middle; Ante Bilic (25-2) W KO 1 Adnan Oezcoban (6-6-2). Heavy: Manuel Charr (19-0) W DISQ 1 Serdar Uysal (13-15-2). Cruiser: Kai Kurzawa (27-4) W RTD 3 Marko Angermann (6-8).With Alex Alexeev pulling out due to a virus, Bilic and Charr moved to the top of the bill. Croat Bilic, 27, put away poor Turk Oezcoban with a body shot late in the first. Now nine wins in a row for Bilic. Oezcoban was having his first fight since August 2009. Another poor match sees Syrian-born Charr, 26, floor Uysal twice. The 40-year-old Turk complaining off low blows and refuses to fight on, resulting in his disqualification. With wins over Danny Williams, Sherman Williams and Owen Back, Charr is too good for this rubbish. Two wins in his last seven fights for Uysal. German International champion Kurzawa, 24, finishes it early. Hands out heavy punishment to Angermann, 35, whose corner pull him out at the end of the third with a suspected broken nose.
Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Seiichi Okada (15-1) W PTS 10 Kota Suzushino (18-13-3). Feather:Toru Suzuki (22-1) W PTS 8 Jonel Alibio (16-12-2). Tough night for heavy favourite Okada. Suzushino was coming forward and crowding the better boxer all night. Ignoring a cut received in the first round, Kota just kept on coming. It should have been an easy fight for the more talented Okada, but he was under heavy pressure particularly in the eighth and ninth. However, Okada, 29, was scoring constantly with hook and uppercuts and using his better skills to nullify Suzushino’s attacks, and in the end retained his national title in his second defence on scores of 98-93, 97-94 and 96-94. Game effort by Suzushino, 29, but former WBC/WBA strawweight champ Hideyuki Ohashi, who is President of the Ohashi Gym for which Okada boxes, was less than happy with his boxer’s performance, as he could have blown a title fight with WBC champion Takahiro Aoh. In the main support Suzuki, 25, was given all he could handle by Filipino former OPBF champion Alibio, and was lucky to escape with a majority decision on scores of 78-75, 78-77 and 76-76 which makes it eight wins in a row for him.
Mexico City, Mexico: Fly: Edgar Jimenez (13-5-1) W KO 2 Humberto Pool (15-9-3). Welter: Pablo Munguia (12-3) W PTS 12 Alfredo Chavez (6-3). “Power” Jimenez lives up to his name as he flattens Pool with a left in the second round. First defence of National title for Jimenez. Pool, 36, has lost six of his last seven. Munguia wins vacant Mexican title at the second attempt with clear decision over Chavez. “Gravedigger” Munguia had previously lost in a challenge for the Mexican light welter title in May.
