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And check DLH's fight night weight when he fought Pretty Boy.
2011 Official Boxing Thread: 12/30 Jermain Taylor + Andre Dirrell return on ShoBox.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
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Barker fought better than expected but he really only won about 2 rds , didnt throw enough punched he went all winky wright in there lol . Sergios next 3 fights should be Sturm , JCC jr, Pirog ,(Maybe Andy Lee) JCC jr -Sergio does good numbers at the Staples center .
Toshioka - Marquez was a solid fight started off a bit slow Toshioka is a very smart fighter does eveything pretty well not a lot of mistakes , Marquez couldnt pull the trigger early if he would have started a bit earlier he could have got the win , hes clearly lost a step or 2
Toshioka couldnt miss him with the straight left hand . As far as Sergio moving up or down to fight Many , Floyd or Hopkins , Floyd wont go up cause the money isnt there , Mannys wont go up cause he just isnt big enough . Sergio just feels he is too small for hopkins , and not no mention it wouldnt be very exciting . Hey why not fight the winner of Cotto/ Margarito ? it would be a Rematch is Margarito won so it would be interesting
Toshioka - Marquez was a solid fight started off a bit slow Toshioka is a very smart fighter does eveything pretty well not a lot of mistakes , Marquez couldnt pull the trigger early if he would have started a bit earlier he could have got the win , hes clearly lost a step or 2
Toshioka couldnt miss him with the straight left hand . As far as Sergio moving up or down to fight Many , Floyd or Hopkins , Floyd wont go up cause the money isnt there , Mannys wont go up cause he just isnt big enough . Sergio just feels he is too small for hopkins , and not no mention it wouldnt be very exciting . Hey why not fight the winner of Cotto/ Margarito ? it would be a Rematch is Margarito won so it would be interesting
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Barker fought better than expected but he really only won about 2 rds , didnt throw enough punched he went all winky wright in there lol . Sergios next 3 fights should be Sturm , JCC jr, Pirog ,(Maybe Andy Lee) JCC jr -Sergio does good numbers at the Staples center .
Toshioka - Marquez was a solid fight started off a bit slow Toshioka is a very smart fighter does eveything pretty well not a lot of mistakes , Marquez couldnt pull the trigger early if he would have started a bit earlier he could have got the win , hes clearly lost a step or 2
Toshioka couldnt miss him with the straight left hand . As far as Sergio moving up or down to fight Many , Floyd or Hopkins , Floyd wont go up cause the money isnt there , Mannys wont go up cause he just isnt big enough . Sergio just feels he is too small for hopkins , and not no mention it wouldnt be very exciting . Hey why not fight the winner of Cotto/ Margarito ? it would be a Rematch is Margarito won so it would be interesting
Toshioka - Marquez was a solid fight started off a bit slow Toshioka is a very smart fighter does eveything pretty well not a lot of mistakes , Marquez couldnt pull the trigger early if he would have started a bit earlier he could have got the win , hes clearly lost a step or 2
Toshioka couldnt miss him with the straight left hand . As far as Sergio moving up or down to fight Many , Floyd or Hopkins , Floyd wont go up cause the money isnt there , Mannys wont go up cause he just isnt big enough . Sergio just feels he is too small for hopkins , and not no mention it wouldnt be very exciting . Hey why not fight the winner of Cotto/ Margarito ? it would be a Rematch is Margarito won so it would be interesting
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Viva Boxing Thread. Im BAccckkk!
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Viva Boxing Thread. Im BAccckkk!
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Good looks man appreciate it. I think de la hoya gave mayweather some trouble though and i think sergio is stronger then Oscar was in his prime and similar in speed. Subjective yes lol I am a big sergio supporter.
I see floyd being a little too technical for martinez. But Martinez is quite fast and i don't think after a round or two of getting tagged by floyd would he keep fighting with absolutely 0 guard like he did vs Barker.
But manny vs sergio would def be entertaining to say the least.
I see floyd being a little too technical for martinez. But Martinez is quite fast and i don't think after a round or two of getting tagged by floyd would he keep fighting with absolutely 0 guard like he did vs Barker.
But manny vs sergio would def be entertaining to say the least.
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Good looks man appreciate it. I think de la hoya gave mayweather some trouble though and i think sergio is stronger then Oscar was in his prime and similar in speed. Subjective yes lol I am a big sergio supporter.
I see floyd being a little too technical for martinez. But Martinez is quite fast and i don't think after a round or two of getting tagged by floyd would he keep fighting with absolutely 0 guard like he did vs Barker.
But manny vs sergio would def be entertaining to say the least.
I see floyd being a little too technical for martinez. But Martinez is quite fast and i don't think after a round or two of getting tagged by floyd would he keep fighting with absolutely 0 guard like he did vs Barker.
But manny vs sergio would def be entertaining to say the least.
aepps20
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Sergio is probably one of my favorite fighters but I believe that draining himself to 150 is a bad idea especially if the contract includes some sort of bogus rehydration clause that makes him stay at that size the night of the fight.
aepps20
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Sergio is probably one of my favorite fighters but I believe that draining himself to 150 is a bad idea especially if the contract includes some sort of bogus rehydration clause that makes him stay at that size the night of the fight.
aepps20
Supporter
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Sergio is probably one of my favorite fighters but I believe that draining himself to 150 is a bad idea especially if the contract includes some sort of bogus rehydration clause that makes him stay at that size the night of the fight.
160 is a +!$% division. i see sergio is only calling out people smaller then him cotto,pac,the cheater and Floyd and none of the big boys in the 168 division.
He said he'd move up to 164 to fight a top super MW. This fight kinda changed my tune on Sergio. That right hand was landing at will for Barker, I don't know why he went so long between throwing them. I'd like to see him step in with a Sturm or Macklin or Pirog before draining himself to 150. Any top 10 SMW beats him IMO and if he goes to 170 to fight Hopkins he won't win a round.
Rafa needs to stop chasing that JML rematch, not gonna happen. USS got screwed
160 is a +!$% division. i see sergio is only calling out people smaller then him cotto,pac,the cheater and Floyd and none of the big boys in the 168 division.
He said he'd move up to 164 to fight a top super MW. This fight kinda changed my tune on Sergio. That right hand was landing at will for Barker, I don't know why he went so long between throwing them. I'd like to see him step in with a Sturm or Macklin or Pirog before draining himself to 150. Any top 10 SMW beats him IMO and if he goes to 170 to fight Hopkins he won't win a round.
Rafa needs to stop chasing that JML rematch, not gonna happen. USS got screwed
160 is a +!$% division. i see sergio is only calling out people smaller then him cotto,pac,the cheater and Floyd and none of the big boys in the 168 division.
He said he'd move up to 164 to fight a top super MW. This fight kinda changed my tune on Sergio. That right hand was landing at will for Barker, I don't know why he went so long between throwing them. I'd like to see him step in with a Sturm or Macklin or Pirog before draining himself to 150. Any top 10 SMW beats him IMO and if he goes to 170 to fight Hopkins he won't win a round.
Rafa needs to stop chasing that JML rematch, not gonna happen. USS got screwed
Weekend wrap-up.
Spoiler [+]
Saturday at Atlantic City, N.J.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
Weekend wrap-up.
Spoiler [+]
Saturday at Atlantic City, N.J.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
Weekend wrap-up.
Spoiler [+]
Saturday at Atlantic City, N.J.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
Sergio Martinez KO11 Darren Barker
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs); Barker (23-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remark: The sign of a true champion is that he can get the job done even when it is not his best night. That is exactly what Martinez, a top-three pound-for-pound fighter, did against England's Barker, who was far better than the massively long odds suggested. Martinez had been sensational in his recent fights. He closed the show impressively last year to seize the middleweight crown from Kelly Pavlik and then scored the knockout of the year against Paul Williams in their rematch. Those two wins sealed Martinez's 2010 fighter of the year honors. And in March, Martinez utterly dismantled very good, but largely unknown, junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, dropping him five times en route to an eighth-round knockout.
Who would have thought that relatively untested former European champion Barker, 29, would show more against Martinez than any of those guys? But that is what Barker did. He had a good game plan, displayed poise and outstanding defense. Meanwhile, Martinez, 36, a native of Argentina living in Oxnard, Calif., took awhile to get going. He obviously was not as pumped up for this fight as he was for those others because, as he admitted afterward, it's harder to psych yourself up to face an unknown such as Barker than it is to fight a big name such as Pavlik for the world title.
With Barker not attracting a lot of attention and given little chance to win, Martinez spent way more of the buildup to the fight talking about his desire for a major match against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and saying he would drop down to 150 pounds to get it. So when Barker took some early rounds it was a bit of a surprise. And then Martinez found himself in even more trouble when he suffered a nose injury in the fourth round. His nose bled heavily for several rounds until his corner got it under control. Martinez caught his second wind in the second half of the fight and steadily began to find his target. Barker was starting to break down, his defense began to sag and Martinez began to find him with his right jab and left hand. Barker's left eye began to swell and Martinez began to put the hurt on him in the 10th round. Barker never really recovered from the shots he took in the 10th and Martinez banged him around with right hands in the 11th round before landing a right hook on the forehead/temple area. Barker lost his legs and collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out (while trying to get up) by referee Eddie Cotton at 1 minute, 29 seconds. And just like that, Martinez had safely tucked away his third title defense. And now, once again, there will be talk about who Martinez can face in a major fight.
The pickings are slim because Pacquiao and Mayweather, or even Miguel Cotto, won't fight him. So maybe the best thing to do is for Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella to stop talking about the so-called big fights until there is one that can actually be made and just concentrate on keeping busy -- like three fights next year instead of two -- against the solid guys in the middleweight division, such as Dmitry Pirog, Matthew Macklin, Felix Sturm, Andy Lee, Daniel Geale or even a marketable up-and-comer such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin. Or, rather than looking down the scale for a little guy, dare to be great and seek out a top super middleweight.
Andy Lee W10 Brian Vera
Middleweight
Scores: 99-90 (twice), 98-91
Records: Lee (27-1, 19 KOs); Vera (19-6, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: For three years, Lee has wanted to fight Vera again. That is because when they met in 2008 (on "Friday Night Fights"), Lee was rolling toward a victory. He had dropped Vera in the first round and was cruising. However, Vera never gave up and eventually caught Lee and stopped him in the seventh round for a big upset. Lee, 27, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with trainer Emanuel Steward, rebounded well from the loss by winning his next 11 fights. Finally, the rematch with Vera was put together, this time under the bright HBO lights. It turned out to be a very entertaining, albeit one-sided fight. This time it was all Lee again but without a sudden comeback by Vera. Lee fought a disciplined fight. He utilized his reach advantage, did a good job of generally keeping Vera in the middle of the ring and had his right jab-straight left combination working extremely well. He used it to drop Vera in the second round and to keep him under control. Vera was bothered by an accidental head butt in the fourth round that turned his left eye into a bloody mess. In the sixth round, Lee appeared to score another knockdown when he landed a right hand, causing Vera to steady himself by touching his gloves to the canvas. However, referee Steve Smoger did not rule it a knockdown. Fortunately, it had no impact on the outcome because Lee was so far ahead on the scorecards. But give credit to Vera, 29, of Austin, Texas. The likable former "Contender" participant -- who cannot help but to get into brawls -- never stopped trying to score another upset. So they made it a fun fight and when it was over, Lee admitted that he would have been "haunted forever" if he had not settled the score. Lee did, did it in exciting style and moved a step closer to the title opportunity he has wanted.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez
Junior featherweight
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs); Marquez (40-7, 36 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Unlike most of Japan's world titleholders, Nishioka has shown a willingness to travel. Before he won his belt in 2009, he fought twice before in Las Vegas. He had also boxed in France and made a title defense in Mexico. With Japanese network WOWOW -- one of Japan's important boxing outlets -- celebrating its 20th anniversary, it wanted to have a major fight in Las Vegas as part of the party. So Nishioka promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions brought the show to the MGM Grand (in a ballroom, not the big arena) with the help of Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions.
Nishioka, 35, would make his seventh title defense against Mexico's Marquez, 36, of Mexico, a two-division champion known best for his legendary four-fight series with Israel Vazquez. Marquez had tried featherweight and lost a title bout to then-belt holder Juan Manuel Lopez via eight-round knockout in November, so he returned to junior featherweight for a tune-up win in July.
That set the stage for his attempt to regain his old alphabet belt from Nishioka in a terrific matchup on paper. And it lived up to the expectations, turning into an excellent and competitive fight.
Marquez started fast, seeming to win the first four rounds of the fight, while Nishioka, a southpaw, laid back. But then he started to get into the fight. He began to land his straight left hand, which is his best weapon. In the eighth round, Nishioka's intensity picked up even more when an accidental head butt opened a cut on his hairline, which oozed blood down his face. Nishioka began to apply even more pressure after that, perhaps not wanting the fight to be stopped and sent to the scorecards for a premature technical decision. There was a lot of good two-way action, although Marquez could not land his outstanding right hand with much authority. Nishioka moved just enough to avoid it while also continuing to connect with combinations as he was sweeping much of the second half of the fight. Although the final tally giving Nishioka the fight 117-111 seemed a bit wide, he did appear to win the fight and set himself up for bigger business. Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire was ringside, and if he beats Omar Narvaez on Oct. 22 -- which is anticipated -- he plans to move up to junior featherweight. Nishioka will be there waiting for him in a likely defense. That is a very intriguing fight.
Marquez, of course, was quite disappointed with the defeat, believing he had won. He may not be what was when he was bantamweight champion or even as junior featherweight champ during the series with Vazquez, but Marquez is still a good fighter even with all the mileage on him. If he wants to keep going, he could make some more good fights. If he wants to walk away, there's a really good chance we'd see him in the International Hall of Fame in five years.
Roman Gonzalez KO2 Omar Soto
Junior flyweight
Retains a junior flyweight title
Records: Gonzalez (30-0, 25 KOs); Soto (22-8-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Gonzalez, 24, of Nicaragua, was so talented coming up that he was taken under the wing by his country's greatest boxing idol, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello. Gonzalez eventually won a strawweight title and made three defenses before moving up and winning a junior flyweight belt. He made the third defense of that belt in sensational fashion against Mexico's Soto, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because the weight limit for junior flyweight is 108 pounds, which is what Gonzalez weighed, but Soto, 31, weighed in at 111½ pounds -- just a half-pound below the flyweight limit. Gonzalez went through with the fight anyway despite the size difference. It did not matter at all. He won the first round and then destroyed Soto in the second round. He landed a perfect right hand followed by a left uppercut that dropped Soto to his back in a corner, where he took the count from referee Robert Byrd 36 seconds into the round. Gonzalez, fighting in the United States for the first time, is heavy-handed, and this was just a spectacular knockout. Hopefully, we will see Gonzalez more regularly on American television because he is a very exciting fighter.
Saturday at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO2 Mike Oliver
Featherweight
Records: Lopez (31-1, 28 KOs); Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Lopez was rising up the pound-for-pound list and was one of the rising stars in boxing, a talented and exciting fighter with a ton of fans in his native Puerto Rico. Then in April, he was shockingly knocked out in the eighth round by Orlando Salido in a major upset as he lost his featherweight belt. The loss derailed a significant fight with the division's other big name, Yuriorkis Gamboa, at least for the time being. Making his return to the ring, Lopez, 28, still showed his defensive flaws and looked vulnerable to a big punch, but he nonetheless took Oliver apart.
Oliver, 31, of Hartford, Conn., was taking a big step up in class and just did not have much to offer. His legs looked weak and although he landed some clean shots and mixed it up with the defensively deficient Lopez, you could tell early on this wouldn't go long. Lopez, also a former junior featherweight titlist, dropped him twice in the opening round. In the second round, Lopez landed a several shots, but finished him with a right hook. Oliver went down to a knee and beat the count, and referee Roberto Ramirez was about to resume the fight when Oliver elected not to continue. Prompting Ramirez to call it off at 2 minutes, 32 seconds. So Lopez returned with a relatively easy win and now is set up for a rematch with Salido, which is being discussed for early 2012.
Rocky Martinez TKO6 Daniel Attah
Junior lightweight
Records: Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs); Attah (26-8-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Martinez, 28, looked good through his first two title defenses, but then he met Ricky Burns in September 2010. They waged an outstanding battle, but Martinez lost his belt on a close unanimous decision. Martinez had not fought since -- until meeting former world title challenger Attah, 34, of Nigeria, who has a lot of experience against good opponents. Attah took the fight on about one week's notice, stepping in for Ramon Maas. Martinez did not look as though he had been out of the ring for a year. Instead, Martinez dominated Attah, dropping him three times -- once in the third round and twice more to finish him in the sixth round -- for the win. In the sixth round, Martinez dropped Attah with a right hand and then sent him down again with a flurry of shots as referee Ismael Quinones Falu called it off at 1 minute, 50 seconds. Attah dropped to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. With the victory, Martinez could have a Dec. 3 shot against lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who will defend his belt on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II HBO PPV undercard. Top Rank has offered it to him, however, Martinez may opt to remain at 130 pounds rather than go up to 135 for the opportunity.
Saturday at Neubrandenburg, Germany
Yoan Pablo Hernandez Tech. Dec. 6 Steve Cunningham
Cruiserweight
Wins a cruiserweight title
Scores: 59-54, 58-55 Hernandez, 57-56 Cunningham
Records: Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs); Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In February, Hernandez knocked out Steve Herelius to win a cheap WBA interim belt, but when the mandatory fight against titlist Guillermo Jones was continually put off, Hernandez opted to take the shot against Cunningham. The result is one of the worst robberies of the year. Just a horrid decision, despite what judges Dave Parris (58-55) and Pawel Kardyni (59-54) seemed to believe. Hernandez, 26, a Cuban defector based in Germany, bolted to the lead in the first round when he nailed Cunningham with a left hand to the ear/temple area and knocked him down with about 20 seconds left. Cunningham struggled to beat the count and was wobbly when he did, but survived and spent the second round getting himself together. But not only did Cunningham get himself together, he came back strong and should have been credited with winning the remaining rounds before the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards because of cuts Hernandez had suffered on accidental head butts.
Cunningham was controlling the third round when an accidental head clash opened a cut over on the left side of Hernandez's head. It was bloody, but not in a bad spot and blood was not going into Hernandez's eye. Cunningham, who was busy and landing nice body shots and right hands, was still in control when another accidental head butt opened a cut over Hernandez's right eye in the sixth round. This one was in a worse spot than the other one, but did not appear to be too bad. After the sixth round, the ringside doctor checked on Hernandez's cuts but referee Mickey Vann, however, called off the fight, sending it to the scorecards for the technical decision. Cunningham, 35, of Philadelphia, who was making the second defense of his second title reign, properly got a 57-56 score on one card, but the other two judges got it wrong. The IBF should order a rematch of the fight, although Hernandez, a southpaw, is supposed to face mandatory challenger Troy Ross, who lost to Cunningham for the vacant belt in June 2010 and is due another shot.
Grzegorz Proksa TKO4 Sebastian Sylvester
Middleweight
Wins vacant European middleweight title
Records: Proksa (26-0, 19 KOs); Sylvester (34-5-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In May, Germany's Sylvester, 31, dropped a split decision to Daniel Geale of Australia to lose his world title. In his return, Sylvester was matched with Proksa, 26, a native of Poland based in England, for the European title (which Sylvester had held twice before). Proksa's résumé was devoid of anyone who was even a remote contender, but he stepped up big against Sylvester, making him retire on his stool because of a cut one second after the bell rang to start the fourth round. In making his name in an eye-opening performance, Proksa opened a terrible vertical cut over Sylvester's right eye with a big left hand in the second round. The cut was bleeding heavily throughout the third round and Sylvester's vision was impaired, which is why the fight was stopped in the corner. This was a big win for the obscure Proksa, who dominated the fight and beat a well-respected former titleholder.
Karo Murat D12 Gabriel Campillo
Light heavyweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 114-114, 115-113 Murat, 117-111 Campillo
Records: Murat (24-1-1, 14 KOs); Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remark: In 2008, Germany's Murat claimed a majority decision against Spain's Campillo in a European title defense. Two fights after their first meeting, Campillo claimed a world title, which he held until being on the wrong end of a blatant robbery against Beibut Shumenov in their January 2010 rematch. Almost three years to the day after Murat and Campillo met the first time, they met again, this time with a mandatory shot against world titleholder Tavoris Cloud at stake. With a draw, it looks they will have to do it again to determine the mandatory after a split draw that included two wildly divergent scorecards. It was a hard-fought fight with many close rounds. Murat, 28, looked at his best in the early rounds, while Campillo, 32, came roaring back in the late rounds and appeared to do enough to deserve the nod. However, two of the judges obviously disagreed.
Friday at Santa Ynez, Calif.
Olusegun Ajose W12 Ali Chebah
Junior welterweight
Title eliminator
Scores: 120-106, 119-107 (twice)
Records: Ajose (30-0, 14 KOs); Chebah (33-2, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ajose, 31, a native of Nigeria who has fought virtually all of his career in England, made his United States debut and made it a memorable one. Although Ajose won easily on all three scorecards, this was one heck of an entertaining fight as he and France's Chebah, 26 -- who was also making his U.S. debut -- let it all hang out in a brawl with a mandatory shot at 140-pound titlist Erik Morales at stake. Ajose is a wild swinger without much technique, but he landed a number of sweeping right hooks on Chebah. In the wild third round, Ajose dropped Chebah twice with right hands, although both were somewhat questionable. One looked like it was behind the head and the other looked like it was a shot to the back. But even without the knockdowns, Ajose was clearly winning the fight even if Chebah, who complained of an injured right hand afterward, was making it quite competitive. Although the heated action let up in the second half of the fight, it was still a pleasant surprise of a match and one that was good to see on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Darley Perez TKO6 Oscar Meza
Lightweight
Records: Perez (23-0, 18 KOs); Meza (22-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Although Meza is not a top contender by any stretch, he is experienced against some good opponents and had to be considered a step up in competition for Perez, 28, of Colombia. Perez handled the step up well, blowing past Meza. Perez, who did a good job of setting the pace of the fight, opened a cut over Meza's right eye in the third round and then opened another cut under his left eye with a right hand in the fifth round. Perez was dominating at this point. His speed and power were too much for Meza. After the sixth round, Meza's corner asked referee Tony Crebs to stop the fight. Meza, 24, of Mexico, saw his three-fight winning streak end as he lost for the first time since June 2010, when he was stopped in the fourth round by Mercito Gesta, another highly regarded rising lightweight. In 2009, Meza was also stopped by future lightweight titlist Brandon Rios in the fifth round.
Friday at Costa Mesa, Calif.
Luis Ramos Jr. KO5 David Rodela
Lightweight
Records: Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KOs); Rodela (15-5-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Ramos, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a prospect being brought along well by promoter Golden Boy and manager Frank Espinoza. Fighting in his first scheduled 10-rounder, Ramos shined in the against fading Rodela in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Ramos dominated most of the fight before, although Rodela looked good in the third round. But he didn't have enough to keep Ramos off of him. Finally, in the fifth round, Ramos ended the fight with a digging left hand to the pit of Rodela's gut. Rodela, 29, of Oxnard, Calif., dropped to a knee in clear pain and took the full count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. at 1 minute, 57 seconds. Golden Boy is ready to step Ramos up, and he showed no reason he shouldn't be. Rodela lost his second in a row and dropped to 1-4-1 in his last six bouts.
Ronny Rios W8 Roger Gonzalez
Junior lightweight
Scores: 80-72, 78-74 (twice)
Records: Rios (16-0, 7 KOs); Gonzalez (27-5, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remark: Sure, maybe Rios, a 21-year-old prospect from Santa Ana, Calif., deserved the decision, but the 80-72 scorecard rendered by judge Fritz Werner was simply ridiculous. Even the other two judges could have had it a round closer. Nonetheless, Rios fought a good fight against an experienced veteran in Gonzalez, 33, of Chino, Calif., who -- even though he lost his fourth fight in a row -- had suffered the other defeats against good competition: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eloy Perez and Cornelius Lock. Gonzalez did not show up just looking for his check. He was very determined, aggressive and fairly accurate with his punches in a crowd-pleasing fight. He made Rios work for everything. Rios' biggest advantage was the fact that even though he was as consistent in landing his shots as Gonzalez was, he never stopped throwing and was undoubtedly rewarded for that. If Rios advances to the point where he is a serious contender, he ought to look back this fight as one of his best learning experiences.
aepps20
Supporter
- 40,945
- 86,534
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
That USS fight was fishy all the way across the board. USS was the beneficiary of the longest 10 count I've ever seen and Hernandez and his corner basically quit because they knew he was going to lose but he was up on the cards.
. Disgraceful.
aepps20
Supporter
- 40,945
- 86,534
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
That USS fight was fishy all the way across the board. USS was the beneficiary of the longest 10 count I've ever seen and Hernandez and his corner basically quit because they knew he was going to lose but he was up on the cards.
. Disgraceful.
- 445
- 10
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
Damn, it looks like Steward won't be training Cotto for the Margacheato fight...
http://www.boxingscene.co...rain-me-margarito--44561
By Miguel Cotto
Today I am very happy to announce that my trainer for my December 3rd fight [against Antonio Margarito] in New York will be legendary Cuban boxing trainer and expert Pedro Luis Díaz Benítez. Pedro Luis is a Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in sports training and a Major in Physical Culture and Sports. He is also specialized in boxing training's planning and control. He was a professor and investigator for the University of Sports in Cuba. He has also worked with and trained several Olympic Gold Medalists and professional world champions.
I met Pedro Luis as an amateur several years ago and had the opportunity to share time with him in several international competitions. I was instantly amazed as to the vast boxing's technique and conditioning knowledge that he transmitted to his fighters. I feel that together with Phil, Pedro Luis is a perfect fit to bring my best potential for my next fight in December and lead me to victory!
I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude to Emanuel Steward, who I consider a friend and mentor. Because of calendar conflicts and other matters, we were unable to work together for this next fight. He is one of the best trainers I have ever met in boxing, and I will be forever appreciative for the two fights we worked together. We have both kept the doors open to maybe join forces in the future if the circumstances and timing are adequate.
Now I will focus on my training camp! I feel happy and thrilled as ever to commenced preparing for December. I will be ready and will win the fight for all of you.
http://www.boxingscene.co...rain-me-margarito--44561
By Miguel Cotto
Today I am very happy to announce that my trainer for my December 3rd fight [against Antonio Margarito] in New York will be legendary Cuban boxing trainer and expert Pedro Luis Díaz Benítez. Pedro Luis is a Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in sports training and a Major in Physical Culture and Sports. He is also specialized in boxing training's planning and control. He was a professor and investigator for the University of Sports in Cuba. He has also worked with and trained several Olympic Gold Medalists and professional world champions.
I met Pedro Luis as an amateur several years ago and had the opportunity to share time with him in several international competitions. I was instantly amazed as to the vast boxing's technique and conditioning knowledge that he transmitted to his fighters. I feel that together with Phil, Pedro Luis is a perfect fit to bring my best potential for my next fight in December and lead me to victory!
I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude to Emanuel Steward, who I consider a friend and mentor. Because of calendar conflicts and other matters, we were unable to work together for this next fight. He is one of the best trainers I have ever met in boxing, and I will be forever appreciative for the two fights we worked together. We have both kept the doors open to maybe join forces in the future if the circumstances and timing are adequate.
Now I will focus on my training camp! I feel happy and thrilled as ever to commenced preparing for December. I will be ready and will win the fight for all of you.
- 445
- 10
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
Damn, it looks like Steward won't be training Cotto for the Margacheato fight...
http://www.boxingscene.co...rain-me-margarito--44561
By Miguel Cotto
Today I am very happy to announce that my trainer for my December 3rd fight [against Antonio Margarito] in New York will be legendary Cuban boxing trainer and expert Pedro Luis Díaz Benítez. Pedro Luis is a Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in sports training and a Major in Physical Culture and Sports. He is also specialized in boxing training's planning and control. He was a professor and investigator for the University of Sports in Cuba. He has also worked with and trained several Olympic Gold Medalists and professional world champions.
I met Pedro Luis as an amateur several years ago and had the opportunity to share time with him in several international competitions. I was instantly amazed as to the vast boxing's technique and conditioning knowledge that he transmitted to his fighters. I feel that together with Phil, Pedro Luis is a perfect fit to bring my best potential for my next fight in December and lead me to victory!
I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude to Emanuel Steward, who I consider a friend and mentor. Because of calendar conflicts and other matters, we were unable to work together for this next fight. He is one of the best trainers I have ever met in boxing, and I will be forever appreciative for the two fights we worked together. We have both kept the doors open to maybe join forces in the future if the circumstances and timing are adequate.
Now I will focus on my training camp! I feel happy and thrilled as ever to commenced preparing for December. I will be ready and will win the fight for all of you.
http://www.boxingscene.co...rain-me-margarito--44561
By Miguel Cotto
Today I am very happy to announce that my trainer for my December 3rd fight [against Antonio Margarito] in New York will be legendary Cuban boxing trainer and expert Pedro Luis Díaz Benítez. Pedro Luis is a Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in sports training and a Major in Physical Culture and Sports. He is also specialized in boxing training's planning and control. He was a professor and investigator for the University of Sports in Cuba. He has also worked with and trained several Olympic Gold Medalists and professional world champions.
I met Pedro Luis as an amateur several years ago and had the opportunity to share time with him in several international competitions. I was instantly amazed as to the vast boxing's technique and conditioning knowledge that he transmitted to his fighters. I feel that together with Phil, Pedro Luis is a perfect fit to bring my best potential for my next fight in December and lead me to victory!
I want to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted gratitude to Emanuel Steward, who I consider a friend and mentor. Because of calendar conflicts and other matters, we were unable to work together for this next fight. He is one of the best trainers I have ever met in boxing, and I will be forever appreciative for the two fights we worked together. We have both kept the doors open to maybe join forces in the future if the circumstances and timing are adequate.
Now I will focus on my training camp! I feel happy and thrilled as ever to commenced preparing for December. I will be ready and will win the fight for all of you.
aepps20
Supporter
- 40,945
- 86,534
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
What is with all these scheduling conflicts with Steward? I see Cotto and Dawson taking Ls
aepps20
Supporter
- 40,945
- 86,534
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
What is with all these scheduling conflicts with Steward? I see Cotto and Dawson taking Ls
- 36
- 10
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2011
Dang Cotto. I really hope this doesn't hurt his chances in this fight!