Official 2012 Boxing Thread: JMM/Manny IV - FOTY.
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One man's lack of outrage at Rios-Abril
By Eric Raskin
I was absolutely furious on Saturday night when the decision in favor of Brandon Rios was announced. How could they do that to poor Richard Abril? Another atrocity in favor of the house fighter! Has Las Vegas relocated to Texas?
Then something happened on Sunday night that altered my attitude: I watched the fight.
My initial reaction was based on the response of the Twitter-verse, as I had opted not to order this past weekend's pay-per-view card. As a boxing writer, however, I knew this was a fight for which I was obligated to have my own scorecard in order to engage in any future discourse. So I fired it up on YouTube some 24 hours after the fight, prepared to be disgusted, curious whether I would award Rios a single round.
Well, I did give "Bam Bam" a round. And then another. And another. At the end of the fight, my scorecard read 115-113 for Abril. Almost every round in the fight was close. Several that I gave to Rios could have gone the other way, but most of the rounds I scored for Abril were tight enough to swing in Rios' direction, too. I can see how Adalaide Byrd arrived at her scorecard of 117-111 for Abril, but I can also see how Glenn Trowbridge scored it 115-113 for Rios and even how Jerry Roth came up with a 116-112 tally in Rios' favor. It was that kind of fight.
And my best guess as to why it didn't seem like that kind of fight to those who watched it unfold live is that their expectations were very different than mine.
Rios was generally expected to steamroll Abril. Even after failing to make weight for the second fight in a row and giving everyone cause to wonder about his physical preparedness, undefeated rising star Rios was a prohibitive favorite over the unknown Cuban. On paper, this was little more than a tuneup for a possible Rios-Juan Manuel Marquez showdown.
When you expect Fighter A to walk right through Fighter B, every round in which he doesn't feels like a victory for Fighter B. When Fighter B lands a combination, it grabs your attention. When Fighter A does the same, you wonder what's wrong with him that those punches lack the snap to put Fighter B on the floor.
That's an oversimplification, of course. But in this fight, there were numerous rounds in which Abril succeeded in frustrating Rios, succeeded in flashing good defense, but didn't succeed in doing much offensively. So at the end of three minutes, what did you like? Did you give Rios any credit for stretches when he'd get inside and throw 20 unanswered punches to the body and head, missing 17 or 18 of them? Did you penalize Abril in close rounds for holding? Did you reward Abril for "ring generalship" in moving backward and dictating the style of the fight without landing many telling punches, or did you reward Rios for ineffectively coming forward and outworking Abril?
And, importantly, were you listening to the broadcast crew?
I'm a fan of Brian Kenny, Rich Marotta and Raul Marquez, and I like all three of them immensely on a personal level. (I recently learned that Marotta, like me, is a die-hard Springsteen fan. What's not to like?) But in this fight, they collectively latched on early to the storyline that Abril was in total control, and they barely seemed to notice anything semi-effective that Rios did the rest of the way. They got into group-think mode, and as a result, much of the PPV audience shared in that group-think.
It's not that their scoring and their take on the fight was "wrong." It's just that it offered only one perspective when, to my eyes, there were a couple of perspectives possible in each round. Sometimes you need someone on the broadcast playing devil's advocate, which is why I've always liked Showtime's use of "press row scoring." You get three independent opinions in addition to whatever the commentators are seeing, often forcing the commentators to pause and acknowledge that their view isn't the only viable one.
I'm not saying Rios deserved to win this fight. I scored it for Abril, after all. What I'm saying is that this looked more like a classic case of the subjectivity in boxing scoring that so often creates controversy, rather than the flat-out robbery at pencil point that was reported on Twitter in the moment.
If you want to curse me out the same way you cursed out Roth and Trowbridge, you're entitled. But first, I suggest you watch Rios-Abril one more time, with no sound and no expectations, and see if the fight didn't just get a whole lot closer.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boxing/post/_/id/1125/one-mans-lack-of-outrage-at-rios-abril
By Eric Raskin
I was absolutely furious on Saturday night when the decision in favor of Brandon Rios was announced. How could they do that to poor Richard Abril? Another atrocity in favor of the house fighter! Has Las Vegas relocated to Texas?
Then something happened on Sunday night that altered my attitude: I watched the fight.
My initial reaction was based on the response of the Twitter-verse, as I had opted not to order this past weekend's pay-per-view card. As a boxing writer, however, I knew this was a fight for which I was obligated to have my own scorecard in order to engage in any future discourse. So I fired it up on YouTube some 24 hours after the fight, prepared to be disgusted, curious whether I would award Rios a single round.
Well, I did give "Bam Bam" a round. And then another. And another. At the end of the fight, my scorecard read 115-113 for Abril. Almost every round in the fight was close. Several that I gave to Rios could have gone the other way, but most of the rounds I scored for Abril were tight enough to swing in Rios' direction, too. I can see how Adalaide Byrd arrived at her scorecard of 117-111 for Abril, but I can also see how Glenn Trowbridge scored it 115-113 for Rios and even how Jerry Roth came up with a 116-112 tally in Rios' favor. It was that kind of fight.
And my best guess as to why it didn't seem like that kind of fight to those who watched it unfold live is that their expectations were very different than mine.
Rios was generally expected to steamroll Abril. Even after failing to make weight for the second fight in a row and giving everyone cause to wonder about his physical preparedness, undefeated rising star Rios was a prohibitive favorite over the unknown Cuban. On paper, this was little more than a tuneup for a possible Rios-Juan Manuel Marquez showdown.
When you expect Fighter A to walk right through Fighter B, every round in which he doesn't feels like a victory for Fighter B. When Fighter B lands a combination, it grabs your attention. When Fighter A does the same, you wonder what's wrong with him that those punches lack the snap to put Fighter B on the floor.
That's an oversimplification, of course. But in this fight, there were numerous rounds in which Abril succeeded in frustrating Rios, succeeded in flashing good defense, but didn't succeed in doing much offensively. So at the end of three minutes, what did you like? Did you give Rios any credit for stretches when he'd get inside and throw 20 unanswered punches to the body and head, missing 17 or 18 of them? Did you penalize Abril in close rounds for holding? Did you reward Abril for "ring generalship" in moving backward and dictating the style of the fight without landing many telling punches, or did you reward Rios for ineffectively coming forward and outworking Abril?
And, importantly, were you listening to the broadcast crew?
I'm a fan of Brian Kenny, Rich Marotta and Raul Marquez, and I like all three of them immensely on a personal level. (I recently learned that Marotta, like me, is a die-hard Springsteen fan. What's not to like?) But in this fight, they collectively latched on early to the storyline that Abril was in total control, and they barely seemed to notice anything semi-effective that Rios did the rest of the way. They got into group-think mode, and as a result, much of the PPV audience shared in that group-think.
It's not that their scoring and their take on the fight was "wrong." It's just that it offered only one perspective when, to my eyes, there were a couple of perspectives possible in each round. Sometimes you need someone on the broadcast playing devil's advocate, which is why I've always liked Showtime's use of "press row scoring." You get three independent opinions in addition to whatever the commentators are seeing, often forcing the commentators to pause and acknowledge that their view isn't the only viable one.
I'm not saying Rios deserved to win this fight. I scored it for Abril, after all. What I'm saying is that this looked more like a classic case of the subjectivity in boxing scoring that so often creates controversy, rather than the flat-out robbery at pencil point that was reported on Twitter in the moment.
If you want to curse me out the same way you cursed out Roth and Trowbridge, you're entitled. But first, I suggest you watch Rios-Abril one more time, with no sound and no expectations, and see if the fight didn't just get a whole lot closer.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boxing/post/_/id/1125/one-mans-lack-of-outrage-at-rios-abril
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[h1]ARIZA GUARANTEES HE CAN MAKE RIOS AN ANIMAL AT 135, OR HIS MONEY BACK[/h1]By Ben Thompson | April 18, 2012
"You know, here's the thing, if Rios wants, let me show you how to get to 135. Not only will I guarantee that he'll make 135 and be an animal the next night, I'll even do it for free if he's not," stated world-class strength & conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who shared his thoughts on the struggles of former lightweight champion Brandon Rios to make weight and how it's affected his recent performances. According to Ariza, contrary to popular belief, Rios actually is a 135-pound fighter and should still be able to make the lightweight limit without having to kill himself to do it.
"Everybody is saying he's just not a 135-pounder. He is. A guy with a body like that, trust me, you're a 135-pounder bro. You don't have definition, you're smooth as a !!*+#*% coke can, how you gonna tell me you're not a 135-pounder and you got !!*+#*% fat hanging over the edge of your belt," Ariza explained. Just by looking at the body of Rios in last Saturday's clash with Richard Abril, Ariza is confident that Brandon can still be a force in the lightweight division.
"I can just tell by looking at Brandon that 135 pounds is still there and if he would do it right, he would be a machine, dude. He'd be a very, very dangerous man; he'd be very hard to deal with because his energy level would be different, his strength would be different," Ariza added. "His mental confidence about being able to push himself harder, harder, and harder each round would completely change his whole game because he'd know he wouldn't be tired. He wouldn't go through that drasticness that he goes through to cut weight."
Whether or not Rios takes Ariza up on that offer remains to be seen, however, he may want to give it some serious consideration before being forced to move to a division that he may not be ready for.
"You know, here's the thing, if Rios wants, let me show you how to get to 135. Not only will I guarantee that he'll make 135 and be an animal the next night, I'll even do it for free if he's not," stated world-class strength & conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who shared his thoughts on the struggles of former lightweight champion Brandon Rios to make weight and how it's affected his recent performances. According to Ariza, contrary to popular belief, Rios actually is a 135-pound fighter and should still be able to make the lightweight limit without having to kill himself to do it.
"Everybody is saying he's just not a 135-pounder. He is. A guy with a body like that, trust me, you're a 135-pounder bro. You don't have definition, you're smooth as a !!*+#*% coke can, how you gonna tell me you're not a 135-pounder and you got !!*+#*% fat hanging over the edge of your belt," Ariza explained. Just by looking at the body of Rios in last Saturday's clash with Richard Abril, Ariza is confident that Brandon can still be a force in the lightweight division.
"I can just tell by looking at Brandon that 135 pounds is still there and if he would do it right, he would be a machine, dude. He'd be a very, very dangerous man; he'd be very hard to deal with because his energy level would be different, his strength would be different," Ariza added. "His mental confidence about being able to push himself harder, harder, and harder each round would completely change his whole game because he'd know he wouldn't be tired. He wouldn't go through that drasticness that he goes through to cut weight."
Whether or not Rios takes Ariza up on that offer remains to be seen, however, he may want to give it some serious consideration before being forced to move to a division that he may not be ready for.
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Abril won that fight. Everyone within my vicinity at the fight had Abril by wide decision.
The name of the game is boxing. Flat out, Abril won that fight with his ring generalship. You don't reward fighters for throwing bunches -- not landing a majority of them -- and isn't controlling the pace of the fight.
Anyone have compubox or any other punch statistics?
The name of the game is boxing. Flat out, Abril won that fight with his ring generalship. You don't reward fighters for throwing bunches -- not landing a majority of them -- and isn't controlling the pace of the fight.
Anyone have compubox or any other punch statistics?
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QUESTION FOR THE BOXERS IN HERE......
I haven't really been boxing for about 4-5 years now. #%@!%@ my back up back then and have been on a low impact regimen of swimming and pilates to get it right.
But I've been going back for a few months now on and off. I've been using the gloves in the gym. I can't find my old ones.
I'd like to buy my own. Can you guys recommend any?
I looked on Amazon. Title Gel gloves are highly recommended. As are Fighting Tri-Tech Gloves and a few Everlast models.
Also, if you want ONE glove for padwork, bag work etc., you get "training gloves"?
Some are listed as "training gloves", some as "bag/sparring gloves".
Any help would be appreciated. Going to ask my trainer but figured I'd try here as well.
I haven't really been boxing for about 4-5 years now. #%@!%@ my back up back then and have been on a low impact regimen of swimming and pilates to get it right.
But I've been going back for a few months now on and off. I've been using the gloves in the gym. I can't find my old ones.
I'd like to buy my own. Can you guys recommend any?
I looked on Amazon. Title Gel gloves are highly recommended. As are Fighting Tri-Tech Gloves and a few Everlast models.
Also, if you want ONE glove for padwork, bag work etc., you get "training gloves"?
Some are listed as "training gloves", some as "bag/sparring gloves".
Any help would be appreciated. Going to ask my trainer but figured I'd try here as well.
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Best friend just got tickets to Berto-Ortiz 2 at Staples Center. So *%!$!*% juiced!
night marcher01
Banned
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So Pacquiao was chillin' at Mayweather's gym today?
Discussing business perhaps.
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12 punches by lara to take heanrs out
aepps20
Supporter
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Ariza stays talking
. I sometimes forget he ain't trainer by how much he talks.
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I only have access to heavy bags at the moment but I do have everlast training gloves. I like the lighter feel personally, I think they can range from 12-16 oz, I believe mine are 12. Also, elastic wristband is a must for me since I dont have anyone to tie up my gloves.
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Jermaine Taylor
He looked very timid and he got Dropped in the 9th by a complete Bum.
If you guys can find it, You have to see his post fight interview. had me cracking up last night
He looked very timid and he got Dropped in the 9th by a complete Bum.
If you guys can find it, You have to see his post fight interview. had me cracking up last night
aepps20
Supporter
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So much wrong with this man.
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Jermain Taylor aka R.Kelly is a fool! His interviews when he gets mad always make me laugh because his voice still cracks like he's 13 years old. I've never been a fan of him due to the fact that he was gifted a few victories by the judges B.Hop and of course my first cousin Winky Wright, however I hope he can get his career in order, so I find myself rooting for him now. His biggest problem is that he gets tired due to the fact that he's bouncing all over the ring yet he doesn't use his feet effectively. Also his right hand is so telegraphed its not even funny. But his combination of a weak chin and subpar stamina will be his demise vs top level opponents.
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Thanks man.
Definitely doing no lace. I'm probably going for 16 oz.
Any other recommendations in terms of wrist and knuckle support?
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Mares
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Erislandy Lara vs Sergio Martinez. Make it happen please.
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Originally Posted by Night Marcher01
So Pacquiao was chillin' at Mayweather's gym today?Discussing business perhaps.
?????
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Im with you on that one.
Abner mares is on the verge of greatness...
Im so mad I missed the fight but heard it was a Mop Job.
Donaire vs Mares... MAKE THAT HAPPEN!!!!
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I use Twins 14 oz. Most durable of all my gloves. I've used both Twins and Everlast. My everlast didn't last too long. I still have my 12 oz Twins from 2005 and padding is still pretty good.
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Thank you sir. I hear Everlast are not so good. So I'm looking for alternatives.
Much appreciated.
Much appreciated.
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Mares clearly won, but left himself open too much to take a lot of unnecessary punishment.
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Just read on espn.com that Margarito is returning to the ring on May 26th. Unreal.
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You should look into Reyes or Grant boxing gloves. They are on the expensive side, but they are well worth it in the long run. I also know a few fighters who like Winning boxing gloves. Me personally, I prefer Grant Equipment, I really like the feel and overall style. Also, you only need 2 pair of gloves. one for training and one for sparring. In most cases you're sparring gloves would be 16oz unless you are welterweight or lower. Training gloves range to whatever you're comfortable with. Me personally I like 14oz. It has just enough protection without being too heavy so my arms don't tire too fast.
Weekend wrap up.
Margarito coming back.
Spoiler [+]
Saturday at El Paso, Texas
Abner Mares W12 Eric Morel
Junior featherweight
Wins a vacant junior featherweight title
Scores: 120-107, 119-109 (twice)
Records: Mares (24-0-1, 13 KOs); Morel (46-3, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mares is really coming into his own, isn't he? At bantamweight, the 2004 Mexican Olympian survived a grueling four-fight run, which included a debatable draw with Yonnhy Perez, a decision in a bloodbath against Vic Darchinyan and then two tough wins against Joseph Agbeko (including winning a title and the four-man Showtime tournament in their first bout). Mares then decided to move up in weight, and the 26-year-old from Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., was matched with Morel, 36, a former flyweight titlist and 1996 U.S. Olympian originally from Puerto Rico. It looked like a mismatch on paper and even though, to his credit, Morel showed as much spark as he has in a long time, it was not much of a competitive fight. One reason is because Mares is that good. Morel gave it his all in perhaps the most crowd-pleasing fight of his career, but Mares was just too young, too strong, too quick and too determined. He won every round on two scorecards and 11 out of 12 on the third.
Mares took it to Morel from the outset. He rocked him with right hands and body shots early and often and opened a cut over his left eye. Morel did land some shots, though, which is why, by the seventh round, Mares was bleeding from his nose. While Morel showed the kind of spirit he had never shown before, Mares was way busier and more accurate with his punches. That was the difference in the fight as he landed 333 of 780 punches (43 percent), while Morel connected on 135 of 565 blows (24 percent). Morel was never in danger of being stopped and never stopped trying to win, but Mares poured it on in round after round in the Showtime main event. Even with the fight way out of reach, Morel gave it everything he had in the 12th round, but Mares was just the much better man.
With a fight with Nonito Donaire -- who was also a recent bantamweight champion who moved up to junior featherweight (and won a vacant belt in February) -- unlikely because of the never-ending cold war between Golden Boy (Mares' promoter) and Top Rank (Donaire's), the more likely match for Mares is against bantamweight titlist Anselmo Moreno, who retained his title in a dominant win on the undercard. That could be a very interesting fight matching the aggressive, brawling Mares against the more controlled and technical Moreno.
Anselmo Moreno TKO9 David De La Mora
Bantamweight
Retains a bantamweight title
Records: Moreno (33-1-1, 12 KOs); De La Mora (24-2, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Moreno has been one of the best bantamweights in the world -- if not the best -- for the past few years but is only now beginning to be noticed in the United States now that he is fighting here. This lopsided destruction should further his cause. Moreno, 26, of Panama, made the 10th defense of his title in dominant fashion as he blitzed Mexico's De La Mora, 23, in a fight that was never competitive. Moreno had defended his title in Germany, Panama, France and Venezuela but finally came to the United States in December after ironing out a messy managerial situation and signing with Golden Boy Promotions. In his first fight in the U.S., Moreno, a slick southpaw with tremendous skills but a sometimes boring style, easily outpointed slugger and former two-division titlist Vic Darchinyan. That fight was on the undercard of an Abner Mares bantamweight title defense.
Moreno was again on a Mares undercard as Mares moved up to junior featherweight to win a belt in the main event. But since Mares and Moreno are both with Golden Boy, there is a good possibility that Moreno too will move up in weight and face Mares. But first Moreno had to dispatch De La Mora and he had little issue, scoring two knockdowns and making him quit. Moreno, who turned pro when he was only 16, dropped De La Mora with a right hook to the head in the second round. He landed numerous right hooks throughout the bout. In the sixth round, it was a left hand to the body that sent De La Mora to the canvas for a second time. De La Mora had nothing to offer and was taking a pounding as the fight wore on. Finally, De La Mora quit on his stool 10 seconds into the ninth round, preferring not to eat any more shots. Moreno was extremely accurate with his punches. According to CompuBox statistics, he landed 162 of 358 punches (45 percent) while De La Mora was limited to connecting on 47 of 255 blows (18 percent).
Roland Bryant TKO3 Librado Andrade
Light heavyweight
Records: Bryant (16-1, 11 KOs); Andrade (30-5, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In the main bout of the Showtime Extreme telecast of the preliminary bouts, Andrade's career as even a fringe contender probably came to an end at the hands of the unheralded Bryant, 32, of Orlando, Fla., who scored the upset. For years Andrade, 33, a native of Mexico living in La Habra, Calif., was a top super middleweight contender. He even got three shots at world titles but lost twice to Lucian Bute (once by a body-shot knockout) and also to Mikkel Kessler. Bryant, who trains with Bute, was taking a big step up in competition against Andrade and scored the career-best victory.
The drama began when Andrade suffered a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental head clash in the waning moments of the first round. The blood seemed to bother Andrade, although he was still winning through the first two rounds. But with about a minute left in the third round, Bryant stopped Andrade in his tracks with a flush right hand to the chin. And then Bryant landed another. And another. And another. He landed several right hands as a shaky Andrade backed into the ropes and referee Robert Velez jumped in to save him at 2 minutes, 19 seconds. It was surprising because Andrade has always been known for having a great chin. But Bryant dented it and never stopped throwing.
Also on the Showtime Extreme portion of the card, Santa Ana, Calif., lightweight prospect Luis Ramos Jr. (22-0, 9 KOs), 23, scored a near-shutout of Washington, D.C.-based Nigeria native Daniel Attah (26-10-1, 9 KOs), 35, a former title challenger who lost his third fight in a row. Scores were 100-89, 99-90, 99-90. Junior lightweight prospect Francisco Vargas (10-0-1, 7 KOs), 27, a 2008 Mexican Olympian who recently signed with Golden Boy, stopped Dominican Republic native Rafael Lora (11-8, 5 KOs), 26, of Irvington, N.J., when his corner threw in the towel at 2 minutes, 27 seconds of the third round of a one-sided fight. The win was Vargas' second in three weeks.
Saturday at Morelia, Mexico
Cristian Mijares KO4 Eddy Julio
Junior featherweight
Records: Mijares (45-6-2, 21 KOs); Julio (13-4-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mijares, 30, of Mexico, was a unified junior bantamweight titleholder when he faced Vic Darchinyan in a further unification bout and got destroyed over nine rounds in 2008. It was the first of three consecutive losses for Mijares, who was left for dead by most. But now he has won nine consecutive fights including this dismantling of Julio, 34, of Colombia, who was supposed to provide Mijares with an easy night at the office so as to not interfere with his likely next fight. That could be a shot at junior featherweight titleholder and pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire on July 21. Top Rank, Donaire's promoter, is in talks with HBO about the fight. If it is finalized, Mijares, a southpaw, did his part by taking apart Julio, who lost for the third time in four fights (each loss coming by knockout). Mijares dominated the fight. He nailed Julio to the head and body with both hands. Julio was game but in way over his head. Late in the fourth round, Mijares landed a left uppercut that sent Julio staggering into the ropes. Mijares followed with a combination and dropped Julio flat on his back and referee Rafael Saldana counted him out at 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
Also on the TV Azteca card, lightweight Marvin Quintero (25-3, 21 KOs), 25, of Mexico, stopped the Philippines' Al Sabaupan (18-1-1, 13 KOs), 23, in the ninth round to become the mandatory challenger for titleholder Miguel Vazquez. Quintero, who has been stopped in all of his losses, won his fifth fight in a row.
Saturday at Frederikshavn, Denmark
James DeGale TKO4 Cristian Sanavia
Super middleweight
Retains European super middleweight title
Records: DeGale (12-1, 9 KOs); Sanavia (45-6-1, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: DeGale, 26, of England, was a 2008 Olympic gold medalist and a rising contender. Sanavia, 37, of Italy, is a non-threatening puncher who has seen better days even though he once held a word title (for four months in 2004) and is a former European middleweight and super middleweight champion. The disparity of where they are in their careers added up to a DeGale victory, even if it came in an even easier fashion than many would have imagined. This was all DeGale, who was making the first defense of the European title he won in October via majority decision against Poland's Piotr Wilczewski and fighting for the second time since losing a majority decision to rival George Groves in May 2011.
DeGale was better in every way than fellow southpaw Sanavia, whose one moment of success came when he landed a right hand to DeGale's chin in the final seconds of the third round. It forced DeGale to touch his right glove to the canvas. However, referee Manuel Oliver Palomo did not rule a knockdown, perhaps because DeGale simultaneously tripped over an advertising bumper on the ring apron. In the fourth round, DeGale put Sanavia away in convincing fashion with four knockdowns. He dropped Sanavia three times in quick succession in the middle of the round, mainly with left hands. Sanavia did not appear very hurt on any of them, but his old legs were clearly giving way. DeGale dropped him again with a series of body shots and Palomo called off the fight at 2 minutes, 58 seconds.
Saturday at Schwerin, Germany
Karoly Balzsay TKO12 Dimitri Sartison
Super middleweight
Retains a super middleweight title
Records: Balzsay (25-2, 18 KOs); Sartison (29-2, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In August, Balzsay, a 32-year-old southpaw from Hungary living in Germany, traveled to Ukraine and won a split decision against hometown fighter Stanyslav Kashtanov to claim the pointless WBA "regular" title, even though we all know that Andre Ward is the legit champion. In any event, it means something to Balzsay, his handlers and, presumably, a few of his fans, so he made his first defense of the low-rent strap against Sartison, 32, a native of Kazakhstan living in Germany, who had previously held the second-tier belt until being stripped last year while injured. It had been a back-and-forth fight until Balzsay finished Sartison in the final round. He knocked him down and was hammering him during a follow-up attack when referee Mikael Hook stepped in with 35 seconds left in the fight.
Rakhim Chakhkiev KO1 Jaidon Codrington
Cruiserweight
Records: Chakhkiev (13-0, 10 KOs); Codrington (20-3, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It is sad that a fight like this was even made, as Chakhkiev, 29, a 2008 Russian Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, destroyed long-faded one-time super middleweight prospect Codrington of New York. Chakhkiev knocked out Codrington, 27, who has been plagued by a china chin, at 1 minute, 56 seconds of the opening round of a brutal mismatch. He dropped Codrington twice in what was only Codrington's third fight since he lost via eighth-round knockout in a vicious brawl with Sakio Bika in the 2007 final of "The Contender" reality series. Codrington is also remembered for being slaughtered in 18 seconds by Allan Green in the consensus 2005 knockout of the year.
Universum also kept most of the rest of its stable busy on the undercard, including former light heavyweight titlist Jürgen Brähmer and former heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev. Brähmer (38-2, 30 KOs), 33, of Germany, rolled to a lopsided decision (99-92, 98-91, 97-92) against Vikapita Meroro (21-4, 9 KOs), of Namibia, including scoring a fourth-round knockdown. Chagaev (29-2-1, 18 KOs), 33, a native of Uzbekistan based in Germany, dropped American journeyman Billy Zumbrun (25-13-1, 15 KOs), 39, twice in the third round en route to a knockout at 1 minute, 26 seconds of the third round.
Saturday at San Juan, Argentina
Omar Narvaez W12 Jose Cabrera
Junior bantamweight
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Scores: 120-106, 118-108 (twice)
Records: Narvaez (36-1-2, 19 KOs); Cabrera (20-2-2, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, Narvaez, 36, of Argentina, came to New York for the opportunity of a lifetime -- to challenge bantamweight champion and rising pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire in an HBO main event. But instead of trying to win, Narvaez took the money and ran. He refused to engage and was outclassed in losing a shutout decision in disgraceful fashion.
Narvaez did not seem to care much, though. He still had his junior bantamweight title to fall back. He returned to Argentina to fight for the first time since the Donaire debacle and cruised to his fourth title defense against Cabrera, 25, of Mexico. Narvaez, who previously had made 16 flyweight title defenses before vacating to move up in weight, dominated Cabrera for the near-shutout victory. Referee Jose Hiram Rivera docked points from Cabrera in the eighth and 10th rounds, including for a head butt that cut Narvaez.
Saturday at Caguas, Puerto Rico
Jose Miguel Cotto W10 Eric Cruz
Junior welterweight
Scores: 99-89, 98-90, 97-87
Records: Cotto (33-3-1, 24 KOs); Cruz (13-9-3, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Cotto, the 34-year-old older brother of star junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto, was supposed to face former lightweight titlist Jose Luis Castillo on March 24 on the Danny Garcia-Erik Morales undercard in Houston. However, Castillo failed to make weight and refused to lose the extra pounds. Since Cotto was already at a deficit going up in weight in the first place, he declined to fight Castillo and the bout was called off. So this main event on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate" was arranged for him in his hometown.
It looked as though Cotto was going to make it an early night against his Puerto Rican countryman Cruz, 24, when he dropped Cruz twice inside the first two minutes of the fight. First Cotto dropped Cruz very hard with a left hook to the jaw. Cruz was very shaky when he reached his feet to barely beat the count and was down almost instantly when the fight resumed from a right hand. He sunk to his knees in the center of the ring, clearly still hurt from the first knockdown. But give Cruz a lot of credit; he not only got up and made it out of the round, he got himself together enough to go the distance, although granted, in a one-sided points defeat. Cotto kept after him throughout the fight but simply could not put him away. Cotto had not fought since losing a lopsided decision to Paulie Malignaggi last April but he looked fairly sharp considering the long layoff. Cruz is now 2-3 in his last five fights.
Friday at Biloxi, Miss.
Jermain Taylor W10 Caleb Truax
Middleweight
Scores: 98-91, 97-92, 97-94
Records: Taylor (30-4-1, 18 KOs); Truax (18-1-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion, suffered a horrific 12th-round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham in the opening stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic in October 2009. Taylor suffered a small brain bleed as a result of the knockout, dropped out of the tournament and walked away from boxing. But after undergoing numerous medical tests and agreeing to return to middleweight rather than keep fighting at super middleweight (where he did not belong), Taylor made his return in December following 26 months out of the ring to stop Jesse Nicklow in the eighth round. Returning for the second time in his comeback and again headlining Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation," Taylor, 33, of Little Rock, Ark., took a small step up in competition against the untested Truax, 28, of Osseo, Minn.
Although Taylor won a lopsided decision, all is not well. He and his team, including promoter Lou DiBella, adviser Al Haymon and trainer Pat Burns, are going to have to seriously discuss what Taylor's plan should be going forward. The reason is because Taylor, although the clear winner, looked very shaky. He looked slow, his punches lacked snap and, oh yeah, there was that hard knockdown courtesy of a clean right hand from Truax in the ninth round. The good news is that Taylor survived the knockdown and made it through the remaining two minutes or so of the round. The bad news is that the knockdown is a big cause for concern, as was how he fought the rest of the fight against the kind of opponent he would once have taken out with ease.
In his postfight interview, Taylor was extremely jacked up and seemingly excited that he had been knocked down and survived. It was a weird interview, because who gets excited about nearly being knocked out? Anyway, good for Taylor, who has been brutally knocked out in three of his four losses, to show the resolve to survive. But let's be honest: Does anyone really think this comeback is going to lead anywhere other than to Taylor eventually suffering another bad knockout loss?
Erislandy Lara TKO1 Ronald Hearns
Middleweight
Records: Lara (16-1-1, 11 KOs); Hearns (26-3, 20 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Lara, who might very well be the best 154-pounder in the world, blew away Hearns, whose chin is even more suspect than that of his all-time-great father, Thomas Hearns. Lara had not fought since last July. That is when he was robbed of a win against Paul Williams in a majority decision so utterly putrid that the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board suspended the three judges for bad scoring. For no apparent reason, Golden Boy and the networks put Lara on ice for the rest of the year. He was supposed to fight Hearns in February but the bout was delayed because it was scheduled to be on the Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto undercard. When that fight was postponed until June, Lara-Hearns was put on the Jermain Taylor-Caleb Truax undercard on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
It turned out to be a very long wait for what turned out to be a very quick fight as Lara, 29, a former Cuban amateur star now living in Houston, destroyed Hearns, 33, of Detroit, in just 94 seconds. This was a pure demolition. Hearns carries his hands way too low and Lara, a southpaw, made him pay for it, landing a sweet straight left hand over Hearns' dangling right that dropped him hard. Hearns made it to his feet quickly, but he was shaky. Lara attacked quickly, ripping him with three consecutive left hands that had him falling into the ropes, which forced referee Keith Hughes to call a knockdown since the ropes had clearly held him up. And then came the violent ending as Lara pounded him with two more clean left hands that knocked Hearns out. With Hearns down along the ropes, Hughes did not bother to count, calling it off at 1 minute, 34 seconds. Hearns was down for a couple of minutes before collecting himself as he lost his second fight in a row by knockout. Fourteen months ago, Hearns went to Germany and got knocked out in the seventh round by Felix Sturm in a middleweight title bout. Now the question is who will dare step into the ring with Lara? He does not bring a lot of money to the table and he is extremely dangerous. He will need promoter Golden Boy to press the issue with the networks or the sanctioning bodies to put him into a meaningful fight, although there is no way Golden Boy would dare serve up Mexican star titleholder Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to him.
Friday at Montreal
Adonis Stevenson TKO2 Noe Gonzalez
Super middleweight
Records: Stevenson (18-1, 15 KOs); Gonzalez (28-2, 20 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Stevenson is a classic late bloomer. He is already 34 but only turned pro at age 29 in 2006, so he has come a long way in short period of time. Since a shocking second-round knockout loss to rank journeyman Darnell Boone in April 2010, Stevenson, who born in Haiti but has lived in Quebec since he was 5 and is gaining Montreal fans with every fight, has muscled his way onto the doorstep of being a legitimate contender. Since the loss, Stevenson, a southpaw, has now won five consecutive fights by knockout, each against a legitimate competition. In his last fight, in December, Stevenson, who goes by the nickname "Superman," scored an absolutely sensational knockout of the year candidate when he iced Jesus Gonzalez with one massive left hand in the first round. He did not put Noe Gonzalez, 36, who is from Uruguay but lives in Argentina, away with the same type of highlight-reel knockout but he still got the job done in the "Friday Night Fights" main event.
Working with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward for the second fight, Stevenson and Gonzalez spent the first round mostly feeling each other out. But then came the fireworks in the second round as Stevenson went to work. He backed Gonzalez into the ropes with a couple of left hands. That was the beginning of the end. Stevenson continued to throw unanswered punches, eventually catching Gonzalez with a nasty left hand that staggered him followed by several more blows, including a hard right and a left. Gonzalez was against the ropes in rough shape when referee Michael Griffin stepped in to stop it at 1 minute, 40 seconds. There were some who thought it was initially a quick stoppage, including ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas. Eventually, however, after looking at replays, Atlas changed his tune. This was a fair stoppage.
After the fight, Stevenson said he hoped for a title shot against either Andre Ward or Lucian Bute. A fight with Bute, who is Montreal's biggest boxing star, would be enormous. Stevenson is not quite ready for either of them, but he is quickly becoming must-see TV. Gonzalez saw his 14-fight winning streak -- 13 of which came by knockout -- come to an end. He had not lost since losing a unanimous decision in Germany to Felix Sturm in a 2007 middleweight world title bout.
Abner Mares W12 Eric Morel
Junior featherweight
Wins a vacant junior featherweight title
Scores: 120-107, 119-109 (twice)
Records: Mares (24-0-1, 13 KOs); Morel (46-3, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mares is really coming into his own, isn't he? At bantamweight, the 2004 Mexican Olympian survived a grueling four-fight run, which included a debatable draw with Yonnhy Perez, a decision in a bloodbath against Vic Darchinyan and then two tough wins against Joseph Agbeko (including winning a title and the four-man Showtime tournament in their first bout). Mares then decided to move up in weight, and the 26-year-old from Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., was matched with Morel, 36, a former flyweight titlist and 1996 U.S. Olympian originally from Puerto Rico. It looked like a mismatch on paper and even though, to his credit, Morel showed as much spark as he has in a long time, it was not much of a competitive fight. One reason is because Mares is that good. Morel gave it his all in perhaps the most crowd-pleasing fight of his career, but Mares was just too young, too strong, too quick and too determined. He won every round on two scorecards and 11 out of 12 on the third.
Mares took it to Morel from the outset. He rocked him with right hands and body shots early and often and opened a cut over his left eye. Morel did land some shots, though, which is why, by the seventh round, Mares was bleeding from his nose. While Morel showed the kind of spirit he had never shown before, Mares was way busier and more accurate with his punches. That was the difference in the fight as he landed 333 of 780 punches (43 percent), while Morel connected on 135 of 565 blows (24 percent). Morel was never in danger of being stopped and never stopped trying to win, but Mares poured it on in round after round in the Showtime main event. Even with the fight way out of reach, Morel gave it everything he had in the 12th round, but Mares was just the much better man.
With a fight with Nonito Donaire -- who was also a recent bantamweight champion who moved up to junior featherweight (and won a vacant belt in February) -- unlikely because of the never-ending cold war between Golden Boy (Mares' promoter) and Top Rank (Donaire's), the more likely match for Mares is against bantamweight titlist Anselmo Moreno, who retained his title in a dominant win on the undercard. That could be a very interesting fight matching the aggressive, brawling Mares against the more controlled and technical Moreno.
Anselmo Moreno TKO9 David De La Mora
Bantamweight
Retains a bantamweight title
Records: Moreno (33-1-1, 12 KOs); De La Mora (24-2, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Moreno has been one of the best bantamweights in the world -- if not the best -- for the past few years but is only now beginning to be noticed in the United States now that he is fighting here. This lopsided destruction should further his cause. Moreno, 26, of Panama, made the 10th defense of his title in dominant fashion as he blitzed Mexico's De La Mora, 23, in a fight that was never competitive. Moreno had defended his title in Germany, Panama, France and Venezuela but finally came to the United States in December after ironing out a messy managerial situation and signing with Golden Boy Promotions. In his first fight in the U.S., Moreno, a slick southpaw with tremendous skills but a sometimes boring style, easily outpointed slugger and former two-division titlist Vic Darchinyan. That fight was on the undercard of an Abner Mares bantamweight title defense.
Moreno was again on a Mares undercard as Mares moved up to junior featherweight to win a belt in the main event. But since Mares and Moreno are both with Golden Boy, there is a good possibility that Moreno too will move up in weight and face Mares. But first Moreno had to dispatch De La Mora and he had little issue, scoring two knockdowns and making him quit. Moreno, who turned pro when he was only 16, dropped De La Mora with a right hook to the head in the second round. He landed numerous right hooks throughout the bout. In the sixth round, it was a left hand to the body that sent De La Mora to the canvas for a second time. De La Mora had nothing to offer and was taking a pounding as the fight wore on. Finally, De La Mora quit on his stool 10 seconds into the ninth round, preferring not to eat any more shots. Moreno was extremely accurate with his punches. According to CompuBox statistics, he landed 162 of 358 punches (45 percent) while De La Mora was limited to connecting on 47 of 255 blows (18 percent).
Roland Bryant TKO3 Librado Andrade
Light heavyweight
Records: Bryant (16-1, 11 KOs); Andrade (30-5, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In the main bout of the Showtime Extreme telecast of the preliminary bouts, Andrade's career as even a fringe contender probably came to an end at the hands of the unheralded Bryant, 32, of Orlando, Fla., who scored the upset. For years Andrade, 33, a native of Mexico living in La Habra, Calif., was a top super middleweight contender. He even got three shots at world titles but lost twice to Lucian Bute (once by a body-shot knockout) and also to Mikkel Kessler. Bryant, who trains with Bute, was taking a big step up in competition against Andrade and scored the career-best victory.
The drama began when Andrade suffered a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental head clash in the waning moments of the first round. The blood seemed to bother Andrade, although he was still winning through the first two rounds. But with about a minute left in the third round, Bryant stopped Andrade in his tracks with a flush right hand to the chin. And then Bryant landed another. And another. And another. He landed several right hands as a shaky Andrade backed into the ropes and referee Robert Velez jumped in to save him at 2 minutes, 19 seconds. It was surprising because Andrade has always been known for having a great chin. But Bryant dented it and never stopped throwing.
Also on the Showtime Extreme portion of the card, Santa Ana, Calif., lightweight prospect Luis Ramos Jr. (22-0, 9 KOs), 23, scored a near-shutout of Washington, D.C.-based Nigeria native Daniel Attah (26-10-1, 9 KOs), 35, a former title challenger who lost his third fight in a row. Scores were 100-89, 99-90, 99-90. Junior lightweight prospect Francisco Vargas (10-0-1, 7 KOs), 27, a 2008 Mexican Olympian who recently signed with Golden Boy, stopped Dominican Republic native Rafael Lora (11-8, 5 KOs), 26, of Irvington, N.J., when his corner threw in the towel at 2 minutes, 27 seconds of the third round of a one-sided fight. The win was Vargas' second in three weeks.
Saturday at Morelia, Mexico
Cristian Mijares KO4 Eddy Julio
Junior featherweight
Records: Mijares (45-6-2, 21 KOs); Julio (13-4-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mijares, 30, of Mexico, was a unified junior bantamweight titleholder when he faced Vic Darchinyan in a further unification bout and got destroyed over nine rounds in 2008. It was the first of three consecutive losses for Mijares, who was left for dead by most. But now he has won nine consecutive fights including this dismantling of Julio, 34, of Colombia, who was supposed to provide Mijares with an easy night at the office so as to not interfere with his likely next fight. That could be a shot at junior featherweight titleholder and pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire on July 21. Top Rank, Donaire's promoter, is in talks with HBO about the fight. If it is finalized, Mijares, a southpaw, did his part by taking apart Julio, who lost for the third time in four fights (each loss coming by knockout). Mijares dominated the fight. He nailed Julio to the head and body with both hands. Julio was game but in way over his head. Late in the fourth round, Mijares landed a left uppercut that sent Julio staggering into the ropes. Mijares followed with a combination and dropped Julio flat on his back and referee Rafael Saldana counted him out at 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
Also on the TV Azteca card, lightweight Marvin Quintero (25-3, 21 KOs), 25, of Mexico, stopped the Philippines' Al Sabaupan (18-1-1, 13 KOs), 23, in the ninth round to become the mandatory challenger for titleholder Miguel Vazquez. Quintero, who has been stopped in all of his losses, won his fifth fight in a row.
Saturday at Frederikshavn, Denmark
James DeGale TKO4 Cristian Sanavia
Super middleweight
Retains European super middleweight title
Records: DeGale (12-1, 9 KOs); Sanavia (45-6-1, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: DeGale, 26, of England, was a 2008 Olympic gold medalist and a rising contender. Sanavia, 37, of Italy, is a non-threatening puncher who has seen better days even though he once held a word title (for four months in 2004) and is a former European middleweight and super middleweight champion. The disparity of where they are in their careers added up to a DeGale victory, even if it came in an even easier fashion than many would have imagined. This was all DeGale, who was making the first defense of the European title he won in October via majority decision against Poland's Piotr Wilczewski and fighting for the second time since losing a majority decision to rival George Groves in May 2011.
DeGale was better in every way than fellow southpaw Sanavia, whose one moment of success came when he landed a right hand to DeGale's chin in the final seconds of the third round. It forced DeGale to touch his right glove to the canvas. However, referee Manuel Oliver Palomo did not rule a knockdown, perhaps because DeGale simultaneously tripped over an advertising bumper on the ring apron. In the fourth round, DeGale put Sanavia away in convincing fashion with four knockdowns. He dropped Sanavia three times in quick succession in the middle of the round, mainly with left hands. Sanavia did not appear very hurt on any of them, but his old legs were clearly giving way. DeGale dropped him again with a series of body shots and Palomo called off the fight at 2 minutes, 58 seconds.
Saturday at Schwerin, Germany
Karoly Balzsay TKO12 Dimitri Sartison
Super middleweight
Retains a super middleweight title
Records: Balzsay (25-2, 18 KOs); Sartison (29-2, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In August, Balzsay, a 32-year-old southpaw from Hungary living in Germany, traveled to Ukraine and won a split decision against hometown fighter Stanyslav Kashtanov to claim the pointless WBA "regular" title, even though we all know that Andre Ward is the legit champion. In any event, it means something to Balzsay, his handlers and, presumably, a few of his fans, so he made his first defense of the low-rent strap against Sartison, 32, a native of Kazakhstan living in Germany, who had previously held the second-tier belt until being stripped last year while injured. It had been a back-and-forth fight until Balzsay finished Sartison in the final round. He knocked him down and was hammering him during a follow-up attack when referee Mikael Hook stepped in with 35 seconds left in the fight.
Rakhim Chakhkiev KO1 Jaidon Codrington
Cruiserweight
Records: Chakhkiev (13-0, 10 KOs); Codrington (20-3, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It is sad that a fight like this was even made, as Chakhkiev, 29, a 2008 Russian Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, destroyed long-faded one-time super middleweight prospect Codrington of New York. Chakhkiev knocked out Codrington, 27, who has been plagued by a china chin, at 1 minute, 56 seconds of the opening round of a brutal mismatch. He dropped Codrington twice in what was only Codrington's third fight since he lost via eighth-round knockout in a vicious brawl with Sakio Bika in the 2007 final of "The Contender" reality series. Codrington is also remembered for being slaughtered in 18 seconds by Allan Green in the consensus 2005 knockout of the year.
Universum also kept most of the rest of its stable busy on the undercard, including former light heavyweight titlist Jürgen Brähmer and former heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev. Brähmer (38-2, 30 KOs), 33, of Germany, rolled to a lopsided decision (99-92, 98-91, 97-92) against Vikapita Meroro (21-4, 9 KOs), of Namibia, including scoring a fourth-round knockdown. Chagaev (29-2-1, 18 KOs), 33, a native of Uzbekistan based in Germany, dropped American journeyman Billy Zumbrun (25-13-1, 15 KOs), 39, twice in the third round en route to a knockout at 1 minute, 26 seconds of the third round.
Saturday at San Juan, Argentina
Omar Narvaez W12 Jose Cabrera
Junior bantamweight
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Scores: 120-106, 118-108 (twice)
Records: Narvaez (36-1-2, 19 KOs); Cabrera (20-2-2, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, Narvaez, 36, of Argentina, came to New York for the opportunity of a lifetime -- to challenge bantamweight champion and rising pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire in an HBO main event. But instead of trying to win, Narvaez took the money and ran. He refused to engage and was outclassed in losing a shutout decision in disgraceful fashion.
Narvaez did not seem to care much, though. He still had his junior bantamweight title to fall back. He returned to Argentina to fight for the first time since the Donaire debacle and cruised to his fourth title defense against Cabrera, 25, of Mexico. Narvaez, who previously had made 16 flyweight title defenses before vacating to move up in weight, dominated Cabrera for the near-shutout victory. Referee Jose Hiram Rivera docked points from Cabrera in the eighth and 10th rounds, including for a head butt that cut Narvaez.
Saturday at Caguas, Puerto Rico
Jose Miguel Cotto W10 Eric Cruz
Junior welterweight
Scores: 99-89, 98-90, 97-87
Records: Cotto (33-3-1, 24 KOs); Cruz (13-9-3, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Cotto, the 34-year-old older brother of star junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto, was supposed to face former lightweight titlist Jose Luis Castillo on March 24 on the Danny Garcia-Erik Morales undercard in Houston. However, Castillo failed to make weight and refused to lose the extra pounds. Since Cotto was already at a deficit going up in weight in the first place, he declined to fight Castillo and the bout was called off. So this main event on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate" was arranged for him in his hometown.
It looked as though Cotto was going to make it an early night against his Puerto Rican countryman Cruz, 24, when he dropped Cruz twice inside the first two minutes of the fight. First Cotto dropped Cruz very hard with a left hook to the jaw. Cruz was very shaky when he reached his feet to barely beat the count and was down almost instantly when the fight resumed from a right hand. He sunk to his knees in the center of the ring, clearly still hurt from the first knockdown. But give Cruz a lot of credit; he not only got up and made it out of the round, he got himself together enough to go the distance, although granted, in a one-sided points defeat. Cotto kept after him throughout the fight but simply could not put him away. Cotto had not fought since losing a lopsided decision to Paulie Malignaggi last April but he looked fairly sharp considering the long layoff. Cruz is now 2-3 in his last five fights.
Friday at Biloxi, Miss.
Jermain Taylor W10 Caleb Truax
Middleweight
Scores: 98-91, 97-92, 97-94
Records: Taylor (30-4-1, 18 KOs); Truax (18-1-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion, suffered a horrific 12th-round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham in the opening stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic in October 2009. Taylor suffered a small brain bleed as a result of the knockout, dropped out of the tournament and walked away from boxing. But after undergoing numerous medical tests and agreeing to return to middleweight rather than keep fighting at super middleweight (where he did not belong), Taylor made his return in December following 26 months out of the ring to stop Jesse Nicklow in the eighth round. Returning for the second time in his comeback and again headlining Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation," Taylor, 33, of Little Rock, Ark., took a small step up in competition against the untested Truax, 28, of Osseo, Minn.
Although Taylor won a lopsided decision, all is not well. He and his team, including promoter Lou DiBella, adviser Al Haymon and trainer Pat Burns, are going to have to seriously discuss what Taylor's plan should be going forward. The reason is because Taylor, although the clear winner, looked very shaky. He looked slow, his punches lacked snap and, oh yeah, there was that hard knockdown courtesy of a clean right hand from Truax in the ninth round. The good news is that Taylor survived the knockdown and made it through the remaining two minutes or so of the round. The bad news is that the knockdown is a big cause for concern, as was how he fought the rest of the fight against the kind of opponent he would once have taken out with ease.
In his postfight interview, Taylor was extremely jacked up and seemingly excited that he had been knocked down and survived. It was a weird interview, because who gets excited about nearly being knocked out? Anyway, good for Taylor, who has been brutally knocked out in three of his four losses, to show the resolve to survive. But let's be honest: Does anyone really think this comeback is going to lead anywhere other than to Taylor eventually suffering another bad knockout loss?
Erislandy Lara TKO1 Ronald Hearns
Middleweight
Records: Lara (16-1-1, 11 KOs); Hearns (26-3, 20 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Lara, who might very well be the best 154-pounder in the world, blew away Hearns, whose chin is even more suspect than that of his all-time-great father, Thomas Hearns. Lara had not fought since last July. That is when he was robbed of a win against Paul Williams in a majority decision so utterly putrid that the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board suspended the three judges for bad scoring. For no apparent reason, Golden Boy and the networks put Lara on ice for the rest of the year. He was supposed to fight Hearns in February but the bout was delayed because it was scheduled to be on the Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto undercard. When that fight was postponed until June, Lara-Hearns was put on the Jermain Taylor-Caleb Truax undercard on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
It turned out to be a very long wait for what turned out to be a very quick fight as Lara, 29, a former Cuban amateur star now living in Houston, destroyed Hearns, 33, of Detroit, in just 94 seconds. This was a pure demolition. Hearns carries his hands way too low and Lara, a southpaw, made him pay for it, landing a sweet straight left hand over Hearns' dangling right that dropped him hard. Hearns made it to his feet quickly, but he was shaky. Lara attacked quickly, ripping him with three consecutive left hands that had him falling into the ropes, which forced referee Keith Hughes to call a knockdown since the ropes had clearly held him up. And then came the violent ending as Lara pounded him with two more clean left hands that knocked Hearns out. With Hearns down along the ropes, Hughes did not bother to count, calling it off at 1 minute, 34 seconds. Hearns was down for a couple of minutes before collecting himself as he lost his second fight in a row by knockout. Fourteen months ago, Hearns went to Germany and got knocked out in the seventh round by Felix Sturm in a middleweight title bout. Now the question is who will dare step into the ring with Lara? He does not bring a lot of money to the table and he is extremely dangerous. He will need promoter Golden Boy to press the issue with the networks or the sanctioning bodies to put him into a meaningful fight, although there is no way Golden Boy would dare serve up Mexican star titleholder Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to him.
Friday at Montreal
Adonis Stevenson TKO2 Noe Gonzalez
Super middleweight
Records: Stevenson (18-1, 15 KOs); Gonzalez (28-2, 20 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Stevenson is a classic late bloomer. He is already 34 but only turned pro at age 29 in 2006, so he has come a long way in short period of time. Since a shocking second-round knockout loss to rank journeyman Darnell Boone in April 2010, Stevenson, who born in Haiti but has lived in Quebec since he was 5 and is gaining Montreal fans with every fight, has muscled his way onto the doorstep of being a legitimate contender. Since the loss, Stevenson, a southpaw, has now won five consecutive fights by knockout, each against a legitimate competition. In his last fight, in December, Stevenson, who goes by the nickname "Superman," scored an absolutely sensational knockout of the year candidate when he iced Jesus Gonzalez with one massive left hand in the first round. He did not put Noe Gonzalez, 36, who is from Uruguay but lives in Argentina, away with the same type of highlight-reel knockout but he still got the job done in the "Friday Night Fights" main event.
Working with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward for the second fight, Stevenson and Gonzalez spent the first round mostly feeling each other out. But then came the fireworks in the second round as Stevenson went to work. He backed Gonzalez into the ropes with a couple of left hands. That was the beginning of the end. Stevenson continued to throw unanswered punches, eventually catching Gonzalez with a nasty left hand that staggered him followed by several more blows, including a hard right and a left. Gonzalez was against the ropes in rough shape when referee Michael Griffin stepped in to stop it at 1 minute, 40 seconds. There were some who thought it was initially a quick stoppage, including ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas. Eventually, however, after looking at replays, Atlas changed his tune. This was a fair stoppage.
After the fight, Stevenson said he hoped for a title shot against either Andre Ward or Lucian Bute. A fight with Bute, who is Montreal's biggest boxing star, would be enormous. Stevenson is not quite ready for either of them, but he is quickly becoming must-see TV. Gonzalez saw his 14-fight winning streak -- 13 of which came by knockout -- come to an end. He had not lost since losing a unanimous decision in Germany to Felix Sturm in a 2007 middleweight world title bout.
Margarito coming back.
Spoiler [+]
Former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, who suffered a 10th-round knockout loss to Miguel Cotto in a junior middleweight title challenge on Dec. 3, is set to return.
Margarito will face an opponent to be determined in a scheduled 10-round bout on May 26 at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Ariz., Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said Monday.
The weight for the bout, which will air on Spanish-language network Azteca America, will be "somewhere between 154 and 160 pounds," Moretti said.
[+] Enlarge
Al Bello/Getty Images
Antonio Margarito, shown here between rounds of his loss to Miguel Cotto on Dec. 3, 2011, will return to the ring on May 26 against an undetermined opponent.
Margarito (38-8, 27 KOs), 34, of Tijuana, Mexico, is coming off a punishing loss to junior middleweight titlist Cotto in their grudge rematch on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It was revenge for Cotto, who lost a welterweight title to Margarito via 11th-round knockout in a controversial 2008 fight -- because in his next bout, Margarito was caught trying to fight Shane Mosley with loaded hand wraps. Many believe Margarito got away with it against Cotto.
In the rematch, Cotto busted up Margarito's surgically repaired right eye, forcing the ringside doctor to instruct the referee to stop the fight moments into the 10th round.
Margarito's eye was badly swollen and cut. It was the same eye that he suffered severe damage to in a lopsided beatdown against Manny Pacquiao in his previous fight in November 2010.
Against Pacquiao, Margarito suffered a broken orbital bone and a detached retina. Because of the eye injury, the New York State Athletic Commission did not want to license Margarito, although it ultimately did after a high-profile showdown between the commission and Top Rank.
Moretti said Margarito's eye is OK, despite how bad it looked after the Cotto rematch.
"Everything is fine," Moretti said. "He went back to his doctor and got everything checked out after the Cotto fight."
New York medically suspended Margarito after the Cotto fight pending his eye being cleared.
"In the Cotto fight, the eye was only cut and swollen. No other damage," Moretti said. "After the fight New York put him on the medical suspension list but then took him off of it because he got cleared medically in January."
If Margarito can rebound, he is in line for another major fight. Top Rank has talked about a possible fight this fall with middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., assuming Chavez defeats Andy Lee on June 16.
"That is certainly one potential fight," Moretti said of a fight with Chavez. "But the main thing is to get Margarito back in the ring, see how he looks and take it from there. Before any of that, he's got to win. He still has a big name and if he wins and looks OK there are other 154- and 160-pounders who will look at him. He will appeal to a lot of those guys, including Chavez."
Margarito has lost three of his last four fights -- to Cotto, Pacquiao and a ninth-round knockout loss to Mosley, who took his welterweight belt in a one-sided fight in January 2009.
Because of the hand-wrap scandal stemming from the Mosley fight, Margarito had his license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission and he did not fight for 16 months. He returned to fight in Mexico, winning a decision against Roberto Garcia in May 2010, which set him up for the fight with Pacquiao.
Margarito will face an opponent to be determined in a scheduled 10-round bout on May 26 at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Ariz., Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said Monday.
The weight for the bout, which will air on Spanish-language network Azteca America, will be "somewhere between 154 and 160 pounds," Moretti said.
[+] Enlarge
Al Bello/Getty Images
Antonio Margarito, shown here between rounds of his loss to Miguel Cotto on Dec. 3, 2011, will return to the ring on May 26 against an undetermined opponent.
Margarito (38-8, 27 KOs), 34, of Tijuana, Mexico, is coming off a punishing loss to junior middleweight titlist Cotto in their grudge rematch on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It was revenge for Cotto, who lost a welterweight title to Margarito via 11th-round knockout in a controversial 2008 fight -- because in his next bout, Margarito was caught trying to fight Shane Mosley with loaded hand wraps. Many believe Margarito got away with it against Cotto.
In the rematch, Cotto busted up Margarito's surgically repaired right eye, forcing the ringside doctor to instruct the referee to stop the fight moments into the 10th round.
Margarito's eye was badly swollen and cut. It was the same eye that he suffered severe damage to in a lopsided beatdown against Manny Pacquiao in his previous fight in November 2010.
Against Pacquiao, Margarito suffered a broken orbital bone and a detached retina. Because of the eye injury, the New York State Athletic Commission did not want to license Margarito, although it ultimately did after a high-profile showdown between the commission and Top Rank.
Moretti said Margarito's eye is OK, despite how bad it looked after the Cotto rematch.
"Everything is fine," Moretti said. "He went back to his doctor and got everything checked out after the Cotto fight."
New York medically suspended Margarito after the Cotto fight pending his eye being cleared.
"In the Cotto fight, the eye was only cut and swollen. No other damage," Moretti said. "After the fight New York put him on the medical suspension list but then took him off of it because he got cleared medically in January."
If Margarito can rebound, he is in line for another major fight. Top Rank has talked about a possible fight this fall with middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., assuming Chavez defeats Andy Lee on June 16.
"That is certainly one potential fight," Moretti said of a fight with Chavez. "But the main thing is to get Margarito back in the ring, see how he looks and take it from there. Before any of that, he's got to win. He still has a big name and if he wins and looks OK there are other 154- and 160-pounders who will look at him. He will appeal to a lot of those guys, including Chavez."
Margarito has lost three of his last four fights -- to Cotto, Pacquiao and a ninth-round knockout loss to Mosley, who took his welterweight belt in a one-sided fight in January 2009.
Because of the hand-wrap scandal stemming from the Mosley fight, Margarito had his license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission and he did not fight for 16 months. He returned to fight in Mexico, winning a decision against Roberto Garcia in May 2010, which set him up for the fight with Pacquiao.
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wow , I heard Nothing about Andrade getting TKO'd in the 3rd.
I hope its on Youtube...
I hope its on Youtube...
