A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Marcos Maidana
Unifies welterweight titles
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 114-114
Records: Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26 KOs); Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mayweather, the pound-for-pound king, is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If he takes a guy apart and wins 12-0 in a boring shutout, there are those who will complain that it wasn't exciting rather than appreciate the dominance of the best fighter in the world. And if Mayweather is in a tough, entertaining fight with good action and -- heaven forbid! -- loses some rounds, well then, he must be showing his age if he can't dominate anymore.
The bottom line is, whether it was by design or because, maybe, just maybe, at 37, Mayweather really is finally showing the early signs of slippage, he won a highly entertaining fight against Maidana to unify 147-pound titles to go along with his unified 154-pound junior middleweight titles (a first in boxing history, mainly because the organizations are breaking their own rules and allowing Mayweather to keep belts in two divisions).
Mayweather, of Las Vegas, had perhaps his toughest fight against the swarming, brawling, mauling, free swinging (including often behind the head and below the belt) Maidana, 30, who had a huge crowd of his Argentine countrymen supporting him in the announced sold-out crowd of 16,268 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (where a live gate of some $15 million was generated).
Mayweather said before the fight that he was going to stand and fight Maidana and make it exciting and that is exactly what happened, be it on purpose or because the relentless pressure Maidana applied gave "Money" no choice.
Whatever it was, Maidana, a roughly 12-to-1 underdog given no chance to win by virtually anyone, was able to win a bunch of rounds and tag Mayweather with more punches than he has ever been hit with in any of the 38 bouts CompuBox has tracked. Maidana landed 221 of 858 punches (26 percent), but Mayweather landed more (although not as heavy) and was far more accurate with his blows, landing 230 of 426 (54 percent).
Still, while Maidana, who rehydrated all the way up 165 pounds to Mayweather's 148, did have success, especially early, Mayweather weathered the storms and got in a lot of his own quick left hooks and lead rights. While many had the fight extremely tight through about three-quarters of the bout, Mayweather picked things up late in the fight and won most of the closing rounds to pull away.
Maidana had earned the fight by winning his belt in a big upset against then-unbeaten Adrien Broner in December. He fought the same way against Mayweather -- straight ahead and looking to bang. It worked against Broner, who got knocked down twice. Mayweather, however, is a lot better than Broner. Even when Maidana cut Mayweather over the right eye in the fourth round (and it is unclear if it was from a punch or a head butt), Mayweather stayed calm, allowed star cutman Rafael Garcia to ably close the wound and didn't allow it to impact the fight, which Showtime will replay on Saturday night (9:30 ET/PT).
Because there is no obvious fall opponent for Mayweather to fight (we no include Manny Pacquiao, because we've been there, done that), there was a lot of postfight talk about a rematch. It seems doubtful the outcome will be any different, but if folks want to see it, so be it.
Meantime, another big Mayweather promotion is in the books. He made at least $32 million (to Maidana's official $1.5 million purse, plus Argentina TV revenue and a share of pay-per-view profits), put on an exciting fight thanks to an extremely aggressive opponent and kept his record shiny and spotless, just how he likes it. Mayweather has three more fights remaining on his gargantuan six-fight deal with Showtime/CBS. His career is winding down. Enjoy the rest of the ride, even if it doesn't include Pacquiao.
Amir Khan W12 Luis Collazo
Welterweight
Scores: 119-104 twice, 117-106
Records: Khan (29-3, 19 KOs); Collazo (35-6, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It's been a long time since England's Khan, 27, really looked good in a fight -- since he unified junior welterweight belts by knocking out Zab Judah with a body shot in the fifth round in 2011. Since then, Khan lost (albeit controversially) to Lamont Peterson, got knocked silly by Danny Garcia, stopped second-stringer Carlos Molina in an average performance and then looked bad (and got dropped) by faded two-time lightweight titleholder Julio Diaz.
With those being his most recent performances, no wonder many scoffed at the notion of Khan being handed a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he had done nothing to actually earn it. Marcos Maidana did earn the fight and he got the shot in the main event. Khan, still hoping to land the fight he thought he had sewn up, instead fought former welterweight titlist Collazo, 33, of Brooklyn, N.Y., in the strong co-feature. Both fighters were hoping to make a statement, one that would get the public behind them in a push for a future Mayweather opportunity.
Khan, who had not fought in the 13 months since the Diaz fight, did make a statement in his best outing in years as he moved up in weight, scored three knockdowns, showed the toughness to weather some very rocky moments and won a clear decision. Collazo, a southpaw, had knocked out former welterweight titlist (and former Mayweather victim) Victor Ortiz in the second round on Jan. 30 in his own statement win to set up the Khan fight and hoped that another rousing victory would put him squarely into the Mayweather sweepstakes.
But this fight was almost all Khan other than the eighth round. After referee Vic Drakulich docked him a point for a low blow, Collazo then badly hurt Khan with a left hand that turned his legs to jelly. But Khan did not fall apart as he has in the past. He was able to hold briefly and use his legs to get himself back together.
Khan's biggest moments came when he knocked Collazo down in the third round and twice more in the 10th round to leave no doubt.
It is possible that Mayweather could offer Khan a shot, but he said he would not be available to fight him in September (when Mayweather plans to fight) because of the time Khan, a Muslim, needs to recover from fasting during Ramadan. That could mean a Mayweather-Khan fight around this time next year.
The loss was a setback for Collazo, who broke a finger on his left hand in the fight, but because Golden Boy promotes so many other welterweight contenders and titleholders you have to figure Collazo will get another chance, perhaps even a title shot against the likes of Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter.
Adrien Broner W10 Carlos Molina=
Junior welterweight
Scores: 100-90, 99-91, 98-92
Records: Broner (28-1, 22 KOs); Molina (17-2-1, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In Broner's mind, he is the next coming of Floyd Mayweather Jr., whom he is close to and calls his "big brother." But Broner is not Mayweather and why Broner wound up on his undercard trying to rebuild himself after a major upset loss in December. That is when Marcos Maidana dropped Broner twice, laid somewhat of a beating on him, won a clear decision and took his welterweight title. The win got Maidana the shot at Mayweather and the loss sent Broner, 24, of Cincinnati, a former three-division titleholder, down to the junior welterweight division he had skipped over.
In Broner's way was Molina, 28, of Norwalk, Calif., who hadn't fought since being knocked out in the 10th round by Amir Khan in December 2012. This was supposed to be a showcase fight Broner and that's what it was. As Broner said afterward, it was a televised sparring session. Molina was game and tried, but he was outclassed by Broner, who has won titles at welterweight, lightweight and junior lightweight.
Other a couple of good early rounds -- and a good right hand that buzzed Broner in the second round -- Molina had little to offer and Broner won going away, even though he did not look all that good and made a fool of himself (as he often does) with his language insult to Mexicans during his post-fight interview on the Showtime PPV telecast. The fight did what it was supposed to do for Broner, get him a win on a high-profile card, show that he can make 140 pounds and set himself up for a bigger fight next. Broner probably will wind up getting a shot at a junior welterweight belt, perhaps as soon as his next fight.
J'Leon Love W10 Marco Antonio Periban
Super middleweight
Scores: 97-92, 96-93, 95-93
Records: Love (18-0, 10 KOs); Periban (20-2-1, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Love, 26, a Michigan-born Las Vegas resident, is one of the fighters in the Mayweather Promotions stable whom Floyd Mayweather Jr. speaks most highly of. Mayweather regularly touts Love as a future champion, although based on this shaky performance and others, it's hard to see that.
Love is simply lucky to have survived against Periban, 29, of Mexico, who is as tough and game as they come, but very slow and one-dimensional. Still, the former title challenger, came within a whisker of knocking Love out. Love started off well enough. He had Periban's nose bleeding by the second round and was much faster than him. But Periban had love in trouble courtesy of his powerful right hand in the third round and then nearly ended the fight in the fifth round when he caught Love flush with a great right hand. It badly staggered Love, who was all over the place and taking enormous punishment after being so badly messed up by the first right hand of the sequence. Referee Jay Nady allowed him to get smashed all over the ring until Love held on for dear life. It took Nady so long to break them that Love was able to shake a few of the cobwebs out. But as soon as the fight resumed after the break, Periban was all over Love again, blistering him with shots that drove him a knee. Here's where things got really wild. Periban was punching while Love was down and Nady literally shoved him away, so hard that Periban hit the deck. While Love beat the count, Nady, who had a terrible night, never bothered to take a point much less even warn Periban for his blatant foul of punching while man was down. Showtime's announcers completely glossed over it, giving Periban and Nady a pass. Love managed to get himself together, cut a fading Periban over the left and had him in trouble late in the sixth round.
Credit Love for surviving the fifth round (with Nady's help) and now, thanks to Mayweather's backing, probably will move on to a much more significant fight, perhaps a title shot against Sakio Bika.
Saturday at Berlin
Arthur Abraham W12 Nikola Sjekloca
Retains a super middleweight title
Scores: 119-110, 116-113, 116-112
Records: Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs); Sjekloca (26-2, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Abraham, a former middleweight titleholder, did not have much success early on when he moved up to super middleweight, suffering three losses in the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament. But in 2012, Abraham, 34, of Germany, he outpointed Robert Stieglitz to claim a 168-pound world title. Two fights later, however, Stieglitz stopped him in the fourth round of the one-sided rematch to reclaim the belt in March 2013. It was a big rivalry in Germany and they met in the rubber match on March 1 and Abraham avenged the loss by winning a split decision and reclaiming the title.
Returning on relatively short rest, Abraham made his first defense against Sjekloca, 35, of Montenegro. American fight fans might remember Sjekloca for his near-shutout to Sakio Bika on HBO (a late substitute fight) in a title elimination bout in February 2012 in what turned out to be a horrendous fight. Sjekloca returned to blitz a 17-20-1 opponent and then got this utterly undeserved shot at Abraham's belt.
Abraham, the more aggressive fighter and the much heavier hitter, won the exchanges and was having an easy time through the first half of the fight. But then Abraham injured his right hand and spent the rest of the fight winning rounds almost exclusively using his left hand. Like he did against Bika, Sjekloca had zero sense of urgency and never tried to make a real fight out of it, which is especially disappointing because he must have known something was wrong with Abraham's hand when he stopped using it. In the end, Abraham got a gimme defense.
Saturday at Cebu City, Philippines
Johnriel Casimero KO1 Mauricio Fuentes
A junior flyweight title remains vacant
Records: Casimero (20-2, 12 KOs); Fuentes (16-3, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Casimero, 24, of the Philippines, was due to make his the fourth defense of his 108-pound world title against Fuentes, 24, of Colombia. There was, however, one rather large problem though. While Fuentes hit the 108-pound mark at the weigh-in, Casimero was pathetically 113¼ pounds, more that five pounds over the limit. Technically, he was a junior bantamweight rather than a flyweight. So Casimero was stripped of the title, which was on the line for Fuentes as the fight went forward anyway.
The fight was one-sided as Casimero blasted Fuentes out, dropping him three times before referee Gerard White called it off at 2 minutes, 59 seconds. That leaves the title still vacant, Casimero trying to figure out what weight class he should fight in and Fuentes most likely wondering what the heck happened.
Saturday at Culiacan, Mexico
Omar Chavez W10 Daniel Sandoval
Junior middleweight
Scores: 96-93, 96-92, 95-93
Records: Chavez (32-2-1, 22 KOs); Sandoval (34-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Chavez is the 24-year-old younger brother of former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and the other fighting son Hall of Fame Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Omar Chavez is even more limited than his big brother, but he has that famous last name and typically makes entertaining fights as he tries to get out from under the shadow of his brother and father. That's not so easy, but he fought well against Sandoval, a powerful puncher, and took home the decision following a grueling battle. Chavez, fighting in his hometown, won his fourth fight in a row since losing his second decision to Jorge Paez Jr. in 2012. Sandoval, 23, of Mexico, who lost a point for a low blow in the fifth round, saw a 15-fight winning streak since 2010 come to an end.
Friday at Las Vegas
Ishe Smith (26-6, 12 KOs) KO2 Ryan Davis (24-14-3, 9 KOs)
Junior middleweight
Records: Ishe Smith (26-6, 12 KOs) KO2 Ryan Davis (24-14-3, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In February 2013, Smith, 35, became the first native of Las Vegas to win a world title when he outpointed Cornelius "K9" Bundrage. But Smith lost the belt in his first defense, dropping a decision to Carlos Molina in September. He was due to get another shot at a belt by facing Erislandy Lara on this card, but when Lara instead got a much bigger fight for way more money against Canelo Alvarez in July, he pulled out of the fight with Smith. To Smith's credit, he was very understanding, saying he would have done the same thing.
That left Smith, however, to face late replacement Davis, 35, of Granite Hills, Ill., a massive drop off in competition level from Lara. And it showed as Smith blew him out. Smith took it to Davis from the start and had a big first round. It was more of the same in the second round as Smith hammered Davis all over the place with power shots from both hands before finally flooring him with a clean right hand and a left hook behind it. Davis got to his knees but he could not beat the count from referee Jay Nady, who counted him out with one second left in the round. The fight was exactly the mismatch that was anticipated, although Smith looked sharp and was aggressive. As for Davis, he lost his fifth fight in a row and sixth of his last seven bouts. And one more thing about Davis: What the heck was up with those crazy pink socks?
Jesus Andres Cuellar W12 Rico Ramos
Retains an interim featherweight title
Scores: 117-109, 116-110, 114-112
Records: Cuellar (24-1, 18 KOs); Ramos (23-4, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Cuellar, 27, a southpaw from Argentina, has belt but he is merely one of three dudes that the WBA shamefully calls its titleholder. Cuellar is third in the pecking order but was making the first defense of the trinket, which was vacant when he outpointed Claudio Marrero to win it in August. In Ramos, 26, of Los Angeles, he was facing a former titleholder whose best days seem to be long gone even though he is still young.
Cuellar got off to a strong start by knocking Ramos down with a left hand to the head in the first round. Ramos survived, but Cuellar stalked him throughout the fight and continued to use his left hand effectively as he racked up points and won clearly. In the eight round, a shot behind Ramos' head caused referee Kenny Bayless to dock a point from Cuellar, but he had the fight in hand.
but other than that I think he won.
