Wrap up of this weekend.
A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Inglewood, Calif.
Juan Manuel Marquez W12 Mike Alvarado
Title eliminator - Welterweight
Scores: 119-108, 117-109 (twice)
Records: Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs); Alvarado (34-3, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Marquez, the 40-year-old Mexican legend, accomplished several things with his brilliant performance against Alvarado, the former junior welterweight titlist. First off, Marquez bounced back in a big way from his competitive decision loss challenging then-welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. in October. Marquez also made a triumphant return to The Forum, the storied arena where he made his name as a young featherweight, going 12-0 with nine knockouts between 1995 and 1999. With the recently renovated arena re-opening and getting back into boxing, it was a big thrill for Marquez to return as the headliner for the first fight card there since 2001. It was also a big thrill for the pro-Marquez crowd of 12,090 who cheered him on wildly.
But even bigger for Marquez was he once again put himself in position to challenge for a welterweight title, something he said is very important to him as he winds down his career. No Mexican fighter has ever won world titles in five weight classes. Marquez, who has already won belts in four divisions from featherweight to junior welterweight, had his chance against Bradley and failed. But by beating Alvarado, Marquez is now the mandatory challenger for a title -- one that happens to be held by his greatest rival, Manny Pacquiao, against whom Marquez is 1-2-1, although the one win was the massive sixth-round knockout in December 2012. So there is a good chance that we will see Pacquiao-Marquez V and a continuation of one of boxing's greatest rivalries. Marquez was understandably reluctant to commit to the fight right after beating Alvarado, but give him time and it's a good bet that he will come around for a fall showdown.
He earned it with his impressive showing against Alvarado, 33, of Denver. Marquez outboxed Alvarado, outpunched him, outlanded him, countered beautifully and overwhelming dominated the fight, especially early. Marquez totally controlled the first eight rounds and was pitching a shutout on all three scorecards to that point. Alvarado was extremely inactive and threw very few punches while Marquez was pinpoint with his shots. How pinpoint? Just take a look at Alvarado's face, which was bruised and cut from eating so many jabs and counter right hands.
Although Alvarado got things going better over the final quarter of the fight, he was in a deep hole, especially after Marquez had a huge eighth round, one he punctuated by dropping Alvarado with a clean right hand to the head just before the round ended.
Alvarado's best moment of the fight came in the ninth round, when he returned the favor, landing a flush right hand that dropped Marquez to his rear end. But Marquez shook it off and continued to fight well. In the 11th round, Alvarado landed another right hand that briefly took Marquez's legs away and he nearly went down, but referee Pat Russell was right on top of things and correctly did not call a knockdown because even though it looked very close, Marquez's gloves did not touch the mat.
The second half of the fight had a lot of action, but when the bell ended the fight it was obvious Marquez was the clear-cut winner. The CompuBox statistics backed that up as landed 278 of 627 punches (44 percent) while Alvarado landed 178 of 510 blows (35 percent). Also, Marquez outlanded Alvarado in 11 of the 12 rounds. Further, Marquez landed 57 percent of his power punches, his second-best percentage in the 26 CompuBox has tracked. (He landed 63 percent of his power shots against Michael Katsidis in 2010.)
Alvarado has three of his last four fights, including two in a row after being stopped in the 10th round by Ruslan Provodnikov in October and losing his 140-pound belt. The obvious fight Alvarado to make a big payday in now would be a rubber match with rival Brandon Rios. Marquez, meanwhile, appears headed for another Pacquiao showdown and another historical fight.
Viktor Postol KO11 Selcuk Aydin
Title eliminator - Junior welterweight
Records: Postol (26-0, 11 KOs); Aydin (26-3, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Postol, 30, of Ukraine, and Aydin, 30, of Turkey, were fighting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for 140-pound world champion Danny Garcia, who might not stick around in the division long enough to ever face Postol, who won in resounding fashion. Garcia is probably headed to welterweight in the next fight or two, so that would mean Postol would fight for a vacant title.
Postol was impressive against the very experienced Aydin, who has been seen previously on American television in decision losses to Jesus Soto Karass and Robert Guerrero (in an interim welterweight title bout). Postol, however, was largely unknown but surely made an impression. He is huge for the junior welterweight division and was incredibly active. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Postol landed 395 of 1,105 punches (36 percent) while Aydin landed just 118 of 393 (30 percent).
Other than knocking Postol into the ropes in the first round, Aydin was outclassed in a one-sided mugging. Postol was throwing and landing so many more punches than Aydin that it was a very easy fight to score. But those scorecards turned out to be unnecessary.
Moments after referee Raul Caiz Jr. docked a point from Aydin for hitting behind the head, Postol crushed him with a right uppercut that dropped Aydin like a sack of rocks. His head bounced off the canvas and Caiz immediately waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 52 seconds. It was a very impressive performance from Postol, whose previous notable victory came in March 2013 in Ukraine, where he won a 12-round unanimous decision against contender Hank Lundy of Philadelphia.
Aydin, who lost to Soto Karass and Guerrero in back-to-back fights, had won three fights in a row, a streak that came to a crashing halt.
Diego Magdaleno W10 Oscar Bravo
Lightweight
scores: 80-71 (twice), 79-72
Records: Magdaleno (26-1, 10 KOs); Bravo (21-4, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Magdaleno, 27, of Las Vegas, is one of the top junior lightweight contenders in the world, although this fight with Bravo, 26, of Chile, was in the lightweight division. Regardless, Magdaleno looked good in the one-sided victory.
Magdaleno dropped Bravo with a left hand to the body during a dominating fourth round and was never in any danger against Bravo.
The win was the third in a row for Magdaleno, a southpaw, since getting knocked down in a split-decision loss challenging then-130-pound titleholder Roman "Rocky" Martinez in April 2013 in Macau. Bravo has a good record, but whenever he has fought outside of his home country he has lost -- in the United States, Argentina, Ghana and Australia.
Saturday at Fresno, Calif.
Jose Ramirez KO2 Jesus Selig
Junior welterweight
Records: Ramirez (10-0, 8 KOs); Selig (16-3-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ramirez, 21, of Avenal, Calif., was the big crowd favorite as he headlined a UniMas-televised card despite being only in a scheduled six-round fight. Ramirez, however, is already an attraction in his home region, selling 6,100 tickets for the fight card. Ramirez, a 2012 U.S. Olympian and one of boxing's best prospects, was facing the most experienced opponent of his pro career so far and cut through him with ease, even though Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman repeatedly said he expected Selig, 32, of Mexico, to go deep into the fight, if not the distance, against Ramirez.
Early in the second round, Ramirez wobbled Selig with a right hand to the head. Moments later, Ramirez connected with a hard left to the head that hurt Selig and followed up with two hook to the body that forced Selig to take a knee. Selig was writing in pain and could not beat the count from referee Michael Margado, who counted him out 44 seconds into the round. It was another dynamic performance from Ramirez, who is getting more and more polished with every fight. Making Ramirez's showing even more impressive was the fact that, according to Top Rank, one of his best friends died unexpectedly two days before the fight after a freak accident.
Selig lost his second fight in a row, having also been knocked out in the sixth round in December by 2008 U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali.
Andy Ruiz TKO2 Manuel Quezada
Heavyweight
Records: Ruiz (22-0, 16 KOs; Quezada (29-9, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ruiz, 24, of Mexico, is an intriguing heavyweight prospect. He doesn't look like he is in good condition, but he has fast hands and good power. He was taking on the experienced Quezada, 36, a Mexico native based in Wasco, Calif., and took him out with ease. It was all Ruiz in the first round even before he landed a series of overhand rights that drove Quezada to a knee for a knockdown with about 25 seconds left in the round. In the second round, a four-punch combination, capped by another overhand right, dropped Quezada again to his knees. He barely beat the count, which was probably not a good idea. All it meant was that Ruiz had another opportunity to hammer him with punches, which he did. Finally, after an overhand right staggered Quezada, referee Marcos Rosales stepped in and stopped the fight at 2 minutes. Although Quezada, who lost his fifth fight in a row, has seen better days, it was still an impressive performance from Ruiz, who got rid of him quicker than notable fighters such as Chris Arreola and Steven Cunningham, both of whom beat Quezada but did not get a knockout.
Saturday at Cardiff, Wales
Lee Selby W12 Romulu Koasicha
Title eliminator - Featherweight
Scores: 119-109 (twice), 119-110
Records: Selby (19-1, 7 KOs); Koasicha (21-4, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In an utterly uneventful and boring waltz, Selby, 27, of Wales, easily outpointed Koasicha, 23, of Mexico. Selby was a bit more active than Koasicha and landed a lot more punches in the forgettable fight. In boxing his way to the victory, Selby won an official elimination fight for the right to be the mandatory challenger for 126-pound titleholder Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico, although he first defends his belt on Saturday.
Also on the card, lightweights Gavin Rees (38-4-1, 18 KOs), a 34-year-old former junior welterweight titleholder from Wales, and 27-year-old countryman Gary Buckland (28-4, 9 KOs) met in a rematch three months after Buckland won a split decision in a slugfest. In the rematch, it was Rees who claimed a split decision as two judges had it for him, 117-113 and 117-112 while the other judge had it for Buckland, 116-113. Before the fight, Rees said this would be his final fight. It's boxing though, so we'll see if he changes his mind and perhaps faces Buckland in a rubber match of their exciting series.
Nathan Cleverly TKO2 Sean Corbin
Cruiserweight
Records: Cleverly (27-1, 13 KOs); Corbin (17-5, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Last August, Cleverly, 27, of Wales, got destroyed by Sergey Kovalev, who knocked him out in the fourth round of a one-sided demolition and took his light heavyweight world title. Nine months later, Cleverly made his return to the ring as he moved up to the cruiserweight division looking for another title run. Cleverly did not have much in front of him in the 39-year-old Corbin, of Trinidad and Tobago, and blew him out as he got his feet wet in a new weight class.
Cleverly looked comfortable at the weight and went right to work in an aggressive first round. Midway through the second round, he badly hurt Corbin with a three-punch combination, including a flush uppercut. That was the beginning of the end. Cleverly forced Corbin to the ropes and kept landing blows. He was absolutely teeing off on Corbin, raking him with shots, including a pair of right hands that shook him again and again. Finally, as Cleverly continued to rain punches and Corbin not throwing anything in return, referee Richie Davies stepped in and waved it off at 2 minutes, 19 seconds. With the cruiserweight debut out of the way, Cleverly figures to step up into a more significant fight in the division before too long.
Saturday at Villa Maria, Argentina
Omar Narvaez KO4 Antonio Garcia
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Records: Narvaez (42-1-2, 23 KOs); Garcia (13-2, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Narvaez, 38, of Argentina, racked up another hometown defense against an unqualified opponent in Garcia, 20, of Mexico, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because Garcia was overweight, coming in at 115¾ when the division limit is 115 pounds. However, the win still counted as a successful title defense for Narvaez, who made a bit of boxing history.
Narvaez became the first fighter to reach double-digit successful title defenses in two weight divisions. As a flyweight titleholder from 2002 to 2009, he made 16 defenses before moving up to junior bantamweight, where he won a vacant world title in 2010 and has successfully defended it 10 times after polishing off Garcia. Too bad for Narvaez that American fight fans will always remember him for running like a thief for 12 rounds and stinking out the joint in a shutout loss to Nonito Donaire challenging for a flyweight title in 2011.
With just a few seconds left in the fourth round, Narvaez unleashed a three-punch combination, a left hand to Garcia's liver, a left to the head and a window dressing left to the body that landed as Garcia was going down. He was in agony on the mat and the bell rang as referee Celestino Ruiz finished counting him out. Garcia was down on the canvas for a couple of minutes from the knockout and Narvaez had himself a little slice of boxing history.
Friday at Montreal
Delvin Rodriguez D10 Joachim Alcine
Junior middleweight
Scores: 97-93 Rodriguez, 96-94 Alcine, 95-95
Records: Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs); Alcine (35-7-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Rodriguez, 34, of Danbury, Conn., has been a staple of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" for years. This was his 17th appearance on the series. When he's not boxing, he is a commentator for the Spanish-language version of the series. He was trying to bounce back from a one-sided third-round knockout loss to Miguel Cotto in October. Meanwhile, Alcine, 38, of Montreal, is a former junior middleweight titleholder well past his best days.
They were fighting to keep themselves somewhat relevant and they both failed in a draw that showed just how limited each man is. Rodriguez looked like he might have done just enough to get the decision, but it's hard to argue with the draw because neither man seize the action in a fight that was held at Olympic Stadium, same venue where Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran engaged in their famous first fight in 1980.
Rodriguez and Alcine fought hard and both had their moments. Rodriguez momentarily wobbled Alcine in the second round but Alcine returned fire. As the fight moved into the second half the pace slowed as both were more deliberate with their punches as they fought on even terms. It was an OK fight but even though the result was a draw nobody is going to be pleading for a rematch.
Derric Rossy W10 Joe Hanks
Heavyweight
Scores: 98-92, 97-93, 95-95
Records: Rossy (29-8, 14 KOs); Hanks (21-2, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What do you get when you match two average (at best) heavyweights? An average fight that simply showed that neither guy is going anywhere.
Rossy, 33, of Medford, N.Y., bounced back from losing back-to-back fights to onetime top contender Fres Oquendo and club fighter Joey Dawejko. Meanwhile, Hanks, 31, of Newark, N.J., lost his second fight in a row and saw his fortunes dip yet again. In July, he was drubbed in a fourth-round knockout to Andy Ruiz in Macau. Although one judge scored this fight a draw, Hanks did not deserve to have it be that close.
Friday at Mashantucket, Conn.
Joel Diaz Jr. W10 Tyler Asselstine
Junior lightweight
Scores: 97-92 (three times)
Records: Diaz Jr. (16-0, 12 KOs); Asselstine (14-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The fight wasn't as easy as perhaps the scores made it look but Diaz, 22, of Palmdale, Calif., got the well-deserved win in a tough fight against Asselstine, 27, of Toronto, in the main event of Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Diaz, who went past the seventh round for the first time, started quickly and rocked Asselstine with a left hand in the opening round. It was not all peaches and cream for Diaz, however, as he had to deal with some adversity. He suffered a cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt in the eighth round. Referee Danny Schiavone penalized Asselstine, a southpaw, a point for losing his mouthpiece in the seventh round. He had had problems keeping in throughout the fight.
Frank Galarza W8 Sebastien Bouchard
Junior middleweight
Scores: 78-73, 77-74 (twice)
Records: Galarza (14-0-2, 9 KOs); Bouchard (9-1, 2 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Galarza, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., gained some notice in January when he scored an impressive second-round knockout of John Thompson on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation." Galarza won another fight in April but was then invited back to "ShoBox," and why not? He's a fun fighter to watch. But this time, instead of flashing his punching power, he showed he could also box a bit by outpointing Bouchard, 27, of Quebec. Galarza established his jab and worked Bouchard's body to cruise to a solid victory, although referee Joey Lupino did take a point away from him in the eighth round for a low blow.
Thursday at Del Mar, Calif.
Antonio Orozco W10 Martin Honorio
Junior welterweight
Scores: 100-89 (twice), 99-90
Records: Orozco (20-0, 15 KOs); Honorio (32-9-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Orozco, 26, of San Diego, is a quality prospect and a crowd-pleaser. He had been due to face Honorio, 34, of Mexico, a former featherweight and junior lightweight title challenger, on April 26. However, a problem with Honorio's visa forced the fight to be postponed.
Orozco had no trouble whatsoever with the faded Honorio, who was fighting for the first time in nearly two years. He had nothing to offer and lost almost every second of the fight. Referee Jose Cobian put him in an even deeper hole when he docked a point from him in the ninth round for hitting Orozco in the back.
Saturday at Inglewood, Calif.
Juan Manuel Marquez W12 Mike Alvarado
Title eliminator - Welterweight
Scores: 119-108, 117-109 (twice)
Records: Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs); Alvarado (34-3, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Marquez, the 40-year-old Mexican legend, accomplished several things with his brilliant performance against Alvarado, the former junior welterweight titlist. First off, Marquez bounced back in a big way from his competitive decision loss challenging then-welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. in October. Marquez also made a triumphant return to The Forum, the storied arena where he made his name as a young featherweight, going 12-0 with nine knockouts between 1995 and 1999. With the recently renovated arena re-opening and getting back into boxing, it was a big thrill for Marquez to return as the headliner for the first fight card there since 2001. It was also a big thrill for the pro-Marquez crowd of 12,090 who cheered him on wildly.
But even bigger for Marquez was he once again put himself in position to challenge for a welterweight title, something he said is very important to him as he winds down his career. No Mexican fighter has ever won world titles in five weight classes. Marquez, who has already won belts in four divisions from featherweight to junior welterweight, had his chance against Bradley and failed. But by beating Alvarado, Marquez is now the mandatory challenger for a title -- one that happens to be held by his greatest rival, Manny Pacquiao, against whom Marquez is 1-2-1, although the one win was the massive sixth-round knockout in December 2012. So there is a good chance that we will see Pacquiao-Marquez V and a continuation of one of boxing's greatest rivalries. Marquez was understandably reluctant to commit to the fight right after beating Alvarado, but give him time and it's a good bet that he will come around for a fall showdown.
He earned it with his impressive showing against Alvarado, 33, of Denver. Marquez outboxed Alvarado, outpunched him, outlanded him, countered beautifully and overwhelming dominated the fight, especially early. Marquez totally controlled the first eight rounds and was pitching a shutout on all three scorecards to that point. Alvarado was extremely inactive and threw very few punches while Marquez was pinpoint with his shots. How pinpoint? Just take a look at Alvarado's face, which was bruised and cut from eating so many jabs and counter right hands.
Although Alvarado got things going better over the final quarter of the fight, he was in a deep hole, especially after Marquez had a huge eighth round, one he punctuated by dropping Alvarado with a clean right hand to the head just before the round ended.
Alvarado's best moment of the fight came in the ninth round, when he returned the favor, landing a flush right hand that dropped Marquez to his rear end. But Marquez shook it off and continued to fight well. In the 11th round, Alvarado landed another right hand that briefly took Marquez's legs away and he nearly went down, but referee Pat Russell was right on top of things and correctly did not call a knockdown because even though it looked very close, Marquez's gloves did not touch the mat.
The second half of the fight had a lot of action, but when the bell ended the fight it was obvious Marquez was the clear-cut winner. The CompuBox statistics backed that up as landed 278 of 627 punches (44 percent) while Alvarado landed 178 of 510 blows (35 percent). Also, Marquez outlanded Alvarado in 11 of the 12 rounds. Further, Marquez landed 57 percent of his power punches, his second-best percentage in the 26 CompuBox has tracked. (He landed 63 percent of his power shots against Michael Katsidis in 2010.)
Alvarado has three of his last four fights, including two in a row after being stopped in the 10th round by Ruslan Provodnikov in October and losing his 140-pound belt. The obvious fight Alvarado to make a big payday in now would be a rubber match with rival Brandon Rios. Marquez, meanwhile, appears headed for another Pacquiao showdown and another historical fight.
Viktor Postol KO11 Selcuk Aydin
Title eliminator - Junior welterweight
Records: Postol (26-0, 11 KOs); Aydin (26-3, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Postol, 30, of Ukraine, and Aydin, 30, of Turkey, were fighting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for 140-pound world champion Danny Garcia, who might not stick around in the division long enough to ever face Postol, who won in resounding fashion. Garcia is probably headed to welterweight in the next fight or two, so that would mean Postol would fight for a vacant title.
Postol was impressive against the very experienced Aydin, who has been seen previously on American television in decision losses to Jesus Soto Karass and Robert Guerrero (in an interim welterweight title bout). Postol, however, was largely unknown but surely made an impression. He is huge for the junior welterweight division and was incredibly active. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Postol landed 395 of 1,105 punches (36 percent) while Aydin landed just 118 of 393 (30 percent).
Other than knocking Postol into the ropes in the first round, Aydin was outclassed in a one-sided mugging. Postol was throwing and landing so many more punches than Aydin that it was a very easy fight to score. But those scorecards turned out to be unnecessary.
Moments after referee Raul Caiz Jr. docked a point from Aydin for hitting behind the head, Postol crushed him with a right uppercut that dropped Aydin like a sack of rocks. His head bounced off the canvas and Caiz immediately waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 52 seconds. It was a very impressive performance from Postol, whose previous notable victory came in March 2013 in Ukraine, where he won a 12-round unanimous decision against contender Hank Lundy of Philadelphia.
Aydin, who lost to Soto Karass and Guerrero in back-to-back fights, had won three fights in a row, a streak that came to a crashing halt.
Diego Magdaleno W10 Oscar Bravo
Lightweight
scores: 80-71 (twice), 79-72
Records: Magdaleno (26-1, 10 KOs); Bravo (21-4, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Magdaleno, 27, of Las Vegas, is one of the top junior lightweight contenders in the world, although this fight with Bravo, 26, of Chile, was in the lightweight division. Regardless, Magdaleno looked good in the one-sided victory.
Magdaleno dropped Bravo with a left hand to the body during a dominating fourth round and was never in any danger against Bravo.
The win was the third in a row for Magdaleno, a southpaw, since getting knocked down in a split-decision loss challenging then-130-pound titleholder Roman "Rocky" Martinez in April 2013 in Macau. Bravo has a good record, but whenever he has fought outside of his home country he has lost -- in the United States, Argentina, Ghana and Australia.
Saturday at Fresno, Calif.
Jose Ramirez KO2 Jesus Selig
Junior welterweight
Records: Ramirez (10-0, 8 KOs); Selig (16-3-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ramirez, 21, of Avenal, Calif., was the big crowd favorite as he headlined a UniMas-televised card despite being only in a scheduled six-round fight. Ramirez, however, is already an attraction in his home region, selling 6,100 tickets for the fight card. Ramirez, a 2012 U.S. Olympian and one of boxing's best prospects, was facing the most experienced opponent of his pro career so far and cut through him with ease, even though Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman repeatedly said he expected Selig, 32, of Mexico, to go deep into the fight, if not the distance, against Ramirez.
Early in the second round, Ramirez wobbled Selig with a right hand to the head. Moments later, Ramirez connected with a hard left to the head that hurt Selig and followed up with two hook to the body that forced Selig to take a knee. Selig was writing in pain and could not beat the count from referee Michael Margado, who counted him out 44 seconds into the round. It was another dynamic performance from Ramirez, who is getting more and more polished with every fight. Making Ramirez's showing even more impressive was the fact that, according to Top Rank, one of his best friends died unexpectedly two days before the fight after a freak accident.
Selig lost his second fight in a row, having also been knocked out in the sixth round in December by 2008 U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali.
Andy Ruiz TKO2 Manuel Quezada
Heavyweight
Records: Ruiz (22-0, 16 KOs; Quezada (29-9, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ruiz, 24, of Mexico, is an intriguing heavyweight prospect. He doesn't look like he is in good condition, but he has fast hands and good power. He was taking on the experienced Quezada, 36, a Mexico native based in Wasco, Calif., and took him out with ease. It was all Ruiz in the first round even before he landed a series of overhand rights that drove Quezada to a knee for a knockdown with about 25 seconds left in the round. In the second round, a four-punch combination, capped by another overhand right, dropped Quezada again to his knees. He barely beat the count, which was probably not a good idea. All it meant was that Ruiz had another opportunity to hammer him with punches, which he did. Finally, after an overhand right staggered Quezada, referee Marcos Rosales stepped in and stopped the fight at 2 minutes. Although Quezada, who lost his fifth fight in a row, has seen better days, it was still an impressive performance from Ruiz, who got rid of him quicker than notable fighters such as Chris Arreola and Steven Cunningham, both of whom beat Quezada but did not get a knockout.
Saturday at Cardiff, Wales
Lee Selby W12 Romulu Koasicha
Title eliminator - Featherweight
Scores: 119-109 (twice), 119-110
Records: Selby (19-1, 7 KOs); Koasicha (21-4, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In an utterly uneventful and boring waltz, Selby, 27, of Wales, easily outpointed Koasicha, 23, of Mexico. Selby was a bit more active than Koasicha and landed a lot more punches in the forgettable fight. In boxing his way to the victory, Selby won an official elimination fight for the right to be the mandatory challenger for 126-pound titleholder Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico, although he first defends his belt on Saturday.
Also on the card, lightweights Gavin Rees (38-4-1, 18 KOs), a 34-year-old former junior welterweight titleholder from Wales, and 27-year-old countryman Gary Buckland (28-4, 9 KOs) met in a rematch three months after Buckland won a split decision in a slugfest. In the rematch, it was Rees who claimed a split decision as two judges had it for him, 117-113 and 117-112 while the other judge had it for Buckland, 116-113. Before the fight, Rees said this would be his final fight. It's boxing though, so we'll see if he changes his mind and perhaps faces Buckland in a rubber match of their exciting series.
Nathan Cleverly TKO2 Sean Corbin
Cruiserweight
Records: Cleverly (27-1, 13 KOs); Corbin (17-5, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Last August, Cleverly, 27, of Wales, got destroyed by Sergey Kovalev, who knocked him out in the fourth round of a one-sided demolition and took his light heavyweight world title. Nine months later, Cleverly made his return to the ring as he moved up to the cruiserweight division looking for another title run. Cleverly did not have much in front of him in the 39-year-old Corbin, of Trinidad and Tobago, and blew him out as he got his feet wet in a new weight class.
Cleverly looked comfortable at the weight and went right to work in an aggressive first round. Midway through the second round, he badly hurt Corbin with a three-punch combination, including a flush uppercut. That was the beginning of the end. Cleverly forced Corbin to the ropes and kept landing blows. He was absolutely teeing off on Corbin, raking him with shots, including a pair of right hands that shook him again and again. Finally, as Cleverly continued to rain punches and Corbin not throwing anything in return, referee Richie Davies stepped in and waved it off at 2 minutes, 19 seconds. With the cruiserweight debut out of the way, Cleverly figures to step up into a more significant fight in the division before too long.
Saturday at Villa Maria, Argentina
Omar Narvaez KO4 Antonio Garcia
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Records: Narvaez (42-1-2, 23 KOs); Garcia (13-2, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Narvaez, 38, of Argentina, racked up another hometown defense against an unqualified opponent in Garcia, 20, of Mexico, who was not eligible to win the title. That is because Garcia was overweight, coming in at 115¾ when the division limit is 115 pounds. However, the win still counted as a successful title defense for Narvaez, who made a bit of boxing history.
Narvaez became the first fighter to reach double-digit successful title defenses in two weight divisions. As a flyweight titleholder from 2002 to 2009, he made 16 defenses before moving up to junior bantamweight, where he won a vacant world title in 2010 and has successfully defended it 10 times after polishing off Garcia. Too bad for Narvaez that American fight fans will always remember him for running like a thief for 12 rounds and stinking out the joint in a shutout loss to Nonito Donaire challenging for a flyweight title in 2011.
With just a few seconds left in the fourth round, Narvaez unleashed a three-punch combination, a left hand to Garcia's liver, a left to the head and a window dressing left to the body that landed as Garcia was going down. He was in agony on the mat and the bell rang as referee Celestino Ruiz finished counting him out. Garcia was down on the canvas for a couple of minutes from the knockout and Narvaez had himself a little slice of boxing history.
Friday at Montreal
Delvin Rodriguez D10 Joachim Alcine
Junior middleweight
Scores: 97-93 Rodriguez, 96-94 Alcine, 95-95
Records: Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs); Alcine (35-7-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Rodriguez, 34, of Danbury, Conn., has been a staple of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" for years. This was his 17th appearance on the series. When he's not boxing, he is a commentator for the Spanish-language version of the series. He was trying to bounce back from a one-sided third-round knockout loss to Miguel Cotto in October. Meanwhile, Alcine, 38, of Montreal, is a former junior middleweight titleholder well past his best days.
They were fighting to keep themselves somewhat relevant and they both failed in a draw that showed just how limited each man is. Rodriguez looked like he might have done just enough to get the decision, but it's hard to argue with the draw because neither man seize the action in a fight that was held at Olympic Stadium, same venue where Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran engaged in their famous first fight in 1980.
Rodriguez and Alcine fought hard and both had their moments. Rodriguez momentarily wobbled Alcine in the second round but Alcine returned fire. As the fight moved into the second half the pace slowed as both were more deliberate with their punches as they fought on even terms. It was an OK fight but even though the result was a draw nobody is going to be pleading for a rematch.
Derric Rossy W10 Joe Hanks
Heavyweight
Scores: 98-92, 97-93, 95-95
Records: Rossy (29-8, 14 KOs); Hanks (21-2, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What do you get when you match two average (at best) heavyweights? An average fight that simply showed that neither guy is going anywhere.
Rossy, 33, of Medford, N.Y., bounced back from losing back-to-back fights to onetime top contender Fres Oquendo and club fighter Joey Dawejko. Meanwhile, Hanks, 31, of Newark, N.J., lost his second fight in a row and saw his fortunes dip yet again. In July, he was drubbed in a fourth-round knockout to Andy Ruiz in Macau. Although one judge scored this fight a draw, Hanks did not deserve to have it be that close.
Friday at Mashantucket, Conn.
Joel Diaz Jr. W10 Tyler Asselstine
Junior lightweight
Scores: 97-92 (three times)
Records: Diaz Jr. (16-0, 12 KOs); Asselstine (14-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The fight wasn't as easy as perhaps the scores made it look but Diaz, 22, of Palmdale, Calif., got the well-deserved win in a tough fight against Asselstine, 27, of Toronto, in the main event of Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation."
Diaz, who went past the seventh round for the first time, started quickly and rocked Asselstine with a left hand in the opening round. It was not all peaches and cream for Diaz, however, as he had to deal with some adversity. He suffered a cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt in the eighth round. Referee Danny Schiavone penalized Asselstine, a southpaw, a point for losing his mouthpiece in the seventh round. He had had problems keeping in throughout the fight.
Frank Galarza W8 Sebastien Bouchard
Junior middleweight
Scores: 78-73, 77-74 (twice)
Records: Galarza (14-0-2, 9 KOs); Bouchard (9-1, 2 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Galarza, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., gained some notice in January when he scored an impressive second-round knockout of John Thompson on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation." Galarza won another fight in April but was then invited back to "ShoBox," and why not? He's a fun fighter to watch. But this time, instead of flashing his punching power, he showed he could also box a bit by outpointing Bouchard, 27, of Quebec. Galarza established his jab and worked Bouchard's body to cruise to a solid victory, although referee Joey Lupino did take a point away from him in the eighth round for a low blow.
Thursday at Del Mar, Calif.
Antonio Orozco W10 Martin Honorio
Junior welterweight
Scores: 100-89 (twice), 99-90
Records: Orozco (20-0, 15 KOs); Honorio (32-9-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Orozco, 26, of San Diego, is a quality prospect and a crowd-pleaser. He had been due to face Honorio, 34, of Mexico, a former featherweight and junior lightweight title challenger, on April 26. However, a problem with Honorio's visa forced the fight to be postponed.
Orozco had no trouble whatsoever with the faded Honorio, who was fighting for the first time in nearly two years. He had nothing to offer and lost almost every second of the fight. Referee Jose Cobian put him in an even deeper hole when he docked a point from him in the ninth round for hitting Orozco in the back.
