A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Sunday at Grozny, Russia
Ruslan Chagaev W12 Fres Oquendo
Wins a vacant heavyweight title
Scores: 115-113 (twice), 114-114
Records: Chagaev (33-2-1, 20 KOs); Oquendo (37-8, 24 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This fight was everything that is wrong with boxing as it featured two past-their-prime guys, neither of whom have had any notable victories in years and yet they were fighting for a ridiculous "regular" belt offered by the WBA when everyone knows that its champion -- and the real, legit, lineal, unified champion -- is Wladimir Klitschko, who, by the way, already utterly laid waist to Chagaev in a 2009 world title fight. It's bad enough that the organization hands out all kinds of belts in the same weight class -- gotta love those sanctioning fees! -- but the least it could do is have the so-called title fight take place between worthy challengers.
On top of all of that the fight turned out to be an unwatchable mess between one guy who was in no shape and seemingly gassed after five rounds (Chagaev) and another guy, Oquendo, who has not been a relevant contender in an entire decade, since losing back-to-back title bouts to John Ruiz by 11th-round knockout in 2004 and tight decision loss to Chris Byrd in 2003.
Chagaev, a 35-year-old southpaw from Uzbekistan, did outpoint Nikolai Valuev in 2007 to win a belt and made two defenses before being stripped and then getting wiped out challenging Klitschko. He eventually bounced back and gave Alexander Povetkin a competitive fight in a 2011 "regular" title bout and has now won six in a row.
If you put aside all the negative aspects surrounding the very existence of the bout and that fact that it was so bad in the ring, there was also the mass confusion as to whether the fight would even happen. First it was delayed for a month and then Oquendo's co-promoters, Hitz Boxing and Square Ring, sought an injunction to enjoin Oquendo's participation in the bout and to keep the WBA from sanctioning it because Oquendo had agreed to the fight without working through his promoters. While Oquendo's promoters and Chagaev promoter Timur Dugazaev eventually ironed things, Oquendo's trip to Grozny was further delayed for a week because of a family medical emergency. He was supposed to travel on June 28 but wound up not leaving until Friday and arrived in Grozny barely in time for the weigh-in the day before the fight, leading to wild speculation in the days leading up to the bout about whether the fight would happen or if a replacement opponent would step in and face Chagaev on a couple of days' notice.
And then the fight did happen and it was totally forgettable. Chagaev seemed to win the first five or six rounds as he touched the inactive Oquendo, 41, of Chicago, just enough, including with some hard shots to the body. But over the second half of the fight Chagaev seemed exhausted. And since Oquendo had barely thrown any punches through those first five or six rounds, he still had the energy to get off more shots, a solid jab in particular, in the second half of what was basically an action free sparring session.
Chagaev, who basically followed Oquendo around the ring during the later rounds, wound up with a cut over his left eye in the sixth round from an accidental head clash, although it did not seem to hamper him too much. There was also a lot of clutching and grabbing, which is typical for Oquendo fights. They finished things off by tumbling to the mat during a clinch in the 12th round. It seemed like an appropriate end to such a pointless and terrible fight.
Juan Carlos Gomez TKO5 Goran Delic
Cruiserweight
Records: Gomez (55-3, 40 KOs); Delic (24-1, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: From 1998 to 2001, Gomez was a dominant cruiserweight titleholder, defending his belt 10 times before vacating and moving up to the heavyweight division like so many past cruiserweight titleholders have done. But as a heavyweight, Gomez was nothing special, getting torched in the ninth round by Vitali Klitschko in his one world title opportunity in 2009. Gomez hung around the division for a few more years but was going nowhere. He took off 18 months and returned to the cruiserweight division in November hoping to launch another title run. Although Gomez, 40, a former Cuban amateur star now based in Germany, has not faced formidable opposition in his return, he is now 4-0 as a cruiserweight after laying a thorough beating on Delic, 40, of Bosnia.
Gomez, a southpaw, used a strong jab to keep Delic at bay as he set up his power shots. He also ripped off some quick three-punch combinations that caught Delic. Gomez was in total control when he landed a hard shot in the fifth round that seemed to hurt Delic and forced him to grab onto Gomez. Delic had an apparent nose injury and when referee Guillermo Perez Pineda separated the fighters he called timeout so the ringside doctor to take a look at Delic. The doctor advised Perez Pineda to stop the fight and he did at 1 minute, 32 seconds. This was a good performance from Gomez, who probably will get another title opportunity as he is one of the bigger names in the division.
Saturday at Manukau, New Zealand
Joseph Parker TKO7 Brian Minto
Heavyweight
Records: Parker (9-0, 8 KOs); Minto (39-8, 25 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Parker, 22, of New Zealand, was a standout amateur and has gotten enormous hype in his home country as a possible future heavyweight contender. His handlers have been moving him somewhat quickly, although Minto, a solid journeyman with a lot of experience, was his most notable opponent other than the totally shot long-faded contender Francois Botha, whom Parker knocked out in the second round in his sixth professional bout.
Minto, 39, of Butler, Pennsylvania, has faced a few name opponents at heavyweight but lost to the likes of Chris Arreola and Artur Szpilka. He was also stopped by Marco Huck in a 2010 cruiserweight title fight but was coming off an upset seventh-round knockout win of New Zealand's Shane Cameron in December.
So it made a lot of sense for Parker to take him on. Parker fared far better than Cameron as he dominated Minto from start to finish. Late in the fifth round Parker caught Minto with a hard right hand -- one of his best weapons -- on the side of the head to knock him down face first. He survived but the knockdown looked like it took a lot of steam out of Minto. Another right hand dropped Minto again with about 30 seconds left in the seventh round. At that point Minto, who beat the count, had taken a lot of punishment and retired on his stool after the round. Parker is definitely a heavyweight prospect to keep an eye on.
Saturday at Merida, Mexico
Miguel Berchelt KO4 Carlos Manuel Reyes
Junior lightweight
Records: Berchelt (23-1, 20 KOs); Reyes (24-3-1, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Not a bad fight here, but one that ended with a spectacular knockout as Berchelt, 22, of Mexico, won his second fight in a row since suffering his only defeat, which was a surprising first-round knockout to Luis Eduardo Flores on March 15.
Berchelt fought a bit cautiously early on against the shorter Reyes, 30, of the Dominican Republic, who tried to bore in on the moving and dancing Berchelt. But the action picked up and by the third round they were in full-fledged slugfest mode late in the round as they fired toe to toe with Berchelt on the ropes. Late in the fourth round, Berchelt unloaded an excellent three-punch combination - left, right, left - and the second left hook landed square on Reyes chin and knocked him out cold in highlight reel fashion at 2 minutes, 54 seconds as he smacked his head on the canvas when he hit the deck. Reyes was down for several minutes while receiving medical attention but fortunately he was OK.
Friday at Toowoomba, Australia
Michael Katsidis W12 Graham Earl
Junior welterweight
Scores: 120-109, 120-108, 119-109
Records: Katsidis (30-6, 24 KOs); Earl (26-5, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2007 in London, Australia's Katsidis and England's Earl waged a phenomenal shootout for the ages. Katsidis dropped twice in the first round, again in the second round. Early taking so much punishment that his corner threw in the towel later in the second round, but referee Micky Vann ignored the plea for the fight to be stopped and Earl then promptly dropped Katsidis in a fight that was absolutely wild until Earl's corner stopped the fight in the fifth round. The drama was amazing and it is a fight that both warriors will be remembered for. So a rematch has always been something people talked about.
But that it happened now is the cynical, depressing side of boxing.
Katsidis, 33, is one of the great action warriors of modern boxing and a former two-time interim lightweight titleholder, but he has taken massive punishment during his career and retired in 2012 after losing for the fourth time in five fights. But he returned 23 months later for a quick win against a low-level opponent in March and then the rematch with Earl was made.
The 35-year-old Earl was never on Katsidis' level. In 2007 and 2008, he suffered three consecutive knockout losses, to Katsidis followed by two first-round knockout losses, including to Amir Khan. Earl then won a six-round bout in 2009 against an opponent who was 16-125-7 (seriously) and retired. Earl came out of a five-year retirement to meet Katsidis again, who was looking for a fight that might draw some attention but was almost a sure-fire victory.
That is just what he got as Katsidis brawled when necessary but also boxed smartly as he dominated in en route to the virtual shutout decision. He beat Earl to the punch, was a heavier hitter and Earl, although showing heart, was really no match for him.
Wednesday at Mashantucket, Conn.
Michael Farenas TKO8 Mark Davis
Junior lightweight
Title eliminator
Records: Farenas (38-4-4, 30 KOs); Davis (18-1, 5 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Farenas, 30, of the Philippines, looked very good against Davis, 27, of Cleveland, as he abused him with left hands throughout the entertaining special Wednesday night edition of ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" main event. The victory earned Farenas, whom many considered the underdog, a mandatory 130-pound world title shot against the winner of Thursday's rematch between titleholder Argenis Mendez and Rances Barthelemy.
Farenas, who is promoted by Manny Pacquiao's MP Promotions, exposed Davis, who although a good amateur (a former U.S. national champion) had fought a collection of woeful professional opponents as he fashioned his glossy record. Farenas might not be a world beater, but he's a legitimate professional. He has faced several quality opponents, including in 2012 when he lost a decision to Yuriorkis Gamboa in an interim junior lightweight title fight and Takashi Uchiyama with whom he fought to a third-round technical draw in a title bout.
Farenas, a southpaw, had much too much firepower for Davis, who was fighting for the first time in 10 months and for only the third time since 2011. Davis, who is promoted by rap star Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, continually walked into Farenas' his left hand and never adjusted. He ate several of those left hands in the first round, suffering a small cut over his right eye. Farenas landed tons of power shots and staggered Davis in a huge fifth round as well as a big sixth round. David took huge punishment and the ringside doctor gave him a close check after the sixth round, but allowed him to come out for the seventh round, during which Farenas continued to pound away. Finally, in the eighth round, Farenas sent Davis staggering into a corner from a flush left hand and referee Steve Smoger quickly waved off the fight at 59 seconds as he stepped in at the perfect time. The card was put on in conjunction with 50 Cent's birthday party, so that fact that his fighter got knocked out just days after Gamboa, his top fighter, got knocked out by lightweight titlist Terence Crawford probably dampened the celebration.
Billy Dib W10 Alberto Garza
Junior lightweight
Scores: 98-91, 96-93 (twice)
Records: Dib (37-3, 21 KOs); Garza (26-8-1, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In March 2012, Dib, 28, of Australia, took on late replacement opponent Evgeny Gradovich at the Foxwoods resort and lost a hard-fought split decision and his featherweight world title. Although Dib lost at least he fought in a crowd-pleasing manner, something he had rarely done and been heavily criticized for. Dib rebounded for a win and then faced Gradovich in a contractually obligated rematch and got wiped out in a ninth-round knockout loss.
That loss prompted Dib, who is promoted by rap star Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, to move up to the junior lightweight division. Dib hopes that this fight, in the same Foxwoods ring where he lost his belt, with Garza, 29, of Mexico, is the start of another title run.
Although Dib clearly was the winner, this was another very difficult and boring fight to watch. Their styles simply meshed worse than oil and water. That said, Dib, who got cut over his right eye from an accidental head butt in the first round, outworked Garza and was never seemingly in any danger.
Garza, who has lost three of his last four fights (including by fourth-round knockout challenging featherweight titlist Nicholas Walters in November), had a point deducted by referee Shada Murdaugh in the sixth round for hitting on the break. Murdaugh had a rough night as he had to constantly break the fighters, issue warning for low blows and take a point. Dib got the rebound victory he needed in his new weight class, but nobody will be begging to see a replay of this one. However, it was more Garza's fault than Dib's for making this so darn ugly.
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