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Think it's a toss up amigo. Either way, we win. Just make it happen
Please lock.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
- Start date
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Definitely
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Rosado vs Stevens is the best fringe contender match that can possibly be made.
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Always been a fan, but USS just doesn't have the punching power for heavyweight ...:\
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You're right though, the pop isn't there compared to other guys. He's light for a heavy but that's where the $$$ was for him so he had to move
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Wow USS head snapped
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Damn.... 
Yea he had nobody to fight at 200, but he's just not able to compete at this level. The Tyson Fury fight was tough to watch, and had a feeling this was going to go the same way too
Yea he had nobody to fight at 200, but he's just not able to compete at this level. The Tyson Fury fight was tough to watch, and had a feeling this was going to go the same way too
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He ain't out of this yet man, USS got heart
Chris Mannix is a squid
Chris Mannix is a squid
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Yea close one...I admire his heart, but I think he needs at least a knockdown to pull this out. Wish he had more pop on his counters bc Mansour just throwing series of haymakers at times
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Great win for USS, fights to see another payday.
Feel for Mansour, fought his heart out, hope he gets more TV fights
NBCSports put on a great card tonight
Feel for Mansour, fought his heart out, hope he gets more TV fights
NBCSports put on a great card tonight
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Man Amir got heart. That post fight interview 
from Amir. Good fight from both fighters both showed the will to win
from Amir. Good fight from both fighters both showed the will to win
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USS 
. Great job getting off the canvas, I didn't think he could do it.
Idk why but I see a guy like USS fight for his life and put himself at risk for his daughter, and get up off the mat twice, it disgusts me how much $ Victor Ortiz has made staying down.
. Great job getting off the canvas, I didn't think he could do it. Idk why but I see a guy like USS fight for his life and put himself at risk for his daughter, and get up off the mat twice, it disgusts me how much $ Victor Ortiz has made staying down.
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Repped, she needs a "movie" alreadyI came across a whole treasure chest of Jen Mateo. If you want it you know what to do.
USS
Idk why but I see a guy like USS fight for his life and put himself at risk for his daughter, and get up off the mat twice, it disgusts me how much $ Victor Ortiz has made staying down.
Ugh same here man. It was really good to see him fight through the knock downs. get one of his own and pull it out
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How come HBO hasn't uploaded the second episode of 24/7 yet?
I came across a whole treasure chest of Jen Mateo. If you want it you know what to do.
View media item 898682
Repped, she needs a "movie" already
Down *** chick! Friends with her friends. Kicked it a few times already!
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Please don't ask for links in threads. Meth will close the thread. Delete that question please to help us all out
Weekend wrap up.
A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Sunday at Tokyo
Akira Yaegashi TKO9 Odilon Zaleta
Retains a flyweight title
Records: Yaegashi (20-3, 10 KOs); Zaleta (15-4, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Yaegashi, 31, of Japan, won the 2011 fight of the year when he stopped Pornsawan Porpramook in the 10th round to win a strawweight title. After losing the belt in his first defense, Yaegashi moved up to flyweight and claimed a world title two fights later when he outpointed Toshiyuki Igarashi last April. Making his third defense, Yaegashi faced Zaleta, 28, of Mexico, who has now lost two fights in a row and three of his last four. He was not a very deserving challenger, but he gave it an excellent effort and had his moments in a competitive fight.
Going into the ninth round, Yaegashi held a slim 77-76 and 77-75 lead on two scorecards while the third card was 76-76, results that were announced because of the hideous use of open scoring. But in the ninth round, Yaegashi finished Zaleta with a sweet counter right hand on the chin during an exchange, dropping him hard. Zaleta struggled to his feet, but was wobbly and referee Ian John-Lewis called off the fight at 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
Yaegashi is next expected to defend his title against Roman Gonzalez, the undefeated former two-division titleholder, who won his bout on the undercard. That is a fantastic matchup.
Naoya Inoue TKO6 Adrian Hernandez
Wins a junior flyweight title
Records: Inoue (6-0, 5 KOs); Hernandez (29-3-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Inoue, a 20-year-old seven-time Japanese amateur national champion, who turned pro in October 2012, won a major world title in just his sixth pro fight against a quality veteran titleholder as he hammered Hernandez, 28, of Mexico, for five-plus lopsided rounds in a rather surprising result. Inoue set the Japanese record for fewest fights to a world title win, breaking the mark of seven set by junior flyweight titlist Kazuto Ioka.
Hernandez was making the fifth defense of his second title reign but could not take the heat from Inoue, who was up 50-45 on all three scorecards going into the sixth round, had Hernandez bleeding on his face and taking huge punishment before landing a cracking right hand that dropped him hard to all fours. Hernandez beat the count, but was in terrible shape and referee Michael Griffin waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 54 seconds. It was a tremendous performance form a potentially special young fighter.
Roman Gonzalez TKO3 Juan Purisima
Flyweight
Records: Gonzalez (39-0, 33 KOs); Purisima (11-5-1, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Gonzalez, 26, of Nicaragua, is a former strawweight and junior flyweight titleholder, who gave up both belts as he moved up the scale. He recently vacated his junior flyweight belt with an eye to a flyweight title shot against main event winner Akira Yaegashi. Gonzalez was on his undercard with the idea to set up their showdown later in the year. Mission accomplished as Yaegashi won by ninth-round knockout and Gonzalez, an excellent puncher, got his expected knockout. The very aggressive Gonzalez worked Purisima over to the head and body, eventually dropping him to his knees under a hail of punches in the second round. Gonzalez continued his relentless assault in the third round, finally prompting referee Yuji Fukuchi to step in at 1 minute, 20 seconds. Purisima, 22, of the Philippines, lost his second fight in a row.
Saturday Tijuana, Mexico
Giovani Segura TKO10 Felipe Salguero
Junior bantamweight
Records: Segura (32-3-1, 28 KOs); Salguero (19-6-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: To watch former junior flyweight champion Segura, one of boxing's most consistently exciting fighters and biggest punchers, is to love him. This all-action slugfest was par for the course for Segura as he once again let it all hang out in a terrific battle that ended with a knockout. Why neither of the premium cable networks has made an attempt to put him on in any number of potentially exciting fights is beyond crazy. It's their loss.
Segura, 32, of Mexico, was coming off his 12th-round knockout win against former flyweight titlist Hernan "Tyson" Marquez in November in a legitimate fight of the year contender. While this fight against countryman Salguero, 23, a two-time junior flyweight title challenger, wasn't at that level, it was still outstanding and served as what is expected to be Segura's final fight before challenging unified flyweight titlist Juan Francisco Estrada, assuming Estrada retains his title against Richie Mepranum on April 26.
Segura, paying no mind to defense, came out firing as always and looking for the knockout while Salguero was trying to counter and survive the onslaught. In the final seconds of the fourth round, they were involved in a lengthy exchange until Segura nailed Salguero with a left hand to the chin, dropping him to all fours. Segura could not follow up in the round because it ended. In the fifth round, Salguero suffered a cut over his right eye but he also rocked Segura with a right hand in the final seconds of the round. The exchanges through the second half of the fight were furious, sustained and violent. This was a barnburner. In the 10th round, Segura continued to march forward, barely giving Salguero a chance to breathe as he continued to wing shots at him, many of which connected. He rocked him with several shots and Salguero was totally gassed to the point where he was so tired from getting hit and moving so much to avoid the shots that after taking a few steps back basically dropped to the canvas from exhaustion without there being one specific punch to cause the knockdown, at which point referee Juan Jose Ramirez waved off an early fight of the year candidate without a count at 1 minute, 55 seconds.
Saturday at Rostock, Germany
Juergen Braehmer TKO6 Enzo Maccarinelli
Retains a light heavyweight title
Records: Braehmer (43-2, 32 KOs); Maccarinelli (38-7, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December, Braehmer, 35, of Germany, comfortably outpointed American Marcus Oliveira to win a vacant belt, although a secondary title in the same organization in which real champion Andre Ward holds a belt. Nonetheless, Braehmer looked good as he made his first defense against former cruiserweight titlist Maccarinelli, 33, of Wales. Maccarinelli, who held his cruiserweight belt from 2006 to 2008 before being knocked out by David Haye in a title unification fight, has a notoriously poor chin but exceptional power. He dropped down from cruiserweight to light heavyweight in 2011 and after a recent three-fight winning streak, got the offer to challenge Braehmer, a fight many thought was certainly winnable. But this one was basically over before it really began. Although Maccarinelli opened a cut over Braehmer's right eye in the opening round, Braehmer also landed a left hand that severely swelled Maccarinelli's right eye.
The eye was the story of the fight. While Braehmer's corner did a great job to close his cut, Maccarinelli's eye was a total mess for which nothing could be done. As early as after the second round, Maccarinelli said he couldn't see out of the eye but asked trainer Gary Lockett to give him one more round. With Maccarinelli blind in one eye, Braehmer kept landing and piling up points. Maccarinelli was defenseless against the southpaw Braehmer's left hand. Amazingly, when referee Giuseppe Quartarone called timeout to have the ringside doctor examine the eye, they let the fight continue. It was completely closed and Maccarinelli's face looked disfigured. After the third round, Lockett told Maccarinelli, "Try to forget about your eye." Easier said than done! Once again, after the fourth round, Lockett said he was going to pull Maccarinelli out of the fight but would give him one more round. It was dramatic stuff. Again in the fifth round, the doctor checked the eye and shockingly let the fight continue. The clear impression was that Maccarinelli's eye was going to have to fall out of his head for the fight to be stopped. Finally, after the fifth round, Lockett stopped the fight with the brave Maccarinelli ready to keep fighting.
Officially, the bout goes down as a sixth-round stoppage because the bell rang to begin the round. The referee and doctor seemed derelict by allowing the fight to go on as long as they did. At least Lockett had the eventual common sense to stop the bout. This was an absolutely gruesome injury and one that could be the last time we see Maccarinelli in a meaningful bout.
Kubrat Pulev TKO3 Ivica Perkovic
Heavyweight
Records: Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs); Perkovic (20-24, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pulev, 32, of Bulgaria, is one of the top heavyweight contenders and sitting in the mandatory position for the winner of the April 26 fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and Alex Leapai, one of Klitschko's other mandatory challengers. Pulev became the mandatory in August with his win against Tony Thompson but with the title shot still a while away, he didn't want to sit around. So he knocked out Joey Abell in December and was staying busy again against Perkovic, 39, of Croatia, who lost his third fight in a row for the sixth time in his last seven fights. Pulev's handlers were not about to put him in too tough waters and risk the mandatory title shot. However, Perkovic only took the fight on a couple of days' notice after at least two other fighters dropped out.
Pulev had an easy time with Perkovic. It was more like a sparring session as Pulev had his way with little coming back at him. He was fast and had Perkovic on the defensive throughout the fight. By late in the third round, Pulev was letting his hands go, driving body shots into Perkovic's gut and nailing him to the head. After the third round, Perkovic's corner pulled him out of the fight. Next up for Pulev should be the world title shot in the fall.
Saturday at Ciudad Delicias, Mexico
Marco Antonio Rubio KO10 Domenico Spada
Wins a vacant interim middleweight title
Records: Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs); Spada (38-5, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Let's get one thing clear: Sergio Martinez is the legitimate middleweight world champion. He also happens to holds the WBC version of the title, but because Martinez has been out with a knee injury and his mandatory defense against Rubio has been due, not to mention that when Martinez does fight he is scheduled to face Miguel Cotto in a really big fight on June 7, the WBC agreed to sanction Martinez-Cotto and Rubio, 33, of Mexico, against Spada, also 33, of Italy for the interim belt with the fantasy that the winner will get a chance to face the Martinez-Cotto winner (Don't hold your breath on that ever happening.)
Rubio has been a solid contender for years and with this sensational knockout of Spada, won his sixth fight in a row since a decision loss to then-titlist Julio Cesar Chavez in 2012.
Rubio dominated Spada, who lost his third interim title bout, having also been outpointed twice by Sebastian Zbik in 2009 and 2010. Besides getting the better of the exchanges, Rubio also got the benefit of referee Jon Schorle docking two points from Spada at two different times during the sixth round for his repeated hitting behind the head. Going into the 10th round Rubio was way ahead on the scorecards, 90-79, 89-80 and 88-81, but he made the reading of those cards academic with a huge knockout, landing a flush left hook that dropped Spada hard, prompting referee Jon Schorle to immediately call off the fight without a count at 1 minute, 38 seconds.
Friday at Philadelphia
Steve Cunningham W10 Amir Mansour
Heavyweight
Scores: 97-90, 95-92 (twice)
Records: Cunningham (27-6, 12 KOs); Mansour (20-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Besides the regional belt at stake in this bout it was really about so much more in this crossroads fight. Cunningham, 37, of Philadelphia, a former two-time cruiserweight titlist, has had limited success since moving up to heavyweight in 2012, going 2-2 coming into this fight. In addition to trying to keep his career alive in a meaningful way, he badly needed the win to propel him into another good payday because he is dealing with mounting bills to care for the medical costs for his sick 8-year-old daughter Kennedy, who has a serious heart ailment. For Mansour, the 41-year-old from Wilmington, Del., whose promising career was dormant for a decade because he was in prison on various drug charges, was fighting the best opponent of his career and aiming to show that he could make a serious go of things as a heavyweight contender.
The result was an intense, hard-fought and dramatic fight in which Cunningham survived two knockdowns and nearly being knocked out to rally for a tremendous victory in the main event of what is so far the best overall card of 2014, as it also included the action-packed Curtis Stevens-Tureano Johnson co-feature.
Cunningham, fighting in his hometown for the first time in 11 years, and Mansour brawled throughout the fight as the crowd cheered. Mansour, not as skilled and wild with his punches, opened a cut on Cunningham's nose in the second round. By the end of the fight, both guys were bruised and bleeding. In the fifth round, Mansour nearly ended the fight, dropping Cunningham twice, first with a clean three-punch combination that put him on his back late in the round. Moments later, Cunningham was down again after eating another combination from Mansour. He beat the count and referee Steve Smoger did a good job. He knew the round was about to end and didn't stop the fight. Then the round ended before another punch could be thrown. Although Cunningham looked done after the round, he dug deep, stayed calm and fought his way back into the fight, taking advantage of Mansour's inexperience. Instead of staying poised and calmly looking to track Cunningham down, Mansour was wild trying to rush him and get him out of there.
Cunningham, meanwhile, countered the wild shots and continued to win rounds despite being so damaged in the fifth round. If there was any doubt that Cunningham had mounted a successful comeback, he salted the win away with a knockdown in the final 35 seconds of the fight when he dropped an off-balance Mansour with a left hand.
It was a well-deserved and important victory for Cunningham. In one of the most honest and heartfelt postfight interviews you'll ever see, Mansour gave Cunningham all the credit he deserved. Cunningham will ideally move on to more significant fight and, even though he lost, Mansour did nothing to diminish his stock because who wouldn't want to see him fight again? He's exciting, a good puncher and has an endearing personality.
Curtis Stevens TKO10 Tureano Johnson
Middleweight
Records: Stevens (27-4, 20 KOs); Johnson (14-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mark this one down as a fight of the year candidate despite a bit of an unsatisfying and controversial ending as referee Gary Rosato seemed to end it a little on the quick side. But the previous nine-plus rounds were outstanding in an action-packed slobber knocker that nobody would have thought would have been this good on paper.
Stevens, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the well-known contender, got stopped in the eighth round challenging titleholder Gennady Golovkin in November but bounced back with a first-round knockout victory in January against Patrick Majewski. This was Stevens' second bout since the title loss and he was taking on the unknown (but not anymore) Johnson, 30, of the Bahamas, who was taking a huge step up in competition.
Johnson was up to the task and he and Stevens went right at each other from the opening bell in a blazing first round filled with power punches. The action never relented, but despite the great action, this one basically a one-sided bout. Johnson, who continually switched between a right-handed and southpaw stance, surprisingly dominated. He backed Stevens into the ropes throughout the fight and usually got the better of the action. He appeared to sweep the first three rounds, but Stevens made a big comeback in the fourth round as he scored with a lot of hard punches in a fantastic action-packed round.
In the 10th round, it was obvious that Stevens was going to need the knockout and he went for it. He connected with a left hook that hurt Johnson and sent him into the ropes, where he landed another fierce left hand. Stevens continued to throw punches with abandon but although most of the shots missed the target or just caught Johnson's gloves, Rosato jumped in to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 9 seconds. It was a great comeback victory for Stevens, but Johnson immediately protested the quick stoppage and later demanded a rematch. Who wouldn't want to see that?
Friday at Belfast, Northern Ireland
Carl Frampton KO2 Hugo Fidel Cazares
Junior featherweight title eliminator
Records: Frampton (18-0, 13 KOs); Cazares (40-8-2, 27 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Frampton, 27, had a raucous hometown crowd behind him, as usual, and he delivered the expected victory that will propel him into his first world title bout as the mandatory challenger for 122-pound titlist Leo Santa Cruz, a fantastic matchup and a bout Santa Cruz and Frampton have both been calling out for. Assuming it happens, it should be great. The big question is where will it take place? Golden Boy Promotions and Santa Cruz will want to have it in the United States and Frampton and promoter Barry McGuigan, the Hall of Fame former featherweight champion, would love to stage it in Belfast, although they said after this fight that they are willing to travel for the right deal. So we'll see if the camps can make a deal or if the fight will go to a purse bid.
Frampton looked strong stopping Cazares, 36, a former junior flyweight and junior bantamweight titleholder from Mexico, had won five fights in a row since losing his junior bantamweight belt by split decision to Tomonobu Shimizu in Japan in 2011. The first round was competitive and seemed to be going that way again in the second round when Frampton suddenly caught Cazares, a southpaw, with a great left hand that took Cazares' legs away from him and sent him falling to the mat. He got to one knee and closely was following the count of referee Victor Loughlin. Cazares looked OK but never moved and Loughlin counted him out at 1 minute, 38 seconds. As soon as Loughlin waved his hands to end the fight, Cazares jumped up to complain, even though the referee handled it perfectly and legitimately counted him out.
Friday at Kobe, Japan
Randy Caballero TKO8 Kohei Oba
Bantamweight title eliminator
Records: Caballero (21-0, 13 KOs); Oba (35-3-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Fighting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Stuart Hall of England, Caballero, 23, of Coachella, Calif., traveled to Japan to fight Oba, 29, on his turf. Caballero established control quickly, knocking Oba to a knee with a quick right hand to the chin late in the first round. Oba tried to mix it up with the quicker Caballero, but that was a bad idea. Caballero dominated the fight and was beginning to dole out a beating by the sixth round as Oba began to fade. He hung for a bit longer, but Caballero dropped him for a second time in the eighth round, landing a short left hand. Oba went down to his rear end seemingly more from exhaustion and the previous punishment than the left hand, which did not appear to have much on it. Caballero landed a couple of more shots after the fight resumed, but Oba was done and when his corner threw in the towel referee Jack Reiss stopped the bout at 1 minute, 54 seconds.
Friday at Salta, Argentina
Luis Carlos Abregu TKO8 Jean Carlos Prada
Welterweight
Records: Abregu (36-1, 29 KOs); Prada (30-1-1, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Abregu, 30, of Argentina, a good contender whose only loss came by decision to Timothy Bradley Jr. in 2010, had not fought since April 2013 because of a right hand injury. But Abregu, fighting in his hometown, returned to knock out Prada, 29, of the Dominican Republic. Prada had compiled his impressive record against a collection of low-level opponents and Abregu exposed his limitations, taking it to him throughout the fight and dominating. Although Prada scored a knockdown of an off-balance Abregu -- who went to his knees, jumped right up and did not appear hurt -- in the seventh round, he did little else. In the eighth round, Abregu landed a series of clean head shots with both hands that badly hurt Prada and sent him into the ropes, which held him up, thus the knockdown call. Prada looked like he was out on his feet and after giving the mandatory eight-count, the referee waved off the fight at 1 minute, 50 seconds.
Sunday at Tokyo
Akira Yaegashi TKO9 Odilon Zaleta
Retains a flyweight title
Records: Yaegashi (20-3, 10 KOs); Zaleta (15-4, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Yaegashi, 31, of Japan, won the 2011 fight of the year when he stopped Pornsawan Porpramook in the 10th round to win a strawweight title. After losing the belt in his first defense, Yaegashi moved up to flyweight and claimed a world title two fights later when he outpointed Toshiyuki Igarashi last April. Making his third defense, Yaegashi faced Zaleta, 28, of Mexico, who has now lost two fights in a row and three of his last four. He was not a very deserving challenger, but he gave it an excellent effort and had his moments in a competitive fight.
Going into the ninth round, Yaegashi held a slim 77-76 and 77-75 lead on two scorecards while the third card was 76-76, results that were announced because of the hideous use of open scoring. But in the ninth round, Yaegashi finished Zaleta with a sweet counter right hand on the chin during an exchange, dropping him hard. Zaleta struggled to his feet, but was wobbly and referee Ian John-Lewis called off the fight at 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
Yaegashi is next expected to defend his title against Roman Gonzalez, the undefeated former two-division titleholder, who won his bout on the undercard. That is a fantastic matchup.
Naoya Inoue TKO6 Adrian Hernandez
Wins a junior flyweight title
Records: Inoue (6-0, 5 KOs); Hernandez (29-3-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Inoue, a 20-year-old seven-time Japanese amateur national champion, who turned pro in October 2012, won a major world title in just his sixth pro fight against a quality veteran titleholder as he hammered Hernandez, 28, of Mexico, for five-plus lopsided rounds in a rather surprising result. Inoue set the Japanese record for fewest fights to a world title win, breaking the mark of seven set by junior flyweight titlist Kazuto Ioka.
Hernandez was making the fifth defense of his second title reign but could not take the heat from Inoue, who was up 50-45 on all three scorecards going into the sixth round, had Hernandez bleeding on his face and taking huge punishment before landing a cracking right hand that dropped him hard to all fours. Hernandez beat the count, but was in terrible shape and referee Michael Griffin waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 54 seconds. It was a tremendous performance form a potentially special young fighter.
Roman Gonzalez TKO3 Juan Purisima
Flyweight
Records: Gonzalez (39-0, 33 KOs); Purisima (11-5-1, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Gonzalez, 26, of Nicaragua, is a former strawweight and junior flyweight titleholder, who gave up both belts as he moved up the scale. He recently vacated his junior flyweight belt with an eye to a flyweight title shot against main event winner Akira Yaegashi. Gonzalez was on his undercard with the idea to set up their showdown later in the year. Mission accomplished as Yaegashi won by ninth-round knockout and Gonzalez, an excellent puncher, got his expected knockout. The very aggressive Gonzalez worked Purisima over to the head and body, eventually dropping him to his knees under a hail of punches in the second round. Gonzalez continued his relentless assault in the third round, finally prompting referee Yuji Fukuchi to step in at 1 minute, 20 seconds. Purisima, 22, of the Philippines, lost his second fight in a row.
Saturday Tijuana, Mexico
Giovani Segura TKO10 Felipe Salguero
Junior bantamweight
Records: Segura (32-3-1, 28 KOs); Salguero (19-6-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: To watch former junior flyweight champion Segura, one of boxing's most consistently exciting fighters and biggest punchers, is to love him. This all-action slugfest was par for the course for Segura as he once again let it all hang out in a terrific battle that ended with a knockout. Why neither of the premium cable networks has made an attempt to put him on in any number of potentially exciting fights is beyond crazy. It's their loss.
Segura, 32, of Mexico, was coming off his 12th-round knockout win against former flyweight titlist Hernan "Tyson" Marquez in November in a legitimate fight of the year contender. While this fight against countryman Salguero, 23, a two-time junior flyweight title challenger, wasn't at that level, it was still outstanding and served as what is expected to be Segura's final fight before challenging unified flyweight titlist Juan Francisco Estrada, assuming Estrada retains his title against Richie Mepranum on April 26.
Segura, paying no mind to defense, came out firing as always and looking for the knockout while Salguero was trying to counter and survive the onslaught. In the final seconds of the fourth round, they were involved in a lengthy exchange until Segura nailed Salguero with a left hand to the chin, dropping him to all fours. Segura could not follow up in the round because it ended. In the fifth round, Salguero suffered a cut over his right eye but he also rocked Segura with a right hand in the final seconds of the round. The exchanges through the second half of the fight were furious, sustained and violent. This was a barnburner. In the 10th round, Segura continued to march forward, barely giving Salguero a chance to breathe as he continued to wing shots at him, many of which connected. He rocked him with several shots and Salguero was totally gassed to the point where he was so tired from getting hit and moving so much to avoid the shots that after taking a few steps back basically dropped to the canvas from exhaustion without there being one specific punch to cause the knockdown, at which point referee Juan Jose Ramirez waved off an early fight of the year candidate without a count at 1 minute, 55 seconds.
Saturday at Rostock, Germany
Juergen Braehmer TKO6 Enzo Maccarinelli
Retains a light heavyweight title
Records: Braehmer (43-2, 32 KOs); Maccarinelli (38-7, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December, Braehmer, 35, of Germany, comfortably outpointed American Marcus Oliveira to win a vacant belt, although a secondary title in the same organization in which real champion Andre Ward holds a belt. Nonetheless, Braehmer looked good as he made his first defense against former cruiserweight titlist Maccarinelli, 33, of Wales. Maccarinelli, who held his cruiserweight belt from 2006 to 2008 before being knocked out by David Haye in a title unification fight, has a notoriously poor chin but exceptional power. He dropped down from cruiserweight to light heavyweight in 2011 and after a recent three-fight winning streak, got the offer to challenge Braehmer, a fight many thought was certainly winnable. But this one was basically over before it really began. Although Maccarinelli opened a cut over Braehmer's right eye in the opening round, Braehmer also landed a left hand that severely swelled Maccarinelli's right eye.
The eye was the story of the fight. While Braehmer's corner did a great job to close his cut, Maccarinelli's eye was a total mess for which nothing could be done. As early as after the second round, Maccarinelli said he couldn't see out of the eye but asked trainer Gary Lockett to give him one more round. With Maccarinelli blind in one eye, Braehmer kept landing and piling up points. Maccarinelli was defenseless against the southpaw Braehmer's left hand. Amazingly, when referee Giuseppe Quartarone called timeout to have the ringside doctor examine the eye, they let the fight continue. It was completely closed and Maccarinelli's face looked disfigured. After the third round, Lockett told Maccarinelli, "Try to forget about your eye." Easier said than done! Once again, after the fourth round, Lockett said he was going to pull Maccarinelli out of the fight but would give him one more round. It was dramatic stuff. Again in the fifth round, the doctor checked the eye and shockingly let the fight continue. The clear impression was that Maccarinelli's eye was going to have to fall out of his head for the fight to be stopped. Finally, after the fifth round, Lockett stopped the fight with the brave Maccarinelli ready to keep fighting.
Officially, the bout goes down as a sixth-round stoppage because the bell rang to begin the round. The referee and doctor seemed derelict by allowing the fight to go on as long as they did. At least Lockett had the eventual common sense to stop the bout. This was an absolutely gruesome injury and one that could be the last time we see Maccarinelli in a meaningful bout.
Kubrat Pulev TKO3 Ivica Perkovic
Heavyweight
Records: Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs); Perkovic (20-24, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pulev, 32, of Bulgaria, is one of the top heavyweight contenders and sitting in the mandatory position for the winner of the April 26 fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and Alex Leapai, one of Klitschko's other mandatory challengers. Pulev became the mandatory in August with his win against Tony Thompson but with the title shot still a while away, he didn't want to sit around. So he knocked out Joey Abell in December and was staying busy again against Perkovic, 39, of Croatia, who lost his third fight in a row for the sixth time in his last seven fights. Pulev's handlers were not about to put him in too tough waters and risk the mandatory title shot. However, Perkovic only took the fight on a couple of days' notice after at least two other fighters dropped out.
Pulev had an easy time with Perkovic. It was more like a sparring session as Pulev had his way with little coming back at him. He was fast and had Perkovic on the defensive throughout the fight. By late in the third round, Pulev was letting his hands go, driving body shots into Perkovic's gut and nailing him to the head. After the third round, Perkovic's corner pulled him out of the fight. Next up for Pulev should be the world title shot in the fall.
Saturday at Ciudad Delicias, Mexico
Marco Antonio Rubio KO10 Domenico Spada
Wins a vacant interim middleweight title
Records: Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs); Spada (38-5, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Let's get one thing clear: Sergio Martinez is the legitimate middleweight world champion. He also happens to holds the WBC version of the title, but because Martinez has been out with a knee injury and his mandatory defense against Rubio has been due, not to mention that when Martinez does fight he is scheduled to face Miguel Cotto in a really big fight on June 7, the WBC agreed to sanction Martinez-Cotto and Rubio, 33, of Mexico, against Spada, also 33, of Italy for the interim belt with the fantasy that the winner will get a chance to face the Martinez-Cotto winner (Don't hold your breath on that ever happening.)
Rubio has been a solid contender for years and with this sensational knockout of Spada, won his sixth fight in a row since a decision loss to then-titlist Julio Cesar Chavez in 2012.
Rubio dominated Spada, who lost his third interim title bout, having also been outpointed twice by Sebastian Zbik in 2009 and 2010. Besides getting the better of the exchanges, Rubio also got the benefit of referee Jon Schorle docking two points from Spada at two different times during the sixth round for his repeated hitting behind the head. Going into the 10th round Rubio was way ahead on the scorecards, 90-79, 89-80 and 88-81, but he made the reading of those cards academic with a huge knockout, landing a flush left hook that dropped Spada hard, prompting referee Jon Schorle to immediately call off the fight without a count at 1 minute, 38 seconds.
Friday at Philadelphia
Steve Cunningham W10 Amir Mansour
Heavyweight
Scores: 97-90, 95-92 (twice)
Records: Cunningham (27-6, 12 KOs); Mansour (20-1, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Besides the regional belt at stake in this bout it was really about so much more in this crossroads fight. Cunningham, 37, of Philadelphia, a former two-time cruiserweight titlist, has had limited success since moving up to heavyweight in 2012, going 2-2 coming into this fight. In addition to trying to keep his career alive in a meaningful way, he badly needed the win to propel him into another good payday because he is dealing with mounting bills to care for the medical costs for his sick 8-year-old daughter Kennedy, who has a serious heart ailment. For Mansour, the 41-year-old from Wilmington, Del., whose promising career was dormant for a decade because he was in prison on various drug charges, was fighting the best opponent of his career and aiming to show that he could make a serious go of things as a heavyweight contender.
The result was an intense, hard-fought and dramatic fight in which Cunningham survived two knockdowns and nearly being knocked out to rally for a tremendous victory in the main event of what is so far the best overall card of 2014, as it also included the action-packed Curtis Stevens-Tureano Johnson co-feature.
Cunningham, fighting in his hometown for the first time in 11 years, and Mansour brawled throughout the fight as the crowd cheered. Mansour, not as skilled and wild with his punches, opened a cut on Cunningham's nose in the second round. By the end of the fight, both guys were bruised and bleeding. In the fifth round, Mansour nearly ended the fight, dropping Cunningham twice, first with a clean three-punch combination that put him on his back late in the round. Moments later, Cunningham was down again after eating another combination from Mansour. He beat the count and referee Steve Smoger did a good job. He knew the round was about to end and didn't stop the fight. Then the round ended before another punch could be thrown. Although Cunningham looked done after the round, he dug deep, stayed calm and fought his way back into the fight, taking advantage of Mansour's inexperience. Instead of staying poised and calmly looking to track Cunningham down, Mansour was wild trying to rush him and get him out of there.
Cunningham, meanwhile, countered the wild shots and continued to win rounds despite being so damaged in the fifth round. If there was any doubt that Cunningham had mounted a successful comeback, he salted the win away with a knockdown in the final 35 seconds of the fight when he dropped an off-balance Mansour with a left hand.
It was a well-deserved and important victory for Cunningham. In one of the most honest and heartfelt postfight interviews you'll ever see, Mansour gave Cunningham all the credit he deserved. Cunningham will ideally move on to more significant fight and, even though he lost, Mansour did nothing to diminish his stock because who wouldn't want to see him fight again? He's exciting, a good puncher and has an endearing personality.
Curtis Stevens TKO10 Tureano Johnson
Middleweight
Records: Stevens (27-4, 20 KOs); Johnson (14-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mark this one down as a fight of the year candidate despite a bit of an unsatisfying and controversial ending as referee Gary Rosato seemed to end it a little on the quick side. But the previous nine-plus rounds were outstanding in an action-packed slobber knocker that nobody would have thought would have been this good on paper.
Stevens, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the well-known contender, got stopped in the eighth round challenging titleholder Gennady Golovkin in November but bounced back with a first-round knockout victory in January against Patrick Majewski. This was Stevens' second bout since the title loss and he was taking on the unknown (but not anymore) Johnson, 30, of the Bahamas, who was taking a huge step up in competition.
Johnson was up to the task and he and Stevens went right at each other from the opening bell in a blazing first round filled with power punches. The action never relented, but despite the great action, this one basically a one-sided bout. Johnson, who continually switched between a right-handed and southpaw stance, surprisingly dominated. He backed Stevens into the ropes throughout the fight and usually got the better of the action. He appeared to sweep the first three rounds, but Stevens made a big comeback in the fourth round as he scored with a lot of hard punches in a fantastic action-packed round.
In the 10th round, it was obvious that Stevens was going to need the knockout and he went for it. He connected with a left hook that hurt Johnson and sent him into the ropes, where he landed another fierce left hand. Stevens continued to throw punches with abandon but although most of the shots missed the target or just caught Johnson's gloves, Rosato jumped in to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 9 seconds. It was a great comeback victory for Stevens, but Johnson immediately protested the quick stoppage and later demanded a rematch. Who wouldn't want to see that?
Friday at Belfast, Northern Ireland
Carl Frampton KO2 Hugo Fidel Cazares
Junior featherweight title eliminator
Records: Frampton (18-0, 13 KOs); Cazares (40-8-2, 27 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Frampton, 27, had a raucous hometown crowd behind him, as usual, and he delivered the expected victory that will propel him into his first world title bout as the mandatory challenger for 122-pound titlist Leo Santa Cruz, a fantastic matchup and a bout Santa Cruz and Frampton have both been calling out for. Assuming it happens, it should be great. The big question is where will it take place? Golden Boy Promotions and Santa Cruz will want to have it in the United States and Frampton and promoter Barry McGuigan, the Hall of Fame former featherweight champion, would love to stage it in Belfast, although they said after this fight that they are willing to travel for the right deal. So we'll see if the camps can make a deal or if the fight will go to a purse bid.
Frampton looked strong stopping Cazares, 36, a former junior flyweight and junior bantamweight titleholder from Mexico, had won five fights in a row since losing his junior bantamweight belt by split decision to Tomonobu Shimizu in Japan in 2011. The first round was competitive and seemed to be going that way again in the second round when Frampton suddenly caught Cazares, a southpaw, with a great left hand that took Cazares' legs away from him and sent him falling to the mat. He got to one knee and closely was following the count of referee Victor Loughlin. Cazares looked OK but never moved and Loughlin counted him out at 1 minute, 38 seconds. As soon as Loughlin waved his hands to end the fight, Cazares jumped up to complain, even though the referee handled it perfectly and legitimately counted him out.
Friday at Kobe, Japan
Randy Caballero TKO8 Kohei Oba
Bantamweight title eliminator
Records: Caballero (21-0, 13 KOs); Oba (35-3-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Fighting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Stuart Hall of England, Caballero, 23, of Coachella, Calif., traveled to Japan to fight Oba, 29, on his turf. Caballero established control quickly, knocking Oba to a knee with a quick right hand to the chin late in the first round. Oba tried to mix it up with the quicker Caballero, but that was a bad idea. Caballero dominated the fight and was beginning to dole out a beating by the sixth round as Oba began to fade. He hung for a bit longer, but Caballero dropped him for a second time in the eighth round, landing a short left hand. Oba went down to his rear end seemingly more from exhaustion and the previous punishment than the left hand, which did not appear to have much on it. Caballero landed a couple of more shots after the fight resumed, but Oba was done and when his corner threw in the towel referee Jack Reiss stopped the bout at 1 minute, 54 seconds.
Friday at Salta, Argentina
Luis Carlos Abregu TKO8 Jean Carlos Prada
Welterweight
Records: Abregu (36-1, 29 KOs); Prada (30-1-1, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Abregu, 30, of Argentina, a good contender whose only loss came by decision to Timothy Bradley Jr. in 2010, had not fought since April 2013 because of a right hand injury. But Abregu, fighting in his hometown, returned to knock out Prada, 29, of the Dominican Republic. Prada had compiled his impressive record against a collection of low-level opponents and Abregu exposed his limitations, taking it to him throughout the fight and dominating. Although Prada scored a knockdown of an off-balance Abregu -- who went to his knees, jumped right up and did not appear hurt -- in the seventh round, he did little else. In the eighth round, Abregu landed a series of clean head shots with both hands that badly hurt Prada and sent him into the ropes, which held him up, thus the knockdown call. Prada looked like he was out on his feet and after giving the mandatory eight-count, the referee waved off the fight at 1 minute, 50 seconds.
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We can't ask for links when it comes to 24/7 episodes
... I thought we couldn't ask for fight stream links only 
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Subscribe to Hbo Boxing on YouTube. Should be up in a couple of days.
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Just looked at HBO Go, if you subscribe to HBO for TV you can watch it on there.
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Heads up. It's replaying on HBO 2 at 830.
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He's gonna box for sure, that Provodnikov fight set him straight on stand-up brawling. TB can do both but Pacquaio is going to try to KO him.
You're right he doesn't hit that hard but he's a really good counterpuncher (see: Marquez fight) and hits hard enough to wear guys down over the course of a fight.
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Bradley's best chance is to fight like he did against Alexander, not that I condone that style of fighting.
