The first fight of the day came from Japan, where the lower-weight's "King of the Upset" pulled another one as IBF junior flyweight champion Masamichi Yabuki rose to the flyweight division and knocked out unbeaten champion Angel Ayala in the final round to take Ayala's IBF title.
Yabuki dropped Ayala in each of the first two rounds. While Ayala won some rounds, Yabuki led by a wide margin entering the final round when Yabuki scored one final knockdown to end the fight.
Yabuki made his name by upsetting Kenshiro Teraji and taking Teraji's WBC title by knockout before losing the rematch, and in his most recent fight before beating Ayala, he knocked out Sivenathi Nonthshinga to win the light flyweight title.
Yabuki will have one week to decide which of the two titles he will keep, and it's expected to be the flyweight championship as it would set up a lucrative third match against WBA and WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji with three of the division's titles at stake.
On ESPN from Las Vegas, Mikaela Mayer was too active for Sandy Ryan, and that made the difference in the fight as Mayer retained the WBO welterweight title that she won from Ryan in another exciting battle.
Ryan landed the higher percentage, but Mayer's output and punches landed allowed her to win the justified decision by scores of 97-93 x2 and 98-92.
I had the match a little closer for Mayer at 96-94.
Brian Norman was dynamite in the co-feature as he retained his WBO welterweight title by a third round knockout of Derrieck Cuevas.
Cuevas landed well in round one, but Norman hurt Cuevas in round two, and after a third round knockdown, Cuevas had little interest in fighting on.
Bruce Carrington stopped Jose Vivas in the third round of a featherweight eliminator and is expected to fight for a title in his next fight.
Carrington scored a second-round knockdown before the finish in the third round in his impressive victory.
DAZN and Golden Boy were in Cancun, Mexico, for the lightweight rematch between top contender William Zepeda and former IBF junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer.
Zepeda won an arguable split decision in the first fight, and although the rematch was closely contested, Zepeda was the deserving majority decision victor.
Zepeda dominated the first half of the match, Farmer charged back in rounds eight through twelve but Zepeda built enough of a lead to win on my card 115-113 with the official cards reading 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda, along with a score of 114-114 on the final card.
Zepeda should finally receive his title shot in his next fight, while Farmer, after another tough-luck defeat, deserves another attempt to upend a contender.
Oscar Collazo retained his WBA and WBO strawweight titles with a fifth round knockout of Edgar Cano after a vicious bodyshot.
Boxing Challenge
No comments:
Post a Comment