In the only title match, Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO junior lightweight title with a technical decision at the end of round seven over Charly Suarez in San Diego.
In a nip and tuck battle, the beginning of the sixth round saw Suarez land a hard left hand and then graze Navarrete's head with his own.
As the fighters separated, Navarrete bled profusely from a cut over his eye, which the referee ruled was from a headbutt.
The fight was stopped before the start of round eight and moved to the scorecards with Navarrete winning by 68-65 and 67-66 times two (my score agreed with the latter).
California uses instant replay, so they could have changed the ruling, but said the replay was inconclusive.
If the cut had been ruled by the punch landed by Suarez, the halting of the fight would have given the win and the championship to Suarez.
The fight was close and hard fought, and Suarez deserves a rematch under the circumstances, but it may not happen as Navarrete needed six (yes, six) tries to make the division limit, and he might be forced to move up in weight.
Should Navarrete decide to move up, I hope the WBO places Suarez in the fight to fill the vacated title; he deserves that, at least.
In the co-feature, Raymond Muratalla won a unanimous decision over a tough but outgunned Zair Abdullaev.
No knockdowns, but Abdullaev's face was bruised and swollen after the bout, and Muratalla was way too much for Abdullaev.
Muratalla won by scores of 119-109 times two and 118-110; my score was 119-109.
Muratalla won the IBF interim lightweight title, and while I normally hate interim titles, this is a situation that is acceptable with champion Vasyl Lomachenko idle for a year, doesn't have a fight in the works, and is considering retirement.
If Lomachenko returns to the ring, he must face Muratalla, and should he decide to retire, Muratalla will be installed as the full champion.
Earlier in the day, from Nottingham, England, former IBF junior lightweight champion Anthony Cacace stopped former WBA featherweight titleholder in the ninth round when Wood's corner tossed in the towel of their surrender, with their men taking a beating.
Cacace scored a technical knockdown early in the ninth when only the ropes allowed Wood to remain standing.
As the round progressed, Wood fought back, but Cacace hurt Wood again, and on unsteady legs and with Cacace in pursuit, the Wood corner made the decision to stop the fight.
In Equatorial Guinea, Souleymane Cissokho won a unanimous decision over Egidijus Kavaliauskas in a WBC welterweight eliminator.
Cissokho was dropped in the second and fifth rounds, but otherwise managed to box and move his way through the fight.
Scores for Cissokho at 114-112 (same as mine), 115-111, and 116-110, who will now be the mandatory contender for WBC champion Mario Barrios.
I'll be back Monday with the two remaining bouts over the weekend, which I've been unable to watch yet.
Boxing Challenge
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