Boxing Challenge: Showtime Snoozer

   The boxing weekend continued with cards from Top Rank on ESPN and PBC with Showtime with the main event that might rank among the worst ever and considering that Guillermo Rigondeaux has many of the candidates for that title- that says it all.

Sometimes in boxing programming, you have a card that just doesn't work out the way you planned it and you received next to no action at all.

It was one of those nights for PBC and Showtime from Carson, California as they received two rounds of a lopsided blowout, about fifteen seconds before a headbutt ended a fight, and then a major title fight with premium ramifications turned into a 10,000-meter race.

The WBO bantamweight title between John Riel Casimero and Guillermo Rigondeaux was hoped to be an entertaining battle as Casimero usually makes action fights and Rigondeaux's legs seemed to be slowing in his second to most recent fight against Julio Ceja in what was arguably the only entertaining fight of Rigondeaux's career.

So it wasn't an unreasonable thought to think that this should be at least an average action fight with the potential for more- which meant that fans were served up twelve rounds of Rigondeaux running around the ring and neither fighter landing double-digit punches in any round (which may be a record for a world title fight) in the worst "big" fight that anyone can remember in recent history.

With the live crowd and almost everyone watching at home booing the hell of this mess, fans knew the cards for this one would vary and everyone crossed their fingers that Casimero's attempted aggression would be rewarded so exciting fights like Casimero-Donaire or Casimero-Inoue may be made rather than sleep inducers such Rigondeaux-Donaire II or heavens forbid Rigondeaux-Inoue.

Fortunately, the fans caught a break with Casimero winning a split decision with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 (my score) to overrule a 115-113 tag for Rigondeaux.

Hopefully, Casimero and WBC champion Nonito Donaire can be made next time in what almost certainly will be a war with both fighters having personal grudges against the other.

As for Rigondeaux, I'd like to say at 40 years old we have seen the last of him but don't bet on it.

The co-feature ended in sixteen seconds as featherweights Emanuel Rodriguez and Gary Antonio Russell each moved to the center of the ring, collided skulls, and the fight was called with both fighters dazed and Rodriguez taking the worst of it.

That's about as much as one could say about that.

The two rounds of the opener saw all the action for the televised portion as former WBA bantamweight champion Rau'shee Warren stopped an outclassed Damien Vazquez in two rounds.

Warren knocked down Vazquez twice in the first and once in the second before the merciful ending.

Warren could be in the title picture, should Donaire-Casimero fall through as a potential opponent for either champion.

The card looked good on paper but this is boxing and you just cannot ever take things for granted inside the ring.

Top Rank and ESPN starred a third fight that was compelling for the two fighters not for the minor WBA belt on the line as Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney battled hard after a rematch that ended after a phantom headbutt allowed Franco to escape with a no-contest in a fight that Moloney seemed to be on the way to winning.

The second fight made Moloney the favorite but it was Franco that outworked Moloney in a good not great fight to win a unanimous decision in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Moloney started well but Franco took control winning most of the middle part of the fight.

Moloney rallied late but he was too far behind on the scorecards, all of which agreed with my 116-112 card for Franco.

A huge win for Franco, who might be a good opponent for Naoya Inoue, should Inoue be unable to make unification matches with either Nonito Donaire or John Riel Casimero.

The co-feature saw junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza dominate veteran Antonio Moran over ten rounds as a stay busy bout for Barboza. who broke the nose of Moran and won the final nine rounds on my card in a 99-91 card.

Barboza will likely be in the mix whenever Josh Taylor vacates his four titles for a vacant title but should Taylor decide to stick around the division for a while Barboza might be a nice opponent for Taylor with both boxers associated with Top Rank.

In the main event on the ESPN+ card, Jason Moloney rebounded from his knockout loss to Naoya Inoue to win a close unanimous decision over Joshua Greer in a crossroads bantamweight fight.

Again as in the main event, this fight was entertaining enough but not outstanding as I saw Moloney as a 96-94 winner.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored six points on the two cards to move our total to 117-103.