Boxing Challenge: Boring Night in Verona

  Top Rank and ESPN had the entire boxing Saturday to itself from Verona New York and gave viewers a boring card that really isn't worth the time to type.

In the main event, heavyweight Efe Ajagba won a unanimous decision over Stephan Shaw in what would be a heavy favorite for the worst main event of the year.

All three judges scored 96-94 for Ajagba, who stuck the jab out and that was pretty much the offensive output for either fighter in this snoozer.

I gave Ajagba a 97-93 edge as he won his second fight since losing to Frank Sanchez in his only defeat.

The loss was the first for Shaw, and I'm going to try my best to forget this one.

The co-feature was just as dreadful for six rounds as heavyweight prospect Guido Vianello dominated but didn't excite anyone against journeyman Jonnie Rice until late in the sixth round, Rice landed a long right hand that created a massive slice over Vianello's left eye.

The fight was stopped early in the seventh round with referee Benji Estevez ruling that the cut was from a headbutt.

In Estevez's defense, if you didn't see the punch land, the cut was so deep that you would naturally think it came from a butt but it did not.

This is key because if the cut is from a headbutt, the scorecards are involved and Vianello gets a unanimous decision ( I had him leading 60-54 at the time of stoppage) victory.

However, Joe Tessitore and Andre Ward were screaming at ringside that the cut had come from a Rice punch, which was not only factual, it didn't favor the promoter's house fighter in Vianello so full credit to them.

That got the attention of the commissioner at ringside and since this fight was held on a tribal reservation, they could change the rules on the spot and approved a replay review which showed the cut resulting from a punch- giving Rice a TKO win.

While I am happy that the right fighter won, I do wonder about changing the rules on the fly and hopefully, this won't come back to haunt boxing in the future if someone uses that power improperly.

For this evening, justice was properly served.

In the other challenge affair, featherweight Abraham Nova scored two knockdowns of rugged veteran Adam Lopez to win a unanimous decision by scores of 98-90 x2 and 97-91.

I had it a tad closer at 96-92 but clearly, Nova did enough to rebound from his first loss to Robiesy Ramirez and should get another tv try soon.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 7 Pts (3)

Vince Samano 7 Pts  (2)

Ramon Malpica 6 Pts(2)