Boxing Challenge-An ending and a new beginning!

We begin the 2016 Boxing Challenge with two heavyweight title fights,but first,a wrapup of the 2015 challenge with R.L.Malpica.

I managed to hold on and win the second challenge 159-149.
The win gives each of us one boxing challenge title,so this year will break the tie...

Showtime features WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder defending against Artur Spilka of Poland in one bout with the IBF title that was declared vacant by Tyson Fury accepting a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko being filled by the winner of Vlacheslav Glazkov against Charles Martin...
I believe that this is a free Showtime weekend,so non-Showtime subscribers can take a look.

WBC Heavyweight title.12 rds
Deontay Wilder vs Artur Spilka
R.L;  Wilder KO 8
TRS: Wilder KO 9

Vacant IBF Heavyweight title.12 rds
Vlacheslav Glazkov vs Charles Martin
R.L: Glazkov unanimous winner
TRS:Martin split winner

PPM and Boxing Challenge?

A special edition of the PPM that combines last week's missing 2 NFL picks,this week's and a quick look at the boxing challenge from Manchester England.

Last Week,I had these saved,but not posted as I picked the Browns to beat the 49ers,but had the Saints losing to Tampa and they won.
So...That puts last week at 1-1,the previous week was a 10-1 in the college championship week.
Current record stands at 88-38.

I will do another Bowl PPM later this week with the teams we follow that have their bowl games next week!

But for tomorrow,3 NFL games

Seahawks over Browns 36-13
Saints over Lions 28-27

Game of the Week
Steelers over Broncos 24-17

The boxing challenge started early with R.L.Malpica earning two points to my one to cut the lead to 153-146 after two fights from Manchester England.
The main event saw Billy Joe Saunders lift the WBO middleweight title from Andy Lee via majority decision.
Saunders dominated the early part of the fight and almost stopped Lee in the third as he dropped Lee twice in the round.
Lee swept the late rounds and in rounds,I scored the bout even at six-six,but the knockdowns swung my card to Saunders at 114-112 and meant the difference between a Saunders win and a draw on the official cards.
Both R.L and I picked Lee for no points,but R.L. grabbed two points to my one as Liam Smith retained his WBO Jr.Middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Jimmy Kelly.
That bout was untelevised,so no scorecard from me...

Four posts from me today! Might be a record,but I still have lots of catching up to do!
HBO boxing tonight,Browns tomorrow and I still have to write about being in Cleveland and why!
Stay tuned!!!

Boxing Challenge

Back after a great week in Cleveland (I'll be writing about it soon),but I forgot about the Boxing Challenge from last week and since the results are over a week old,I will not bother with a recap.
I outscored R.L.Malpica 7-4 last weekend and hold a 152-144 lead entering the final bouts of the season.
Being a good sport,I decided to give R.L. a shot at running the table and giving him plenty of fights to choose from....

I was late in getting these out and R.L.didn't get them back for the 1st two fights,so no points on those...


Vacant IBF Lightweight title.12 rds
Rances Barthelemy vs Denis Shafikov
R.L:
TRS:Barthelemy Unanimous Decision

Cruiserweights,12 rds
Murat Gassiev vs Isiah Thomas
R.L:
TRS:Thomas unanimous Decision

WBO Middleweight title 12 rds
Andy Lee vs Billy Joe Saunders
R.L: Lee KO 7
TRS:Lee KO 10

WBO Junior Middleweight title.12 rds
Liam Smith vs Jimmy Kelly
R.L: Smith unanimous decision
TRS:Smith KO 5

Heavyweights 12 rds
Luis Ortiz vs Bryant Jennings
R.L; Ortiz KO 5
TRS;Ortiz KO 7

Jr.Lightweights.10 rds
Nicholas Walters vs Jason Sosa
R.L: Walters KO 4
TRS:Walters unanimous decision

Lt.Heavyweights.12 rds
Yuneski Gonzalez vs Vylacheslav Shabransky
Both: Gonzalez unanimous decision

Middleweights.10 rds
Joshua Clottey vs Gabriel Rosado
Both:Clottey unanimous decision

Boxing Challenge

This is a little late being posted as I was working on the Hot Rod Williams piece.
I lead R.L Malpica 145-140...

Vacant WBO Jr.Featherweight title.12 rds
Nonito Donaire vs Cesar Juarez
R.L;Donaire KO 3
TRS:Donaire KO 8

Lightweights.10 rds
Felix Verdejo vs Josenilson Dos Santos
R.L:Verdejo KO 8
TRS:Verdejo KO 4

Jr.Welterweights.12 rds
Omar Figueroa vs Antonio DeMarco
R.L:DeMarco unanimous decision
TRS:Figueroa unanimous decision

Heavyweights.12 rds
Chris Arreola vs Travis Kaufman
R.L:Kaufman KO 8
TRS:Arreola split decision

Heavyweights.12 rds
Anthony Joshua vs Diillan Whyte
R.L.Joshua KO 1
TRS;Joshua KO 2

Cruiserweights 12 rds
Roy Jones vs Enzo Maccarinelli
R.L:Jones KO 9
TRS:Jones unanimous decision

Jacobs stretches Quillin in One! Boxing Challenge

The Boxing challenge continued as R.L.Malpica and I each earned 4 points to keep my lead at 145-140 after a Showtime televised card from Brooklyn...

R.L. is in a tough spot with the season running out and he has to pick upsets to hope for a comeback.

R.L. picked up two points from the main event as Daniel Jacobs stopped Peter Quillin in the first round of the middleweight "Battle for Brooklyn".
Jacobs simply overwhelmed Quillin with a stunning assault that sent Quillin dazed and wobbling badly away from Jacobs before a referee stoppage.
Quillin was never knocked down,but his eyes betrayed him and while I thought the stoppage was a little fast in live action,the replay showed Quillin's eyes and you could easily see that Quillin was out on his feet.
The victory cements Jacobs as the best middleweight on the PBC side,but it was notable in the post-fight interview that Jacobs didn't call out the best middles in the world-Gennady Golovkin,Canelo Alvarez etc,but instead spoke of a rematch with Qullin or maybe even the winner of the WBO title between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders.
Some might look at the lack of a usual grandstand challenge (because we know one side rarely fights the other) as a lack of confidence on Jacobs part,but I look at it differently.
While I don't have any desire to see a rematch,I did like that Jacobs realizes the promotional issues and unless an sanctioning body comes in and demands a fight (the WBA could with Golovkin being their main champ with Jacobs their secondary titleholder), his outlook isn't strong for any of those guys.
I enjoyed the honesty....

I earned two points back with Jesus Cuellar's workmanlike unanimous decision over Jonathan Oquendo in a featherweight fight.
Not much to be said other than I scored it for the winner 117-111.
Chris Algeri continued his remake under new trainer John David Jackson with a unanimous decision of Erick Bone in a welterweight ten rounder.
I've been critical of Algeri in the past for a dull style and especially for his "win" over Ruslan Provodnikov,but in this fight and his close loss to Amir Khan,fans have seen a different Algeri-one willing to engage and interesting to watch.
Algeri was credited with an eighth round knockdown that really wasn't,but I still scored him a 96-93 winner in a solid action fight...

If I have time later,I may be back with the Giants signing of Jeff Samardzija,but I'll have Browns tomorrow and likely a new podcast....

Boxing Challenge

A small boxing challenge from tonight's Showtime televised card from Brooklyn.

Two of the bouts are for the WBA's "secondary" titles and the less said about those the better,but have interesting fights.
The middleweight bout is basically for the PBC's middleweight best as the PBC is weaker at the 160 pound division.
Even though the winner won't be nearly as highly regarded as the champions Gennady Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez,it matches Peter Quillin,who defended his secondary (WBO) title against less than strong opponents before vacating over promotional problems against Daniel Jacobs,a paper champion who has fought back from cancer,but has fought even worse competition than Qullin.
Quillin surprisingly to me made the 160 limit after missing it in an attempt to win the WBO belt from Andy Lee.
Lee took the bout anyway and in an exciting bout managed to push each other to a draw.
Jacobs was knocked out in the fifth in his only bout against good competition against Dmitri Pirog.
In the end,Quillin is the bigger guy,has more experience and I'm thinking takes a better shot,but I don't discount Jacobs either.
I'm more excited for this bout than I thought I'd be and I think it should be a pretty solid action fight.

This should be a bout worth watching-even if it's for the JV version of the middleweight title.

Jesus Cuellar takes Jonathan Oquendo in a featherweight bout and Chris Algeri returns after a game effort against Amir Khan against Erick Bone on the undercard.

Middleweights.12 rds
Peter Quillin vs Daniel Jacobs
R.L:Jacobs KO 5
TRS:Quillin KO 6

Featherweights.12 rds
Jesus Cuellar vs Jonathan Oquendo
R.L;Oquendo unanimous decision
TRS:Cuellar unanimous decision

Welterweights.10 rds
Chris Algeri vs Erick Bone
Both:Algeri unanimous winner

Fury upsets Klitschko-Boxing Challenge

Big weekend in the boxing challenge as I retained my five point lead over R.L.Malpica at 141-136 through different means.
Before we start,I watched the HBO replay of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto fight and saw it at 116-112 for Alvarez.

The big news of the weekend saw England's Tyson Fury lift the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles from longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko via unanimous decision in Germany.
It was a truly dull fight without action,but I scored Fury a 115-112 winner (8-4 in rounds) after Fury was deducted a point late in the fight for punching behind the head.
Klitschko is contractually to a rematch and he has activated that clause .
Fury may vacate the IBF belt and begin to break up Klitschko's work as the IBF number one contender Vlacheslav Glazkov may not step aside in order to allow the rematch.
Klitschko looked very hesitant to me to throw the right hand and just couldn't "get it off".
It reminded me quite a bit of older Larry Holmes as Klitschko would cock the gun and just couldn't fire.
I understand why Klitschko wants and deserves a rematch,but as far as pleasing fights go,I doubt that it will be any better than this one-even if Klitschko wins....
R.L.picked Fury and added one point to his total as I selected Klitschko...

The fight of the weekend as far as action goes was from Quebec City,Canada as James DeGale took a unanimous decision to retain his IBF super middleweight title of Lucien Bute..
In a great fight,I had DeGale a 115-113 winner and I earned the point back that I lost from R.L with the DeGale win..
DeGale wants to unify titles with Badou Jack of the WBC and I'm all for that.
That may not be a huge fight,but I like seeing titles unified whenever possible,,,,

Neither of us scored points as Elieder Alvarez took a majority decision over Isaac Chilemba in a light heavy bout to become the mandatory contender for WBC champ Adonis Stevenson.
I scored it 114-114,,so my issue isn't Alvarez getting the duke,it's more because of a ridiculous 118-110 scorecard for Alvarez.

We enter the PBC mismatch portion of the show as each of us earned five points for squash matches.
Erislandy Lara knocked out washed up (and he wasn't that good to begin with) former IBF welter champ Jan Zaveck in three rounds.
Jermall Charlo stopped undeserving challenger Wilky Campfort in four rounds to retain his IBF 154 pound belt and super prospect Errol Spence stopped Alejandro Barrera in five.
I really see Spence as a rising star and I look forward to seeing Spence against improved competition whenever that will be,
PBC has tons of welterweight talent,if they would only match them up other than giving us more tired fights like the upcoming Danny Garcia-Robert Guerrero bout in 2016....

Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge goes up early this week as ESPN has a title bout,albeit one with more of the most boring fighters in the world against an overmatched opponent on Wednesday.
I lead R.L.Malpica 136-131 at this time.
The biggest fight of the weekend features the world heavyweight champion (WBA and IBF anyway) Wladimir Klitschko defending against the brash Brit Tyson Fury.
Fury is actually bigger than Klitschko,so this could be a rare exciting battle for the champion....

WBA Jr Middleweight title.12 rds
Erislandy Lara vs Jan Zaveck
Both:Lara unanimous decision

WBA and IBF Heavyweight titles. 12 rds
Wladimir Klitschko vs Tyson Fury
R.L:Fury KO 6
TRS:Klitschko KO 10

IBF Super Middleweight title.12 rds
James DeGale vs Lucien Bute
R.L;Bute split decision
TRS; DeGale KO 8

Light Heavyweights,12 rds
Issac Chilemba vs Elieder Alvarez
Both;Chilemba unanimous decision

IBF Jr.Middleweight title.12 rds
Jermall Charlo vs Wilky Campfort
Both;Charlo unanimous decision

Welterweights. 12 rds
 Errol Spence vs Alejandro Barrera
R.L;Spence KO 4
TRS: Spence KO 6

Canelo decisions Cotto-Boxing Challenge

Another big boxing weekend for the boxing challenge and I extended my lead over R.L.Malpica by adding six points to his five for the weekend.
The current standings are 136-131.

In the biggest fight of the week and second most anticipated fight of the year-Saul "Canelo" Alvarez hammered out a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto.
Alvarez added the vacant WBC middleweight title to his collection and with luck,we will get to see Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin sometime in 2016.
I didn't score the fight as part of the PPV card,but Ramon had Alvarez winning on his card.
Each of us added two for the Canelo victory.
The replay is HBO bound to go with the heavyweight title defense of Wladimir Klitschko against Tyson Fury on Saturday...

The other two fights on the card ranged from a fight of the year candidate to another snoozer.
Francisco Vargas rallied from a knockdown and being behind on the cards to stop Takashi Miura and win the WBC Jr.lightweight title.
HBO is interested in televising a rematch early in 2016.
R.L. and I each earned one point for the win and two points for the expected duller than dirt win for Guillermo Rigondeaux and his unanimous decision win over Drian Francisco...

On the European side,neither of us earned points as Arthur Abraham earned a split decision over Martin Murray in Germany.
Germany is notorious for being the home of awful decisions involving home fighters and I scored Murray a 115-113 winner,but the fight was too close to be considered a robbery.
If you want a decision in Germany,you have to do better than a win a close bout...

I added one point in the only fight that R.L. and I differed on from England as Anthony Crolla knocked out Darleys Perez in the fifth round to win the WBA lightweight belt.
I thought Crolla would be a decision winner,so I only picked up one point,while R.L.picked Perez to win.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge returns with one of the biggest fights of the year as Miguel Cotto fights Canelo Alvarez.
I hold a 130-126 lead over R.L.Malpica,but there's still time to go in the race to the wire.

WBC Middleweight title.12 rds
If Cotto wins,title goes to Gennady Golovkin,if Alvarez wins,he becomes champ,but must fight Golovkin next...
Miguel Cotto vs Canelo Alvarez
Both:Alvarez Unanimous Decision

WBC Jr.Lightweight title 12 rds
Takashi Miura vs Francisco Vargas
R.L:Vargas Split decision
TRS:Vargas Unanimous Decision

Jr.Featherweights.10 rds
Guillermo Rigonadeaux vs Drian Francisco
Both:Unanimous Decision

IBF Bantamweight title .12 rds-Caballero did not make weight,this fight may not take place.
Randy Caballero vs Lee Haskins
Both:Caballero Unanimous Decision
Editors Note-Fight cancelled as Caballero wouldn't have made the Jr.Feather limit!
Haskins given the IBF title...

WBA Lightweight title.12 rds
Darleys Perez vs Anthony Crolla
R.L;Perez Unanimous Decision
TRS:Crolla Split Decision

WBO Super Middleweight title.12 rds
Arthur Abraham vs Martin Murray
Both:Murray Unanimous Decision (I hope he gets it,No place on Earth has more bad decisions than Germany)

Bradley KO's Rios in 9-Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge stayed at the same point differential between R.L.Malpica and myself as each of us added three points on the HBO televised card from Las Vegas.

The standings currently show TRS in the lead 130-126 with plenty of boxing in the final two months of the season.

Timothy Bradley kept his name in the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes with a ninth round knockout of Brandon Rios.

R.L. and I each thought Bradley would win via decision,but Rios showed up badly out of shape and other than a decent first two rounds,was badly outclassed.

Rios was dropped twice in the ninth round and basically had nothing left.

Rios announced his retirement after the bout,although in boxing,look for Rios to qualify for a 2016 Zabbie after his less than professional effort,but for Bradley after his initial bout with new trainer Teddy Atlas,there are a few appealing options for the first time in a while.

Bradley is one of three names mentioned for Manny Pacquiao,but a third fight between the two after two less than great action bouts,makes Bradley the third choice in the eyes of most fans after promising star Terence Crawford or England's Amir Khan.

However,an interesting name arose after Bradley's victory-Canelo Alvarez.

Alvarez,who win,lose or draw,in his WBC middleweight title bout vs Miguel Cotto is not expected to face Gennady Golovkin in his next fight (as mandated by the WBC) and might be looking for a name opponent.

Bradley fits both bills,but being the naturally smaller man would make him a strong underdog in that bout.

Bradley looked as good as he has in a while,although only his next fight will tell whether Atlas has made that much difference or just that Rios was a rusted battleship ready to be sunk....

R.L and I each earned two points for Vasyl Lomachenko's 10th round stoppage of Romulo Koasicha with a body shot that I felt.

Lomachenko won every round against Koasicha,who consistently showed gameness,but was out of his league against Lomachenko.

I feel bad for Lomachenko,who is so talented,but just has no one to fight in his division.

A fight with Nicholas Walters would have been interesting,but Walters gave up his title on the scales and Lomachenko wants to stay at 126.

WBC champ Gary Russell was dominated by Lomachenko and promotion difficulties would arise to make a rematch,

WBA beltholder Leo Santa Cruz would be interesting to see,but again promotional issues are there as well and considering the PBC saw how Lomachenko controlled Russell,I cannot see them losing another cash cow to the Russian in Santa Cruz.

The makeable fight appearsto Guillermo Rigondeauz,the former WBA and WBO Jr.Featherwt.champ,who recently was stripped of both belts for inactivity.

Rigondeaux has worked with Top Rank in the past,HBO has signed off on buying the fight and it has an historical aspect as well-It would be the first ever match between two multiple winners of Olympic gold medals.

It might not be an action packed fight,but should be very technical and pleasing enough from two of the best in the world...  

Boxing Challenge

A quick boxing challenge with HBO hosting two minor title fights from Las Vegas.
The challenge has been slim of late with some less than scintillating matchups than we didn't do for the challenge.but there will be plenty of challenge bouts over the final two months of the year.
I lead R.L. Malpica 127-123 at this writing.

The main event features Timothy Bradley defending his trinket vs Brandon Rios.
Bradley with new trainer Teddy Atlas looks to box more against the pressure that Rios brings.
Here's my take on this-Bradley has always been very good.not great.
Rios has always been good,not very good.
Bradley hasn't always shown the best chin,but he has always survived when hurt.
Rios might have his moments,but Bradley survives the tide....

Vasyl Lomachenko defends against little-known Romulo Koasicha.
Lomachenko is having a hard time finding interested challengers to face and is having to settle for stay busy fights.
It's sad,but perhaps this is a window to better future fights.

WBO Welterweight title.12 rds
Timothy Bradley vs Brandon Rios
Both:Bradley Unanimous Decision.

WBO Featherweight title .12 rds
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Romulo Koasicha
R.L:Lomachenko KO 5
TRS:Lomachenko KO 8

GGG drops Lemieux-Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge continued with R.L.Malpica and I and despite some differing results,the lead stayed at four points at 127-123.

Gennady Golovkin continued his rampage through the middleweight division with a eighth round stoppage of David Lemieux that wasn't really competitive despite Lemieux giving a game effort.
I got to watch the fight a few hrs after as some kind soul posted on youtube (I'm sure it was ripped down shortly after) and I had Golovkin winning every round by the stoppage.
The win allowed Golovkin to add the IBF belt with his WBA title and gave R.L. and I each two points...

Roman Gonzalez retained his WBC flyweight belt with a dominant ninth round stoppage over Brian Viloria.
I didn't see this one,but Gonzalez stopped a top three flyweight and looks to have two top notch fighters in his sights-WBA champ Juan Francisco Estrada or Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue,either of which would be good bouts.
R.L and I each earned two points for the Gonzalez win....

I also missed the unanimous decision win on the card by Tureano Johnson over Eamonn O'Kane.
Johnson's win gave me two points,but R.L.earned just one with his call of a Johnson split win...

The PBC card on Saturday afternoon from Fairfax Virginia was filled with controversy,
The co-feature saw undefeated Pritchard Colon against late replacement Terrel Williams.
Williams won via disqualification when Colon's corner thought the fight was over after the ninth.
I always thought ring card girls weren't needed,but the PBC doesn't use them and this happened,so maybe there is a need after all!
In a dirty fight that saw Colon lose points for low blows and Williams drop them for hitting behind the head,I had Williams far ahead after knocking Colon down in the ninth.
Immediately after the bout. Colon was rushed to the hospital with bleeding on the brain and is still in critical condition at this writing.
A big win for Williams over the touted prospect Colon that takes a sad turn with the ending.
No points for R.L. and I as both of us picked Colon.

R.L.added one point to my none as hometown fighter Lamont Peterson took a majority decision over former Olympian Felix Diaz.
Diaz has had a slow start (although undefeated entering the fight) to his career,but I thought Diaz had a chance to pull a huge upset and picked him,even though it seems no one else was.
The scores were 114-114 (I can see that) and 116-112 for Peterson (Bad) with a 117-111 for Peterson as well (pathetic),
I scored it 116-112 for Diaz,who looked strong in a losing effort....

PBC Fight of the Year-Boxing Challenge

Normally,I would not do a full boxing post with boxing challenge events scheduled for the next day,but with a few notes from a Friday night filled with boxing,I figured I'd add this quickly....

The PBC had their best fight of the year as light heavyweights Andrezj Fonfara and Nathan Cleverly hooked up in an action packed twelve rounder.
No knockdowns,but lots of punches landed by both men as Compubox (the punch counting people) listed this bout as the new 175 pound division standard for punches thrown and landed in a 12 round bout.
Cleverly suffered a broken nose and bled badly through the second half of the fight as Fonfara took a narrow victory of 116-112 (two cards) and 115-113 on the cards.
I had Fonfara winning 115-113 and the win could likely land him a rematch with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson,who swapped knockdowns with Fonfara in a Stevenson decision win in 2014...

R.L and I each added two points for the win and were both wrong for Kohei Kono's win over Koki Kameda,which I haven't seen as of now.
The challenge currently stands at 120-116.

I wish I could say I like the Spike TV team.
Antonio Tarver is one of the better analysts around,but I'm not a fan of MMA commentator Jimmy Smith and just when Dana Jacobson starts moving up on my list,she closes with a forced "Hail to the Victors" reference to reinforce her connection to the michigan Wolverines.
I'm only kidding a little,Jacobson has been a pleasant surprise on the program,but I'm not sure the MMA crowd would be thrilled with Tarver calling their bouts and acting like an expert,so I hope you would understand why Smith doesn't do that for boxing fans...


TruTV offered a Top Rank card that I didn't add any of the bouts for the challenge.
The main event featured Sean Monaghan pummeling a courageous but overmatched Donovan George.
The fight was decent enough,but I have a feeling that when the day comes that Monaghan faces a top light heavyweight that this fight will be repeated-with Monaghan playing the part of George.
The co-feature was a less than strong battle between undefeated Roy Jones disciple Brad Solomon defeat Ray Serrano.
Solomon even tries to fight like Jones,which was bad enough watching the real Roy Jones.
Top Rank was off to a good start with their initial few cards on TruTv,but this shows signs of a downward spiral that I hope can be avoided.

I did like the announcing unit on the color side.
I've been a fan of Ray "Boom Boom"Mancini since I was a kid,so having Mancini around is always welcomed.
Boom Boom might not be the most eloquent speaker,but his plain speaking and passion for the sport comes through to the viewer.
I think that had Mancini started with full time commentary after he got out of the ring,he might have been boxing's John Madden.

I also thought that the use of Crystina Poncher as the third person in the booth was original and I thought she was excellent.
Poncher's knowledge was strong and you can tell she puts the time into knowing the game.
I hope to see more of Poncher in a role of helping to call the action as well as the host role....

Boxing Challenge

The challenge with R.L.Malpica rolls on this weekend with fights selected from PBC on Spike and NBC along with the long awaited pay per view debut of Gennady Golovkin in a middleweight title unification bout vs David Lemieux....
I hold a four point lead in this years challenge at 118-114.

Lt Heavyweights.12 rds
Andreij Fonfara vs Nathan Cleverly

Both:Fonfara Unanimous Decision

WBA Jr.Bantamweight title 12 rds
Kohei Kono vs Koki Kameda

Both:Kameda Unanimous Decision

Welterweights.12 rds
Lamont Peterson vs Felix Diaz

R.L:Peterson KO 9
TRS:Diaz KO 7

Welterweights.10 rds
Pritchard Colon vs Terrell Williams

R.L;Colon KO 4
TRS: Colon KO 8

WBA-IBF Middleweight Title Unification. 12 rds
Gennady Golovkin vs David Lemieux

R.L;Golovkin KO 5
TRS;Golovkin KO 3

WBC Flyweight Title.12 rds
Roman Gonzalez vs Brian Viloria

R.L:Gonzalez KO 7
TRS:Gonzalez KO 10

Middleweights. 10 rds
Tureano Johnson vs Eamonn O'Kane

R.L;Johnson Split Decision
TRS:Johnson Unanimous Decision

Postol stuns Matthysse-Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge with R.L.Malpica rolled on with an upset in the 140 pound division that has division shaking affects...

On the HBO side of the evening,the shocker came when Viktor Postol stunned Lucas Matthysse with a tenth round knockout.
Postol,not known as a puncher,dropped Matthyssee with a short right hand that dropped the Argentine to his knees and despite looking like he could have risen,chose not to.
Matthysse was favored by most,but I did see a few people looking at Postol as a live dog in this one,due to his style,which controlled the day.
It has become clear that Matthysse cannot handle taller fighters with a decent jab,which is how Danny Garcia took a close decision over him.
This was not nearly as close as I had Postol ahead 87-84 entering the tenth round.
Postol earned the WBC title with the win and immediately was being talked about as the next opponent for WBO titlist Terrence Crawford,who is an HBO star and in need of a strong future fight should he defeat Dierry Jean in three weeks on the network.
Ramon and I each picked Matthysse,so "No points on that one"

On a side note-ever notice how huge punchers often times show little heart in losses?
I'll be talking about this on a future podcast,but I'm always surprised that a bomber has no qualms about going toe to toe for 12 rounds as Lucas Matthyssee did in 12 rounds of hell vs Ruslan Provodnikov,but often will not continue after being out-jabbed by a boxer/puncher.
It has to be mostly mental....

The HBO co-feature saw Ramon and I each add two points for Antonio Orozco's unanimous decision win over Humberto Soto.
The cards were all wider than my 96-94 score for Orozco,but the judges had the correct winner,so that's as much as I can ask for....

Over on Showtime,Ramon and I each added two points for getting the winners correct,but not how they earned their victories..

Adrien Broner added the WBA version of the 140 pound crown with a 12th round stoppage of Khalib Allakhverdiev.
I had Broner far ahead at the time of the ending,but Broner didn't overly impress in the win.
Broner simply was in with a fighter that allowed him to do what he wanted.
The best part of this fight (and I mean that loosely) came when Broner challenged Floyd Mayweather to offer up Ashley Theophane from his "Money Team".
That's Ashley Theophane as in 35 year old,39 and 6 with zero victories over world class opposition.
Ashley Theophane.
That fight will get made too as PBC continues to emulate the worst of pro wrestling.
Only in boxing.....

In the co-feature,Jose Pedraza retained his IBF Jr.Lightweight title with a split decision over Edner Cherry.
I scored Cherry a 115-113 winner and wouldn't have quibbled with a similar scorecard for Pedraza.
However,both Pedraza winning scorecards notched a 117-111 verdict,which was way out of whack in my opinion.
Pedraza lost even more points with me with a post-fight interview that saw him comment on a potential rematch with "Yes,but he'll have to wait a while" when asked why "I'm the champ,he waits for me".
Uhhh,Ok.

I still retain my four point lead over R.L in the boxing challenge at 118-114

Boxing Challenge

Strong boxing weekend as HBO and Showtime go head to head with competing main events in the 140 pound division.

HBO has the better bout as Lucas Matthysse goes after the WBC title vacated by Danny Garcia against top rated Viktor Postol.
Matthysse,who will likely have the 2015 fight against Ruslan Provodnikov after the 2014 fight of the year vs John Molina always makes great fights and Postol is likely to make another good one with him.
The co-feature looks strong as well as talented,but untested prospect Antonio Orozco takes his first real step up against former champion Humberto Soto in what could be another action battle.

Showtime's feature isn't quite as strong as the WBA title vacated by Danny Garcia will be filled not by their "Interim" champ Jose Benavidez,but by the winner of Adrien Broner (coming off a loss) against Khabib Allakhverdiev (hasn't fought in 18 months) in Broner's hometown of Cincinnati.
This is a joke already,but the WBA is clearly the oldest and most corrupt of the sanctioning bodies,so I am not surprised.
The WBA has up to three "Champions" per divisions and even by its own rules should have promoted Benavidez to this title,but it's the WBA so corruption or stupidity should be expected...
More on this on today's podcast..
The co-feature looks to be a fun one though as IBF Jr.Lightweight champ Jose Pedraza defends for the first against hard punching veteran Edner Cherry,
This could be a very good bout...

The Boxing Challenge continues with R.L.Malpica.I lead the challenge at 114-110....

Vacant WBC Jr,Welterweight title.12 rds
Lucas Matthysse vs Viktor Postol
R.L; Matthysse KO 5
TRS:Matthysse KO 9

Jr.Welterweights.10 rds
Antonio Orozco vs Humberto Soto
Both: Orozco unanimous decision

Vacant WBA Jr,Welterweight title.12 rds
Adrien Broner vs Khabib Allakhverdiev
Both:Broner unanimous decision

IBF Jr.Lightweight title.12 rds
Jose Pedraza vs Edner Cherry
Both:Pedraza unanimous decision

Pointless in the PBC

In what was another pointless PBC card,this one from Spike,the PBC put together another three fights that reminded one of the old squash match oriented days of pro wrestling.
Add to that Top Rank's card on TruTv and only one fighter shined on Friday night.

The main event was another title defense against outgunned opposition by WBC Light Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson,who destroyed clubfighter Tommy Karpency in three rounds in Toronto.
Stevenson dropped Karpency late in the second and only the bell managed to give Karpency,a third round in which he was quickly dismissed.
The interesting part of the fight was Karpency landing a sharp left that might have stunned Stevenson in round one.
Stevenson has built an entire reign of fighting fighters from a division below and boxers that lack his talent with the exception of Andrej Fonfara,who gave him a tough fight and even dropped him showing the questionable chin of a man once stopped by the immortal Darnell Boone.
I'm not sure just what these bouts prove.Knocking over guys like Karpency and the shot Sakio Bika aren't proving anything to anyone.
PBC has one fighter (Two if you want to see a Fonfara rematch) that would make an interesting fight (Artur Beterbiev) against Stevenson,so hopefully PBC can make that happen because the recent Stevenson bouts are just not worth coming to watch.
After the win,Stevenson offered the obligatory callout of WBA/IBF champ Sergey Kovalev in a fight that boxing fans want to see made,I think Kovalev wants to see made,but not sure that Stevenson and Al Haymon want to see just how solid that chin is.
Kovalev and Main Events aren't blameless either with their insistence (contractual) that such a bout take place on HBO,which won't ordinarily do business with Haymon clients,but would make an exception in this case.
Haymon/PBC is very unlikely to make an exception even for this bout,so as a result,both will issue challenges that won't/can't be accepted and life trolls on...

I missed Errol Spence's stoppage of Chris Van Heerden,due to a co-workers need to watch another program after I was called into work early.
Spence won on an eighth round knockout that was expected.
I think Spence is extremely talented and look forward to him taking on real challenges.
The KO's gave R.L.Malpica and I each four points in the boxing challenge.

The real winner to me was Oscar Valdez in an impressive fifth round stoppage of former contender Chris Avalos on TruTv.
Valdez looks ready for better competition and disposed of Avalos in a way that makes one look forward to seeing him again.
Super Middleweight Jesse Hart came in highly touted,but didn't impress in a wild and undisciplined win via ninth round stoppage of Aaron Pryor Jr.
Hart looked a little green and might need some work.

R.L. and I each add three points for the Top Rank fights and brings the current total to 107-104 going into the Saturday fights...

Late note: Saturday results,I added 7 points to R.L's 6 for a 114-110 score.
I earned two points for Floyd Mayweather's unanimous win over Andre Berto with R.L. adding one.
We both earned a point for Marcus Browne's one round KO of Gabriel Campillo.
We each added two points for Peter Quillin's KO of Michael Zerafa and we each picked one point up for Jermall Charlo's stoppage of Cornelius Bundrage.
Roman Martinez drew with Orlando Salido for zero points and we both picked George Groves to defeat Badou Jack,who won a split decision over Groves....

Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge continues with a huge boxing weekend with two cards from PBC,one from Top Rank and a Pay Per View from Mr.Money himself-Floyd Mayweather.
I currently lead R.L.Malpica 100-97 in the challenge

WBC Lt.Heavyweight title.12 rds
Adonis Stevenson vs Tommy Karpency

R.L.:Stevenson KO 4
TRS: Stevenson KO 6

Welterweights 10 rds
Errol Spence vs Chris Van Heerden

R.L:Spence KO 3
TRS:Spence KO 4

Featherweights.10 rds
Oscar Valdez vs Chris Avalos
Both:Valdez Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights 10 rds
Jesse Hart vs Aaron Pryor Jr.

R.L;Hart KO 5
TRS: Hart KO 8

Middleweights.10 rds
Peter Quillin vs Michael Zerafa

R.L;Quillin KO 2
TRS; Quillin KO 3

IBF Jr.Middleweight title. 12 rds
Cornelius Bundrage vs Jermall Charlo

Both:Charlo Unanimous Decision

WBA/WBC Welterweight titles 12 rds
Floyd Mayweather vs Andre Berto

R.L:Mayweather KO 5
TRS:Mayweather Unanimous Decision

Jr.Lightweights. 12 rds
Roman Martinez vs Orlando Salido

Both:Martinez Unanimous Decision

WBC Super Middleweight title 12 rds
Badou Jack vs George Groves

R.L;Groves KO 7
TRS:Groves KO 10

Lt.Heavyweights. 10 rds
Marcus Browne vs Gabriel Campillo

R.L:Browne KO 4
TRS; Browne KO 5

Lots of chances for R.L to make up ground or me to pull away this weekend,So whether its Spike or TruTV shortly or NBC tomorrow.Give some of these bouts a shot!!1

Santa Cruz decisions Mares-Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge continued with two different sites in Los Angeles contributing bouts.

The top one was the featherweight bout on ESPN with WBC Jr.Featherweight champ Leo Santa Cruz moving to 126 for a bout against three division champion Abner Mares.

For six rounds,this looked like a possible fight of the year candidate as Mares attacked Santa Cruz and attempted to fight Santa Cruz at his preferred game-aggressive assault.
However,the corner of Mares suggested he box more and when he listened,Santa Cruz took full advantage and took control of the second half of the fight,which lacked the action of its predecessor.
Santa Cruz took a majority decision as somehow someone saw the fight a draw.
I had Santa Cruz a 116-112 winner on my card.
An excellent and well-matched bout and exactly the type of fight that the PBC needs to make more of and have more often.
After the bout,there were calls for a rematch,but I'm not sure that I need to see this again.
Something tells me that we've seen what Mares has to offer and a second bout might be far more one-sided.
R.L.Malpica each added one point to our boxing challenge tally with the Santa Cruz win...

In the old-timers division,Shane Mosley stopped Ricardo Mayorga in round six of a middleweight bout.
I didn't see this,since this was inexplicably a pay per view event,but I picked up three points to R.L.Malpica's two as both of us saw Mosley winning via the knockout route,but added a bonus point for picking round six as the finishing point.

The boxing challenge currently stands at 100-97 in my favor....