Boxing Challenge; Saunders Whitewashes Lemieux

I was very late in getting picks from Ramon Malpica for the boxing challenge for the final challenge of the year and therefore didn't have a preview of a fight for the lightly regarded title that was best known as the only title belt that Gennady Golovkin didn't own.

David Lemieux was favored by most to defeat lightly regarded WBO middleweight champ, Billy Joe Saunders.
After all, Lemieux is the much harder puncher, had the home court advantage and had been more active of late against better competition.
Everything pointed to Lemieux, but as I said on FightHeads last Monday night, something was telling me to pick Saunders, who hadn't looked impressive in his two title defenses against nondescript opponents and had just two overall wins against world class opponents (Decision wins over Chris Eubank Jr and Andy Lee).

That something proved right as not only did Saunders pull the minor upset on the road to retain his title, Saunders did it so impressively that not only did he win by a wide margin, on my card, he won every round (120-108) and might have have even moved into consideration for some pound for pound votes on the lower end of the top ten.
Billy Joe Saunders fought that well.

Saunders boxed, jabbed, moved and controlled every part of the game that you can describe and turned the dangerous Lemieux into just another frustrated fighter looking for a desperate hail mary that had little hopes of being answered.
Saunders even used the bolo punch and Ali shuffle as part of exasperating Lemieux into submission and was able to show that just because you are "boxing" doesn't mean that you have to be boring while you are doing it.

Saunders called out Gennady Golovkin after the bout and it didn't seem so ludicrous as it may have sounded an hour before.
Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez would still be favored against Saunders, but the Saunders that fought last night in Quebec would give both fighters fits and would be a live underdog to pull a massive upset.
Let's hope that we see more of Billy Joe Saunders in 2018 and that he doesn't slip back into his inactive ways against poor opposition again.

As for David Lemieux, it's pretty clear that he's a top ten level fighter that really isn't an elite level fighter.
Lemieux can be a fun fighter to watch and can be part of some really exciting fights, but he will always have problems with boxers and he does have a tendency to slide into a passive mode at a certain point in fights when adversity strikes.

Billy Joe Saunders might not be the most exciting fighter in the middleweight division or even the best, but he might have taken one of Gennady Golovkin's titles without Golovkin even knowing it- Saunders might have just become the most avoided man in the middleweight division...

Boxing Challenge:Horn stops Corcoran

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Boxing Challenge continued from Australia as Jeff Horn defended his WBO welterweight title with an eleventh round stoppage of unheralded Gary Corcoran of England.
Horn was way ahead on my card and the win not only retained his title, but likely earned him a healthy purse in his next fight and the right and the right to try to take out one of the best fighters in the world in Terence Crawford.

In other weekend fights that I hadn't seen of last writing.

The upset of the weekend saw journeyman Caleb Truax upset IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale via majority decision in London.
DeGale dominated the first two rounds and looked like he thought he would blow through Truax early and gassed himself out.
I had Truax a 115-113 winner.

Lee Selby retained his IBF featherweight title on that card via a unanimous decision over Eduardo Ramirez in a workmanlike victory.
I scored Selby a 117-111 winner.
Selby will face mandatory countryman Josh Warrington in his next defense.

On the Salido-Roman undercard, Rene Alvarado scored a minor upset with a narrow split decision over Denis Shafikov.
I scored the fight a draw at 95-95.

Boxing Challenge points to:

Ramon Malpica:2 pts, 1 each for wins for Jeff Horn and Rene Alvarado
TRS: 4 pts, 2 pts for Jeff Horn win/KO and 2 pts for Lee Selby win/decision

Current Standings192-173

Boxing Challenge-Lomachenko Dominates Rigondeaux

Huge weekend in the boxing challenge and since I was in Pittsburgh for the Steel City Comic Con, I have yet to catch on everything as of this writing, but I did see the biggest card of the weekend from Top Rank on ESPN with the anticipated first ever meeting of two double Olympic gold medal winners as Vasyl Lomachenko defended his WBO junior lightweight title against Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Sadly, the bout didn't live up to its hype as Lomachenko dominated every round against Rigondeaux and left the reluctant Cuban to retire on his stool at the end of the sixth round with an injured hand.
Now, it is tremendously difficult to fight through a hand injury and I'm not attempting to diminish the injury at all, but it's the difference between the warrior and just a fighter and when it was time to determine what was in the tank for Rigondeaux when the rubber hit the road, he chose to quit.
No knockdowns scored and what wasn't expected to be a war, but it was even more disappointing than expected.
I'm not sure what Rigondeaux has in his future, but Lomachenko doesn't appear to have any challenges at 130 unless he wants to collect belts and even then I don't think those are true challenges,simply exercises in collecting.
Lomachenko may have to move to 135 for potential fights against Jorge Linares or Mikey Garcia to face any sort of competitive opponent.

The co-feature promising junior lightweight prospect Christopher Diaz blow out Bryant Cruz in three impressive rounds as he scored knockdowns in every round.
Diaz may not be ready for Lomachenko soon, but he might be the fighter that takes over the division when Lomachenko moves to 135.

On FS1 from the PBC on Friday, former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal had not looked good of late and entered what he claimed to be his final fight against Ahmed Elbali, who had looked very impressive as he had worked his way through his early tests.
I thought Pascal was ripe for being the first name on Elbali's resume and early on it looked to be the case.
However, Pascal drained the gas from Elbali's tank and stopped an exhausted Elbali in the sixth round.
Let's see after such a big win if Pascal truly is able to walk away.

On HBO, a three bout card from Las Vegas saw the junior lightweights featured.
The main event saw the end of the exciting career of the only fighter to defeat Vasyl Lomachenko as Orlando Salido was stopped by Miguel Roman in the 9th round of an excellent fight.
I had Roman slightly ahead entering round nine, mainly on the basis of knockdowns scored in the fourth and eighth round before closing the show in the ninth.
Glad to see Salido go out before he gets seriously hurt and going out in a good fight instead of one in which he was badly overmatched.

We saw a Hamburglar arrival as Kenichi Ogawa won the vacant IBF title by a split decision over Tevin Farmer.
This was a robbery as I had Farmer a 117-111 winner and I fail to see how anyone could see Ogawa a winner in any way.
I would not be surprised to see the IBF mandate an immediate rematch due to the decision.

Francisco Vargas won the opener by a unanimous technical decision in the tenth round when a head butt split the ear IN HALF (YES!) of Stephen Smith in round ten..
I've been around boxing a long time-I've never seen an injury like that!
If you didn't see this and have a weak stomach, don't look this up!
I had Vargas a 97-93 winner.

Boxing challenge points
R.L: One point for Lomachenko and Roman wins
TRS:Two points for Lomachenko win/KO, One point Cruz win

Total Standings TRS leads:188-171

I'll have to watch the other three bouts on youtube later this week and I'll add them to Wednesday morning's Jeff Horn bout for that Challenge recap!
 

Boxing Challenge

Time is very short for me and I want to use it to write about John Dorsey being hired by the Browns at GM, so for this boxing challenge, I'm just going to go with the fights and predictions for this weekend.
I selected one fight from a PBC Friday card and a next Wednesday Fight from Australia on ESPN as well.
I lead Ramon Malpica 185-169.

Light Heavyweights. 10 Rds.
Jean Pascal vs Ahmed Elbali
Both:Elbali Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Lightweight Title.12 Rds
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Guillermo Rigondeaux
R.L; Lomachenko Unanimous Decision
TRS: Lomachenko KO 10

Jr.Lightweights.10 Rds
Christopher Diaz vs Bryant Cruz
R.L.: Cruz Unanimous Decision
TRS: Diaz Unanimous Decision

Jr.Lightweights. 10 Rds
Orlando Salido vs Mickey Roman
R.L.: Roman Unanimous Decision
TRS: Salido Unanimous Decision

Vacant IBF Jr.Lightweight Title. 12 Rds
Tevin Farmer vs Kenichi Ogawa
R.L: Farmer KO 8
TRS: Farmer Unanimous Decision

Jr.Lightweights. 10 Rds
Francisco Vargas vs Stephen Smith
Both: Smith Unanimous Decision

Lightweights.10 Rds
Denis Shafikov vs Rene Alvarado
R.L; Alvarado Unanimous Decision
TRS: Shafikov Unanimous Decision

IBF Super Middleweight Title. 12 Rds
James DeGale vs Caleb Truax
R.L: DeGale KO 8
TRS: DeGale KO 6

IBF Featherweight Title 12 Rds
Lee Selby vs Eduardo Ramirez
R.L: Ramirez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Selby Unanimous Decision

WBO Welterweight Title. 12 Rds
Jeff Horn vs Gary Corcoran
R.L: Horn Unanimous Decision
TRS: Horn KO 8

Boxing Challenge: Ali upsets Cotto

The Boxing Challenge continued in Madison Square Garden as the supposed goodbye to Miguel Cotto ended badly for Cotto and his fans as heavy underdog Sadam Ali moved up from welterweight to stun Cotto and lift his WBO junior middleweight title via a close but unanimous decision.
Ali was the quicker fighter but surprisingly was the harder puncher as he hurt Cotto in the second round and won the final four rounds on my card, which had Ali as a 115-113 winner.
Cotto injured his biceps in the seventh round and that may have cost him the fight, but clearly, Cotto is getting out at the right time and I would hope to see him stick to his retirement claim.
As for Ali, I'm not sure how he stacks up against the other top 154 pounders and I would rank him fourth among the four champions at junior middleweight.

In the co-feature, the less said the better as Rey Vargas won every round on my card and won a unanimous decision over Oscar Negrete, whose best move was to use headbutts from the Tony Atlas school, to retain his WBC junior featherweight title via unanimous decision.
HBO's fights have slipped off late and this fight is a prime example of this.

Ramon Malpica and I each added two points for the Vargas win and none for Ali's upset of Cotto.
The Challenge is now 185-169.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge enters the final month of the year with my lead over Ramon Malpica standing at 183-167.

This weekend is just a two bout card on HBO and one up against the Big 10 title game, so it's unlikely I'll be watching either of these live unless the game is an absolute blowout.

The main event has Miguel Cotto is his supposed "farewell" (this is boxing-if you have big fights to make, you are rarely truly retired) defending his WBO junior middleweight title in his second fight in a row against a smaller and outgunned opponent this time in Sadam Ali
Ali is best known for being the number one contender (despite having only one decent win over Luis Abregu) and getting knocked out by Jessie Vargas before his title shot.
That was at welterweight and this is seven pounds higher as Cotto, as he did in his last fight against Yoshihiro Kamegai, is stacking the deck against the smaller Ali.

Rey Vargas defends his WBC junior featherweight belt against Oscar Negrete, who is undefeated against less than world class opponents.
Vargas has looked sharp in his last two fights, winning the title on the road against Gavin McDonnell and a defense against Ronny Rios in August...

WBO Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds
Miguel Cotto vs Sadam Ali
R.L: Cotto Unanimous Decision
TRS: Cotto KO 8

WBC Junior Featherweight Title.12 Rds
Rey Vargas vs Oscar Negrete
Both: Vargas Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: The Krusher is back!

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points on the three-bout card from New York City by HBO.
The challenge is now 183-167.

In the main event, Sergey Kovalev claimed the final light heavyweight title that Andre Ward vacated after their second fight with a second round shellacking of Vyacheslav Shabranskyy to win the WBO version of the light heavyweight title.
Kovalev looked like the "Krusher" of old as he dropped the made to order Shabranskyy twice in the first and then again in the second before finishing the show.
Kovalev was impressive in the win but didn't prove much against limited opposition.
Kovalev does have options for his next fight against Sullivan Barrera (promoted by Main Events) or mandatory WBO contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk, either of whom would be likely show how much Kovalev has left after his two fight series with Andre Ward.

Sullivan Barrera won a lopsided decision over Felix Valera in the co-feature that was a rough and dirty fight as Valera lost three points to low blows.
Both fighters were dropped in the first round and Barrera was cut, but the deducted points made the fight far more lopsided on the scorecards than it actually was.
I had Barrera a 97-90 winner.

In the opener, late substitute Yuriorkis Gamboa won a majority decision over Jason Sosa.
I didn't see the fight as the robbery that so many did, but Sosa knocked Gamboa down in the seventh and a point deduction on Gamboa, should have cemented the bout for Sosa.
I had Sosa a 96-92 winner on my card.
The "win" will likely earn Gamboa another decent payday down the road and considering the cards, Sosa shouldn't lose too much either..

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge is back with a three-fight card from HBO as the challenge prepares to enter the final month of the 2017 version.
I lead Ramon Malpica 179-163.

The main event is the return of the supposedly rejuvenated Sergey Kovalev, who has supposedly turned his personal life around (more on this in the next Cleaning out the inbox) in his return to the ring from his controversial two-fight series with the now-retired Andre Ward.

Kovalev's losses may have been controversial, but even Kovalev's fans cannot deny that Kovalev's performance declined by the round in those fights, and we'll see how much of that was Ward and how much was it Kovalev's intimidating veneer being stripped away.

Kovalev gets a chance to get one of his old belts back after Andre Ward vacated them, as the WBO sanctioned Kovalev's bout against Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for their title.
Shabranskyy looked to be a promising future contender after beating top ten contender Yuneski Gonzalez in December 2015, but a year ago was dropped three times by Sullivan Barrera and looked overmatched.
Shabranskyy will come forward and try to fight Kovalev, but it seems to me that he has the perfect style to make Kovalev look stronger than ever in his comeback.

The aforementioned Sullivan Barrera is mentioned as Kovalev's next opponent as they are both promoted by Main Events, but Barrera will have to get by Felix Valera to get to that match.
Valera has just one loss, a very respectable decision loss to now WBA champ Dmitry Bivol in his only fight against world-class opposition.
Valera must be able to take a shot, as going the distance over twelve rounds against the rock-fisted Bivol is a fine notch to have, but Barrera is more of a boxer/puncher and brings different problems than Bivol...

The opening bout might be better suited to be one of those old pro wrestling "loser leaves town" matches as Jason Sosa, who was dominated by Vasyl Lomachenko last time out, takes on the faded Yuriorkis Gamboa.
The once excellent Gamboa was pounded and stopped after round seven against Robinson Castellanos, but will get this opportunity after Castellanos had to drop out of this fight with a back injury.
This might be a very entertaining fight, though, and could see both men hit the deck a time or two in this junior lightweight ten-rounder.

Vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Title 12 rds
Sergey Kovalev vs Vyacheslav Shabranskyy
R.L: Kovalev KO 8
TRS: Kovalev KO 5

Light Heavyweights, 10 Rds.
Sullivan Barrera vs Felix Valera
Both: Barrera Unanimous Decision

Jr.Lightweights.10 Rds
Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Jason Sosa
Both: Sosa Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge-Frampton survives again!

For a small week in the boxing challenge, I was pleasantly surprised with some closer than expected bouts...

Former junior featherweight and featherweight champion Carl Frampton returned to the ring after a ten month layoff and his first career loss (to Leo Santa Cruz) and was surprisingly tested by Horatio Garcia before winning a unanimous decision.
Frampton started fast, but lost some rounds down the stretch and was even ruled to have been knocked down in the seventh even though I didn't see it that way.
I scored Frampton a very narrow 95-94 winner (6-4 in rounds with a point lost for the knockdown) and I'm not sure that Garcia wouldn't have pulled the decision out had the fight been scheduled for twelve rounds.

On the undercard, IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas was very impressive in knocking out Jamie Conlan in the sixth round.
Ancajas scored four knockdowns in the fight and seemed to have too much strength and power for the tough Conlan, who crumpled every time that Ancajas reached him to the body.
Conlan, the brother of highly touted prospect Michael Conlan, was thought to have a chance to defeat Ancajas by some (including me), but Ancajas looks to be a coming star in the suddenly talent packed junior bantamweight division.

In Las Vegas on a PBC card, Julian Williams won a unanimous decision that was far wider on the scorecards than I had it (96-94 for Williams) over former champion Ishe Smith.
The fight was much more exciting than I thought it would be entering the matchup and the veteran Smith, who has made a career out of boring distance fights, suddenly at 39 has become a fighter that is fun to watch.
The downside for this change in attitude is Smith is taking more punches and with slowed skills might wind up getting hurt if he continues to fight and this might be a good way to go out for the veteran.
As for J-Rock Williams, he doesn't look to have completely recovered from his brutal knockout loss to Jermall Charlo.
Williams looks a bit tentative when he gets hit and to fight a really close bout with the fading Smith doesn't bode well if he returns to championship contention.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica scored five points to my four and closed the overall gap to 179-163.
We both received two points each for the wins by Frampton and Williams, but Ramon added one for the Jerwin Ancajas win where I picked Conlan to pull the upset.

More talk on boxing on Monday night on FightHeads!

Boxing Challenge

A very small boxing challenge with two bouts from Northern Ireland that doesn't have American television and another with American television that few people can see.

Two division champion Carl Frampton returns for the first time since losing the second of his two fights against Leo Santa Cruz against Horatio Garcia in what is a tuneup bout for a bigger next fight against any of three featherweight champions that have been mentioned-A third bout against Santa Cruz, IBF champ Lee Selby and WBO beltholder Oscar Valdez.

The co-feature has IBF junior bantamweight champ Jerwin Ancajas defending against hometown hero Jamie Conlan.
The winner is a major force in the suddenly hot junior bantamweight division and the style of the brawling Conlan against Ancajas, who doesn't  mind mixing it up makes this a fight to be seen- even if you cannot see it live.

Bounce TV is a small network that next to no one has, yet PBC runs fight cards every once in a while there.
The main event isn't bad this time though as former title challenger Julian "J-Rock" Williams has his first major fight since being knocked out by Jermall Charlo against former world champion Ishe Smith.
Smith gets decent fights constantly usually due to the influence of Smith's top backer, Floyd Mayweather and usually goes rounds, even if he's a bit past his prime.
This fight normally wouldn't be enough to be on the challenge on its own, but since the two fights from Northern Ireland are on the weekend, I tossed it on the card.

I lead the boxing challenge over Ramon Malpica 175-158

Featherweights. 10 Rds
Carl Frampton vs Horatio Garcia
Both: Frampton Unanimous Decision

IBF Junior Bantamweight title,12 Rds
Jerwin Ancajas vs Jamie Conlan
R.L:  Ancajas Unanimous Decision
TRS: Conlan Split Decision

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds
Julian Williams vs Ishe Smith
Both: Williams Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge-Beterbiev wins a title,Jacobs returns to ring

A five-fight weekend in the boxing challenge didn't exactly fill the world with action, but not every fight can be a war, but they still had significance on the overall scene.

On ESPN, hometown junior welterweight Jose Ramirez sold out an arena in Fresno, California and impressively blew out Mike Reed in the second round in a junior welterweight eliminator.
I think selling out a 12,000 seat arena might have been more impressive than stopping Reed, but Ramirez is going to make some fun fights to watch as he moves up the ladder and in his next fight for the vacant WBC title (one of the belts dropped by Terence Crawford) against Amir Imam.

In the co-feature, Artur Beterbiev won every round against Enrico Koelling before stopping him in the final round to preserve his flawless knockout streak and win the vacant IBF light heavyweight title.
One round was pretty much the same as the next, so the fight wasn't that great however Beterbiev wins a title and adds himself to the top of an interesting light heavyweight division.

On HBO, Daniel Jacobs won almost every round (119-109 on my card) in a unanimous decision over Luis Arias.
I thought Jacobs looked good, not great and it'll be worth a look in his next fight against whoever that will be to see if Jacobs is truly a top five fighter or one that bulked up to have an advantage against Gennady Golovkin in his biggest bout.
I always laugh when fighters talk about the importance of staying active as Jacobs did in his post-fight interview that has a background of fighting once or twice a year.
Attention fighters:If you REALLY want to stay active-Do NOT sign with Al Haymon and the PBC.
Jacobs may be serious now as he is with Eddie Hearn.

In two fights that I have yet to see in the challenge-
Heavyweight Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller stopped veteran journeyman Mariusz Wach in the ninth round.
Wach was ranked in the top ten for some reason, so this win should move Miller up the rankings of the sanctioning bodies.

In the U.K. Liam Smith won a unanimous decision over Liam Williams in a rematch of their bloody war from the summer.
Unfair for me to say since I have not seen the fight yet, but I have seen a few (a few) that thought Williams clearly won...

In the challenge, Ramon Malpica earned seven points to my six and pulled to 175-158 for the year.
Ramon's seven points were acquired as followed:
Two points each with wins from Beterbiev, Miller and Smith and one from the win by Daniel Jacobs.

My six were as noted;
Two points each from Beterbiev and Jacobs and one point each from Ramirez and Miller.

Join me tonight at 8 EST on Fightheads to talk boxing at  (646) 787-1746 

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge continues with a six fight weekend with two networks showing competing cards.

ESPN and Top Rank travel to Fresno California for a sold-out house for their hometown contender Jose Ramirez, who will take on Mike Reed in a junior welterweight bout between two undefeated young fighters.
Ramirez and Reed should be an interesting main event with the winner moving into title contention.

The co-feature will fill another of the vacant light heavyweight titles as the IBF belt will go to the winner of the Artur Beterbiev-Enrico Koelling bout.
The fight will be promoted by Top Rank, who surprisingly won a purse bid despite not promoting either fighter.
Beterbiev is a talented bomber, whose career has stalled over late with promotional problems and he should steamroll the light fisted Koelling (6 KO's in 24 wins), who won't be able to keep the pressuring Beterbiev off of him.
A Beterbiev win would give another of the vacant belts from the retirement of Andre Ward to a talented and big punching talent with the WBA title with Dimitry Bivol and the WBO belt favored to return to Sergey Kovalev in December, the light heavys look to be able to make some exciting fights in 2018.

HBO features the return of Daniel Jacobs after his surprisingly strong effort in March against Gennady Golovkin in the renovated former home of the Islanders-the Nassau Coliseum.
The renovation was a good thing considering the times we poked fun at it watching Devils road games there, but the Jacobs opponent in Luis Arias brings some interesting qualities after a nice win in his last outing- a KO over Arif Magonedov, so this isn't a squash.
I'll be interested to see if Jacobs was giving an inspired over his head effort vs Golovkin or has he truly turned a corner in his career.

The other HBO fight carries heavyweight ramifications as top five contender Mariusz Wach battles prospect Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller in Miller's first real test against top ten competition.
Miller appears to have the talent to be a contender, but can he stay in shape enough to do so?
Wach will be a nice test as the durable veteran has gone rounds in both of his tests against Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin.

In a non-televised match in the US, Liam Smith and Liam Williams hook up in a junior middleweight rematch from England in a WBO eliminator.
In their first fight, Williams seemed on the verge of pulling a huge upset before what I thought was an intentional headbutt by Smith badly cut Williams and the Williams corner stopped the fight before the tenth round.

I lead the boxing challenge 169-151

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds
Jose Ramirez vs Mike Reed
R.L: Reed Unanimous Decision
TRS: Ramirez Unanimous Decision

Vacant IBF Light Heavyweight Title 12 Rds
Artur Beterbiev vs Enrico Koelling
R.L: Beterbiev KO 5
TRS: Beterbiev KO 3

Middleweights.12 rds
Daniel Jacobs vs Luis Arias
R.L: Jacobs KO 9
TRS; Jacobs Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Jarrell Miller vs Mariusz Wach
R.L: Miller KO 7
TRS: Miller Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds
Liam Smith vs Liam Williams
R.L: Smith Unanimous Decision
TRS: Williams Split Decision

Boxing Challenge:The Rest of the Weekend

I only wanted to cover the Wilder-Stiverne fight as I had some things to write about the heavyweight division, so now it's time to catch up on the rest of the boxing weekend.

Dmitry Bivol continues to show promise as the next boss at light heavyweight with a one round destruction of Trent Broadhurst to retain his WBA title.
Bivol didn't figure to be tested by Broadhurst and he wasn't, but Bivol figures to have a sterner bout in his next defense against Sullivan Barrera.

Also on the Bivol card in Monte Carlo:
Just as the Jamie McDonnell-Librado Solis rematch started to heat up, a clash of heads caused the fight to stopped in the third with a massive cut over McDonnell's eye.
Not sure if there will be a third fight, but there was nothing resolved after the controversial decision won by McDonnell in their bout.

Scott Quigg won every round on my card before the referee stepped in round six in a WBA eliminator over Oleg Yefimovich,
Quigg will be the mandatory contender to the winner of next year's Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares fight.

Undefeated heavyweight Agit Kabayel won a majority decision over veteran fringe contender Dereck Chisora.
I had Kabayel a 117-111 winner, but the official cards were far closer at 114-114 on one card and 115-113 on the other two for Kabayel.
Chisora might have lost a lucrative shot at Dillion Whyte rematch with the loss, while Kabayel might be able to move to the next level of the Euro contenders...

On the undercard of Wilder-Stiverne.
Shawn Porter won a unanimous decision over Adrian Granados with all three judges agreeing with my card of 117-111.
Granados was game in defeat, but being a natural 140 pounder rising in weight for the fight, he was just too small to handle the larger Porter, who retained his top contender status.

Sergey Lipinets won a more difficult than expected unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo to win the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.
Kondo was better than advertised, but Lipinets earned a 115-113 nod on my card.
Lipinets may face Adrien Broner next in the latest of "last chances" for Broner.

In a WBC heavyweight eliminator, Dominic Breazeale stopped Eric Molina in the eighth round.
Originally, this was scheduled to determine the number one contender for Deontay Wilder, but this might be an eliminator to fight for the top spot in their next fight after lots of criticism from the boxing media.
Breazeale has had out of the ring issues with Wilder and might get the shot in Wilder's next optional defense.
This fight was not televised, so no scoring on this.

In the boxing challenge, I scored ten points to Ramon Malpica's nine on the weekend.
The difference was Agit Kabayel's win over Dereck Chisora as I picked Kabayel for a point while Ramon tabbed Chisora as the winner.
My ten came from two points from wins from Porter, Breazeale, and Bivol with one pointers from Lipinets, Quigg, Wilder, and Kabayel.

Ramon's nine came from two pointers from Breazeale, Bivol, and Lipinets with one pointers from Wilder, Quigg and Porter.
The challenge is at 169-151

Wilder takes care of business!

AP Photo/Kevin Hagen

The biggest bout in the boxing challenge featured the biggest men as Deontay Wilder blew away the only fighter to have lasted the distance with him in just one round as Wilder crushed Bermane Stiverne in their rematch in Brooklyn.
Stiverne, who had fought just one time since his first bout with Wilder, appeared out of shape and didn't land any of the four punches that he threw at Wilder, proved that his top ranking in the WBC was as farcical as it appeared and it appeared that the skills that he once possessed that helped him take Wilder the distance were gone and he needs to retire.
As for Wilder, he did exactly what champions do when you are forced to fight undeserving challengers- dispatch them quickly and impressively as three knockdowns and leaving your opponent unconscious showed in this one.

I've been hard on Wilder's competition in the past and this didn't change that, but it's pretty clear that the time is right for Wilder to step up (or someone to step up and fight him) for a big fight.
Wilder made a lot of noise after the fight about fighting Anthony Joshua and I do believe that he wants that fight badly-mainly because it would prove who the best heavyweight is and bring Wilder the largest payday of his career- especially if Wilder is willing to go to the UK where the fight would sell out an 80,000 seat stadium.
However, is there anything more overdone in boxing than "calling out opponents"that are promoted by someone else, therefore making the said fight difficult to make?
I'm not saying Wilder doesn't want Anthony Joshua, but calling him out doesn't prove anything and I am very weary of fighters from any stable, but especially from the notoriously difficult to deal with PBC talking about fights that they aren't willing to make a deal to close a contract.
Considering the options available for Joshua there (UK fighters that might make Joshua more money at lesser risk such as Tyson Fury, Dillion Whyte and the winner of the Tony Bellew-David Haye rematch) compared to the less than wonderful options available for Wilder, I'd be surprised if this fight happened next year and very surprised to see it happen in the next fight for either man.

As I wrote, Joshua has far more options than Wilder, but that doesn't mean Wilder doesn't have any.
Since Joshua has two belts (WBA and IBF) to Wilder's WBC title if this fight cannot be worked out.
I would go looking for the third champion in WBO champ Joseph Parker, who has not looked great in winning his title against Andy Ruiz or his first title defense vs Hughie Fury.
That fight makes a lot of sense as the winner can claim two titles as Joshua does, Parker is far more likely to come to the United States than Joshua is and Parker has even fewer options than Wilder does, although after his win over Fury, Parker too "called out" Joshua.
It's easy to see that calling out the man that brings the dollars and leverage to the table is much simpler than making the actual fight.

If Wilder (and for that matter Parker) can't make fights against Joshua or each other, I would try to keep them in the ring as much as possible fighting more often.
The heavyweight division is strong at the top with three champions and if Tyson Fury is ever able to return to the ring in a decent mindset, but where it is weakest is in legitimately strong contenders.
Dillon Whyte's biggest "win" was in a loss to Joshua, the same can be argued for Dominic Breazeale, Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller gets his first top 15 test next week on HBO, Kubrat Pulev has an injured shoulder, Carlos Takam has already been beaten by Joshua and Parker, Andy Ruiz hasn't fought since his very close loss to Parker and Luis Ortiz along with Alexander Povetkin cannot be trusted to pass PED tests before title fights and these are the best of the contenders.

Staying active against weaker challengers won't prove much more about Deontay Wilder than we already know from his past soft touches, but it will keep him in front of fans and with each impressive and preferably explosive win, the roar for a Joshua-Wilder showdown will increase.
Of course, we all would love to see this made as soon as the spring and I'm not calling for a "Marinade", but there could be a way to make this a bigger event on this side of the Atlantic and it would come with multiple wins.

The heavyweight division suddenly is exciting, if not filled with proven depth, and if we cannot see Joshua-Wilder soon, let's hope that we see more of them more often against what is available in the heavyweight division....

I'll be back later with the rest of the weekend in boxing...

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge moves into a big weekend with eight bouts on two cards and two networks.
Not all of these fights are going to be televised, but all are important to various degrees.

Showtime has the larger card with three fights on television and the fourth being an important eliminator.
The main event features Deontay Wilder defending his WBC heavyweight title against the man that he won his title from and the only man that has taken Wilder the distance in Bermane Stiverne.
Wilder's competition has been severely questioned since defeating Stiverne as he defended against five less than quality contenders ranging from way past his prime Chris Arreola, journeymen Artur Szpilka and Eric Molina, untested former football player Gerald Washington and no name Johann Duhaupas, but Stiverne has fought just once since their fight in January 2015 and was dropped in a loss to journeyman Derric Rossy, so both can be questioned entering this fight.
Wilder's style which has been a seek and destroy style against most of his foes, boxed more from a distance in their first fight, which makes me wonder just what Wilder brings to the table overall.
This will be interesting to see how Wilder fights in this contest.

Showtime also has a WBC welterweight eliminator as Shawn Porter, who is the top contender already, is staying active against hard luck Adrian Granados, who I thought defeated Adrien Broner, but Granados was never going to get that decision.
This looks to be the best action fight of the weekend and could be close on the cards.

The opening bout on Showtime has power punching Sergei Lipinets against Akihiro Kondo for the IBF junior lightweight title, which was one of the four vacated by Terence Crawford when he moved up to the welterweight division.
This could be a short night for the talented Lipinets as Kondo hasn't fought anyone that has even sniffed the top 15.

The untelevised fight is one with consequences as the WBC has inexplicably decided to make a scheduled fight between Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina a title eliminator with the winner becoming the next mandatory contender for the Wilder-Stiverne winner.
Breazale, who has only one win since his loss to Anthony Joshua and zero wins over top ten contenders (and hit an Hamburglar alert in a 2015 "win" over Fred Kassi) looks like Larry Holmes next to Molina, who has been knocked out in undeserved title chances against Joshua and Wilder.
This being a title eliminator is one thing, making it the mandatory contender is another.

HBO is showing the main event from Monte Carlo as talented WBA light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol defends for the first title in a squash match vs Trent Broadhurst.
Bivol has a chance to be the next great light heavyweight and even though I'd like to see him against better competition, it should be a spectacular ending.

The other three bouts include a minor bantamweight title rematch mandated by the WBA as Jamie McDonnell fights Librado Solis in the same place one year later that saw Solis win a clear decision on my card and McDonnell earn a Hamburglar in getting the unanimous decision.
Scott Quigg attempts to revive a career that's been quiet since his split decision loss to Carl Frampton in a title eliminator at featherweight against Oleg Yefimovych, who is an unknown factor against world class competition.
The winner will become the mandatory for the winner of the WBA featherweight fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares in 2018.
Undefeated German heavyweight Agit Kabayel receives his first jump in competition against veteran Briton Dereck Chisora,
We'll know a lot more about Kabayel after this one as Chisora's track record has been that he beats the pretenders and loses to the true contenders.
I lead the challenge over Ramon Malpica 159-142.

WBC Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds
Deontay Wilder vs Bermane Stiverne
Both: Wilder Unanimous Decision

Welterweights. 12 Rds
Shawn Porter vs Adrian Granados
R,L: Porter Split Decision
TRS: Porter Unanimous Decision

Vacant IBF Junior Welterweight Title 12 Rds
Sergei Lipinets vs Akihiro Kondo
R.L: Lipinets Unanimous Decision
TRS: Lipinets KO 6

Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Dominic Breazeale vs Eric Molina
R.L: Breazeale KO 5
TRS: Breazeale KO 10

WBA Light Heavyweight Title.12 Rds
Dmitry Bivol vs Trent Broadhurst
R.L: Bivol KO 6
TRS: Bivol KO 3

Bantamweights. 12 Rds
Jamie McDonnell vs Librado Solis
Both: McDonnell Unanimous Decision

Featherweights. 12 Rds
Scott Quigg vs Oleg Yefimovich
Both: Quigg Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Agit Kabayel vs Dereck Chisora
R.L: Chisora Unanimous Decision
TRS: Kabayel Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge:Joshua tested by Takam

Photo Credit:Nick Potts/PA Wire

The boxing challenge hit Cardiff, Wales for three bouts in the challenge with the main event featuring Anthony Joshua defending his WBA and IBF heavyweight titles against late substitute Carlos Takam.

Joshua would get his 20th stoppage win and maintain his perfect knockout percentage, but the tough Takam was far better than most expected in taking Joshua into round ten before the referee made what most observers saw as somewhat of a quick stoppage.
I had Joshua ahead 90-80 after nine rounds, winning every round, knocking Takam down in the fourth, which was the same round that a Joshua right hand badly sliced open the right eye of the Cameroon native fighting out of France and controlling the bout.
However, it wasn't all good news for Joshua asTakam was a true warrior that landed some shots on Joshua and never stopped trying to win.
Takam's best shot though came in round two when a headbutt broke Joshua's nose.
It was the type of fight that young champions need to go through.
Not every challenger is going to fall to the mat, no matter how limited or how qualified and it's good for Joshua, who still needs to develop a bit as a finished product.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has Joshua fighting three times and named WBC champ Deontay Wilder and WBO titlist Joseph Parker as likely fights (I'll believe that when I see as handlers for both fighters have been less than grandiose in matching their fighters tough) and former champion Tyson Fury, who I'm dubious will ever fight again.
Somewhere will have to be a WBA mandatory and that organization has sanctioned the winner of an Alexander Povetkin-Christian Hammer fight as the next mandatory from their group.
Considering Povetkin being the likely winner of that fight and his history with PED"s (Popped twice), Joshua might have time to fight three times before a WBA mandatory fight.
Hammer has two recognizable wins in the last five years over American journeyman Kevin Johnson and soft-jawed Brit David Price, so I'm doubtful he defeats the skilled yet troubled Povetkin.

On the undercard without American television and as of now, no Youtube.
Kal Yafai retained his WBA junior bantamweight title with a unanimous decision win over mandatory challenger Sho Ishida.
Yafai is rumored to be part of the next HBO "Superfly II" card defending against Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez.

Former Joshua foe Dillion Whyte won a unanimous decision over Finland's Robert Helenius.
Whyte is a rumored possible opponent for Deontay Wilder, should Wilder get by Bermane Stiverne next Saturday on Showtime.

Ramon Malpica each earned five points on the weekend-Two each for the wins by Anthony Joshua and Kal Yafai with one for the Dillion Whyte win...

The total stands at 159-142

Braehmer decisions Brant-

The boxing challenge began a day earlier in Germany as the World Boxing Super Series finished their quarter-final round with the last super middleweight bout between fourth seed Jurgen Braehmer and Rob Brant.

I was surprised to see the seemingly near the end of the line Braehmer dominate with his jab and take a unanimous decision with pretty lopsided scorecards with the closest being 116-112 for the veteran German, which was the score that I agreed with on the night.
Brant won three of the first four rounds on my card, but would only win one round after as Braehmer controlled the bout from distance as Brant's punch output simply slowed far too much for him to win a decision on German ground.
I was torn entering this bout as Braehmer hadn't fought in a year, had quit on his stool in his last bout against Nathan Cleverly and was dropping a division in weight, but Brant hadn't fought anyone near a contender and was moving up from middleweight to participate in the tournament.
I picked Brant (as did Ramon Malpica) to win and I figured that he would be the more active and more motivated fighter, but it didn't appear to be the case in fistic action.

The Braehmer win moves him to the World Boxing Super Series semi-final against second seed Callum Smith of Great Britain in a less than inspiring fight on paper.
Smith is the higher seed, but I would not be surprised if the fight happens in Germany with the other semi between George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr is almost a certainty to be British bound.
I'm hoping to do a look back at the good and bad of the World Boxing Super Series next week along with a few thoughts about the semi-finals in both brackets/

Boxing Challenge

Photo Credit: Splash News

The challenge starts early this week as the World Boxing Super Series concludes its quarter-final fights on a Friday from Germany.

However, we start with the biggest fight of the weekend from Cardiff, Wales on Showtime as WBA and IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua defends his two titles against late replacement Carlos Takam.
The original opponent was to be the IBF's mandatory contender Kubrat Pulev, but Pulev pulled out shortly before the bout with a shoulder problem.
Takam was the highest rated contender that was willing to take the fight so this bout will be considered Joshua's mandatory defense for the IBF and Pulev will have to start over in building his claim for a future title shot.
Joshua returns to the ring for the first time since his fight of the year contender vs Wladimir Klitschko that saw both men hit the floor.
Takam has been a top 20 contender that suffered both of his losses when the competition increased against Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker.

The co-feature in Cardiff has the unknown factor in the suddenly red-hot junior bantamweight division as WBA champ Kal Yafai is defending against undefeated Sho Ishida of Japan.
Yafai is a heavy favorite to defeat Ishida, who has never fought outside of his home country and has never beaten anyone near the top 20 with his last two opponents being fighters making their pro debut!
Yafai will get his chance to join the elite of the division with his WBA belt as he is expected to defend against Roman Gonzalez with a successful defense against Ishida.

The final challenge bout from Wales matches heavyweight contender Dillion Whyte against the once-promising Robert Helenius of Finland.
Whyte's battle with Anthony Joshua was the champion toughest other than Wladimir Klitschko and with Whyte's war with Dereck Chisora, Whyte has become a solid contender and one that would be a welcome challenger against Joshua or one of the other two champions in Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.
Helenius was thought to be a future contender six or seven years ago but has never faced a top 20 fighter other than his fight with the aforementioned Chisora, which Helenius won in one of the worst decisions of the year.

And then there is the reason the challenge is being posted on a Friday as the World Boxing Super Series finishes the super middleweight bracket with the last quarter-final with Germany's Jurgen Brahmer against the only American in the tournament Rob Brant.
Brahmer was a minor titlist at 175 pounds and spent most of his time knocking off C-level competition in Germany for years before losing to Nathan Cleverly a year ago before dropping to 168 for the WBSS.
Brant appears to be a talented prospect but hasn't fought anyone remotely resembling a world class fighter.

I lead the challenge 154-137

WBA/IBF Heavyweight Titles. 12 Rds
Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam
R.L: Joshua KO 9
TRS: Joshua KO 6

WBA Junior Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds
Kal Yafai vs Sho Ishida
Both: Yafai Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Dillion Whyte vs Robert Helenius
R.L: Whyte KO 5
TRS; Whyte KO 10

World Boxing Super Series Super Middleweight Quarter-Final.12 Rds
Jurgen Brahmer vs Rob Brant
R.L: Brant Unanimous Decision
TRS: Brant KO 9

Boxing Challenge:Machado upsets Corrales

The boxing challenge for the weekend starts in Verona, New York with two bouts from HBO that had varying intensities.

In the main event, Alberto Machado won the WBA junior lightweight title from Jezreel Corrales (TRS #3) when Machado landed a left hand while eating one from Corrales, dropping
Corrales and surviving himself.
The eighth round knockout allowed Machado to win a title that Corrales could not retain after missing weight by multiple pounds at the weigh-in.
WBA rules stated that after an agreement to keep the fight going that if Machado won, he would become champion and the title would become vacant with a Corrales win.
Machado had won just one round on my card (the sixth, where he should have been given a 10-8 round for a knockdown that was not called) before the abrupt victory.
The lean Machado will be an interesting addition to the 130 pound title picture with WBC champ Miguel Berchelt as a possible opponent should he defeat the gritty veteran Orlando Salido in December or the IBF champion (decided on the same card in December as Tevin Farmer faces Kenichi Ogawa for the title that Gervonta Davis sacrificed on the scale in August) for the slot of best in the division other than WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko.

The co-feature saw the return of Demetrius Andrade (TRS #3 at junior middle) moving up to middleweight against undefeated and untested Alantez Fox.
In a bout that rivaled any Guillermo Rigondeaux or Erislandy Lara fight for boredom, Andrade won every round on my card, but the seventh and took a unanimous decision.
Fox scored a knockdown in the seventh that really was a tangled foot issue.
I scored Andrade a 118-109 winner and I hope we see him against better challengers next time out.

HBO showed a good bantamweight bout on tape delay from Belfast, Northern Ireland as Ryan Burnett unified his IBF title with the WBA belt with a unanimous decision over Zhanat Zhakiyanov (TRS #3).
I scored Burnett a 117-111 winner after the fight was even after six rounds, but saw Burnett dominate the second half of the fight.
I'm sure we will see Burnett debut in the next edition of the TRS ratings.

In the final quarter-final of the World Boxing Super Series, Murat Gassiev (TRS #2) retained his IBF cruiserweight title in Newark, New Jersey with a body shot in round three that dropped Krzysztof Wlodarczyk for the count.
Gassiev pushed Wlodarczyk around the ring and from the opening bell, the verdict was clear that Gassiev could pick his round of victory,
Gassiev moves to the semi-finals against Yunier Dorticos in what should be a thrilling battle early in 2018 and might be establishing the early leader for 2018 fight of the year.
Next Saturday will have the final quarter-final in the super middleweights between Jurgen Brahmer and Rob Brant and following that, I'll have a look and some thoughts about the initial round of the WBSS.

From Tokyo for a minor title, Ryota Murata avenged one of the worst decisions in 2017 when Hassan N'Dam could not answer the bell for round eight in their middleweight fight.
I had Murata ahead on the cards and dominated the fight seen live on ESPN2 at 7;30 AM.
My issue is why the WBA made this for their "regular" title, when the organization that claims they want to reduce their titles, could have swallowed this one when Gennady Golovkin defeated Daniel Jacobs in March?
There is a manner to force a fight between the champion and a top challenger- it's called being the number one contender and that doesn't mean they are a champion too.

In an untelevised bout in the challenge, Daigo Higa (TRS #3) retained his WBC flyweight title with a seventh round knockout of Thomas Massson on the Murata-N'Dam undercard.
Higa has won by KO in all 14 of his pro bouts.

In the Boxing Challenge-

I earned three points for the Murat Gassiev win (a bonus point for getting the round correct), two points for the Daigo Higa KO win, one point for the wins by Ryan Burnett , Demetrius Andrade, and Ryota Murata and I missed on Alberto Machado's victory.

Ramon added two points for Gassiev's win and one each for the Andrade and Higa wins while missing on Machado,Murat and Burnett's wins.

The Challenge now stands at 154-137.
Don't forget to listen to Fightheads Monday at 8 EST for talk about these and other boxing issues!!

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge steams forward with six bouts with four titles on the line and a minor middleweight title as well.

We start at the Rock, which we usually cover New Jersey Devils hockey from and the World Boxing Super Series finishing the quarter-finals in the cruiserweight division with IBF champion Murat Gassiev (TRS #2) against former champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.
Gassiev was my pick to win the tournament and comes off a title-winning effort over Denis Lebedev, which netted him the IBF title from Lebedev, but due to a mind-numbing decision by the WBA, not their title.
Wlodarczyk is undefeated since losing his title three years ago but against very light competition.
The winner will face Yunier Dorticos in the semi-finals early next year.

HBO has a two live fight card from Verona New York and an important one on tape delay.
The tape-delayed fight comes out of Belfast Northern Ireland with a bantamweight unification as hometown fighter Ryan Burnett puts his IBF belt up against WBA champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov (TRS #3).
Zhakiyanov upset American Rau'shee Warren for the WBA title on a PBC show in his last fight.
This one should be a good one

The live card has WBA junior lightweight champion Jezreel Corrales (TRS #3) defending against undefeated Alberto Machado.
Corrales barely squeaked by Robinson Castellanos in his last defense getting knocked down twice in a fight stopped seconds into the tenth round when a clash of heads resulted in a stoppage and Corrales earning a close and debatable majority decision.
I would have rather seen a rematch, but at 5'10 (Very tall for a 130 pounder) the untested Machado will have some advantages.

The other bout sees the return of a TRS favorite as the super talented and just as poorly managed Demetrius Andrade (TRS #3 at junior middleweight) moves up to middleweight after vacating his minor belt at 154 rather than wait for a mandated (and likely tedious) shot at Erislandy Lara against undefeated and yet again untested Alantez Fox.
Fox has fought one fighter that you've ever heard of in fringe contender Frank Galarza in his eighth pro fight and drew with him, so not sure what we are getting in Fox.
Andrade has bounced from HBO to Showtime and now back to HBO.
If I had my choice, we would see either Charlo brother against Andrade at either 154 or 160 in what would be a very intriguing fight to see that could go either way...

Then we move to Japan on ESPN2 early Sunday morning as the ESPN/Top Rank contract bears fruit as the network shows the minor WBA title, which should have been left vacant, but that's beside the point as Hassan N'Dam faces Ryota Murata in a rematch that saw Murata dominate (he won 118-110 on my card) and knock N'Dam down in their first fight, yet lose a stunning split decision.
This decision was arguably the worst of the year in boxing and was so bad that the WBA apologized for the judging with the order for an immediate rematch.

Power hitting WBC flyweight champ Daigo Higa (TRS #3) defends on the undercard (No U.S television, I think) against Tomas Masson.
The undefeated Higa has stopped all thirteen of his opponents and will be making his first title defense.

I lead the challenge over Ramon Malpica 146-133

IBF Cruiserweight Title/World Boxing Super Series QuarterFinal. 12 rds
Murat Gassiev vs Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.
R.L; Gassiev KO 8
TRS: Gassiev KO 3

WBA-IBF Bantamweight Title Unification. 12 rds
Zhanat Zhakiyanov vs Ryan Burnett
R.L: Zhakiyanov Unanimous Decision
TRS: Burnett Split Decision

WBA Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds
Jezreel Corrales vs Alberto Machado
Both: Corrales Unanimous Decision

Middleweights. 12 rds
Demetrius Andrade vs Alantez Fox
R.L: Andrade KO 7
TRS; Andrade KO 10

Middleweights 12 Rds
Hassan N'Dam vs Ryota Murata
R.L; N'Dam Unanimous Decision
TRS: Murata Unanimous Decision

WBC Flyweight Title. 12 rds
Daigo Higa vs Tomas Masson
R.L: Higa Unanimous Decision
TRS: Higa KO 5