Boxing Challenge: Franco-Ioka ends in Majority Draw

   The final match of the 2022 boxing challenge finished the year in unsatisfying manner as a junior bantamweight unificaton match ended with a majority decision draw and both WBA champion Joshua Franco and WBO counterpart Kazuto Ioka keeping their titles.

Franco took command from the start and banked most of the first half of the fight  before Ioka rallied a little in the latter half but not enough for my tastes as I scored Franco a 116-112 winner.

Franco simply threw more punches and while I wouldn't say he overwhelmed Ioka with his output, Franco certainly had the advantage over the course of the fight.

Two judges scored the fight even at 114-114 with the dissenting judge giving the edge to Franco 115-113.

Ioka has been mandated to face former WBO flyweight champion Junto Nakatani in what could be a strong action fight but stated he would consider vacating his title in order to face Juan Francisco Estrada for his WBC brand in the division, which should also give fans a competitive bout.

Should Ioka vacate his title, Nakatani would face either Australia's Andrew Moloney, who has two losses against Joshua Franco, or countryman and multi-division champion Kosei Tanaka, who was beaten by Ioka by eighth round knockout in his only defeat in 2019.

My guess is that the WBO gives Japan what would be a huge fight there with Nakatani against Tanaka, while mandating that Moloney fight the victor.

As for Franco, I believe he is a promotional free agent and could go to Matchroom for an Estrada fight, that Estrads pulled away from earlier this year, or even to PBC for a potential unification against IBF champion Fernando Martinez, should a deal work out.

The final Boxing Challenge Standings for 2022

TRS: 213 Pts 

Ramon Malpica: 180 Pts 

Vince Samano: 165 Pts 

Boxing Challenge

  The final boxing challenge of the year takes place in Tokyo with a junior bantamweight unification battle between WBA champion Joshua Franco and WBO titleholder Kazuto Ioka.

Franco was recently elevated to full WBA champion from a minor titleholder when then champion and current WBC boss Juan Francisco Estrada declined to face Franco in a WBA-mandated clash.

Franco hasn't fought since August 2021 when he won a unanimous decision in the third of his three fights vs Andrew Moloney, while Ioka has fought three times in that time span, with his last fight a decision win over Donnie Nietes, avenging a loss to Nietes in 2018.

Ioka is the smaller fighter and gives away height and reach to Franco but has the hometown advantage and the activity edge as well, so this could go either way.

Boxing Challenge

Unification WBA and WBO Junior Bantamweight Titles. 12 Rds 

Joshua Franco vs Kazuto Ioka

Ramon Malpica: Ioka KO 3

TRS: Ioka Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Franco Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Martin outclasses Rivera

     The Showtime main event from Las Vegas expected to see two undefeated young lightweights duel in their first major test and it was hard to predict which would emerge victorious.

Instead, the Errol Spence protege' Frank Martin dominated Michel Rivera, knocked him down in the seventh round, and showed that while Martin is a talented boxer, he can punch a bit as well.

Martin won easily by scores of 120-107, 118-109, and 117-110 officially with my scorecard in the range of the officials at 119-108.

Martin's win came in a WBA eliminator, so he should move up in the ratings and with his talent, Martin should be in the center of the fallout when Devin Haney eventually moves to junior welterweight and vacates all four titles.

Frank Martin is going to be a tough out for anyone in the lightweight division and I'm anxious to see him when he makes the next step of the ladder of contention but PBC isn't exactly lightweight-heavy currently.

Other than Gervonta Davis and I can tell you that I have a better chance of winning the Boston Marathon than Gervonta Davis does of facing Frank Martin unless he is forced and Issac Cruz, there are no other threats to Martin on the PBC roster, so I'm hoping that he doesn't stagnate against average opponents over the next year or two.

In the co-feature, undefeated Vladimir Shishkin defeated former IBF super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision in an IBF eliminator that will earn Shishkin another eliminator berth in his next fight.

Uzcategui never threatened Shishkin, who outboxed and outpunched the former champion, who has never resembled the one-time "fighter no one wanted to face" after his upset defeat to Caleb Plant in 2019.

Shishkin is a solid all-around fighter that does nothing outstanding but everything well and could pick up a world title at some time in his career, provided that an elite champion doesn't hold the title at the time of his challenge.

The Showtime broadcast mentioned Shishkin as a possibility for minor titleholder David Morrell and I would really like that fight.

It would test both fighters against the best opponent of their career and the winner could make an argument as the number two contender in the division behind the winner of the January David Benavidez-Caleb Plant matchup for unified champion Canelo Alvarez.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 213 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 180 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 165 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge

       The boxing year is almost through with this Saturday's Showtime card as the final event of the year with the exception of the New Year's Eve title unification at junior bantamweight title from Japan and the main event is an interesting and somewhat rare bout that you don't see nearly as often as you used to.

It's an eliminator at lightweight for the WBA but the meeting between two undefeated prospects on the verge of becoming championship caliber between Michel Rivera and Frank Martin means perhaps even more than a mere eliminator- it could mean the next generation's next divisional star in the next year or so.

Michel Rivera appears to be the bigger puncher against Frank Martin, who is a smooth boxer that is managed by the three-title welterweight champion Errol Spence.

A southpaw, Martin enters this fight with two very impressive wins over two former fringe contenders, winning a dominant decision over Jackson Marinez and a fourth-round KO of Romero Duno while Rivera has won three decisions in a row since his spectacular eighth-round knockout of Jon Fernandez on Showtime in 2021.

I could see either fighter winning but I lean toward Martin, who seems a little more versatile and might have a bit too much slickness for Rivera.

The co-feature will pit former IBF super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui against undefeated Vladimir Shishkin in an IBF eliminator.

Uzcategui was once the fighter in the division that no one wanted to face before dropping his title to Caleb Plant by decision in 2019.

Since then, Uzcategui has lost a decision to journeyman Lionel Thompson, has popped for PEDs that ruined a planned fight against David Benavidez, and has three wins over fighters with records of 20-28, 9-4, and 21-19, so those three years since losing his title haven't been good ones for the former champion.

The undefeated Shishkin has struggled to find fights, having fought only thirteen times in his six years as a professional.

Shishkin does hold a win over Sena Agbeko, who is a solid fighter, and a win over former fringe contender DeAndre Ware as his top victories.

If Uzcategui has anything left after a rough few years, this would be the biggest test of Shishkin's career but I'm not sure that is the case and I think Shishkin outboxes Uzcategui in what could be a dull affair.

Boxing Challenge

Lightweights. 12 Rds 

Frank Martin vs Michel Rivera

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Martin Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Rivera Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

Jose Uzcategui vs Vladimir Shishkin

R.L and V.S: Uzcategui Unanimous Decision

TRS: Shishkin Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Inoue Unifies 118 pound Titles

  Naoya Inoue felt very little retribution from the punches of Paul Butler and gradually wore down the Englishman with punishing bodywork before polishing the final obstacle to unification in the bantamweight division off in the eleventh round in Tokyo.

Butler's offense disappeared after the first few rounds and without the desire to move forward against the bombs of Inoue, the only question became could Butler survive the entire twelve-round distance?

Inoue attempted to make the fight entertaining as Butler retreated including imitating the famous Roy Jones "chicken" stance with both hands behind his back.

Just as it seemed that Butler would possibly last through the twelve rounds, Inoue stepped up his body attack and drove Butler to his knees in a corner.

The referee ended the fight but Butler wasn't threatening to beat the count, so the fight was going to end even if Butler had been given a chance to rise.

The Inoue victory was not only the first in the four-title era to unify the bantamweight division, but the division also was never unified in the three-title generation, and the first fully unified champion at 118  pounds since the WBC stripped Enrique Pinder in 1973.

Inoue will almost definitely vacate his titles and move to junior featherweight but I'm not sure what big fights await him.

Stephen Fulton holds the WBC and WBO titles but plans a move up to featherweight for a Brandon Figueroa rematch and even if not, Fulton fights for PBC which means unless Inoue fought Fulton on Showtime, that fight wouldn't happen.

MJ Akhmadaliev holds the WBA and IBF titles and last I heard, he was affiliated with Matchroom, which makes an Inoue possible as the two companies have worked together in the past but in this case, Akhmadaliev would likely have to fight Inoue on an ESPN platform and would be unlikely to go to Japan to face "The Monster".

While fans would love to see Inoue against either, I'm not sure the money (Fulton) or motivation (either) would be enough to make a match.

The most likely outcome would be that Fulton would vacate his two titles after a Figueroa fight and Inoue would be immediately installed as an entrant in a WBO vacant title fight as a WBO champion that gave up his title.

In the WBO, the top two contenders are both with PBC (Ra'eese Aleem and Luis Nery) and I doubt either would face Inoue for the reason answered above.

The third contender and most likely for Inoue is former IBF junior bantamweight and WBO bantamweight champion Zolani Tete, who has won two straight since losing his title to John Riel Casimero in 2019.

Tete's chin isn't the best although he may last a few rounds with his height and reach advantage, I'd think that Inoue would likely score an early and spectacular knockout.

I'm hoping for a big 2023 for Naoya Inoue but I have a feeling that we will still remain wanting more than boxing fans receive.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 209 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 178 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 165 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge

Early in the morning from Tokyo, there will be a unified four-title champion in the bantamweight division for the first time ever as prohibitive favorite Naoya Inoue defends his WBA, WBC, and IBF championship against WBO champion Paul Butler in what can only be considered an anti-climax to Inoue's achievement in unifying the championship.

Inoue added his third title (WBC) when he rolled through the only fighter given a slim chance of defeating him in Nonito Donaire in two rounds in June and has announced that after this fight, he will vacate the titles to move to junior featherweight.

Butler won the vacant WBO title (and the right for a career-high payday to "do the job, "ahem" unify the titles) with a unanimous decision over Jonas Sultan in April.

Butler had several attempts against John Riel Casimero for that title fall through for various reasons before the WBO finally stripped Casimero of the title.

Casimero had a unification bout scheduled against Inoue previously before the fight fell through due to the Covid-19 pandemic and while Casimero may have had only a marginally larger chance to defeat Inoue than Butler, an Inoue-Casimero fight would have been explosive for as long as it lasted.

Butler did hold the IBF title in 2014 with a split decision over countryman Stuart Hall before vacating that title to move down to the junior bantamweight division, losing in eight rounds to champion Zolani Tete and his top opponent since that loss was losing almost every round to Emmanuel Rodriguez in a challenge for the IBF title in 2018.

 

So is Butler lucky to cash in his title for a career-high purse? 

Or is this the case for a European-level boxer that is in a total mismatch that could see Butler hurt?

Likely, it's both.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: Inoue KO 6

TRS: Inoue KO 2

Vince Samano: Inoue KO 7

Boxing Challenge: Lopez dethrones Warrington

   Featherweight Luis Alberto Lopez marched into IBF champion Josh Warrington's home of Leeds, England, and built a lead over the first eight rounds that appeared to be enough to cruise to victory.

And then Warrington began to march through Lopez and won the final four rounds and appeared to have placed the result in doubt- especially with the fight in the champion's hometown.

However, it was Lopez that  squeezed out a majority decision to win the title and return it with him to Mexico and his promoter Top Rank,

I had Lopez surviving the late Warrington push by the same two scores as the judges at 115-113 with the other judges scoring it even at 114.

Lopez against the IBF's third-ranked contender Mauricio Lara would be a guaranteed fight of the year but Lara is behind Kiko Martinez and with Lopez with Top Rank and Lara promoted by Matchroom (Warrington-Lopez saw the two promotions work together due to the mandatory) that fight might not happen until it is mandated.

Lopez-Martinez could be easy to make with both promoted by Matchroom though and the IBF could order Lara-Martinez as an eliminator for the next mandatory.

Whatever it takes to make Lopez-Lara as that pairing seems to be a guaranteed fight of the year candidate.

Don't be surprised if Lopez makes an in-house defense with another European road trip against Top Rank-promoted Michael Conlan in Ireland in a fight that may make him the most immediate money.

As for the former champion, Warrington is now 1-2-1 in his last four fights and the best match that he could have might be against minor champion Leigh Wood, should the WBA finally clean up their featherweight mess with Leo Santa Cruz and Wood.

In Dublin, the aforementioned Michael Conlan blew out former bantamweight title challenger Karim Guerfi in one round of a featherweight event.

It was Conlan's second win since his March loss to Leigh Wood and as I mentioned above, I would not be surprised to Conlan challenge Luis Alberto Lopez sometime next year.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 207 Pts (2) 

Ramon Malpica: 176 Pts (1)

Vince Samano:163 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge: Crawford KO's Avanesyan, Lopez survives Martin

     Terence Crawford showed that thirteen months away from the ring didn't slow his speed or drain his power as he landed a left uppercut and a booming right hand to knock out David Avanesyan in the sixth round to retain his WBO welterweight title in Omaha, Nebraska.

Avanesyan won the first two rounds on my scorecard and like Egid Kavaliauskas a few years ago against Crawford, had some success with backing Crawford up and making him give ground.

However, the class and skills of the champion began to show as the fight moved forward.

Avanesyan had occasional bursts of offense, it was clear that Crawford was setting the challenger up for the finish, and in the sixth round, the trap snapped shut.

While Avanesyan isn't an elite welterweight, he is a solid back end of the top ten contender and it was impressive to see Crawford finish him so quickly and smoothly.

Now as usual the talk returns of Crawford against Errol Spence as it always does after either unbeaten champion dispatches their latest challenger and the only fight that really matters in the welterweight division ( although I'd be okay with Jaron Ennis against either!) continues in boxing limbo.

Supposedly, both parties are optimistic but both were this year and it didn't happen, so with Errol Spence now scheduled to face Keith "One Time Every Three Years" Thurman, it could be summer at the earliest for the superfight to happen.

Oh, Boxing...

ESPN and Top Rank pushed another Heisman evening appearance from New York for former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, who had been spectacular in his previous Heisman night fights on the network, including his second-round KO of Richard Commey to win his first world title.

Lopez doesn't resemble that punishing fighter anymore let alone the one that stunned the world with his upset of Vasyl Lomachenko and he looked very average against Sandor Martin, who took the fight on three weeks' notice to replace Jose Pedraza and on my scorecard did enough to upset Lopez as he did Mikey Garcia last year.

However, despite Martin knocking Lopez down in the second round ( and scoring another knockdown later that was scored a slip), Lopez managed to win a controversial split decision victory that boxing observers are wondering if Lopez's best was left in the ring against Vasyl Lomachenko.

The fight was close (I had Martin ahead 95-94) and I could see Lopez as a winner by the same score but the judges saw Lopez as the winner by tallies of 96-93 and an incredibly terrible 97-92 to override the 95-94 card for Martin.

As in his loss to George Kambosos, who also dropped Lopez, Lopez wades in recklessly against fighters that he expects to overwhelm and gets knocked down by counter right hands that don't hurt him but knock him off-balance and to the floor.

Lopez has been mentioned as a possible opponent for WBO champion Josh Taylor, should he win his rematch with Jack Catterall, or WBC king Regis Prograis but from what I saw against Sandor Martin, I think he would be a deserved underdog against either champion.

As for Martin, this is the second big performance from the Spaniard against a big-name opponent that was expected to overwhelm him, and perhaps it's time to give Martin some credit as a solid contender.

One fighter that did his job to impress was undefeated heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson, who in his first ten-round fight, took out the usually durable Jerry Forrest in only two rounds. 

Forrest did land some counter right hands in the first round but the veteran barely survived the round and Anderson finished him quickly in the second.

A very impressive win for Anderson to stop Forrest, who had finished the distance in recent years against contenders Kubrat Pulev, Michael Hunter, Zhilei Zhang, and Jermaine Franklin, and Anderson is certainly the most promising American heavyweight to come along in years.

I'll be back later with the two fights from Europe in another post.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 205 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica:175 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 162 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge

   The final big boxing weekend of 2022 starts Saturday with the return of arguably the best fighter in the world as Terence "Bud" Crawford fights for the first time in a year on PPV against David Avanesyan from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Crawford was hoping to pair his WBO welterweight title against the three others held by Errol Spence in what would have been a superfight but when negotiations failed to work out, Crawford decided to defend against Avanesyan, a solid top ten-fifteen welterweight that is most remembered for his victory over Shane Mosley that ended the career of the Hall of Famer.

Crawford's eleventh-round knockout of Shawn Porter last November was his last ring appearance and should a Spence fight work out for next year, it's a good idea to have some ring work in order to be at his peak.

Over on ESPN in the evening, former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez continues his comeback against Spanish veteran Santor Martin.

Martin will be the second opponent for Lopez since his loss to George Kambosos last year, having knocked out Pedro Campa in seven rounds in August.

Martin is a late replacement for long-time contender Jose Pedraza and is the fighter that surprised Mikey Garcia in what may have been the upset of the year for 2021.

In the co-feature, Top Rank's promising heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson makes his first step towards contender status as Anderson will battle veteran Jerry Forrest in Anderon's first scheduled ten-rounder.

Anderson has knocked out all twelve of his foes and only one (Kingsley Ibeh) has survived past the fourth round.

Forrest lost a close decision to Kubrat Pulev in his last fight and his previous two fights were draws to contenders Michael Hunter and Zhilei Zhang, either of which could have been given to Forrest (especially the Hunter fight) and lost a split decision to Jermaine Franklin, who gave Dillian Whyte fits a few weeks ago.

Forrest has only been stopped once in his career, by Gerald Washington in 2013, so should Anderson take Forrest out, it would be an impressive debut against better competition for the young star.

Earlier in the day, ESPN plus will feature the return of featherweight Michael Conlan, who was leading my pick for fight of the year against Leigh Wood in March before Wood scored a spectacular knockout in the final round driving Conlan outside the ring.

Conlan knocked down veteran Miguel Marriaga three times in his August return but was rocked again in the final round, showing perhaps he hasn't quite gotten past the loss to Wood.

Conlan's opponent, France's Karim Guerfi, is a former bantamweight contender but has been stopped in two of his last four fights.

DAZN is in Leeds, England for the IBF featherweight title tilt as hometown champion Josh Warrington defends against mandatory challenger Luis Alberto Lopez.

Warrington won the IBF title for the second time in his last fight stopping Kiko Martinez although he suffered a broken jaw along the way.

Lopez burst on the scene in 2021 when he busted the career of then-undefeated and hot prospect Gabe Flores and viciously knocked another undefeated prospect in Issac Wood out in seven rounds to earn the mandated title try.

I like Lopez's chances in this one as Mauricio Lara knocked Warrington cold and there are some similarities in styles and power between the two.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Terence Crawford vs David Avanesyam

Ramon Malpica: Crawford KO 8

TRS: Crawford KO 11

Vince Samano:  Crawford KO 9

IBF Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez

R.L: Warrington Unanimous Decision

TRS: Lopez KO 10

V.S: Lopez Split Decision

Jr. Welterweights 12 Rds

Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin

R.L: Lopez KO 4

TRS: Lopez Unanimous Decision

V.S:  Martin Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Jared Anderson vs Jerry Forrest

R.L: Anderson KO 4

TRS: Anderson KO 8

V.S: Anderson KO 6

Featherweights.10 Rds

Michael Conlan vs Karim Guerfi

R.L and TRS: Conlan Unanimous Decision

V.S: Guerfi Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Estrada slips by Gonzalez

   Juan Francisco Estrada sped to a huge lead on the scorecards but Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez took command in the middle rounds to enter the final round with the decision in the balance with the vacant WBC junior bantamweight title to the victor.

But it was Estrada that won the final round and earned him the majority decision, the title, and perhaps most important of all - the two-to-one lead in the series of fights between the two.

In a fight much like their second, Estrada boxed well when able to keep the fight in the center of the ring but as the bout progressed, it was Gonzalez marching forward and putting Estrada on the defensive to win those rounds.

Estrada's win was by scores of 114-114, 115-113 (same as my score), and 116-112 with the latter seeming a bit wide for my taste.

After the fight, both seemed anxious for a fourth encounter, which I'd be fine with although I'd prefer Estrada against the winner of the New Year's Eve unification match between WBA champion Joshua Franco (a title Estrada vacated to fight Gonzalez a third time) and WBO boss Kazuto Ioka.

Many leaned slightly toward Gonzalez in picking this fight as he had looked so impressive in defeating WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez while Estrada looked average in a decision win over Argi Cortes but much like his countryman Juan Manuel Marquez in his fights vs Manny Pacquiao, Estrada is always able to raise his game against Gonzalez to another level and twice it has been good enough to win a razor close decision.

In the co-feature, Julio Cesar Martinez was very fortunate to receive a majority decision win over late replacement Samuel Carmona of Spain.

Carmona stepped in for an injured McWilliams Arroyo and built a lead over the first half of the fight with a cute boxing style that frustrated Martinez and left him following Carmona listlessly around the ring for the first seven or eight rounds.

Carmona appeared to have injured his right hand in the middle rounds and Martinez did win some rounds on aggression but Carmona seemed to put the fight away in the late rounds although the judges didn't agree with Martinez winning by scores of 114-114, 116-112 and a pathetic 117-111.

I scored Carmona a winner at 116-112.

It was the second listless performance in a row for Martinez, who lost to Roman Gonzalez at junior bantamweight earlier this year, and his struggles in this one make me wonder if he would cope well at all in a possible unification fight as rumored against IBF champion Sunny Edwards, who is an excellent boxer and could dance around Martinez all fight long.

As for Carmona, a former Olympian, he fought well and should be heard from more in the flyweight division in the future.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:200 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 170 Pts(1)

Vince Samano:158 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Fury Batters Chisora

 Tyson Fury got what he needed from his WBC heavyweight title defense against Derek Chisora- several rounds of work and a willing opponent to showcase his abilities as Fury won every round against his friend and defeated him via an easy tenth-round knockout when the referee finally ended the brave but limited Chisora's night.

Fury never knocked Chisora down but delivered a steady beating throughout the fight with Chisora offering only a sturdy chin, some pantomime, and an occasional right hand against the much larger Fury.

After the fight, Fury expressed his wish for a title unification fight with WBA, IBF, and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk sometime next year and with Usyk's management owning connections with Top Rank (Fury's co-promoter) with Vasyl Lomachenko among others, I would think this could be an easy fight to sign.

The co-feature saw Daniel DuBois retain his minor title with a third-round knockout of former cruiserweight contender Kevin Lerena that saw five knockdowns in the three rounds of action.

DuBois may have earned the victory but he continued to show that a chin that has been questioned since he was stopped in ten rounds by Joe Joyce will be questioned even more after being dropped three times in the opening round by Lerena.

DuBois appeared ready to concede victory but he somehow survived the round and when Lerena surprisingly didn't pursue his advantage in the second round, DuBois had enough resolve to pull himself together enough to drop Lerena down in the third and battered him along the ropes late in the round to score a second knockdown with the ropes holding Lerena up.

The bell rang to end the round but the referee chose to stop the fight rather than give Lerena the same chance that DuBois had received following the end of the first round.

The downside of fighting a British native in Great Britain I suppose and Lerena may have done this to himself considering his lack of aggression in round two but I thought it was a quick stoppage although DuBois was most likely going to finish the fight in the fourth round anyway.

DuBois may very well be his generation's version of the very popular British heavyweight Frank Bruno.

Like Bruno, DuBois has lots of skills, boxing ability, and can punch with power but his chin will lose him fights that he could be winning and no opponent will ever be out of chances in a fight with DuBois, as his chin could fail him at any time.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:198 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica; 169 Pts (3)
Vince Samano: 158 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge

  The boxing weekend will have the best of its lower weight classes and a defense of the championship of its largest but there is no doubt which of the two has excited boxing fans the most.

On DAZN from Glendale, Arizona, Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez will hook it up for the third time in a series that has more than a title at stake, it's about which man will earn the bragging rights as the best of a generation and perhaps even the best ever of their division.

Gonzalez won a close unanimous decision in their first fight in November 2012 with Estrada returning the favor in March 2021 with a split decision win that many believe Gonzalez deserved.

The fight will also be for the WBC junior bantamweight title that Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez recently vacated, although Estrada still holds the WBC's silly franchise championship and Estrada gave up his WBA title to face Rodriguez rather than defend against their minor beltholder Joshua Franco, who was then promoted to full WBA kingpin.

The third fight has been postponed previously with each fighter canceling due to Covid and while Gonzalez did look far more impressive in his win over WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez than Estrada did in his victory over Argi Cortes but as always in rivalries, the best is brought out of each other when facing their rival.

The co-feature will have Julio Cesar Martinez defending his WBC flyweight title against a late replacement in undefeated Samuel Carmona.

A former Olympian, Carmona steps in for McWilliams Arroyo, who dropped out from a rematch with Martinez from their November 2021 no-contest.

Martinez is fighting for the first time since his decision loss to Roman Gonzalez in March.

The flashier bout for casual fans is on ESPN Plus from London as Tyson Fury defends his WBC heavyweight title against Derek Chisora.

Fury and Chisora have fought twice in the past with Fury winning by a decision in 2011 and stopping Chisora in ten rounds in 2014 with many slamming Chisora as a title challenger at this stage of his career.

I wouldn't go that far.

Champions have the right to an occasional optional defense and Chisora did win over a solid opponent in Kubrat Pulev in his last fight, so he's qualified for that type of defense.

It was okay for Muhammad Ali to defend against Richard Dunn or Jean-Pierre Coopman because he was fighting four times a year and no one expects four defenses a year against the best in the world in all four fights.

The problem is in today's boxing world when fighters fight once or twice a year and an optional defense against a lesser foe are one of those fights.

This is Fury's second fight of the year and had he fought another time previously, I'm not sure that the reaction to his defense against Chisora would have been as harsh as it has been.

The co-feature will pit Daniel DuBois defending his minor title against Kevin Lerena, in his first test since moving up from cruiserweight, where he was considered to be among the division's top fighters.

DuBois crushed Trevor Bryan in four rounds in June while Lerena decisioned heavyweight trialhorse Mariusz Wach in September.

Boxing Challenge

Vacant WBC Junior Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds

Juan Francisco Estrada vs Roman Gonzalez

Ramon Malpica: Gonzalez Split Decision

TRS: Estrada Split Decision

Vince Samano:

WBC Flyweight Title. 12 Rds

Julio Cesar Martinez vs Samuel Carmona

R.L & TRS: Martinez Unanimous Decision

V.S:

WBC Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds

Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora

R.L: Fury Unanimous Decision

TRS: Fury KO 8

V.S:

Heavyweights 12 Rds

Daniel DuBois vs Kevin Lerena

R.L: DuBois KO 9

TRS: DuBois KO 6

V.S: 

Boxing Challenge: Prograis knocks out Zepeda

    The boxing weekend saw a world championship filled and the new champion staking a claim for a chance for a rematch to prove that he is the best fighter in the division.

Regis Prograis controlled his fight from the outset against Jose Zepeda for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title for most of the ten rounds and then convincingly finished Zepeda in the eleventh, leaving a beaten Zepeda sagging along the ropes and Prograis making an argument for a rematch with Josh Taylor.

Zepeda seemed to be making a late run at the win when he had his best round of the fight in the tenth before Prograis finished the evening in the following round.

I scored Prograis leading 98-92 entering the final round.

Prograis will defend his title for the first time against former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a fight that was rumored and planned years ago and both would enter the fight with only one career loss- each of the duo losing to Josh Taylor in close fights.

Prograis-Ramirez is yet another excellent match that one could easily select either fighter to win.

However, after watching this effort from Prograis, I'd favor him as the victor.

In the co-feature, junior middleweight Charles Conwell won a majority decision (98-92, 96-94, 95-95) over veteran Juan Carlos Abreu in a WBC eliminator and moved on to another eliminator in the future.

I haven't watched this fight as of this writing, so I have no scorecards, etc.

The other two big bouts of the weekend would hail from London but on two competing cards.

Frank Warren's Queensberry promotion's main event saw a disappointing ending as Zach Parker surrendered after the fourth round due to a broken right hand.

I thought Parker won three of the first four rounds but Ryder continued to press forward as he typically does and one could see Parker throwing fewer and fewer right hands in the third ad fourth stanzas.

With the win, Ryder becomes a minor WBO champion but more importantly is now the mandatory challenger for unified champion Canelo Alvarez and the organization has ruled that if Alvarez fights anyone other than Ryder in his next two fights, they will be forced to remove their title from the Mexican star.

Ryder's not flashy and against elite boxers can be outpointed but he never stops coming forward and will give even the best of his division a physically taxing battle.

On the other side of London, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing heaved a sigh of relief after Dillian Whyte won a majority decision over previously undefeated Jermaine Franklin of the United States.

Whyte and Franklin divided most of the middle rounds after Franklin started quickly in winning the first two rounds.

Franklin hurt Whyte in the ninth and appeared to be on the verge of an upset but Whyte staggered Franklin in the tenth and finished the fight strongly in the final round when he again stunned the American.

I thought the fight was close (I scored it a draw at 114-114) and didn't have a complaint with Whyte getting the win, although the scores of 115-115 ( I hate scoring even rounds and this judge scored two of them) and 116-112 x2, seemed a bit weird.

7-5 either way or a draw is an acceptable card, 8-4 (as two judges saw it for Whyte) for either fighter would be too much of a margin.

For Franklin, it re-establishes himself as a fighter that is deserving of future fights against contenders, and for Whyte, the win likely allows him to stay in line for a 2023 rematch with former champion Anthony Joshua.

Joshua and Whyte fought an action-filled battle in 2015 when both men hurt and pounded the other before Joshua stopped Whyte in the seventh round.

Joshua has been rumored to be in negotiations for a match against Deontay Wilder that has been wanted by boxing fans for years but Whyte makes sense in the event that Joshua-Wilder cannot reach an agreement.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 194 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 166 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 158 Pts (4)  

Boxing Challenge

 Thanksgiving weekend isn't always one that is associated with boxing but this weekend will have four interesting matchups that include a vacant world championship to be filled, a minor title that may produce an eventual challenge of Canelo Alvarez, a comeback for a heavyweight contender, and a title eliminator for arguably the most talented fighter that is off the radar.

The biggest fight of the weekend is on pay-per-view from the surprise winner of the purse bid, MARV Sports as one of the three junior welterweight championships that have been vacated by Josh Taylor will have a new titleholder as former WBA champion Regis Prograis faces longtime contender Jose Zepeda in Carson, California.

Prograis has only one loss, a close majority decision defeat to Taylor in 2019 that cost him the WBA title in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series, and has fought only three times since against limited competition.

 Zepeda has lost in both of his title challenges, losing to Terry Flanagan for the vacant WBO lightweight title in 2015 when Zepeda separated his shoulder in the second round and losing a majority decision to Jose Ramirez in a 2019 try for the WBC junior welterweight strap, that many thought Zepeda deserved the victory.

Since the Ramirez loss, Zepeda has won six straight fights including a win over Jose Pedraza, destroying once-touted prospect Josue Vargas in one round, and the classic 2020 fight of the year against Ivan Baranchyk that saw the two fighters combine for eight knockdowns with Zepeda ending the fight in the fifth with a spectacular KO.

On paper, this should be a terrific fight with both fighters having their share of supporters but I wouldn't be surprised if Prograis dominates this fight.

Prograis is the bigger puncher and who knows how much the Baranchyk fights have taken out of Zepeda?

I've underestimated Zepeda before and I would not be surprised to see him do it again but this feels like Prograis to me.

The co-feature will pit 2016 Olympian Charles Conwell and veteran Juan Carlos Abreu in a WBC junior middleweight eliminator.

It's a lower-level eliminator but a needed one for the very talented and underexposed Conwell, who I think only needs an opportunity and a platform to display just how good he could be.

Abreu has failed in each attempt to step up to title contention but he has only been stopped once in his six defeats, to Jaron "Boots" Ennis which is far from a black mark on a career, so should Conwell score a stoppage, it would be an impressive performance.

The remainder of the challenge is fought in England from two cards, two promoters, and two networks on Saturday afternoon.

ESPN Plus and Frank Warren promotions have a WBO minor Super Middleweight title that could eventually result in a few ripples in the 168-pound division as undefeated prospect Zach Parker will face rugged warhorse, John Ryder.

Parker has fought veterans and trial horses but will be in his first fight against a top-ten opponent.

The mauling Ryder is entering the fight after a split-decision victory over Daniel Jacobs that was somewhat controversial (I scored Jacobs a close winner) although the best win of his career.

Ryder made his name a few years in a title bid against Callum Smith that he lost a decision that I thought he should have been given.

The winner not only adds a belt to their trophy case but eventually could be the opponent for Canelo Alvarez, should Canelo ever follow through on his occasional comments on wanting to appear once in the United Kingdom.

On DAZN, Eddie Hearn's Matchroom promotion will match heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte against undefeated American Jermaine Franklin in a twelve-rounder that will try to add some shine to Whyte after his knockout loss to Tyson Fury.

Whyte is still clearly a top-five to top-ten level contender in the division despite being knocked out in two of his last three fights to Fury and Alexander Povetkin but needs a win to keep him in that range.

Whyte generally makes exciting fights and I could see Whyte having a career like his rival Dereck Chisora, where he never has problems getting fights even as he drops a level for that reason.

As for Franklin, at one time he was thought to be the best of the young American heavyweights but he has fought only one time in the last three years and that was against 20-21 (Record not year!) Rodney Moore and his best win is a decision over veteran Jerry Forrest, so even a somewhat damaged Whyte is easily the best opponent that Franklin has fought.

A Franklin win would send him jumping up the ratings and might have him in a bigger fight next year.

Boxing Challenge

Vacant WBC Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds 

Regis Prograis vs Jose Zepeda

Ramon Malpica: Prograis Unanimous Decision

TRS: Prograis KO 6

Vince Samano: Prograis KO 11

Junior Middleweights 12 Rds

Charles Conwell vs Juan Carlos Abreu

R.L and V.S: Abreu Unanimous Decision

TRS: Conwell Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

Zach Parker vs John Ryder

R.L: Parker Unanimous Decision

TRS: Parker Split Decision

V.S: Ryder Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin

R.L: Whyte KO 7

TRS: Whyte Unanimous Decision

V.S: Franklin KO 6

Boxing Challenge:Munguia Mangles Coria

   In Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday, former WBO junior middleweight champion and top middleweight contender Jaime Munguia notched the latest victory in his line of uncompetitive opponents as he knocked out Gonzalo Coria in three rounds.

Munguia knocked the awkward Argentine down in the second round with a counter right hand before digging into the body of Coria with a series of body shots that sent him to one knee where he would remain as the referee ended the evening.

Not much else to add to yet another Munguia mismatch but we may see shortly just what Munguia has as he called for WBA and IBF champion Gennady Golovkin after the fight but Munguia isn't rated first by either of those organizations.

However, he is by the remaining two sanctioning bodies and the WBO ordered their champion Janibek Alimkhanuly to next defend against Munguia.

The WBC rates Munguia first with their champion Jermall Charlo having a defense agreed to with Munguia earlier this year before the fight fell apart due to broadcasting issues.

A Munguia challenge of Alimkhanuly would be very interesting with both men having plenty to prove considering that each would be facing the best opponent of their career and Alimkhanuly lost a bit of luster after a less than impressive decision win over Denzel Bentley, so each has questions that this fight could answer.

WBC champion, Jermall Charlo, has fought only once in the last twenty-four months, and his uninspiring win over journeyman Juan Montiel in June 2021 didn't make observers lust to see him in action again with his reluctance to face top opponents.

Just as an Alimkhanuly-Munguia would answer some questions, the same would be true of a Charlo-Munguia fight with both fighters facing the best opponent of their career as well.

Alimkhnauly would be the likelier foe as his organization asked for the fight and Charlo's hasn't as of this writing and it's more likely that an agreement can be made with Alimkhanuly's promoter (Top Rank) with Munguia's team (Golden Boy) than that of Charlo, who is aligned with PBC.

I'm very intrigued by Munguia as I see parallels with Gilberto Ramirez both as fighters with large frames for their divisions and possessing plenty of talent.

Both fighters were somewhat protected and I am anxious to see how Munguia fares when he steps up as Ramirez lost to Dmitry Bivol when he faced a top-of-the-game fighter for the first time.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 190 Pts (2) 

Ramon Malpica: 164 Pts (2)
Vince Samano: 154 Pts (2) 

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing should have been anchored by the biggest fight in boxing (Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford) as it was this weekend that was projected for its spot on the calendar.

With most promoters staying away from the date to not compete, the weekend is light with a lack of big fights and leaves a less than interesting card from Golden Boy/DAZN from Guadalajara, Mexico for boxing fans.

The only fight in the boxing challenge will be the latest squash match in Jaime Munguia's career as he faces Argentina's 21-5 Gonzalo Coria.

To quickly dispatch any chance of Coria winning, he has five losses, only eight knockouts, no victories of note, and has lost convincingly to the only two fighters that would be considered to be world-class in Janibek Alimkhanuly ( before he won the WBO title) and Fedor Czerkaszyn, so I'm not expecting much against Munguia.

As for Munguia, who has had a WBO title shot waiting for him whenever he wanted one for over three years, he continues to fight opponents past their prime, untested B-level prospects, or fighters that are nowhere near his level.

If this is Golden Boy or Munguia's management thinking they are protecting their fighter while he (and they) while collecting multi-million dollar paychecks then the last three years have proven to be quite successful.

However, the jury is still out on if this is improving Munguia as a fighter and I, for one, have had enough of these pro wrestling-type showcase affairs and can't wait to see how Munguia reacts when a top middleweight tests him in a tough fight.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds

Jaime Munguia vs Gonzalo Coria

Ramon Malpica: Munguia KO 10

TRS: Munguia KO 6

Vince Samano: Munguia KO 8

Boxing Challenge: Janibek, Edwards retain titles

 Only two bouts in the boxing challenge this weekend and next weekend will be even lighter as rival promoters kept cards on the November 19th date to not challenge the expected Errol Spence-Terence Crawford superfight that was unable to reach an agreement between the two camps.

Saturday night from Las Vegas, Top Rank, and ESPN+ offered the first championship defense of the so-called "Boogieman" Janibek Alimkhanuly's WBO middleweight title that he was promoted to after Demetrius Andrade vacated the championship to move to 168 pounds rather than face Alimkhanuly.

Alimkhanuly retained his title by unanimous decision over unheralded Briton Denzel Bentley but he looked far from a champion that anyone is avoiding in defeating Bentley, who had been knocked out in three rounds by the best fighter that he had faced in Felix Cash.

Alimkhanuly won handily (116-112 x 2 and 118-110, which seemed a bit harsh to Bentley) with my score of 116-112 giving Bentley a few of the middle rounds when he took advantage of Alimkhanuly's taking a few rounds off.

Bentley put up a good performance in a fight that he was brought in to make Alimkhanuly look spectacular but never was a serious threat to Alimkhanuly, who finished strongly and hurt Bentley in the final round.

Perhaps Alimkhanuly overlooked Bentley and took him lightly but after wins over former minor champions Hassem N'Dam and Rob Brant and a blowout win over another Brit in Danny Dignum. it was understandable to expect a better performance.

Alimkhanuly doesn't appear likely to have a unification fight in his future against WBA and IBF champion Gennady Golvokin (both are countrymen) or WBC titleholder Jermall Charlo (PBC) but Jaime Munguia (Golden Boy) can have the fight whenever he wishes.

However, Munguia's promoter has been reticent in Munguia accepting the opportunity against Andrade and I haven't seen signs that they are in any hurry for their man to fight anyone that will hold their hands up and fight back., which would eliminate Alimkhanuly as well.

One thing is certain, Alimhanuly's performance didn't scare anyone away- if there was anyone interested in fighting him to start with.

On Friday from Sheffield, England, Sunny Edwards held off the late-round comeback of former WBA and IBF light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado to win a close unanimous decision to retain his IBF flyweight title.

Edwards used his smooth boxing skills to frustrate the constantly in-motion Alvarado in winning most of the early and middle rounds to build a huge lead on the scorecards before he tired after the eighth round as the bodywork and aggression began to pay dividends for Alvarado as he swept through those rounds to hammer the tiring champion.

However, Alvarado's comeback wasn't enough to overcome the number of rounds that Edwards had earned earlier in the bout with Edwards winning by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 x 2 (same as my card).

Edwards had been calling for WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez in recent months but has changed his tune since Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez gave up his WBC junior bantamweight title to return to the flyweight division, where Rodriguez is preparing to face Cristian Gonzalez for the WBO 112 pound championship that was vacated by Junto Nakatani last month.

However, both Martinez and Rodriguez are promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, and Edwards along with his brother Charlie, a former flyweight king, have feuded with Hearn in the past.

Edwards is promoted by Probellum, which means that Edwards couldn't enter the United States for a fight due to the sanctions against Probellum's former benefactor Daniel Kinahan, and could make a difficult fight to sign even harder.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 188 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 162 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 152 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

  The boxing weekend is rather light this weekend but two championships will be defended, one each on Friday and Saturday.

Friday's fight is on Fite TV, which mostly caters to MMA and pro wrestling, which I don't subscribe to, from Sheffield, England as Sunny Edwards defends his IBF flyweight title against former IBF light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado.

The undefeated Edwards is a very smooth boxer that lacks power with only four knockouts in his eighteen wins and will be making his third defense of the title that he won in  April 2021 from Moruti Mthalane.

Alvarado vacated his light flyweight title in order to move up and take a shot at Edwards and he has the punching power that Edwards doesn't with 33 knockouts in his thirty-eight wins.

It's a close fight and either fighter winning would not be an upset but I lean toward Edwards by a shade.

Saturday on ESPN, Janibek Alimkhanuly makes the first defense of his WBO middleweight belt against Denzel Bentley in Las Vegas.

Alimkhanuly won the organization's interim title with a second-round knockout of an overmatched Danny Dignum and was promoted to the full championship when champion Demetrius Andrade vacated the title to move to super middleweight rather than face Alimkhanuly.

Alimkhanuly notched impressive wins over former contenders Hassan N'Dam and Rob Brant before wiping out Dignum and he is thought of as a coming star in a weak division.

Denzel Bentley is a former British champion with a loss to the most notable opponent of his career when he was knocked out in three rounds by Felix Cash in April 2021.

The undefeated Cash is a nice fighter but he is nowhere near the talent of Alimkhanuly and I fear that Alimkhanuly will be in another mismatch against an overwhelmed British opponent.

Boxing Challenge

IBF Flyweight Title. 12 Rds 

Sunny Edwards vs Felix Alvarado

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Edwards Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Alvarado Unanimous Decision

WBO Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Denzel Bentley

R.L: Alimkhanuly Unanimous Decision
TRS: Alimkhanuly KO 2

V.S.:  Bentley Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Bivol Zips by Zurdo

   In the most important fight of the weekend, Dmitry Bivol easily outpointed former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez to retain his WBA light heavyweight title by unanimous decision in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Bivol won almost all the middle rounds after the first four rounds were split evenly between the two and capped off the fight with an excellent round twelve.

Ramirez did have some success hitting the body of Bivol but more often was far too slow and plodding for the slick Bivol, who used a basic jab and right hand to keep Ramirez away and was never threatened by his foe.

I scored it for Bivol 116-112, which was a little closer than the judges at 118-110 and 117-111 times two but I could easily see the fight wider for Bivol, if you give Bivol one or two of the early rounds that I gave Ramirez.

Bivol stated that he wants a unification fight with Artur Beterbiev for all four world titles and such a fight would rank among the best fights that could be made in the sport with the smooth boxer/puncher in Bivol against the feared bomber in Beterbiev, who has knocked out every opponent in his career.

Beterbiev has a WBO mandatory commitment against Anthony Yarde in January and such a fight couldn't take place until the summer of 2023 but hopefully, the fight can be signed.

The co-feature saw a strange ending as Shavkat Rakhimov won the vacant IBF junior lightweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Zelfa Barrett to fill the title vacated by Joe Cordina, who needed surgery for an injury.

Both fighters signed a contract before the fight that agreed for the winner to fight Cordina when he is physically able to return.

Barrett stormed out of the gates and dominated the first four rounds blending boxing off the jab and whipping power punches on Rakhimov like he had spent his training camp watching Emanuel Steward teaching at the Kronk gym.

Barrett knocked Rakhimov down with an uppercut in the third round and appeared to be on his way to a mild upset but like a speed horse running at a distance, Barrett started declining in the fifth and Rakhimov began to slowly grind Barrett down in the middle rounds.

In the ninth, Barrett either suffered a leg injury or simply had nothing left as Rakhimov's pressure sent Barrett gamely but ineffectively around the ring, and even though the punches may not have been the cause as much as Barrett's legs, Rakhimov scored two knockdowns before the Barrett corner tossed in the towel of surrender.

Rahkimov-Cordina is a very interesting fight and in a division that now lacks Shakur Stevenson, could be in a position to establish themselves at the top of the division with WBA champion Hector Garcia and the winners of the two bouts to fill the vacancies left by Stevenson (WBC O'Shaquie Foster vs Rey Vargas and WBO Oscar Valdez vs Emanuel Navarrete).

The evening card from Showtime from Minneapolis ends with a sad note as the main event has taken a tragic turn.

Minor Super Middleweight champion David Morrell dominated his top-rated challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly over eleven rounds and delivered a beating, although entering the final round, Morrell had yet to score a knockdown.

Morrell had busted open Yerbossynuly's nose early in the fight, causing impressive bleeding that stained the trunks of each man with a pink hue and while Morrell was too much for Yerbossynuly, Yerbossynuly never stopped trying and never stopped coming forward, and when he ran into a straight left that knocked him down a few seconds into the round, Tony Weeks perhaps should have stopped the fight then and there, considering the state of the scorecards (I gave Yerbossynuly only of the eleven rounds) and how much punishment Yerbossynuly had taken.

Perhaps the corner could have stopped it considering Zelfa Barrett's corner earlier in the day stopped the fight to protect their man who had taken many fewer punches to the head.

Instead, the fight continued with Morrell landing at will in search of the knockout he promised and Yerbossynuly trying to grab and hold to make it to the final bell.

Tony Weeks deducted a point from Yerbossynuly for holding but allowed the fight to continue with Morrell continuing to land with impunity and Yerbossynuly taking shot after shot before a right floored Yerbossynuly again with Weeks ending the fight.

Dan Rafael is reporting, as of this writing, that Yerbossynuly is hospitalized and in a medically induced coma and I just feel that it didn't have to be this way.

The corner and the referee are employed to protect the fighter from themselves, and this is the type of fight that tragedy often occurs- a fight that doesn't see many knockdowns from a fighter that is a good but not spectacular power puncher against an opponent that is overmatched in talent but not in heart and results in a sustained beating to the head.

Hopefully, Yerbossynuly will be okay, although he should certainly retire.

As for Morrell, he won his eighth fight, the seventh by KO, and adds an impressive victory over the best opponent of his career but I'm not sure what's next for the Cuban.

Morrell isn't going to prove anything by dominating fighters of the class of Yerbossynuly but with Canelo Alvarez out for a few months with hand surgery, and others ahead of Morrell on the mandatory list, Morrell may be forced to fight these types of fights and maybe hope that eventually, he could face one of the David Benavidez-Caleb Plant combatants.

Ironically, Morrell might be more likely to face the loser of that fight scheduled for early 2023 as the winner will not be likely to risk a shot at Canelo Alvarez against the high-risk low-reward Morrell.

The co-feature saw a mild upset as late replacement Brian Mendoza knocked out former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in the fifth round of a middleweight ten-rounder.

Mendoza replaced the very talented prospect Yoelvis Gomez and maybe for Rosario's sake, that was a fortunate development.

Rosario has always had issues with taking punches with all three of his defeats entering the fight by stoppage and he had shown a tendency to crumble under body blows but still on pedigree Mendoza's chance was to catch Rosario and hope he wilted.

And that's exactly what happened as Mendoza worked the body and dropped Rosario in the second with Rosario barely surviving the stanza and even though Rosario courageously fought back, it seemed like the fight was Mendoza's to win- he would do just that with an uppercut in the fifth that ended the fight and Rosario's career as he announced his retirement following the fight.

That's likely a good idea as Rosario's punch resistance isn't going to improve as he fights more.

Mendoza will appear more on PBC cards after a solid win and I wouldn't be surprised to see him against former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Julian Williams, who lost his titles to Rosario and won a fight on the YouTube streamed undercard.

On the YouTube undercard, former contenders Andre Dirrell and Yunieski Gonzalez squared off in a light heavyweight bout that proved to be a good battle.

I wrote in the preview that fights like these can be quite fun with two veterans that perhaps don't have the skills and the legs that they once have but losing those attributes can make their fights more entertaining than in their prime.

Dirrell at 39 and Gonzalez at 37 were matched properly and the result was a back-and-forth fight that saw each man have their peaks with Gonzalez starting fast, Dirrell turning the tide in the middle rounds before Gonzalez hurt Dirrell in the ninth round.

That took a lot from Gonzalez and Dirrell ripped Gonzalez in the tenth and scored the stoppage with Gonzalez taking punches along the ropes

Dirrell was cut early in the fight and over Dirrell's career, he has often found a way to lose in strange ways that haven't always been the most courageous.

That's not the case in this one as Dirrell fought hard and found a way to win but I'm afraid that this win might have earned him a fight against a younger fighter looking to make his name and that wouldn't end well for Dirrell...

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 185 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 158 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 152 Pts (4) 

Boxing Challenge

    The biggest fight of the weekend is easily in the boxing hotbed of Abu Dhabi with the one light heavyweight title not held by Artur Beterbiev at stake along with a sizable future paycheck as well as WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol faces former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez in a showdown of two undefeated fighters.

Bivol enters the fight after upsetting Canelo Alvarez earlier this year. Ramirez has been pounding former contenders that are a bit past their best days such as Sullivan Barrera and Yunieski Gonzalez.

This could be each man's toughest test as a pro as Bivol is facing a larger man in Ramirez and Ramirez has never faced a versatile fighter such as Bivol.

Bivol has stated that his goal is a fight with Artur Beterbiev for all four titles in the division and there is always a rematch with Canelo whenever Canelo wants it. 

Ramirez might be in a different pickle should he win as a Canelo fight could be difficult to make if Canelo doesn't want to deal with his former promoter and Ramirez's current- Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, and a Beterbiev fight could be a tough sell as Beterbiev's promoter, Top Rank, once promoted Ramirez and the parting wasn't amiable.

I lean toward Bivol as he can do more things while Ramirez has been scoring knockouts late. he isn't a big puncher and I'm not sure that he can hit Bivol enough to grind him down.

The co-feature will fill the vacant IBF junior lightweight title as Shavkat Rakhimov faces Zelfa Barrett.

Rakhimov fought for this title in February 2021 but settled for a majority draw against Joseph Diaz, who had given up the title on the scales before the fight.

Barrett holds a win over Kiko Martinez but hasn't proven himself above the European level and I have doubts that he will hold up under the pressure of Rakhimov.

Showtime returns to Minneapolis for another minor title defense of super middleweight David Morrell, who defends against undefeated Aidos Yerbossnuly.

Both men have defeated Lennox Allen, Morrell winning by unanimous decision in 2020 and Yerbossnuly stopping Allen in ten rounds in 2021, and have extensive amateur backgrounds.

The winner will stay in the super middleweight picture among the various interims and minor titles under the unified champion of the division, Canelo Alvarez.

Former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario attempts to bounce back from back-to-back knockout losses (Jermell Charlo and Erickson Lubin) against late replacement Brian Mendoza in a ten-round middleweight fight.

Mendoza is 18-2 but has fought no one in Rosario's class and I'd say this would be a mismatch if there wasn't the ever-present question of Rosario's chin, which has caused him to be stopped in all three of his career defeats.

The final fight is on the Showtime YouTube channel as two long-time contenders in their division that never won a world title will attempt to continue their careers as Andre Dirrell meets Yunieski Gonzalez in a light heavyweight ten-rounder.

Dirrell hasn't fought since last July and that is his only fight since December 2019 while Gonzalez was pounded by Gilberto Ramirez last December in his most recent bout.

These two are aging (Dirrell 39, Gonzalez 37) and don't seem to have much remaining in their careers but sometimes, fighters like these two can produce a very entertaining fight.

Boxing Challenge

WBA Light Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds 

Dmitry Bivol vs Gilberto Ramirez

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Bivol Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Ramirez KO 11

Vacant IBF Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Shavkat Rakhimov vs Zelfa Barrett

All: Rakhimov Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

David Morrell vs Aldos Yerbossynuly

R.L and TRS: Morrell Unanimous Decision

V.S: Morrell KO 9

Middleweights.10 Rds

Jeison Rosario vs Brian Mendoza

R.L: Rosario KO 9

TRS: Rosario Unanimous Decision

V.S.: Mendoza Unanimousous Decision

Light Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Andre Dirrell vs Yunieski Gonzalez

All; Gonzalez Unanimous Decision