Boxing Challenge: Inoue Unifies Again!

   Naoya Inoue got more than most bargained for in a strong effort by Marlon Tapales but even in a gutsy attempt by Tapales, the greatness of Inoue was far too much as Inoue took away Tapales's WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles by tenth round knockout in Tokyo.

Adding those titles to the WBC and WBO championships that Inoue owned entering the fight means that Inoue completely unified the division in the two fights that the Monster has fought in the weight class.

Inoue was expected to overpower Tapales but Tapales showed the willingness to engage with Inoue and took the power shots very well, even fighting back after a fourth-round knockdown and winning the seventh round on my card, which is rare against Inoue.

Still, even though Tapales fought much better than expected, he was overmatched by Inoue, who could be the best fighter in the world and if he is rated behind anyone, it's Terence Crawford and no one else.

Inoue announced his desire to stay in the division to defend his titles rather than vacate them almost immediately as he did with his bantamweight titles. He is expected to face former WBC bantamweight and super featherweight champion Luis Nery in the spring.

Nery is a fighter who was once rated by some as a top ten pound-for-pound fighter and has won four straight since suffering his only loss in 2021, a seventh-round knockout loss to Brandon Figueroa.

Nery will be the hardest puncher that Inoue has faced other than maybe Nonito Donaire but Nery is likely to have issues with the speed of Inoue and his chin gave out against Figueroa, it's hard to see him holding up against Inoue.

Naoya Inoue is a special fighter and has already stamped himself as a Hall of Famer.

The question is this- Who will be the fighter that truly pushes him to the limit?

I don't see anyone doing so at 122 pounds, is that fighter at 126 pounds?

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 198 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 179 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 131 Pts (2)  

Boxing Challenge

   Early Tuesday morning in Tokyo, Naoya Inoue will attempt to unify his second division in two years as Inoue will place his WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles against the WBA and IBF belts held by Marlon Tapales to create one champion in the division.

Inoue won his two titles from the man who was regarded as the best fighter in the division before Inoue rose in weight from bantamweight, as Inoue ripped through Stephen Fulton in eight rounds in July, while Tapales took advantage of a sluggish start from Murodjon Akhmadaliev to slip by with a split decision win in April to win his two championships.

Inoue is heavily favored to dispatch Tapales and I think it could be a short night.

Style-wise, Akhmadaliev may have been a more difficult opponent for "The Monster" and Tapales doesn't seem to have the skill to trouble Inoue or the strength to come forward aggressively.

Should Tapales pull the upset, it will be the biggest upset in the lighter-weight classes in decades.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica; Inoue KO 6 

TRS: Inoue KO 2

Vince Samano : Inoue KO 5

Boxing Challenge: Wilder Upset!

  The heavyweight heavy card from Saudi Arabia on Saturday was supposed to be a preamble to a superfight that has been awaited for years.

Instead, the fight will not happen as while Anthony Joshua dominated Otto Wallin with Wallin's corner stopping the fight after the fifth round, Deontay Wilder was unable to do his part as he sleepwalked through a unanimous decision defeat to Joseph Parker in the co-main event.

Joshua was very sharp in carving up Otto Wallin, busting him up around both eyes and hurting Wallin in the fifth round before Wallin's corner stopped the fight with their fighter unlikely to turn the tide in the future.

I had Joshua ahead 49-46 at the time of the stoppage, and while Wallin is a solid contender, he might have been well-matched for Joshua because Wallin isn't known as a big puncher, Joshua didn't have to worry about his chin letting him down.

Joshua now will have to wonder about his next opponent as his agreed-to-March battle with Deontay Wilder was contingent on both men winning.

Wilder's defeat was pretty dull as Wilder walked around a patient Parker with his powerful right hand cocked but could never seem to get the punch off as Parker respected the power and boxed from the outside.

Parker's offense wasn't a lot more active than Wilder but it was enough to easily win on the cards of the judges at 120-108, 118-111, and 118-110, the latter score agreeing with my score.

Wilder-Joshua could still happen, but it's unlikely that Joshua would take that risk now with the shine removed from Wilder's pedestrian performance.

At 38, Wilder looked very much the part of an aging fighter, seeing openings and unable to fire at them, and when you consider the money Wilder has made in his career, he shouldn't need to continue unless he wishes to.

As for Parker, adding the name Wilder to his resume gives him a boost and could make him a desirable opponent for an up-and-coming prospect, or perhaps get him into a title eliminator that could eventually earn him another title shot.

Being Christmas Day, time is a little short so I'm going with the results from the rest of the card with my scores to the right.

I have not watched the Frank Sanchez-Junior Fa match.

Daniel DuBois KO 10 Jarrell Miller (DuBois leading 88-83)

Dmitry Bivol:  Unanimous Decision over Lyndon Arthur (Bivol 120-107) to retain his WBA light heavyweight title.

Agit Kabayel KO 4 Arlanbek Makhmudov (Kabayel leading 29-28)

Flip Hrgovic KO 1 Mark DeMori

Jai Opietaia KO 1 Ellis Zorro

Frank Sanchez KO 7 Junior Fa

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 196 Pts (9)

Ramon Malpica:177 Pts  (8)

Vince Samano: 129 Pts (5) 

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing weekend is all at one site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a terrific card of heavyweights with some light heavyweight and cruiserweight action tossed in, so I decided to make the entire card part of the challenge.

The two fights at the top of the card will set up an awaited fight next spring.

Former three-title holder Anthony Joshua will take on a stern test in once-beaten Otto Wallin in a twelve-round bout that may be closer than expected.

Wallin has yet to fight often since his close decision defeat to Tyson Fury in 2019 but is returning after a win over former cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev and style-wise could be a threat to Joshua, should he be looking ahead to Deontay Wilder.

Joshua has won twice since his consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk with a decision over Jermaine Franklin and a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius and seeks a third win to cap off the year.

Should Joshua win over Wallin, he is planning to battle Deontay Wilder, who also is fighting on the card against former WBO champion Joseph Parker.

Wilder has fought only one round since his gallant loss to Tyson Fury in their third fight, in 2021,  icing Robert Helenius in October 2022, so who knows how that ring rust will affect the biggest puncher in the division.

Parker has always shown a durable chin but suffered his first knockout loss in 2022, falling to Joe Joyce in eleven rounds.

Parker has won three straight since against mediocre competition, so it is fair to wonder if Parker will hold up in his first challenge since losing to Joyce.

The top contender in the IBF will be in action as Filip Hrgovic battles veteran Mark DeMori.
DeMori hasn't fought anyone of note since being knocked out in one round by David Haye in 2016, so this is a showcase fight for Hrgovic and staying active.

Daniel DuBois has been stopped in both of his losses and yet he takes a very interesting opponent in Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller, who has been on tour against weak opposition since his PED suspension.

DuBois has the size and skills to do well against Miller, as long as his chin holds up.

Miller did stop former contender Lucas Browne in six rounds in his last fight, so that's something and DuBois hasn't shown a great chin, so Miller does have a puncher's chance.

The winner should be in line for a 2024 eliminator.

Two unbeaten fighters with plenty to prove with Arislenbek Makhmundov meeting Agit Kabayel in a ten-rounder.

Makhmundov has stopped eighteen of nineteen foes but the best of them, veteran Carlos Takam, lasted the ten-round distance.

Kabayel has beaten Dereck Chisora and Andrei Rudenko both by decision and has shown more boxing ability than Makhmundov but doesn't have the power.

The final heavyweight pits unbeaten Franks Sanchez against Junior Fa,

Sanchez looked to be on the edge of contention when he dominated Efe Ajagba in a match of unbeaten heavyweight prospects in October 2021 but hasn't fought a contender since in his four wins after the victory over Ajagba.

Fa was once a highly regarded prospect before losses to Joseph Parker by decision and an awful first knockout loss to Lucas Browne in 2022, so Fa is a heavy underdog in this fight.

WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol makes his 2023 debut with less than ten days to go in the year as he defends his title against Lyndon Arthur.

Arthur's not a gimme' as he owns a win over Anthony Yarde, but Yarde did stop Arthur in four rounds in their rematch.

Remember that Craig Richards, another lanky fighter from the UK, went the distance with Bivol and gave him a difficult fight so don't be surprised if Arthur fights better than expected.

Jai Opietaia was stripped of his IBF cruiserweight title last week in one of the dumber decisions in boxing as Opietaia didn't face mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis, despite Briedis giving permission for Opietaia to take an optional defense and Briedis stating that he would be unavailable to fight in December anyway.

Opietaia will face unbeaten Briton Ellis Zorro, who will be taking a jump from England's best to arguably the best cruiserweight in the world.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights. 12 Rds 

Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Joshua Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Wallin KO 8

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker

R.L: Wilder KO 6
TRS: Wilder Unanimous Decision
V.S: Parker KO 8

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Daniel DuBois vs Jarrell Miller

R.L: Miller KO 6
TRS: DuBois Unanimous Decision
V.S: Miller Unanimous Decision

WBA Light Heavyweight Title, 12 Rds

Dmitry Bivol vs Lyndon Arthur

R.L and TRS: Bivol Unanimous Decision

V.S: Bivol KO 9

Heavyweights 12 Rds

Arlanbek Makhmudov vs Agit Kabayel

R.L: Makhmudov KO 8
TRS: Makhmudov Unanimous Decision
V.S: Kabayel KO 6

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Filip Hrgovic vs Mark DeMori

R.L; Hrgovic KO 5
TRS: Hrgovic KO 3
V.S: Hrgovic Unanimous Decision

Cruiserweights. 12 Rds

Jai Opietaia vs Ellis Zorro

R.L: Opietaia KO 6
TRS: Opietaia Unanimous Decision

V.S: Zorro Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Frank Sanchez vs Junior Fa

R.L: Sanchez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Sanchez KO 4
V.S;  Fa Unanimous Decision 

Boxing Challenge: Bam unifies, Showtime bids farewell

      The boxing weekend's biggest fight came from Matchroom/DAZN from Glendale, Arizona with Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez taking the IBF flyweight title from Sunny Edwards to add it to the WBO title that Rodriguez owned entering the fight.

Edwards made the fight more entertaining than was expected before the fight as he was willing to exchange shots with the stronger puncher but that was to the detriment of the Englishman, who is known for his boxing skills and not his punching power.

I thought Edwards held his own early and had the fight even after four rounds but Sunny's left eye had been compromised in the second round and would only get worse as the fight progressed.

Edwards announced after the fight that he had suffered an orbital fracture and considering the eye damage, Edwards deserves kudos for hanging in there against the power punches of Rodriguez.

Round six saw both men land well with Edwards surprising with his eagerness to swap in the middle of the ring but even with Edwards's success, Rodriguez still won the round and controlled the seventh and eighth.

Rodriguez battered Edwards in the ninth and dropped him near the ropes as the round neared its end.

Edwards got up and reached his corner but his team wisely ended the fight.

I had Rodriguez ahead at the time of the stoppage 87-84.

Rodriguez was mentioned for a big fight with junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada, which could be an excellent action fight as well as a possible changing of the guard with the veteran Estrada attempting to make a final stand against the young tiger, Rodriguez.

In the co-feature, former WBA and IBF junior featherweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev knocked out Kevin Gonzalez in the eighth round to win a title eliminator that will eventually allow Akhmadaliev to fight for his old WBA title after Naoya Inoue vacates his 122-pound belts after his likely win next week over Marlon Tapales.

Gonzalez fought well early but Akhmadaliev broke down Gonzalez, dropped him twice in round six before knocking him down and finishing him off in the eighth.

Had Akhmadaliev fought like this against Marlon Tapales earlier this year, it would be Akhmadaliev that would be unifying titles with Naoya Inoye next week and in my opinion, would be a far more interesting challenge to Inoue than Tapales will be.

It was goodbye to Showtime on Saturday from Minneapolis with a three-fight card with a mismatch in the main event as David Morrell retained his minor title with a second-round drilling of Sena Agbeko in a super middleweight pairing.

Morrell was expected to dispatch Agebeko with ease and he did so, so there's not much else to say other than Morrell looks like the real deal but his competition has been less demanding than Morrell's talent deserves.

The problem is that Morrell looks to be one of the best three super middleweights in the world and in that world, the champion, Canelo Alvarez, doesn't seem thrilled with fighting the second-best, David Benavidez, and Benavidez doesn't seem intrigued with fighting Morrell.

Holding the minor WBA title will eventually put Morrell in a spot to challenge for a title, against Alvarez or a vacant belt but the big fights may elude Morrell for a while.

The super middleweight division has some talented young fighters but they are spread out among several promoters.

Christian Mbilli and Erik Bazinyan are based with Montreal's Eye of the Tiger, who works with Top Rank, Diego Pacheco, and Edgar Berlanga are with Matchroom, and Jaime Munguia is promoted by Golden Boy, so few if any have an incentive to try Morrell on for size.

I'd say the next step for Morrell could be Caleb Plant or Jermall Charlo, should Charlo not fight David Benavidez.

Plant may be the more likely choice, having suffered knockout losses to Alvarez and Benavidez but there is a grudge between Charlo and Plant outside the ring that may make a fight between them a better sale to fans.

In the co-feature, Jose Valenzuela didn't allow the judges to be involved in his rematch with Chris Colbert as Valenzuela knocked Colbert down in round one, and battered him throughout before a one-punch knockout ended the fight in the sixth round.

Colbert tried hard and landed an occasional counter right but he was outgunned by the harder-punching Valenzuela and took a lot of punishment for the third fight in a row had the judges not given the first fight to Colbert, unjustly, Colbert would be on a three-fight losing streak.

Colbert doesn't punch hard enough to keep top fighters off him, and while he is a skilled boxer he's not skilled enough to overcome that liability.

Valenzuela called for Gervonta Davis after the fight and considering the dearth of talent for PBC at lightweight other than Isaac Cruz, Valenzuela could get his chance in 2024, assuming Davis needs an opponent.

The opener was a blast from the past as two welterweight veterans Robert Guerrero battled Andre Berto in a rematch of their spirited 2012 match,

Guerrero won the first fight by unanimous decision and he would repeat the win in the same manner.

Berto was quicker, Guerrero stronger, and Guerrero would win the inside battles to win a reasonably entertaining unanimous decision by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 (x2).

I had the fight a bit closer for Guerrero at 97-93.

It was the type of pairing that fighters of a certain age and quality can still be successful as I don't have much interest in seeing either of these two against a contender or even a solid prospect but matched properly, older boxers can still have a place in the sport.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 187 Pts (6)

Ramon Malpica: 169 Pts (6)

Vince Samano: 124 Pts (6) 

Boxing Challenge

     Another year of the boxing challenger nears the end of the road but boxing is finishing strong with two Saturdays with plenty of fistic action!

Matchroom and DAZN's main event may have the biggest bout of the weekend with the smallest participants as the IBF and WBO flyweight titles will be unified as England's Sunny Edwards takes on Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez in Glendale, Arizona. 

The smooth-boxing Edwards is a light hitter with only four knockouts in his twenty wins but he's extremely effective with what he does. If he is given credit from American judges who don't always favor a slick mover, Edwards could be the victor.

Rodriguez looked phenomenal in 2022 with wins over Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Still, he didn't impress in beating Cristian Gonzalez in April by unanimous decision, suffering a broken jaw in the process.

Rodriguez throws a lot of punches which is usually the most effective style against boxers, so this is a close fight to call.

But I have a feeling that Edwards is going to outbox Rodriguez and then get mildly shafted for his lack of aggression by the judges.

The co-feature is a WBA eliminator at junior featherweight with former champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev battling Kevin Gonazlez.

Akhmadaliev held the WBA and IBF titles before sleepwalking through much of the fight with a late rally falling short in April, losing his titles via split decision to Marlon Tapales and costing him a huge payday against Naoya Inoue.

The unbeaten Gonzalez has fought once outside of his native Mexico, his last win by unanimous decision over Jose Sammartin, and will be the underdog assuming Akhmadaliev is motivated entering the bout.

Minneapolis is the site for the final card for Showtime Championship Boxing as the pay cable network is ending its sports department at the end of the year.

The main event is the super middleweight no one wants to face- even the feared David Benavidez isn't interested in fighting the talented but still untested David Morrell, who defends his minor title against another opponent who likely has little chance in Sena Agbeko.

Morrell has impressively blown all of his competition and even though much of it has been second-tier level and below, the wins have been strong enough to want to see Morrell against better competition.

Morrell isn't likely to get that improved opposition against Agbeko, who lost almost every round against his best opponent Vladimir Shishkin.

The co-feature will be a rematch between Chris Colbert and Jose Valenzuela.

The two fought in March with Colbert winning 95-94 despite being knocked down and most people giving Valenzuela the edge.

Neither have fought since, so who knows what their current form will be.

The opener will be a rematch from eleven years ago as welterweights Robert Guerrero and Andre Berto hook up after their fun battle in 2012.

Guerrero won a unanimous decision, knocking Berto down twice, but Berto had his moments as well as the fight continued.

Guerrero's win over Berto allowed him the chance to cash a sizable check in his following fight against Floyd Mayweather and while I don't know that anyone was hungering to see the rematch, I'd rather see the two face each other in an evenly matched affair than get battered by younger fighters.

Boxing Challenge

Unification IBF-WBO Flyweight Titles 12 Rds 

Sunny Edwards vs Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez

Ramon Malpica and Vince Samano: Rodriguez Unanimous Decision

TRS: Edwards Split Decision

Jr Featherweights. 12 Rds

Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Kevin Gonzalez

R.L and TRS: Akhmadaliev Unanimous Decision

V.S: Gonzalez Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

David Morrell vs Sena Agbeko

R.L: Morrell KO 7

TRS: Morrell KO 3

V.S: Morrel KO 6

Lightweights. 12 Rds

Chris Colbert vs Jose Valenzuela

R.L: Colbert Unanimous Decision

TRS and V.S: Valenzuela Unanimous Decision

Welterweights. 10 Rds

Robert Guerrero vs Andre Berto

All: Guerrero Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Haney dominates Prograis, Espinoza stuns Ramirez

     Many observers thought that Regis Prograis was a live underdog in his defense of his WBC junior welterweight title against lightweight king Devin Haney in San Francisco on Saturday.

They could not have been more wrong as Haney knocked Prograis down in the third round and won every round in a superb display of boxing to win the WBC 140-pound belt by a unanimous decision.

Prograis never was able to offer any offense against the pure skills of Haney, and after he hit the deck from a short Haney right in round three, Prograis was unable to win even on the inside against Haney and clearly looked to be a level below the new champion.

All three judges scored the fight the same as I did at 120-107.

Haney will certainly drop his remaining lightweight titles and stay at junior welterweight where he looked strong and natural at the weight.

Haney's future looks bright with the biggest potential fight with WBO champion Teofimo Lopez, which could happen with Haney having worked with Lopez's promoter Top Rank in the past, although it's unlikely to happen right away with Lopez expected to defend against former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in early 2024.

Ryan Garcia has been mentioned as a possibility but I don't see Garcia as a serious threat to Haney, although a Garcia fight would pad his wallet more than a little.

IBF champion Subriel Matias would bring a bruising style that I would love to see Haney against but Matias's link with PBC makes that a long considering the risk/reward ratio.

The PBC connection makes a chance at lightly-regarded WBA champion Rolly Romero even less likely than Matias in a fight that would be more fun at the press conferences than in the ring.

As for Prograis, a two-time champion, it's very evident from his last two fights that he looked stronger than he actually was in winning the vacant title last year due to the fading of his opponent, Jose Zepeda, and that the generation of junior welterweights that included Prograis, Josh Taylor, and Jose Ramirez turned out to be less than boxing watchers thought they would become.

One thing is for sure: Devin Haney is a terrific all-around fighter. If he has added a little more pop to his punch at the higher weight, Haney will be a very difficult out for any fighter around his division for quite a while.

Devin Haney may have delivered the performance of the evening but the fight from ESPN and Top Rank from Pembroke Pines Florida was the fight of the night and will be in the running for the fight of the year with previously unknown Rafael Espinoza shocking WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez to take his title via majority decision.

Espinoza was an unknown quantity entering the fight with an unbeaten record against unknown competition in his native Mexico but with 18 knockouts in 21 wins and a freakish 6'1 frame for a fighter in the featherweight division, one didn't know how good Espinoza was going to be.

The answer was very good as Espinoza won the first four rounds by outworking Ramirez and keeping the shorter man off balance.

Espinoza was winning the fifth until late in the round, Espinoza was switching his stances and just as he began to move, Ramirez fired a short bullet of a right hand that knocked down Espinoza with Espinoza beating the count but in serious condition.

Espinoza took advantage of the little time remaining in the round to survive but Ramirez took control of the fight and won every round on my card from the sixth through the ninth, appearing to be on his way to a difficult retention of his title with Espinoza earning deserved credit for a gallant effort.

Instead, Espinoza turned the tide by winning the tenth and eleventh rounds and the fight was literally on the line with my card reading 104-104, six rounds to five for Espinoza but Ramirez scored a 10-8 fifth round due to the knockdown.

Round twelve saw Espinoza firing all the punches that he had at Ramirez until finally hurting him late in the round and dropping Ramirez along the ropes.

Ramirez would gallantly rise and finish on his feet but the knockdown was enough to lift the challenger to a majority decision by scores of 115-111, 114-112, and 113-113.

I gave Espinoza the nod 114-112 in one of the biggest upsets of the year and the best fights of the campaign as well.

Ramirez appeared to lack focus in his pre-fight interview with Mark Kriegel due to various issues with his family in his native Cuba and I even thought before the fight that if Espinoza was as good as his record Ramirez could be in trouble as a fighter that isn't in the correct frame of mind.

Still, no one knew how good Espinoza was going to be, and while Ramirez would be very deserving of a rematch, that would depend on the WBO as Espinoza was an optional defense and the WBO"s  mandatory challenger Arnold Khegai could be forced on Espinoza before a rematch or unification possibilities. 

Boxing Challenge 

TRS: 181 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 163 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 118 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

   As the boxing year closes, there are three world title defenses this weekend but the undercards are all lacking a bit, so the boxing challenge will only showcase those title battles.

The biggest of the weekend is from Matchroom/DAZN PPV from San Francisco as Regis Prograis defends his WBC junior welterweight title against lightweight champion Devin Haney, who kept three of his titles for the time being but vacated his WBC version to take this fight against Prograis.

Prograis has lost only to Josh Taylor and looked great two fights ago in winning his title by buzzing through Jose Zepeda to win the WBC belt vacated by Taylor.

However, Prograis looked disinterested in winning a decision over Danielito Zorrila earlier this year and that dull outing may have helped Prograis in landing a fight against Devin Haney, who may have seen some vulnerabilities in the bigger fighter.

My question about Prograis is this, is he as good as he looked against Zepeda? 

Or did he look better than he is because Zepeda was starting a downhill slide and Prograis was the beneficiary of his decline? 

As for Haney, he's always going to be a fighter who is more effective than exciting and any fighter that consistently leaves things up to the judges will get screwed over sooner or later, although he did receive the benefit of the doubt in his last fight against Vasyl Lomachenko in a fight that I scored even.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the bigger Prograis win by bullying Hnaey but I suspect Haney is the better fighter and finds a way to win in a fight that may not be all that entertaining.

On ESPN from Top Rank, Robeisy Ramirez defends his WBO featherweight title against Rafael Espinoza in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Ramirez was strong in winning his first title defense in Japan via fifth-round knockout over Satoshi Shimizu in July and is showing the form that won him two Olympic gold medals as an amateur.

The unbeaten Espinoza has knocked out eighteen of his twenty-one victims but hasn't faced anyone who is a contender let alone a boxer of Ramirez's quality, so he is an unknown quantity.

On Sunday, Peacock presents a Boxxer card from Bournemouth, England with a main event that will see WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith defend against his mandatory challenger Mateusz Masternak.

Billam-Smith upset Lawrence Okolie in May by majority decision in what was a surprise to almost everyone to win the title and was expected to defend against Okolie in a rematch but the WBO stepped in to require a match against Masternak first.

Billam-Smith is an action fighter and his fights before upsetting Okolie were generally fun ones to watch, especially his two battles with Tommy McCarthy, so if Masternak engages this could be a interesting match.

Masternak has been stopped only once in his five defeats and he does own a win over former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck.

The problem is it was the last fight of a faded Mormeck's career and it was nine years ago.

Otherwise, when Masternak has stepped up in class, he's been defeated by Yuniel Dorticos, Grigory Drozd, and Tony Bellew.

Boxing Challenge

WBC Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds 

Regis Prograis vs Devin Haney

Ramon Malpica: Progais KO 10
TRS: Haney Unanimous Decision
Vince Samano: Prograis KO 11

WBO Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Robeisy Ramirez vs Rafael Espinoza

R.L: Ramirez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Ramirez KO 8
V.S: Ramirez KO 10

WBO Cruiserweight Title 12 Rds

Chris Billam-Smith vs Mateusz Masternak.

R.L: Billam-Smith KO 8

TRS: Billiam-Smith Unanimous Decision
V.S: Masternak Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Garcia Stops Duarte

  The boxing weekend was a bit light but it did showcase the return of Ryan Garcia, who fought for the first time since his knockout loss to Gervonta Davis.

Oscar Duarte fought well at times and Garcia on occasion looked tentative but when Garcia finally hurt Duarte, he quickly ended the evening in the eighth round.

Garcia fought a bit like Floyd Mayweather with some attempts at using the shoulder roll and did enough to lead the fight on my card at 58-56 at the time of the stoppage and give him credit for finishing the fight as soon he had a good chance. Still, he didn't fight as aggressively as usual and it does seem that he has some residual damage from the Davis defeat as he didn't seem anxious to engage with Duarte as he did in the past.

There may have been some damage done to Ryan Garcia that we might only see once he fights someone better than Oscar Duarte but time will tell.

Earlier in the afternoon from Belfast Northern Ireland, two veterans with questions to answer about how well their chins would hold up battled in a featherweight scrap that answered the questions for one of those aging battlers as Jordan Gill knocked out Michael Conlain in the seventh round.

The fight was even after six rounds with both fighters having their share of advantages with the biggest coming in the second round when Gill knocked Conlan down which was the difference on my card after six rounds at 57-56 for Gill.

Gill badly hurt Conlan in the seventh and the referee ended the affair then and there.

Conlan still has his skills but the knockout loss to Leigh Wood damaged his ability to take a good blow and he should consider retirement at this stage of his career.

Gill will move on but with his own chin problems will likely be sacrificed to an up-and-coming prospect ready to make their next step.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 179 Pts(2)

Ramon Malpica: 163 Pts (3)
Vince Samano: 118 Pts (3)

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing weekend became a little lighter when Ohara Davies's fight for the WBA junior lightweight title against Ismael Barroso was postponed due to visa problems for Davies.

Still, DAZN will have two fight cards on Saturday with the main events from both events as this week's challenge bouts.

The biggest fight is the return of Ryan Garcia, who spent most of his fight week verbally sparring not with his opponent but with his promoter Oscar De La Hoy and Golden Boy Promotions.

Garcia is fighting for the first time since his seventh-round knockout loss in April to Gervonta Davis and his opponent, Oscar Duarte seems to be tailor-made for Garcia to make a spectacular return, assuming that the young bomber is in a mental state to perform at his best.

Duarte can crack with 21 knockouts in his 26 wins against one loss, has won eleven in a row since that defeat ( a 2019 split decision to Adrian Estrella), and holds a win over former WBA junior lightweight champion Roger Gutierrez but hasn't fought anyone of Garcia's quality in those wins.

Duarte is a half-inch taller than Garcia, which may give Garcia a few problems but Duarte will likely have to come to Garcia, making him vulnerable to the superior pop of Garcia.

Earlier in the day on DAZN, two veteran fighters in desperate need of a win, face each other in Belfast Northern Ireland with Michael Conlan making his Matchroom debut against Jordan Gill.

Conlan has suffered his first two losses in the last two years, both by devastating knockouts in losses to Leigh Wood and Luis Alberto Lopez in title attempts.

Gill was knocked out in his previous outing in October 2022 when aging former champion Kiko Martinez dropped Gill four times before finishing him in the fourth round.

This could be a fun fight for as long as the bout lasts with both fighters willing to engage and both having vulnerable chins at this stage of their careers.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Welterweights. 12 Rds 

Ryan Garcia vs Oscar Duarte

Ramon Malpica; Garcia KO 6

TRS: Garcia KO 3

Vince Samano: Garcia KO 5

Junior Lightweights.12 Rds

Michael Conlan vs Jordan Gill

TRS: Conlan KO 6

R.L & V.S: Gill Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Benavidez no picnic for Boo Boo

   David Benavidez stamped himself again as the best possible opponent for world super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez when Demetrius Andrade was unable to answer the bell for the start of round seven in their Las Vegas clash.

Andrade started well, outboxing Benavidez in the first two rounds before Benavidez began landing in the third round and dominated thereafter, knocking Andrade down in the fourth with a body shot, and battering a very game Andrade in the fifth and sixth.

With Andrade's right eye starting to swell badly, referee Thomas Taylor asked Andrade to show him something in the upcoming round or he would have to stop the fight, Andrade's corner did the right thing in protecting their fighter by ending the evening for Andrade.

A dominant win for Benavidez and the best of his career in my opinion and Andrade was brave in taking his first defeat, showing more in defeat against the bigger man than he may have in his previous wins.

Benavidez once again called out Canelo Alvarez, who hadn't seemed interested in fighting Benavidez in the past, and I'd be surprised if Alvarez answered that call in his next outing, even though Alvarez still has two more fights scheduled with PBC, the promoter for Benavidez.

Benavidez is bigger, younger, and stronger than Canelo, and a prospective fight between the two reminds me of another all-Mexican battle between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio Cesar Chavez, which also ended with the younger, stronger, and faster De La Hoya winning on cuts in four rounds in 1996 and winning the rematch in eight rounds.

Benavidez deserves the shot at Canelo next but if I had to guess who is going to get that chance, that man made his ring return after almost a two-and-a-half year absence in WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who missed weight by multiple pounds even though he was fighting above his division limit.

Charlo looked better than I expected in winning an easy unanimous decision over the much smaller Jose Benavidez over ten rounds held at a catchweight in the super middleweight division.

Charlo didn't score a knockdown but under the circumstances that's about the only thing to be critical of his outing but remember this- Benavidez is a natural 140-pounder, entered the fight with a record of 1-2-1 over the last five years, and he was knocked out by Terence Crawford, so while Benavidez is a tough customer, this wasn't a quality contender Charlo was beating.

Charlo won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92 which was my score.

I haven't seen the other two title fights which saw Subriel Matias stop Shohjahon Ergashev in six to retain his IBF junior welterweight title, and Lamont Roach defeat Hector Luis Garcia by split decision to win the WBA junior lightweight belt.

I did see the YouTube free fight with Michel Rivera winning a close unanimous decision over Sergey Lipinets in a ten-round junior welterweight battle.

I scored Rivera the winner at 96-94.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 177 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 160 Pts (3)

Vince Samano:115 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

     The boxing weekend is all about Las Vegas as Showtime Championship Boxing presents its final pay-per-view and in typical boxing fashion, the card might be the best top to bottom in the history of the network.

In the main event, two undefeated super middleweights face off in what could be each fighter's toughest test and establish again who the top challenger to undisputed world champion Canelo Alvarez truly is, no matter whom Alvarez fights next.

Former WBC champion David Benavidez will meet former WBO junior middleweight and middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade in the main event with a fight that is intriguing, could see a route for either fighter to win, and yet it wouldn't be a surprise for either fighter to win in a laugher.

Benavidez is the bigger man, bigger puncher, and bigger star and none of that could matter against Andrade, who has the ability to outbox Benavidez for twelve rounds and should that happen, do so in a manner that could bore an audience and never receive a shot at Canelo Alvarez any way.

The one thing that we aren't sure about is the chin of Andrade, mainly because he hasn't fought an elite fighter, let alone one with the power of Benavidez. Still, if the chin holds up, Andrade is capable of winning this fight, he will almost certainly have the lead after six rounds but the question is can he hold up against the late-round attack of Benavidez.

In the co-main event, WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo returns after an over two-year absence from the ring against the older brother of David Benavidez, Jose, in an over-the-middleweight limit bout.

Charlo isn't likely to fight at 160 pounds again but chose Benavidez, a natural junior welterweight who lost his two biggest fights against Terence Crawford and Danny Garcia and is 1-2-1 in the last five years.

Charlo can get away with looking a little rusty against Benavidez but he can't look awful or it's going to be difficult selling him in a big fight in his next outing.

The best fight on the card could be for the IBF junior welterweight title as big bombing champion Subriel Matias defends his title against mandatory challenger Shohjahon Ergashev.

Matias won the vacant title earlier this year by a fifth-round knockout over Jeremias Ponce in a pretty action fight lasting only five rounds.

Ergashev is undefeated and looked very good in his last two fights, both in the United States, but I'm not sure any 140-pounder wins a firefight with Matias.

This is the fight that I'm looking forward to watching.

WBA junior lightweight champion Hector Luis Garcia returns to 130 pounds after losing to Gervonta Davis in a lightweight fight against his mandatory challenger Lamont Roach.

Roach lost his previous title attempt in 2019, losing a unanimous decision to then-WBO champion Jamel Herring in what was the only loss in Roach's career, and has won four fights since losing to Herring.

Former IBF junior welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets will open the card with a fight shown for free on YouTube against Michel Rivera in a ten-rounder.

Lipinets is returning to his best weight after moving to welterweight for a few fights that included a sixth-round knockout loss to Jaron "Boots" Ennis.
Rivera hasn't fought since being dominated in a lightweight crossroads fight by Frank Martin last December and will be making his 140-pound debut.

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds 

David Benavidez vs Demetrius Andrade

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Bemavidez Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano:

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds

Jermall Charlo vs Jose Benavidez

R.L: Benavidez KO 10

TRS: Charlo Unanimous Decision
V.S:

IBF Junior Welterweight Title.12 Rds

Subriel Matias vs Shojahon Ergashev

R.L: Matias KO 9

TRS: Ergashev Split Decision

V.S:

WBA Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Hector Luis Garcia vs Lamont Roach

R.L and TRS: Garcia Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds

Sergey Lipinets vs Michel Rivera

R.L: Lipinets Split Decision

TRS: Lipinets Unanimous Decision

V.S: 

Boxing Challenge: Pacheco knocks out Coceres,Heaney upsets Bentley

    Saturday night in Los Angeles, super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco overcame a difficult task in veteran Marcelo Coceres when Pacheco delivered a highlight knockout in the ninth round.

Coceres had success in the middle rounds, especially in the fifth round when he stunned Pacheco with a series of hooks but Pacheco gradually took back control of the fight and had a strong eighth round before finishing the fight in the ninth with an uppercut that chopped Coceres down with the Argentine taking the full count.

Pacheco called out Edgar Berlanga after the fight and while both fighters work with Matchroom, I'd be dubious of Berlanga accepting that fight when he could have a higher profile and payday against Jaime Munguia with a better chance of winning.

Pacheco looks like a future champion but he may not receive that opportunity for quite a while.

Earlier Saturday in Manchester, England on ESPN+, a minor upset for the British middleweight title occurred as Nathan Heaney won a majority decision over Denzel Bentley.

The title isn't as important as the shakeup in the world ratings as Bentley was rated highly after his strong effort against WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Heaney built a lead on the scorecards as Bentley relied on single punches that didn't damage the underdog as much as expected.

Bentley did make a late charge with Heaney tiring badly in the final rounds but the deficit was too great to overcome with Heaney winning by scores of 117-11, 116-113, and 114-114.

I scored Heaney the winner at 115-113 and with Bentley being rated in the WBO's top ten with Top Rank's working relationship with Frank Warren (Heaney's promoter), I could see an Alimkhanuly challenge for Heaney sometime next year.

In the co-feature, Nick Ball dominated former junior featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe to win a unanimous decision in a WBC featherweight eliminator.

Ball was the more physical and larger fighter to bully Dogboe in forcing Dogboe to give way, which isn't Dogboe's style and despite trying hard and having his moments, Ball was the clear victor by scores of 119-108, 118-109, and a surprisingly close 116-111.

I scored Ball the winner at 118-109.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 174 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 157 Pts (3)
Vince Samano:  115 Pts (3)

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing weekend saw its biggest stars fight on Thursday but there is still a few interesting fights on Saturday worth keeping tabs on.

Saturday night on DAZN, unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco will meet Marcelo Coceres in Los Angeles in a Matchroom main event.

Pacheco looks the part of being a future star and could be in the title picture sometime next year but will face his toughest opponent in the veteran Coceres.

Coceres is most remembered for his close 2021 decision loss to Edgar Berlanga that saw Coceres knock down Berlanga in the ninth round.

Earlier in the day from London, ESPN+ will offer a doubleheader with the main event in the middleweight division as Denzel Bentley and Nathan Heaney battle for Bentley's English title.

Bentley is the fighter that gave plenty of trouble to WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in the most difficult fight in the champions career and knocked out Kieran Smith in his first fight following the defeat with a right hand that ended the fight without a count in the first round.

Heaney is undefeated but is facing his first fight against world-class opposition.

The semi-main event is a WBC featherweight eliminator between former WBO junior featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe and unbeaten Brit Nick Ball.

Dogboe lost a clear decision to Robeisy Ramirez earlier this season in a WBO title try while Ball knocked out unbeaten Ludumo Lamati in the twelfth round in his only fight this year.

Boxing Challenge

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds

Diego Pacheco vs Marcelo Coceres

Ramon Malpica: Pacheco Unanimous Decision

TRS: Pacheco KO 6

Vince Samano; Pacheco KO 8

Middleweights.12 Rds

Denzel Bentley vs Nathan Heaney

All: Bentley Unanimous Decision

Featherweights. 12 Rds

Isaac Dogboe vs Nick Ball

R.L. and TRS: Ball Unanimous Decision

V.S: Ball KO 9

Boxing Challenge; Stevenson bores, Junior Lightweights war

  On a rare Thursday night event with elite fighters and two world titles, Las Vegas was the site as ESPN wanted their broadcast partner for boxing, Top Rank, to help with the start of a huge sports weekend in Las Vegas that would culminate in the Formula One race on Saturday.

The stage was set for Shakur Stevenson to continue his rise to stardom with a national audience viewing his attempt to grab the WBC lightweight title vacated by Devon Haney.

Stevenson succeeded in taking the title but didn't win any fans as Stevenson "won" a unanimous decision over Edwin De Los Santos in one of the most boring fights you'll see at the world-class level.

Neither fighter landed double-digit punches in any round, and the pair combined according to Compubox (Boxing's stat-keeping organization) for a combined forty punches, an all-time low for a twelve-round fight in the thirty-eight years of Compubox's existence.

Neither man took any chances and since no one would, the advantage swung to the more skilled fighter, and Stevenson did enough to win under the circumstances.

Stevenson won by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 (x 2), I scored Stevenson the winner at 117-111.

Stevenson didn't take advantage of De Los Santos's reluctance (despite his reputation for power) and Stevenson didn't make anyone scream to see him fight Devin Haney or anyone next time out after such a boring fight.

Stevenson is always going to look better against fighters that attack and at least gamble for a victory, which De Los Santos refused to attempt but neither Devin Haney nor Vasyl Lomachenko are aggressive fighters which makes me wonder if a Stevenson fight against either man would be much more exciting than this fight was, although I'm not sure if any fight could be more boring than this.

Fortunately, the co-feature saved the day as Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO junior lightweight championship with a majority draw with Robson Conceicao.

Navarrete knocked Conceicao down in the fourth and sixth rounds and those knockdowns would be key in the decision as one judge ruled for Navarrete 114-112 (a draw without the knockdowns) and the remaining two judges even at 113-113 (Conceicao wins without them) as same as my score.

Conceicao managed to slow the usual non-stop attack of Navarrete just enough to reach him with counters and mixed in (especially in the last few rounds) enough right hands to earn the majority draw and perhaps an eventual rematch since the fight was an entertaining one.

It makes sense for Navarrete unless first, he can sign a unification match against WBC champion O'Shaquie Foster, who signed a contract with Top Rank last week.

Conceicao would make sense to face the winner of a Navarrete-Foster match and considering his two defeats to Oscar Valdex and Shakur Stevenson had faded his star a little bit, it seems to me that despite the draw, Conceicao was the biggest winner of the evening.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 170 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 154 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 112 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge

     It's a rare Thursday night in the boxing challenge as Top Rank and ESPN are live from Las Vegas with two title events.

The main event pits Shakur Stevenson, who is trying for his third divisional title in his relatively short career, and Edwin De Los Santos for the WBC lightweight title that Devon Haney placed on hold before his challenge of Regis Prograis for the WBC junior welterweight title next month.

Stevenson impressively stopped Shuichiro Yoshino in six rounds in April for his debut in the division and looked very strong at the weight.

De Los Santos is the opponent in a rare Top Rank vs PBC pairing and has rattled off his four biggest wins since his only loss, a split decision to William Foster in January 2022.

De Los Santos ripped through then-undefeated prospect Jose Valenzuela in September 2022 and won every round in a July unanimous decision win over Joseph Adorno.

De Los Santos accepted the fight after Frank Martin refused to fight Stevenson, turning down his largest career payday and first world title shot due to what he claimed was not enough purse parity between Martin and Stevenson.

De Los Santos is a good puncher (14 of 16 wins via knockout) but he's dealing with an entirely new level of opponent in Stevenson, who can eventually be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

In the co-feature, exciting WBO junior lightweight champion Emanuel Navarrete defends his title against former title challenger Robson Conceicao.

Navarrete returns after his fan-friendly battle against former champion Oscar Valdez in August with Navarrete winning a unanimous decision.

Conceicao, a former Olympic gold medal winner, has lost just twice, losing a somewhat controversial decision to Oscar Valdez before dropping a much wider decision to Shakur Stevenson last year.

Conceicao could bring an interesting style to face Navarrete, who struggled a bit in being knocked down by Liam Wilson in his fight before the Valdez victory.

Did Navarrete look so good against Valdez because Valdez's style was made for him?

Or was the Wilson win the outlier for Navarrete and just an off-night?

Boxing Challenge

Vacant WBC Lightweight Title 12 Rds

Shakur Stevenson vs Edwin De Los Santos

All; Stevenson Unanimous Decision

WBO Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Emanuel Navarrete vs Robson Conceicao

R.L: Navarrete KO 7

TRS: Navarrete Unanimous Decision

V.S: Conceicao Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing weekend isn't star-studded but there are three world titles on the table, a heavyweight on the fringes of contention, and a world-class lightweight on the rise, all in action.

Monte Carlo will be the site for the two initial title affairs on a Matchroom/DAZN card.

In the main event, Wales's Joe Cordina will defend his IBF junior lightweight title against Edward Vazquez.

Cordina won that title for a second time when he earned a split decision over Shavkat Rahkimov in April in a terrific fight while Vazquez is a light hitter with only three knockouts in his fifteen wins but his most impressive fight was his only loss when he lost a controversial split decision to the talented Raymond Ford in 2022.

Vazquez has won four fights since the Ford loss and might be a live underdog against Cordina.

Should Cordina successfully defend the title, his next outing could be a unification fight against WBC champion O'Shaquie Foster early next year.

In the co-feature, Sivenathi Nothshinga will defend his IBF junior flyweight title against Adrian Curiel.

Nothshinga looked sensational in winning the title in a fight of the year candidate in September 2022 over Hector Flores but won a dreadfully tedious decision in July over Regie Suganob to take some of the glitter off his title-winning effort.

Curiel is a journeyman from Mexico receiving his first title shot and has stopped only four of his twenty-three victims, so who really knows what he will bring to the fight.

ESPN+ and Top Rank are live in the evening with two contenders attempting to keep winning streaks alive to move up the ladder.

In the main event, heavyweight Efe Ajagba will meet Joe Goodall in a ten-rounder.

Ajagba was last seen winning by disqualification in four rounds when Zhan Kossobutsky continued to hit Ajagba low and has won three straight since his only loss to Frank Sanchez in October 2021.

Australian Joe Goodall knocked out Stephan Shaw in six rounds on a July card and was a decorated amateur, so he isn't a pushover despite Ajabga having the edge as a professional.

Raymond Muratalla continues his move towards the top of the lightweight division as he faces Diego Torres in the co-feature.

Muratalla looked very impressive in a two-round blowout of solid former title challenge Jeremiah Nakathila in May and shows signs of being a top boxer at 135 pounds.

Torres has stopped seventeen of his eighteen foes and hasn't lost but will be making his first fight outside of Mexico and is a bit of an unknown factor.

Don King Promotions pops his head out with a card from the seldom active promoter from Miami with a main event for the WBC cruiserweight title vacated by Badou Jack.

Former champion Illunga Makabu, who lost the title to Jack, battles Noel Mikaelyan for the crown.

Makabu was stopped by Jack in the final round in February and won a controversial decision in 2022 to Thabiso Mchunu, so he is a fighter on the decline while Mikaelyan has fought only three times in the five years since his controversial title attempt in the World Boxing Super Series in which he lost to Mairis Briedis, none against even fringe contenders.

Boxing Challenge

IBF Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds 

Joe Cordina vs Edward Vazquez

Ramon Malpica & TRS: Cordina Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Vazquez Unanimous Decision

IBF Junior Flyweight Title. 12 Rds

Sivenathi Nothshinga  vs Adrian Curiel

R.L & TRS: Nothshinga Unanimous Decision

V.S: Curiel Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Efe Ajgaba vs Joe Goodall

R.L: Ajgaba KO 9

TRS: Ajgaba KO 7

V.S: Goodall Unanimous Decision

Lightweights. 10 Rds

Raymond Muratalla vs Diego Torres

R.L: Muratalla Unanimous Decision

TRS: Muratalla KO 8

V.S: Torres KO 6

Vacant WBC Cruiserweight Title. 12 Rds

Noel Mikaelian vs Illunga Makabu

R.L: Makabu KO 7

TRS: Mikaelian Split Decision

V.S: Makabu Unanimous Decision

Fury shades Ngannou, Foster rallies past Hernandez!

    The biggest event of the boxing weekend was the non-title heavyweight bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between WBC champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannous but I didn't include it in the boxing challenge.

I thought the fight was a sideshow with the lineal heavyweight champion in a clear money grab against someone who had never boxed before before a difficult title unification against the man that holds the other three titles Oleksandr Usyk.

I could not have been more wrong and while there may be reasons for Ngannou doing better than expected, it would be unfair to avoid giving him credit for an incredible effort considering his lack of experience.

In all honesty, it was far from a titanic war with both men exchanging bombs through the non-title ten rounder but it had enough action to be entertaining and provided one memory that should stand the test of time in both boxing history and those who enjoy MMA- the third round knockdown of Fury with the above photo that immediately went viral.

The left hook that floored Fury didn't appear to seriously hurt him, and he was likely stung much worse against Deontay Wilder but that knockdown swung the eventual narrative that Ngannou was robbed.

I thought Fury controlled the middle rounds strongly and although Ngannou had his moments, I thought Fury did enough to edge the decision by 95-94 (6-4 in rounds minus the knockdown) on my card with the official scores reading 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury overruling the opposing judges 95-94 for Ngannou.

Ngannou's performance cannot be understated and while Fury looked a little out of shape and may not have taken him seriously enough to prepare well, Fury outlanded Ngannou and more often than not, handled him when the fight was at a distance.

I can understand those who don't know boxing going overboard for the underdog and thinking Ngannou won but the 95-94 card for him is about as far as you can go reasonably which would be 5-5 in rounds with the knockdown making the difference.

As for the legacy of Tyson Fury, I think this is a small stain to struggle to this degree with a basic novice, no different than it would be for Ngannou to be taken the distance by Fury in an MMA cage and win a close fight.

It's easy to say now but I've always found the talk of Tyson Fury as an all-time great to be premature and questionable to start with.

He did dominate Deontay Wilder with two wins and a draw that he deserved in their three-fight series but if you question Wilder as a great (certainly a champion and huge puncher but not great)  Fury's only win of note historically is his dull decision win over the great but past his prime Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury has only himself to blame for his lack of sharpness as it's been Fury who dropped out of fights and spent more time announcing demands from opponents than training.

Now no matter if he beats Oleksandr Usyk or not (and he better be in shape for that fight), Fury will be remembered by the casual sports fan for being knocked down by a novice than defeating an excellent champion such as Usyk.

And it's all his doing.

Meanwhile, in Cancun Mexico,  an excellent fight was waged as WBC junior lightweight champion O'Shaquie Foster charged from behind to salvage his title with a final-round stoppage over Rocky Hernandez.

Hernandez won most of the early rounds as he was too busy for Foster, who was successful boxing but wasn't throwing enough punches to win many of those rounds.

After ten rounds, Hernandez led on the scorecards, and with Foster's lack of power over his career, Hernandez looked to be six minutes away from a world title.

The stage was set for the round of the year with Foster seeking a knockout, Foster battered Hernandez around the ring for most of the round with the challenger appearing to be out on his feet and just as it seemed the fight needed to be stopped, Hernandez fired back and hurt Foster, driving him backward.

Both fighters exchanged blows late in the round but Hernandez appeared much worse for wear entering the final round.

Hernandez led on two of the three cards and if he could last the final round, he was likely to be crowned champion.

Foster had other ideas as he dropped Hernandez early in round twelve and again punished him badly with Hernandez refusing to grab and hold to kill the clock.

Hernandez hit the floor again and barely beat the count before being given one more chance to survive but was ripped with punches from Foster and the fight was ended with only twenty-two seconds remaining.

The stoppage was a good one and Hernandez was given every chance to try to make it to the final bell, so no complaints on that part.

One still has to feel bad for Hernandez to come so close to victory but admire Foster for the fortitude to win a fight he was losing in a way that was not his forte.

Foster appears likely to fight a unification match next as the Matchroom fighter will face the winner of next Saturday's IBF title fight pairing champion Joe Cordina and challenger Edward Vazquez, both of whom are signed with Matchroom.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 161 Pts (1)
Ramon Malpica: 148 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 109 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge

 The boxing weekend is very light but two world titles will be at stake.

On Friday from Managua, Nicaragua, Jonathan Gonzalez defends his WBO junior flyweight title against Gerardo Zapata on ESPN+.

Gonzalez was forced to drop out of a unification fight with WBA and WBC champion Kenshiro Teraji earlier this year and is using this fight as both a homecoming and an opportunity to round in shape before the expected bout against Teraji.

Zapata is 14-1-1 and making his first chance at a world championship.

Editor's Note; Gonzalez has pulled out of this fight due to illness.

Saturday night on DAZN from Cancun, Mexico, O'Shaquie Foster will make the first defense of his WBC junior lightweight championship against Rocky Hernandez, his mandatory challenger.

Foster upset WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision in February for the title vacated by Shakur Stevenson and is known for a slick and defensive style.

Hernandez can crack with 31 knockouts in his 34 wins but his only loss was against the best fighter on his resume, former WBA champion Roger Gutierrez in 2019 via first-round knockout.

The interesting part of this fight is that Hernandez's top question mark, his chin, is countered by Foster's weak point- his lack of power.

WBC Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds 

O'Shaquie Foster vs Rocky Hernandez

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Foster Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Hernanandez Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Santillan beats up Rocha

     The boxing weekend saw one title contender dominate a faded former champion and a mandatory challenger take a defeat and a beating along with their loss.

A mild surprise in the evening from the former Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California as Giovani Santillan "crossed the street" from Top Rank to face Golden Boy's Alexis Rocha on a GBP/DAZN card and viciously knocked Rocha out in six rounds. 

Rocha entered the fight as the number one WBO contender so had he won the fight, Rocha would have remained in a position for a chance at Terence Crawford or more likely fight for the title vacated by Crawford eventually.

I had trouble picking this fight but I picked Rocha mainly because he was the harder puncher while Santillan hadn't shown nearly as much power in his past performances, so the surprise wasn't that Santillan won, it was how he won by coming right at the fighter that was expected to be the stronger man and ran him over.

I thought Santillan's best chance was boxing from the outside, slowing down the fight, and winning a less-than-thrilling decision but he broke Rocha's nose in the first round, walked him down, and battered him throughout.

Rocha had his occasional moment but the fight was one-sided with Santillan knocking Rocha down twice in the fifth round before the final knockdown to finish the fight in round six.

Santillan is still promoted by Top Rank, so he'll return to them with the likely position that Rocha held with the WBO as one of the participants for the eventual vacant title.

As for Rocha, he will have to start over, and after a physical battering, it is fair to wonder about Rocha's future as a contender and he will at minimum have to work his way back up the ratings.

The earlier main event on DAZN wasn't nearly as interesting from Liverpool, England as junior welterweight Jack Catterall cruised past aging Jorge Linares via unanimous decision.

Catterall stunned Linares in round five but couldn't finish him and the remainder of the bout saw Catterall outbox Linares, who announced his retirement after the fight.

I scored Catterall the winner 119-109, which was a larger margin than the official scorecards of 117-111 and 116-112 times two.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 160 Pts (1)

Ramon Malpica: 147 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 109 Pts  (1)