Boxing Challenge: Adames, Martinez win

 Two fights in the boxing challenge last weekend were entertaining, if one-sided.

In the better fight of the two, Lester Martinez won a minor title at super middleweight with a unanimous decision win over Immanuel Aleem in San Bernardino, California.

Martinez dominated, although Aleem landed enough to keep Martinez honest.

Aleem did win a few late rounds and hurt Martinez a little in round ten, but the fight was never in question.

Martinez won by scores of 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110, with my score at 117-111.

In Orlando, Florida, Carlos Adames knocked down Austin Williams in the second round, and other than losing a point for low blows in the final round, Adames had things his way in defending his WBC middleweight title by unanimous decision.      

Adames won by scores of 118-110 and two of 117-111, which was my card as well.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 31Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 28 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 28 Pts (4)                               

Boxing Challenge: Benavidez wins, Upsets abound

       In Satirday's co-feature from the PBC card in Las Vegas, David Benavidez won a unanimous decision over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his debut in the light heavyweight division.

Benavidez was solid and workmanlike in the easy victory over the former WBC champion but never dazed Gvozdyk and despite winning a minor title, Benavidez may be better suited (and he said he is considering this at the post-fight press conference) returning to super middleweight for the time being and hoping Canelo Alvarez will eventually decide to face him.

Benavidez won on scorecards of 119-109, 117-111, and 116-112, my score agreeing with the middle score.

In two fights that I have yet to watch, one title was retained and an undefeated contender was surprised with his first loss.

Carlos Adames retained his WBC middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha.

Adames doesn't really have a big fight in the division, so look for Adames to have a few of these fights against Gausha types that aren't quite good enough to win a title.

Scores of 119-11 and 118-110 times two for Adames.

Gary Antuanne Russell was a big favorite to win a minor junior welterweight title against former WBA champ Alberto Puello and set himself up for bigger things in the future.

Instead, Puello survived an eighth-round holding deduction to pull a surprise split decision win for the minor title.

Russell has all the talent in the world but like his brother and trainer, former WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell, he doesn't fight more than once a year, and at the top level fighting that infrequently will eventually cost you in sharpness.

Scores for Puello were 114-113 and 115-112 and for Russell 118-109.

PBC and boxing observers have been glowing in their reviews on middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia and his potential but Garcia hit a roadblock in his fight against veteran Kyrone Davis, with Davis winning a deserved but surprising split decision.

Davis couldn't miss with his right hand and while Garcia was persistent with his aggression, Davis held serve until the final two rounds when Garcia rallied and perhaps if this fight were a twelve-rounder, Garcia could have snatched victory.

Scores for Davis at 97-93 x2 (same as mine) with an awful score for Garcia of 98-92, which is beyond terrible in my opinion.

In Puerto Rico, a huge upset occurred as Australia's Liam Paro upset Subriel Matias in the homecoming fight for Matias and took away the IBF junior welterweight title.

Paro lost a point in the seventh round for hitting behind the head and while Paro's move, jab, and grab offense wasn't exciting, it was very effective against Matias, who rallied down the stretch but ran out of time.

Scores for Paro 116-111 and 115-112 x2, I had it closer for Paro 114-113.

In London from Boxxer/Peacock, Chris Billam-Smith avenged his only loss and retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision outdoors at the home field of Crystal Palace.

This fight wasn't as exciting as their first fight and Riakporhe didn't throw enough punches to overcome the more active Billam-Smith.

Riakporhe lost a point in the final round for headbutting but that had no effect on the scorecards- all for Billiam-Smith 116-111 (same as mine) and 115-112.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 88 Pts (8)

TRS: 72 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 46 Pts (3)

Boxing Challenge: Questionable Night In Minneapolis

    The Showtime/PBC card from Minneapolis did more than showcase some talented boxers, twice in their three-fight evening, a problem throughout boxing was shoved to the forefront and it's one that sanctioning bodies, promoters, fighters, and their teams, and fans would be wise to begin paying more attention to.

PBC's main event would see middleweight Carlos Adames retain his minor title with a controversial ninth-round stoppage over former WBA and IBF junior middleweight Julian Williams when referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight with Williams stung along the ropes but throwing punches back.

I thought Williams was in a little bit of trouble, and he had been busted up just under his right eye, so it's not as if Williams was a lock to survive but he was punching back and I thought the stoppage was premature.

Adames had a large lead on the scorecards after eight rounds with leads of three, four, and an astonishing eight points, which means that the judge had scored every round for Adames.

I had the fight closer at 77-75 for Adames and he was likely on his way to a win but Williams fought well and deserved a better fate or at least the chance to place his fate in his own hands defensively at the end.

I don't really see Adames as this "boogeyman" ( there must be two of these boogeymen around at 160 pounds as Top Rank says the same thing about WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly) as he was called in the pre-fight buildup, although he is a good fighter in a very week middleweight division and deserves the full WBC with champion Jermall Charlo inactive for two years and soon to fight Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight, the WBC should do the right thing and force Charlo to fight Adames next (which he wouldn't and shouldn't do considering the payday for a Canelo fight) and when he chooses to face Canelo, give the full title to Adames.

As bad as the Adames-Williams ending was, the co-feature was worse as junior middleweight Erickson Lubin returned from an over a year layoff after losing to Sebastian Fundora, to defeat veteran Luis Arias by a fifth-round knockout.

After the first four rounds were fairly evenly fought (I had Lubin ahead 39-37), Lubin landed a right hand just behind the ear of Arias in the fifth that knocked Arias down but it appeared to be a glancing blow, although a legitimate knockdown.

Arias was perched on one knee as he listened to the court of Zachary Young and appeared to me to get up at the count of nine.

Young, however, counted to ten and claimed that Arias had not gotten up in time to beat the count which was clearly untrue.

An absolutely putrid call by Young, who could have stopped the fight with less controversy by judging Arias unable to continue (I would have said that would have been a mistake as well but there is a difference between judgment and a blatant violation of the rules).

It's a needed comeback win for Lubin and a tough loss for Arias, who lost his third fight in his last four and was stopped for the first time, which is a difficult pill to swallow considering how he lost.

These crazy things such as awful scorecards, misinterpretations of the rules by referees, poor stoppages, etc, seem to pop up most often in states that aren't widely known as hotbeds for the sport- in this case, Minnesota.

There really needs to be something about these smaller state commissions shoving their referees and/or judges into roles for world-class fights that they either aren't experienced enough or aren't good enough to handle properly.

Sanctioning bodies could install more qualified people for these spots but in many cases, the state commission will insist on their people being involved.

The answer could be the media provider or the promoter insisting on world-class referees and judges and if the state doesn't like it (in this case, Minnesota), pull the event and go somewhere else.

Faced with the loss of money from the event, I'd bet after a few times, these commissions will do the right thing.

The key to this would be working with the commission a few weeks before the card on deciding on the officials involved and ironing out any differences early.

A compromise could be allowing the state to use their people for the lower undercard and the world-class level fights is where the better/more experienced officials could step in.

There is too much on the line for champions and contenders to continue to have these types of problems.

In the opening fight, Fernando Martinez retained his IBF junior bantamweight title with an eleventh knockout of Jade Bornea.

I had the fight even after eight hard-fought rounds and in round nine, Martinez landed a left hook against Bornea's right ear, which caused what I would call a boil, bulging on the ear.

Martinez landed another hook against the ear later in the ninth, busting the boil open and causing lots of blood to flow.

Martinez dominated the tenth and the fight was stopped in the eleventh with Bornea weakening to the loss of blood.

I haven't watched the Kazuto Ioka-Joshua Franco fight or the Edgar Berlanga-Jason Quigley battle, so I'll do a followup with those two fights and the boxing challenge results with that post.

Boxing Challenge: Fundora outpoints Ocampo

 Showtime's evening of boxing was better than expected in some ways and less than expected in others as the only show over the weekend was broadcast from Carson, California.

In the main event, junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora had a rougher time than expected from Carlos Ocampo but still emerged with a unanimous decision to retain his minor title and more importantly, a likely title shot against the winner of the Jermell Charlo-Tim Tszyu fight that is scheduled for January.

Fundora is the rare fighter in boxing that would be better suited to be less exciting but rather than use his huge wingspan, prefers to rumble on the inside and outwork his opponents.

Fundora has been able to use this style to be effective but I still think that he makes fights far harder than he has to and it will cost him sooner or later.

Ocampo landed his share of punches but Fundora threw and landed more and while Ocampo's brave attempt was surprising to me, he still was far short on the cards (mine was 117-111 for Fundora) with Fundora winning via scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 117-111.

Fundora is trying to stay active which is more than I can say for unified champion Charlo, who hasn't fought more than once a year since 2019, although in each fight Charlo has fought quality competition, and announced his January defense against Tszyu SIX MONTHS in advance.

Fundora makes every fight a grueling one and against the right fighter could be tripped up before receiving his title chance, so there is some concern with every one of his outings.

The most impressive winner of the night was Carlos Adames, who snuffed out Juan Macias-Montiel in three rounds to gain a minor title and move into the mandatory position for WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who is more likely to drop the title to move to 168 pounds than face Adames.

Adames raised even further questions about Charlo, who beat Montiel last year by a decision but surprised watchers by allowing Montiel to last the distance and never seriously endangered a fighter that was stopped by Jaime Munguia in two rounds before facing Charlo and now after losing to him, falling to Adames in three.

Adames began ripping Montiel in the second and finished him in the third with several heavy shots that drove Montiel into the ropes and kept him there under heavy fire before the fight was stopped.

I was surprised to see that some criticized the stoppage but I thought things were only going to get worse for Montiel and the ending was very just.

The win was the second impressive victory in a row for Adames after a decision win over Sergey Dereyvanchenko and should he receive the opportunity to face Jermall Charlo, I'd give Adames a decent chance to pull a surprise against Charlo.

In the opener, Argentina's Fernando Martinez repeated his win over Jerwin Ancajas to retain his IBF junior bantamweight title by a unanimous decision.

The rematch wasn't quite as exciting or as close as their first fight but there was still plenty of action from both fighters.

Martinez repeatedly beat Ancajas to the punch as the younger and faster fighter and removed any questions from the much closer first fight when Ancajas barely made weight before the fight.

Martinez took the duke by scores of 119-111 and 118-110 times two with my card repeating the first fight's scorecard of 117-111.

Martinez is a fine fighter but like Ancajas was as champion, could be in a position of not being able to make the biggest fights in the division as most of the other top fighters at junior bantamweight are associated with Matchroom Boxing.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 166 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 142 Pts (0)
Vince Samano: 134 Pts (3) 

Boxing Challenge: Casimero KO's Tete, Valdez, Frampton return.

The boxing weekend didn't have marquee bouts, but a world title changed hands, a vacant title was filled with a minor upset in a very good fight and two champions made their debuts in their new division, so there were plenty of interesting fights to scan.

In Birmingham, England, former IBF flyweight champion John Riel Casimero scored a mild upset in taking the WBO bantamweight title from Zolani Tete via a third-round knockout.
Tete controlled the first two rounds with his jab from long range with his reach advantage, which is unmatched in the 118-pound division, but Casimero connected with one right hand to the side of Tete's head at the temple to essentially end the fight.
Tete got off the mat, but his equilibrium never recovered and following another knockdown, Casimero teed off on Tete in a corner to end the fight.
Entering the fight, Tete was a top candidate to face WBA/IBF champion Naoya Inoue next year in a title unification fight, but Casimero called out Inoue after his win and that fight could be a fun and explosive battle and a far more interesting fight than Inoue-Tete.

The main card on ESPN+  from Las Vegas slated two former featherweight champions moving up in weight for fights that are expected to be used as prep fights for championship shots next year.
Former WBO champion Oscar Valdez was given a very difficult fight by last-minute replacement Adam Lopez before Valdez rallied to stop Lopez in the seventh round.
Lopez knocked Valdez down in the second round with a left hook in the second round and led on my card after six rounds,58-55, but was floored by a left/right combination in the seventh and when Valdez stunned him with seconds to go in the round, referee Russell Mora stopped the fight a bit prematurely in my opinion.
Valdez has been a fighter that is more solid than elite in my opinion and although he'll have a puncher's chance in his challenge of WBC champion Miguel Berchelt next year, I like Berchelt to win that one and keep his status as the best fighter at 130 pounds.

Former WBA champion Carl Frampton returned from his decision loss to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington to defeat Tyler McCready via unanimous decision.
McCready, who entered undefeated, but in his first ten rounder, won the first round on my card and lost the rest, went down to a knee in the sixth and ninth rounds in the lopsided (99-88 from me) victory,
Frampton, who will likely try for Jamel Herring's WBO title, was interviewed in the ring along with Herring after his win and Frampton doesn't seem to be remotely the same size as Herring.
All things considered, I think the natural junior lightweight in Herring should be the favored fighter.

The best fight of the weekend was on the undercard from Las Vegas as an unexpected battle for the WBO junior middleweight title vacated by Jaime Munguia (this hasn't happened yet, but is expected to occur at their next meeting) took place as a facially beaten Patrick Teixeira of Brazil upset highly regarded Carlos Adames of the Dominican Republic via unanimous decision.
Adames controlled most of the first half of the fight and cut Teixeira around both eyes to cause impressive bleeding throughout the fight, but neither cut was in a spot dangerous enough to end the fight.
Teixeira turned the tide with a series of right hands and continued with a left hook that sent Adames sinking to the floor near the end of round seven.
Had there been more time remaining, the fight may have ended then and there, but the bell saved Adames and he repaid the boxing gods with a game effort that matched the crimson flowing down the face of Teixeira down the stretch.
I scored it 114-113 for Teixeira, which was the same as two judges' cards, with the knockdown making the difference in the victory.
A rematch would seem to be in order eventually after such a close and terrific fight.

In Monte Carlo, Alexander Besputin outboxed fellow Russian Radzhab Butaev and won a minor belt via unanimous decision in a battle of unbeaten welterweights.
Besputin, who reminds me of a poor man's Vasyl Lomachenko, is a slick boxer that uses an ability to slide away from punches more than he does movement, managed to outwork Butaev throughout the fight and survived the only time either fighter was close to being hurt in round seven when Butaev staggered Besputin but was unable to follow up.
I thought the fight was pretty easy to score as my card of 116-112 matched all three of the official cards
Besputin is going to be an interesting match against the elite welterweights with his style and although I wonder about how his power is going to match up with those top fighters.

Besputin's win was a big triumph for Top Rank, who is always searching for opponents for WBO champion Terence Crawford and the minor belt could be key in Crawford-Besputin happening in 2020.
The minor belt is insignificant, but it has one major attraction- the eventual ability to force a fight with the WBA champion Manny Pacquiao.
Now I don't think there is a chance that Manny Pacquiao ever fights Terence Crawford as the PBC-Top Rank divide likely scuttles that, but Pacquiao had the chance for years to fight Crawford when he was with Top Rank and despite Bob Arum's attempts to make it happen, Pacquiao was never interested.
Crawford-Besputin and then forcing the WBA to mandate Pacquiao-Crawford with the likely result of Pacquiao vacating the title would be an excellent chess move by Crawford and Top Rank to force PBC to get Errol Spence into the ring for the fight we all want to see as it would give both Spence and Crawford two titles and take away the PBC talking point of not mentioning Terence Crawford because he is with the WBO.
The fight was also unusual as it was the main event of a Matchroom card with neither combatant promoted by Matchroom with Besputin working with Top Rank and Butaev using Lou DiBella as his promoter.
Matchroom won a WBA purse bid to promote the fight in October to put the fight on one of their cards.

In the boxing challenge, I scored nine points to Ramon Malpica's four with the difference being the wins by Besputin and Casimero along with a bonus point from Oscar Valdez.
The lead is now 287-250.

Back later with the Browns loss in Pittsburgh. 

Boxing Challenge; Commey stops Beltran

Ray Beltran missed the lightweight weight limit by nearly two pounds, but after some side agreements, the show went on in Temecula California in a junior welterweight bout rather than the first defense of Richard Commey's IBF lightweight title.

Commey made sure the ESPN audience saw the best from the professional that made weight as Commey drilled Beltran with four knockdowns, two of them in round one on his way to an eighth-round knockout of the former WBO champion.
Commey almost ended this fight early as he stormed from his corner to score two knockdowns, one of which was scored because only the ropes allowed Beltran to stay on his feet.
Beltran did battle back though and answered the Commey attack with counter shots, including one left hook that caused Commey to pause for a bit and allowed Beltran to hear the bell.
The next three rounds were fought on fairly even terms, although Commey had an edge on my card until a fifth-round knockdown essentially changed the fight to a Commey attack against an occasional Beltran counter hook.
After the fifth round knockdown, you had the feeling that the ending of the fight and its result was only a matter of time and Commey's left that crashed home in the eighth and drove Beltran to the floor seat-first did just that.
Beltran rose, but the fight was stopped then and there.

For the technically flawed, but fun to watch Commey, it looks like it will be elite prospect Teofimo Lopez next, assuming Lopez wins his title eliminator in July.
Commey can be easy to counter and one would think that would be a problem against the hard-hitting Lopez, but as he proved against Beltran if Commey lands he is capable of hurting any lightweight in the world.
As for Beltran, it could be time for him to consider the gold watch route and step away after his second defeat in three fights and being stopped for the first time since 2001 (!).
If Beltran does decide to fight on, it is clear that he cannot make the lightweight limit any further and will need to move up to the junior welterweight division, where plenty of young stars are waiting and with Beltran unlikely to defeat the likes of Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez or Maurice Hooker, it would seem to be a high mountain to climb.

In the co-feature, talented junior middleweight Carlos Adames was taken to the limit by veteran Patrick Day but won a unanimous decision in an entertaining faceoff.
Day was badly hurt in the ninth and tenth rounds and at the bell, Day seemed to be hanging on by a thread as Adames hammered away attempting to grab the knockout.
For Adames, this is the type of hard fight that prospects need to progress up the ladder and develop the skills needed to survive a difficult fight against better competition and I thought Adames fought well.
The surprise was Day, who was even on my card after eight rounds (I scored Adames a 96-94 winner) and fought well against a superior force in Adames.
I would wager that Day's performance in this one was noticed by managers and promoters and he'll receive future chances to give similar tests to prospects in the future.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored two points to move the totals to 154-140.