But first, Regis Prograis is a fighter that is being considered the best in the junior welterweight division.
However, he didn't show it in his split decision win in his hometown of New Orleans to retain his WBC title over Danielito Zorrilla.
Zorilla appeared to have dropped Prograis in the first round but it wasn't ruled to be one, costing Zorrilla a deserved point. and Prograis scored a flash knockdown in round three.
That about covers anything exciting as Zorrilla rarely took chances and demanded that Prograis force the action, which caused long pauses in the action and resulted in a boring fight.
There were differences in the scoring, both officially and unofficially, with Prograis winning on two judges' cards at 118-109 and 117-110 with a dissenting card of 114-113 for Zorrilla.
I had it closer for Prograis at 115-112 but I've seen several cards online for Zorrilla.
Either way, it was an ugly, clunky fight that was very awkward in the ring, and may have raised questions about Prograis, who has received recent plaudits as the best in the division after running through the respected Jose Zepeda to win the title vacated by Josh Taylor.
The old boxing adage- win today, look good the next time will have to do for Prograis in victory this time.
Meanwhile, in Australia, Tim Tszyu had a harder time overcoming a training camp dog bite than he did Carlos Ocampo as Tszyu knocked Ocampo down seconds into the fight with a right hand and after Ocampo rose, he took several punches before a left polished the veteran off after only seventy-seven seconds.
Ocampo had been knocked out in one round by Errol Spence but in his previous fight had lasted all twelve rounds with Sebastian Fundora, so the early KO isn't tarnished too much.
For Tszyu, who retained his minor title as well as his mandatory shot at Jermell Charlo, it was the type of win that gets fans and media excited about his challenge of Charlo, who hasn't fought in over a year since gaining the final of his four titles with a win in his rematch vs Brian Castano.
It may even be arguable that Tszyu could be the biggest star in his eventual Charlo fight with his activity and exciting wins over Tony Harrison and Ocampo with the consideration of Charlo's inactivity and the thought that nags at me that perhaps Charlo is the best of an average era in the junior middleweight division.
The WBO has mandated that a Charlo-Tszyu fight must take place by September 30th or Charlo will be stripped of their title and Tszyu will be elevated to full status from his minor belt.
In the co-feature, undefeated Sam Goodman scored the biggest win of his career with a split decision over Ra'eese Aleem in a qualifier for the mandatory slot for the IBF in the junior featherweight division.
Aleem started quickly and when he threw punches, had Goodman confused by Aleem's volume of punching and movement.
Aleem stopped throwing as often over the second half of the fight, so Goodman took command over the final four rounds to pull out the split decision.
The judges scored 117-111 and 116-112 for Goodman along with 116-112 for Aleem, all too wide for my tastes with my card for Goodman at 115-113.
Goodman is now the mandatory challenger for IBF and WBA champion Marlon Tapales but with possible plans for Tapales to face the winner of the WBC/WBO title battle between Stephen Fulton and Naoya Inoue held in July, Goodman may have to wait until 2024 for his eventual championship attempt.
Boxing Challenge
