Boxing Challenge: Navarrete, Espinoza keep titles, Hitchins wins one

    As the final month of 2024 began, the boxing weekend was stuffed to the brim with action from several platforms worldwide, and there were many entertaining battles for the fans' viewing pleasure.

Top Rank and ESPN+ appeared to have two excellent rematches for championships after both original fights were good action fights. However, the best-laid plans can go up in smoke, and both fights were disappointing in different ways.

In the Phoenix main event, Emanuel Navarrete repeated his victory over Oscar Valdez in a far more dominant manner as Navarrete dropped Valdez three times (rounds one, four, and six) and won via knockout after a body shor finished Valdez to retain his WBO junior lightweight crown.

Navarette won by a clear but entertaining unanimous decision in their first fight over Valdez but had struggled to a draw against Robson Conceicao and a loss to Denis Berinchyk in an attempt to win the vacant WBO lightweight title and didn't seem to be putting the time in to prepare properly.

Navarrete was prepared for Valdez and stormed from the gate and never allowed Valdez to get started and won every round on my card.

Navarrete is rumored to perhaps face WBC champion O'Shaquie Foster in a unification match next year while Valdez might need a confidence builder or two after taking a shellacking from Navarrete.

In the co-feature, Robiesy Ramirez appeared to be building a lead against Rafael Espinoza in their rematch for the WBO featherweight title that Espinoza took from Ramirez by a thrilling majority decision last December.

However, seconds into round six, Ramirez ended the fight with a "No Mas" to allow Espinoza to retain the title,

Throughout the fight, Joe Tessitore and Tim Bradley stated that the Ramirez team had told the referee to watch for elbows from Espinoza, which they claimed was a major factor in the first fight, and sure enough, that's exactly what Ramirez complained about in the post-fight interview and used as his reason for quitting-double vision caused by elbows that the referee did nothing to stop.

Ramirez is reported to have suffered a broken orbital bone around his right eye, which lends some credibility to his surrender.

I gave Ramirez the first four rounds and while I gave the fifth to Espinoza, it was a close round.

The judges saw it closer with two judges scoring Ramirez up by one point and the other with an incredulous card of a three-point lead for Espinoza, which I don't see in any case.

On the undercard, welterweight contender Giovani Santillan rebounded from his first loss to Brian Norman, when veteran Frederick Lawson surrendered after one round, and unbeaten junior welterweight Lindolfo Delgado knocked out Jackson Marinez in five rounds.

Richardson Hitchins won the IBF junior welterweight title in San Juan Puerto Rico via a split decision over Australia's Liam Paro.

Paro started quickly but Hitchens dominated the second half of the fight and I thought won easily at 116-112.

Two judges agreed with me at 116-112 for Hitchins with a way out of bounds score for Paro at 117-111.

Hitchins called for WBO champion Teofimo Lopez after the fight, which I find highly unlikely with Hitchins's boxing style known for bothering Lopez, differing promoters, and Hitchins not bringing a large paycheck to the table.

Unbeaten junior lightweight Henty LeBron earned his biggest career win with a unanimous decision win over former world title challenger Christopher Diaz.

I thought the fight was close for LeBron at 96-94 which was the same as one judge with the other two scoring for LeBron 97-93.

LeBron scored well with counters against Diaz, who marched forward the entire fight and deserves future fights against young prospects after a strong performance.

A fun and entertaining heavyweight match between two veterans over forty for a minor title may not have been at the world-class level but it was worth watching with two former world title challengers hooked up in Sofia Bulgaria.

In the end, it was the hometown fighter, Kubrat Pulev boxing a bit smoother with the jab and Pulev's more active offense that earned him the WBA minor title by unanimous decision over Mahmoud Charr.

Pulev's scores were 117-11 times two and 116-112 with my score at 117-111 for Pulev.

The question for me will be this, will Pulev eventually decide to keep himself as the eventual WBA mandatory challenger for a title attempt? Or at 43, will he use the "title" to bring mid-level heavyweights to Bulgaria and earn Pulev larger paydays than he could dream of making anywhere else?

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica:  179 Pts (11)

TRS: 179 Pts (11)

Vince Samano: 115 Pts (7)

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete survives Wilson

Emmanuel Navarrete won his third world title Saturday in Glendale Arizona when he stopped Liam Wilson in the ninth round to win the vacant WBO junior lightweight title but it didn't come easily and not without some controversy.

The unheralded Wilson appeared to buckle Navarrete in the first round but I wasn't sure if Navarrete was stung or may have just stumbled with Wilson's feet getting caught up with his own.

That was nothing compared to the surprise that awaited when Wilson smacked Navarrete with a left hook that would shortly result in a knockdown in round four.

The heavy favorite had never been on the floor in his career and as he staggered to his feet, he spat out his mouthpiece and gained plenty of recovery time (up to twenty-seven seconds, according to a protest from Wilson's team) to survive the remaining few seconds in the round.

Wilson pressed Navarrete in the fifth but as the round progressed, Navarrete began to clear his head and Wilson's best chance for a huge upset had passed.

Navarrete did get hit again with a strong left hook in the sixth but controlled the seventh and eighth rounds before the final round with Wilson on his feet but badly hurt and with a nose that was streaming blood before the fight was decided.

Navarrete led on all three cards (77-74 x2 and 76-75), while I had Wilson leading 76-75 at the time of the fight's conclusion.

No one had an issue with the stoppage but plenty had problems with the referee in the fourth round.

The protest will go nowhere as these things usually don't but I wouldn't be surprised if the WBO didn't order a rematch for Wilson.

That's far from a guarantee but a possibility and even though Navarrete emerges with the title, the WBO still has a mess in the division.

Navarrete has 30 days to decide if he will keep the junior lightweight title or return to the featherweight division and keep that crown, Wilson could be in line for a mandated rematch, Oscar Valdez is in the picture as the original and planned future opponent and that's before we touch the number one contender Archie Sharp.

In the junior welterweight co-feature, undefeated contender Arnold Barboza earned the biggest victory of his career with a unanimous decision over former junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza.

No knockdowns scored but the stronger Barboza landed more and hit Pedraza with the stronger punches.

Barboza was the winner at 96-94 x2 and 97-93, while I saw the fight a bit wider at 98-92 for Barboza.

Barboza could be in line for a title shot or even a chance at former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

As for Pedraza, he was very game in defeat but he is on the verge of becoming a gatekeeper in the division and soon to be 34, the Sniper's days at the top of the division appear to be passed.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 20 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica:20 Pts  (5)

Vince Samano: 11 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete outpoints Gonzalez

      In what was a rousing affair, Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO featherweight title with an exciting unanimous decision victory over a dead-game Joet Gonzalez in San Diego.

Both fighters landed their fair share of punches but no one yet has been able to match Navarrete's vast punch output and that made the difference in a fight without a knockdown.

The fight had its share of gritty moments, mostly due to several low blows landed by Gonzalez, none of which caused a point deduction from the referee for some reason.

Navarrete's punches cut Gonzalez under both eyes with the worse cut alongside his right eye which caused severe swelling as well.

I would not be surprised a bit if Gonzalez did not suffer some damage or even a break of his cheekbone or orbital socket.

For Gonzalez, who suffered his second loss, it was a fine performance that established himself as a legitimate contender in the division, which was fair to question after being dominated by Shakur Stevenson two years ago.

As for Navarrete, who doesn't really have anyone in the division that would be easy to face with the other three champions (WBA Leo Santa Cruz and WBC Gary Russell are with PBC while IBF champion Kid Galahad is promoted by Matchroom), he called out a surprising name that would not only be easy to make but one that would be another strong action fight to boot.

WBC junior lightweight champion Oscar Valdez was thought to be preparing to face the winner of next weekend's WBO title match between champion Jamel Herring and challenger Shakur Stevenson but not only would a Valdez-Navarrette fight threaten to be a fight of the year candidate but also allow for the Herring-Stevenson winner (Stevenson is a solid favorite) perhaps look for unification against the winner of the vacant IBF title bout (Shavkat Rakhimov vs Azinga Fuzile) or should Roger Gutierrez emerge with the full WBA title after his bout with Chris Colbert (Colbert is with PBC, so I don't like the chances there) a Gutierrez fight could happen.

I'd really like to see a Valdez-Navarrete battle as its almost a guaranteed war and while I'd eventually like to see Shakur Stevenson and Valdez duke it out (or Navarrete should he win), I don't think seeing it early in 2022 compared to late 2022 is a big deal if that's what it takes for Valdez-Navarrete to be signed.

In the boxing challenge, I scored two points to Ramon Malpica's one to change the scoreboard to 137-117.

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete stops Diaz in 12, Berlanga streak snapped

 Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO featherweight title when he stopped a brave Christopher Diaz in the final seconds of round twelve.

Navarrete scored knockdowns in the fourth round, two more in the eighth, and again in the final round with Diaz's trainer Nelson Rodriguez signaling surrender for his man shortly after a battered Diaz rose from the floor.

Diaz was deducted a point in round seven for kidney punches and trailed on my card 107-98 going into the final round.

Give Diaz full credit for toughness and he landed his share of punches against Navarrete, but Navarrete was far too strong and sharp with his shots against Diaz.

This was one of those bouts that was dominated by one fighter, yet the loser made the fight entertaining and just competitive enough to enjoy watching.

If Diaz hasn't had a lot taken out of him by such a brutal defeat, he's likely made himself some fans due to his heart in the loss.

As for Navarrete, he's in a bit of a pickle at 126.

Navarrete's best fights appear to be difficult to make with WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz (who for some reason still holds their title despite not fighting in the division for 26 months and counting) and WBC champion Gary Russell ( who fights exactly once a year against his mandatory and then returns to his hole to hibernate like a cicada) both fighting for PBC.

Minor champion Xu Can might be the best and easiest fight to make with both guys throwing lots of punches and unafraid to take them either.

Can was scheduled to fight Josh Warrington in a unification fight of sorts with Warrington vacating his IBF title to face Can rather than fight a rematch against mandatory contender Kid Galahad, whom he defeated in 2019, but Warrington was knocked out by Mauricio Lara, so Can could be in search of an opponent.

Navarrete may decide to move up to 130 pounds where Top Rank is far better situated with WBC champion Oscar Valdez, WBO champion Jamel Herring, and Shakur Stevenson and could easily make any of those contests.

In the co-feature, the first-round knockout streak of undefeated Edgar Berlanga ended and his knockout string ended period as veteran Demond Nicholson took Berlanga the eight round distance.

Still, Berlanga was far from disappointing as he knocked Nicholson down four times and almost finished him in the final round with a knockdown with seconds remaining.

I scored Berlanga an 80-68 winner on my card.

A solid performance and one that Berlanga will learn from the experience from a tough journeyman such as Nicholson, who I would imagine will receive more fights after his determined effort against the big-banging Berlanga.

Berlanga is far from a refined product though and it's ridiculous that the even more ridiculous WBA has him ranked fifth in the world at this time, but the talent is there for a future star.

A word on the ESPN crew, which had a bad night in my opinion.

The best part of the end of the knockout streak for the promising Berlanga is that I no longer have to listen to Joe Tessitore breathlessly count down the seconds before the end of the round.

Tessitore's work seems to get worse by the card, and the fawning over Andre Ward, who always seems like the smug guy at work that you'd like to see water poured on, is especially sickening.

Case in point, Tessitore volunteers that Ward would come out of retirement for a fight with Canelo Alvarez, which I couldn't blame Ward for, and rambles about what an exciting fight it would be.

One can say many things about the undefeated career of Andre Ward and I have (most notably here)-

Exciting is not one of them.

I like Tim Bradley's energy, but he often seems to be in the "Hey Spike" role to Ward and that's too bad.

I think Bradley could be very good with a good play by play person to play to his strengths, but until he isn't forced to spend most of a card with "That's right, 'Dre", he isn't going to get there.

ESPN's production is very strong, but their announcing lags behind in a sport not filled with great commentating teams....

In Osaka, Japan, Kenshiro Teraji (Known as Ken Shiro) defended his WBC junior flyweight title via unanimous decision over countryman and mandatory challenger Tetsuya Hisada via unanimous decision.

I've only watched the first two rounds of the fight and will edit this later once I have finished watching.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points to move our totals to 54-50 for the year to date.

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete Decisions Villa

  At times, Ruben Villa's slick boxing seemed to confuse the favored Emmanuel Navarrete and kept Navarrete at bay with wild swings that brought back memories of the wide swipes of 80s heavyweight title contender Renaldo "Mr." Snipes.

The problem for Villa was that two of those wild lefts landed in the first and fourth, knocked him down, and handed Navarrete two 10-8 rounds that he needed on the scorecards as Navarrette won a unanimous decision to pick up the WBO featherweight title vacated by Shakur Stevenson.

Had Navarrete not scored a knockdown in this fight, the fight would have ended in a majority draw as two judges scored Navarrete a 114-112 winner and that would have been a bit unfair.

I scored Navarrete a 116-110 winner (8-4 in rounds with two knockdowns), but Villa might have had a case to winning either or both rounds that he was dropped in and could have been a draw on my card under those conditions.

However, those weren't the conditions and the scores were not the greatest that I've seen- even compared to the awful scores many judges have been turning in recently.

It seemed like my card, while wide than the official scores weren't as wide as many viewers scored on their cards.

The scorecards seemed a little friendly to Villa, who I thought had plenty of moments that frustrated Navarrette, but in the end, just wasn't strong enough to earn Navarrete's respect.

Navarrete would make some interesting unification fights with IBF champion Josh Warrington, who has an association with Top Rank (Navarrete's promoter) and even though the WBA STILL has Leo Santa Cruz as their champion at featherweight (And holds their junior lightweight title AND could have one of their knockoff belts at lightweight, should LSC defeat Gervonta Davis later this month), they are expected to "promote" their "regular" champion  (Bleech) Xu Can to their champion and Can has an association with Top Rank as well.

Both Warrington and Can are aggressive fighters that aren't power punchers, so fights against Navarrete could be filled with action, but could either hurt Navarrete and make him pay for the wide, looping punches with straight counters down the middle?

I might rate Navarrete a favorite over Can and a mild favorite over Warrington.

A match with WBC champion Gary Russell can be placed off the table as Russell fights for PBC and never seems interested in fighting more than once a year.

As for Villa, his boxing skills aren't going to be popular and I don't think many top featherweights are going to go out of their way to face him.

However, he's not a big puncher ( five KOs) and his lack of strength certainly hurt him against Navarrete.

If Villa can make the weight and I have no idea how well he makes weight, I bet he'd be smart to consider dropping to junior featherweight if he could.

It could help with his physical strength against smaller fighters and could give him the edge that he needs to win a title.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica added one point for the Navarrete win to cut my lead to 129-119.

As far I know, there is no live broadcast of middleweight contender Liam Williams fight today from the UK.

If I have a chance to watch it, I could do another post on that or update this post with the result.

UPDATE: Liam Williams stopped Andrew Robinson in the first round of their middleweight match in London.

I added two points for the Williams KO win, while Ramon Malpica picked up one.

The season total is 131-120.

WBO titles vacated and Boxing Challenge

After what looked to be a decent two-card week for ESPN, the company was bitten with both of their main events going by the wayside as Jamel Herring's WBO junior lightweight defense against Jonathan Oquendo was canceled with some controversy on Tuesday and Thursday's main event was lost when Mark John Yap missed the weight for his fight with veteran featherweight contender Miguel Marriaga by almost NINE pounds.

The only fight that remains for the challenge is former Wunderkind Felix Verdejo attempting to continue his comeback against undefeated Will Madera in a lightweight tilt.
The former Olympian Verdejo was once thought of as a future star before injuries and an indifference to training moved him from a mandatory title shot against then-WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan to one fight in twenty-two months before his shocking loss to Antonio Lozada in March 2018.
Verdejo has won his three fights since but has yet to regain the sizzle that saw him ranked as arguably the top prospect in boxing at the time.
The 15-0-3 Madera does hold an upset win over then-undefeated Thomas Mattice in February 2019, which was the only time that I remember seeing Madera.

In other boxing news, two WBO champions have decided to vacate their titles to move up to a new division and with the WBO's rule that states that champions that vacate their title will become the top contender in their new division, could receive a title shot before the end of 2020 or certainly early 2021.

Featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson turned in his featherweight title after failing to come to an agreement with IBF champion Josh Warrington for a unification fight and with few other money fights in the division as the other two champions (WBA and WBC champions Leo Santa Cruz and Gary Russell) fight with the PBC.
Stevenson will likely receive a shot at WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring either in the fall or early 2021 in a fight that Stevenson will likely be a strong favorite.

With Stevenson's championship now available, WBO junior featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete decided to leave his division and vacated his championship.
Navarrete will likely fight for the title previously owned by Stevenson against either number one contender Michael Conlan or Jessie Magdaleno, who is 4th in the WBO and 1st in the WBC.
Both fighters are promoted by Top Rank, so either fight should be signed fairly easily.
Magdaleno, a former champion at 122 pounds as Navarrete had been, has more experience than Conlan, who despite holding strong status as a prospect, has fought no one of note and is undeserving of his top-rating at this time.
Top Rank is trying to build Conlan (of Ireland) into a gate attraction and I'm not sure which is a better idea for him- rushing him into a title fight that he would likely be an underdog or passing on the challenge, raise his competition a bit and then challenge the winner sometime next year.
There are good reasons to travel either path for Conlan, so it'll be interesting to see which path is chosen.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 68-60.

Lightweights 10 Rds
Felix Verdejo vs Will Madera
Both: Verdejo Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete squashes Lopez

The boxing challenge moved out of Las Vegas for the first time as WBO junior featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete took on journeyman Uriel Lopez in a non-title featherweight bout.

The less said about this mismatch the better as Navarrete won every round, knocked down Lopez with a combination of punches in the fifth round, and finished him off with a right hand to the body in the sixth round.
An argument could have been made for stopping the fight after the first knockdown or even between the fifth and sixth rounds as nothing Lopez was going to be able to do against the harder hitting and far busier Navarrete was going to turn the tide and pull off a miracle.

I'm becoming a bit torn on Navarrete.
I love how he loves to stay active ( the win over Lopez was his seventh since winning his title over Issac Dogboe in December 2018), and I really like his two-fisted style that throws a lot of punches, yet packs power in those punches.
However, his opponents since the Dogboe rematch have left plenty to be desired and each of the three fighters that share the top of the division with him- WBA/IBF champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev, former WBA/IBF champion Danny Roman (who lost a split decision to Akhmadaliev that could have gone to either fighter), and WBC champion Rey Vargas, have all fought better opponents than anyone on the resume' of Navarrete with the exception of Dogboe.
While I would like to see Navarrete fight any of the three (all of which are signed with different promoters) and each would present a different set of problems, Navarrete needs to get in the ring with the first one that agrees to a contract and as soon as possible.
Navarrete isn't being tested and he could begin to stagnate.
If it's that big of an issue signing to fight any of those three and it simply cannot be signed, then, by all means, move to featherweight where Top Rank has more stars in the division (IBF champion Josh Warrington, Xu Can, Carl Frampton, Jessie Magdaleno, and Michael Conlan)  and with the WBO's rules for champions moving up, Navarrete would immediately step to the front of the line for a fight with champion Shakur Stevenson (Top Rank) or would automatically be installed for a slot in a fight for the vacant title should Stevenson decide to move up in weight.

One way or another, Navarrete needs to be tested soon because we all will tire watching these squash matches after a while...

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored two points for the knockout win.
I maintained my seven-point lead at 53-46.

Boxing Challenge: Fury tames Wilder!

The fight for the WBC heavyweight championship appeared to be a 50-50 proposition entering the fight as Tyson Fury had won his first fight against Deontay Wilder on the scorecards of most, despite the official verdict of a draw, but Fury didn't look great in his last fight against Otto Wallin and Wilder had delivered a one-punch knockout of Luis Ortiz since their first fight.
Add to that, the memory of Wilder's knockdown of Fury in the final round of their initial bout and that made the betting line close, but it seemed like most of the media was leaning towards Wilder, with many tossing high compliments toward the champion such as "the hardest punching heavyweight ever".
I didn't see anyone select Wilder via decision and no one picked Fury by knockout, which appeared to be the least likely outcome.

Since this is boxing, the least likely outcome is exactly what happened as Fury battered Wilder throughout, knocked him down twice and after the second round pawed Wilder around such as a cat with an injured mouse before forcing Wilder's corner to throw in the towel in the seventh round.
The win likely moved Fury to the top of the division and gained him the WBC title, which was the only one of the four that was not taken from Wladimir Klitschko in Fury's first title win.

I'm not sure you could have designed a more impressive win for Fury, who won all but the second round (which I circled as a round that could have been given to either corner) on my scorecard by backing the bomber up, stuck him with power punches that damaged his ear with Fury's domination so total that the fight could have been stopped anytime after the fourth without a critical word.
While I gave Wilder the second round, the beginning of the end appeared to come with the final seconds winding down as Fury landed a strong right that rocked Wilder.
Wilder didn't hit the mat from that punch, but my guess is that punch caused the damage to Wilder's inner ear and he would never recover.
The only things that Fury did wrong were losing a point in the fifth (after dropping Wilder from a body shot) for hitting Wilder behind the head and lick the blood off Wilder in the sixth to surge Fury to the lead for sickest sports moment of the year.

Wilder has thirty days to activate his rematch clause and he's likely to take it, even if it is to the detriment of his chances to win.
Wilder would be better suited to a fight or two to prepare for the third fight, but the contract won't allow such a decision and from a financial standpoint, taking the rematch would be far more lucrative than several fights against low to mid-level contenders with the PBC, who lacks anyone to get excited about to fight Wilder.
Unless a 3rd Ortiz fight or the limited Adam Kownacki does something for you, which they certainly do not for me, Wilder would be trapped on the 'wrong side of the street' with Fury likely moving onto other money fights and it might take years for Wilder to get the third fight.
It's not a great spot to be in, but even if Wilder's chances in an immediate rematch aren't very bright, I think he almost has to take it.

As for Fury, he showed a new aspect to his game under new trainer SugarHill Steward and proved that his power could be better than expected, should he commit to digging in and popping power shots.
I say could, mainly because I've never been convinced of the quality of Deontay Wilder's chin.
Other than being badly hurt by Luis Ortiz in their first fight, Wilder had never faced a good puncher before and I couldn't ever shake his knockdown and survival against Harold Sconiers to take my suspicions away.

The fight everyone is now asking for is Fury against Anthony Joshua, who holds the other three titles, in an event that could rival the best of royal events pitting two Britons for the undisputed championship.
I'd favor Fury slightly against Joshua, but I certainly think Joshua would have a chance against Fury.
Joshua is a big puncher, although not quite to the standard of Wilder, and like Wilder also has questions about his chin after suffering his KO loss to Andy Ruiz.

Finally, who was the biggest winner other than Tyson Fury on this night?
It just might be Otto Wallin, who gave Fury all that he wanted in losing a decision last September as an unknown quantity and might have been a media misstep away from the upset after he gashed Fury gruesomely over the right eye from a left.
Fury's corner believed the cut came from a headbutt and ESPN notified his team that it was from a punch, which allowed them to tell Fury he would not be able to rely on the headbutt to win on the cards.
Wallin returns to the ring in March against faded former contender Lucas Browne and with a good performance against Browne with the success against Fury, Wallin could be in place for a big fight.

The undercard was as dreadful as I thought it would be and it's barely worth mentioning.
Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin knocked out Gerald Washington with a 12 to 6 left in the sixth round to end a boring fight.
Washington barely beat the count, but referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight anyway.
I had Martin ahead 48-47 (3-2) in a fight that featured little more than slow-motion sparring.
The win may put Martin in a spot to eventually challenge Anthony Joshua in a rematch of their 2016 fight when Joshua snuffed out Martin in two rounds to win the IBF title.
I'm thrilled.

Emmanuel Navarette wasn't as sharp as usual. but dominated every round before stopped Jeo Santisima in the eleventh round to retain his WBO junior featherweight title.
A Navarette-M.J. Akhmadaliev fight would result in three titles being unified and would be one of the more exciting fights that can be made in boxing.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica picked up a point on me in scoring five points to my four.
The Charles Martin knockout was the difference as Ramon cut my lead in the season standings to 33-30.

Boxing Challenge: Joshua regains titles over Ruiz

 In a calculated and disciplined performance that many doubted that he could give, Anthony Joshua dominated from the outside and refused to give Andy Ruiz the toe to toe exchanges that he needed to be successful and regained the three heavyweight titles (WBA, IBF, and WBO) that he lost to Ruiz by knockout in June.

The bout held in a temporary stadium built in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia didn't have a lot of fireworks as their first fight did with both fighters hitting the mat, but showed the type of skill that would serve Joshua well in future fights against Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury.
Joshua established the jab early, cutting Ruiz above the left eye in the first round and when Ruiz returned the favor in the following round, Joshua avoided panic and stuck to the gameplan throughout.
I had Joshua a 119-109 winner and I don't see the need for a rematch until Ruiz can re-establish himself with a victory or two.
Joshua has two mandatories coming up and most assumed that no matter the winner of Joshua-Ruiz that either the IBF or WBO titles would be vacated.
Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn says that Joshua plans on fighting both mandatories if the organizations can work together to allow it.
Kubrat Pulev is the IBF top contender with Oleksandr Usyk atop the WBO rankings.

On the undercard, Alexander Povetkin and Michael Hunter drew over twelve rounds in a WBA heavyweight eliminator that was a far better action battle than expected with both fighters being hurt throughout the fight and several high-powered exchanges.
I had the fight as one judge at 114-114 with the other two judges scoring 115-113 for each fighter.
My issue came in round five when the ropes held a stunned Hunter up, which should have been called a technical knockdown.
Had that been scored properly, Povetkin would have won a split decision.

The other challenge heavyweight battle was also better than expected as Dillian Whyte returned to the ring and defeated Marius Wach of Poland via a unanimous decision.
Whyte weighed his highest ever after taking the fight on late notice and it showed as he was a bit sluggish in allowing Wach to land plenty of punches and keep the fight close and entertaining.
I scored Whyte a 96-94 winner, which was a little closer than the official judges did.

On Showtime, PBC's two fights saw Jermall Charlo knock out Dennis Hogan in seven rounds to retain his WBC middleweight title in Brooklyn.
The much larger Charlo knocked Hogan down in the fourth round before finishing him in the seventh with a knockdown that Hogan got up from, but was in no condition to continue.
Similar to WBO champion Demetrius Andrade, Charlo doesn't have opponents willing to fight him, so he's rarely tested (I would really love to see Charlo-Andrade) and therefore has a weak resume', especially at middleweight.

Charlo doesn't have many fights to make, but PBC has tried to bring him in an opponent in Chris Eubank Jr, who made his American debut against Matt Korobov in the co-main event.
Korobov lost a close decision to Charlo in the only middleweight fight that Charlo has had where the opponent has fought back and would have been an excellent measuring stick for Eubank.
I say would have been because Korobov suffered a shoulder injury in the second round while throwing a punch and was unable to continue, giving Eubank an unsatisfying second round TKO.
Eubank will likely be next for Jermall Charlo.

On ESPN plus from Mexico, Emanuel Navarette ran through another opponent in defending his WBO junior featherweight title, this time it was Francisco Horta that Navarrette crushed in four rounds.
Navarette defended his title for the fourth time this year and had won the first three rounds on my scorecard.
Hopefully, we will see him against one of the other champions (Daniel Roman or Rey Vargas) in 2020.

The other ESPN fight saw the often-forgotten man in the junior bantamweight division as IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas stopped a game Miguel Gonzalez in six rounds to keep his title for the eighth time.
Ancajas also has unification thoughts, but all three champions in his division fight for other promoters (Juan Francisco Estrada, Kal Yafai, and Kazuto Ioka) and might be difficult to make.
Gonzalez was never knocked down but took a beating in the sixth before the fight was ended.
I had Ancajas ahead 49-46 when the fight was stopped.

From Montreal, David Lemieux won his super middleweight debut with a split decision win over Max Bursak.
Lemieux was knocked down in the first and fifth and knocked Bursak down in the sixth.
I haven't seen this fight, so no scoring from this fight.