Boxing Challenge: Boom Boom! Out Go MY Lights?

   A fun day of boxing was in the middle of the Showtime main event and as David Benavidez pounded David Lemieux along the ropes in the second round of their super-middleweight fight and seemed poised to finish the veteran former IBF middleweight champion in spectacular fashion, suddenly a flash of white and a booming sound would knock my power out at the road office for the final eight and a half hours of my shift and delay my recap!

Apologies for that but sitting in the dark was far from fun and I would have no time for a review on Sunday for reasons that you will see later in the week!

As I return to the David's (Benavidez and Lemieux), the bigger and younger Benavidez would finish off the very courageous and just as overmatched Lemieux in the third round.

Lemieux tried to fire his once-powerful right hand. Still, Benavidez was far too strong and almost ended the fight in the first round when a left hook snapped Lemieux's head back, trapping him in a corner and with another thirty seconds may have finished the bout in one.

Benavidez busted Lemieux's nose early in the second and knocked him through the ropes early in the second (this is where I lost the telecast) with again Lemieux being very fortunate to reach the end of the round.

Lemieux tried to hold Benavidez off in the third as he attempted to step his punch output up but Benavidez quickly ended the attempt and resumed his pummelling of the Canadian to force Lemieux's corner to end the fight.

A spectacular win for Benavidez, who would love to fight Canelo Alvarez, who seems occupied for the near future but his PBC options appear limited to the always-reluctant Caleb Plant or hoping for a rise in weight for WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo for the time being.

The co-feature saw Cuban prospect Yoelvis Gomez forced to fight for the ten-round distance for the first time against veteran journeymen Jorge Cota but notched shutouts (100-90, I scored Gomez a 99-91 victor) on all three cards to earn a unanimous decision in a junior middleweight pairing.

Gomez is very aggressive but somewhat wild in delivering his shots and although I'm very high on his future, he needs a few more fights before his next attempt at improved competition.

Meanwhile, over in Las Vegas, Janibek Alimkhanuly won a minor title that could be promoted to the full WBO title depending on the eventual decision of WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade after a two-round destruction of England's unbeaten but overmatched Danny Dignum on a Top Rank/ESPN card.

Alimkhanuly was far too strong for the outclassed Dignum, who was game but his punches against
Alimkhanuly was like a child throwing Nerds candy into a whirring fan before succumbing to a huge left uppercut that concluded the evening.

Alimkhanuly now awaits the decision of Demetrius Andrade, who will either vacate the WBO title to move to 168 pounds, which would give Alimkhanuly full title status, or in the event of Andrade staying at 160, he will be forced to face Alimkhanuly in what would be a very intriguing fight.

Unbeaten Jamaine Ortiz took control down the stretch over his lightweight ten rounder against former WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring and won a unanimous decision that would result in Herring announcing his retirement after the decision.

Ortiz was too quick in winning the final four rounds on my card to win 97-93 (which agreed with two judges, the other scored 96-94) and surprisingly announced in his post-fight interview that he was likely to try junior welterweight in his next fight.

Herring has always been a class act and I am sorry to see him leave the stage but the time appears to be right as he has clearly lost a few steps and I'd hate to see Herring move to steppingstone status.

The day started with an evenly fought light heavyweight duo slugging each other for twelve rounds as Joshua Butasi survived a late run by Craig Richards to snare a close unanimous decision from London.

The Matchroom-DAZN event was a WBA eliminator but more importantly, was for the unofficial title of best British 175 pounder with Butasi setting the pace and Richards countering well.

The best action came in the later rounds when Richards began to rally on the scorecards but his late run came too late as Butasi won by 115-113 twice (my scorecard) and 116-112.

Buatasi is a potential opponent for WBA champion Dmitry Bivol, should Canelo Alvarez not activate his option for a rematch but I would wager that it would be Gilberto Ramirez getting the nod for a Bivol assignment under that scenario.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 88 Pts (7)

Vince Samano: 74 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 74 Pts (7)  

Boxing Challenge; Stevenson Batters Herring

    The anticipated battle for the WBO junior lightweight title between veteran champion Jamel Herring and undefeated former WBO featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson turned out to be a lopsided bout and the signature win in a career that could be filled with signature triumphs.

Shakur Stevenson's tenth round stoppage to take the title away from Jamel Herring may have been stopped a little early considering Herring's condition at the time but no one was complaining as Herring was taking a pounding and didn't even seem to have a puncher's chance of pulling a miracle victory out of the fire.

Herring may have been the champion but Stevenson was the solid favorite and Stevenson was too much for the aging champion from the opening bell and won all nine completed rounds on my scorecard.

Give Herring credit for trying to win as he tried to box Stevenson from the outside early in the bout after that didn't work, Herring attempted to rough the younger fighter up with borderline tactics on the inside that included some low blows to little success in shaking the confidence of Stevenson.

Stevenson's consistently landing of the right hand caused Herring's left eye to almost completely swell shut by the late rounds and when Herring was cut along the right eye in the ninth round, the doctor checked Herring's condition and reluctantly allowed the fight to continue before the fight was ended halfway through the tenth.

Herring hinted at retirement after the bout and for a fighter that turned his career around in his thirties by winning a title and making a few defenses, it may be time for a classy veteran to step aside, although it may have been that it was Stevenson that made Herring look old and slow.

As for Stevenson after the biggest win of his career, both Stevenson and promoter Top Rank both were calling for an early 2022 fight against WBC champion Oscar Valdez for two of the four belts at 130 pounds.

Stevenson vs Valdez is the best fight that can be made in the division and hopefully Top Rank will go straight to that fight rather than stuff an optional defense before the two can fight.

Shakur Stevenson has been compared to Floyd Mayweather in style from his opening professional fight and this fight also resembled early "Pretty Boy Floyd".

Stevenson was unafraid to sit down on his punches (People forget that 130 and 135 pound Floyd was an entertaining fighter) but yet use his speed on the offense rather than moving on defense and should he use that style again in a fight against Oscar Valdez, I'd bet on another superlative performance.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each added one point for the Stevenson win to move the total to 142-123.

Boxing Challenge: Herring retires Frampton in six

    In the preview for Jamel Herring's WBO junior lightweight title defense against former junior feather and featherweight champion Carl Frampton, I wrote that this was one of those rare championship fights that brought to mind the pro wrestling stipulation of "Loser Leaves Town" with both fighters reaching the time where they have plenty of questions regarding their future in the sport.

Jamel Herring retained the title via sixth-round knockout and Carl Frampton in the ring following the defeat announced his retirement to "leave town".

Entering the fight, Herring had the size advantage from the tale of the tape, but once the bell rang the size difference was glaring and it made sense.

Herring had started his career as a lightweight and Frampton had begun his at junior featherweight, so the boxer, Herring, was physically the larger and stronger man.

Herring started strong, establishing himself as willing to stand his ground, and Frampton, who was unable to move to the inside and do the work needed for him to thrive for the first two rounds.

However, Frampton began to win some exchanges in round three, which was a close round that could have been given to either fighter and Frampton clearly won the fourth round along with cutting Herring over his left eye with a cut bad enough that Herring could have concerns about the fight being stopped as the fight continued.

With the tide starting to roll towards Frampton in the fifth round, Frampton began to pick up the pace even more but was dropped by a straight left from Herring that he was never able to truly recover from.

Frampton wouldn't survive a second time, as Herring landed a crushing uppercut that sent Frampton down early in the sixth round.

Frampton rose but was met by a volley of punches from Herring that sent a groggy Frampton into the ropes and when Herring landed another strong left that hurt Frampton, the corner leaped to the ropes to signal surrender for their man.

Frampton would announce his retirement in the ring with an emotional statement and I think he means it.

Frampton will be remembered for splitting his series with Leo Santa Cruz and his win over Scott Quigg in one of the bigger fights of the last decade in the U.K.

As for Herring, he will have two choices, he could face Shakur Stevenson in another fight that he will be the underdog in a WBO mandatory defense, but Herring could ask for a waiver in order to unify his title with that of WBC champion Oscar Valdez.

The other option could be for Herring to vacate the WBO title, which would likely be filled by Stevenson's June fight against unknown Jeremiah Nakathila, fight Valdez, and the winner would then unify against Stevenson.

I'd place Herring as a solid underdog against either Valdez or Stevenson, especially with his recent problems with cuts, but I wouldn't rule him out completely as he seems to fight his best when the least is expected of him.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica scored a point for the Herring victory to cut my lead back to two points at 38-36.

Boxing Challenge: Take me down to Headbutt City

The headbutt came into play twice in the Top Rank bubble in Las Vegas and it didn't come from Bobo Brazil or "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas either as clashes of heads in each fight played key roles in the evening's results.

In the main event, Jamel Herring retained his WBO junior lightweight championship when Jonathan Oquendo was disqualified in the eighth round for headbutting.
Herring got off to an excellent start and dropped Oquendo with a left uppercut in round three, although Oquendo didn't seem to be seriously damaged.
Oquendo kept charging forward in his awkward manner and the head clashes opened a cut over the right eye of Herring in the fifth round resulting in a point deduction from Oquendo.
Oquendo did win the seventh round on my card and seemed to have Herring rattled a bit with the constant rough and tumble manner.
The remaining rounds were looking to be interesting, but Herring informed the doctor that he couldn't see from the cut and the fight was stopped.
Confusion reigned in the ring as at first the scorecards looked to be in play, but that wouldn't have mattered as Herring held two points in hand for the point deduction from Oquendo and the third round knockdown ( I had Herring up 79-71).
Instead, Oquendo was ruled to be disqualified as the headbutts opened the Herring cut and worsened it.
It didn't matter to me whether the scorecards were consulted or not, the win was going to Herring either way, but some did question the resolve of Herring after the fight.
The cut was severe, but blood wasn't pouring from it and it did seem that Herring wasn't pushing to continue.
On the contrary, Herring was far ahead against a fighter that was leading with the head, was a rugged fighter, and was coming off his best round of the fight, I couldn't blame Herring or his corner for taking the victory and moving on.
My question is this- If Herring wanted to shine and not take punishment, why did they sign to fight Oquendo, who despite his limited skills will be a rough and dirty fight in the trenches?
Since Oquendo was an optional defense, perhaps another opponent may have been a superior selection.

Herring will move on for a rumored fight with Carl Frampton with more questions than answers.
I'm not questioning Herring for "quitting", I wasn't there and I don't know the answer, but at worst Herring will have these questions hang over him for at least the Frampton fight if not longer.
Herring-Frampton may be delayed a month or so longer due to Herring's cut, but I'm looking forward to seeing which fighter can answer their questions in a fight that has many to answer.

In the co-main event, the headbutt came into play as headbutts opened cuts on undefeated super middleweight Steven Nelson against DeAndre Ware.
Unlike Jamel Herring, Nelson had enough after round five when he returned to his corner with blood coming from two cuts around his left eye and finished Ware off in the sixth with an aggressive attack had Ware stunned and staggering around the ring on weakened legs giving referee Jay Nady little choice other than ending the fight.
I was impressed with Nelson, who continues to be undefeated, and took his best win as a professional after his win over Ware, but he'll have to start to be moved quickly as he's already 32 and in a division that has two champions with Matchroom (WBA Callum Smith and WBO Billy Joe Saunders), another with PBC (IBF Caleb Plant) and the WBC title currently vacant, Nelson will have to work his way to a mandatory position to get a title shot.
Nelson was only ranked by the WBO (8th) entering this fight, although he may enter some of the organization's ratings after this win, so Nelson and Top Rank need to keep him active and moving up the rankings.

Ramon Malpica added three points to my two on the evening, with the difference being the Steven Nelson knockout.
Ramon knocked a point off my lead to 103-97.

Boxing Challenge: Verdejo demolishes Madera

A late recap for the boxing challenge saw a little bit of shine return to the once-promising star of lightweight Felix Verdejo from the Las Vegas "Bubble" on Thursday night as Verdejo demolished previously undefeated (although that includes three draws) Will Madera in one round.

Verdejo's win climbed to the main event after the "Negative, Positive, Negative" Covid-19 testing of WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring caused the cancellation of Herring's title defense against Jonathan Oquendo, but the spectacular performance by Verdejo in front of a national audience will make fans want to see more of the former Puerto Rican Olympian in the future.

The right, right, left combination that left Madera prone in a corner near the end of the first round showed why so many tabbed Verdejo as a future superstar when he turned pro in 2013.
Verdejo has been working with a new trainer this year with Ismael Salas and Salas has a track record of working well with reclamation projects in recent years, so even if this victory still leaves Verdejo with plenty to prove, training with Salas and the knockout gives hope for Verdejo.
Although it seemed a bit silly for Verdejo to call out Vasily Lomachenko after this win (Verdejo still has never beaten a top ten lightweight), it does make him an interesting fighter to watch in the division and should he defeat a tougher opponent in his next fight, I would not be surprised to see him in the mix for one of the three vacant lightweight titles that could be vacated by the Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez winner (Lomachenko has talked of returning to junior lightweight and Lopez is likely to move up to junior welterweight).


Ramon Malpica and I each added one point for the Verdejo win to move the total to 69-61 in the boxing challenge.

Boxing Challenge: Champions all defend successfully

On a Saturday that saw three titleholders defend their belts from two California locations, all three walked away with their titles packed away, but with varying degrees of difficulty.

From Los Angeles (cue Van Earl Wright audio), the most difficult evening saw Billy Joe Saunders rally to knock out unheralded Marcelo Coceres after three knockdowns in the eleventh round.
The odd thing about this fight arrived after the tenth round in the corner of Coceres, where Coceres seemed to be celebrating early with kisses and hugs to members of his corner and close on the scorecards (he was down 96-94 on two cards and ahead on the third by the same score), left his corner and was knocked out in that round.
Why a professional corner didn't even attempt to keep their fighter focused on the prize with everything going their way and possibly only two rounds away from winning a world title, is beyond mind-boggling to me.
Their fighter was controlling the action, what there was of it anyway, and Coceres had won six of the previous seven rounds, mainly by doing to Saunders what Saunders had done to so many of his opponents- outslicking and frustrating them with angles and quickness.
I had Coceres ahead 96-94 (6-4) and that was after giving Saunders the first three rounds.
Saunders finally caught Coceres with the right shot and the fight was essentially finished then and there, although Coceres would attempt to survive before the referee waved the fight over after the third knockdown.
For Coceres, he'll more than likely return to Argentine obscurity, while Saunders may have saved a possible fight with Canelo Alvarez, although I'm not sure that will be a great money fight or even a great fight in the ring and it comes with more risk than you think as a prepared and sharp Saunders (which hasn't regularly been the case) has the ability to give Alvarez fits.
To do that, Saunders will have to be far more prepared than he was in this title defense though and I wouldn't ever bank on that preparation occurring.

On the same card, Devin Haney struggled a little bit early in dealing with the taller Alberto Santiago, but not enough to lose any rounds on my card (120-108) or the judges to retain his WBC lightweight title for the first time.
Haney was too much for Santiago and although Haney scored a fifth-round knockdown, Santiago was never seriously in danger of being stopped.
Haney doesn't really have a challenger that is waiting for him unless inter-promotional issues can be dealt with.
The 'real' champion Vasyl Lomachenko now has no reason to face Haney now that he has the ridiculous franchise title, the WBC's top contender and third-ranked contenders in Gervonta Davis and Javier Fortuna both are affiliated with PBC, making a Haney match a difficult one to sign.
That leaves second-rated Luke Campbell, who gave Lomachenko a strong effort in losing last time out and like Haney, fights for Matchroom/DAZN, so Campbell may be next for Haney as his first significant test.

Up the road in Fresno, Jamel Herring retained his WBO junior lightweight title with a close unanimous decision over mandatory challenger Lamont Roach.
The fight was an often messy match with two styles that didn't mesh well and as is often the case when awkward styles mixes occur, the scorecards were wider than I thought with two 117-111's and a 115-113 that was closer to what I saw at 114-114.
Roach rocked Herring and almost scored a knockdown in the eleventh, but was helped by a missed knockdown that should have been scored in the ninth round.
On my card, Herring won most of the early rounds, with Roach coming on strong in the later rounds.
Herring taking on WBC champion Miguel Berchelt would make sense with both of the champions promoted by Top Rank or another possibility could be former WBO featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez.
Valdez has also been rumored to fight Berchelt and whichever champion doesn't get that fight with Valdez has a less than inspiring list of future opponents.

In the co-feature, heavyweight Kubrat Pulev won almost every round (99-91 on my card) over journeyman Rydell Booker in winning a unanimous decision.
Pulev never scored a knockdown, but steadily wore down Booker, who showed a good chin, but came into the fight looking out of shape.
Pulev is the number one contender for the IBF and will be a mandatory challenger for the winner of December's Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua rematch.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica outscored me nine to six over the weekend ( including the bantamweight fights from Japan) to move the overall score to 271-241.
Ramon grabbed two points for Jamel Herring's win (I picked Lamont Roach) and two to my one for the win by Billy Joe Saunders to make the difference.

Boxing Challenge: Haney steals the show, Herring upsets Ito

Despite a world title changing hands, there could only be one star of the night and it was clearly Devin Haney, who dominated a normally solid Antonio Moran for six rounds and hammered home a looping right hand in the seventh for a memorable one punch knockout on DAZN.

It was Haney's DAZN/Matchroom debut and he was dazzling in his performance as Moran, who lost a close decision to Jose Pedraza last June, was overmatched against Haney.
I scored Haney as the winner of every round before the memorable ending and the fight's only question by the fourth round was whether Haney would be able to stop Moran, who had never been stopped in his previous losses.
Haney will have to take another step up when he challenges for a world title, but I wouldn't be surprised a bit if, by 2021, the fight fans are talking about as the "fight that must be made" would match Devin Haney with Teofimo Lopez.

On ESPN, the WBO junior lightweight title was the centerpiece of a pro wrestling like storyline as former Marine and Olympian Jamel Herring pulled an upset of champion Masayuki Ito in Kissimmee, Florida via a unanimous decision.
Herring was just too slick for Ito, who was noted for never having an amateur fight before turning pro and it showed against the skilled, but never noted for being outstanding Herring.
In hindsight, Ito was made to order for a fighter of Herring's style and I should have seen that coming.
Herring avoided the wild lunges of Ito well and was able to control the fight from the outside as Ito seemed confused by Herring's left-handed stance and was rarely able to land.
I scored Herring a 116-112 (8-4) winner which agreed with one judge, with the other two scoring a too wide 118-110.
Herring dedicated the win to his late daughter, who passed away from SIDS as an infant and would have turned ten on the day of Herring's title win.
It's a compelling story, but one that isn't likely to end in a long championship book as Herring may fight WBC champion Miguel Berchelt in a unification fight in which Herring will again be a sizable underdog.

In the co-main event, Jose Pedraza returned from his loss to Vasyl Lomachenko to stop Antonio Lozada in the ninth round of their ten round event.
Lozada showed lots of heart and aggression and gave Pedraza little quarter, but the difference between a top ten fighter and a top twenty fighter can be vast and despite the effort, Pedraza wore Lozada down before being knocked down and finished in the ninth round.
Pedraza may be blocked in the lightweight division for now and might have to move to 140 pounds for another title shot.
Pedraza is unlikely to receive a Lomachenko rematch for two (and likely three after his match with Luke Campbell) belts and the remaining champion Richard Commey (IBF) is defending against Ray Beltran next,a victory should see Commey cash in against Lomachenko for all the lightweight gold and Pedraza is surprisingly unranked by the IBF.

Over with the PBC on FS1 from Biloxi Mississippi, the Hamburglar peeped his head outside the arches as former Olympian Terrell Gausha appeared to have clearly outpointed former champion Austin Trout in a fight that could be called boring and well, I'm calling it boring, but Gausha didn't receive the deserved nod as the judges called the fight a draw with three divergent and inaccurate card.
I had Gausha winning originally 96-94, but a rewatch (hey, I was at work and I was bored!) saw me give Gausha a 97-93 decision.
The Gausha judge scored it 99-91, which was ridiculous, but the 95-95 wasn't good (I thought my original 96-94 Gausha was generous to Trout), but the 96-94 Trout card was terrible.
It wasn't that Gausha was exciting or terrific in triumph, mind you, but Trout looked slow and just didn't move his hands enough.
Trout called for a rematch, saying he hadn't fought enough of late and while that may be true (and just whose fault is that again?), I don't think anyone really wants to see this again and what would it prove even if they did.
PBC could stick either of these two against Julian Williams or the Tony Harrison/Jermell Charlo winner anyway, so a rematch seems pointless.

I would like to add one point- Austin Trout seems to be the first fighter to succumb to the matchmaking style of PBC, where you fight once a year and maybe face a top-notch boxer every other year.
Inactivity dulls the skills and inactivity hurts an older fighter more than a younger one as far as sharpness goes, but the younger fighter is hurt by not fighting enough by not learning what you need to learn as an older fighter to dig deep, win a fight that you shouldn't or discover the tricks of the trade to give you a chance to win in a fight you might not be the favorite to win.
The system that PBC pushes for their fighters is that you'll get good pay for fewer fights and take less damage and that makes sense- in theory.
However, what that seems to be doing as well is limiting their fighters prime (in earning years as well as performance), affecting their long term performance and keeping them from the careers that their fighters are capable of.
Austin Trout might be the first test case of my theory, but over the next few years, I'm willing to bet that he won't be the last.

The other fight in the challenge from China has not taken place yet (Later this morning), so I will edit this post with the result and update to the boxing challenge after it is over.

In the boxing challenge as of this writing, I have added three points to Ramon Malpica's two with the Devin Haney fight being the difference in points.
Both of us picked Jose Pedraza's win for one point, both of us picked Masayuki Ito in his loss and the Trout-Gausha draw gives no points.

Editor's Note; Carlos Canizales defeated Sho Kimura via unanimous decision.
Ramon added two points for that win and took four points to my three for the weekend.
Ramon cuts my lead in the challenge to 135-120.