Boxing Challenge: Showtime Snoozer

   The boxing weekend continued with cards from Top Rank on ESPN and PBC with Showtime with the main event that might rank among the worst ever and considering that Guillermo Rigondeaux has many of the candidates for that title- that says it all.

Sometimes in boxing programming, you have a card that just doesn't work out the way you planned it and you received next to no action at all.

It was one of those nights for PBC and Showtime from Carson, California as they received two rounds of a lopsided blowout, about fifteen seconds before a headbutt ended a fight, and then a major title fight with premium ramifications turned into a 10,000-meter race.

The WBO bantamweight title between John Riel Casimero and Guillermo Rigondeaux was hoped to be an entertaining battle as Casimero usually makes action fights and Rigondeaux's legs seemed to be slowing in his second to most recent fight against Julio Ceja in what was arguably the only entertaining fight of Rigondeaux's career.

So it wasn't an unreasonable thought to think that this should be at least an average action fight with the potential for more- which meant that fans were served up twelve rounds of Rigondeaux running around the ring and neither fighter landing double-digit punches in any round (which may be a record for a world title fight) in the worst "big" fight that anyone can remember in recent history.

With the live crowd and almost everyone watching at home booing the hell of this mess, fans knew the cards for this one would vary and everyone crossed their fingers that Casimero's attempted aggression would be rewarded so exciting fights like Casimero-Donaire or Casimero-Inoue may be made rather than sleep inducers such Rigondeaux-Donaire II or heavens forbid Rigondeaux-Inoue.

Fortunately, the fans caught a break with Casimero winning a split decision with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 (my score) to overrule a 115-113 tag for Rigondeaux.

Hopefully, Casimero and WBC champion Nonito Donaire can be made next time in what almost certainly will be a war with both fighters having personal grudges against the other.

As for Rigondeaux, I'd like to say at 40 years old we have seen the last of him but don't bet on it.

The co-feature ended in sixteen seconds as featherweights Emanuel Rodriguez and Gary Antonio Russell each moved to the center of the ring, collided skulls, and the fight was called with both fighters dazed and Rodriguez taking the worst of it.

That's about as much as one could say about that.

The two rounds of the opener saw all the action for the televised portion as former WBA bantamweight champion Rau'shee Warren stopped an outclassed Damien Vazquez in two rounds.

Warren knocked down Vazquez twice in the first and once in the second before the merciful ending.

Warren could be in the title picture, should Donaire-Casimero fall through as a potential opponent for either champion.

The card looked good on paper but this is boxing and you just cannot ever take things for granted inside the ring.

Top Rank and ESPN starred a third fight that was compelling for the two fighters not for the minor WBA belt on the line as Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney battled hard after a rematch that ended after a phantom headbutt allowed Franco to escape with a no-contest in a fight that Moloney seemed to be on the way to winning.

The second fight made Moloney the favorite but it was Franco that outworked Moloney in a good not great fight to win a unanimous decision in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Moloney started well but Franco took control winning most of the middle part of the fight.

Moloney rallied late but he was too far behind on the scorecards, all of which agreed with my 116-112 card for Franco.

A huge win for Franco, who might be a good opponent for Naoya Inoue, should Inoue be unable to make unification matches with either Nonito Donaire or John Riel Casimero.

The co-feature saw junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza dominate veteran Antonio Moran over ten rounds as a stay busy bout for Barboza. who broke the nose of Moran and won the final nine rounds on my card in a 99-91 card.

Barboza will likely be in the mix whenever Josh Taylor vacates his four titles for a vacant title but should Taylor decide to stick around the division for a while Barboza might be a nice opponent for Taylor with both boxers associated with Top Rank.

In the main event on the ESPN+ card, Jason Moloney rebounded from his knockout loss to Naoya Inoue to win a close unanimous decision over Joshua Greer in a crossroads bantamweight fight.

Again as in the main event, this fight was entertaining enough but not outstanding as I saw Moloney as a 96-94 winner.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored six points on the two cards to move our total to 117-103.

Boxing Challenge: Charlo Brothers win in PPV Debut

  The debut of the Charlo brothers in their first appearance on pay per view went as well as the brothers, PBC, and Showtime could have expected as both brothers grabbed victories in fights that were generally good bouts.

Jermell Charlo won his title unification fight at junior middleweight as he took away Jeison Rosario's WBA and IBF titles to add to the WBC championship that he held entering the fight by an eighth-round knockout.

Charlo knocked Rosario down in the first round with a shot to the top of the head, but Rosario survived and worked his way back into the fight.

Charlo was losing round six before hitting Rosario with a left hook that sent Rosario to the canvas and Rosario would barely survive the round.

Charlo would end the fight in the eighth with a jab to the stomach that took all the air from Rosario and ended the match.

I haven't seen a knockout from a jab to the stomach since Little Mac knocked out King Hippo on Mike Tyson's Punch Out, so that is quite an achievement for Charlo.

Jeison Rosario joins the depth chart at PBC at junior middleweight of fighters that can beat some, lose to others and will likely still in the mix among their contenders.

For Jermell Charlo. if he is the king of the hill for now and deservedly so, I'm not sure that he is head and shoulders above the rest for the long term.

Charlo struggled twice with Tony Harrison and there could be one of the guys on the depth chart that could match well with Charlo (Jarrett Hurd perhaps) and upset him, but he'd be favored over any of them until proven otherwise.

Three championships come with three mandatories and they range from interesting (Talented, but inexperienced Israil Madrimov WBA),  mundane (Bakhram Murtazaliev IBF), and been there done that (Erickson Lubin WBC, who Charlo knocked out in one round in 2017), so I really don't know where Charlo goes next, but I'm doubting it will be anyone to really excite fans because there just isn't anyone in the junior middleweight division to do so.

Earlier in the evening, Jermall Charlo defended his WBC middleweight title via unanimous decision over Sergey Dereyvanchenko for the biggest win of Charlo's career.

The fight played out in the manner that most expected to- Charlo scoring well from long distance, getting out to a fast start, banking early rounds, and holding off the Dereyvanchenko rally.

Charlo wobbled Dereyvanchenko in the third round and Dereyvanchenko stung Charlo in the seventh, but neither fighter was ever in huge trouble during the fight or knocked out.

Dereyvanchenko did take heavy damage around his eyes with bruising around both, but he continued to press the action and make Charlo work throughout the fight.

I scored Charlo a comfortable, but not dominant 116-112 winner, which agreed with one of the three scorecards.

I'm not sure where Charlo is headed now.

As strong as PBC is at 147 and 154, they are that weak at 160 as Dereyvanchenko was the best fight that PBC had for Charlo and Dereyvanchenko was ranked first by the WBC.

The next eventual mandatory would be Jaime Munguia (currently ranked second) and the talented but still raw Munguia isn't quite of Charlo's caliber yet, along with the promotional problems of PBC dealing with Golden Boy as Munguia's promoter.

Charlo says he'll fight anyone, but if seven million dollars wasn't enough for a unification fight with WBO champion Demetrius Andrade to fight outside of the PBC, I have my doubts that he's moving outside the PBC cocoon anytime soon.

As for Dereyvanchenko, he now has three close title fight losses and I'm not sure that he gets another title shot anytime soon and with his association with PBC, who does he fight to move back up the ladder?

A very difficult spot to be in for the veteran.

John Riel Casimero knocked out Duke Micah in the third round to keep his WBO bantamweight championship to open the evening.

Casimero knocked Micah down in the second and delivered a fearsome beating for the remainder of the round before finishing Micah off in the first minute of the third round.

Casimero had a scheduled unification match with WBA and IBF champion Naoya Inoue canceled due to Covid-19 and I'm not sure if his contract with PBC was a one-off contract or if it could be longer in term.

A Inoue-Casimero fight would likely be explosive, exciting, and short, but I hope that pairing can be revived and made in 2021.

The other three fights on the card, I have not watched yet, so when I do I will return and edit with my scorecards.

Luis Nery won a unanimous decision over Aaron Alameda to win the vacant WBC junior featherweight title.

Daniel Roman won a unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Payano.

Brandon Figueroa stopped Damien Vasquez in the tenth round.

In the boxing challenge I outscored Ramon Malpica eleven to eight on the PPV.

I moved my overall lead to 128-117.

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: Crawford cans Khan

Terence Crawford had little problems retaining his WBO welterweight title via corner stoppage in the sixth round over former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, but the problem that Crawford may not be able to climb so easily are still to come with the inter-promotional problems that threaten to choke boxing and its fans like the plague.

I thought Khan's speed could trouble Crawford and on the occasional time, it did, but those occasions appeared far too seldom for the Englishman and the real surprise came in the first round when Crawford, not known for getting out of the blocks quickly, dropped Khan with a left that was preceded by a right that appeared to do most of the damage.
Crawford nearly finished the fight there, but Khan avoided another knockdown with a well-placed grab and made it to the bell before being hurt and surviving again in the second.
Khan had a few good moments in the third and especially the fourth, but the fifth round saw Crawford landing hard punches that had Khan wincing and shaking his head and usually that means the end is near.
And it was, but in a less meaningful way than most had hoped as Crawford cracked Khan with what was either a low blow or a shot to the inner thigh (and depending on your angle, it could have been either) that saw Khan taking some of the allowed recovery period before trainer Virgil Hunter decided to intercede and surrender for his fighter from the corner.
Hunter's decision saved Khan from additional punishment but cost Crawford and fans a conclusive ending, not that is his job to worry about those things, but still an unsatisfying ending, if not an inevitable one.
Khan simply doesn't have the chin to compete with world-class welterweights and maybe not even those a notch below as his knockdown against trialhorse Samuel Vargas showed in his previous fight.
Yet, Khan would be unlikely to make 140 pounds again in a return to junior welterweight and may be caught in limbo, where his best option might be to make the fight that U.K. fans have always wanted against Kell Brook.
A Khan-Brook fight would put dollars into both men's coffers, even if the fight is too late to determine which was truly the better fighter in their prime and I'm hoping that Terence Crawford and Errol Spence don't look back in a few years and wonder about themselves as well.
Crawford-Spence is the best fight that boxing can make and Spence's claims that in-house options to unify his IBF title with are preferable (WBA champ Keith Thurman and WBC kingpin Shawn Porter) to a Crawford unification and I understand those are easy fights to make.
I would even be OK with Spence and Crawford hooking up in a year- IF you would make me this deal- Spence's next two fights are against those two PBC comrades while Crawford fights whoever he can match up with and those guys aren't going to be as interesting as Spence's competition certainly would be.
I'd be willing to wait under those conditions, no others.

On the Crawford-Khan undercard, Teofimo Lopez dominated Edis Tatli for four rounds and then stopped the former world title challenger with a right to the body that sent Tatli to one knee for the ten count.
Lopez claims he wants a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko in the next year before he leaves the lightweight division, but Lomachenko's claim is only if he holds a title will that fight take place.
A Mikey Garcia bout for the WBC title is unlikely, but should Garcia vacate the title, which is possible, Lopez could be in line for a fight that fills that vacancy, but an IBF title fight vs Richard Commey would be easier to make.
Commey would likely make more money for Lomachenko and a unification event so Top Rank will have to pay up for Commey to fight Lopez instead.

Shakur Stevenson cruised to a unanimous decision over Christopher Diaz.
I haven't watched this fight yet, but Stevenson is reported to have dominated Diaz in winning by eight, nine, and ten points on the scorecards.
I'm not sure Stevenson doesn't need more seasoning before fighting a champion at featherweight, a division that possesses four strong champions, but he seems to be on a fast track for a title fight within the next year or so.

Felix Verdejo's star may have dimmed since his days as a top prospect, but he at least added a little shine with a unanimous decision over Bryan Vasquez.
Verdejo never hurt Vasquez, but his jab was impressive and his combinations at least brought back memories of what Verdejo was thought to be before various problems caused inactivity and his first loss.
It will be interesting to see if Verdejo is challenged with another step up in competition or if he fights another boxer on the level of Vasquez, who is solid, but not quite top ten class.
I scored Verdejo a 97-93 winner on my card.

Meanwhile, Mr. Al Haymon, whose name was mentioned as much on social media during the Top Rank card due to the Crawford-Spence talk, and his PBC were outside on Fox and FS1 from Carson California.
The PBC main event saw former WBC welterweight champion, Danny Garcia return to the ring for the first time since a September loss to Shawn Porter for the vacant title and looked very strong in taking out durable Adrian Granados in the seventh round.
Granados won round one with his trademark aggression, but Garcia knocked down Granados twice in the second round with overhand rights that it seemed that everyone could see coming but Granados.
It was all Garcia from there as he never was threatened despite Granados' efforts otherwise.
Garcia sent Granados to the mat in the fifth and finished him off in the seventh as Garcia battered Granados along the ropes forcing referee Thomas Taylor to end the bout.
For Garcia, it was an impressive return, albeit against a fighter made to order for Garcia, who generally scores knockouts against fighters a step below the elite, but rarely stops an elite one.
Garcia would be well suited to fight again soon, but similar to many in the PBC, he simply doesn't fight often enough to stay in the minds of fans.
Garcia has been on both sides of close decisions in his career and has never been outmatched in any of his fights, but putting Garcia against any of the four champions have that been there done that feeling, which is logical considering that he has already fought two of them (Thurman and Porter) already.
Granados is simply physically overmatched at welterweight and if he can make the weight, would be competitive against anyone at 140 pounds.

Former heavyweight title challenger Andy Ruiz made his PBC debut a successful one in winning every round against Alexander Dimitrenko before Dimitrenko's corner stopped the bout at the end of the fifth round.
Don't give Ruiz too much credit though, as Dimitrenko seemed so dispassionate in his performance as any heavyweight in the top 100 could have dominated him on this night.
Dimitrenko's effort was a surprising one, considering his brave battle against Bryant Jennings in his previous bout, but if this is all that he will offer in the future, he should consider retirement.
As for Ruiz, who has just one loss to Joseph Parker, he has always shown ability, but a lack of activity along with a tendency to stay in shape has been a constant companion to him.
Should those things change for Ruiz, he could still be a viable contender and on the PBC side, I'd be very interested in a Ruiz-Adam Kownacki pairing.

Brandon Figueroa won a minor junior featherweight jewelry piece when Yonfrez Parejo was unable to continue after the eighth round.
The bout was filled with good exchanges in the first three rounds, but the bigger punching Figueroa began to grind Parejo down thereafter and avoided the counters that Parejo landed earlier in the fight.
I had Figueroa ahead after eight rounds 78-74 and I had the feeling that this fight might have ended before the final bell anyway, so the point may have been moot.
The undefeated Figueroa won his third fight in a row against veteran competition (Parejo, Moises Flores, and Oscar Escandon) and would be a very interesting challenger to the victor of next Friday's
WBA-IBF unification between Daniel Roman and T.J. Doheny.

Another minor belt was handed out on this card with an untelevised fight (Why that was is beyond me since it seemed like they were showing every fight down to ten years in the L.A. area) in the bantamweight division as former IBF flyweight champion John Riel Casimero knocked out Ricardo Espinoza in the twelfth round to win this title, which basically puts him into bantamweight contention.
As noted, I haven't seen this-Casimero knocked Espinoza down in the fifth and again in the final round before the fight was stopped.
Entering the final round the fight was on the line as each fighter was ahead by two points on one judge's card and the third judge had the fight even.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 15-14 to increase my lead to 94-85.
My points: three points from Brandon Figueroa (bonus point for calling the round)
                   two points from Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, Felix Verdejo, and Andy Ruiz.
                   one point from John Riel Casimero and Danny Garcia

Ramon's points; three points from Teofimo Lopez
                           two points from Crawford, Figueroa, Verdejo, and Ruiz
                           one point from Stevenson, Casimero, and Garcia