Boxing Challenge: Pacheco, Cruz win

     The favorites each notched victories on the card presented from Matchroom/DAZN Saturday night from Las Vegas but they did so in a decidedly different fashion.

In the main event, rising super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco overcame a slow start and a late stumble to grab a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Steven Nelson,

I thought Nelson had won three of the first four rounds before Pacheco cut Nelson over the left eye late in round four.

The cut changed the bout's momentum as Pacheco dominated with Nelson's attack slowing with his decreasing vision and Pacheco landing his right without any problems from the Omaha boxer from the Terence Crawford stable.

Pacheco had Nelson in trouble in the tenth round and looked to possibly stop him, but Nelson showed his heart in the final two rounds. He landed several strong punches that affected Pacheco and appeared to bother the unbeaten star in the final round.

My score was a bit closer at 115-113 for Pacheco than all three judges' official scores of 117-111, but Pacheco deserved the nod.

Pacheco will bide his time for a while as he is the top contender for Canelo Alvarez from the WBO and won't wish to gamble that position but he could use some extra time to polish himself a bit for the day he would face Canelo.

Nelson fought well enough to deserve more chances against contenders but at thirty-six needs to be more active if he wishes to reach title contention.

Former Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz continues to impress with a ten-round unanimous decision over Omar Salcido that Cruz controlled and showed a willingness to try to entertain viewers with an aggressiveness that hasn't been seen before.

Cruz boxed very well early but began to take chances in the middle rounds which opened himself up to take some shots from Salcido, who never stopped coming forward despite taking punishment.

Cruz tried to end the fight with a stoppage, pressing the attack and hurting Salcido in both the eighth and tenth rounds but Salcido showed resilience in lasting the ten-round distance.

Cruz appears ready for the next level of opposition, the top ten level, and will be a tough out for anyone in a talented lightweight division.

Salcido showed toughness and he'll have other chances after a determined outing.

I scored Cruz a winner at 99-91, which agreed with one judge, the other two scores were 98-92.

Due to an error of mine, I didn't add a third bout to the boxing challenge and missed the star of the night as junior welterweight Ernesto "Tito" Mercado crushed former two-time champion Jose Pedraza in four brutal rounds,

Mercado kept Pedraza in retreat throughout and one right hand popped Pedraza to the floor.

Pedraza rose but the referee saw his failing legs and correctly waved an end to the fight.

Mercado scored his sixteenth knockout in his seventeen wins and showed personality after the fight as he called out WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, who was in the audience, with pro wrestling style panache' threatening to "straighten the cap between Stevenson's teeth".

Mercado is a fighter to watch in 2025.

As for Pedraza, the aging veteran is 0-3-1 in his last four fights and didn't show much other than guts in losing to Mercado and retirement should be an option at this point.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 4 Pts  (8) 

TRS: 4 Pts (8)

Vince Samano: 2 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Davis roars, Lopez bores

   Teofimo Lopez had a chance to dazzle the Las Vegas crowd in the area for Sunday's Super Bowl and his entrance was entertaining as a circus ringmaster.

Unfortunately, that was as entertaining as things would be in the main event as Lopez looked mediocre in a desultory outing in retaining his WBO junior welterweight title by a unanimous decision that has been panned by many over Jamaine Ortiz.

Neither fighter threw many punches and Ortiz was content to box from the outside using a lefthanded stance which was enough to win on my card 115-113.

Lopez experienced difficulty cutting the ring off from the mobile Ortiz. He looked more like the puzzled and unmotivated fighter that slid by Sandor Martin than the determined tiger that upended Josh Taylor last year.

Lopez won on two cards 115-113, which I disagree with but the Steve Weisfeld card of 117-111 seemed particularly out of whack.

While I thought Ortiz deserved the nod, I don't need to see a rematch of a fight that was extremely dull and Lopez certainly will not want to face a defensive-minded boxer like Ortiz for a lesser paycheck again.

Teofimo Lopez is starting to remind me of Zab Judah as a fighter that you can never count out yet as one that you can't count on as well.

Lopez has the talent to defeat the best in the sport but struggles against mobile boxers, especially if he feels that he doesn't have to focus on the opposition.

It happened against George Kambosos, Sandor Martin, and now Jamaine Ortiz, showing a pattern of his biggest flaw.

Just don't rule him out against elite fighters, because when motivated Lopez ranks at the top of the spot.

The star of the night was former Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis, who impressed in stopping former junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza in six rounds.

Davis showed more strength and power than he had in recent outings and won every round against Pedraza, who tried his best but didn't use his range and seemed content to wait and hope for a right-hand miracle.

Davis looked very sharp in victory, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in his next attempt against top opponents.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 20 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 18 Pts (3)

Vince Samano; 10 Pts (3) 

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: Commey-Pedraza battle to draw

   For a crossroads fight between two former champions at a lighter weight class fighting at junior welterweight, most looking at Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey's clash as a crossroads fight with the loser taking a step back in status, the best possible result happened for both fighters as Commey and Pedraza exchanged blows for ten fast-paced rounds before the decision was announced as a draw.

The Tulsa crowd enjoyed the bout that ended with one judge scoring for Pedraza at 97-93, another for Commey 96-94, and the third, agreeing with my scorecard, with a 95-95 tab.

Commey had a small edge in the first half of the fight and looked to be on his way to a win before a Pedraza headbutt badly cut Commey over the left eye, producing a cut that would pour blood for the remainder of the fight and on several occasions would force Commey to paw at the cut in order to clear his vision.

Pedraza's best round was the ninth when he appeared to hurt Commey and he added the tenth on all three cards to pull out the draw.

The biggest question for a potential rematch is- How much did the cut affect Commey as he was the better fighter before the slice and allowed Pedraza to take charge after the cut?

That question would be answered in a rematch and it's one worth considering when you decide on a favorite in such a rematch.

The draw was a very fair result which allows both fighters to survive another day before being moved out to pasture and a rematch would be an excellent avenue for both men to earn another quality payday with similar stakes for the winner and loser.

A worthwhile main event and the type of fight that promoters should try to make more often, especially on lighter boxing weekends as one card can take center stage in the boxing world.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 152 Pts (0) 

Ramon Malpica: 131 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 120 Pts (0) 

Boxing Challenge: Ramirez decisions Pedraza

 Friday night's ESPN/Top Rank card from Fresno, California felt a little bit similar to anticipating a great day and only receiving a good one with two fights that were good action fights but a little less than I had hoped for.

In the main event, former WBC and WBO junior welterweight champion Jose Ramirez returned to the ring for the first time since his first career loss in a unification bout against Josh Taylor and won a clear but closely fought unanimous decision over former junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza.

Ramirez was the aggressor through and banked most of the early rounds before a mid-round rally by Pedraza to tighten the fight on the scorecards.

Pedraza's right eye began to swell around entering the late rounds and Ramirez began to score more frequently as Pedraza seemed to be unable to pick Ramirez's punches up and allowed the hometown fighter to pull away on the scorecards.

All three judges scored the fight 116-112 for Ramirez, which was the same as my scorecard in a fairly easy fight to score.

Ramirez appears likely to be in the mix for one of the four soon to be vacated junior welterweight titles and the clearest avenue to a championship would be with the WBC where Ramirez is rated second and would face top-ranked Jose Zepeda, who Ramirez won a close decision against in a title defense in 2019.

As for Pedraza, he suffered his second loss at junior welterweight (the other was to Jose Zepeda) in five fights and while he had acquitted himself well in losses to Ramirez and Zepeda, he may not be a title threat against the elite fighters of the division.

The co-feature was another fight that was filled with good action but wasn't quite as good as I had thought it might be as Joet Gonzalez stopped Jeo Santisima in the ninth round of a featherweight crossroads pairing.

There were some strong exchanges but Gonzalez really began to take over in the middle rounds and with Santisima taking a pounding in the seventh and eighth rounds, the referee told Santisima in the corner that he would be watching very closely in the ninth round for any signs of distress.

And even with Santisima firing punches back at Gonzalez, the stoppage was pretty quick in the ninth round.

Still, he was warned entering the round that he was being watched carefully, so the ending isn't as bad as it seemed if you have the total picture in hand.

I scored Gonzalez ahead after eight rounds 78-74.

Boxing Challenge- 

Vince Samano 29 Pts (1)

TRS 29 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica 26 Pts (3) 

Boxing Challenge: Stevenson Snoozer, Ponce Impresses

 The boxing weekend didn't look to be all that exciting and it didn't turn out to be, but boxing could have found itself a possible future champion, and on a day that promised so little, that alone is a small victory.

In the biggest fight of the day from Top Rank/ESPN in Las Vegas, Shakur Stevenson dominated unknown Jeremiah Nakathila in winning every round and a unanimous decision, but no one seemed thrilled with Stevenson's tentative performance, and the only positive from the bout was the hope that Stevenson will fight Jamel Herring for Herring's WBO title next unless Herring decides to vacate in order to face Oscar Valdez for Valdez's WBC belt.

Should Herring choose to give up his title to face Valdez, the WBO will either hand Stevenson the title (he won their silly interim title in victory) or force Stevenson to face their top available contender in another untested contender Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov, in what would be the latest of lopsided bouts for Stevenson that the outcome is known before the fighters step into the ring.

Stevenson knocked an off-balance Nakathila late in the fourth round, but Nakathila wasn't seriously troubled and there were no other real chances to finish the fight.

I scored Stevenson a 120-107 winner in a forgettable fight except for the performance of referee Celestino Ruiz, who commented to the fighters "Watch Your Feet" about a dozen times per round.

The styles were awkward as southpaw vs conventional fights often are and in these fights, feet will often get tangled, and it's not easy to keep thing smooth, but Ruiz's non-stop warnings will be the only part of this fight that anyone will remember six months from now about this fight.

In the co-feature, former IBF junior lightweight and WBO lightweight champion Jose Pedraza fought well enough in yet another crossroads bout for the veteran to bring to mind Jim Valvano's phrase "Survive and Advance" as he defeated undefeated prospect Julian Rodriguez when Rodriguez's eye was swollen shut at the end of the eighth round.

The fight was closer on the cards than most seemed to see it with all three judges scoring Pedraza ahead 77-75, while I had Pedraza up 78-74 and I wonder if that might have been generous.

Rodriguez fought hard and gave what he had, but he was taking a big jump in opposition against Pedraza and it was apparent from the beginning as Pedraza's right hand smacked Rodriguez around the left eye and never stopped targeting the left side of Rodriguez's face throughout.

Pedraza's win may have placed him into position to fight for one of the titles that Josh Taylor may eventually give up, but Pedraza was calling out another champion after the win- WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

I wouldn't have an issue with Lopez-Pedraza down the road as a decent fight placed in between two really strong fights, and Pedraza would be better qualified than most for that type of challenger.

In the day's first fight from Newcastle, England, undefeated Argentine junior welterweight Jeremias Ponce jumped on hometown boxer Lewis Ritson and almost stopped him in the first round with a relentless attack to the body of Ritson that he was never able to shrug off.

Ponce's aggression overwhelmed the tough Ritson and Ritson didn't win a round on my card with only the fourth round even close to being scored for the Briton.

Ponce knocked Ritson down three times and Ritson's father, who is the boxer's head cornerman, threw in the towel after the first knockdown to save his son, but referee Steve Gray chose to ignore the towel and allowed the fight to continue with Ritson scoring two more knockdowns before the not-so merciful ending.

Referees can choose to ignore the corner's surrender if they desire, although they usually do honor the corner's request.

Ponce's performance made him the mandatory contender in the IBF for unified champion Josh Taylor, although he is more likely to fight for an eventual vacated title by Taylor.

In the boxing challenge, I scored three points to Ramon Malpica's two to boost my lead to 78-72. 

Boxing Challenge: Boots Ennis shines brightly!

Welterweight Jaron "Boots" Ennis may not have been in the main event from Uncasville, Connecticut on Showtime's three-fight card, but on a night that didn't have a lot of action, it was Ennis that walked away as the evening's star.

It wasn't that Ennis disposed of veteran gatekeeper Juan Carlos Abreu in six rounds as that would have been impressive enough considering Abreu had never been stopped in his five losses to contenders such as Egid Kavaliauskas, Alexander Besputin, and Jamal James.

It was how Ennis did it as he controlled Ennis with power punches that shook the durable veteran with every punch and showing veteran poise in the fifth round.

Ennis and Abreu each landed very low punches that cause brief stoppages and warnings, but as Abreu charged in, Ennis leaned away from the incoming punch and connected with a huge uppercut that dropped Abreu with seconds remaining in the round.

Abreu rose and survived, but tried some macho tactics to unnerve Ennis at the end of the round with an attempt to make Ennis do something dumb.

Ennis verbally sparred back to Abreu but showed maturity by not getting physical.

The decision proved fruitful when Ennis quickly dropped Abreu again and continued to batter Abreu into a corner before Abreu dropped to the floor for a second time with the referee waving the fight off.

It's not often that the first fight on a show leads off our recap, but as much as that says for the other fights on the evening, it says tons for the talent of Boots Ennis.

Ennis is almost certainly a future champion, assuming his chin holds up when tested.

My biggest concern with Boots Ennis is this- A few years from now, boxing fans may be pining away for a Boots Ennis-Vergil Ortiz welterweight unification fight as they currently are for an Errol Spence-Terence Crawford matchup and they may be equally unfulfilled.

In the main event, Erickson Lubin trudged through twelve rounds to win a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha and put himself in position for a future junior middleweight title shot against the winner of next Saturday's Jermell Charlo-Jeison Rosario title unification bout.

The positives in this one, Gausha hurt Lubin in the tenth round, and round twelve was a pretty good round with both fighters exchanging punches.

Outside of those positives, this one was quite the snoozer with Lubin winning the rounds, but looking far from the exciting bomber that was at the top of most prospect lists before his one-round knockout loss to Jermell Charlo.

Lubin could arguably say he is more effective now, but he certainly isn't half as fun to watch.

Lubin's chin questions still are a concern after being hurt badly by Gausha, who is not known as a puncher, but that's one thing that can be said for the "new" Lubin- he is protecting that chin much better than in the past.

I scored Lubin a 118-110 winner with Lubin winning the first nine rounds.

I'm not sure Lubin will fare much better in a potential Charlo rematch, but should he decide to go bomb for bomb against Rosario, the result could be a memorable encounter.

But if it is this version of Lubin that arrives for his title shot, his challenge might not be more watchable than this victory.

Tug Nyambayar won a split decision over late replacement Cobia Breedy to win an eliminator that may lead to a rematch against WBC champion Gary Russell or at least another eliminator to earn that rematch.

Nyambayar fought much like he did in his loss to Russell with a reluctance to get off punches and giving away early rounds, but salvaged the first two with knockdowns in those rounds.

Nyambayar did begin winning rounds on the last half of the fight once he began to move his hands and won on my card 115-111 (7-5 in rounds minus two knockdown points).

Despite the victory, Nyambayar didn't seem especially motivated for the fight, which is understandable with a late replacement that was unknown at the world level and I wonder about his future with his tendency to start slowly continuing to plague him.

As for Breedy, his showing was an excellent one considering his lack of experience and stepping in on late notice.

Without those early knockdowns, Breedy may have had a case for a victory, although the scorecard for Breedy was an outlandish 115-111.

That scorecard gave Breedy nine of the ten rounds remaining after being knocked down twice and for all that Breedy overcame to make a good showing, that simply was not the case.

Meanwhile, over at the Top Rank bubble on ESPN+, Jose Pedraza won a ten round unanimous decision over Javier Molina in a battle of Olympic teammates.

Pedraza puzzled Molina and left him unable to do much offensively other than desperate and ineffective charges with Pedraza hitting him over and over with the straight right.

Not much else to say for this one other than Pedraza hurting Molina badly in the final round and Pedraza attempted to put Molina away for the strong finish.

Give Molina credit for holding off Pedraza and making it to the final bell, but that's mostly what he was about to walk away with as I scored Pedraza a 99-91.

Pedraza will likely be in the scramble next year for pne of the open titles after a projection that will see the Josh Taylor-Jose Ramirez winner give up the titles to move up to welterweight.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored seven points to move the total to 114-106.

Next week will have a NINE fight entry in the challenge, so a big week will be on hand!!

Boxing Challenge: Pedraza defeats LesPierre-No replay needed

Photo Credit; Mikey Williams Top Rank

The Vegas Bubble continued with the boxing challenge with two bouts with a former champion trying to maintain viability and an Olympic champion attempting to avenge a defeat to move onward and upward in his career.

Former IBF junior lightweight and WBO lightweight champion Jose Pedraza dominated Mikkel LesPierre in their junior welterweight fight that was delayed by a few weeks and won an easy unanimous decision in the main event.
Pedraza used an ambidextrous style to befuddle LesPierre throughout the bout and it seemed like his right hand couldn't' miss LesPierre as it seemed to land whenever Pedraza pleased.
Pedraza knocked down LesPierre in the fifth and tenth rounds and almost finished LesPierre off for the stoppage in the final round.
I scored Pedraza a 99-89 winner on my card, but there was a small bit of controversy before the sixth round as a LesPierre knockdown was looked at via instant replay.
The replay look is fine, in my opinion, there is plenty of room for boxing to improve from referee errors, but referee Kenny Bayliss left the ring to look at the replay and it took several minutes to see that LesPierre tripped Pedraza for the knockdown and invalidating it.
It was close and there was contact between the two, but LesPierre did land a punch so I would have counted it, but it was nothing to be enraged over.
However, leaving the ring to look at the video and slowing the fight down seems very clunky to me and the system shouldn't take that long.
Now, I do think the fighters need to be notified ASAP on the points situation in these matters, but I'd like to offer a better way.
What if there was a fourth official in charge of only replay and the only changes that they can make are knockdowns (to reverse both called and not called in the ring) and on cuts in order to determine if they were from a punch or from illegal contact?
Then you add one more stipulation- you have no more than one round to make a determinatiom.
By adding that time limit, the fighters know their situation on the cards as soon as they can and we move on.

Pedraza bounced back from his September defeat to Jose Zepeda and I can see him as a solid back half of the top ten fighter in the 140 pound division, which is a very top-heavy division.
I can see Pedraza in the mix for a 2021 title fight against a possible four belt unification winner of a Jose Ramirez-Josh Taylor fight or maybe in the scramble for any of the titles that could be vacated by the winner, but he's 0-3 against top of the division fighters and his best win is over an aging Ray Beltran, so I'm not sure that I'm buying stock long term.
However, should the chips falling in the right place against the right style, Pedraza could walk away with a title belt.

In the other challenge fight, two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez avenged his career opening decision loss to Adan Gonzales via unanimous decision in a six rounder.
Ramirez was far better prepared for the rematch and forced Gonzales to back up with a strong performance that only lacked a knockout to showcase the Cuban's skills in winning all six rounds.
Ramirez makes me think of the type of boxer that will need to be motivated to be successful and might be a fighter that will win some fights when he could be written off, but also could lose some fights that he'll be favored because he may not take everything seriously.
Zab Judah was often in that mode as was fellow Cuban Joel Casamayor and the enigmatic careers that each of them had might cost them potential spots in the boxing hall of fame.

Ramon Malpica added four points on the evening to my three and cut my lead to seven points at 65-58 with an extra point for Robiesy Ramirez and his decision win made the difference.

Boxing Challenge: Fury slashes by Wallin

In a surprisingly strong battle, Tyson Fury survived a very ugly cut over his right eye and won a unanimous decision over little-known Otto Wallin in Las Vegas.

The cut pumped blood constantly throughout the bout after Wallin landed a looping left that ripped open the face of Fury in the fifth round and several times Fury's eye was checked and the bout was in danger of potentially given to Wallin via TKO.
Fury managed to continue and eventually would wear down Wallin with his superior size and strength to win most of the second half of the fight other than Wallin's desperate attempt to knock Fury out in the final round.
I agreed with the closest of the three cards scored for Fury at 116-112 on my personal card.

Some notes on this fight.
First, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the ESPN crew telling the Fury corner that the cut had been ruled (rightfully so) from a punch and not from a headbutt as Fury's team believed at the time.
ESPN is walking a very dangerous line between making news and reporting news as it felt to me that the network was making sure that the fighter that they have the investment with had every possible edge.
It's not illegal, mind you, and no rules were broken, but I'm not sure that I like the look and especially with how it occurred.
From my perspective, it appeared that blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore was coaching reporter Bernardo Osuna (who I really like) to give Fury's corner information which could have swung the fight result.
Here's how- Fury's cut was severe, and the doctor checked the cut several times to observe Fury's vision.
Almost on every occasion, if the fighter says I'm having trouble seeing- the doctor will stop the fight then and there.
If Fury's corner thinks that it was caused by a headbutt, the fight would then be decided with the scorecards, on which Fury would have been well ahead and could have conceivably said "I can't see" knowing they would win.
By giving them that information, they knew they couldn't play that card and knew that their fighter needed to say he could see, even if he couldn't.
I would not have had a problem telling the corner the truth had they asked, but it felt to me that ESPN was trying to protect their guy.

Second- it showed the dangers of fighting squash matches instead of "marinating" fights.
This isn't on Fury, it's on Deontay Wilder, who insisted on fighting a Luis Ortiz rematch before the agreed-to Fury rematch (BTW, I still haven't seen a date for Wilder-Ortiz II), but no matter the blame, it shows just how quickly a big check can go away no matter the opponent.
It should have been Deontay Wilder in the ring with Tyson Fury this fall, not Otto Wallin.

Third- It'll be interesting to see just how the career of Otto Wallin develops.
Will he be this generation's Axel Schulz, who was equally as unknown as Wallin when he was robbed of a decision that he won against George Foreman and other than losing to Michael Moorer for a title vacated by Foreman was rarely seen on the world stage again?
Or will this be a jumping-on point for the Swede, who will build off his first fight against world-class competition and stick around as a viable contender?

In the co-feature, Emanuel Navarrete stopped Juan Miguel Elorde after Elorde's corner refused to allow their man out of the corner for the fifth round.
Navarrete knocked Elorde into the ropes in the fourth for a technical knockdown as only the ropes allowed him to stand and the corner's decision was the right one as it seemed their fighter had nothing left with a hard-punching champion waiting for him.
Navarrete retained his WBO junior featherweight title with the victory and with the other three titles at DAZN with WBA/IBF champion Daniel Roman (Matchroom) and WBC beltholder Rey Vargas (Golden Boy) building towards a fight with each other, would appear to be on the outside looking in.
However, a recent shoulder injury could sideline Roman for a while, and Top Rank and Golden Boy recently agreed to a deal for the vacant WBO featherweight crown between Shakur Stevenson and Joet Gonzalez, so could it be possible that a Navarrete-Vargas all-Mexican unification bout could be agreed on?
Steve Kim reports that Vargas was seen at the fight rather than the Golden Boy card on DAZN, so that does make me think something is possible in the future

The opener saw Jose Zepeda win a unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza in a junior welterweight fight.
Zepeda won the first six rounds on my card before allowing Pedraza to get back into the fight a little bit but never hurt Zepeda enough to challenge seriously for the duke.
I scored Zepeda a 97-93 winner and he could receive a rematch next year with WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez.
Zepeda gave Ramirez all he wanted in losing a majority decision in February and I wouldn't mind seeing the pair against each other again.
As for Pedraza, who has won titles briefly in two divisions, I'm not sure where he goes from here.
I don't think he seems strong enough at 140 and if making 135 is not an issue for him, he might be best served to drop back and hope that Vasyl Lomachenko gives up his titles sometime next year to be in the mix.

Update: Jaime Munguia stopped Patrick Allotey in the fourth round after knocking Allotey down twice in the third round and again in the fourth when referee Jack Reiss, nearing ten in his count, saw the Allotey corner signaling for the fight to end.
Considering the opposition (Allotey is a natural welterweight and had lost in two rounds in his only fight against notable opposition in Patrick Teixeira), Munguia looked strong in his first fight after his controversial majority decision win over Dennis Hogan but considering the quality of his challenger, I'm not going to give him too much credit, other than ending the fight early as he should against such an overwhelmed opponent.
After the Hogan debacle and it is Mexican Independence Day weekend, this was a showcase for Munguia and he took advantage of being showcased, which isn't a bad thing. but it didn't prove anything either.
Having apparently reached a dead end in the 154-pound division with the other three champions (WBA/IBF champion Julian Williams and WBC titleholder Tony Harrison) fighting with the PBC, unification is very unlikely, so Munguia is expected to vacate his title and move to the middleweight division, a division that is more friendly at this to the Golden Boy promoted boxer.

In the boxing challenge- I scored four points to Ramon Malpica's two to move my lead to 224-193.
The point difference between us was caused by Navarrete's KO win and the win by Jose Zepeda. 

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.

Boxing Challenge: Lomachenko Unifies!

 Al Bello/Getty Images

The Boxing Challenge had its main event from New York, but the performances on the undercard were equally as strong and it was a nice night of the Sweet Science from the Big Apple (Big Apple, Big Cesspool as Wes Huntley once quipped).

The main event starred Vasyl Lomachenko in his return from shoulder surgery against Jose Pedraza as he won a unanimous decision to add Pedraza's WBO lightweight belt to the WBA version that he held entering the fight.
Lomachenko looked a little slow to start, but he dominated the second half of the fight and the eleventh round where he knocked Pedraza down twice might have been the best fought round by a fighter this year.
Only the bell saved Pedraza after that onslaught and his best in the final round allowed him to go the distance.
My card had Lomachenko winning 117-109 and Lomachenko mentioned after the fight wanting to have a chance to collect the remaining two belts in the division.
Mikey Garcia holds the WBC title and between his Quixote-like attempt to defeat Errol Spence and his noted difficulty to do business with makes such a fight as unlikely to happen as it would be awaited by fans and the IBF title is vacant currently to be decided by the winner of a Richard Commey- Isa Chaniev bout in February.
The Commey-Chaniev fight will take place on the ESPN telecast of the Eleider Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev rematch and according to Top Rank president Bob Arum, an agreement has been made with Lou DiBella, who promotes both fighters, that the winner will face Lomachenko in May.
I've never seen Chaniev fight, but I have seen Commey and Chaniev will have to be pretty strong to win that fight.

Lomachenko wasn't the only impressive winner on the worldwide leader as Emanuel Navarette upset Issac Dogboe by a unanimous decision to earn the WBO junior featherweight title that Dogboe won earlier this year.
Navarette entered the fight untested, but with an impressive record, much larger and taller than Dogboe and using those advantages was able to control Dogboe to rarely allow the Ghana native to step inside and do his best work.
Navarette was very sharp in the win, but let's wait to see if he is truly a new star.
Often styles make fights and physically, Dogboe was made for Navarette.
I scored Navarette a 116-112 winner.

And there was Teofimo Lopez, the talented lightweight prospect who faced his toughest opponent to date in trialhorse Mason Menard.
Menard had lasted seven rounds with former WBO champion Ray Beltran and eight against another nice lightweight prospect in Devin Haney in May, but I wrote if Lopez is as good as I think he is, he'll take Menard out in less than five.
Menard lasted forty-four seconds and ended the fight face down on the canvas in what will at least be a competitor in the race for KO of the year.
That was about as impressive as you could be and Lopez needs to receive yet another bounce in competition.
I hate to rush young boxers, but he's not going to be tested by the level of Menard-like fighters and he might as well take those risks.

In England, Matchroom, and DAZN led the top of their card with Kell Brook against what appeared to be a squash match and title eliminator in journeyman Michael Zerafa.
Instead, Brook won a clear decision (118-110 on my card) but looked dreadful winning and looked to be nowhere near ready to take on a top contender
Brook looked slow, took his share of punches from Zerafa and never seriously hurt a fighter that was taken out in five by Peter Quillin in the past.
Amir Khan vs Brook has been a dream fight for British fans for years, but unless Khan watched this fight and decides easy money against Brook is better than a bid to dethrone Terence Crawford, Brook might be in No Man's land.
It's sad to say, but although Brook should be applauded for courage for jumping to middleweight to try Gennady Golovkin, it was a foolish move as the beating that Brook took seems to have ruined him as a world-class fighter.

The other challenge bout from England was canceled when welterweight prospect Josh Kelly fell ill and his leap in competition against David Avanesyan was canceled.

On the final HBO card, junior featherweight contender Juan Francisco Estrada wore down former sparring partner Victor Mendez and Mendez's corner ended the fight after the seventh round.
I had Estrada ahead six to one on my card and Mendez looked ready to go, had he continued the fight and tried the eighth round.
Estrada is the mandatory contender for WBC champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and a rematch of their exciting fight that Rungvisai squeaked a majority decision would be welcomed.

In the boxing challenge, I earned six points to Ramon Malpica's five with the difference being two points for me to Ramon's one for the Juan Francisco Estrada win.
The total is currently 206-185.

Boxing Challenge: Pedraza dethrones Beltran, Dogboe crushes another

ESPN presented a strong two fight (I listened to a podcast during the ladies fight) card from Glendale, Arizona that saw a star continue to develop and a new champion crowned to challenge Vasyl Lomachenko in December.

In the main event, Jose Pedraza upset Ray Beltran via unanimous decision in a close tussle to lift the WBO lightweight title from Beltran.
I had Pedraza a narrow 114-113 winner (6-6 in rounds) and the scores were wider than I thought was reasonable.
Going into the fight, the veteran Beltran figured to be the stronger fighter later in the bout and going to the eleventh round, that scenario seemed to be rolling into play.
Pedraza had won the first three rounds, but the charge of Beltran began in the fourth and Beltran would win all but one round from the 4th through the 10th.
However, it was the younger Pedraza that grabbed the final two rounds with not only a knockdown in the eleventh but a rally late in the twelfth that seemed to have Beltran buzzed a bit and backed in a corner as the bell rang to end the encounter.
The victory was more than just a title for Pedraza, who was released from PBC after his loss to Gervonta Davis, it meant a possible seven-figure payday in December for a unification match with WBA kingpin Vasyl Lomachenko.
I'm not sure Pedraza will offer a stern test to Lomachenko, but his rangier boxing style may cause Lomachenko a few more problems than the pressuring Beltran would have caused him.

Issac Dogboe continued his rise as a must see boxer with a one round blitz of Hidenori Otake.
Now, Otake was 37, had lost his only fight against a top fighter (Scott Quigg), had lost the only time that he fought outside of Japan (Again to Quigg) and looked overmatched, but when you have an opponent that isn't in your class, the best way to get something out of such fights is to get rid of them quickly.
Two knockdowns and an uppercut that turned Otake's legs to those similar to Ralph Dibny ended this one in just one round.
Moving on from Otake and the sooner the better there, I'd love to see Dogboe in the unification fights that he called for against WBA champ Daniel Roman and WBC champ Rey Vargas, but both fights will be tough to make with opposing promoters and networks (Roman is with Eddie Hearn's DAZN and Vargas with Golden Boy and HBO).
Both of those fights would be interesting with a Roman fight having the potential to be a strong action bout and the taller Vargas would be interesting to see how Dogboe deals with a talented boxer that uses distance well.

In the Boxing Challenge, I added two points for Dogboe's KO and Ramon Malpica gained one for Dogboe's victory.
Both of us selected Ray Beltran over Jose Pedraza.
The challenge now stands at 127-101.