Boxing Challenge: Ioka outboxes Franco, Berlanga tops Quigley

    Matchroom Boxing and DAZN rolled out their much-ballyhooed signing in New York City with everything set for a spectacular debut and while Edgar Berlanga scored four knockdowns in his unanimous decision win over Jason Quigley, it was Quigley that emerged the hero after the final bell.

Put aside the four knockdowns (rounds three, five, and two in round 12) and this was an even fight.

In fact, if you used the old-school rounds system, where a close round won had equal weight on the cards as a round won with knockdowns, the fight would have been even on my card at six rounds apiece.

The fifth-round knockdown was clearly a poor call as Quigley stumbled to the floor and the third-round knockdown was fairly scored but Quigley suffered a flash knockdown rather than being hurt by Berlanga.

Still, you had to like Berlanga's final round where he showed the offensive style that made him such a hot prospect and the fire to try for a knockout but he couldn't take Quigley out, who had been knocked out in both his losses (Demetrius Andrade, Tureano Johnson) neither by fighters noted for their pop.

Berlanga won on scores that were bigger than I thought Quigley deserved at 118-106, and 116-108 times two, with my score for Berlanga at 114-109.

Quigley's grit served him well and he fought as well as he can fight, so he likely earned himself some more fights in the future against higher-profile opponents.

As for Berlanga, who signed with Matchroom with the thinking that would be the fastest path to a fight vs Canelo Alvarez, who then moved to PBC, Eddie Hearn has been talking up the prospect of Berlanga against Jaime Munguia, which would be a strong action battle and seemingly easy to make with both fighters affiliated with DAZN but Hearn and Munguia's promoter Oscar De La Hoya aren't exactly pals and unless the network extends the pressure on both companies to make the fight, it could be more difficult to put together than one would think.

The day started with a rematch of the New Year's Eve junior bantamweight unification draw between WBA champion Joshua Franco and then-WBO leader Kazuto Ioka from Tokyo, Japan.

Since then, Ioka vacated the WBO version in order to take the rematch against Franco rather than defend against his WBO mandatory, the dangerous puncher Junto Nakatani, and with the fight only with the WBA title at stake, Franco blew the weigh-in and lost the title on the scales.

Should Ioka win, he would claim the WBA title.

A Franco win or draw would result in the WBA title becoming vacant.

Most (including me) thought that Franco deserved the decision in their first fight and favored him in the rematch- Until Franco failed on weight.

Then you just had the feeling that Ioka might be more motivated and better prepared- to the point that Ioka became the favorite and he deserved to be as Ioka generally controlled the fight in winning a unanimous decision.

Scores read at 116-112 times two (mine as well) and 115-113 for Ioka, who cut Franco badly along the right eye in the fifth round after being cut Franco's effectiveness dropped off a bit although he did continue to try to reach Ioka but was unable to miss the Ioka uppercut that scored constantly.

Ioka could now pursue Junto Nakatani in what would again be a WBA-WBO unification match and more lucrative now for both boxers.

As for Franco, he announced his retirement after the loss, citing mental health issues.

While I don't want to question anyone's mental suffering as how would I know what anyone is truly going through, I do have concerns about more and more boxers discussing mental health issues.

Ryan Garcia, Jermall Charlo, Adrien Broner, and now Franco have talked about their issues and the two consistent themes have been fighter inactivity and problems with making weight.

What I wonder is- are fighters beginning to use mental health as an excuse for losing fights (in the ring or the scales) or does boxing's culture have a problem that has always existed but is only now beginning to find the light?

I hope it is the latter and not the former.

 Mental health is a serious issue and hopefully doesn't become a standard excuse for fighters that are disappointed with their ring performance.

Boxing Challenge 

TRS:105 Pts (7)

Ramon Malpica:96 Pts (6)

Vince Samano: 77 Pts (5) 

Boxing Challenge: Franco-Ioka ends in Majority Draw

   The final match of the 2022 boxing challenge finished the year in unsatisfying manner as a junior bantamweight unificaton match ended with a majority decision draw and both WBA champion Joshua Franco and WBO counterpart Kazuto Ioka keeping their titles.

Franco took command from the start and banked most of the first half of the fight  before Ioka rallied a little in the latter half but not enough for my tastes as I scored Franco a 116-112 winner.

Franco simply threw more punches and while I wouldn't say he overwhelmed Ioka with his output, Franco certainly had the advantage over the course of the fight.

Two judges scored the fight even at 114-114 with the dissenting judge giving the edge to Franco 115-113.

Ioka has been mandated to face former WBO flyweight champion Junto Nakatani in what could be a strong action fight but stated he would consider vacating his title in order to face Juan Francisco Estrada for his WBC brand in the division, which should also give fans a competitive bout.

Should Ioka vacate his title, Nakatani would face either Australia's Andrew Moloney, who has two losses against Joshua Franco, or countryman and multi-division champion Kosei Tanaka, who was beaten by Ioka by eighth round knockout in his only defeat in 2019.

My guess is that the WBO gives Japan what would be a huge fight there with Nakatani against Tanaka, while mandating that Moloney fight the victor.

As for Franco, I believe he is a promotional free agent and could go to Matchroom for an Estrada fight, that Estrads pulled away from earlier this year, or even to PBC for a potential unification against IBF champion Fernando Martinez, should a deal work out.

The final Boxing Challenge Standings for 2022

TRS: 213 Pts 

Ramon Malpica: 180 Pts 

Vince Samano: 165 Pts 

Boxing Challenge: Crawford stops Brook

Photo: Mikey Williams-Top Rank

        Terence Crawford may not be facing the best welterweights in the world, through no fault of his own, but against the opposition that is facing Crawford is showing why the elite fighters in his division have shown such reticence to meet him in the ring.

Crawford took a few rounds to figure out former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook and then took Brook out in the fourth round in a manner that enhanced his standing as the best finisher in the sport.

Crawford's fourth round right hand spun Brook into (and almost through) the ropes and his resulting hop away brought to my mind the desperate leap by Joe Frazier against George Foreman in 1973.

After the knockdown was declared, Brook attempted to continue but with Crawford jumping on him and scoring with another strong right hand, Brook was fortunate to have the fight ended before serious injury occurred.

For Kell Brook, the time appears right to walk away from boxing for a once-excellent boxer.

Unless the UK-lusted for fight with Amir Khan can be signed, I don't see a lot of reasons for Brook to continue fighting.

A Khan fight would bring a sizable payday and not a lot of danger, so I can see making that fight, but otherwise I don't see the point.

Terence Crawford was the best welterweight in the world entering this fight and I believe he left this fight at the same level.

Errol Spence has a legitimate claim to the same title, but with promotional issues involved a fight that needs to be made looks unlikely.

Mainly because it appears that both see more money to be made by fighting a 42 year old Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East somewhere.

Both Crawford and Spence would be favored to win such a fight and enrich themselves doing it, but the best fight is with each other.

It appears to be possible that Crawford may have to leave Top Rank to meet Spence (Although all bets are off if Danny Garcia upsets Spence in December) and I'm fine with that, if that's what it takes to make the fight, but it shouldn't be this hard to put the best against the best- yet boxing always finds a way.

Speaking of boxing always finding a way, there was the co-feature in which boxing botched another one.

In Andrew Moloney's rematch vs Joshua Franco, Moloney dominated the first two rounds and appeared to close Franco's eye shut with his jab.

However, referee Russell Mora ruled the eye was swollen by a headbutt, but no worries as Nevada has installed an instant replay program to avoid these travesties.

BUT this is boxing and after a twenty minute delay for a national television audience and countless reviews from the ESPN truck, the Nevada officials decided not to overturn Mora's mistake and ruled the fight a no-contest to deprive Moloney of a deserved win.

Only in boxing.

In the boxing challenge, I added two points to Ramon Malpica's one and move the season total to 158-148.

Boxing Challenge: Franco Surprises Moloney!

ESPN's Tuesday night card seemed to be their strongest card thus far entering the evening and it came through with two entertaining fights.

In the main event, Joshua Franco dominated the second half of the fight and surprised favored Australian Andrew Moloney via a unanimous decision to take away Moloney's minor junior bantamweight title and his undefeated record in Las Vegas.
Franco knocked down Moloney in the eleventh round and an argument could have been made to stop the fight to save a badly hurt Moloney.
Moloney showed plenty of heart in surviving the round and his best round in the second half was the final round, which could have been scored for him.
I had Franco a 116-111 winner (8-4 and a knockdown), but the fight was much closer on the official scorecards with two judges scoring for Franco 114-113.
Had Franco not scored the eleventh round knockdown, the fight would have been scored a majority decision draw, which would have brought the Hamburglar out from his grill to complain about the decision!
Moloney was taken to the hospital following the fight and was diagnosed with both eardrums busted, but showed enough in defeat to not write him off as a future contender in the division.
As for Franco, who entered this fight after three terrific fights against Oscar Negrete (and a KO of Juan Burgos), which he won a split decision with the other two ending in draws, he looks like he'll be at least be a solid contender, if not a long-term champion in a division that is very solid at the top.
I'd love to see am eventual title defense in a fourth bout against Negrete, who was scheduled to fight the other Moloney (Jason) on Thursday but was found to have a detached retina in his checkup entering the fight.
It'll be interesting to see how Franco fares in his next few fights, but at minimum Franco will make solid action fights and he could develop into a top fighter in the division with some luck.

Christopher Diaz won a unanimous decision in the co-main event over Jason Sanchez in a crossroads fight between two fighters that entered the fight in desperate need of a win.
Diaz looked like the fighter that was favored to win a vacant world title against Masayuki Ito before losing an upset decision and landed the more powerful punches against Sanchez, who threw more punches but landed less in defeat.
I scored Diaz a 98-92 winner, which was the same as two of the judges, and while Diaz called for a world title fight after the win, I'd like to see another solid victory or two before that shot.
I would think that Diaz should get that title try with those wins as Top Rank is well situated in the featherweight division, although I see no point in a rematch with WBO champion Shakur Stevenson.
However, Diaz could be in the mix to possibly fight for the title vacated by Stevenson, should he do so in the future which he has been rumored to be considering.

Ramon Malpica earned two points for the Diaz victory to my zero and trimmed my boxing challenge lead to five at 53-48.