Boxing Challenge: Taylor upset, Leo keeps title

    The biggest bout of the boxing weekend would see a surprising upset. Ekow Essuman shocked the hometown crowd in Glasgow, Scotland, by winning a unanimous decision over twelve rounds over former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor.

Taylor started quickly, banking several early rounds before Essuman turned the tide with an attack that slowed Taylor and never hit the pause button for himself.

Essuman is aggressive but lacks a powerful punch, so he never put Taylor in danger; he simply outworked Taylor and wanted the victory more.

The official scores for Essuman were 116-112, 116-113, and 115-113, with my score at 115-113.

Essuman stated that he wanted bigger fights after the win, while Taylor dropped his third fight in a row, with losses to Teofimo Lopez and Jack Catterall preceding this loss.

Promising heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma destroyed veteran Mike Balogun in two rounds on the Taylor-Essuman undercard.

Itauma dropped Balogun in the first round, and only the guts of Balogun avoided the fight ending in round one.

Itauma knocked down Balogun twice more in round two to end the fight.

Itauma will have to prove he can take a shot, but he looks legitimate as a potential divisional force.

In Japan, Angelo Leo retained his IBF featherweight title via majority decision over former bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda.

Leo managed to keep Kameda off him just enough to earn the decision in a very good fight.

Scorecards were even at 114-114 and two for Leo, 116-112 and 115-113. I scored it 116-112 for Leo.

On Friday in Doncaster, England, lightweight Maxi Hughes banged out a unanimous decision over Archie Sharp.

Sharp was effective, but spent too much time on the move, and Hughes deserved the nod by scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a crazy 120-108.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 79 Pts (6) 

Ramon Malpica: 75 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 32 Pts  (2)

Boxing Challenge: The Hamburglar Visits Oklahoma

     The Hamburglar had been on the fringes of a re-appearance in boxing of late with some controversial decisions but he finally was forced to step out of the darkness on Saturday in Shawnee Oklahoma for the main event of a light boxing weekend.

George Kambosos may have been given a majority decision victory in an IBF lightweight title eliminator over Maxi Hughes but he certainly didn't deserve the win and while Kambosos will now be in line to fight for a potentially vacant championship should Devin Haney decide to move to the junior welterweight division, it's certainly fair to begin to wonder if the post-fight excuses by Teofimo Lopez were legitimate concerning Kambosos's upset and perhaps any decent boxer have possibly beaten a weakened Lopez on that night.

The scores and decision will long outlive the actual fight as it wasn't particularly exciting or even interesting but Hughes did more than enough to fend off the ineffective aggression from Kambosos.

I had Hughes clearly ahead 116-112 and some watchers had Hughes with a larger lead than mine before the staggeringly terrible scorecards- 114-114 (I could see this if you stretched to give Kambosos every narrow round but still not good), 115-113 for Kambosos ( terrible) and 117-11 for Kambosos, which might be the worst card I've seen in quite a while.

I feel terrible for Hughes, who did everything that a heavy underdog could do to win and still got hosed out of a career-defining win that would have likely earned him a shot at a vacant world championship.

Kambosos could very well be boxing's one-hit wonder and while it would be premature to write the Australian off entirely, Kambosos has fought so dismally in his three fights since his upset over Teofimo Lopez that it is fair to wonder if he has already passed his best days.

The co-feature saw lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis dominated Francesco Patera to win an easy ten-round decision.

Davis knocked down Patera in the eighth round but Patera battled through to last the ten-round distance.

Davis won by scores of 100-89 times two with my score the same as the final judge of 99-90.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 122 Pts (2) 

Ramon Malpica: 109 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 89 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge; The Juggernaut Chugs On!

 Joe Joyce took everything that Joseph Parker had to give for ten rounds and then finished him in the eleventh with one left hand to stop Parker for the first time in his career and add another top heavyweight to a growing list that hit Joyce often but could not deter him.

Parker attempted to box Joyce and tried to stand his ground on occasion to establish his power and gain the respect of Joyce but while he may have gained the respect of Joyce, Parker could never stem the steady attack of the Juggernaut.

Parker landed his share of right hands but Joyce paid them little mind and Parker dealt with a bad cut over his right eye from the early portion of the fight.

I had Joyce leading 97-93 at the time of the stoppage.

I thought Parker had a chance to outbox Joyce and the New Zealand veteran fought well but Joe Joyce fought better and it's pretty clear that I didn't give Joyce enough credit for his similar win over Daniel DuBois.

Joyce reminds me so much of former heavyweight contender Ray Mercer with a rock-hard chin, plus power, a late start to a pro career, and a willingness to fight anyone.

Joyce does throw more punches than Mercer did as Mercer could be outworked in his fights- you won't say that about Joe Joyce,

Joe Joyce needs to continue to stay active as he is 37 years old and it's very possible that his first chance at a championship could be his final one but I think this win proves he's at worst the third-best heavyweight in the world.

I'd pick Joyce over former champions Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder and I'd rate him as a very intriguing underdog against either world champion Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury.

Usyk defeated Joyce in the amateurs and certainly has the skills to outbox the sometimes plodding Joyce but can he do that for the twelve-round distance against the constant pressure of Joyce?

Fury will have the height and weight advantage over Joyce as he has over most heavyweights but the edge won't be as pronounced as usual and I wonder how effective a usual Fury tactic of laying on the inside and pushing down on the smaller fighter to sap energy would be against Joyce.

I would lean toward either champion in a potential Joyce bout but Joyce would have a decent chance of dethroning either man as well.

As for Joseph Parker, the former WBO champion has established himself as a top ten and very capable heavyweight and only the best of the division are going to get by Parker.

However, against those top-of-the-world boxers, Parker has fallen a little short and he may have fallen into gatekeeper status albeit as the best gatekeeper a heavyweight can be.

Parker may have been stopped for the first time in his career but under the circumstances has nothing to be ashamed of in defeat.

Meanwhile, over in Nottingham (Joyce-Parker took place in Manchester), a lightweight DAZN main event wasn't nearly as exciting as veteran lightweight Maxi Hughes won a majority decision over former IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad in a fight that was filled with awkward exchanges and fouls that would eventually decide the fight as Galahad would lose on one card by one point and finished even on another after losing a point in round ten for headbutting Hughes.

The cards read 116-111 and 114-113 for Hughes and an even card of 114-114 so the point loss cost Galahad a draw.

I scored the fight 114-113 for Hughes in a close and hard-fought affair that didn't mesh smoothly in style.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:162 Pts (1)

Ramon Malpica:142 Pts (1)

Vince Samano:131 Pts (2)