Boxing Challenge: Russell retains, Hitchins drops out

    The undercard of the Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios was supposed to feature two defenses of junior welterweight championships, but only one would be defended.

 In the scheduled co-feature, Richardson Hitchins claimed food poisoning combined with the IBF's re-hydration clause (in IBF title fights, the fighters must weigh in at ten pounds or less over the division limit on the day of the match) rendered him unable to defend the title as scheduled against Oscar Duarte.

The situation is muddled as the IBF could strip Hitchins and schedule a vacant title fight between their two contenders, Duarte and Lindolfo Delgado, or demand Hitchins fight his mandatory (Delgado) or face Duarte as planned.

Gary Antuanne Russell retained his WBA version of the 140-pound championship with a close and hard-fought unanimous decision over his mandatory challenger, Andy Hiraoka.

Russell was the busier fighter and built a sizable lead on the cards, but lost several rounds in the second half of the fight and held off the late rush of Hiraoka.

Hiraoka was deducted a point for a low blow in the tenth, which ended any hope of a comeback win.

Judges' scores for Russell were 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112, while I had Russell winning 115-112.

Former lightweight title challenger Frank Martin and Nahir Albright slugged for ten even rounds in a junior welterweight match.

So even, all three judges and I scored it the same, 95- 95, a draw.

It was an easy fight to score with Martin controlling the first half and Albright the second.

A rematch would be welcomed, but Martin is affiliated with PBC, as is Gary Antuanne Russell, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a Russell title defense against Martin.

In a super middleweight ten-rounder, Bektemir Melikuziev fought through a severe cut over his left eye to stop Sena Agbeko in the seventh round.

There were several head clashes between the two, and one caused the cut in the middle rounds.

Melikuziev scored a knockdown in the seventh, and after Agbeko rose, Melikuziev drove Agbeko into the ropes, forcing the referee to end the fight.

In Manchester, England, Leigh Wood dominated Josh Warrington in their junior lightweight rematch, winning a unanimous decision.

Boxing Challenge

Vince Samano: 23 Pts (5) 

Ramon Malpica: 22 Pts (4)
TRS: 20 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge: Hot Night in Chi-Town

     The Golden Boy/DAZN card from Chicago seemed to have an excellent main event, but the co-main event looked almost sad with two former champions meeting in a fight that would only settle which one had lost less from their prime.

The main event lived up to expectations as Oscar Duarte outslugged Kenneth Sims to win a majority decision and an eventual chance against WBA junior welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell.

Duarte was more aggressive, while Sims countered well but allowed Duarte to drive him often to the ropes and corners, which the judges preferred.

Duarte won by scores of 116-112, 115-113 (my score), and 114-114, and I think Duarte's eventual challenge of Russell will be another entertaining battle.

The co-feature stole the night as aging former champions Regis Prograis and Joseph Diaz hammered each other for ten brutal rounds in a fight that must be considered at year's end for fight of the year honors.

The fight was action-filled as neither fighter had the legs to move away from the other, and surprisingly, the naturally smaller Diaz packed more power than Prograis, who was a power puncher for most of his career.

Diaz bled badly from a cut over his left eye from a headbutt for most of the battle, which caused several visits from the ringside doctor throughout the match.

No knockdowns were scored, although Diaz wobbled Prograis on a few occasions. However, I'm not sure if that was due to Diaz's punches or the increasingly precarious quality of Prograis's legs.

Prograis was scored the winner by scores of 96-94 (the same as mine) twice and 98-92, which was a bit unfair to Diaz.

This was a great fight, but both fighters had questions before this fight, and a war this fierce may have taken even more out of them.

I'd rather see a rematch than fighters against younger fighters who may overwhelm either fighter.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 119 Pts  (2)

Ramon Malpica: 113 Pts(0)
Vince Samano: 46 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Ramirez, Collazo unify, Barboza, Zepeda win

    After a Friday that saw the attention of the sports world focused on Arlington, Texas, the true boxing fan turned their eyes to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for an excellent card from Golden Boy Promotions.

In the main event, Gilberto Ramirez added the WBO cruiserweight title to the WBA version that he possessed entering the fight with a unanimous victory over Chris Billam-Smith.

Ramirez finally appears to have found a weight division that he comfortably resides in and he was able to control the always brave Billam-Smith throughout the fight.

Billam-Smith bravely fought through a nasty cut and landed his share of punches during a fight that was more interesting than expected.

Ramirez is expected to meet IBF champion Jai Opietaia next with three of the four titles at stake and Billam-Smith will always have fights available due to his proclivity for entertaining battles.

Junior welterweight Arnold Barboza notched the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision win over former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a pairing of two former stablemates.

Barboza landed the jab with ease against a listless Ramirez, who seems to have lost the fire for boxing in a career headed for stardom.

I've always thought Barboza was a solid contender that might be lacking that small difference between champion and challenger but it's more than time for Barboza to receive that chance.

As for Ramirez, he once appeared to be a star in the making but for various reasons turned down big fights and championship opportunities and if his energy has departed, he should consider retiring.

Lightweight contender William Zepeda is ranked first by all four sanctioning bodies but Zepeda was very fortunate to skim by former IBF junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer by split decision.

Farmer isn't noted as a strong puncher but knocked Zepeda down in the fourth round and was just slick enough to trouble Zepeda, who usually overwhelms his opponents with constant offense.

Zepeda did enough offensively to get by Farmer, who has revitalized his career in recent days but this fight could have gone to either fighter close.

Scores were 95-94 times two for Zepeda and 95-94 for Farmer, which was my score.

This fight had several close rounds, so if I rewatched it, my score could change in a very close match.

The best performance on the card may have been Oscar Collazo's, who ended the reign of Knockout CP Freshmart, which was the longest in boxing entering the fight, taking his WBA minimumweight title by a seventh round knockout.

Collazo added the WBA title to the WBO belt that he held after knocking Freshmart down three times, once in the sixth and twice in the seventh with the fight ending without a count.

Collazo stated he wanted a full unified title, which has never happened in this division and is unlikely but showed the type of talent that might see him become a multi-division champion.

Oscar Duarte hammered out a unanimous decision over Batyr Akhmendov in the opening fight.

Akhmendov was effective early and banked some rounds but Duarte landed the harder punches and was the more effective fighter down the stretch.

Scorecards for Duarte at 96-94 (same as mine), 97-93 and 98-92.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 168 Pts (5)

TRS: 168 Pts (7)
Vince Samano: 107 Pts (2) 

Boxing Challenge: Ramirez beats Barthelemy, Ortiz needs just one

     Golden Boy Promotion's card Saturday night card from Fresno California may not have delivered many surprises but did offer some good action and may have made some 140-pound contenders look closely at a chance to face a former champion who could be ripe for the picking.

In the main event, former WBC and WBO junior welterweight champion Jose Ramirez was successful in his first fight under the GBP banner in winning a unanimous decision over former IBF junior lightweight and lightweight Rances Barthelemy.

The road wasn't all smooth for Ramirez, who appeared to be knocked down in the third round but referee Jack Reiss called it a shove (it looked like a knockdown to me) and after hitting the floor, Barthelemy landed several punches to the downed Ramirez.

In fairness, it should have been called a knockdown and then deducted a point from Barthelemy for hitting Ramirez while down but if neither were called, I'm okay with the round as a one-point round.

Barthelemy hurt Ramirez again late in the fourth round but was unable to follow up

 Ramirez would take command and he would slow down Barthelemy down severely over the second half of the fight.

The judges gave Ramirez the edge on the scorecards with scores of 119-109 twice and 118-110.

I had Ramirez as the winner 117-111 however Ramirez may have lost a step and while I would still think he's of world title contention status, I think he may have become a cut below the level of the division champions, Teofmo Lopez, Devin Haney, Isaac Cruz, and Subriel Matias.

The co-feature looked like a mismatch entering the fight and Vergil Ortiz ended it quickly as Ortiz ripped one body shot that downed Thomas Dulorme for the count in the first round in their junior middleweight ten-rounder.

The best thing to say about this one is that Ortiz sustained no damage that might delay his anticipated fight with Tim Tsyzu in August.

Dulorme, a one-time world title challenger, lost his fifth in his last seven outings and might be suited to think about ending his ring career.

The first fight saw Oscar Duarte rebound from his loss to Ryan Garcia to stop former junior lightweight champion Joseph Diaz in the ninth round.

Diaz landed his share of punches in the first few rounds but the stronger Duarte pounded Diaz from the fifth round forward and the referee made the right decision in stopping the fight with Diaz taking blows along the ropes.

I had Duarte slightly ahead after eight rounds at 78-76 but Diaz hadn't won a round since the fourth and it made little sense to continue the fight.

For Duarte, it's a feather in his cap as he was the first man to stop Diaz and it should help him receive more fights while for Diaz, who tried his best, it's time for him, like Thomas Dulorme, to consider ending a solid career.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 56 Pts (5)

TRS: 55 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 28 Pts  (5) 

Boxing Challenge: Garcia Stops Duarte

  The boxing weekend was a bit light but it did showcase the return of Ryan Garcia, who fought for the first time since his knockout loss to Gervonta Davis.

Oscar Duarte fought well at times and Garcia on occasion looked tentative but when Garcia finally hurt Duarte, he quickly ended the evening in the eighth round.

Garcia fought a bit like Floyd Mayweather with some attempts at using the shoulder roll and did enough to lead the fight on my card at 58-56 at the time of the stoppage and give him credit for finishing the fight as soon he had a good chance. Still, he didn't fight as aggressively as usual and it does seem that he has some residual damage from the Davis defeat as he didn't seem anxious to engage with Duarte as he did in the past.

There may have been some damage done to Ryan Garcia that we might only see once he fights someone better than Oscar Duarte but time will tell.

Earlier in the afternoon from Belfast Northern Ireland, two veterans with questions to answer about how well their chins would hold up battled in a featherweight scrap that answered the questions for one of those aging battlers as Jordan Gill knocked out Michael Conlain in the seventh round.

The fight was even after six rounds with both fighters having their share of advantages with the biggest coming in the second round when Gill knocked Conlan down which was the difference on my card after six rounds at 57-56 for Gill.

Gill badly hurt Conlan in the seventh and the referee ended the affair then and there.

Conlan still has his skills but the knockout loss to Leigh Wood damaged his ability to take a good blow and he should consider retirement at this stage of his career.

Gill will move on but with his own chin problems will likely be sacrificed to an up-and-coming prospect ready to make their next step.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 179 Pts(2)

Ramon Malpica: 163 Pts (3)
Vince Samano: 118 Pts (3)