Boxing Challenge: Zepeda zaps Roach, Muratalla retains title.

     From the better late than never department, William Zepeda bounced back from his loss to Shakur Stevenson with a tremendous win over Lamont Roach to win the WBC lightweight title that was stripped from Stevenson.

I gave Roach the first two rounds, but only one round after that, as Zepeda's overwhelming barrage of punches was far too much for Roach to overcome.

My 118-110 was the same as one judge, with the other two scoring 117-111.

Raymond Muratalla won an easy if workmanlike decision over Robson Conceicao to retain his IBF version of the lightweight title.

After the win (119-109 on two cards and 118-110 on the third), Muratalla announced plans to move to the junior welterweight division.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 87 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 74 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 60 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge: Foster regains title

       The first fight between Robson Conceicao and O'Shaquie Foster is better remembered for the controversial decision than the actual fight.

Their second fight was far more entertaining but this time the right man received the decision as Foster regained the WBC junior lightweight title that he lost to Conceicao via split decision. 

Conceciao took the early rounds, Foster took over in the middle rounds, and the late rounds were fought evenly with the winner of those rounds in the eye of the beholder.

Two judges scored for Foster 115-113 (same as mine) with the other's card favoring Conceicao 115-113, all of which are very reasonable scores.

Foster may next face the winner of December's WBO title encounter between Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez in a unification bout, while Conceciao will look to establish himself for a third fight with Foster, which seems far more interesting now than it did before Saturday night.

The outstanding performance of the weekend was by lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla, who smashed durable Jesus Perez in two rounds.

Perez had never been stopped in losses to WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman, welterweight contender Alexis Rocha, or former title challenger Danielito Zorrilla but Muratalla blitzed Perez in only two rounds with the type of outing that fighters that are prepared for a championship attempt make.

Muratalla is expected to challenge IBF champion Vasyl Lomachenko, should Lomachenko decide to continue boxing.

If Lomachenko retires, as is rumored, Muratalla would fight for the vacant title against Zaur Abdulaev as the highest-rated available challengers in the IBF ratings.

Abraham Nova and Humberto Galindo struggled to a draw in a dull junior lightweight ten-rounder.

Neither fighter deserved the win with one judge scoring 95-95 (my score) with the others scoring 96-94 for Nova and 97-93 for Galindo.

In Las Vegas, unbeaten lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield defeated solid Rene Tellez Giron by unanimous decision in another fight that was more interesting than anticipated as Schofield was willing to exchange more than predicted and make things entertaining.

Schofield did slow down in his first twelve-rounder as Tellez-Giron won a few late rounds and scored a flash knockdown in the eleventh round.

Schofield won on the cards 118-109 times two and 116-111. I scored 117-110 for Schofield, who is over-ranked by the WBA at second in the world.

Schofield is talented but Tellez-Giron is his biggest win and that doesn't qualify him to be rated second in the world.

In what was scheduled to be a WBA super middleweight eliminator but was reduced after Bektemir Melikuziev missed weight, and then is reported to have struggled with David Stevens (I haven't seen it yet) in winning a split decision.

Scores 118-110 and 117-111 for Melikuziev and 116-112 for Stevens.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 156 Pts (5)

TRS: 152 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 94 Pts (3) 

Boxing Challenge: Zepeda Shines, Stevenson Wins

     The Boxing Weekend's biggest star was in Newark, New Jersey and while Shakur Stevenson controlled Artur Harutyunyan and retained his WBC lightweight title via a comfortable unanimous decision, Stevenson did little to polish a reputation that is rapidly becoming stained by boredom.

Stevenson had a mild window in the eighth and ninth rounds that he might have stopped Harutyunyan but he didn't press for the stoppage and the chance drifted away.

Stevenson's contract with Top Rank ended with a victory and while his win (119-109, 118-110, 116-112, my score 118-110) was more exciting than his last win over Edwin De Los Santos, it was far from a barnburner and didn't give Stevenson a great statement to sell himself to potential suitors.

For all of his tremendous skills, Stevenson may be the Pernell Whitaker of his era, a fighter with immense talents who can beat anyone but is satisfied with dominant but dull wins.

That may win fights, titles, and even the Hall of Fame but doesn't attract fans or pay-per-view purchases

The Hamburglar made an appearance in Newark after O'Shaquie Foster was robbed of his WBC junior lightweight title via split decision to Robson Conceicao.

This was the fight that I rated as the hardest to choose a winner of the weekend yet Foster outboxed Conceicao and while I didn't have it the shutout as the ESPN commentators scored, I did think Foster won handily at 117-111.

I thought the judges who scored for Foster at 116-112 had the fight too close but the other judges were simply terrible with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 for Conceciao.

I picked Conceciao to win but I was heartbroken for Foster during his post-fight interview as there was no anger in his eyes, only tears and his voice breaking.

Hopefully, Top Rank or the WBC will mandate an immediate rematch, Foster at least deserves that much.

Lightweight Keyshawn Davis won a foul-filled, dirty fight over Miguel Madueno by a unanimous decision.

Scores for Davis of 99-91 (same as mine) and while I like Davis, he has the feel of a fighter that could be very good but not great.

Abdullah Mason's fight with Luis Lebron wasn't part of the challenge but his impressive three-round knockout deserves mentioning.

Mason will be a star and if they fought soon, I'd pick Mason to beat Keyshawn Davis right now.

I think Mason is that good.

The star of the weekend was lightweight contender William Zepeda, who mowed down Giovanni Cabrera in three rounds.

Cabrera had lost only once, a split decision to WBC junior welterweight champion Isaac Cruz, and had an excellent first round against Zepeda.

Zepeda improved in the second and third, began to land to the head and body, finishing Zepeda off with a shot to the liver.

As the top contender in all four sanctioning groups, Zepeda has options that few challengers have, and win or lose, Zepeda is going to give a champion all sorts of hell.

I have yet to see these fights but here are the results.

From Golden Boy/DAZN

Ricardo Sandoval stopped Angel Acosta in the 10th and final round in what has been reported to be a close fight and a dubious stoppage.

Pay Per View

Shane Mosley Jr won a unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs 

Fernando Martinez won a unanimous decision over Kazuto Ioka to unify the WBA and IBF junior bantamweight titles.

Martinez should be in line for a 2025 fight with WBC champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez or perhaps WBO champion Kosei Tanaka later this year.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 103 Pts  (6)

TRS: 91 Pts (7)

Vince Samano: (0)

Boxing Challenge; Stevenson bores, Junior Lightweights war

  On a rare Thursday night event with elite fighters and two world titles, Las Vegas was the site as ESPN wanted their broadcast partner for boxing, Top Rank, to help with the start of a huge sports weekend in Las Vegas that would culminate in the Formula One race on Saturday.

The stage was set for Shakur Stevenson to continue his rise to stardom with a national audience viewing his attempt to grab the WBC lightweight title vacated by Devon Haney.

Stevenson succeeded in taking the title but didn't win any fans as Stevenson "won" a unanimous decision over Edwin De Los Santos in one of the most boring fights you'll see at the world-class level.

Neither fighter landed double-digit punches in any round, and the pair combined according to Compubox (Boxing's stat-keeping organization) for a combined forty punches, an all-time low for a twelve-round fight in the thirty-eight years of Compubox's existence.

Neither man took any chances and since no one would, the advantage swung to the more skilled fighter, and Stevenson did enough to win under the circumstances.

Stevenson won by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 (x 2), I scored Stevenson the winner at 117-111.

Stevenson didn't take advantage of De Los Santos's reluctance (despite his reputation for power) and Stevenson didn't make anyone scream to see him fight Devin Haney or anyone next time out after such a boring fight.

Stevenson is always going to look better against fighters that attack and at least gamble for a victory, which De Los Santos refused to attempt but neither Devin Haney nor Vasyl Lomachenko are aggressive fighters which makes me wonder if a Stevenson fight against either man would be much more exciting than this fight was, although I'm not sure if any fight could be more boring than this.

Fortunately, the co-feature saved the day as Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO junior lightweight championship with a majority draw with Robson Conceicao.

Navarrete knocked Conceicao down in the fourth and sixth rounds and those knockdowns would be key in the decision as one judge ruled for Navarrete 114-112 (a draw without the knockdowns) and the remaining two judges even at 113-113 (Conceicao wins without them) as same as my score.

Conceicao managed to slow the usual non-stop attack of Navarrete just enough to reach him with counters and mixed in (especially in the last few rounds) enough right hands to earn the majority draw and perhaps an eventual rematch since the fight was an entertaining one.

It makes sense for Navarrete unless first, he can sign a unification match against WBC champion O'Shaquie Foster, who signed a contract with Top Rank last week.

Conceicao would make sense to face the winner of a Navarrete-Foster match and considering his two defeats to Oscar Valdex and Shakur Stevenson had faded his star a little bit, it seems to me that despite the draw, Conceicao was the biggest winner of the evening.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 170 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 154 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 112 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge; Stevenson Misses Weight, Dominates Fight

   Shakur Stevenson may have disappointed on the scales when he was forced to vacate his WBC and WBO junior lightweight titles for missing weight but he didn't disappoint in the ring as he dominated veteran Robson Conceicao and won an easy unanimous decision in Stevenson's hometown of Newark New Jersey.

Stevenson knocked the former Olympic gold medalist down in round four with only a few seconds remaining in the round with a left hand but Conceicao wasn't seriously hurt after rising and would avoid serious trouble for the remainder of the fight.

Stevenson was docked one point for throwing Conceicao to the floor in round nine and looked like he may have had a chance at a stoppage in the eleventh after continuing to land the left hand repeatedly but the Brazilian made it to the final bell.

Give Conceicao credit on two fronts as he fought to the final bell against a superior foe and he could have scuttled the entire evening as under New Jersey rules, Conceicao could have collected his entire purse and not fought Stevenson after he made weight and Stevenson did not.

Plus Conceicao would have likely fought for one of the two titles that Stevenson sacrificed in a fight that he would have been far more likely to win and chose to take his chances against a superior champion.

Conceicao would have caused major heat with his promoter, Top Rank, had he not fought but still considering his background and loss to Stevenson, I'd think it was fair if one of the two organizations considered the total picture and perhaps placed Conceicao in one of the fights for a vacant title.

Stevenson won on two cards 117-109 and 118-108 on the third, which was the same score as mine.

Stevenson announced his intention to move to lightweight for his next fight and called for the world champion Devin Haney or Vasyl Lomachenko but both have October fights planned (Haney in a rematch against George Kambosos, Lomachenko against Jamaine Ortiz) and should both win in matches that they are heavily favored, they would next fight each other, so Stevenson will have to fight someone else in his lightweight debut.

If I was going to guess at an opponent, I might pick former IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey, who has a recognizable name and is coming off a good draw against Jose Pedraza at junior welterweight.

Pedraza signed to face Teofimo Lopez in December rather than a Commey rematch, so Commey might have an edge for a Stevenson fight. 

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 161 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 141 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 129 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge: Hamburglar Alert in Warren

 The boxing challenge starts in Warren, Ohio as what I thought was a bad decision didn't only decide a world championship it could have been a multi-million dollar bad call.

WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu was very fortunate to escape mandatory challenger Thabiso Mchunu by a split decision to retain his championship.

Mchunu was the more active fighter and I thought he was the more aggressive one but Makabu retained his title with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 overruling a 115-113 call for the challenger.

The decision not only retained the title for Makabu, but it also kept alive the chances of a multi-million dollar paycheck against Canelo Alvarez as Alvarez attempts to add another belt to his trophy case.WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu was very fortunate to escape mandatory challenger
Thabiso Mchunu by a split decision to retain his championship.

Mchunu was the more active fighter and I thought he was the more aggressive one but Makabu retained his title with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 overruling a 115-113 call for the challenger.

I scored the fight for the challenger 116-112.

The decision not only retained the title for Makabu, but it also kept alive the chances of a multi-million dollar paycheck against Canelo Alvarez as Alvarez attempts to add another belt to his trophy case.

The Don King promoted was even worse with another WBA minor title "defense" as Trevor Bryan won a split decision over Louisiana clubfighter Jonathan Guidry.

Bryan generally controlled the dull fight over the overmatched but gutsy Guidry and scored the only knockdown with seconds remaining with the bell ringing after a weary Guidry barely made it to his feet.

Bryan won on scores of 118-109 and 116-111 with the usually dependable Steve Weisfeld offering an inexplicable 115-112 for Guidry.

I saw it for Bryan at 118-109 but the win was far from impressive considering the competition and Bryan will have to be far better in his next fight against the WBA mandated Daniel DuBois.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Robson Conceicao rebounded from his close defeat to Oscar Valdez with an easy unanimous decision over Xavier Martinez in a WBC junior lightweight eliminator on ESPN.

Martinez stunned Conceicao at the end of the third round but that was the only round that he won on my card in a 99-91 defeat.

Conceicao likely will be in a position to either challenge the Oscar Valdez-Shakur Stevenson unification winner or fight for a vacant title should the winner decide to vacate their championships.

Last-minute replacement Giovanni Cabrera shocked heavy favorite Rene Tellez Giron by outboxing Giron over eight rounds in winning an upset unanimous decision.

Cabrera took the fight when Luis Melendez missed weight and hadn't fought since 2019 but his awkward style puzzled Giron from the start and his four-inch height advantage kept Giron from doing any work on the inside.

In the boxing challenge

Vince Samano 12 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica 11 Pts (2)
TRS 10 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge: Valdez slips by Conceicao

    Oscar Valdez had a difficult time leading up to his fight with amateur rival Robson Conceicao dealing with a failed test for PED but he nearly had a more difficult time inside the ring with the former Olympic gold medalist before controlling the second half of the match to win a unanimous decision and retain his WBC junior lightweight title.

Conceicao built an early lead on the scorecards but gradually reduced his punch output as Valdez began to step the pace to close the gap in the fight.

Conceicao may only have himself to blame after the final few rounds were spent in mobile mode and a dubious point deduction by referee Tony Zaino for a rabbit punch that was clearly more of a tap in the middle of a Valdez clutch took away any chance of a victory.

The point didn't matter on the official cards with Valdez winning 115-112 on two cards (7-5 and the point lost) and a ridiculous 117-110 ( 9-3 and the point deduction) but it did on mine as Valdez won 114-113 on my scorecard.

Many are wondering about the failed test and the regression from Valdez's best career win in his last fight against Miguel Berchelt.

I don't think either is the case completely, although the hysteria over the failed test surely didn't help Valdez any, as the problem seemed to be a talented foe that is familiar with Valdez had a style that wasn't quite as easy to look impressive against as the straight forward Berchelt.

All things considered, this wasn't an overly impressive outing for Oscar Valdez but he escaped with the title on an evening that it could have been easy to lose.

The co-feature saw a stunner as heavily hyped lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores was dominated in losing a unanimous decision to Luis Alberto Lopez.

Not only was Flores beaten by Lopez, he took a beating and I wouldn't have uttered a peep in complaint had the fight been stopped at any time in the final three rounds with Flores's father attempting to stop the fight with seconds remaining but was unable to get the attention of the referee to end things early.

Flores took a beating that some prospects never recover from and it will be interesting to see how it affects Flores in the future.

At the bare minimum, Flores is going to have to be carefully matched over the next year in order to rebuild his confidence. and the awkward Lopez will likely receive some extra opportunities after a surprising performance.

The opener saw an action-packed three-round plus before Junto Nakatani kept his WBO flyweight title when the doctor stopped the fight due to a broken and badly bleeding nose from challenge Angel Acosta.

Nakatani appeared to have broken Acosta's nose in the first round and despite the best efforts of Acosta to battle through the pain, Nakatani controlled the fight.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 3-2 and moved my lead to 125-110.