Boxing Challenge: Ramirez, Diaz win in Los Angeles

   The Golden Boy card from DAZN couldn't have turned out better for a company that is still fighting its way off the ropes from the loss of Canelo Alvarez and the recent mental health issues of Ryan Garcia.

The Oscar De La Hoya-led company not only received the spectacular win that they needed from their newest addition Gilberto Ramirez, but they won a fight that they weren't guaranteed to win with a unanimous decision from Joseph Diaz.

In the main event, Ramirez dominated an apparently close to the end of the line Sullivan Barrera and took the air out the 39 year old Cuban with body blows that Barrera was unable to take as Ramirez scored a fourth-round knockout.

The fight was essentially over the third when Ramirez realized that every time that he hit Barrera to the body, Barrera couldn't shrug them off and late in the third scored a knockdown on a body blow.

Ramirez, who hasn't always been a fabulous finisher in the past, showed signs of development as he continued to crack Barrera to the body in the fourth, scoring two more knockdowns before the fight was mercifully ended.

For Ramirez, it's the type of win that could set him up for a challenge of WBA champion Dmitry Bivol and to win against a well-known opponent in an exciting manner, which hasn't always been the case for Ramirez, is very encouraging for boxing fans that want to see that fight.

As for Barrera, this loss is now his third in four fights and he continues to slide down the light heavyweight food chain as this loss will likely move him from fringe contender to gatekeeper or perhaps even trialhorse status.

The co-feature was an entertaining lightweight bout for a WBC minor title, but more importantly, would position the winner for a shot at WBC champion Devin Haney or a big name and perhaps payday in Ryan Garcia.

Former IBF junior lightweight champion Joseph Diaz took the fight on somewhat short notice when Garcia claimed mental illness as a reason to drop out of his mandated fight against Javier Fortuna and claimed he would be stronger at the higher weight after dropping his IBF title on the scales for missing weight.

Diaz's claims turned out to be true for this fight as he survived a questionable point deduction and a headbutt that opened a slice along his left eye to dominate the second half of the fight to win a unanimous decision over Fortuna.

Diaz was far more efficient (landing more while throwing less) than Fortuna and after falling behind on my card early, his work took command, and Diaz, never known as more than average hitter at 126 and 130 pounds, appeared to have hurt Fortuna in the tenth although the veteran rode out the storm.

Diaz now is the mandated fight for Devin Haney's WBC belt, although an in-house Ryan Garcia fight could pay more and be a more valuable win should he emerge with the win.

As for Fortuna, he fought well enough to remain in the top ten picture, but with the championships residing with Teofimo Lopez and Top Rank, Fortuna may have seen his final title opportunity go by the wayside.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored two points to move the total to 98-89 in my favor.

Back later, with some tributes to recent passing from the sports world. 

Boxing Challenge:There's only one Tyson Fury

Five fights on a Saturday that carried over the course of the day with some crazy routes to get to the final destinations, which saw almost all the favorites earn victories.
I'll be writing about the other cards later and will focus on the Las Vegas event here.

In the most important fight to the mainstream observer, Tyson Fury crushed Tom Schwarz in two rounds in Las Vegas to retain his "lineal" heavyweight championship.
Fury showed the power that he has been a bit reluctant to let loose in the past (Fury has never scored even a knockdown against a top twenty level opponent) to knockdown Schwarz in the second, rip open a nasty gash over his nose and impressively end the bout with a strong flurry that drove Schwarz into a corner before the corner attempted to toss the towel in, but was beaten to the punch by referee Kenny Bayless.
The enhancement match did what it was intended to do, which was introduce Fury to the American audience, but proved little for Fury.

Here are my personal thoughts on Fury.
He seems like a very nice person away from the hype and seems to be one of the more gracious winners in the game since his return to the ring from his personal issues.
Fury also might be one of the slicker fighters in the heavyweight division in a long time as far as avoiding punches and making an opponent look bad and he has skills in the ring that men of his size may have never possessed in the history of the ring.
Fury's defensive game is the type that hasn't been seen in the division since the days of Chris Byrd, who was a much smaller fighter and wasn't a natural heavyweight, let alone be 6'9 250!

I'm still not sure about his chin.
Yes, anyone, Deontay Wilder hits can go out and give Fury bouquets for surviving two knockdowns against Wilder, but I still can't forget his knockdown against former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.
The survival against Wilder goes a long way in proving his mettle, but fighters that walk such a tightrope eventually run into someone that finishes the job.

He's just not that entertaining in the ring.
Full credit for finishing off Tom Schwarz early rather than prolonging viewers (and that of Schwarz) agony with seven or eight lopsided rounds, but that's usually not Fury's M.O and his lack of power can make him less than entertaining at times.
Those power questions exist because he's never scored a knockdown against a contender.
That isn't the be all and end all as he's proven he can outbox champions such as Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder, but it can make his fights more than tedious if the opponent stops attacking as in the Klitschko fight.
It's the lack of power that could prove to make Fury a less than fun champion in the ring.

He's definitely fun outside the ring.
The post-fight singing and the pre-fight entrances come off more fun than others that seem so choreographed and it mostly seems in good fun, although I could have done without Fury calling Schwarz a "bum" in pre-fight press conferences.
Calling top fighters names is reasonable because everyone knows it's not true and fighters are playing head games, enhancement talents like Schwarz (and the fans paying to watch) know this already- we don't need to have it drummed home.

Where do I rank Tyson Fury among the heavyweights?
Currently, number one.
I had Anthony Joshua ranked first before his shocking loss to Andy Ruiz and I can't rank Ruiz above Fury yet.
I thought Fury defeated Deontay Wilder despite the official draw and his win over Wladimir Klitschko as dull as it was, means more on a resume' than Wilder's best win- the late round KO of Luis Ortiz.

Tyson Fury might be the most unusual heavyweight champion in a long time with the unusual combination of his boxing skills and size without a big punch to go with the package.
Fury has plenty to prove with really one official good win, but for now, I'd rate him the best of the bunch.

In the semi-final from Las Vegas, Jesse Hart made his initial venture into the light heavyweight division a winning one with a mild upset over veteran contender Sullivan Barrera via unanimous decision.
Both fighters were hurt at various times in an entertaining, yet sloppy battle with Hart being credited with an eighth-round knockdown that was either a flash knockdown or a knockdown of questionable quality depending on your perspective.
Hart moves on to another fight in the loaded and just as importantly controlled by Top Rank, light heavyweight division, while the aging 37-year-old Barrera may have reached the end of his days as a top ten contender and might be reduced to a gatekeeper in the division.
I scored Hart a 96-93 winner.

I'll be writing about the other three fights over the weekend in my next post.

Boxing Challenge: Donaire tears down Burnett, Taylor dazzles

The World Boxing Super Series filled out the dance card for the semi-finals in both their bantamweight and junior welterweight tournaments from Glasgow, Scotland with a shocking ending eliminating their top seed in the 118-pound bracket.

In the bantamweight opener of the two WBSS fights, WBA champion and the top seed in the tournament Ryan Burnett was having a pretty good fight with Nonito Donaire, who dropped eight pounds from his spring loss to Carl Frampton to return to the 118-pound division, until under a minute to go in the round when Burnett fell to the floor in pain grasping his side.
The referee was forced to call it a knockdown and I cannot imagine how much pain Burnett was in as he tried to rise and continue.
Donaire drove a near helpless Burnett into the corner and riddled him with punches as the heavy-hearted Burnett attempted to fend him off until the bell rang.
Burnett was unable to continue after the ring, being taken from the ring on a gurney and the WBA title along with the semi-final berth left with Nonito Donaire.
The ending wasn't only strange, it was an unsatisfying ending to a fight that had shown some pretty strong action after four rounds, which I had scored two rounds for each combatant.
Donaire will unify his newly won title with that of WBO champ Zolani Tete in the next round, while Burnett could have to take a sizable amount of time off to recover from his injury.

In the other WBSS matchup Josh Taylor won every round from a seemingly frozen Ryan Martin before stopping him in the seventh round.
Taylor was far better prepared for the stage than Taylor and it showed in the one-sided beatdown that wasn't even competitive.
The ending was somewhat controversial as Taylor appeared to floor Martin with a shot to the back of the head with the referee immediately waving the bout off despite the protests of Martin.
I thought Martin did indeed receive a punch to the back of his head, but it wouldn't change the result and saved Martin prolonged punishment.
Taylor will face IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk in the semi-finals and that is the fight that I am most looking forward to seeing of the four semi-finals that are currently intact.

On ESPN+ from El Paso Texas, Miguel Berchelt continued to make his case as the top 130 pounder in the world as he dominated mandatory contender Miguel "Mickey" Roman over nine rounds before the brave and beaten Roman finally succumbed to the younger and stronger Berchelt.
Berchelt pounded the consistently moving forward Roman throughout the fight and although Roman would occasionally connect with enough offense to keep the champion honest, he was overmatched in both power and technique.
Berchelt almost finished Roman in round six with two knockdowns, but the gritty Roman had no quit on this night, survived the round and tried his best for the next three rounds, but was dropped and polished off in the ninth.
Berchelt would like unification fights with WBA champ Gervonta Davis or IBF champ Tevin Farmer, but those seem unlikely due to promotional/network problems.
The best fight that could be made, in my opinion, is minor titlist Alberto Machado in what would be an exciting fight between two big (in both size and punching ability) junior lightweights and would be another chapter in the best rivalry in boxing- Mexico (Berchelt) vs Puerto Rico (Machado).
Machado is with Golden Boy and therefore DAZN for television, but Golden Boy and Top Rank have been one of the few promotional pairings that occasionally can work together, so there is some hope.

The final challenge bout was made available on Facebook and it was just as big of a mismatch as expected as light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera handily won a unanimous decision over fringe contender Seanie Monaghan in Brooklyn.
No knockdowns, but other than the first round or two each round was the same monotonous stanza over and over again.
Monaghan showed toughness, but nowhere near top ten quality, while Barrera gets back on the winning trail after losing his last fight to Dmitry Bivol.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points to change the score to 181-158.
Ramon earned two points each from wins from Sullivan Barrera and Miguel Berchelt.
I added two from Berchelt and one each from Barrera and Josh Taylor.

Boxing Challenge:Wilder makes his case

The boxing challenge continues to move up and along after a five-fight weekend.

Sorry, this has been a little late, but there have been some family illness issues and I am a bit behind.

In the biggest fight of the weekend as part of a two fight Showtime telecast, Deontay Wilder came from behind (on my card anyway) to stop Luis Ortiz in the tenth and retain his WBC heavyweight title in Brooklyn.
Wilder had floored Ortiz in the fifth, but Ortiz didn't seem to be especially hurt after rising.
Ortiz badly hurt Wilder, leaving him wobbling around the ring and lurching into Ortiz as he desperately held onto the Cuban to survive the round.
The bell may have saved Wilder, but referee David Fields, in a strange move, asked the doctor to check Wilder before the round started and bought Wilder extra time to clear his head.
Here's why this was so strange-Wilder was not cut, so that shouldn't have been an issue and the doctor had the minute in between the seventh and eighth round to look at Wilder in the corner and saw no reason to stop the fight.
It seemed a little fishy to me, but still give Wilder credit, I had questions about his chin (I still do) and what would happen when he was tested- He survived the Ortiz attack and battled on.
Wilder would finish Ortiz in the tenth with two knockdowns and as good of an uppercut as you'll see.
The good news? The final few rounds were pretty dramatic and fun to watch.
The bad news? The first almost five rounds were pretty close to unwatchable and the scorecards that had Wilder ahead after nine were downright laughable.
Had Wilder not stopped Ortiz and gauging the way that the fight was being judged, Wilder was on his way to a decision win-one that would have again cast controversy.For the record, I had Ortiz up 86-83 as Ortiz lost a point for the fifth round knockdown and I scored round seven 10-8 for Ortiz in the round that he almost finished Wilder off.
In the end- it was an average fight with a few really good exchanges and some really high drama.

In the Brooklyn co-feature, Jose Uzcategui avenged his controversial disqualification loss to Andre Dirrell by winning almost every round ( I had him winning 79-73) before Dirrell's corner stopped the fight in between the eighth and ninth rounds.
Uzcategui didn't score a knockdown, but did bust up the face of Dirrell and pounded him thoroughly to the point that the stoppage was more humane than a reflection on Dirrell, who I have been critical of in the past for dogging it in some fights.
Uzcategui's win places him as the next fight for the winner of the IBF title rematch between Caleb Truax and James DeGale.
Truax pulled off a shocking upset of DeGale and unless DeGale shows that his loss was simply a really bad night and dominates the rematch, I would consider Uzcategui a solid favorite against either.
I'd go even farther and say I'm not sure that Uzcategui would be worse than pick 'em against anyone in the division and that includes champions George Groves (WBA), David Benavidez (WBC) and Gilberto Ramirez (WBO).

Over in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden, HBO showed arguably the two best light heavyweights in the world with title defenses by WBO champion Sergey Kovalev and WBA beltholder Dmitry Bivol.

In the main event, Kovalev continued to rebuild himself with a pounding of fellow Russian Igor Mikhalkin in which he won every round, cut Mikhalkin on his nose, caused heavy bleeding from the nose and then ripped open a cut under Mikhalkin's eye in the sixth.
The ending came in the seventh as the doctor saw Mikhalkin's cuts as serious and since he had lost every round, ending the fight seemed the right thing to do.
I've been a long-time Kovalev fan and gave him and his team the benefit of the doubt in scheduling two squash matches for his comeback since losing to Andre Ward.
I won't give him that benefit for his next fight- the Krusher needs to pick up the competition.

Dmitry Bivol was far ahead of Sullivan Barrera entering the final round (109-100) and could have been content to jab his way to a dominant, if not thrilling victory over the first top ten (arguably even top five) opponent of his career.
Bivol wasn't going to settle for that in flooring and finishing Barrera for a knockout win.
Bivol was very impressive in dominating Barrera like no one previously had done and that includes Andre Ward.
In the perfect world, I'd love to see a Bivol-Kovalev unification fight (makeable with both guys with HBO) or a Bivol-Artur Beterbiev unification fight (Not so makeable with Beterbiev having promotional issues) before the end of the year, but keeping Bivol active against quality opponents is going to be nothing but a positive for the struggling HBO boxing program.

In an untelevised fight from England, former IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook moved up to junior middleweight and snapped a two-fight losing streak and a two-fight broken eye-socket streak with a second-round knockout of Sergei Rabchenko.
Rabchenko might have not been top quality as far as opponents go, but he was decent enough all things considered and Brook looked quite impressive in taking him out.
Brook might be considered for a title match against WBC champ Jermell Charlo at his new weight and that faceoff would answer lots of questions about both men...

In the boxing challenge. I scored eight points to Ramon Malpica's four to boost my lead to 36-27
I earned two points for wins by Kell Brook, Dmitry Bivol and Sergey Kovalev and one point each for wins by Deontay Wilder and Jose Uzcategui.

Ramon earned two points for Sergey Kovalev's win and one point each for the wins of Dmitri Bivol and Kell Brook.

Boxing Challenge: The Krusher is back!

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points on the three-bout card from New York City by HBO.
The challenge is now 183-167.

In the main event, Sergey Kovalev claimed the final light heavyweight title that Andre Ward vacated after their second fight with a second round shellacking of Vyacheslav Shabranskyy to win the WBO version of the light heavyweight title.
Kovalev looked like the "Krusher" of old as he dropped the made to order Shabranskyy twice in the first and then again in the second before finishing the show.
Kovalev was impressive in the win but didn't prove much against limited opposition.
Kovalev does have options for his next fight against Sullivan Barrera (promoted by Main Events) or mandatory WBO contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk, either of whom would be likely show how much Kovalev has left after his two fight series with Andre Ward.

Sullivan Barrera won a lopsided decision over Felix Valera in the co-feature that was a rough and dirty fight as Valera lost three points to low blows.
Both fighters were dropped in the first round and Barrera was cut, but the deducted points made the fight far more lopsided on the scorecards than it actually was.
I had Barrera a 97-90 winner.

In the opener, late substitute Yuriorkis Gamboa won a majority decision over Jason Sosa.
I didn't see the fight as the robbery that so many did, but Sosa knocked Gamboa down in the seventh and a point deduction on Gamboa, should have cemented the bout for Sosa.
I had Sosa a 96-92 winner on my card.
The "win" will likely earn Gamboa another decent payday down the road and considering the cards, Sosa shouldn't lose too much either..

Boxing Challenge Weekend

Photo Credit:Rich Schultz Getty Images

The Boxing Challenge returned with three fights on HBO,two from PBC and two more from the United Kingdom.

Let's begin with the PBC show on Fox,which rated as a disappointment on several levels.
In the main event,former lightweight champion Omar Figueroa returned after a year and a half hiatus and blasted out former multi-division champion Robert Guerrero in three rounds with Guerrero hitting the floor three times in the second round and twice in the third before the bout was stopped.
For the winner,Figueroa couldn't ask for a better opponent than the faded Guerrero,but I wonder about Figueroa's size at 147.
It seems as Figueroa and his camp wonder as well,as Figueroa announced after the win that he planned to drop to junior welterweight for future bouts.
That seems smart to me as Figueroa looks to be a pretty strong challenge for anyone in that division that isn't named Terence Crawford.
As for Guerrero,who dropped to 1-4 in his last five bouts and could have been 0-5 if not for kind judging-he needs to give it up.
Guerrero clearly is not at the world class level anymore and continuing to try to do so will only result in lopsided losses and potential injury.
I earned one point for the Figueroa win with Ramon Malpica not earning any by picking Guerrero...

The other challenge bout on the PBC side saw former Olympian Marcus Browne blow out Seanie Monaghan in two rounds.
Browne dropped Monaghan in round one and pummeled him in the second before the bout was stopped.
Browne called out WBC champion Adonis Stevenson after the fight,although if there was justice,he would offer a rematch from two fights ago with Radivoje Kaladzic,who I thought clearly defeated Browne,but Browne was given the split decision.
Monaghan,who had been mentioned several times as an opponent for a champion or contender was exposed as a clubfighter that had never beaten anyone remotely resembling a top twenty fighter.
I added one point for Browne's win with Ramon picking Monaghan...

We move to HBO and a three fight card that looked great on paper,but didn't really produce in the ring.
Miguel Berchelt retained his WBC junior lightweight belt with a unanimous decision win over mandatory challenger and former champion Takashi Miura.
Berchelt couldn't miss Miura with the jab and on my card,I had Berchelt an 119-109 winner (11-1 in rounds).
Berchelt solidified his claim as the second best fighter at 130 pounds behind Vasyl Lomachenko and said he has no problem fighting Lomachenko,although he would be a huge underdog in that potential bout.
Ramon and I each picked up one point for the Berchelt win..

Berchelt might be better suited to unify with WBA champion Jezreel Corrales,who squeaked by rugged journeyman Robinson Castellanos by majority decision after ten rounds after a Corrales head butt busted open Castellanos and forced a stoppage.
I had the fight even at 94-94 after being mandated to score the tenth round after just 30 seconds of action in one of the dumber rules in boxing.
I scored the 10th round even,but Corrales was ahead in rounds (6-3-1),but Castellanos dropped Corrales twice in the fourth round to pick up points before losing one of those back when Corrales knocked Castellanos off balance and to the floor in the seventh.
Berchelt vs Corrales would be an interesting fight,unification is always a good idea and the winner would clearly stake his right as the second best 130 pounder and might earn himself a Lomachenko bout...
One point to both Ramon and I for the Corrales win.

The miracle run of Joe Smith hit a lull as Smith lost a unanimous decision to the talented Sullivan Barrera.
I only saw the final two rounds as of this writing with Ramon and I each getting no points for selecting Smith.

In the U.K.Chris Eubank Jr punched his ticket to the World Boxing Super Series with a unanimous decision over Arthur Abraham and Lee Selby retained his IBF featherweight title with a unanimous win over Jonathan Barros.
I've yet to watch either fight,so no scoring yet.
Ramon and I each picked two points for each of these wins.

On the day,I added eight points in the boxing challenge to Ramon's six and extended my lead in the boxing challenge to 87-80....

Barrera stops Shabranskyy-Boxing Challenge

HBO Latino put on a pretty good card last night that featured light heavyweights Sullivan Barrera and Vyachaslav Shabranskyy,both coming off interesting fights.
Shabranskyy won a surprising decision over Yuneski Gonzalez,while Barrera went the distance in a loss to Andre Ward.
Shabranskyy was thought of by many (Including me) as a potential contender at 175 and Barrera would be an interesting test.

Instead,the pair hooked up in a great action fight that saw Shabranskyy dropped in round one and Barrera in round two.
Slowly,Barrera began to take command with a knockdown in the fifth before knocking Shabranskyy down and out in the seventh.
The win likely will put Barrera in contention for one of the three titles that Andre Ward is expected to vacate with his "retirement/ducking Kovalev".
It was a rough night for Golden Boy promotions with Shabranskyy's loss (Barrera is promoted by Main Events) and a stunning first round knockout loss by their touted welterweight Eddie Gomez at the hands of Rashidi Ellis.
No boxing challenge points for these fights or the Alexander Povetkin-Bermane Stiverne heavyweight eliminator,which was canceled with Povetkin's positive test for PED's.
Ramon Malpica didn't get the email in time,so nothing for those bouts..

Bernard Hopkins and his farewell bout headlines a three fight HBO card.
Hopkins faces Joe Smith,who pulled a shocker with his first round blitz of Andrezj Fonfara on a PBC card.
Touted WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk makes his American debut against Thabiso Mchunu and featherweight contender Joseph Diaz faces Horatio Garcia..

Light Heavyweights.12 rds
Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Smith
Both:Hopkins Unanimous Decision

Featherweights 10 rds
Joseph Diaz vs Horatio Garcia
R.L: Diaz KO 8
TRS:Diaz Unanimous Decision

WBO Cruiserweight title 12 rds
Oleksandr Usyk vs Thabiso Mchunu
R.L:Usyk KO 5
TRS:Usyk KO 8