Boxing Challenge:Stevenson dominates Lopez

      The boxing weekend was packed with matches, so packed that the weekend previews were split into two; we will do the same with the results.

We start with the biggest show of the weekend and the performance of the weekend, as Shakur Stevenson ended Teofimo Lopez's reign as the WBO junior welterweight champion with a unanimous decision victory in New York City.

Lopez had struggled against mobile boxers like Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, and with Stevenson's movement, it was natural to think Lopez would struggle against Stevenson.

Instead, Stevenson stood in front of Lopez and still made himself unable to be hit in a performance so dominant that Lopez appeared to be on a different level.

Stevenson won on all three cards (and mine) at 119-109 and now will have to choose between keeping his WBC lightweight title, WBO junior welterweight title, or even moving to welterweight for a potential bout with Conor Benn, whom Stevenson invited into the ring after the fight.

As for Lopez, I'm not sure he has the strength or the power at welterweight, but the division isn't strong at the moment, so it's possible he could succeed.

In the co-feature, Keyshawn Davis returned as a junior welterweight, knocking out Jamaine Ortiz in the twelfth round.

Davis dropped Ortiz in the eleventh round and finished him in the final stanza.

Ortiz had lost close decisions to Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez and was expected to test Davis, which didn't happen with the best performance of Davis's career.

Davis called out Devin Haney for a fight this year, and that would be interesting.

The best fight of the night was Bruce Carrington winning the vacant WBC featherweight title with a sudden ninth-round knockout of Carlos Castro.

Castro gave Carrington all that he wanted and had the favorite wobbled in one instant, but Carrington was leading on my card 77-75 at the end, and the fight was swinging his way before the knockout.

Heavyweight Jarrell Miller won a split decision over Kingsley Ibeh in a match that will be remembered by most for Miller losing his hairpiece during the fight and fighting the rest of it with a ring of glue around his head for the remainder of the match.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 13 Pts (7)

Vince Samano: 13 Pts (6)

Ramon Malpica: 12 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge: Garcia rolled by Romero

      The Ring magazine card in Times Square appeared to be a good idea initially, but various problems with the city of New York and its zoning rules turned the crowd into a quiet crowd of high rollers.

That was before the fights began, when they were rewarded with thirty-six rounds of less-than-exciting action and a likely loss in one of the more anticipated fights in the game.

In the main event, Rolando Romero pulled a huge upset by winning a unanimous decision over Ryan Garcia and perhaps losing the much-anticipated rematch between Garcia and Devin Haney.

Romero didn't exactly dazzle in victory, but he scored the only knockdown of the evening when he dropped Garcia in the second round with a left hook and did his job well enough to win a WBA minor title, which should earn him a bigger fight eventually.

Garcia fought as poorly as one could remember in an awful performance as a prohibitive favorite, and it's reasonable to wonder how much of his win over Devin Haney may have been due to his use of PED's.

That's how bad Ryan Garcia looked, and he looked like a fighter who may have blazed past his prime without stopping at Go.

Romero did enough to win (118-109 and 115-112 x 2, my score 117-110), but let's not fool ourselves, we didn't see a new star born in Times Square, and if I have a solid welterweight right now, I'm gunning for Rolly Romero.

The co-feature was equally dull as Devin Haney dominated Jose Ramirez, but he did that as tediously as you could have imagined.

Haney moved, Ramirez lumbered, and it was this for twelve long rounds.

The less said about this, the better, but Haney did his part by winning his fight for the Ryan Garcia rematch, as dreadful as it was.

Haney won by scores of 119-109 x2 (and my score) and 118-108.

Teofimo Lopez showed his skills in a workmanlike victory over Arnold Barboa with a unanimous decision victory.

Lopez's speed was too much for Barboza, who won a few rounds but generally was a step behind Lopez.

Lopez won on the scorecards 118-110 and 116-112 times two, the same as my score.

Lopez retained his WBO junior welterweight title in the win, but without a marquee opponent in the division ( champions Alberto Puello, Richardson Hitchins, and Gary Antuanne Russell), Lopez talked of a rise to the welterweight division for a challenge of WBA and IBF champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis after the bout.

The idea of a live card in Times Square was an audacious attempt, but in actuality, the card lacked atmosphere and reminded me more of the post-COVID "Bubble" cards than a raucous live crowd.

Points for effort, but overall, I'd be fine without a return.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 63 Pts (2)
Ramon Malpica; 58 Pts (2)
Vince Samano: 25 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge: Bam cuts down Estrada!

      Saturday's WBC junior bantamweight title event from Phoenix was considered a passing of the torch from aging champion Juan Francisco Estrada to rising star Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.

If that was the case, consider the torch transferred as Rodriguez stamped himself as a pound-for-pound star with a seventh-round knockout that left Estrada writhing in pain in an exciting, yet somewhat one-sided fight.

The first two rounds were evenly fought with both fighters landing heavy artillery but Rodriguez hurt Estrada in the third and fifth and sent him to the floor in the fourth round.

Rodriguez seemed to be ready for the kill but it was Estrada scoring a sixth-round knockdown with a counterpunch and I thought Estrada was winning the seventh round when out of nowhere, Bam slammed a left hook to the liver that made Estrada quiver on the mat for the fight-ending KO.

The talk after the fight was the scorecards as one card had Rodriguez ahead 58-54, another even and the third with Estrada up by one point.

If you gave Estrada the first two rounds (questionable but plausible) I could see an even fight after six with Estrada getting rounds one and two, Rodriguez three and five, Rodriguez a 10-8 round for the fourth, and Estrada a 10-8 round for the sixth.

I split the first two rounds, so my card was 57-55 for Rodriguez.

I've heard this was a two-fight deal, so there could be a rematch, which would be fine by me but I don't see the result changing but Rodriguez has a co-manager (Teiiken) based in Japan, and the WBA and IBF titles in the division will be unified a week from Monday as Kazuto Ioka (WBA) and Fernando Martinez (IBF) face-off.

Bam against the winner or WBO champion Kosei Tanaka could be easy fights to make and should he face them in Japan, the money would be even larger.

The exposure in Japan would help Rodriguez should he decide to build towards a fight that was being mentioned as an eventual dream fight against the undisputed world junior featherweight champion Naoya "The Monster" Inoue.

I haven't watched the co-feature with Sunny Edwards winning by a unanimous decision over Adrien Curiel after nine rounds when a clash of heads opened up a long vertical gash on the face of Edwards.

Edwards's victory in a flyweight eliminator should result in the former champion receiving a chance to win another title soon.

In Miami, WBO junior welterweight king Teofimo Lopez dominated but did not dazzle in winning a unanimous decision over Canadian Steve Claggett.

Claggett's face-first style was expected to be the antidote for a lackluster effort against boxer Jamaine Ortiz but while Lopez dominated, he never hurt Claggett and failed for the fourth time in as many fights to stop a fighter at junior welterweight.

The scores for Lopez were 120-108 X 2 and 119-109, I scored the fight 120-108.

Here are my thoughts- Teofimo Lopez is a little overrated or at least his power is a bit overrated.

And while Lopez is still an excellent fighter with a top-notch victory over Vasyl Lomachenko, his win over Josh Taylor isn't as impressive as thought immediately after his victory as Taylor lost to Jack Catterall after losing to Lopez and most think he lost to Catterall before his loss to Lopez.

There is a legitimate argument to be made that Josh Taylor was somewhat overrated too by his WBSS victories as his biggest wins (Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez) haven't aged well.

Teofimo Lopez is clearly an excellent fighter who might be lacking the special something at 140 pounds, with two fights that he was fortunate to get the duke (Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz), the Taylor win, and this one over Claggett at the weight.

It may be that Lopez needs big challenges to force the best out of himself and I wouldn't count him out against anyone but the questions are beginning to accumulate for the second time in his career, can he battle them successfully again?

In the co-feature former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez earned his rematch with Rafael Espinoza for that title with a seventh-round knockout over overmatched Brandon Benitez.

Ramirez ended the fight with a crunching left uppercut after winning every round against the battered Benitez.

The Espinoza-Ramirez fall rematch is anticipated after their awesome first battle.

Friday in Washington D.C., Lamont Roach dominated Feargal McCrory on his way to an eighth-round knockout to retain his WBA junior lightweight.

Roach isn't known as a puncher but he dropped McCrory three times (twice in round four) and when Roach stepped up the pace in the eighth, McCrory's corner ended the evening for their man.

Boxing Challenge 

Ramon Malpica: 97 Pts (6)

TRS:84 Pts (8)
Vince Samano: 49 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge: Davis roars, Lopez bores

   Teofimo Lopez had a chance to dazzle the Las Vegas crowd in the area for Sunday's Super Bowl and his entrance was entertaining as a circus ringmaster.

Unfortunately, that was as entertaining as things would be in the main event as Lopez looked mediocre in a desultory outing in retaining his WBO junior welterweight title by a unanimous decision that has been panned by many over Jamaine Ortiz.

Neither fighter threw many punches and Ortiz was content to box from the outside using a lefthanded stance which was enough to win on my card 115-113.

Lopez experienced difficulty cutting the ring off from the mobile Ortiz. He looked more like the puzzled and unmotivated fighter that slid by Sandor Martin than the determined tiger that upended Josh Taylor last year.

Lopez won on two cards 115-113, which I disagree with but the Steve Weisfeld card of 117-111 seemed particularly out of whack.

While I thought Ortiz deserved the nod, I don't need to see a rematch of a fight that was extremely dull and Lopez certainly will not want to face a defensive-minded boxer like Ortiz for a lesser paycheck again.

Teofimo Lopez is starting to remind me of Zab Judah as a fighter that you can never count out yet as one that you can't count on as well.

Lopez has the talent to defeat the best in the sport but struggles against mobile boxers, especially if he feels that he doesn't have to focus on the opposition.

It happened against George Kambosos, Sandor Martin, and now Jamaine Ortiz, showing a pattern of his biggest flaw.

Just don't rule him out against elite fighters, because when motivated Lopez ranks at the top of the spot.

The star of the night was former Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis, who impressed in stopping former junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jose Pedraza in six rounds.

Davis showed more strength and power than he had in recent outings and won every round against Pedraza, who tried his best but didn't use his range and seemed content to wait and hope for a right-hand miracle.

Davis looked very sharp in victory, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in his next attempt against top opponents.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 20 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 18 Pts (3)

Vince Samano; 10 Pts (3) 

The Overhand Right

   It's been a long time since an edition of the Overhand Right, so here's a chance to offer a few opinions on boxing outside of fight results.

I thought Mikaela Mayer did enough to nose out Natasha Jones in their women's welterweight title fight and while it was close on my card (96-94), I thought Mayer was the clear winner as most of the rounds were decisively won by one side or the other.

I wrote about the surprising decision loss by Artem Dalakian of his WBA flyweight title to Seigo Yuri Akui and how I thought Dalakian's style of moving away hurt him as judges prefer aggressive fighters.

Sooner or later, most fighters that use this style eventually lose a fight that they deserve to win due to this factor, and Dalakian proved the rule.

Fighters like Dalakian usually make dull fights and it's not always accompanied by outrage when they lose but that still doesn't make it right.

All too often in these style matchups, the aggressive fighter receives undeserved points from judges for "coming forward" or "trying to make the fight", which isn't part of the judging criteria.

The commentators for the fight (Crystina Poncher and ladies' flyweight champion Seniesa Estrada) seemed as puzzled as I had been when hearing of the decision. However, there were observers on the net who had the fight closer than I did.

While talking about Poncher and Estrada, I found their observations of the card from Osaka to be quite interesting.

Pomcher has always been a favorite of mine as an underrated blow-by-blow voice that I hope to see given higher-profile fights for ESPN/Top Rank cards. Still, the revelation was Estrada, who offered several intriguing points during the Kenshiro Teraji-Carlos Canizales main event battle.

Estrada's best point was about Teraji's directional movement, as the champion refused to move away from Canizales's power and instead moved right into the challenger's shots.

Estrada's statement proved true later in the fight when Teraji changed things up and began to get hit far less by the challenger.

Hoping to see and hear more in the future from Poncher and Estrada as a team at the announcer's table.

I see Teofimo Lopez continues to call out Terence Crawford for a mega-fight and while I'm not sure that it happens because Lopez isn't quite the PPV draw quite yet that the WBO junior welterweight champion thinks that he is, I am still interested in that pairing.

Lopez does tend to fight better in big fights than he does small ones as he showed in wins over Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor, his only loss to George Kambosos and a split decision win over Sandor Martin that many including myself thought he lost.

Lopez doesn't have the physical disadvantages that you would think he would either against Crawford, so it's not a mismatch in stature, and skill-wise Lopez can be competitive.

However, Crawford is in a different league, in my opinion, and I'm not sure of Lopez's promotional status with Top Rank after his title defense next month against Jamaine Ortiz.

Crawford has a lawsuit pending against Top Rank and is unlikely to deal with TR should Lopez remain bound to them.

PBC announced the top two fights on their first PPV with Amazon in March.

I'm not thrilled with the main event with WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu defending against former WBA and WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman.

Tszyu has been an active contender and now champion, having fought three times in 2023.

The same can't be said of Thurman, who hasn't fought since a ho-hum decision win over Mario Barrios in February 2022, and his most recent fight before Barros was his loss to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.

When you add that Thurman has never fought at 154 pounds and his 1-1 record in the last five years, it's easy to see Thurman as undeserving of this title opportunity.

The co-feature will have Rollie Romero, he of the questionable win over Ismael Barroso, defending against Isaac Cruz, who moves up from lightweight for the title chance.

While I don't have a problem with Cruz, the fight should be Romero-Barroso II, especially now that Barroso knocked out Ohara Davies in one round to grab the WBA interim title that was granted with Romero out with back issues.

WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara will defend his title for the first time against Michael Zerafa of Australia.

Lara, who has fought very soft competition in his four bouts since his 2019 draw with Brian Castano, was promoted to full champion last year when Gennady Golovkin vacated the title but hasn't fought at all since his May 2022 win over journeyman Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan.

Zerafa has lost against his best opponents Peter Quillin, Jeff Horn, and Kell Brook, and doesn't seem deserving of his status but neither does Lara really, so that says a lot for a sadly weak 160-pound division. 

Boxing Challenge: Lopez upsets Taylor, announces "Retirement"

  Teofimo Lopez rehabilitated his image and his career with a wide unanimous decision triumph over Josh Taylor to lift the WBO junior welterweight title from Taylor as well as his status as the lineal champion that Taylor held as well as all four titles since defeating Jose Ramirez in May 2021.

The fight was evenly fought through five rounds and I had Taylor slightly ahead at 48-47 but that was as good as things would get for the Scotsman as Lopez snatched control of the match and I would give each of the next seven rounds to Lopez, who would surprisingly announce his retirement after the fight, which will likely last as long as a hiccup with Lopez's return to being mentioned in elite fights to be made in the sport.

Taylor was far too slow for Lopez in the second half of the fight as Lopez connected over and over with combinations that were punctuated with an occasional wiggle and added showmanship as Taylor struggled with each attempt to regain his composure.

Lopez's victory was closer than it should have been with one judge scoring the same as I did at 117-111 and the remaining two turning in cards that were far too tight at 115-113.

While Lopez looked sharper as the fight moved on and deservedly strides back onto the big stage, I still wonder how much this win was about Lopez's skills or the sudden deterioration of Taylor, who looked less than great for the second fight in a row, and I also wonder if Taylor will ever approach the level that saw him defeat Ivan Baranchyk (when Baranchyk was unbeaten), Regis Prograis, and Jose Ramirez before his controversial win over Jack Catterall.

I suppose it's possible that Taylor's decline is due to making weight at 140 and he could move to welterweight to help with that problem.

We'll find that out when Lopez and Taylor fight again but I might think that Taylor might be best served to be matched somewhat carefully and for Lopez?

Teofimo Lopez tends to respond to challenges and when he isn't being challenged, Lopez has shown a tendency to zone out both in and outside of the ring.

While I'm sure that his team and Top Rank would like a good but not great opponent for Lopez next time out, I might not do that considering Lopez's history.

If you can make a fight with Devin Haney, do so.

With their amateur history, a battle between the three-belt unified champion at lightweight/lineal junior welterweight champion and the fully unified lightweight king moving up would certainly have plenty of intrigue.

I don't see Lopez making a fight against any of the other champions at 140 pounds with WBC and IBF champions, Regis Prograis and Subriel Matias with Matchroom and WBA "boss" Rolando Romero signed to PBC.

Although maybe there would be a chance that Lopez, who claimed before the fight that he had fulfilled his obligation to promoter Top Rank after the Taylor fight, could perhaps find either of the Matchroom duo appealing should his version of his TR contract turn out to be correct. 

The most likely big-name opponent for Lopez could be former WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez, who fights with Top Rank, has appeared on ESPN many times, and should Lopez decide to fight Ramirez in his hometown of Fresno, would draw a big crowd and for doing so, some extra dollars.

Ramirez has only one loss and I'd think would be an excellent consolation prize in the event that Lopez-Haney can't be signed for later this year.

Ramirez hasn't always been anxious to sign fights that would be difficult, so should Ramirez not be available, Top Rank also has undefeated contender Arnold Barboza in their camp and Barboza is likely to rise to the top contender spot (Barboza is 2nd, Jose Ramirez is 3rd) in the WBO (the title Lopez actually possesses now), so Lopez could perhaps get ahead with a mandatory (Politics depending) with a Barboza battle.

The Haney fight would make the most sense and the most dollars, Lopez would be cashing in before any possible missteps could occur, and a victory would mean possible superstardom.

Earlier in the day from London, broadcast by DAZN/Matchroom, Sunny Edwards retained his IBF flyweight title over challenger Andres Campos.

Not much to say about this one, Campos attempted to be aggressive but was generally repelled and outboxed by Edwards in a fight that was typical of an Edwards fight.

Edwards called out WBO champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez after the fight for a unification bout and hopefully, that can happen before the end of the year.

Edwards won on all cards by a score of 117-111, which was the same as mine.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:95 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 87 Pts (2)
Vince Samano: 69 Pts (0)  

Boxing Challenge: Crawford KO's Avanesyan, Lopez survives Martin

     Terence Crawford showed that thirteen months away from the ring didn't slow his speed or drain his power as he landed a left uppercut and a booming right hand to knock out David Avanesyan in the sixth round to retain his WBO welterweight title in Omaha, Nebraska.

Avanesyan won the first two rounds on my scorecard and like Egid Kavaliauskas a few years ago against Crawford, had some success with backing Crawford up and making him give ground.

However, the class and skills of the champion began to show as the fight moved forward.

Avanesyan had occasional bursts of offense, it was clear that Crawford was setting the challenger up for the finish, and in the sixth round, the trap snapped shut.

While Avanesyan isn't an elite welterweight, he is a solid back end of the top ten contender and it was impressive to see Crawford finish him so quickly and smoothly.

Now as usual the talk returns of Crawford against Errol Spence as it always does after either unbeaten champion dispatches their latest challenger and the only fight that really matters in the welterweight division ( although I'd be okay with Jaron Ennis against either!) continues in boxing limbo.

Supposedly, both parties are optimistic but both were this year and it didn't happen, so with Errol Spence now scheduled to face Keith "One Time Every Three Years" Thurman, it could be summer at the earliest for the superfight to happen.

Oh, Boxing...

ESPN and Top Rank pushed another Heisman evening appearance from New York for former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, who had been spectacular in his previous Heisman night fights on the network, including his second-round KO of Richard Commey to win his first world title.

Lopez doesn't resemble that punishing fighter anymore let alone the one that stunned the world with his upset of Vasyl Lomachenko and he looked very average against Sandor Martin, who took the fight on three weeks' notice to replace Jose Pedraza and on my scorecard did enough to upset Lopez as he did Mikey Garcia last year.

However, despite Martin knocking Lopez down in the second round ( and scoring another knockdown later that was scored a slip), Lopez managed to win a controversial split decision victory that boxing observers are wondering if Lopez's best was left in the ring against Vasyl Lomachenko.

The fight was close (I had Martin ahead 95-94) and I could see Lopez as a winner by the same score but the judges saw Lopez as the winner by tallies of 96-93 and an incredibly terrible 97-92 to override the 95-94 card for Martin.

As in his loss to George Kambosos, who also dropped Lopez, Lopez wades in recklessly against fighters that he expects to overwhelm and gets knocked down by counter right hands that don't hurt him but knock him off-balance and to the floor.

Lopez has been mentioned as a possible opponent for WBO champion Josh Taylor, should he win his rematch with Jack Catterall, or WBC king Regis Prograis but from what I saw against Sandor Martin, I think he would be a deserved underdog against either champion.

As for Martin, this is the second big performance from the Spaniard against a big-name opponent that was expected to overwhelm him, and perhaps it's time to give Martin some credit as a solid contender.

One fighter that did his job to impress was undefeated heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson, who in his first ten-round fight, took out the usually durable Jerry Forrest in only two rounds. 

Forrest did land some counter right hands in the first round but the veteran barely survived the round and Anderson finished him quickly in the second.

A very impressive win for Anderson to stop Forrest, who had finished the distance in recent years against contenders Kubrat Pulev, Michael Hunter, Zhilei Zhang, and Jermaine Franklin, and Anderson is certainly the most promising American heavyweight to come along in years.

I'll be back later with the two fights from Europe in another post.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 205 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica:175 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 162 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge: Lopez returns with Campa KO

     Former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez returned to the ring for the first time since his surprising split decision defeat to George Kambosos as a junior welterweight and knocked out Pedro Campa in the seventh round.

Lopez fended off the perpetually aggressive Campa with aplomb throughout the match, winning every round and nearly closing the left eye of the rugged Mexican, who was fighting in the United States for only the second time.

Lopez knocked Campa down in the seventh with a right jab and overwhelmed Campa along the ropes with a series of right hands to force the referee to step in and end the evening.

I thought Lopez looked good, not great, and for all of his talents- Lopez will have to prove how much the Kambosos loss and various issues took away from him against a better caliber of fighter than Pedro Campa to know for sure.

Lopez invited Golden Boy Promotional head, Oscar De La Hoya, to the fight for a potential Ryan Garcia fight that should it be able to be put together would be a big fight, albeit not nearly as large as it would have been at this time last year.

Given Garcia's history of not being able to make fights and dropping out of fights that have been made, I'd be reluctant to say that I feel strongly that a Garcia-Lopez fight will be able to be signed soon but it would be an interesting fight with Lopez the better-rounded fighter while Garcia is the stronger puncher and with a larger frame that I think is a little better suited to the junior welterweight division.

Top Rank announced during the post-fight interview that Lopez will return to the ring in December on ESPN on Heisman night and while Garcia is an unlikely opponent, Top Rank possesses several contenders in the division that could be a challenge on the next leg of Lopez's comeback.

If I had to pick one of those, I'll guess on Arnold Barboza as a possible foe.

Barboza attended the fight, has called out Lopez in the past, and has fought on the network several times, so would give Lopez a recognizable name as an opponent.

I'd really like that fight and while I think I'd give Lopez a small advantage in a Barboza battle, it's a good enough fight that I wouldn't make Lopez a large favorite.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 143 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica; 121 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 116 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge: Kambosos stuns Lopez!

  In a 2021 filled with major upsets, the upset that may have the biggest immediate impact took place in New York City as George Kambosos knocked down Teofimo Lopez in the first round and outslugged the heavily favored Lopez to win a split decision and take the three lightweight titles (WBA, IBF, and WBO) away from Lopez.

Lopez had vowed to stop Kambosos in the first round and while he stormed out in an attempt to do Kambosos in early, it was the Australian that scored the knockdown in the first round.

While Lopez wasn't badly hurt, it established that Kambosos was not going to roll over for Lopez and Kambosos began to bank rounds with hurting Lopez in the fourth round.

Both fighters showed facial damage but Lopez was cut over each eye and was sliced along his mouth and certainly was the more battered of the pair.

Lopez began to work his way back into the fight and in the tenth round floored Kambosos and suddenly it appeared that Lopez was going to save his titles but by the end of the round Kambosos was fighting back effectively.

With the fight on the line in the final two rounds, I gave both to Kambosos to win 115-111, which agreed with one judge with another scoring 115-112 for Kambosos with the odd judge giving the fight to Lopez 114-113.

Lopez didn't himself any favors by interrupting the DAZN post-fight interview with Kambosos insisting that he won and wasn't a "Sore Loser" while appearing to be just that to the boos of the crowd that was in favor of him when the fight began.

While on the sheer difference in talent, I still grade the Sandor Martin upset of Mikey Garcia as a bigger surprise, the Kambosos win will easily have the largest impact for 2022.

Kambosos could unify with WBC champion Devin Haney or Joseph Diaz, should Diaz dethrone Haney in their upcoming fight or fight any of the lightweight stars although I would bet he will make a showcase title defense in Australia to bank some big bucks in his home area.

Lopez looked like a fighter that needed to move up in weight and said he would love to face unified 140-pound champion, Josh Taylor, next but with this loss that fight may have lost some immediate luster and Lopez may first have to notch a win or two at 140 pounds before a potential Taylor matchup.

Larry Merchant always called boxing "the theatre of the absurd" and the saga of Lopez-Kambosos is one that fits the phrase when you consider the out-of-the-ring purse bids, cancellations, promoter changes, and finally the stunning upset.

In the co-feature, Kenichi Ogawa knocked down Azinga Fuzile three times, twice in the final round to win the IBF junior lightweight title that was declared vacant after Joseph Diaz missed weight before a title defense against Shavkat Rakhimov.

I had Ogawa a winner at 117-108.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I missed on both fights from New York.

I will have the Browns loss in Baltimore next as I haven't had time to watch the Saturday fights from PBC and Showtime yet.

Boxing Challenge: Lopez shocks Lomachenko

 IBF lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez entered his lightweight unification fight against the thought to be unbeatable WBA and WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko with plenty to back up after Lopez and his father had spent much of the last year crowing about how Lopez was equipped to defeat the two-time Olympic and three-division champion.

There will be no crow eaten by Team Lopez on this night as Lopez upset Lomachenko via unanimous decision in a fight that might be looked at equally at what Lopez did do and what Lomachenko did not.

The scores were far too wide with a 119-110 Lopez that will comfortably fit into the Hamburglar file of terrible scorecards by the usually reliable Julie Lederman, but I have no problem with Lopez receiving a nod.

Twitter seemed pretty varied in its thoughts with many having Lopez winning by as wide as nine rounds to three and others scoring it as narrow as an even split of six rounds each for a draw.

I watched the fight live "virtually" with Fred Landucci and after the fight, I counted my score as even at 114, but I didn't feel comfortable and felt that I needed to rewatch the fight immediately before outside sources begin to sink in with their cards.

Upon the rewatch, I gave Lomachenko one round that I scored for Lopez in the rewatch, and another that I gave to him could have been scored for either fighter, so the rewatch score was 115-113 or 116-112 for Lopez.

I still think Lomachenko landed the bigger shots in the second, but it's not unfair to not give him another until the eighth round.

I gave Lomachenko rounds eight through eleven and Lopez won the final round.

There were no knockdowns and neither fighter was seriously hurt in the fight, but what it really came to down to was this- Lomachenko moved too much for the first half of the fight and didn't throw nearly enough punches in that half.

When Lomachenko threw, he was effective and found his target often- he simply didn't do it enough to grab this one from the fire.

I wouldn't be against a rematch, but I'm not sure we will see one.

Lomachenko certainly deserves one, if he wants it, but there was not a rematch clause in the contract and it would be entirely up to the Lopez team to provide it.

Lopez certainly was tiring down the stretch and gave it all in winning the final round, but Lomachenko can make a case that a rematch would be different as he could start earlier in the fight.

Lopez may move up to junior welterweight, but I love the idea of Lopez staying around for a while at lightweight against other talented young fighters such as WBC champion Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta Davis.

I would like the idea of Lopez against the Josh Taylor-Jose Ramirez winner at junior welter, but I'd bet that winner moves to 147 for a Terence Crawford match and would leave Lopez in a vacant title addition, which I don't like nearly as much.

Lomachenko has been mentioned as a candidate to return to the 130-pound division for years due to his smallish stature at lightweight and there are some interesting fights there, should he do so.

The winner of December's WBC title fight with champion Miguel Berchelt against former WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez would be an excellent option for Lomachenko.

Berchelt, in particular, has been a rumored Lomachenko opponent for years and both are promoted by Top Rank as is WBO champion, Jamel Herring.

The only issue for Lomachenko is that there likely isn't a ton of money in dropping back down to 130 other than maybe the Berchelt-Valdez winner and I'm not sure any of the other fighters are much of a challenge to him.

In the co-feature, junior welterweight Arnold Barboza won a unanimous decision over former world title challenger Alex Saucedo in a fight that was more exciting than expected.

The faster Barboza was expected to box more, but he stood and engaged the aggressive Saucedo often and was able to win many of those exchanges.

Saucedo did score the fight's only knockdown when a hook awkwardly sent Barboza to the floor in the seventh.

The knockdown wasn't scored officially until between rounds, when the Nevada replay rules scored it correctly.

I scored Barboza a 95-94 winner (6-4 minus the knockdown) and when the junior welterweight divisional gold rush begins after the expected leaving of the division by the Taylor-Ramirez winner, Barboza may be in line for one of those titles.

In the Boxing Challenge, Ramon Malpica outscored me two points to zero to slice my lead to 131-122.

Boxing Challenge: Crawford KO's Kavaliauskas

The Saturday night card from Top Rank on ESPN gave viewers all that they could expect from the card from Madison Square Garden as arguably the world's best fighter received a test for a few rounds and a prospect turned into a champion with the type of explosive performance that made fans look anxiously forward to a future fight against a superstar.

Terence Crawford survived a few uneasy moments in the early rounds before knocking out Egid Kavaliauskas in the ninth round.
Kavaliauskas landed some big punches on Crawford in the second and third rounds before Crawford settled into his normal groove and began land more often.
Crawford knocked Kavaliauskas down late in the seventh and appeared to be biding his time through the eighth before two knockdowns ended the fight in the ninth from the best finisher in boxing.
I had Crawford well ahead despite taking more punches than he is accustomed to by a score of 78-71.
I'm not sure what fighter will face Crawford next with the PBC still having the best depth in the division, but Crawford does have hope in the future with strong junior welterweights such as Jose Ramirez, Regis Prograis, and Josh Taylor possibly moving up in late 2020 or early 2021.

Teofimo Lopez established himself as a champion and possible star with a two-round destruction of Richard Commey that won the IBF lightweight title for Lopez and the chance for two more titles against Vasyl Lomachenko in the spring.
I thought Commey won the first round and might have been winning the second before both fighters cocked right hands.
It was Lopez landing first with a devastating shot that Commey showed a great chin and heart by even rising from a shot that against many would have ended the fight.
However, at that stage, heart and chin weren't going to be enough to survive and as Lopez landed combinations that trapped a groggy Commey against the ropes, referee David Fields was forced to stop the fight.
I would favor Vasyl Lomachenko against his fight against Lopez, but Lopez has the power and speed to trouble Lomachenko and with the puncher's chance of pulling the huge upset.

In the ESPN opener, featherweight Michael Conlan dominated Vladimir Nikitin and won a ten-round decision in a rematch of their Olympic match that ended with Nikitin winning a controversial decision.
Their professional battle wasn't close (98-92 on my card) as Conlan patiently boxed on the outside and picked apart the attacking Nikitin in a bout that lacked excitement other than a seventh-round that featured a few exchanges.
Conlan will face Shakur Stevenson sometime next year as he has risen to the top contender's position in the WBO without facing a top fifteen fighter.

Friday night in the main event from Golden Boy on DAZN, another talented future star looked very sharp as welterweight Vergil Ortiz stopped veteran Brad Solomon in five rounds.
The crafty Solomon did his best to keep Ortiz off him and simply lacked the strength to do so against the power of Ortiz.
Ortiz scored a flash knockdown in the fourth round but dominated the fifth with Solomon being forced to his knees twice before the fight was called off.
Ortiz looks to be a match for even the best welterweights in the game, but like Terence Crawford appears to be trapped in a spot where he is going to have problems finding big fights due to his promoter.
Ortiz does hold one of those minor WBA belts, so perhaps Alexander Besputin, who holds another one of those, of Top Rank, could be a match or even Terence Crawford in what would be a high-risk high reward for both men.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica outscored me seven to five in the boxing challenge with the difference being the win from Teofimo Lopez and an extra point from Vergil Ortiz
I lead the challenge 302-265

Boxing Challenge: Pacquiao dethrones Thurman

As I was away for the weekend, I haven't watched all of the Boxing Challenge fights, so I'll spend this time writing about what I have seen and will try to watch the others with an update soon.

In the main fight of the weekend (I have not seen the remainder of the card), Manny Pacquiao controlled the fight from the get-go when he scored a knockdown in round one and took Keith Thurman's WBA welterweight title by a split decision that was never that close.
Pacquiao's first-round knockdown didn't severely hurt Thurman, but what it did was establish that the naturally smaller Pacquiao had the type of power that Thurman, who had been hurt in fights by fighters that weren't huge punchers in the past, was going to have to respect and deal with.
I can't believe someone actually thought Thurman won this fight (Glenn Feldman scored a Thurman a 114-113 winner) as it was a competitive fight throughout, but one fighter clearly controlled the action.
I scored Pacquiao a 116-111 victor (8-4 and a knockdown) and for him, he could face the winner of September's IBF-WBC unification fight between Errol Spence and Shawn Porter early next year or perhaps that rematch with Floyd Mayweather (I hope not).

Also on Saturday, DAZN was on tap with a London card with Dillian Whyte against Oscar Rivas in a heavyweight eliminator. Haven't seen the Whyte victory yet, but I did see the other bout where heavyweight Dereck Chisora brutally knocked former title challenger Artur Splilka out in the second round.
Chisora isn't quite of title stock level, but he'll give anyone a tough scrap and when matched properly he advances from tough out to winning those exciting fights.

Friday night and ESPN+ was the provider for two IBF title eliminators that saw two promising young fighters move on for a title chance and left another fighting for his life.
In the main event, Teofimo Lopez earned a title fight with IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey with a unanimous decision win over Masayoshi Nakatani.
Lopez was forced to finish the scheduled distance for the first time in his career and seemed to lack the explosiveness that his career has seen thus far.
Watching the fight, the first thing that leaped out at me was the physical advantage that Nakatani had against Lopez.
At six feet tall and longer armed, Nakatani was able to keep Lopez on the outside and negated his power a bit, but even still, Lopez won the fight on my card going away at 118-110 and it shows how highly he is thought of as a prospect when you are a bit disappointed over a fight that a prospect won 10 of 12 rounds.
Going the distance is part of the maturation process for a prospect turning into a contender, but it always adds at least a little bit of thought of the possible flaws of the fighter.
The answers will begin to arrive in a fight against Commey for his IBF title, who could very well be undefeated as well, with both of his defeats coming via split decision.

The other eliminator saw Puerto Rico's Subriel Matias defeat Maxim Dadashev when Dadashev could not answer the bell for the final round when Dadashev's trainer Buddy McGirt stopped the fight.
Dadashev was well behind on the judge's scorecards ( and mine 107-102) and Matias was landing the harder punches throughout a grinding bout that saw both land plenty of hard punches.
It seemed senseless for Dadashev to continue considering that Matias had won the previous rounds and Dadashev had little chance of a final round stoppage, so the mercy ending made sense, but then Dadashev had to be helped from the ring, almost collapsed on his way to the locker room and was rushed to the hospital, where he would eventually undergo brain surgery.
Full wishes for a recovery to Dadashev, whos career is almost certainly over, but for Matias, he looks to be a very talented young fighter that will be an underdog to the winner of the Regis Prograis-Josh Taylor unification fight (Taylor is the current IBF champion), but brings the type of talent that won't be simply a walkover for either champion.

Thursday's offering was brought to you from Golden Boy on RingTV.com and some regional sports networks and GBP might have wished they did not offer that in hindsight as their middleweight prospect from Ireland, Jason Quigley was unable to keep veteran Tureano Johnson off of him and was overwhelmed by the former title challenger's aggressiveness with the result being Quigley's corner stopping the fight after the ninth round.
Johnson entered the fight with questions after a physical shellacking against Sergey Dereyvanchenko and a listless draw versus 26-13 Fernando Castaneda, but he was his old buzzsaw self against Quigley and re-established himself as at least a top 10-15 contender in the division.
As for Quigley, this pounding now raises questions about his future and should he have one, he'll need a few softballs to rebuild any confidence that he has remaining after this fight.

In the boxing challenge for the week (Including the fights I'll write about later time permitting), I outscored Ramon Malpica 12-9.

My points: Two each from: Manny Pacquiao, Dillian Whyte, Yordanis Ugas, Luis Nery, Caleb Plant,
                   One                 : Teofimo Lopez, Dereck Chisora

Ramon's:    Two each from: Caleb Plant, Luis Nery, Subriel Matias.
                   One                 : Dillian Whyte, Teofimo Lopez

The standings are currently in my favor at: 191-170

Boxing Challenge: Crawford cans Khan

Terence Crawford had little problems retaining his WBO welterweight title via corner stoppage in the sixth round over former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, but the problem that Crawford may not be able to climb so easily are still to come with the inter-promotional problems that threaten to choke boxing and its fans like the plague.

I thought Khan's speed could trouble Crawford and on the occasional time, it did, but those occasions appeared far too seldom for the Englishman and the real surprise came in the first round when Crawford, not known for getting out of the blocks quickly, dropped Khan with a left that was preceded by a right that appeared to do most of the damage.
Crawford nearly finished the fight there, but Khan avoided another knockdown with a well-placed grab and made it to the bell before being hurt and surviving again in the second.
Khan had a few good moments in the third and especially the fourth, but the fifth round saw Crawford landing hard punches that had Khan wincing and shaking his head and usually that means the end is near.
And it was, but in a less meaningful way than most had hoped as Crawford cracked Khan with what was either a low blow or a shot to the inner thigh (and depending on your angle, it could have been either) that saw Khan taking some of the allowed recovery period before trainer Virgil Hunter decided to intercede and surrender for his fighter from the corner.
Hunter's decision saved Khan from additional punishment but cost Crawford and fans a conclusive ending, not that is his job to worry about those things, but still an unsatisfying ending, if not an inevitable one.
Khan simply doesn't have the chin to compete with world-class welterweights and maybe not even those a notch below as his knockdown against trialhorse Samuel Vargas showed in his previous fight.
Yet, Khan would be unlikely to make 140 pounds again in a return to junior welterweight and may be caught in limbo, where his best option might be to make the fight that U.K. fans have always wanted against Kell Brook.
A Khan-Brook fight would put dollars into both men's coffers, even if the fight is too late to determine which was truly the better fighter in their prime and I'm hoping that Terence Crawford and Errol Spence don't look back in a few years and wonder about themselves as well.
Crawford-Spence is the best fight that boxing can make and Spence's claims that in-house options to unify his IBF title with are preferable (WBA champ Keith Thurman and WBC kingpin Shawn Porter) to a Crawford unification and I understand those are easy fights to make.
I would even be OK with Spence and Crawford hooking up in a year- IF you would make me this deal- Spence's next two fights are against those two PBC comrades while Crawford fights whoever he can match up with and those guys aren't going to be as interesting as Spence's competition certainly would be.
I'd be willing to wait under those conditions, no others.

On the Crawford-Khan undercard, Teofimo Lopez dominated Edis Tatli for four rounds and then stopped the former world title challenger with a right to the body that sent Tatli to one knee for the ten count.
Lopez claims he wants a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko in the next year before he leaves the lightweight division, but Lomachenko's claim is only if he holds a title will that fight take place.
A Mikey Garcia bout for the WBC title is unlikely, but should Garcia vacate the title, which is possible, Lopez could be in line for a fight that fills that vacancy, but an IBF title fight vs Richard Commey would be easier to make.
Commey would likely make more money for Lomachenko and a unification event so Top Rank will have to pay up for Commey to fight Lopez instead.

Shakur Stevenson cruised to a unanimous decision over Christopher Diaz.
I haven't watched this fight yet, but Stevenson is reported to have dominated Diaz in winning by eight, nine, and ten points on the scorecards.
I'm not sure Stevenson doesn't need more seasoning before fighting a champion at featherweight, a division that possesses four strong champions, but he seems to be on a fast track for a title fight within the next year or so.

Felix Verdejo's star may have dimmed since his days as a top prospect, but he at least added a little shine with a unanimous decision over Bryan Vasquez.
Verdejo never hurt Vasquez, but his jab was impressive and his combinations at least brought back memories of what Verdejo was thought to be before various problems caused inactivity and his first loss.
It will be interesting to see if Verdejo is challenged with another step up in competition or if he fights another boxer on the level of Vasquez, who is solid, but not quite top ten class.
I scored Verdejo a 97-93 winner on my card.

Meanwhile, Mr. Al Haymon, whose name was mentioned as much on social media during the Top Rank card due to the Crawford-Spence talk, and his PBC were outside on Fox and FS1 from Carson California.
The PBC main event saw former WBC welterweight champion, Danny Garcia return to the ring for the first time since a September loss to Shawn Porter for the vacant title and looked very strong in taking out durable Adrian Granados in the seventh round.
Granados won round one with his trademark aggression, but Garcia knocked down Granados twice in the second round with overhand rights that it seemed that everyone could see coming but Granados.
It was all Garcia from there as he never was threatened despite Granados' efforts otherwise.
Garcia sent Granados to the mat in the fifth and finished him off in the seventh as Garcia battered Granados along the ropes forcing referee Thomas Taylor to end the bout.
For Garcia, it was an impressive return, albeit against a fighter made to order for Garcia, who generally scores knockouts against fighters a step below the elite, but rarely stops an elite one.
Garcia would be well suited to fight again soon, but similar to many in the PBC, he simply doesn't fight often enough to stay in the minds of fans.
Garcia has been on both sides of close decisions in his career and has never been outmatched in any of his fights, but putting Garcia against any of the four champions have that been there done that feeling, which is logical considering that he has already fought two of them (Thurman and Porter) already.
Granados is simply physically overmatched at welterweight and if he can make the weight, would be competitive against anyone at 140 pounds.

Former heavyweight title challenger Andy Ruiz made his PBC debut a successful one in winning every round against Alexander Dimitrenko before Dimitrenko's corner stopped the bout at the end of the fifth round.
Don't give Ruiz too much credit though, as Dimitrenko seemed so dispassionate in his performance as any heavyweight in the top 100 could have dominated him on this night.
Dimitrenko's effort was a surprising one, considering his brave battle against Bryant Jennings in his previous bout, but if this is all that he will offer in the future, he should consider retirement.
As for Ruiz, who has just one loss to Joseph Parker, he has always shown ability, but a lack of activity along with a tendency to stay in shape has been a constant companion to him.
Should those things change for Ruiz, he could still be a viable contender and on the PBC side, I'd be very interested in a Ruiz-Adam Kownacki pairing.

Brandon Figueroa won a minor junior featherweight jewelry piece when Yonfrez Parejo was unable to continue after the eighth round.
The bout was filled with good exchanges in the first three rounds, but the bigger punching Figueroa began to grind Parejo down thereafter and avoided the counters that Parejo landed earlier in the fight.
I had Figueroa ahead after eight rounds 78-74 and I had the feeling that this fight might have ended before the final bell anyway, so the point may have been moot.
The undefeated Figueroa won his third fight in a row against veteran competition (Parejo, Moises Flores, and Oscar Escandon) and would be a very interesting challenger to the victor of next Friday's
WBA-IBF unification between Daniel Roman and T.J. Doheny.

Another minor belt was handed out on this card with an untelevised fight (Why that was is beyond me since it seemed like they were showing every fight down to ten years in the L.A. area) in the bantamweight division as former IBF flyweight champion John Riel Casimero knocked out Ricardo Espinoza in the twelfth round to win this title, which basically puts him into bantamweight contention.
As noted, I haven't seen this-Casimero knocked Espinoza down in the fifth and again in the final round before the fight was stopped.
Entering the final round the fight was on the line as each fighter was ahead by two points on one judge's card and the third judge had the fight even.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 15-14 to increase my lead to 94-85.
My points: three points from Brandon Figueroa (bonus point for calling the round)
                   two points from Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, Felix Verdejo, and Andy Ruiz.
                   one point from John Riel Casimero and Danny Garcia

Ramon's points; three points from Teofimo Lopez
                           two points from Crawford, Figueroa, Verdejo, and Ruiz
                           one point from Stevenson, Casimero, and Garcia

Boxing Challenge: Kovalev's Revenge

Photo Credit: Top Rank 

In Frisco, Texas in front of a packed crowd of fight fans that included our own Ramon Malpica and his stunning wife, Ryan, Sergey Kovalev answered the questions that almost any boxing fans thought needed to be answered after his knockout loss to Eleider Alvarez last August as he flourished under new trainer Buddy McGirt on his way to a clear unanimous decision and regaining the WBO light heavyweight title.

I was back and forth all week and at various times was prepared to select either fighter.
Kovalev was the more skilled fighter, but more often than not, the general rule in boxing proves true- In a rematch, the winner usually wins easier than in the initial encounter, so I reluctantly selected Alvarez, although I would have been just as reluctant to take Kovalev as the fight looked to be that close.

It wasn't as Kovalev shrugged off the barbs of Andre Ward and seemingly everyone at ESPN (other than Tim Bradley) tracing back to George Grande in the pre-fight analysis to deliver arguably the best performance of his career.
Kovalev threw many more punches than Alvarez, took the occasional counter right that stopped him in the first fight, very well, and dominated the fight by controlling Alvarez from the outside with the left jab.
Steve Kim of ESPN put it best, this Kovalev fought more like the technician that dominated Bernard Hopkins and less like the Krusher that steamrolled so many light heavyweights.
Kovalev turned back the clock and with his promoter (Main Events) having the ability to work with Top Rank, Kovalev could find himself in unification talk with WBC champ Oleksander Gvosdyk and new Top Rank signee IBF champion Artur Beterbiev to prove this version of Sergey Kovalev might be the best of all.

It was a crazy night for ESPN and fans watching this card.
The undercard ran from 7 (All times EST) to 10 on their streaming service before cutting to the main channel then for two title fights and then back to ESPN+ for prospect Teofimo Lopez and the Kovalev-Alvarez fight.
I understand the finances of Kovalev-Alvarez on ESPN+, but the network might have been better served just putting the entire card online.
Two lopsided blowouts led to way too much talking and some of the comments mentioned earlier were noted by what would be my choice for the crew that I would say I like least in the sport.
By the time both fights were completed on ESPN+ and the Kovalev/Alvarez interviews were completed, it was just short of 2 AM Eastern time.
Hopefully, someone involved with the boxing program will begin to see just how unpopular the late finish along with the jumping from platform to platform like one steps on rocks to cross a stream and attempt to avoid situations as these again.

I might try to work on a piece this week that looks at the broadcasting talent and production from each of the three forces in televised boxing, you might want to count on some less than flattering words on ESPN.

The ESPN+ fight that preceded Kovalev-Alvarez allowed the best prospect in boxing to get some work and he delivered not only a beating to former world title challenger Diego Magdaleno for seven rounds- he also added the early leader for knockout of the year.
Teofimo Lopez did about everything one could ask for, he boxed, punched, scored a sixth-round knockdown and he carved Magdaleno's face into pieces before finishing him in as an impressive manner as you could imagine with a left hook that landed with booming force and sent Magdaleno crashing to the mat without the consciousness to even try to break his fall.
The only bad part was with the concussed and prone Magdaleno out on the floor, Lopez, who had already danced a small jig and leaped to the turnbuckle, then ran across the ring to stand over Magdaleno and offer a walk-off swing, which could be considered a baseball uppercut or even a long drive off the tee.
Magdaleno's corner was justifiably upset with former world champion and Diego's brother Jessie leading the charge, but fortunately, any incident was avoided.
Lopez is fun to watch and has loads of talent, but behavior like that is ridiculous.
I know part of building a fan base can also be making fans want to see you defeated, but there is a line and Lopez crossed it.

The two ESPN fights ended early with Richard Commey dispatching Isa Chaniev in two rounds to win the vacant IBF lightweight title along with a ticket to unify his newly gained title with that of WBA/WBO champion Vasyl Lomachenko in April.
Commey showed the power that he hadn't shown often of late as he dropped Chaniev near the end of the first round, put him down again in early in the second and then punished Chaniev along the ropes until referee Lawrence Cole was forced to end this one early.
Richard Commey will give Vasyl Lomachenko a tougher fight that he's been used to (Jorge Linares aside) and he just might have some moments roughing Lomachenko up to a degree that hasn't been seen since Lomachenko's only loss, the controversial split decision to Orlando Salido.

Oscar Valdez kept his WBO featherweight title in his first fight in eleven months with a relentless performance over Carmine Tommasone with a seventh-round knockout.
Tommasone never threatened, although he did what he could with the limited skills that he brought to the fight, and was knocked down four times including the knockdown that ended the fight.
Valdez did exactly what he needed to do, get some rounds in, dominate an overwhelmed foe and be ready to move to the next and hopefully more competitive opponent with the hopes that might be IBF champion, Josh Warrington.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica tied the challenge at 20 for the year as he scored six points to my four on the evening.
Ramon added two points each from Valdez, Commey and Lopez, while I posted two from Lopez and just one each from Commey and Valdez.