CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Saturday’s mainevent at American Bank Center was intended to be a coming-out party for undefeated Mexican super middleweight titlist “El Zurdo” Gilberto Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs), and it succeeded as such in large part because of promoter Top Rank’s expert matchmaking.

Ghanian Habib Ahmed (25-1, 17 KOs) took his half-fight beating like a well-whiskered toughman then surrendered right on time, or his corner did anyway, at 2:31 of round 6.

“I took control of the fight real quick,” said Ramirez immediately afterwards. “And my goal now is to unify all the titles.”

Before the match Ahmed was fond of rattling away names of famous Ghanaian prizefighters to those who had the temerity to wonder who the hell he was, but during the match he fought like no Ghanaian so much as Joshua Clottey, showing little offensive imagination, fighting only when generally cornered and looking exactly the way his dossier got read during introductions – “the undefeated WBO number-four ranked challenger in the world”.

Ramirez is very good and gorgeous too, we’re told, but he makes some odd choices – such as attempting to duck counters from a man at least five inches shorter than him. Too, there’s Ramirez’s dangerous gambit of throwing uppercut leads while moving forward, rarely a good idea, even on an opponent limited as Ahmed.

“I’m telling Top Rank I want to fight in Mexico,” Ramirez added. “In my hometown of Mazatlan.”

This was a showcase match and Ramirez treated it as such, looking dominant before a national American television audience on ESPN.

JERWIN ANCAJAS VS. ISRAEL GONZALEZ

Saturday’s co-main, Filipino junior bantamweight Jerwain Ancajas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) against Mexican Israel Gonzalez (20-2, 8 KOs) featured what might best be described as a lightweight, actually junior-bantamweight, rendition of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, with Ancajas doing his imitative best to move slightly to his left, leap and blast, and Gonzalez having neither the quickness nor pop to dissuade him.

And unlike the last time Marquez and Pacquiao swapped fists, the Filipino won impressively by round-10 TKO.

This was a match that saw Gonzalez effective so long as he was in motion and tagged everytime he wasn’t. By round 4 there was a recurrent pattern: Gonzalez would bob his way in, flinch, feint, and gradually still his hands. Then he would freeze, flatfooted, and Ancajas would leap with a lefthand lead and tag him.

In the fifth Ancajas began to take over the match, outfighting and outfoxing Gonzalez, who found limited success only when jabbing his way in and testing the Filipino’s limited counterpunching prowess.

Through the middle rounds Ancajas’ speed and Gonzalez’s counterpunching partially neutralized one another, marking somewhat dull rounds Ancajas appeared to win in succession.

Having invested in left-cross stabs to Gonzalez’s body early, Ancajas was able to weather any punches Gonzalez landed after the ninth. Able to wade through Gonzalez’s punches Ancajas got audacious, and his audacity got rewarded.

Blasting Gonzalez with straight lefts, in homage to his hero Manny Pacquiao, Ancajas felled Gonzalez twice in round 10, the last time concussively enough to get the match waved-off at 1:50.

All told, it was Saturday’s most competitive match and marked an improvement in Ancajas’ prospects for stardom.

“‘Just be yourself, be patient’,” Ancajas said Pacquiao told him in a phone conversation before the fight. “‘Don’t put pressure on yourself’.”

From here the pressure to perform for Ancajas surely grows, and a deserved acclaim possibly awaits.

JESSE HART VS. THOMAS AWIMBONO

The evening’s singular punch belonged to Philadelphia super middleweight Jesse Hart (23-1, 19 KOs) who put a proper right uppercut on the lowered chin of overweight Ghanaian Thomas Awimbono (24-8-1, 20 KOs) and dropped him hard and early.

“I looked for the uppercut with the jab,” explained Hart. “The jab is everything. My coach told me not to look for the uppercut but to wait for it. As soon as I saw it . . .”

Awimbono, who missed weight widely and forced Hart to eat his way up to a catchweight and looked nowhere fit as his shredded opponent, rose unsteadily and collected another barrage before succumbing completely at 1:28 of round 1.

“I was mentally prepared,” Hart said about his looking sharper Saturday than in his last match. “Daddy, this is for you. I want to say, ‘Happy Birthday, Mom!’”

UNDERCARD

Saturday’s fifth match saw New York lightweight Teofimo Lopez (8-0, 6 KOs) remain undefeated by outboxing light-hitting journeymen Mexican Juan Pablo Sanchez (29-15, 14 KOs) in a match whose official cards went 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55. Despite being outgunned in every minute Sanchez nevertheless managed to open an ugly gash over Lopez’s eye with what Lopez declared a headbutt:

“Yeah, that’s a headbutt,” said Lopez. “He barely fucking hit me. He didn’t even hit me.”

Highly considered Top Rank super featherweight Gabe Flores (6-0, 5 KOs) made an impressive showing against Mexican Alex Solorio (4-3, 1 KO) in the evening’s penultimate undercard bout, stopping Solorio at 2:31 of the first round.

“Of all the young fighters Top Rank has,” said Flores afterwards. “I’m the best.”

The evening’s third match was a mismatch, as Australian super middleweight Rohan Murdock (22-1, 16 KOs) went right through Virginia’s Frank Filippone (23-7-1, 8 KOs), causing Filippone’s corner to stop the match after five rounds. Murdock looked solid if not particularly accurate, and Filippone was out of his depth from the opening round.

Before that Phoenix welterweight Jose Benavidez (26-0, 17 KOs) returned from a 20-month sabbatical to beatdown North Carolinian Matthew Strode (24-6, 9 KOs) and stop him at 2:21 of round 8. Benavidez, who was shot in the leg and told by a doctor he would need two years even to walk, looked nearly quick as fans remembered him, if not quite so sharp. The fight was a good one, Strode was awkward for a comeback opponent and took a punch well, and Benavidez knockedoff some of the rust he’ll need scrub in totality if he is to make a run at world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, who watched from ringside.

Told Crawford was unimpressed by his showing, Benavidez said:

“(Crawford) needs to sit his ass down. I’ll fight him whenever, wherever.”

Saturday’s card began with a victorious four-round professional debut for 17-year-old Israeli super welterweight David Kaminsky (1-0) against a local no-hoper Texan named Rafael Munoz (1-3-1). For all the talk preceding Kaminsky’s debut, there was more noise than effective aggressiveness – and after a very quick start Kaminsky mostly raised questions about his own power through the match’s remaining 3 1/2 rounds of frustration.

Opening bell sounded on a sparsely filled American Bank Center at 6:08 PM local time.

Junior Lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt is now on his 3rd opponent for his February 10th title defense. Now in is Maxwell Awuku, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We are ready for whoever,” Berchelt said. “I have prepared myself at the top. It’s good that the African is coming to create an upset and wants to offer a great fight to my audience. My emotions grow knowing that I will be fulfilling my dream (to defend his title at home) on Feb. 10.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, talks have began for a possible showdown between junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares.

“I’ve been talking to Mr. Honda for a month about the possibility of Linares-Lomachenko,” Lomachenko promoter Bob

Arum said. “But I had to wait for Linares to fight on Saturday night and see how things turned out. Well, the kid won. Now we can discuss terms for the fight. I’m waiting to hear back from Honda.

“Knowing Honda, he’ll probably ask for the terms he wants and we’ll work that out, and then he would have me contact Golden Boy for the provision of services contract and to work out the other stuff, like tickets, travel, those details. So far in my conversations with Honda, everything is proceeding nicely, so we’ll see.”

Arum said, according to Honda, it is a fight Linares is very interested in — and the same goes for Lomachenko and his manager, Egis Klimas.

“It’s being worked on for the next fight,” Arum said. “We want to make sure that Linares is OK and ready to go. He had a little cut [against Gesta] and he hurt his hand a little bit, so we need to make sure he’s fine. Depending on how he feels, the fight will be either April 28 or May 12. Linares is a tremendous fighter. He’s a guy with an excellent résumé and a good name.

“I’ve been communicating with Lomachenko through Egis and they are both very enthusiastic to do that fight, as is Lomachenko’s father [trainer Anatoly Lomachenko]. I haven’t talked to Golden Boy yet, but I have talked to Honda and Honda doesn’t mess around. His kid wants the fight and we want the fight.”

“We’re ready,” Linares promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “Lomachenko versus Linares is the fight to make, so we have to make it. For 2018, our goal is to always make the best fights and that’s actually one of them out of many, so Bob Arum, give me a call.”

De La Hoya reiterated his view on Monday, telling ESPN, “I want Linares to fight Lomachenko next and if Bob Arum is serious about making the fight, then I’ll wait for his offer and see what it is. But that’s the fight we want next for Linares. That’s the fight the fans want to watch and I’m all for it.”

“Golden Boy will not stand in the way of any fight,” De La Hoya said. “For my fighters, I’m going to try to make the most money for them. If Bob Arum is going to come with an offer and I feel I can beat it, he should give me an opportunity to do so whether the fight is on HBO or ESPN. But I want to make the most money for my fighters. We are not going to get in the way of this fight being made.”

Lucas Matthysse stopped Tewa Kiram to win the WBA Welterweight title at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

Matthysse suffered an abrasion over his left eye in round five of a fight that lacked action over the first seven rounds.

In round eight, Matthysse dropped Kiram with a hard left hand,  It was another left hand that sent Kiram on his back for a second and final time and the bout was stopped at 1:21.

Matthysse, 147 lbs of Chubut, ARG is now 39-4 with 36 knockouts.  Kiram, 146.4 lbs of Buriram, THA is now 37-1.

“I’m really happy,” said Lucas Matthysse. “He [Kiram] moved really well, and he was really big. That’s why it was hard to cut the distance. I didn’t feel his power, but he felt mine, so that’s why I was able to find him later and stop him. I’m here for the best and biggest names. I want the rematch with Danny Garcia or Manny Pacquiao. Those are the big fights I want, though of course that will be up to Mario Arano and Golden Boy Promotions to figure that out.”

Jorge Linares retained the WBA Lightweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Mercito Gesta.

In round eight, Linares was cut over his right eye.

Linares outlanded Gesta 171-120.

Linares, 135 lbs of Barinas, VEN won by scores of 118-110 twice and 117-111, and is now 44-3.  Gesta, 134.8 lbs of San Diego is now 31-2-2.

“I didn’t really feel his [Gesta’s] power, though I hurt my hand in the fourth or fifth round,” said Jorge Linares. “I threw my right hand without really putting too much power into it. I was just touching him. There wasn’t a knockout because he was well prepared. Like I said to Oscar De La Hoya, I don’t want to mention names for my next opponent. You know what’s nice? That people mention my name [as a possible opponent]. That’s fine that they mention my name, but let’s get them in the ring. Let them get in the ring with me.”

“I fought against a world champion, and that was a great privilege,” said Mercito Gesta. “He [Linares] adjusted well to my style after the first couple of rounds. Overall, I am proud of myself for taking this tough fight, and I know me and coach Freddie Roach came in with the best game plan. We just fell a little short.”

Jacare Souza stopped Derrick Brunson in the first round of the middleweight rematch at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Souza landed a booming head kick that sent Brunson sprawling down.  Souza landed three left hands and the fight was stopped by referee Dan Mergliota at 3:50.

Souza, 186 lbs of Rio di Janeiro, BRA is 25-5-1.  Brunson, 185 lbs of Wilmington, NC is 18-6.

Andre Fili won a split decision over Dennis Bermudez in a featherweight bout.

Fili, 146 lbs of Sacramento, CA won two cards 29-28, while Bermudez took a card 30-27.

Fili is now 18-5.  Bermudez, 145 lbs of Lindenhurst, NY is 16-8.

Gregor Gillespe stopped Jordan Rinaldi in the 1st round of their lightweight bout.

Gillespe mounted Rinaldi and got him on a back mount where he landed a barrage of punches, and the fight was stopped at 4:46.

Gillespe, 155 lbs of Long Island, NY is 11-0.  Rinaldi, 155 lbs of Charlotte, NC is 13-6.

In a bloody battle, Drew Dober won a unanimous decision over Frank Camacho in a welterweight bout.

Dober, 170 lbs of Denver, CO won by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice to raise his mark to 19-8-1.  Camacho, 169 lbs of Sapan, Marien Islands is now 21-6.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk will meet Mehdi Amar for the Interim WBC Light Heavyweight title on March 17th at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and televised on ESPN, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We are trading paperwork with Amar’s management, but the fight is agreed to,” Carl Moretti, vice president of Gvozdyk promoter Top Rank, told ESPN on Thursday. “Gvozdyk relishes the opportunity to fight for the interim belt and he’s more locked in than a CPA on April 14.”

“I can’t explain my excitement of how happy I am seeing some bright light at the end of tunnel,” he said. “It means I am getting one more step to a world title shot. Fighting for the interim title and mandatory position in the WBC will bring me in position to fight the champion, whoever it will be at that time. I would like to thank the WBC for giving me this opportunity, my promoter Top Rank, my manager, Egis Klimas, all my team who is working hard to get me in this position.

My dream is slowly coming true. I also am excited to fight in Madison Square Garden, New York, the mecca of boxing. As far as my opponent, I don’t know much about him, but I’ll be ready to find out on March 17th at MSG.”

Said Klimas, the 2016 and 2017 Boxing Writers Association of America manager of the year: “I’m very happy for Oleksandr, getting him into this WBC interim/mandatory position and getting in position in the next fight [after March 17] to fight a champion and to become one. He is a hard-working and smart boxer and he deserves to be where he is now.”

“This guy [Amar] has experience and he fought Stieglitz in a good fight,” Moretti said. “If Gvozdyk takes care of business, which we expect him to, he’ll fight the winner of a sensational fight between Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack, which is a true 50-50 fight. We look forward to making that fight.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Michael Conlan will move his training camp from California where he was trained by Manny Robles to train closer to home in London to train with Adam Booth.

“I have another baby on the way, so it is better for me and my family to be closer to home with me being active in my boxing career and being in camp basically all year round,” Conlan told ESPN. “I felt it was smarter for us as a family to move to back to the U.K. to be closer to our families. It will be better and a lot more comfortable to have that helping hand from grandmothers and sisters. We need to have a better support team around us. In Los Angeles, it was just us, so I needed to move back for my family’s sake.”

“I felt I was doing great with Manny and I have to thank him for everything he’s done for me,” Conlan said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. Always friends with him. He understood family is first and that’s what I’ve done. No ill feelings. He’s a great coach.”

“He doesn’t have that big of a stable of guys so with Adam I know I will get that one-on-one time I need,” Conlan said. “It’s very intense training and very enjoyable.” Conlan (5-0, 4 KOs), 26, won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics and then was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in highly controversial fashion. He will next fight on March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day — at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Top Rank’s ESPN card headlined by the vacant junior welterweight world title bout between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam.

“Adam is one of the best coaches in the world,” Conlan said. “I think his coaching style fits my boxing style.”

“Michael was open with us and he said he needed to make the change mainly for family reasons,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said, noting that Top Rank plans to put on a Conlan fight in Belfast this year. “He’s working with a top professional trainer in Adam Booth, so you can’t fault him. All respect to Manny Robles. He did a great job. It was a family thing that Michael had to take care of.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Junior Lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt will face Carlo Magali on February 10th in Cancyn, Mexico.

“I’m ready for whoever,” Berchelt said. “I’m ready to make my second defense before my people, fulfilling my dream. I know that my challenger will come out with everything, like every Filipino, ready to die on the ring. But I’ll be ready for whatever he brings. The important thing is to win and provide a great show.”

“It’s a dream opportunity, which I could not turn down,” Magali said of landing the title shot. “Fortunately, I’m always in the gym, and I know who Berchelt is. He’s very good for my style, and we’re going to bring the world title back to the Philippines.”

Fresh off his stoppage win over Lamont Peterson this past Saturday night, IBF Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr has been ordered to face Carlos Ocampo next, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The IBF ordered Tom Brown and Ocampo promoter Zanfer Promotions to begin negotiations immediately. If the sides do not make a deal by Feb. 22, a purse bid will be ordered to determine promotional control of the bout.

In the event of a purse bid, Spence would be entitled to 85 percent of the winning bid, and Ocampo would get the remaining 15 percent, a smaller figure than had he fought an eliminator to become No. 1 or No. 2.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The Contender reality series will return this Fall on Epix.

The show ran from 2005-2008 on NBC, ESPN and Versus.

The new season of the series will have a similar format to the previous seasons. Sixteen fighters will participate in an elimination competition. The fighters will be divided into two teams to train, “each overseen by a renowned boxing coach who will act as mentor,” according to the announcement.

The trainers and fighters have not yet been announced, but Jeff Wald, the co-creator of the series and a co-executive producer, told ESPN that the middleweight division will be featured. He said the season will be filmed in the Los Angeles area and that production will begin in April.

During the season, the boxers will live together, train together and fight each other, with boxers being eliminated along the way until the last two meet for “The Contender” title and an undisclosed six-figure purse.

Unlike in past seasons, where each episode culminated with a heavily edited version of that week’s elimination fight, Wald told ESPN that the new season will show each scheduled five-round fight in its entirety without the editing many boxing fans were so critical of.

“Boxing belongs on premium pay television, and there is no better home for ‘The Contender’ than Epix,” said producer Mark Burnett. “We will tell stories of the fighters, the families and their difficult journeys in the emotionally compelling Contender style, so that viewers get to vicariously ‘walk a mile’ in the boxers’ shoes.”

“‘The Contender’ has launched the careers of many fighters, with some contenders taking world titles — but this new iteration of the series will also showcase the heart, spirit and dramatic personal stories of these fighters as they fight in and out of the ring to realize their dreams,” Epix president Michael Wright said.

“This is not only real boxing, but real, raw human storytelling from the best unscripted television production team in the world.”

Middleweight champion Ryota Murata will defend his title against Emanuele Felice Blandamura on April 15 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I’ll devote all of myself to the first defense and concentrate on this fight,” Murata said, not wanting to get too far ahead of himself.

“Today is the happiest day of my life. I’m happy to fight Murata for the world championship,” Blandamura said.

If Murata comes through he would defend his title against fellow Olympian Esquiva Falcao.

“If all goes well with their upcoming fights we’ve discussed a July date between the Olympians, probably in Las Vegas,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN. “Murata against Falcao is a fight with great international flavor. There are a lot of Japanese in Brazil and both fighters are known in each other’s country, but we want to do it here (in the United States) because we want to build Murata and Falcao in the United States. The winner of that fight comes out pretty big.”

BROOKLYN, NY – Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 20 KO) successfully made the first defense of his IBF welterweight title by battering former two-division world champion Lamont Peterson (35-4-1, 17 KO) en route to a seventh-round stoppage victory in front of 12,107 fight fans at the Barclay’s Center.

It was as impressive of a title defense one could expect from the Desoto, TX native, who, except for a brief stretch in the third round, controlled the fight from the opening bell to it’s commencement.

In the early rounds, the 28-year old Spence was both patient and aggressive.  The former US Olympian used his jab to head and body establish distance between he and his counterpart.  Spence, a former 2012 US Olympian, would wait for a small opening, and then explode into Peterson before quickly retreating out of range.

In the third round, the 33 year-old Peterson began to engage more and midway through the frame landed a straight right the face of Spence, sandwiched between two thumping left hooks that landed behind the champion’s right ear.  Although Peterson showed signs of life, the round ultimately still belonged to Spence, who regained control and landed his shots before quickly retreating out of range.

In the fifth, Spence’s punches began to regularly penetrate Peterson’s guard.  After landing a sharp right hook, Spence unleashed a vicious left hook around Peterson’s defense that landed flush on Peterson’s temple, sending him crashing back to the mat.  Peterson beat referee Harvey Dock’s ten count, but was clearly still dazed.  Smelling blood in the water, the Derrick James-trained Spence stepped on the gas and continued to batter Peterson around the ring until the bell mercifully sounded.

In the sixth, “The Truth” picked up right where he left off in the fifth and immediately unloaded on Peterson, delivering a calculated and thorough beat-down for the round’s duration.

After the seventh round, a round that very much mirrored the two before, referee Harvey Dock, acting on advice from Barry Hunter and Peterson’s corner, called a halt to the contest.

It was Spence’s tenth straight win inside the distance and his first time in the ring since capturing his title via stoppage against Kell Brook last May.

The loss marked only the second time in Peterson’s career he was stopped.  The other TKO loss came courtesy of Lucas Matthysse in 2013.

Spence spoke after the fight, saying, “My coach came with a great game plan and I just followed through with it.  Keep my range, keep my composure.”

He continued, “I didn’t know I would dominate like that. I expected to get the knockout, but this was a great performance. We were facing a great fighter like Lamont Peterson and we did well in there.”

As for what’s next for Spence, the champion made his intentions clear.  “I want Keith Thurman. He has two of the belts and we both have big names. It’s an easy fight to make and I want it.”

Peterson also spoke afterward regarding his corners decision to stop the fight, stating, ““I always respect Barry’s decision. If he asks me to fight a million people, I will. If he asks me to stop. I will stop. I will never question his decision. I know he has my best interests at heart.”

Hunter echoed that sentiment, saying, ““It was really hard [to stop the fight], but if you know Lamont, you know he was not going to give up. So I had to stop it. At the end of the day this is my son right here. And there’s nothing more valuable than he’s well-being. If it comes to him or winning, I pick him. I care about him.”

As for Peterson’s next step, the 33-year old DC native, with over 280 professional bouts under his belt, admitted that retirement might be something for him to consider in the coming weeks.

Easter Scores Controversial Split Decision Win Over Fortuna

IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KO) earned a controversial split decision victory over crafty veteran southpaw, Javier Fortuna (33-2-1, 23 KO), in a twelve round bout that saw both fighters have their fair share of success.

Originally, the contest was slated to be for Easter’s IBF lightweight title, but Fortuna tipped the scales at 136.4 lbs. at Friday’s weigh-in — a pound and a half over the lightweight maximum – and was ruled ineligible to challenge for the belt.

Easter, who had a 5-inch height and 7.5-inch reach advantage, failed to box on the outside.  Rather, the Ohio native willingly walked forward to engage the much smaller Fortuna.  This played into Fortuna hands, who knew his best chance at landing anything significant would likely come via counterpunch.  If he were to score with any big left hands, he would need the 26-year old Easter to be a willing participant, and forego his reach advantage and engage.

And engage Easter did.  Time and time again, the 26-year old champion came forward and exchanged with his Dominican foe, willing to eat a left hand in order to deliver his own punches.

The 28-year old Fortuna had his best success in round seven as it drew to a close.  With his back against the ropes, uncorked a left cross that buzzed Easter and sent him in retreat.  The southpaw quickly followed up and landed another clean left before the bell sounded to end the round.

Easter did his best work when the fight was fought in the center of the ring, which wasn’t often.  Once he followed Fortuna to the ropes and the proximity between fighters got closer, both fighters had their share of success.  But when Easter could sneak shots in in the center of the ring, he scored.

At the end of twelve, judge John McKaie scored the contest 114-113, Fortuna.  Glenn Feldman and Kevin Morgan saw it the other way, scoring the bout 14-113 and 115-112 for Easter.

In the second round, Fortuna was deducted a point in the second round by referee Ricky Gonzalez after he repeatedly rabbit punched Easter behind the head.

For Easter, although he picked up the win, it was the second straight contest where he failed to impress and his second straight controversial decision.  In June 2017, Easter scored a unanimous decision over Denis Shafikov in a fight that many believed Shafikov to have won.

With the split decision ruling, the Sampson Lewkowicz-managed Fortuna suffered his second career loss.  The other came via eleventh-round TKO against Jason Sosa.

“It was a tough fight, he’s a former world champion for a reason,” Easter said afterward. “We made it tough trying to counter punch. He wasn’t throwing much and it made it difficult for me to chase this guy around.”

He continued, “I couldn’t get the knockout but we got the win and that’s all that matter. I knew he was going to run once he felt my power. He just wanted to grab and hold the whole fight.

Fortuna also spoke after the fight, saying, “The public knows what happened here. They booed because they know that I won this fight.

“If he’s a man let’s fight again at 135-pounds. I will definitely make the weight. I didn’t give myself enough time to train.”

Browne Blasts Ntetu, Destroys Him In One

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne (21-5, 16 KO) is beginning to make a habit of winning via early knockout.  Fresh off his two-round demolition of Seanie Monaghan last April, Browne picked up where he left off and destroyed Francy Ntetu (17-2, 4 KO) in just 2:15.

Midway through the first of a scheduled ten rounds, the ex-US Olympian Browne landed a clean one-two, right-hook, straight-left combo, that collapsed the 35 year-old Ntetu’s legs and sent him face forward to the padded mat.  Knowing he had wounded prey in front of him, Browne was relentless for the remainder of the fight.  The former 3-time New York Golden Gloves champion unleashed hell on Ntetu, who was unable to survive his southpaw counterpart’s onslaught.  After 27 year-old Browne put together one final string of unopposed punches, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. jumped between the two boxers to stop the bout at the 2:15 mark of the first round.

The fight marked the Quebec-native Ntetu’s second career loss, the other coming courtesy of unbeaten lightweight champion David Benavidez in 2016.

“I did not expect him to be that explosive,” Ntetu said. “He got me with his right hook and a straight left.

He continued, giving credit to his opponent.  “[Browne] is very explosive, congrats to him. He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s smart.”

Browne also spoke after the match.  “We worked for this win. He walked into a sure shot and I made him pay,” he said afterward.  “The overhand left caught him and that was the beginning of the end for him. I knew he was hurt.”

As for what’s next for Browne?  “I need a world title shot. I’m ready to take on any of the champions. I don’t have any preferences.”

Blood, Guts, and Thunder:  Kownacki Stops Kiladze Inside 6

In an all-action slugfest that brought the Barclay’s Center crowd to their feet round after round, Polish-born Brooklyn heavyweight, Adam “Baby Face” Kownacki (17-0, 14 KO) sent Iago Kiladze (26-2, 18 KO) to the mat twice en route to a sixth round TKO win.

It was bombs away from the opening bell, which saw Kownacki charge forward and bullrush his fellow Brooklyn transplant.  The two fighters engaged immediately and seemingly didn’t stop until the final blow landed.

After weathering the initial Kownacki offensive, Kiladze was able to mount his own offense and opened a cut over Kownacki’s left eye midway through the first that immediately drew blood.

The second and third rounds played out much like the opening frame, with Kownacki letting his shots fly, and the Georgian-born Kiladze standing his ground, picking spots to fire back with his own fully-loaded punches.

But as the fight progressed, it was the 28 year-old heavyweight they call “Baby Face” who started getting the better of his opponent.  Perhaps sparked by adrenaline born from having hundreds of enthusiastic Polish fans chanting his name, or by the fact doctors were closely monitoring the state of his increasingly swelling eye, Kownacki fought each round with a sense of urgency — with a burning need to close the show in style.

In the fourth round, a straight right connected and put Kildaze on the mat.  Two rounds later, after raining down a barrage of heavy-handed shots, Kownacki unloaded a straight right that sent a dazed Kildaze stumbling backwards and to the canvas for the second and final time.  Although he beat referee Shada Murdaugh’s ten count, Murdaugh deemed that Kildaze was in no state to continue and called a stop to the fight at the 2:08 mark of the round 6.

Tonight’s fight was the first time Kownacki was back in action since scoring the biggest win of his career, a fourth round TKO of fellow Pole and former heavyweight title challenger, Artur Szpilka.

“I think I made the fight a lot harder than I should have,” Kownacki said after the fight.  “It’s another learning experience and I got the win. That’s all that matters.”

In his post-fight remarks, Kownacki also acknowledged his Polish supporters, stating, “I’m so thankful to all my Polish fans who come out and give me that extra support. I’m going to keep fighting for the fans and give everyone a great show.”

One Round Beatdown:  Price Destroys Ramos, Stays Unbeaten

Mayweather Promotions bantamweight prospect Dylan Price (5-0, 5 KO) displayed a full arsenal of weapons during his one round beatdown of Nestor Ramos (7-8-3, 3 KO).  Price, a Slickerville, NJ native showcased lightning-quick hand speed, launching fists at his Mexican counterpart from all kinds of crazy angles, smothering Ramos with gloved fists for what seemed like the entirety of the first round.  As it turned out, that would be the fight’s only round, as referee Shada Murdaugh, acting on advice from Ramos’ corner, stopped the contest between rounds.

The win makes it 5 stoppage wins in 5 fights for “The Real Dyl”, who is trained by his father, Dave Price.  The loss makes it six in a row for Ramos, who hasn’t earned a win since October 2014.

Anthony Peterson Cruises To Ten Round UD Victory

In just his second fight in the last twenty-seven months, Anthony Peterson (38-1, 24 KO) earned a ten round unanimous decision victory over fellow veteran junior welterweight, Luis Eduardo Florez (23-9, 19 KO).

Peterson, the younger brother of the night’s co-headliner, Lamont Peterson, was the non-stop aggressor, pressing the action all fight, walking forward, letting his hands fly, and battering his Colombian counterpart in the process.  To his credit, the hard-nosed Florez hung in to the best of his ability, and at times was able to sneak in clean counterpunches that momentarily halted Peterson’s momentum.  Florez’s small victories were few and far between, however, and the fight belonged to Peterson, who easily won every round.

After ten, all three judges cards scored a shutout for the DC native Peterson, 100-89 and 100-90, twice.

Peterson’s lone blemish remains a disqualification loss to Brandon Rios in 2010.

Golub Bounces Back From Defeat, Stops Munoz In 3

Ivan Golub (13-1, 12 KO) bounced back from his sole defeat last June and scored a third round TKO win over veteran Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (38-15-1, 30 KO) in a welterweight contest slated for 8.  After a second round that saw Golub on the mat, albeit never hurt, the Ukranian-born Brooklyn transplant came roaring back to put Munoz on the canvas twice in the same round.  In the third round, Munoz found himself on the mat four more times, only twice officially, and never from punches of serious consequence.  The Colombian was fighting on unsteady legs, and was unable to stand toe-to-toe with the eager southpaw.  After Munoz dropped to his knees his fourth time on the ground in a matter of minutes, referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the contest midway through the round.

Gonzalez Makes Easy Work Of Serna

Ridgewood, NY native Matthew Gonzalez (3-0, 2 KO) bruised and battered fellow middleweight Alexander Serna (1-2, 1 KO) en route to a four round unanimous decision victory.  Gonzalez looked sharp and used his superior skill-set to have his way with Serna over the course of their twelve minute scrap.  In the end, all judges scored the obvious 40-36 shutout in favor of Gonzalez.

Williams and Okoth Fight To Draw

Welterweights Keyshawn Williams (1-0-1, 1 KO) and Denis Okoth (1-0-1, 1 KO) battled to a four round split draw in the first fight of a nine bout card from the Barclay’s Center that will commence when undefeated IBF welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. defends his title against rugged veteran, Lamont Peterson.

After four hard fought rounds, Judge Larry Hazzard Jr. scored the night’s opening contest 39-37 for the 24 year old Kenyan, Okoth. Robin Taylor saw it the other way, 39-37 for the 20 year old DC native, Williams.  Carlos Ortiz Jr. cemented the split draw result by scoring the bout even, 38-38, a score 15rounds.com agreed with.

Kenichi Ogawa tested positive for a banned substance in his IBF Junior Lightweight title winning effort against Tevin Farmer’; which will be changed to a no-contest, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

In a urine test conducted a few days before the fight — but whose results were not returned until after the fight — Ogawa was positive for two forms of androstanediol (synthetic testosterone) and he was suspended on Thursday at the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s first meeting of 2018, the first time details of his positive test were made public.

Ogawa’s postfight drug test was negative, but the A sample and B sample of his prefight test days earlier were both positive. Ogawa will have the opportunity for a hearing at the Feb. 14 commission meeting, although if his attorney, Joseph Brown, is not ready to proceed with the case, commission executive director Bob Bennett told ESPN that the commission would move the hearing to March “as a courtesy.”

“You want to talk about a roller-coaster ride,” Farrmer’s promoter LouDiBella told ESPN after he was informed of Ogawa’s positive test. “I’m sort of stunned by this. I thought Tevin Farmer won that fight. Ogawa put out a great effort in the fight. He was like an Energizer bunny. He was aggressive but not effectively aggressive and he took a lot of peppering from Tevin, and now to find out he tested positive is remarkable. It looks like Tevin Farmer is going to get the opportunity to win that title again after all.”

“I’m always disappointed to have it re-emphasized how big of a problem we have but I think there should be zero tolerance,” DiBella said. “It’s extremely prevalent and it’s dangerous. That being said, there’s a relief. After everything this guy (Farmer) went through, and to have that tainted loss that I didn’t think was a loss at all — now I will call Tevin Farmer and say, ‘Guess what, buddy? Looks like you probably didn’t lose.'”

Ray Beltran and Paulus Moses will vie for the WBO Lightweight title on February 16th in Reno, Nevada and televised on ESPN, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Beltran will also be fighting for a Green card to stay in the United States.

“I believe God has plans for everybody. I believe this is it for me and my team, to become a world champion at this point, not just for me but for all the hard-working people, especially immigrants, who come to this great nation to make their dreams come true, working hard and never giving up,” Beltran said. “I hope my story and my struggle can inspire others to achieve their dreams and to motivate them to never give up.

“I respect my opponents always, but this is my destiny, and no man will get in the way of that. I’m ready to prove to everyone that I am the most dangerous lightweight in the world.”

“I’m coming Feb. 16 to take what was mine in Scotland, and when I leave Reno, I am leaving as the WBO champion,” said Beltran, who spent years as the main sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao.

“I’m excited about this fight for many reasons,” Beltran said. “I’m fighting for myself — for 18 years I have worked to become a world champion. I am fighting for my family, my wife and for my children to be proud of me.

“When you’re a champion, you are a champion forever. I am fighting for my team, the people who have been with me from the start. It’s easy when you are on your way up to have fans, but my true fans have been with me at my lowest and stayed through my highs in life. This fight means everything to me. A victory will also seal my green card. For me to be world champion, and a citizen of this country, this is my dream. ”

“I just hope he comes through,” Arum said. “The other guy, Moses, is a good fighter, and sometimes Ray has great performances, and sometimes he has mediocre performances. But if he could win a world title and I could be there to see it, I would have a lot of pride in the achievement.

“But this is the kind of fight we want to do on our ESPN shows, because it’s a fight where you don’t know who’s going to win. These guys are both good, contending fighters in an even match, and that’s what people want to see. It’s a very tough fight that I think can go either way.”

Due to a hand injury, Sergey Lipinets will not be able to defend his IBF Junior Welterweight title against Mikey Garcia on February 10th, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The fight will be pushed back.

“We need to find out the extent of the injury, but it seems like it’s nothing too serious so I think the fight will probably just be pushed back a few weeks,” promoter Richard Schaefer said. “We have to coordinate with the Alamodome and see what dates are available and I need to talk to Showtime. So that’s what we are working on today.

“The injury is not that serious from what I’ve been told [by Lipinets’ team]. They think it’s a sprain in the hand, but definitely nothing is broken or anything that would cause the fight to have to be pushed back by an extended period of time.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, a proposed bout between Manny Pacquiao and Vasyl Loamchenko is not in the near-future cards.

“No, we are not fighting Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is calling out Lomachenko, who is three weight classes down the scale from him. Manny Pacquiao is 147 pounds and he’s calling out Lomachenko, who is 130 pounds. That’s insane,” said Lomachenko’s manager Egis Klimas told ESPN.

“There are negotiations now about the No. 1 pound-for-pound, which is Lomachenko,” Pacquiao said in an interview with ABS-CBN. “There are still talks on the weight, reducing the weight.”

“Look, we have our own agenda, our own road and our own plans. That’s where we’re going,” Klimas said. “There’s a lot of champions and good guys at 130 or 135 pounds. That’s where we’re going. Why isn’t Pacquiao calling out [Terence] Crawford? Crawford is moving into Pacquiao’s weight class. Why doesn’t he call out [Mikey] Garcia, who is at 140?”

“The difference is Lomachenko didn’t call out Rigondeaux,” he said. “Rigondeaux was willing and begging for the fight, so Lomachenko fought Rigondeaux. They had two gold medals each, they were both undefeated, and did that take Lomachenko somewhere? For Team Lomachenko, that fight didn’t mean anything. He beat a small guy. Even if he beat Pacquiao, they’d say he beat an old guy who was basically retired. We want to fight active champions dominating their weight classes.”

“We discussed at one point Manny and Lomachenko fighting, but Lomachenko’s father [trainer Anatoly Lomachenko] said he didn’t want him to jump up two divisions even though the fight would be at a catch weight of 140 pounds,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum said. “His father said he wanted him to first go up to 135 pounds and then maybe they’d consider a fight with Pacquiao at 140 pounds later.

“The spring would be too premature, but certainly that’s a fight that might be attractive down the road.”

Top Rank has signed 17 year-old junior middleweight prospect David Kaminsky from Israel, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman have seen him and Egis is a very good judge of talent and he was adamant that this kid could fight,” promoter Bob Arum said. “He handles himself well with these professional fighters and he had a good amateur record. He has all the qualifications and recommendations from the people I rely on. And he’s a nice boy and his father is boxing guy, so I have high hopes for him.”

“Only once in my career did I hear the shofar blown before a fight when Yuri fought Miguel Cotto (at Yankee Stadium in 2010) and I want to hear that again,” Arum said.

“I feel very fortunate to be signed under Top Rank,” said Kaminsky, a southpaw, who moved with his family from Israel to California when he was 3. “This is a big stepping stone in my boxing career. I have worked for this day my entire life and I wouldn’t want to be with any other team. I believe behind every great boxer is a great team, and I am very excited for this journey.

“I can do every different style for every different fighter. Once I step into the ring, I pick up a style right away. We have been working for so many years and we pick up styles from different types of fighters. So if I need to be slick, I can be slick. If I need pressure, I can use pressure. If I need to move on my feet, I move on my feet. But I do have a punch. I like to hit with power.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Cristian Mijares will not fight Miguel Berchelt on February 10 in Mexico.

“I’m confident that the fans are going to have the show that they deserve — a world championship fight and, unfortunately, it will not be against Cristian Mijares, who withdrew at the last minute,” Berchelt said. “But we are working to get a worthy opponent and give them a great fight.”

“I have to change the preparation a bit because Mijares is left-handed. Right now I do not know who they will put in front of me, but I know that the preparation I did with [trainer] Alfredo Caballero will help me to beat anyone,” said Berchelt, adding that after the upcoming defense he would be interested in a unification bout against pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Former U.S. Olympian Jamel Herring has signed with Top Rank, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We’re happy for him,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN. “Once everything is signed he can restart his career training under ‘Bomac.’ Herring is just one of a plethora of fighters who find themselves in a no-hope position. They’re prizefighters. That’s what they’re supposed to do — fight for a prize and, obviously, that window has been closed for many of them.”

Moretti was referring to the chronic inactivity many of the Premier Boxing Champions fighters face.

Moretti said that Herring’s first fight with Top Rank is not scheduled yet but that it is likely to take place in April and that “he can drop to 130 pounds or continue fighting at 135 pounds. He will fight wherever there are the best opportunities for him.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Former four-division world champion Roman Gonzalez plans to return this Spring following his two losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisal last year.

“Roman is definitely planning to fight in April or May,” Carlos Blandon, Gonzalez’s manager, told ESPN on Tuesday. Blandon said that Gonzalez plans to remain at junior bantamweight, resisting suggestions from some that he return to the flyweight division.

“Roman wants to keep fighting [at junior bantamweight] until he dominates the division and then maybe we will think of an additional title in the following weight division [bantamweight],” Blandon said. “God will tell. Roman and his new team are ready to kick off the new year.”

Jeremy Stephens scored an explosive 2nd round stoppage over Doohoo Choi in a featherweight bout at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Stephens dropped Choi in round two, and then landed three hard shots with Choi on the ground, and the bout was stopped at 2:36.

Stephens, 145.5 lbs of San Diego is 27-14. Choi, 146 lbs of Busan, SK is 15-3.

Jessica Rose Calrk won a unanimous decision over fan favorite Paige CanZant in a flyweight bout.

Clark, 125.5 lbs of Innisfal, AUS won by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice, and is now 9-4-1. VanZant, 125.5 lbs of Portland, OR is now 7-4.

Kamaru Usman won a unanimous decision over Emil meek in a welterweight bout.

Usman was bleeding from the right eye from from short elbows in round one. Meek was cut in the back of his head in round two. Later in the round he was cut on the forehead.

Usman dominated as he out-landed Meek 104-69, and had the control advantage by a 12-minute margin.

Usman, 169.5 lbs of Boca Raton, FL won by scores of 30-27 on all cards, and is now 12-1. Meek, 170.5 lbs of Trondheim, NOR is 9-3-1-1.

This was Usman’s 11th straight win.

Darren Elkins submitted Michael Johnson in round two of their featherweight bout.

Elkins won by rear naked choke at 2:22.

Elkins, 145.5 lbs of Portange, IN is 24-5. Johnson, 146 lbs of Boca Raton, FL is 17-13.

Elkins won his 6th consecutive bout.

WBA/IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will meet WBO Champion Joseph Parker on March 31st in Cardiff, Wales, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I would like to announce the official news that myself and Joseph Parker will be fighting on March 31 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff,” Joshua said on Sunday. “It is a unification heavyweight championship fight. We all know what happened last time I was in a unification heavyweight championship fight. It was grueling, it was interesting and we both left the ring with masses of respect.”

“Anthony Joshua is in for a huge shock,” Parker said. “A couple of months ago I heard him say, ‘Why should I be worried about this little kid from New Zealand?’ Well, now he’s about to find out. And the world is about to find out whether AJ can really take a punch. My entire existence is now devoted to proving what the boxing world already knows.”

“These fights aren’t easy because there is a lot on the line, so respect to Team Parker for taking the challenge,” Joshua said. “And you know me, I love this game. I am looking forward to it. Training camp is underway and before you know it, March 31 will be upon us.”

“I’m delighted to get this fight made — it’s been a long time coming,” Hearn said. “Champions should fight champions and AJ continues to step up to the challenges. It’s the first time in history that two reigning heavyweight world champions have met in Britain, and it’s a classic matchup between two young, fast, undefeated belt holders and it’s going to be an explosive fight. This is another huge unification fight for Anthony as he continues to make history in the quest to become undisputed world heavyweight champion.”

“Eddie has been great to work with from day one,” Higgins said. “I know we ruffled a few feathers along the way but, as Eddie acknowledged, when you come from a small country and people perceive you as a small player, sometimes you’ve got to make a bit of noise. New Zealand might be a tiny country on the other side of the world, but it has a hugely proud sporting tradition — and a particularly strong tradition when it comes to whipping mother England.

“Joseph Parker is the absolute epitome of the Kiwi sporting battler. It has been said that he is punching above his weight, but he didn’t become WBO heavyweight champion by being lucky. He’s never been stopped, never even been wobbled in the ring. He’s consistently fought fighters in the world’s top 10 and he’s beaten them all easily. It certainly won’t be a shock to me when he beats Anthony Joshua and takes his titles back home to New Zealand.”

Two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner Claressa Sheilds retained her IBF/WBC Super Middleweight titles with a ten-round unanimous decision over Tori Nelson at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

Shields, 167 lbs of Flint, MI won by scores of 200-90 on all cards, and is now 5-0. Nelson, 164.75 lbs of Ashburn, VA is now 17-1-3.

“I landed every shot that I thought possible to land,” Shields said. “She was tough, she wasn’t a pushover. She put on a good fight.”

“I have to drop down and see how I feel (first),” Shields said. “I think I could make 160 easy, I’m going to be bigger and stronger than any girl.

“Hammer just wants to scope. I think she’s pretty scared to be honest. She is more worried about me than I am about her. I’m going to kick Hammer’s ass. People think Hammer is more skilled than me so I can’t wait to show her that she’s not.”

“It’s a great combination me and her on the same card,” Hammer said. “I can’t wait to show the fans who Christina Hammer is. That will be the best fight ever. It will be the game-changer for female boxing. It’s our time to shine.

“I’m long-time world champion and I have more experience. I have longer reach, I’m tall, I have good footwork and better technique than her. I feel the energy, and I can’t wait to fight against her.”

“I’m not happy because I didn’t win, but other than that I thought I executed pretty well,” said the 41-year-old Nelson. “I gave her a better fight than she was expecting.

“No disrespect to Claressa, she doesn’t have great power. She has great speed and she overwhelms you with a lot of punches. My movement threw her off like I knew it would but knowing she was the champion, I needed to just push a little bit more.”

Jesse Angel Hernandez won a ten-round split decision over Ernesto Garza in an exciting super bantamweight bout.

he end of round two, Garza was credited with a knockdown as Hernandez hit the deck after walking into a left hand.

Hernandez, 122.5 lbs of Fort Worth, TX won two cards by 97-93 and 95-94 tallies, while Garza won Garza took a card 95-93.

Hernandez is 11-1. Garza, 122.5 lbs of Saiginaw, MI is 9-3.he threw 1019.

Hernandez landed 286-719 punches while Garza also landed 286 punches as

“I think it should have been a unanimous decision,” Hernandez said. “I’ve always been a slow starter and I feel like I lost the first two rounds, especially with the knockdown. But I won pretty much every round after that, I maybe lost three rounds.

“I’m not completely happy with my performance. I have to control my distance and my range a little bit better. I need to go back to the gym and work on those things. Before the summer comes I hope to have another fight and I hope it’s on SHOWTIME.

“I give Garza a lot of credit for getting in the ring and knocking me down. He hung in there for 10 rounds even after I caught him with some good shots. He was able to withstand those shots, but all that said, I still think it should have been a unanimous decision.”

“I thought it was a bogus decision,” Garza said. “I don’t understand that last judge’s card. I was happy with everything that I did. I executed well and did everything I needed to do to win the fight.

“I’m really disappointed with the outcome. I felt that I won. To me, I won a majority of the rounds and I knocked him down. I know knocking your opponent down usually leads to you winning the fight.”

In a battle of undefeated junior welterweights, Shohjahon Ergashev stopped Sonny Fredrickson in round three of a scheduled eight-round bout.

Ergashev rocked Fredrickson with a series of hard lefts. Ergashev continued to stagger and wobble for about 30 seconds until the bout was stopped at 1:58.

Ergashev, 140 lbs of Fergana, UZ is 11-0 with 11 knockouts. Fredrickson, 141 lbs of Toledo, OH, is 18-1.

“The ref saved him,” Ergashev said. “If he let him stay on his feet any longer I would have knocked him out. He couldn’t handle my power.

“At this stage of my career, I am in the best shape of my life and the best I have felt. This is my time right now, especially because I am training with Rick (Phillips) and (Javan) Sugar (Hill Steward). That’s what leads to all of my knockout power.

“I’m ready for whatever comes next. I’m ready for more fights in the U.S., and I want to keep getting more exposure to show off my skills. I’m ready to fight anybody in America.”

Several entertaining fights highlighted the untelevised undercard for two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields defense of her WBC and IBF titles against mandatory challenger Tori Nelson at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York tonight.

In the main supporting bout, Detroit via Kurchaloi, Russia, heavyweight Apti Davtaev had a successful United States fighting debut by scoring a six-round unanimous decision over Philadelphia’s Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson.

Wilson didn’t make it easy. Fighting out of a crouch, the heavily muscled, but much shorter Wilson came up with enough wild haymakers to make the entire fight very interesting. Davtaev appears to have a heavy right hand, which he dropped onto the hard head of Wilson often enough to earn the close, but deserved nod. Davtaev warrants credit for going to war whenever one of Wilson’s looping swings connected.

Davtaev (now 14-0-1, 13 KOs) loses his perfect KO percentage, but walks away with a hard-fought victory over a foe who came to win. Wilson is now (18-14-1, 9 KOs).

The scores were 58-56 from all three judges.

An accidental headbutt brought an abbreviated end to the six-round super lightweight return of Aktjubinsk, Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Eyubov.

In against Lynchburg, Virginia’s Maurice Chalmers (14-13-1, 8 KOs), the exciting slugger Eyubov (13-0, 11 KOs) was advancing behind active head movement and a tight shell when his head collided with the retreating Chalmers’. The cut that resulted was ruled too severe and the fight was ruled a No Decision at 1:59 of the opening round.

In a wild women’s light heavyweight brawl featuring fists flying from every direction, wrestling holds and several MMA-style takedowns, Franchon “The Heavy Hitting Diva” Crews-Dezurn won a unanimous six-round decision over Tiffany “The Terminator” Woodard.

Crews-Dezurn, now 3-1, 1 KO, of Baltimore, Maryland, had too many weapons for Wilson, North Carolina’s Woodard (now 4-10-3, 3 KOs), so Woodard tried and succeeded to make things ugly. What followed was a wild punch-out featuring elbows and headlocks and takedowns that left both on the canvas more than once.

Woodard took a lot of hard leather and deserves credit for her toughness. Crews-Dezurn showed class in not taking the bait for most of the fight. She did lose a point in the sixth for a sneaky revenge takedown.

The scores were 59-53, 59-54 and 59-54.

Detroit via Magnitogorsk, Russia’s Alexey Zubov outworked a determined Lamont “Too Smooth” Capers of Hawley, Pennsylvania, on his way to a six-round majority decision.

An entertaining fight between hard-nosed cruiserweights, Zubov was cut over the right eye and took some good punches, but simply outworked the more selective Capers. Zubov showed his often-superior conditioning and worked behind an educated jab, while Capers was content to lay on the ropes and land hard pot shots often enough to keep it interesting.

A score of 57-57 draw was over-ruled by scores 59-56 and 58-56 for the tough Russian. With the victory, Zubov moves his record to 17-1, 9 KOs. Capers falls to 8-11-3.

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About Turning Stone Resort Casino
Host of the January 12 event, Turning Stone Resort Casino is an award-winning destination resort, which continues to distinguish itself as a premier venue for fight-of-the-year level boxing. The January event will mark Turning Stone’s 24th nationally-televised boxing event, cementing the resort as a leading destination for nationally-televised combat sports. Turning Stone features world-class amenities including four hotels, more than 20 signature restaurants and dining options, two spas, an all-new 125,000 square foot Las Vegas style gaming floor, a cabaret-style Showroom, a 5,000-seat arena, five golf courses, several bars, cocktail lounges and nightlife venues with live entertainment every weekend.

Light Heavyweight Eleider Alvarez will not participate in a purse bid for a potential purse bid with Oleksandr Gvozduk, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“The WBC has received official notification from Alvarez in which he has withdrawn from the fight for the WBC interim title, consequently the purse bid scheduled for this Friday is now cancelled,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman wrote to both camps on Wednesday. “The WBC will now take the matter back to the WBC board to review and make a ruling on the division.”

“Obviously, we’re disappointed that once again a fight disappeared for Gvozdyk after being ordered. We know Gvozdyk is a solid fighter, we just didn’t realize we have the second coming of Bob Foster,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti sarcastically told ESPN, referring to the all-time great former light heavyweight world champion and one of the biggest punchers in boxing history.

“He is the No. 1 WBC contender because he has earned it in the ring and we can see no logical reasons to fight a fourth final title eliminator,” Michel told ESPN, though the Gvozdyk fight would be for an interim title, which, with a win, would guarantee Alvarez a higher percentage of the money in the full title fight if it were to go to a purse bid. “His goal is to fight the champion.”

Welterweights Ray Robinson and Yordenis Ugas will meet in a welterweight elimination bout on February 10 in San Antonio as part of the Mikey Garcia – Sergey Lipinets card and will be broadcasted on showtime, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Ugas-Robinson is an intriguing crossroads-type matchup between two talented boxers, each looking to earn his way into the top tier of the welterweight division,” Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports told ESPN. “We are in discussions with Mayweather Promotions to add it as an opening bout on the Showtime telecast.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former cruiserweight title holder Grigory Drozd has retired.

“Dear friends (and) fans of boxing, today I made a very important decision for me,” he said in a statement. “I officially declare the end of my sports career. I want to thank my team, my coach and my promoters. Life does not stop. In sports I reached the top, but you cannot be there forever. I want to thank the people who were with me — my family, my mother, my wife and my children. Together we went through victories and won the WBC green and gold belt.”

“Today in front of me there are many interesting and important tasks such as the development of boxing in the new generations of my country,” Drozd said. “We have achieved a lot, but we still face many more important tasks. Thanks for everything.”

The card is expected to be formally announced on Tuesday, though Alexander confirmed the fight on his social media account later Sunday. “It’s on!!,” he wrote, adding a photo of a poster for the event.

The unification bout between WBA/IBF Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and WBO champion Joseph Parker is close to being finalized, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I’m on my way to London because it looks like we are close enough to board this plane and to go see Eddie Hearn in person so we can fine-tune the details and put the finishing touches on this deal,” Parker co=promoter David Higgins told ESPN on Sunday night — Monday afternoon in his home country of New Zealand — as he waited for his flight to take off.

“In boxing, some camps haggle and argue over trivial stuff, and it gets in the way of fights,” Higgins said. “They have petty arguments. Eddie is more like me in that he’s straightforward, and based on the negotiations that we have had to date, we can close out the final details and get an announcement in about a week. There are just a few minor things, co-promotional stuff that we’re working on. We’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”

“When it comes to the major things in this deal, we are already on the same page,” Higgins said. “Everything is positive, so I am going to London with confidence that we will wrap this up and have a big fight.”

“The discussions for the American television broadcaster are going on right now, but the fight will have a major television outlet in the United States,” Higgins said.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Luis Nery will defend his Bantamweight title against Shinsuke Yamanaka on March 1st in Japan.

On Aug. 15, in Kyoto, Japan, Nery stopped Yamanaka in the fourth round to win the 118-pound world title. However, Nery (25-0, 19 KOs), a 23-year-old southpaw from Mexico, failed a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association-administered drug test as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program.

“I’ll regain my belt from Nery with my utmost motivation and dedication,” Yamanaka said in interpreted comments at the news conference. “This time I’m a challenger and will win back the WBC belt.”

“If I had been effectively knocked out by Luis Nery, with me falling to the canvas, I could have hung my gloves forever, but the result of my defeat in that way does not convince me,” Yamanaka said. “I went into the ring in excellent physical condition. I can not be satisfied with the outcome of that night. I cannot find the reason because I have lost, but I can not think about finishing my career in this way, with a defeat that does not convince me. I am not finished yet. My determination to return to boxing is great, and that is why I will do everything in my power to recover the green-and-gold belt.”

Guillermo Rigondeaux was stripped of his junior featherweight title following his defeat to Vasyl Lomachenko in a junior lightweight title bout on December 9th, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“I think it’s very unfair,” Alex Bornote, Rigondeaux’s manager, told ESPN. “We fought at 130 pounds. What does that have to do with anything at 122 pounds, where Rigo was champion? They just had it in for us. His inactivity has totally screwed him. Rigo has been inactive and when you’re inactive the WBA is not getting any sanctioning fees, so they’ve had it in for us.”

“I didn’t think it would be such a horrible performance,” Bornote said. “It’s another nail in his coffin in his career. It’s the Rigo story. Never have I ever seen such a thing. He has no luck at all.

“He doesn’t feel all that great right now. He didn’t think the weight difference would be such a big deal, but Lomachenko is a very special talent, a great boxer. And Rigo also hurt his hand, so he was at a big disadvantage.”

“It was hard enough for Rigo to get a fight when he had a world title, so now imagine what it’s going to be like without a title. But he’s definitely going back to his weight class at 122 pounds or maybe 126 pounds,” Bornote said. “He’s really a natural 118-pounder, but in this market, with the opponents out there, we might have to also consider fighting at 126 pounds.

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do. Maybe we’ll find something in Europe for him. They liked him when he fought in U.K. [in 2016]. But we’ll try to get him back in the ring and wash that bad taste out of our mouth because that performance with Lomachenko was horrible. He knows it. Lomachenko was just too big, too fast and Rigo hurt his hand. It was a disaster for him. Lomachenko is special. Rigo doesn’t see anyone who is going to beat [Lomachenko] in that weight class. He said Lomachenko is for real.”