Fresh after winning the WBC Middleweight title last week, Julio Cesar Chavez will make his first defense in September according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“It’s very important that he go right back into action because he’s the kind of kid that doesn’t understand discipline when he’s not training,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com.
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“When he’s training he’s all right. We’ve got to get him back in the gym as soon as possible.

“We talked to Freddie (Roach) and went over everything and the date that works for us is Sept. 24, and that’s what we’ve asked HBO for,” said Arum, adding that the fall bout likely would take place in Houston or San Antonio. “That’s right before Freddie leaves for the Philippines to train Manny. He doesn’t think the kid would go to train with them in the Philippines. It’s tough enough to get him to train at the Wild Card (in Hollywood, Calif.). I’ve talked to HBO and they are considering it.”

“If they have a good rating, you have to keep the momentum going,” Arum said.

Arum said there are three opponents under consideration for Chavez’s next fight: European champion Darren Barker of England, former “Contender” participant Peter Manfredo Jr. of Providence, R.I., and Marco Antonio Rubio, Chavez’s Mexican countryman.

“I think we’ll try to do Chavez against (junior middleweight titlist) Miguel Cotto next spring in a big pay-per-view, but in the meantime we’re looking at those guys for Chavez in the fall,” Arum said.

“He’s a guy who should be fighting four or five times a year,” Arum said. “Because of Freddie’s situation, Chavez will fight in September. If not on that date, Sept. 24, around that date. HBO is not the only game on the block. Given his ratings, if HBO didn’t want it, or couldn’t do it, we could go to Showtime or do it ourselves.”

On Saturday the 11th of June former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Scott Welch promotes a Pro-Am show at the Brighton Metropole hotel, the scene of his title winning effort against the late James Oyebola.

The card features amatuer Chris Eubank jnr, son of former World middle and super middle champion Chris Eubank amongst a few other amatuer fights, pro action features light middleweight’s Nick Jenman and Darrell Setterfield who face respective opposition against yet to be named opposition, plus light welter Ross Payne tops off what should be a well put together show.

Doors open 5 pm and first fight’s at 6pm.
For tickets please phone 01273 715 800 or alternatively 07734 351 966. tickets are priced at the following £30 seating or ringside which is £50.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that a high stakes Jr. Welterweight bout between former two division champion Robert Guerrero and Marcos Maidana is in the works for San Jose, California on August 27.

“I have a very good feeling, but it’s not done yet,” said Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer. “I don’t have it signed yet, but if I can get it done it is absolutely as good of a fight as you can make. It’s good to be a boxing fan.

“It’s a big opportunity for Robert and another big fight for Maidana. A win here can really establish Robert in the 140-pound division. He’s a big guy and can definitely move up to 147 as well. A win over Maidana makes him a factor in that 140-pound division, which we all know is one of the best in boxing. The winner could potentially fight the winner of Amir Khan and Zab Judah.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the May 7 bout that saw Manny Pacquiao score a lackluster unanimous decision over Shane Mosley was a box office success as the bout drew an estimated 1.3 million Pay Per View buys.

This was Pacquiao’s best showing on Pay Per View

“We know we have a little over 1.3 million,” said promoter Bob Arum said. “What we don’t have are some of the smaller cable systems. What I’m saying is I know we go to the bank counting a little over a 1.3 million. I know we’ll go up from there. How much up, I have no experience in this. This was all done for us in the past by HBO, which had experience, charts and all kinds of data from past fights to compare the fight to. Showtime can’t do it because they haven’t done this in so long. They don’t have the database that you need, but I’m feeling very, very happy because I know I’ve done at least 1.3 million.

“How far over we are remains to be seen, and I have no way to make a prediction. Obviously, on the outstanding systems we did something. So that will determine how much above 1.3 million. But I don’t think we have enough outstanding numbers to say we will be over 1.4 million, so I think we will wind up somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4 million.”

Which network will be awarded the rights to Pacquiao-Marquez III has not been determined, Arum said.

“We’re on the clock and we’re discussing it with of them now, how we’re going to do it and which network we’re going to do it with,” he said.

“We worked out how we would do that first negotiation and everybody is happy with the procedure,” Arum said. “But we are also discussing it with HBO.”

“I’ve got more than a whole month to get that done, so we’re not going to agonize,” Arum said.

PHOENIX – Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. learned Wednesday that he is scheduled to fight well-traveled Corey Alarcon Saturday night at Chandler’s Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino in Benavidez’ home-state debut as a pro.

“He’s the most experienced guy I’ve been in against, no doubt,’’ said the unbeaten Benavidez (11-0, 10 KOs), who turned 19 a few weeks ago.

The 33-year-old Alarcon (14-17-1, 4 KOs) still has to be licensed by the Arizona State Boxing Commission. The official weigh-in is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. (PST) at Native New Yorker in Westgate Center in Glendale.

Alarcon, who suffered stoppages in his last two bouts, isn’t new to Phoenix. He lost a second-round TKO to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2005 on a night when Chavez’ legendary dad saw his career end in a loss to Nebraska car salesman Grover Wiley at U.S. Airways Center.

Alarcon’s experience also includes a 2001 loss to Rocky Juarez and a 2005 victory by disqualification over Victor Ortiz, who was declared the loser after he knocked down Alarcon for a second time while the referee was trying to separate them.

Benavidez, considered the best Arizona prospect since Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal and super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales, has been anxious to fight at home since Top Rank signed him as a 17-year-old. His professional debut in Arizona was canceled a year ago because of controversy over the state’s immigration legislation, SB1070.

Benavidez and Alarcon have agreed to fight at 143-144 pounds in a six-round main event on a seven-fight card scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (PST), according to Gerry Truax of Showdown Promotions.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

In what was one of the more inevitable things that was to happen in boxing happened on Tuesday as former Lightweight champion Juan Diaz retired from boxing to pursue a law degree according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

Two weeks after signing a contract to fight David Torres and announcing that he would end a one-year layoff, the former unified lightweight titlist withdrew from the fight Tuesday, telling promoter Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing.

Diaz, a graduate of the University of Houston Downtown, had recently been accepted to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Law School. He has talked for years about someday going to law school, but the lure of the ring seemed like it was too much.

“I have the acceptance letter from law school and I look at it every day and question myself every day if I am making the right decision,” Diaz told ESPN.com two weeks ago when he announced his comeback fight. “I put it to the side and say law school can wait. What I really want is to become champion again, so I’ve been emailing back and forth with the university to see if I can work something out where they will let me defer for a year because I don’t think I want to go yet.”

Willie Savannah, Diaz’s manager, faxed a hand-written letter to Margules telling him of Diaz’s decision.

“He had trained 4-5 days per week for months in anticipation of once again becoming a world champion,” Savannah wrote. “He made this decision last Friday and I support it 100 percent. I hope that Warriors and ESPN will understand.

“Diaz does not have a history of pulling out of fights like a lot of boxers do. I apologize for the inconvenience this will cause all parties.”

“It’s been awhile and I am very excited and very pumped about being back in the ring,” Diaz said. “Last time I fought was July 31 last year, so it’s going to be a year. So I’m looking forward to fighting again and showing people what I still have.”

Former world champion Genaro Hernandez passed away today in California at the age of forty-five after a battle of cancer in Mission Veijo, California according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“I think that the best fight he had was when he went to France and won the world title,” Rudy Hernandez, Genaro’s brother, said a few hours after Hernandez’s death. “He was looking to land and it was just a matter of time until he would catch him and knock him out. I was his brother, his trainer, his adviser, his manager, his friend.”

Hernandez (38-2-1, 17 KOs) defended the title eight times — including five times at the Great Western Forum — but then got the shot he had always wanted, a showdown against East Los Angeles rival Oscar De La Hoya. Hernandez moved up in weight and challenged De La Hoya for his lightweight belt outdoors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 1995.

“He was a lovely man, and he was really a credit to the sport of boxing,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who promoted the Nelson fight and many of Hernandez’s late-career bouts, and also quietly covered many of Hernandez’s medical expenses during his battle against cancer.

“I remember one instance (the Nelson fight) where he was fouled, and he knew he could win if he stayed down,” Arum said. “He insisted on continuing. He didn’t want to win the fight that way. He was a brave guy, a great guy.”

“As a commentator, he was everything you could ask for,” Arum said. “He had such a good understanding of what was going on inside the ring. He was just a great person. Eventually the cancer got him, but he did really well in his fight against cancer. He lasted for a long time and did everything he could to beat cancer. He showed a lot of heart.”

“We last worked together last December doing (Soto-Antillon), and he was still exhilarated by what he was watching,” said broadcaster Rich Marotta, who called many of Hernandez’s fights before partnering with him when he became a television analyst after he retired from the ring. “We will all miss him very much.”

“I had the good fortune to call many of Genaro’s fights, from early in his career when he was appearing in prelims at the Irvine Ballroom to his days as a world champion at the Forum to his biggest fight against Oscar De La Hoya at Caesars,” Marotta said. “He was the same guy through all of that, friendly, accessible to all and simply one of the finest athletes I’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He was still the same guy, with the same accommodating demeanor, in the years following his boxing career as a ringside commentator.”

“He pretty much ended up playing it safe sometimes. He wanted to demonstrate his skills,” Rudy Hernandez said. “He fought as hard as he had to. He made things look a lot easier than they were. But he was a very, very dedicated fighter. Never once did he ever go into a fight not being 100 percent in shape. He was so dedicated, even when he wasn’t fighting or scheduled to fight, he remained in the gym. He fought Azumah Nelson on a Saturday, and on Tuesday he was back in the gym working out.”

Hernandez is survived by his wife, Liliana; their two children, 19-year-old Amanda and 11-year-old Steven; three brothers; two sisters; and his father, Joe Rudy Hernandez. His mother died in 2004. Rudy Hernandez said funeral arrangements were pending.

Las Vegas, NV (June 7)…The wait is over and once again Floyd “Money” Mayweather delivers as the undefeated six-time world champion announced today via his Twitter account @floydmayweather that he will return to the ring on Saturday, September 17, to face the hard-hitting and explosive current WBC Welterweight World Champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz in what is now the biggest international boxing event of 2011.

The announcement of the fight, which will take place on Mexican Independence Day weekend, widely considered boxing’s biggest weekend, sends shock waves across the sports pages as there is no denying that the younger, stronger and current champion Ortiz poses an extremely credible threat to Mayweather, who returns to the ring after a 16-month hiatus. It is a highly competitive and very dangerous match-up that will give fans a chance to see the sport’s biggest star against the sport’s newest star in one ring on one very special night of boxing action.

“I am ready to return to the ring and give my fans a fantastic night of boxing by fighting the best out there and for me, that is Victor Ortiz,” said Mayweather. “He is the current champion and an extremely talented fighter who showed amazing skills, and heart, in his last performance against Andre Berto. At this stage of my career, these are the challenges I look for, a young, strong, rising star looking to make his mark in boxing by beating me. Like the rest of my opponents, he is going to try to prove that he can beat me. I commend him for accepting the fight, but on September 17, Ortiz is just going to be another casualty, the 42nd one who tried and failed. Trust me, I will be ready.”

“I respect Mayweather because he has been a champion for many years and I know he will be ready, but so will I,” said Ortiz. “I’m a strong fighter and I have worked really hard to silence my critics. I’m a world champion for a reason and I am not going to let go of my title any time soon. This is going to be a great fight, but I will remain a world champion for many years to come.”

Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) remains boxing’s biggest attraction, wowing crowds and generating record pay-per-view numbers each time he steps into the ring. In his last ring appearance on May 1, 2010, Mayweather dismantled Sugar Shane Mosley in a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Mayweather is no stranger to fighting on Mexican Independence Day weekend either, as prior to his sensational win over Mosley, he took on Mexican boxing star Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19, 2009, beating his opponent in spectacular fashion. During his extraordinary career, he has amassed wins over world champions such as Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) is on fire. He is riding a six-fight undefeated streak including his sensational win over Andre Berto on April 16 of this year. The hard-punching southpaw proved himself throughout their 12-round battle when he survived a knock down in the sixth round and came back to drop Berto at the end of the sixth round in one of the most exciting fights in boxing this year. Ortiz, who was already known as one of the most powerful young fighters in the sport but was questioned in the past for his desire, showed the world that his heart matches his hands of steel when faced with the best in boxing.

“When Floyd fights, everyone stops to watch and this is an exciting time for boxing as it always is when Floyd steps into the ring,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “There is no better showman than Floyd and he backs up his legacy with amazing, one-of-a-kind skills. Victor Ortiz has shown us that he is a great fighter too and for the two of them to meet makes for a gigantic night for fans all over the world. It’s always a thrill to see Floyd fight and it’s even better when he faces the best out there such as a true champion like Ortiz. This is going to be a fight to remember. Sports fans have a lot to look forward to on September 17.”

“There is no doubt that September 17 will again be this year’s biggest night of boxing worldwide,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “When Floyd Mayweather fights, it is an event which brings fight fans, sports fans and the general public together to see this truly gifted athlete perform. Every year Floyd sets the bar and standard for most pay-per-view buys and this year will be no different. In Victor Ortiz, he is facing a young, strong and highly motivated world champion who knows that a win over the pound for pound champion will catapult him into superstardom. The stage is set and I can’t wait for the showdown of the year.”

Mayweather vs. Ortiz is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions. A nationwide press tour is being planned for the week of June 20 with additional details about it and the fight to be announced shortly.

June marks the beginning of hurricane season and graduation ceremonies in South Florida. Last night at The Seminole Hard Rock Live, a healthy crowd of vocal fans witnessed the pugilistic equivalent of both. The Heavyweight Factory promoted an 8-bout card titled: “Hollywood Fight Night” featuring a rising star, two veterans in search of an elusive world title and two former world champs seeking to regain former glory. The exceptionally-matched fights highlighted a herculean effort from under appreciated boxing matchmaker Johnny Bos. Bos, a member of the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, worked tirelessly through Friday and into Saturday to secure the right fighters for the right fights.

Heavyweight veteran Cedric “The Boz” Boswell (35-1, 26 KOs) single-handedly defended his NABA and WBC Latino belts against Kertson “Warrior” Manswell (20-3, 15 KOs) in the 10-round main event. The 41-year old Boswell started strongly with chopping right hands to serve notice to his Trinidadian opponent, forcing Manswell to raise his guard and shoulder high in defense. Boswell followed up with a quick 3-punch combination as he started to dictate the pace. Manswell fired back a probing right hand to the body and hooked Boswell’s head in a clinch as the round ended.

The second round saw Boswell land a wicked 3-punch combination as Manswell unwisely turned to referee Frank Santore Jr. to complain of a prior right hand he felt strayed low. “The Boz” followed this up with a swift left hook upstairs. Santore stepped in to warn both men for hitting behind the head. The warning apparently wasn’t heeded as Boswell fired a long right hand that caught Manswell to the back of his head. It appeared Manswell may have turned away from the punch, which caused him to crumple to the canvas. Referee Santore Jr. started a standing-eight count but changed it into a 1-point deduction for Boswell. As action resumed, Boswell fired a stump of a jab to stun Manswell, followed by quick, short combinations to the head. Manswell responded with a clean right uppercut to close the round.

Boswell bid farewell to his right-hand punches in the third round after landing a short right hand to Manswell’s head. “The Boz” pelted Manswell with crisp jabs and meaningful left hooks throughout the stanza. By the fourth round, it became evident Manswell was fighting a one-armed man. Amazingly, Boswell continued to hold his own behind an active jab and left hook. By the seventh round, Manswell seemed to understand his tactical advantage and opened up with strong left hooks of his own. Undeterred, the Detroit native trash-talked the advancing Manswell in the 8th and 9th rounds while peppering him with every left-handed blow in his arsenal.

Boswell circled away to his left in the tenth and continued to give Manswell a verbal and physical lashing. Manswell switched to the southpaw stance to attempt an even greater tactical advantage. Boswell’s lead on the scorecards was too great however as judges awarded him the unanimous decision victory with identical scores of 98-90. After the fight, Boswell confirmed he injured his right shoulder: “Whooping him (Manswell) upside his head.” Having Boswell and fellow heavyweight Jameel McCline in the same room was apparently bad for Boswell’s shoulder, since the injury appeared to be the same rotator cuff tear suffered in his only career blemish: a 10th round TKO loss to McCline. (McCline sat at ringside during last night’s bout.)

The co-main event showcased Detroit native and top-rated light middleweight prospect Domonique “3D” Dolton (11-0, 6 KOs) attempting to move up to middleweight to “graduate” to his first professional career regional belts (The vacant NABA USA and WBC FECARBOX titles). Dolton needed every bit of his Kronk Gym boxing pedigree to hold off a relentless challenge from Lithuanian Donatas Bondorevas (12-3-1, 3KOs) to earn a majority decision victory in his first 10-round bout. Playing the role of matador to the bullish Bondorevas, Dolton dazzled with exceptional footwork and defense throughout the early rounds. Controlling the pace and the distance behind accurate combinations, Dolton opened a cut over the Lithuanian’s left eye in the first.

“3D” continued to stymie Bondorevas with fluid movement and crisp punches as action headed into the sixth round. Dolton fired a left hook to the body which prompted a low blow response from Bondorevas. The punch floored Dolton as he yelped in pain. Taking about forty seconds to recover, Dolton resumed his attack with a right hand/left hook combo to restart the blood flowing from Bondorevas’ cut.

Bondorevas found his range by the seventh behind solid right hands that tested Dolton’s chin and conditioning. The added weight and rounds started to favor the Lithuanian heading into the later rounds and both men slowed their attacks slightly from the furious pace. Bondorevas found an opening for his right uppercut in the eighth and started to stun Dolton before short-circuiting his own attack with another low blow. Again Dolton fell to the canvas and referee Sam Burgos issued Bondorevas his second warning. Dolton walked it off and a brawl started taking shape with the blood flowing from the Lithuanian’s left eye.

Bondorevas lost his head and a point in the ninth as he jumped into Dolton with an attempted flagrant head-butt on a break to force Burgos to administer the 1-point deduction. Dolton regained his earlier form in the tenth to keep the action in the center of the ring with refreshed footwork and defense. Bondorevas still had a surprise for Dolton as he forced him to the ropes behind a left hook to the body and a left uppercut to the head that floored him as the final bell rang. Dolton beat the standing-eight count and awaited the judge’s decision, which came with scores of 95-93 (twice) and 94-94. Dolton’s perfectionist nature came out as he explained: “Some guys have awkward styles. I had to learn how to adjust. I knew I was setting him up but I just had to throw more. Sometimes there are rough fights, but you have to deal with them.”

The action-packed undercard featured IBF #14-ranked super-featherweight Daniel “The Prophet” Attah (26-7-1, 9 KOs) against John “The Real Digg” Trigg (18-36, 6 KOs) in an 8-round contest. Fresh off a disappointing decision loss to Filipino Michael Farenas in California two weeks ago, Attah was determined to notch the win. The Nigerian-born southpaw opened up a cut to Trigg’s forehead in the opening round with blazing right hooks. The game Trigg found openings for left hooks and continued to advance towards Attah, eating combinations for his trouble. “The Prophet” poured on the punches to open a cut over Trigg’s right eye in the second round. Heads came together in the fourth; which exacerbated the cut over Trigg’s right eye, yet he continued to move forward.

Attah continued to hold the speed advantage but felt Trigg’s body shots and overhand rights. Trigg complained to referee Frank Santore about Attah’s clinches in the sixth round. Nothing seemed to slow the tough-as nails Trigg except Attah’s huge left hand leads which repeatedly landed on the increasingly bloody face of Trigg.

Trigg saved his best for last in the eighth, scoring a right hand as Attah backed to the ropes. Sensing an opportunity, Trigg fired another right to send Attah to the floor. Attah vehemently complained of a slip but Santore Jr. applied the standing eight-count as the bout came to a close. Judges scored it 79-73 and 78-73 (twice) for “The Prophet.”

The expected slugfest between former undisputed cruiserweight champion O’Neil “Give ‘Em Hell” Bell (26-4-1, 24 KOs) and WBA light heavyweight world champion Richard “The Destroyer” Hall (30-8, 28 KOs) got the crowd roaring in their 10-round cruiserweight battle. Bell, who recently changed his name to “El Yun El,” landed repeated right hands to Hall’s head in the first half of the opening round. Hall, tentatively measuring his fellow Jamaican opponent, fired a right hook that caught Yun El backing up. Pinning Yun El to the corner, Hall continued his assault and shook off a counter right to land a big left hand. The two men traded heavy shots throughout the second round with Hall scoring straight lefts and uppercuts and Yun El replying with powerful rights. Hall fired a devastating left that snapped Yun El’s head back along the ropes, followed by another that left the former cruiserweight champion defenseless and prompted referee Sam Burgos to jump in and stop the assault at 1:58.

Hall wasted no time calling out undefeated WBO NABO and NABF cruiserweight champion Lateef Kayode (16-0, 14 KOs) afterwards, proclaiming: “Every belt you have belongs to me. Everyone told me to be patient but the time has come for you to grow some balls and fight me. He’s African and I’m Jamaican. Everyone knows this will make a great fight. He needs to grow some balls and quit running from me.”

In a battle of the “Beasts,” local Haitian-American heavyweight Dieuly “The Untamed Beast” Aristilde (9-4, 2 KOs) stopped Darrick “The Beast” Allen (2-9, 2 KOs) by TKO at 1:24 in the second round.

Local crowd favorite Erik “The Viking” Leander (11-1, 8 KOs) notched the eighth first-round knockout of his career by crushing 300-lb David Saulsbury (6-3, 6 KOs) with a right hand, left hook combination at 2:06 of the round. Doctors attended to the prone Saulsbury for minutes after the end of the bout as a precaution. Cuban heavyweight Yasmay “Tiburon” Consuegra (5-0, 3 KOs) maintained his undefeated record with a 3rd round TKO stoppage over Ronny Hale (1-2, 1 KO) at 2:26 of the 3rd round. Super middleweight Tracy “T-Roc” Rollins (2-0, 1 KO) of Chicago earned a unanimous decision victory of southpaw Eddie Gates (2-2, 1 KO) from Detroit in the show’s opening bout. All 3 judges scored the bout 39-36 for Rollins.

Just like his soon to be Hall of Fame Father, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. won his first world championship in his forty-third bout as he scored a twelve round majority decision over Sebastian Zbik to wrestle the WBC Middleweight title at Staples Center Los Angeles.

Not much was known about Zbik other then he was a fundamentally sound technician and he proves that to be the case as he was an active fighter who had an accurate right hand. Chavez started his patented body shots. Alot of the rounds were similar with Chavez getting in his body and Zbik landing combinations. Chavez got through in round five as he wobbled Zbik with a solid overhand right.

The fight had action in every round as Chavez pulled slightly ahead due to his assault on the flanks of Zbik. As the rounds went on, those body shots began to dig deeper in Zbik and there was still some doubt as Zbik landed and threw more shots.

Chavez, 160 lbs of Culican, MX won by scores of 116-112; 115-113 and 114-114 to become a champion with a record of 43-0-1. Zbik, 158 3/4 lbs of Hamburg, Germany is now 30-1.

Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia scored a fourth round stoppage over late replacement Rafael Guzman in round four of a scheduled ten round Featherweight bout.

Guzman, who took the bout in just three days notice after Miguel Beltran Jr. had to bow out due to an injury, came out in round one and used his 5’10” height to his advantage. Garcia needed just that one round ti get into his rhythm as he landed some nice right hands that opened up a cut over the right eye of Guzman. Garcia upped the power on his punches in three which was a prelude to come in the next frame. In that fourth round, Garcia landed a perfect right that dropped Guzman to the canvas. He had trouble getting to his feet and the fight was waved off at 1:58 of round four.

Garcia, 127 lbs of Oxnard, CA is now 26-0 with twenty-two knockouts. Guzman, 126 3/4 lbs of Guadalajara, Mexico is now 28-3.

Leo Santa Cruz scored a fifth round stoppage over grizzled veteran Jose Lopez in a scheduled eight round Bantamweight bout at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Santa Cruz had a distinct size advantage and that was evident early as Santa Cruz pushed back Lopez at will in round’s one and four. Santa Cruz continued to batter Lopez all over the ring as he landed long right hands and body shots. The accumulation of punches had Lopez on his heels and even looking at the referee to end things. He didnt get that and proceeded to eat fifteen punches before the fight was stopped at 2:35 of round five.

Santa Cruz, 116 3/4 lbs of Rosemead, CA is now 16-0-1 with eight knockouts. Lopez, 117 1/2 lbs of Trujillo, PR is now 39-10-2.

Luis Ramos Jr. scored a hard fought unanimous decision over Francisco Lorenzo in an eight round Lightweight bout.

Ramos used his boxing skills to offset the rugged Lorenzo who provided a stiff test for Ramos Jr.

Ramos Jr., 135 1/2 lbs of Santa Ana, CA won by scores of 79-73; 77-75 and 77-75 to remain undefeated at 17-0. Lorenzo, 136 lbs of San Cristobol, DR is now 36-10

Juan Sandoval scored a second round stoppage over Rene Torres in a scheduled four round Jr. Lightweight bout.

Sandoval dropped Torres twice in the second frame and cut Torres from the punch that caused the first knockdown. The first knockdown came from multiple uppercuts and the final blows were rights to the head as Torres was off balance. The time of the stoppage was 2:20

Sandoval, 127 1/2 lbs of San Bernadino, CA is now 4-6-1. Torres, 129 1/2 lbs is now 0-5-1

Randy Caballero remained undefeated with a fourth round stoppage over Sergio Cristobal in a scheduled six round Jr. Featherweight bout.

Caballero dropped Cristobal in the first round from a little right hand as Cristobal tried to move forward. Caballero ended things in round four when he landed a double right that sent Cristobal to seat of his pants and the fight was stopped at 2:06 of round four.

Caballero, 120 lbs of Cochella, CA is now 11-0 with seven knockouts. Cristobal, 119 1/4 lbs of Chicago is 3-2

ATLANTIC CITY– Carl Froch vaulted into the final of the Super Six world Super Middleweight tournament majority decision over Glen Johnson at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom inside of Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Not only does Froch advance to face WBA King Andre Ward but he retained his WBC crown in the process.

After a non discript first round, Johnson started to up the pressure in round two as he came forward and landed a big over hand right. Froch had a good beginning of round three as he dipped in and out landing some swift combination’s. In the latter part of the round Johnson landed some nice right back that sent Froch back on his heels. Round four saw Froch box and move in a similar style to his wipe out points victory over Arthur Abraham where he seemed to have his timing down by landing solid combination’s while on the back pedal. Froch had a solid round six by continuing to land three punch combination’s that was sandwiched in between a big right hand that Johnson landed on the ropes.

Round seven was a terrific back and forth battle as Johnson book-ended the round with two big right hands but Froch got some of his own work done as they went back and forth on the ropes. Round eight was a crowd pleasing round to say the least as the two traded bombs to show off their granite chin’s. Johnson landed a couple of thuddding rights while Froch got through some solid lefts hooks. Froch upped his rate and timed Johnson throughout round nine by landing combination’s and in the process did-int give Johnson a great opportunity to get off. Round’s ten and eleven continued to feature great action as the round’s were difficult to score as Johnson would land the one big punch of the round wheras Froach would put together the consistent combination’s. The two traded combination’s down the stretch with Froch’s work rate being the difference

Froch of Nottingham, England is now 28-1. Johnson of Miami, FL is now 51-15-2

Edison Miranda was on his way to a comeback trail and faced off against Rayco Saunders in a light heavyweight catch-weight bout scheduled for eight rounds. Miranda, whose body looked relatively well for the higher weight. The bout started at a methodical pace. Miranda utilized a lot of movement, but was still able to maintain the aggressive nature that made him so popular. The third round changed things, as Miranda was able to land a hard right hand that staggered Saunders. Miranda followed up with multiple right hands that was able to make it through the guard of Saunders. After multiple right hands, Sunders was able to make it out of the round and regain his composure. The bout turned into a tactical affair for the rest of the fight. Miranda methodically worked his way to a 79-73, 79-73, and 80-73 scorecard giving him the unanimous decision victory.

Miranda’s record improves to 34-5 with 29 knockouts and Saunder’s record takes a hit at 28-13 with 8 knockouts.

Former light heavyweight title holder, Zsolt Erdei looked to improve his undefeated record against Byron Mitchell in a fight scheduled for ten rounds. Erdei had moved up to Cruiserweight from some time, but then realized that he had unfinished business in the division where he holds the lineal claim to the Light Heavyweight Championship of the world. This would be his second fight back, and Mitchell would serve as that stepping stone back to prominence.

The fight started extremely well for Erdei. He had no problem fighting tough against his larger opponent, as he had gotten used to being the smaller man in the ring during his cruiserweight days. Erdei landed multiple wide combinations to get around Mitchell’s high guard. As the fight progressed, Mitchell became more comfortable with his opponent and managed to throw some combinations in retaliation. Erdei then slowed the pace and instead of coming straight forward, he would simply side step and throw a straighter punch. This work very effectively for him. In the sixth round, a hard jab set up a powerful right hook that sent Mitchell down flat on his back. Mitchell beat the count, but was met from an absolute onslaught from Erdei. Finally, a right hand bomb sent Mitchell down, and the referee called a stop to the fight as he saw that Mitchell was completely out of it. The time of the stoppage was 1:58 of the sixth round.

Erdei’s record improves to 33-0 with 18 KO’s while Mitchell’s falls to 28-8-1 with 21 knockouts.

“The first fight, I was a little homesick,” said the Hungarian native, who spent most of his pro career fighting in Europe. “This time I had more preparation and more time to get used to being here. It showed in the ring.”

Looking ahead, Erdei, who held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2004-2009 before giving it up for a brief stint at cruiserweight, many possibilities in the talent-rich 175 lbs. division. A chance run-in just hour before his fight had his mind on one man in particular.

“I met Bernard Hopkins at the bakery in Caesars just before the fight,” said Erdei. “He was a real gentleman and we have a great mutual respect for each other. It would be an honor to fight him.”

In the third fight of the evening, rising prospect, J’Leon Love took on the very tough Lamar Harris in a middleweight bout scheduled for six rounds. e bout opened with Love landing combination after combination, staggering Harris on several occasions. As the fight progressed, Harris looked more confident, landing hard left hooks flush against Love’s face. Even still, Love did significant damage with his fast combinations. Towards the end of the fight, Love was in complete control and managed to land a powerful hook that sent Harris down, but not for the count. Harris was able to get his legs back under him, but it was too little too late. Love kept on the pressure and came away with scores of 40-35 from all three judges.

Love improves to 7-0 with 5 KO’s while Lamar Harris has his record pegged down to 6-8-3 with 4 KO’s.

Ivan Redkach scored a sixth round stoppage over Alberto Amaro in the final scheduled round of their Lightweight bout.

Redkach landed some hard combinations and was dominant. At the end of round five, Redkach landed a hard right hook that sent Amaro to the deck. Redkach landed three hard shots to end the round and referee Steve Smoger was close to ending it as the bell sounded. Smoger did call a halt to the action in the final round after Redkach continued his assault on Amaro at 1:46.

Redkach, 136 lbs of Los Angeles, CA is now 7-0 with six knockouts. Amaro, 134 1/2 lbs of Cantano, PR is now 6-6.

Swedish born Light Heavyweight Badou Jack scored a fifth round stoppage over Hajro Sujak in a bout scheduled for six rounds.

Jack landed some nice combination from the outset. he continued to batter the game Sujak throughout the contest. At times Sujak showed signs of life by landing some shots in between Jack rallies. In round four, Jack landed some thudding body punches that eventually came upstairs on Sujak. Sujak began to bleed badly from the mouth. In round five, Jack continued to beat up Sujak until Sujak’s corner threw in the towel that was recognized by referee Eddie Cotton at 1:30 of round five.

Jack, 174 1/2 lbs of Las Vegas via Sweden is now 6-0 with five knockouts. Sujak, 173 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 6-2.

Official Attendance: 2,286

Carl Froch, WBC Super Middleweight Champion/Super Six Finalist:

“Everyone is finally starting to acknowledge what I’ve done in successive fights.”

“I wasn’t 100% happy with my performance, because I’m the kind of guy who likes to unload my shots. I didn’t do that enough tonight, but I did enough to win.”

“Johnson is a big, strong light heavyweight and he can hang in with everyone. He is a proud, strong man. He was fading towards the end because I was hitting him.”

“It was a professional performance tonight, which I’m proud of. I did enough to win without taking too many risks.”

“I’m going to stay on the ball. I will have a little bit of a rest, and I’ll go back and see my baby boy Rocco. But, I will stay straight and stay fit.”

“You always learn in every fight. Tonight I solidified that I can box on my last foot and give Ward problems doing that.”

Eddie Hearn, Froch’s Promoter:

“Carl deserves the utmost respect from everyone in the world. He is a real fighter. We don’t have enough people like Carl Froch in boxing.”

“We’re going to build his fight with Andre Ward for what it is: a unification fight between the two best super middleweights in the world.”

“I don’t think there has been anyone who has fought, successively, so many top opponents. Carl is just a fighter.”

Glen Johnson:

“My team has done a wonderful job with my career every since I teamed up with them. We have come up on the short end of the stick sometimes, and they have never given up on me.”

“For me, I will just go home and put more effort into it and see what I can bring next time.”

“It was a close fight. There was a lot of give and take. He hit me with some solid, clean shots.”

“Carl can fight. He is tough. We look forward to seeing a great fight between the two men who have made it to the finals.”

Lou DiBella, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:

“If you don’t love Glen Johnson then you don’t love boxing. It is an honor and privilege to be his promoter and to be his friend. You never get less than 100% from Glen Johnson.”

“Everyone on this team respects the heck out of Carl Froch. If Andre Ward thinks he will have an easy night, he is very wrong.”

“It was a very close fight going into the seventh or eighth round. Glen tried to take him out with one punch and Carl adjusted.”

Leon Margules, Johnson’s Co-Promoter:

“People who came here tonight saw a spectacular fight between two great warriors and champions. Anyone who saw the fight and knows boxing can appreciate the kind of battle Glen and Carl had.”

“For a 42 year old athlete to fight twelve hard rounds like that is a spectacular feat.”

“I’m not disappointed in Glen’s performance; I’m only disappointed in the result.”

Former Cuban amateur star Yudel Jhonson scored a ten round unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Torres in a Jr. Middleweight bout at the Al A Carte Pavillion in Tampa, Florida.

Jhonson boxed the whole fight as it looked like a glorified sparring session as he landed a handful of good left hands in every round. Torres at times tried to come forward but his offense was few and far between Torres was docked a point in round seven for a low blow. In the final round Jhonson was deducted a point for hitting behind the head. That was the only blemish in an otherwise solid performance for Jhonson.

Jhonson, 152 1/2 lbs of Santo Carlo, Cuba won by scores of.f 96-92; 96-92 and 97-91 to remain perfect at 11-0. Torres, 154 1/2, the brother of former WBO Jr, Welterweight champ Ricardo Torres is now 21-5.

Former world title challenger scored an eight round unanimous decision over Tyrese Hendrix in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Estrada fought well early as he landed a series of body shots in round two. Hendrix took a couple of the middle rounds as he outworked Estrada. Estrada sealed the deal in the final round as he landed a couple of hard right hooks that landed flush.

Estrada, 139 lbs of Monteria, Colombia won by scores of 79-73; 78-74 and 77-75 to raise his record 39-14-1. Hendrix, 139 lbs of Gainesville, GA is now 20-3-1.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that all action star Michael Katsidis will take on Graham Earl in a rematch of one of the most brutal bout of the last five years.

The fight will take place in August in Katsidis homeland of Australia.

When they fought in 2007, Katsidis stopped Earl in five rounds to claim an interim Lightweight title in about that was non stop action from the onset.

“Earl has been chasing this since we walked out of the ring four years ago,” Brendon Smith, Katsidis’ manager and trainer, said. “He has shown up at press conferences and even tried to enter our training camp in Thailand in the lead-up to the Juan Manuel Marquez title fight to issue a challenge. We did promise him the rematch, and now his wish has been granted. What an amazing fight it will be for Australia.”

Said Katsidis: “Graham is one tough man. It will definitely be a war and I love a war. When we met in ‘07, we exchanged a lot of punches, he went down, I went down. It will be on again. From the day we embraced each other and agreed for a rematch, he has chased me and now I will honor my commitment to Graham Earl, and give him the rematch he has been seeking.”

“Ever since our last fight together I was promised a rematch and the chance to get my revenge,” Earl said.

“Obviously, I understand that there were obligations from that fight and he had the opportunities to move on. He got the win that night. He put me down a few times, then I put him down. We were having a war in the fourth and fifth (rounds) and I believe I won those two rounds, and the fight was in the balance at that stage. If the fight had continued I believe I would have won.

“Last time it was in my own backyard, this time it looks like it may be in his. I love the challenge and will do the job properly and get the result. … Most fights these days are not great at all. People are paying good money and not getting the fights they deserve. (The rematch) will give fans the kind of fight they want and deserve.”

It’s a case of history in the making on Saturday the 4th of June at the historic hall that’s been dubbed ‘the spiritual home of boxing’ as Olivia Goodwin will create boxing history in the promotional sense when she become’s the youngest ever British boxing promoter!

Olivia whose only twenty years old promotes a marathon card of fifteen, yes fifteen fights!

Featured are a couple of ten round fights featuring Ryan Barrett at lightweight against Geofrey Munika who a good few years back held current British welterweight champion Lee Purdy to a disputed draw at this very venue!

The other ten rounder has Toks Owoh pitted against an opponent yet to be named oponent at cruiser.
Also booked for action on this marathon show at light middle are Sam Standing against Aaron Fox, and while with the 11st brigade Nathan Weise takes on Gary Cooper, no not the former British light middle champ from the late 80’s of the same name!, then again what with Bernard Hopkins recent performance you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise!

A couple of welterweight fights see Brett O Callaghan and Danny O’Connor pitted against gritty journeymen Matt Scriven and Danny Dontchev respectively!

Back up to cruiser and heavy, {what with all this weight jumping I’m feeling dizzy!} you have Mitchell Balker who takes on Harri Miles a one time prospect from the Calzaghe camp! and Prizefighter contestant Ali Adams against I guy whose name I can’t spell let alone pronounce! oh by the way that’s at heavy!

Down at middle you have Mark Adam’s {no relation to Ali, Adam’s that is!} making his pro bow and also at that weight is Kris Agyei Dua who’ll be looking to do something against Luke Osman, who comes to fight, {he once escaped a car crash on the way to a fight and still fought and won against Kenroy Lambert!} Also at middle is William Cayzer making his debut has is Diego Burton against there respective oponents!

Down at lightweight Luton prospect Michael Devine takes on the well travelled and aptly named Dan Carr over four at light and then finally up at super middle transplanted Albanian Eder Kurti takes on tough Jodie Meikle who last time at the York Hall lost on points to Margate light heavy Daniel Woodgate, the Margate fighter who also fights on the show against switch hitter Sabie Monteith which looks to be an interesting affair, Monteith in his pro debut boxed fellow Margate fighter Jack ’13’ Morris back in 2008!

All fights other than the two aforementioned ten rounders will be contested over four rounds!

For tickets and show start please call Daniel on 0780 7013111 or you can order via the website which is www.goodwinpromotions.co.uk

Ticket’s are £30 and £50 ringside.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that WBA 140 lb champion Amir Khan will take on IBF beltholder Zab Judah in a unification bout that will take place July 23rd in Las Vegas.

Richard Schaefer, Khan’s promoter of Golden Boy Promotions offered the fight to resurgent former three-division champion Erik Morales, who works with Golden Boy, but he rejected the fight. That left Judah, a big name and owner of a world title, as the obvious choice. “We’ve agreed on the terms and the contracts are being drawn,” said Judah’s promoter Kathy Duva

“I told Zab I’d rather just get the promotion going and get him in the gym and we’ll make money at the site in Las Vegas if we promote it well,” Duva said. “Zab agreed. At some point you stop quibbling over a couple of points. Zab will make money when he beats this guy. That’s where the upside is. They each have a world title, but the thing Khan has that Zab doesn’t is a multi-fight agreement with HBO. That’s where his strength comes from. And when Zab beats him, HBO will be seeking out Zab Judah for a multi-fight contract. He’ll be the man at that point.”

“I got what I wanted, so I am happy. Now it’s time to go work,” said Judah, who was on his way to the gym for a training session. “I’ve been praying on this fight. My goal is to be undisputed champion at two weights. I did it at 147 and I’m gonna do it at 140 starting with Amir Khan. I’m gonna work hard. I’m very experienced, so whichever way he brings the fight I can deal with it and take it from him.

“I know Amir wanted the Bradley fight, but who wouldn’t? Bradley can’t break an egg. A fight with ‘Super’ Judah is not a fight Amir wanted. Don’t let him lie to you.”

“Zab’s a good fighter. He’s strong, he’s fit. All the stuff on Twitter is fun, but we’re both professionals. It’s just spicing things up,” Khan told ESPN.com a couple of days before the deal was agreed to. “He was undisputed champion at 147 and now he’s a champion at 140. … If Bradley don’t want me, I’m happy to take Judah on and beat him.”

“You see Bradley and Morales turning down this fight with Khan and, at some point, you just say, ‘OK, thank you.’ Zab is very excited to get the fight. So is Whitaker,” Duva said. “This leads Zab to a very nice position in the fall where he’s got major fights and nothing but major fights when he wins. We’re all very excited about it. We believed since he came back to junior welterweight that he could beat everyone in the division. He’s already taken out Matthysse and Mabuza and now it’s Khan.”

Said Judah, “My trainer, Pernell Whitaker, will have a great game plan for this fight. I knew this fight was coming and I’ve been preparing myself. I have already been training. I wish we could do a press conference tomorrow so I could take off my shirt and show everybody how ready I am already.”

“Freddie Roach against Pernell Whitaker, that’s a helluva trainer matchup,” Duva said. “It will be really interesting to watch them go head to head and try to outdo the other guy’s game plan.”

Golden Boy and Main Events will share the undercard and Duva said she intends to put welterweight contender Joel “Love Child” Julio (37-4, 31 KOs) on the card in one of her company’s fights. Julio scored a lopsided decision win against Anges Adjaho on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” on May 20.

“Our plan is to put him on the card,” she said. “We’re looking for somebody interesting for him to fight. Maybe we can match him with one of Golden Boy’s fighters.”

Omar Chavez remained undefeated with a dubious fourth round stoppage over Genaro Tazancos in a scheduled ten round Welterweight bout.

Chavez controlled the action with exception of a couple brief moments on the ropes. In round four, Chavez landed a left hook and the fight was stopped at fifty-six seconds of round four.

Chavez, 147 lbs of Culican, MX is now 26-0-1 with twenty knockouts. Trazancos, 149.9 lbs is now 22-15-1.

Alejandro Lopez scored an eight round unanimous decision over Eduardo Arcos in a bloody Featherweight bout.

Arocs was bloodied over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in round one. He was deducted a point in round three for throwing Lopez down. Lopez landed the better shots throughout the fight which lacked rhythm.

Lopez, 126 lbs of Tijuana, Mexico won by scores of 79-72; 79-72; and 78-72 to raise his record to 21-2. Arocs, 126 1/2 lbs of Tijuana is now 16-4-1.

Moises Fuentes scored a four round split decision over Sergio Nunez in a Light Flyweight bout.

Scores were 39-37 on two cards for Fuentes while Nunez won a third card by a 39-38 Tally.

Fuentes is now 13-1. Nunez is 3-7

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson scored a three round unanimous decision over Matt Hamil in a Light Heavyweight bout in the main event of UFC 130 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight was mostly fought standing up with Hamil getting in some in small shots early. Jackson came on began to stun Hamil with punches for the better part of 2 and one half rounds.

Jackson won by scores of 30-27 on all cards

Fank Mir defeated Roy “Big Country” Nelson via three round unanimous decision in a battle of big Heavyweights.

There was not much action as both big men tired by midway through the second round. Mir took down Nelson a few times and was efficient with elbows on the ground and won by scores of 30-27; 30-27; and 30-26.

Travis Browne scored a highlight reel second round stoppage over Stefan Struve in a Heavyweight bout.

Browne jumped up and landed a perfect Superman Punch right on the jaw

Rick Story won a three round unanimous decision over Thiago Silva in a Welterweight bout.

Story won by scores of 29-28 on all cards.

Brian Stann pounded his way to a second round stoppage over Jorge Santiago in a Middleweight clash.

Stann dropped Santiago with an overhand right that was followed up by a handful of punches and referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 4:29 of round two.

RENO, NEVADA – Crowd-pleasing heavyweight Cristobal Arreola continued his climb back near the top of the division with a one-sided seventh-round stoppage of former fringe contender Kendrick Releford at the Reno Events Center on Friday night.

Arreola (32-2, 28 KOs) of Riverside, California did not exactly come out guns blazing, but controlled Releford (22-15-2, 10 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas from the early going. Arreola, 236, worked over Releford, 230, in the corner for a stretch in the first, which was a somewhat tentative round for both combatants outside of that exchange.

Arreola, the WBC #2/IBF #5/WBO #13/WBA #15 ranked heavyweight contender worked over Releford’s body in round two and began opening up with combinations that kept Releford’s guard up. In the third, Arreola really mixed up his attack, aiming his shots in between and around Releford’s guard, while mixing in shots downstairs as well. Arreola may have been a bit winded late in the round, which allowed Releford to open up momentarily.

By the fourth Releford was beginning to break down from Arreola’s varied attack. Just before the bell Releford was rocked by a right, which would be a sign of things to come. By the fifth Arreola was finding a home for his uppercuts. By this time Releford was mostly in cover-up and flea mode instead of aggressively attempting to win the fight. At the end of the round the ringside physician stepped in Releford’s corner to give the fighter a look over.

It may have been a better idea to stop the bout in between rounds, at least for the sake of Releford’s health. It would be a combination left uppercut-overhand right that would finally force Releford to drop to a knee. To his credit, Releford got up, but was eventually rocked by another left uppercut that had him moving back to the ropes. The writing was written on the wall. Arreola landed a left hook that gave Releford reason to change the expression on his face and back up. The Riverside resident moved in ready to pounce, but referee Russell Mora decided to call it off at 2:43 of round seven.

Friday’s win over Releford marked the second appearance and second knockout for Arreola in as many weeks. More importantly, Arreola came to both fights in great physical condition, especially in comparison to some of the outings in his recent past. “I am in great condition and it paid,” said Arreola. “It’s only going to get better. I am going to work my ass of and get that title. I love boxing and you are going to see it.”

While Arreola was in good shape, his body did work against him in the fight. “I felt sick and nasally when I made it into Reno,” said Arreola, who could hardly be seen without a tissue on Thursday. “I felt great, but I could have taken him out earlier.”

Tony Thompson (36-2, 23 KOs) of Silver Spring, Maryland moved one step closer to another crack at a world title with a one-sided drubbing of an either faded or disinterested Maurice Harris (24-15-2, 10 KOs) of East Orange, New Jersey.

Harris, 244, simply did not show up for the fight. Thompson, 255 ½, started out behind the jab in round one, but soon found chopping rights to be a better weapon. Harris, the IBF #6 ranked heavyweight, appeared to have trouble finding the right stance as he threw mostly off balance shots against the southpaw Thompson.

Thompson, who entered the bout the IBF #7 ranked heavyweight, worked over Harris in the second before landing a chopping right that downed Harris. The New Jersey native rose and made it out of the round on unsteady legs.

Thompson landed a light right hand that dropped Harris down again early in the third. When Harris returned to his feet Thompson landed another chopping right at the top of his head and aided his fall with a light push. Referee Vic Drakulich waved off the knockdown, but soon called the fight anyway. Official time was 1:51 of round three.

With the victory, Thompson earned a title eliminator against IBF #1 ranked heavyweight Eddie Chambers, who earned that position with a victory over Derric Rossy. “It’s going to be my title,” said Thompson after the fight. “The title is coming back to DC. Maurice got the real “Tiger.” No man is going to stand in front of a Tiger, not Eddie, not Wladimir.” IBF Heavyweight ruler Wladimir Klitschko scored an eleventh-round stoppage over Thompson in 2008 in a fight that had some competitive action.

2008 U.S. Olympian Javier Molina (7-0, 4 KOs) of Norwalk, California justly scored a six-round unanimous decision over better-than-his-record journeyman David Lopez (3-6-3) of Nampa, Idaho, but still looks to be a work in progress.

Molina, 149, got off to a solid start, dropping Lopez, 149 ½, with a short right on the inside early in the first. Lopez proved to be game, as he came right out after Molina, forcing the Goossen Tutor Promotions prospect into an exchange. Once Molina slowed down the pace again, he easily outboxed Lopez to close the round.

For controlling rounds two and three with his better technical skills, Molina was drawn into another wild exchange in fourth. This time with was the crude southpaw Lopez that got the better of the action. Lopez seemed to edge a close fifth with a right, left combination that rocked Molina right before the bell.

Lopez refused to go away and traded with Molina again to close the sixth. In the end, the judges gave Molina a wide decision, 60-53 and 59-54 twice. For Molina it was his second fight in thirteen days and his first six-rounder, which could have played a part his less than spectacular performance. Some of the credit must go to the determined Lopez as well.

In the walkout bout, super featherweight prospect Guy Robb (4-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California scored the most entertaining shutout decision you could see over durable Noe Lopez Jr. (7-8, 4 KOs) of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Robb, 128, forced Lopez, 131, into a corner in the early going to start off a heated two-way exchange. Robb proved a much more elusive target than was Lopez. The Sacramento resident landed the harder shots throughout the bout.

Throughout the next two rounds Robb continued to outpoint Lopez. Robb threw punches at odd angles and from odd places, and Lopez could not adapt. The fight did close with another wild exchange, but Robb took all three rounds on all three cards, 40-36. Robb returns to the ring June 25th in Fairfield, California.

Ricardo Williams Jr. (18-2, 10 KOs) of Cincinatti, Ohio continued his low pressure comeback run with a lackluster six-round unanimous decision over journeyman Chris Gray (13-15, 1 KO) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Williams, 148, did not flash much of the hand speed that made him a 2000 Olympic silver medalist and professional prospect nearly a decade ago. Gray, 148, was game and caught the slow-moving Williams on several occasions.

After six fairly competitive rounds, Williams took the cards 58-56 and 59-55 twice. For Williams, once an HBO favorite, the road back to a meaningful fight looks to be a tough one to navigate.

In a rematch of a November draw, bantamweight prospect Michael Ruiz Jr. (8-0-1, 3 KOs) of Fresno, California scored a six-round unanimous decision over the always tough Jonathan Alcantara (4-5-2) of Novato, California.

Alcantara, 120, was aggressive at the outset, but missed with an overhand right that left him open for a Ruiz, 119, counter. Just as was to be expected after their contentious interaction at the weigh-in, the action heated up early. Late in the round, Alcantara came on and landed a couple solid right hands.

The inside fight resumed to the start of the second before a Ruiz counter forced Alcantara to stumble back. The Novato resident would not be outdone, and landed two solid left lands solid. Late in the round, Alcantara unloaded a flurry that bothered Ruiz puffed up his left eye. Ruiz had some trouble getting out of the way of Alcantara’s combinations as the round progressed.

Ruiz came back well to start the third, rocking Alcantara with a one-two combination. With Alcantara seemingly stunned for the first time in the fight, Ruiz really opened up and forced his opponent across the ring. Just when it seemed the third would be a clear cut Ruiz round, Alcantara stormed back beginning with a right uppercut. With Ruiz a little punched out for a moment, Alcantara came on for a stretch. Ruiz seized control again, as he landed and overhand right-left hand combination.

Alcantara came back in the fourth as he may have hurt Ruiz with a right hand in the opening moments of the round. Ruiz came back midway through and the fourth was another hard round to score. The last two rounds were fought at a slower pace as perhaps the high work rates coupled with the high elevation began to play their part.

In the end, the Nevada judges seated ringside failed to give Alcantara any credit in their scoring. Two judges had the fight a shutout, 60-54 and the third had it 59-55 all for Ruiz.

Photos by Stephanie Trapp/trappfotos@gmail.com

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that talks are underway for a Light Heavyweight showdown between new champion Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson that could take place this Fall.

“Richard (Schaefer) called me and said he wanted to discuss making the fight and I was excited because we were on the same page,” Said Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw. “We talked about places we could do the fight, but we want to do the fight wherever we can make the most money. He agreed.

“We said we would both get on the phone with HBO on Monday and try to lock in a date. We basically have our deal done. We agreed to a split (of the revenue) and we agreed to a deal in concept.”

“The reason why the (Hopkins-Pascal) rematch happened is because Gary and Chad were supportive,” Schaefer said. “They could have made a stink about it but they didn’t. It was a very tricky negotiation in order to get Bernard the rematch with Pascal. Now Dawson deserves his shot.

“Gary and me had conversations before to work things out so Bernard could get the rematch with Pascal. All of those discussions should make it easy to get things into motion and get the fight between Bernard and Dawson done. I am very positive it will happen. It’s the fight Bernard wants and the fight Chad wants. So Gary and me are talking about it.”

“I got a call (Wednesday) from (a venue in) Las Vegas and they are interested. (Thursday) I had lunch with the people from the Staples Center (in Los Angeles) and they are interested as well,” Schaefer said. “I have talked to (Pascal promoter) Yvon Michel about going back to Canada. Atlantic City is interested as well. There is a tremendous buzz about Bernard Hopkins after he did what he did. The big rating HBO did means millions of people saw Bernard in one of his best performances. People want to see Bernard back.”

Even though Hopkins has been busy making the media rounds since breaking George Foreman’s record as the oldest fighter to win a title, he also was thinking about the impending fight with Dawson.

“I have to honor my agreement with Chad first,” he said of potential fights. “It’s me and him next.”

DOVER, DELAWARE–Franklin Lawrence continued his ascent up the Heavyweight ladder as he scored a stoppage at the end of round seven over Jason Gavern at the Rollins Center.

Lawrence dropped Gavern in round one from a hard uppercut and it looked like it would be a quick night for Lawrence. Gavern did a good job of holding to get out of round one. Gavern tried to work the body and had some success but Lawrence continued to land some hard clubbing shots that had Gavern reeling at different times in the fight.

In round seven, Lawrence landed a right that may have got into the eye of Gavern as he started to blink which could have indicated a thumb. Lawrence dominated that round and Gavern had a look of defeat as he walked back to the corner. It was on the advice of the ringside physician that the fight was halted.

Lawrence of Indianapolis is 15-2-2 with ten knockouts. Gavern is 20-8-4.

Amir “Hardcore” Mansour made it five straight spectacular stoppages as he blasted out Raymond Ochieng at 1:45 of round one of a scheduled ten round bout to win the WBF Intercontinental Heavyweight championship.

Mansour dropped Ocheing three times with destructive power which made referee Gary Rosato stop the bout at 1:45.

Mansour, 14-0 with eleven knockouts. Ocheing 28-14-3.

Mike Tiberi scored an eight round unanimous decision over Timothy Hall in a super Middleweight clash.

It was a methodical body punching display by Tiberi who also went upstairs with some good shots to the head. Hall was very tough as he seemed hurt on several occasions only to mount a little yet unsustained rally of his own. Tiberi closed the show in fine fashion as he landed some good combinations as he showboated that got a rise out of the Pro-Tiberi crowd.

Tiberi, 167 lbs of Smyrna, DE won by scores of 79-73 on all cards to raise his record to 17-1. Hall, 163 1/2 lbs of Athens, GA is now 6-11.

Anthony Caputo Smith made short work of Dannon Svab as he scored a first round stoppage in a scheduled four round Light Heavyweight bout.

Smith drilled Svab with a right and the fight was over.

Smith, 178 lbs of Kennett Square, PA is now 10-0 with eight stoppages. Svab, 180 lbs of Akron, OH is now 6-6-1.

In an entertaining four round ladies scrap of undefeated fighter, Ronica Jeffrey remained perfect with a unanimous decision over Liz Sherman.

Jeffrey was sharp by landing accurate combinations but that deter Sherman as he tried to come forward. Sge landed a couple of shots but Jeffrey was too quick and pinpoint with er punch and won by scores of 40-36 on all cards.

Jeffrey, 131 lbs of Brooklyn is now 7-0. Sherman, who took the fight on a few days notice is now 3-1.

Omar Douglass made a successful pro debut with a disqualification win over Eric Hall in a four round Lighteright bout.

Hall was thrown out of the fight for excessive holding when Benji Esteves waved it off at 2:02 of round three.

Douglass, 132 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-0. Hall, 133 is now 0-3.

In the opening contest, Dan Biddle scored a third round stoppage over Maurice Amrao in a scheduled for round Cruiserweight bout.

Both guys landed good shots over the first two round with Biddle getting the better of the action. In round three, a barrage of punches sent Amaro to the corner and referee Gary Rosato stopped the bout at 1:20 of round three.

Biddle, 187 lbs of Hockessian, DE is now 7-1 with five knockouts. Amaro, 182 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-4.

RENO, NEVADA — There was a time not too many generations ago when boxing’s elite fought every few weeks. In an era when the top fighters usually fight no more than twice a year, world ranked heavyweight contender Cristobal Arreola eyes his second victory in just under two weeks as he takes on veteran Kendrick Releford in the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights main event at the Reno Events Center tonight. Fighters weighed in Thursday evening down the street at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.

Tonight’s originally scheduled main event, which would have pitted rising light welterweight contender Josesito Lopez against Steve Upshur Chambers, was scratched not many days before Arreola (31-2, 27 KOs) of Riverside, California stopped Nagy Aguilera in three rounds. Lopez, who shares trainer Henry Ramirez with Arreola, went down with an injured hand. While they were still standing in the ring after the stoppage, which took place on the May 14th Andre Ward-Arthur Abraham undercard, the idea of fighting again tonight was brought up and less than a week later the fight was announced.

Releford (22-14-2, 10 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas is a fighter that has been around the block and given an impressive list of solid fighters tough fights in his ten-year career. Just two years ago, Releford, who scaled 230-pounds Thursday, trimmed down and made a run at cruiserweight which ended with a third-round stoppage to Alexander Alexeev in July 2009. Since then Releford came back up around 220 and posted two wins before dropping an eight-round decision to former international amateur champion Luis Ortiz last August.

The word on Arreola, the WBC #2/IBF #5/WBO #13/WBA #15 ranked heavyweight contender, was if you could keep him busy enough he would stay in shape. After years of showing up to big fights carrying some extra baggage, Arreola came in looking lean at 234-pounds on May 14th. On Thursday, Arreola looked much the same as he came in at 236-pounds. With an impressive showing tonight, Arreola would be right in line for a return to the upper level of the division and the bigger paydays that come attached to those fights.

Arreola is not the only ranked heavyweight on the bill. In fact, the co-feature has even bigger implications, at least in the short-term, on the heavyweight title picture. Longtime top ten big man Tony Thompson (35-2, 23 KOs) of Silver Spring, Maryland takes on career-spoiler Maurice Harris (24-14-2, 10 KOs) of East Orange, New Jersey in a twelve-round bout with the IBF #2 heavyweight ranking on the line.

Harris, the IBF #6 ranked heavyweight, has taken an improbable road to get to this position once again his career. If there was ever a rollercoaster ride of a career, Maurice Harris’ fits the bill. Harris, still just 35-years-old, turned pro way back in 1992. Harris told 15rounds.com earlier in the week he feels the years of experienced have served him well going into the fight tonight.

“With age comes wisdom,” says Harris. “It was all a matter of being refocused. I always knew I knew had the talent, it was just the work ethic that I needed to improve. I have a couple more kids involved, so that changes things.”

When Harris came back to the ring last year, he made the move expecting to work his way back to this position. “I would have never come back to the ring if I didn’t feel I could do it,” says Harris, who previously fought for the IBF #2 ranking back in 2003 against Fres Oquendo. “From that first day in March that I first got back in the ring, I knew this is what I could do.”

Harris has victory of sorts over Thompson. Back in November of 2002, promoter Cedric Kushner put together a one-night heavyweight. Harris beat Gerald Nobles and Ray Austin, while Thompson advanced past Jeremy Williams and Derrick Jefferson to lead them into the finals. “When I fought him the first time, I didn’t know much about him,” recalled Harris. Harris lack of preparation did not hinder him, as he took the decision and the cash prize. “I hadn’t trained to fight a southpaw or anything. I didn’t know who I would be fighting, but that showed a lot of people where I was skill wise. I beat three different guys, three hungry guys.”

Thompson, the IBF #7 ranked heavyweight, has bounced back from his spirited effort in defeat against Wladimir Klitschko in 2008 with four consecutive stoppage victories. Most notably, Thompson halted former prospect Chazz Witherspoon in nine-rounds in December 2009. Thompson weighed in at 255 ½, while Harris came in at 244-pounds. The winner of the eliminator will eventually be matched with IBF #1 heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers with a crack at the title hanging in the balance.

“Tony’s a good fighter,” says Harris. “I’m not taking anything away from him. He’s up there for a reason. We are fighting for the number two position. It’s going to be an interesting fight. He’s hungry. I’m hungry. So it is going to be a good fight.”

In the first swing bout, 2008 U.S. Olympian Javier Molina (6-0, 4 KOs) of Norwalk, California returns to the ring with the same turnaround as Arreola, having fought on the May 14th Ward-Abraham card in Carson, California. Molina will take on David Lopez (3-5-3) of Nampa, Idaho in a four-round light middleweight fight. Molina, who fought one more round than Arreola did two weeks ago in a four-round decision over Danny Figueroa, weighed in at 149, while Lopez scaled 149 ½-pounds.

In the other swing bout, rising super featherweight prospect Guy Robb (3-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California will take his most experienced opponent to date Noe Lopez Jr. (7-7, 4 KOs) of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico in a bout scheduled for either four or six-rounds. Robb, who scaled 128-pounds, is coming in off of a thrilling four-round decision over Manuel Morales in March. Lopez, who has lost when he has stepped up to the prospect level in the past, came in at 131-pounds.

One of a few fights that have fight of the night potential is the six-round super featherweight rematch between Michael Ruiz Jr. (7-0-1, 3 KOs) of Fresno, California and Jonathan Alcantara (4-4-2) of Novato, California. Ruiz pressed the action for the most part, but was never quite able to pin Alcantara down. Alcantara boxed well at range as each fighter took a card 58-56, with the third one coming up even at 57-57. At the weigh-in it was clear there was some animosity between the two fighters. During the post-scale photo op, Alcantara shoved Ruiz. When asked what he did to provoke Alcantara, Ruiz stated, “I just smiled at him.” Ruiz came in at 119, while Alcantara came in at 120-pounds.

There is another former U.S. Olympian on the card, but from the 2000 team, as Ricardo Williams Jr. (17-2, 10 KOs) of Cincinatti, Ohio continues his comeback against journeyman Chris Gray (13-14, 1 KO) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the six-round curtain raiser. Williams, who claimed silver in Sydney, Australia, weighed in at 148-pounds, as did Gray. Williams has scored three consecutive stoppages against mostly limited opposition.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Heavyweights, 10 Rounds
Arreola 236
Releford 230

IBF Heavyweight Championship Eliminator, 12 Rounds
Harris 244
Thompson 255 ½

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Molina 149
Lopez 149 ½

Super Featherweights, 4 or 6 Rounds
Robb 128
Lopez 131

Super Bantamweights, 6 Rounds
Ruiz Jr. 119
Alcantara 120

Welterweights, 6 Rounds
Williams 148
Gray 148

Photos by Stephanie Trapp/trappfotos@gmail.com

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that famed trainer Freddie Roach is set to be the focus of a reality show scheduled to debut in early 2012 on HBO.

The show will follow Roach and his training of many of the biggest fighters out of his Wildcard Gym and will be called “On Freddie”.

“I am used to it,” Roach told ESPN.com about having the cameras around him constantly. “Pretty much the same deal as ’24/7′ and ‘Fight Camp’ with cameras there at 5 a.m. and waking me up. They have the keys to my house to get in.

“It’s going to be my life at home and mostly everything in the gym leading up to fights. It doesn’t bother me having the cameras around. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and if it does, I tell them to go home.”

“They put together a really good idea of people looking into my life from the outside,” Roach said. “The thing is it will give people a look at what my life is like. I have a great life and with the Olympic team thing coming up and Manny and Amir having fights, I hope people will find it interesting.”

“We are truly excited about this innovative new reality series that will allow HBO to partner with Peter Berg,” Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming, said. “Freddie Roach is an extraordinary person and many of our subscribers are familiar with his superior work in training some of the world’s premier fighters. This will be a fascinating and unique series.”

“We start filming more of the show this week. They stopped in (Tuesday) to get a look at the gym and see the atmosphere and see who the characters are at my gym. I have some interesting friends,” Roach said with a laugh. “This show will give a broader picture of my life and the people I take care of and the people that take care of me. It will be much broader than just getting one fighter ready for a fight. You’re not going to catch me at home too often though. The gym will be the focal point of the show.”

“HBO’s enthusiasm in supporting a less-conventional, vérité style of storytelling is why they continue to create original and truly innovative programming,” Berg said. “It’s why they are the best and we are very excited to be working with them.”

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that WBA Super Middleweight champion Andre Ward has re-signed with his co-promoters Goossen-Tutor and Antonio Leonard as well as re-inking a deal with manager James Prince.

“In Dan (Goossen), I have a very strong promoter, two promoters actually, Antonio Leonard and Dan, and a strong manager,” Ward said. “I have a great coach (Virgil Hunter), who has been with me from day one. We’ve got a strong foundation, strong stability and as we keep going to the top it’s only going to get stronger, and I am happy to say that we signed an extension to our promotional deal.

“I think it was pretty much a no brainer because not only is Dan a West Coast guy and so am I, but we have chemistry, and that’s big. So I am thankful for that today and I am proud to be announcing that news.”

“Andre is that special individual that has grown immensely inside the ring as well as outside of it,” Goossen said. “He’s someone that I am very proud to be associated with not only in business, but in life. He is somebody that shows the strength and gumption to go out there and talk the talk and walk the walk.”

Goossen said their agreement would have expired “near the end of the year.”

“Andre is a special young man because he’s a man of values and I just think he has all the talent in the world,” Goossen said. “It’s an exciting time for our company and for Andre.”

“I am living the dream right now by being a champion of the world to defend my title the way I have been defending it and just to have the team that I have behind me right now,” Ward said. “It’s a very strong team that doesn’t have a lot of problems in house and when it comes to boxing that is very rare. As a team, and as an individual, we are right where we need to be.”

Ward also signed an endorsement with Everlast.

“Andre Ward is the perfect brand ambassador for Everlast,” said Matt Cowan, vice president of marketing and products for Everlast. “He is a champion in every sense of the word . . . His accomplishments in the ring speak for themselves and aside from being a world class athlete, we consider Andre a world class human being.”

Alfonso Gomez showed no signs of rust as he stopped Calvin Green in round two in a scheduled ten round Welterweight bout at Casino Morango in Cobazon, California.

The fight had a swift pace from the outset as Gomez landed some nice hooks in round one where Green got through with a solid uppercut.

In round two, Gomez started working the body and landed a nice uppercut that was followed up by a nice right that wobbled Green into the corner. Green was visibly hurt and Gomez jumped on Green and a huge barrage ensued that had the referee stop the fight at 1:23 of round two.

Gomez, 148 1/2 lbs of Guadalajara, MX is now 23-4-2 with twelve knockouts. Green, 150 lbs of Baytown, TX is now 21-6-1.

Michael Franco scored an eight round unanimous decision over Rafael Lora in a eight round Jr. Lightweight bout.

Lora came out and did well in the first frame as he did well with the jab and right hand. Lora started to get it going in round two as he started to work the body. The fight started to heat up in round three as Franco started to show his arsenal but Lora was tough as he fought back. In round four, Lora spit out his mouthpiece and was deducted a point,

Franco started to break Lora down in round five as the early body work slowed Lora and there were instances where Franco became dominant. Franco had a big sixth as he landed numerous combinations and continued with the body work.

The eighth saw another point deducted from Lora for the same infraction of spitting out his mouthpiece.

Franco, 129 1/2 lbs of Riverside, CA won by scores of 77-73; 77-73 and 76-74 ro stay perfect at 19-0. Lora, 127 lbs of Irvington, NJ is now 11-6.

Jose Roman made quick work as he stopped Jose Mendoza in round one of a scheduled right round Lightweight bout.

Roman dropped Mendoza with a right hand midway through the opening frame. That punch also caused a cut over the left eye of Mendoza. Just a moment late, Roman dropped Mendoza again and he was counted out at 2:03 of round one.

Roman, 135 1/2 lbs of Santa Ana, CA is now 9-0 with eight knockouts. Mendoza, 135 lbs of Lama, Mexico is now 6-2.

Michael Farenas scored an eight round majority decision over former world title challenger Daniel Attah in a Super Featherweight bout.

Scores were 79-71; 78-72 and 75-75 for Farenas who is now 31-3-3. Attah is now 25-7-1.

Christopher Martin scored a ten round unanimous decision over Charles Huerta in a Super Bantamweight bout in Costa Mesa, California.

It was a competitive bout with Martin being the boss and pushing back Huerta. Huerta has his moments which was fought in front of a large following of his fans.

Martin, 122 lbs of San Diego, CA won by scores of 99-91; 96-94 and 96-94 to stay perfect at 22-0-2. Huerta, 122 lbs of Paramount, CA is now 16-3.

Ronny Rios scored an eight round unanimous decision over Georgyi Kivlishvili in a Jr. Lightweight bout

Rios was very effective early as he boxed Kivlishvili. In round five they stood in the pocket with Rios landing some hard body shots. Rios continued to move Kivlishvili back with combination’s to the head and body in round six. The two continues to box with Kivlishvili doing a little better in the eighth and final round but it was not enough.

Rios, 130 lbs of Santa Ana, Ca won by scores of 78-74; 77-75 and 77-75 to remain undefeated at 14-0. Kivlishvili, 128 lbs of Philadelphia via Georgia Republic is now 8-2.

Manuel Avila scored a four round unanimous decision over Jesse Padilla in a Featherweight bout.

Avila of Vacaville, CA is now 4-0. Padilla, 124 lbs of Bayamon, Puerto Rico is now 2-12-2.

Bernard Hopkins literally won one for the ages on Saturday night as became the oldest man ever to win a major boxing title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Jean Pascal to win the WBC/Ring magazine Light Heavyweight championship before 17,750 mostly Pascal fans in a much anticipated rematch at The Bell Centre in Montreal.

Much the like the first encounter that took place on December 18th, Hopkins came out slow but unlike the first fight Pascal did not seem to want to take the lead as the two fighters landed very little in the first two frames. Pascal landed a big right that hurt Hopkins at the end of round three but he was unable to follow up and capitalize on that big shot. Hopkins shook that off and got into a rhythm which mirrored the first fight where Hopkins could not miss his foe with lead right hands and it seemed every time Hopkins would land that shot Pascal had a look of bewilderment and retreat. Hopkins started bullying Pascal around the ring and it was clear who was the elder in this battle.

In round’s nine and ten, Hopkins landed little shots that made Pascal’s gloves graze the canvas. Television replays showed that both should have been called knockdown but Hopkins did not get credit for either blow as referee Ian John Lewis ruled slips on both. Hopkins continued to sweep through the rounds as he started to feel his oats as he continuously mocked and taunted Pascal. Hopkins went as far as to start doing pushups in the middle of the ring before the ninth round began.

Again like the first bout, the final round was a toe to toe war as a desperate Pascal almost got the home run blow that he needed as he rocked Hopkins with a hard right that had the legend holding on.

Hopkins made it to the final bell guns ab-lasing as he waited for the historical tallies.

When they were read, Hopkins, 174 of Philadelphia won by scores of 116-112; 115-113 and 115-114 to become a world champion at age forty-six, surpassing the mark set by a forty-five year old George Foreman. Hopkins incredible record now reads 52-5-2. Pascal of Montreal is now 26-2-1.

Chad Dawson returned the scene of his only professional loss but this time had a better result as he scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Adrian Diaconu in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Dawson came out with a little more aggression then he has shown in previous outings. Diaconu obliged by not being particularly energetic as he was trying to figure not only the southpaw stance of Dawson but a five inch disadvantage.

Diaconu would mount short rallies at different points of the fight as he would land two and three punch combination’s but they were few and far between as Dawson was deft at tying up and working inside and would give back some solid shots of his own.

Dawson got back to boxing from the mid to late rounds and took most of the second half of the fight as he controlled the distance with the exception of a couple of brief instances in round’s nine and twelve where Diaconu landed some hard shots but they were one at a time and Dawson was able to escape the bout mainly unharmed.

Dawson of Hartford, CT won by scores of 118-110; 117-111; and 116-112 to raise his mark to 30-1. Diaconu of Montreal is now 27-3.

According to TMZ.com, six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya has checked himself in a substance abuse treatment center in California.

De La Hoya tells TMZ he feels he will come out “a stronger, healthier person.”

De La Hoya issued a statement to TMZ that reads, “After doing an honest evaluation of myself, I recognize that there are certain issues that I need to work on. Like everyone, I have my flaws, and I do not want to be one of those people that is afraid to admit and address those flaws.

“Throughout my career and my life, I have always met all challenges head-on, and this is no different. I am confident that with the support of my family and friends, I will become a stronger, healthier person.

“I ask for respect and privacy as my family and I go through this process.”

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that former two-division champion Paul Williams will take on undefeated Cuban, Erislandy Lara on July 9 at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City.

Williams was originally penciled in to fight Nobouhiro Ishida but after HBO first approved the Japanese fighter, pulled the plug on that bout.

“Erislandy is another outstanding Cuban amateur that has been put on the fast track in the pros along with his former teammates Yuriorkis Gamboa and Odlandier Solis,” said Dan Goossen, who promotes Williams. “We’re looking forward to getting Paul back into the ring, especially against a young, hungry tiger like Lara. We have all the confidence in Paul overcoming all the odds and fighting his way back to the top.”

NEWARK, NJ–Former world title challenger Joel Julio scored methodical ten round unanimous decision over Anges Adjaho in a Welterweight bout the headlined an ESPN 2 televised card at the AmeraHealth Center at the Prudential Center in downtwon Newark.

Julio pressed the action and showed crisp combination’s that had Adjaho backing up against the ropes. Julio boxed as well as he has in a while as he was pretty consistent throughout the affair against the late replacement Adjaho

Julio, 146 lbs of Miami won by scores of 99-91 on all judges cards to raise his ledger to 37-4. Adjaho,145 1/2 lbs of Buffalo, NY, took the bout on a couple weeks notice replacing Antwone Smith is now 17-6.

Sadam Ali remained undefeated but it wasn’t easy as he and John Revis sat through a fourteen minute power delay with Ali in complete control but the former U.S. Olympian held off a late rally to win a eight round unanimous decision in a Welterweight bout.

Ali dominated the early going and sent Revish to the canvas and it looked like it would be an early night. Ali continued to be the boss in round’s three and four before Revish landed a two hard rights in round four to announce his arrival in the contest.

Two seconds into round five, the lights in the arena went out which caused a fourteen minute delay. Not much happened until Revis landed a booming right that rocked Ali and the undefeated fighter seemed like he was in serious trouble. The two had some solid exchanges as the fight came to a close with Ali holding on the early lead.

Ali, 146 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 79-72 on all cards to stay undefeated at 13-0. Revish, 146 lbs of Garden Meadow, LA is now 10-4-2.

Joel Castillo scored a fourth round stoppage over Jesse Orta in a scheduled six round Light Heavyweight bout.

Castillo was dominant as he dropped Orta in round two from a flurry of punches. That woke Orta up as he showed signs of life in the fight after the knockdown.

After that it was all Castillo as he continued to pound the body and head. The fight was stopped after Castillo landed the last of what was many cringing body shots.

The time of the stoppage was 2:33 of round four for Castillo, 172 lbs of Bronx, NY and is now 9-0 with with six knockouts. Orta, 173 1/2 lbs of

Tyone Luckey made it four straight knockouts as he took out Sidell Blocker in round two of a scheduled four round Jr. Lightweight bout.

Luckey dominated the first round and dropped Blocker twice in round two. The first with a left hook and he finished the fight with a combination that sent Blocker to the canvas. The referee stopped the bout at 1:51 of round two.

Luckey, 132 lbs of Middletown, NJ is 4-0 with four knockouts. Luckey, 133 lbs of Pleasantville, NJ is now 1-5-1.

In what was the fight of the night Rafael Montalvo scored an upset stoppage over local favorite Vinny O’Brien in the final round of a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

O’Brien controlled the first three plus round as he tagged Montalvo with some hard straight hands. he seemed to be on his way to his own stoppage win as he decked Montalvo early in round three from a hard right. Montalvo out of no where landed a hard left that sent O’Brien to the canvas. Luckily for O’Brien the round was over as he staggered to his feet and wobbled to the corner. O’Brien seemed to stead himself as the final round began but started getting tagged with numerous left hooks that opened up a cut out of the corner pf his right eye. O’Brien fough hard but started getting hit with more frequency and was staggered once more before the fight was stopped.

Montalvo, 146 lbs of Allentown, PA is now 1-1. O’Brien, 146 lbs of East Hanover, NJ is now 2-1.

Angel Concepcion fought through a first round knockdown to score a four round unanimous decision over Taneal Goyco in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Goyco dropped Concepcion in the opening moments of the fight with a hard left hook. That would be the high point of the fight for Goyco as he Concepcion started getting into a rhythm and for the next three round boxed well as Goyco was not technically sound by through a lot of punches off balance an effort to counter Concepcion.

Concepcion, 174 1/2 lbs of Newark, NJ won by scores of 39-37; 38-37; and 38-37 to raise his record to 5-0. Goyco, 174 lbs of Philadelphia is now 4-2