SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — Giving away 52 ½-pounds, local heavyweight and current James Toney sparring partner Hector Martinez avenged a closely-contested decision defeat with a six-round unanimous decision over Yohan Banks in the featured attraction at the Red Lion Hotel on Friday night.

The fight was not the action-packed slugfest their first encounter was last year, but surely Martinez (6-5, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California was happy to reverse the result no matter how the route. Banks (4-5-3, 2 KOs) of Redwood City, California was tentative in the early going, as he allowed Martinez to control the distance with his long arms.

Martinez, 225, landed his first telling combination in the second, catching Banks, 277 ½, with a jab, followed up by a right. Once the punch landed, Martinez was in Banks’ range, and thus forced a clinch to get back on the outside. It would be a strategy that would work well for Martinez for much of the contest. In the moments that Martinez would stay in range, Banks was quick to fire his right, but the shot hit the target only sparingly.

Banks began the third well, snapping Martinez’ head back with a looping right. Martinez quickly got on his bicycle. Once Martinez got his legs back to one hundred percent, the local favorite went right back to his one-two and hold technique to great effect. Action picked up in the fourth, as Martinez began to fire quick combinations when on the inside, before backing back out at range. Banks looked quite drained by the fourth, as the big guy threw even less and often took heavy breaths.

Wearing out Banks further, could have been Martinez’ longs arms and tall body hanging on him when they would clinch. When the fight was a wrestling match, Martinez had the advantage because he would look for an opening to throw in those situations. Banks on the other hand, looked to be looking for a rest when they would come together on the inside. After some mauling rounds, Martinez took the fight by scores of 58-57, 59-56 and 60-54.

“I felt that I had to redeem myself,” said Martinez Monday. Banks had scored a four-round split decision over Martinez in Oroville, California in March of last year. Martinez has been in training camp with future hall of famer James Toney. “It’s like going to college,” said Martinez of the experience. “I’m going to the school of hard knocks and learning from the professor. The living legend: James “Lights Out” Toney.”

Martinez will return to the ring on the undercard of Toney’s upcoming fight with Vinny Maddalone. That bout will take place May 21st at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Martinez is already scheduled to come back to the Red Lion Hotel on June 17th as well.

In the co-feature, rising prospect Maximilliano Becerra (5-0-1, 2 KOs) of Vacaville, California scored a four-round unanimous decision as he turned back the challenge of a game Christian Gonzalez (2-1, 1 KO) of Bakersfield, California by way of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.

Gonzalez, 136, came out throwing in the first, but his punches clearly did not have the same force behind them as the ones that would be uncorked by Becerra, 136. After competitive exchanges in the first, Becerra turned the fight completely in his favor in the second round. Seconds in, Becerra unloaded a right hook that dropped Gonzalez into a corner. Gonzalez got up, but was soon downed by a flurry which looked to be helped by the tangling of their feet. When Gonzalez got up he was rocked by a straight left and right hook combo that almost put him down a third time. Had Gonzalez not stayed up, the fight would have been over.

Gonzalez managed to make it out of the second, even throwing back as the round concluded. In the third, the Bakersfield resident caught Becerra with a solid right, which began a good back-and-forth between the two. Gonzalez’ main problem was getting inside on the much taller and longer Becerra. The Mexican native almost had to eat one or two punches just to get close enough to throw one of his own.

Still, Gonzalez continued to press the fight, even landing a pretty combination in the fourth. The power difference remained clear however, as Becerra shook off the Gonzalez rally before taking all three official cards by the scores of 38-36 and 40-34 twice. Becerra will likely be back in the ring June 3rd at the Fairfield Sports Center in Fairfield, California and then return to the Red Lion Hotel on June 17th.

Former New York Golden Gloves champion Joshua Landers (1-0, 1 KO) of Hollywood, California spoiled the pro debut of locally popular former Badge VS. Badge and toughman competitor Larry Ward (0-1) of Sacramento via first-round stoppage to silence the boisterous Red Lion crowd.

Ward, who works full-time at the California Medical Facility, a state prison in nearby Vacaville, backed Landers to the ropes early and seemed to get overconfident after his brief success. Landers, 230, turned the momentum in his favor with a right that stunned Ward. Landers followed up the right with a left hook that rocked Ward, 223, almost wobbling him to the mat.

For a moment, it looked as though Landers was letting Ward off the hook, as he backed into the ropes and allowed Ward to come in throwing shots. With his back to the ropes, Landers landed a left hook that dropped Ward hard to the canvas. Referee Ed Collantes immediately waved off the fight at the time of 2:47 of the first round. Despite the loss, Ward will try it again June 17th back at the Red Lion Hotel.

In one of two exciting four-rounders on the card that evenly matched fighters making their pro debut, Brett De La Torre (1-0) of Vacaville scored a four-round majority decision over Will Walters (0-1) of Sacramento.

The action was fast and furious from round one on and throughout the fight. De La Torre, 142 ½, got things going as he quickly backed Walters, 142 ½, into the ropes. De La Torre, who kept his hands unusually low almost the entire fight, got a little cocky, which opened the door for Walters to take a turn at forcing the action. De La Torre then landed a pretty one-two combination before Walters came on again just before the bell.

After Walters had a successful round two, De La Torre clearly took the third with some excellent combination and counter-punching. The high work rate seemed to catch up to De La Torre late in the third, as he was visibly breathing heavily before the round ended. With De La Torre still looking a bit winded, Walters rocked the Vacaville native against the ropes in the fourth.

The tired De La Torre was in retreat much of the final round, but Walters did not cut off the ring enough to do any real damage. In the end, one judge had the fight even, 38-38. The other two favored De La Torre, 40-36 and 39-37. The 40-36 card seems highly questionable, considering De La Torre barely landed a punch in the fourth.

The joy of yet another Sacramento fighter’s pro debut was dampened by an out-of-towner, as Lee Reyes (1-0) of Hollywood scored a unanimous decision over Juan Luna (0-1) of Sacramento in an action-packed four-round affair. Reyes, the son of well known Santa Clara, California-based martial artist Ernie Reyes Sr, was also making his pro debut.

Luna, 159, got off to a great start, landing a stiff left hook that got the attention of Reyes, 160. Reyes soon landed a left hook of his own and the fight was on from there. Luna was controlling the round with his boxing for a moment, before Reyes landed another left hook that rocked the local product and likely stole the round.

Reyes, who trains out of the Wild Card, found himself bloodied over his left eye sometime in the second, but that turn of events would not deter him as he controlled the round with his higher output. Reyes began to utilize his right more in the third, often following it with a left that would rock Luna. In the fourth, Luna came out determined and forced Reyes into a neutral corner. Reyes adeptly fought his way off the turnbuckle and had a winded Luna in some trouble as the round progressed. Luna then briefly turned the tide, before getting stunned again to close out a thrilling final round of action. In the end, all three judges favored Reyes, 40-36. However, just as in the De La Torre-Walters bout, the loser had nothing to be down about and looks to have a bright future as a fighter for pay.

Fighting for the first time in almost two-and-a-half years, Andrey Kim (3-3, 1 KO) of Sacramento jumpstarted his pro career again with an impressive third-round knockout of Matt Mahler (0-3) of Stockton, California. Mahler, who himself had been out of action since a January 2009 knockout, was never a factor in the bout.

Kim, 137, wobbled Mahler, 137, with the first left hook he landed in the bout’s opening moments. The left would be there all night for Kim, who also controlled the distance with his movement. Finally in the third, Kim caught Mahler with a straight right, followed by that left hook again. The combo had Mahler stumbling around the ring, before Kim planted him with a right hook that put him down flat on to the right side of his face. No count was need, as referee Jon Schorle waved it off at 2:01 of the third.

Mixed Martial Arts

Derrick Burnsed (7-1, 3 KOs, 4 Submissions) of Citrus Heights, California flashed some power with a scary first-round knockout of Moses Baca (3-5) of Pleasant Hill, California. Burnsed, 154, dropped Baca seconds in and quickly pounced on his prone body before the referee could step in and call off the fight. Official time of the knockout was 1:01 of the first round. Baca was taken out of the ring by paramedics on a stretcher.

Amateur Boxing

Five amateur boxing exhibitions combined to open and close the card. Drew Heneffe of Overcome Training in Cameron Park, California scored a first-round stoppage of Arnulfo Rizo of the Cal Street Fight Club in Stockton, California in the opening fight of the night. Heneffe, 199, forced a standing eight count with two left hooks. When action resumed, Heneffe again landed a couple clean left hooks against Rizo, 192, which was enough for referee Ed Collantes to end the bout.

Joshua Green out of California Total Fitness in Manteca, California scored a three-round unanimous decision over Koran Richardson of the Cal Street Fight Club. It was a competitive contest throughout. Green, 161 ½, closed out the first well, while Richardson, 172 ½, did well in the second. With the fight apparently on the table, both fighters fought the third hard. Green did best with a straight right hand, while Green had his moments with the Manteca resident against the ropes. In the end, all three judges gave two of the three rounds to Green, 29-28.

Ukrainian import Aleksander Muza continually found a home for his overhand right on his way to a three-round unanimous decision over Jesus “Chuy” Sandoval of the Cal Street Fight Club. Muza, 116, who trains out of Niavaroni Kickboxing in Roseville, California, fought a very measured fight throughout. Muza seemed comfortable waiting for Sandoval, 123, to throw and leave an opening before offering up any offense of his own. Muza did come out of this shell in the third, as he closed the fight as the aggressor. In the end, all three judges gave the fight to Muza and his overhand right by scores of 30-27 three times.

James Davis out of Smash Time Boxing in Sacramento scored a hard-fought three round decision over Jared Moore of Anaheim, California. Moore, 175, took round one with two left hooks. Davis, 178, found a right hook and a solid body shot with his left in the second to take that round. The third was competitive, but judges favored Davis 29-28 across the board.

In the final fight of the evening, amateurs Jason Williams and Albert Avina of the Cal Street Fight Club traded at close quarters and fought at a steady pace for three rounds. In the end, all three judges had the fight for Williams.

Promoter Nasser Niavaroni of Uppercut Promotions is arranging to host the next event at the Red Lion Hotel on June 17th. When tickets for the event, planned to be held outdoors, do go on sale, they will be made available by calling the hotel at 916-782-4757.

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 pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao could be fighting his arch rival Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time in October.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said Monday that Top Rank has made a formal, written offer for Marquez, the lightweight champ, to challenge Pacquiao for his welterweight title on a date to be determined in October if he defeats Mosley.

“Last Friday, April 22, Top Rank made a firm offer to Juan Manuel Marquez to fight Manny Pacquiao in October for his WBO 147-pound belt,” Schaefer said. “Part of the deal includes a rematch provision in case Marquez would win. So Pacquiao could potentially be tied up for quite awhile.”

“I have no comment on anything regarding Marquez,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. “We have said that Marquez would be one of the possible opponents for Pacquiao after the fight with Mosley if he is successful against Mosley on May 7. But I have no comment. I am concentrating on promoting a fight on May 7.”

“Based on this offer, it seems like Pacquiao and Top Rank have no interest in fighting Mayweather, at least this year,” Schaefer said. “If they did, I am sure Top Rank would have had language in the offer saying this was the deal unless a Mayweather fight could be secured, but it doesn’t say that.”

“Obviously, Top Rank will have to live by these deal points they offered Marquez, so if any of these things would change — the date, the guaranteed money, the [pay-per-view] upside — they would have to come back to us, because Golden Boy continues to hold the right of last refusal for Marquez’s next fight until the end of February 2012,” Schaefer said.

“I think [Top Rank] sent us the offer because they know that we have these rights, these last negotiation rights. So they informed us that they had submitted that offer to Marquez. It’s the right thing to do. I don’t have a beef here with Top Rank whatsoever. ”

“I am a firm believer that when a fighter becomes a free agent and has certain rights or options that they explore those options. Top Rank did the right thing here. Assuming Top Rank lives by those deal points, so be it. But I don’t really understand it as it relates to the timing,” he said.

“What’s the urgency of locking in Pacquiao’s October fight before he has fought Mosley? I just find the timing strange that you would do that before a big promotion. Maybe Top Rank discounts Shane’s chances. Maybe they just feel it’s important to have that opponent lined up for Manny now.”

“Top Rank gave us their offer, but we have not heard from Marquez,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer said he met with Marquez in Mexico City about three weeks ago and presented him with a new promotional offer. Had he accepted, Marquez’s first bout of the deal could have been a July 30 pay-per-view headliner against junior welterweight titlist Zab Judah. Schaefer has been talking to Judah promoter Main Events about the fight, which Judah wants.

The fight would have given Marquez the opportunity that he has wanted — a chance, with a win, to become the first Mexican to claim a world title in four divisions.

“Maybe that was why [Top Rank] made the offer — because they knew we were trying to make a deal with Marquez and they wanted to make sure they have an opponent for Pacquiao in October,” Schaefer said.

Photo by Gene Blevins/Hogan Photos

Unheralded Frankie Leal scored an upset split decision over previously undefeated hot prospect Roberto Marroquin in a ten round Featherweight bout at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Marroquin and Leal fought on pretty even terms over the first half of the fight with Leal hanging around and being competitive.

leal got the better of the exchanges in the fat paced second half of the contest as his punches from his southpaw stance got through the guard of the prized Marroquin. Marroquin suffered a cut that had blood streaming from down his forehead which could have caused him some issues as Leal had solid round’s eight and nine. the two closed the show by standing toe toe action with Leal more than holding his own as the bell sounded to end the fight.

Leal, 123 lbs of Mexacali, MX won by scores of 99-92 and 96-94 while Marroquin took a card 97-93.

Leal is now 17-6-3. Marroquin, 124 lbs of Dallas, TX is now 19-1.

Baltimore Raven safety Tommy Zbikowski scored an explosive first round knockout over Blake Warner in a scheduled four round Cruiserweight bout.

Zbikowski landed some hard shots before he landed a wicked uppercut that dropped Warner and referee Vic Drachulich stopped the bout at 2:20 of round one

Zibikowski, 197 lbs of Chicago is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Warner, 194 lbs of Oklahoma, City is now 1-3.

Casey Ramos remained undefeated by scoring an eight round unanimous decision over one-time prospect John Jackson in a Lightweight bout.

The bout had some bizarre happening as in round one, Ramos pounded Jackson with a right hand off the break and Jackson fell to the ground. The incident was not ruled a knockdown. In round four, Ramos drilled Jackson with two right hands that sent Jackson into the ropes which was correctly ruled a knockdown. The impact of Jackson careening into the ropes caused the second rope to snap which caused a ten minute delay.

Ramos, 133 lbs of Austin, TX won all three cards by a 79-70 tally and is now 13-0. Jackson, 133 lbs of Miami, FL is now 16-3-1.

LOS ANGELES – An accidental collision of heads happened as Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan charged Yonnhy Perez in the fifth round of their consolation-cum-main-event bout. A cut opened over Perez’s eyes, and the match was stopped and sent to the scorecards. Those were academic, though. Perez hadn’t been in the fight for one minute of its opening 13.

Saturday night at Nokia Theatre in the downtown area, Armenia’s Darchinyan (36-3-1, 27 KOs) blitzed, bullied and blasted Colombia’s Perez (20-2-1, 14 KOs), beating him by three scores of 50-44 in a fight that saw only four rounds completed and none competitive.

Darchinyan, a southpaw and former world champion originally scheduled for the consolation match of Showtime’s Bantamweight Tournament but elevated to the main event when Joseph Agbeko withdrew from his championship fight with Abner Mares, dropped Perez in the second round then measured him for left uppercuts and crosses that didn’t miss.

When an accidental collision of heads came in the fifth round, referee Jerry Cantu acknowledged the cut and motioned the fighters together. Perez, though, shook his head and walked to his corner, where ringside doctor Paul Wallace eventually stopped the match, citing “arterial bleeding.”

“The ref said, ‘Do you want to fight?’” reported Darchinyan of his opponent’s comportment, after the match. “He said, ‘No.’ He quit.”

Asked about future opponents, Darchinyan first named the man who beat him by split decision in December.

“I’d like to fight (Abner) Mares, if he’ll fight me,” said Darchinyan. “Otherwise, I’ll fight Nonito Donaire.”

Donaire remains the only man to knock Darchinyan out in his prizefighting career.

UNDERCARD
Having a name that ends in a phonetic “?-?n” may win you a following in Glendale, Calif., but it ensures nothing else in boxing, as junior lightweight Armenian Azat Hovenensian (0-1) learned in his professional debut against Mexican Juan Reyes (1-1) in the final fight of Saturday’s undercard. Hovenensian engaged throughout the match’s four rounds and absorbed a rain of blows from Reyes, who won by unanimous-decision scores of 38-37, 40-36 and 40-36.

“Figueroa versus Figueroa along Figueroa” went the theme for a junior welterweight fight between Texan Omar Figueroa (11-0-1, 8 KOs) and Puerto Rican John Figueroa (7-10-3, 3 KOs) midway through the evening’s scheduled undercard. A Figueroa won of course – in this case Omar – by second-round knockout at 2:05.

Saturday’s third bout featured two Californians and the first of what would be four fighters of Armenian background, as Glendale’s Art Hovhannisyan (13-0-1, 7 KOs) swapped blows with Richmond’s Jose Alfredo Lugo (11-16-1, 5 KOs) in an entertaining six-round junior welterweight fight. Hovhannisyan, often moving like fellow Armenian Vic Darchinyan but generally showing better balance when attacking, grinded-down Lugo for four rounds before stopping him with a right cross at 1:57 of round 5.

Before that, an inspired four-round flyweight bout between Pennsylvania’s Miguel Diaz (5-0, 3 KOs) and Californian Alejandro Solorio (4-4, 3 KOs) saw Diaz remain undefeated by dropping Solorio in round 3 and cruising to a unanimous decision all three judges scored 39-36. But Solorio, a local fighter, made things interesting in each of the bout’s 12 minutes.

Saturday’s seven-fight card began with a slow-to-develop heavyweight match between Washington, D.C.’s DaVarryl Williamson (27-6, 23 KOs) and Floridian Michael Marrone (19-3, 14 KOs). The match temporarily came alive in round 3, when Williamson landed a counter right hand that knocked Marrone to the blue mat just before the bell. Four rounds later – at 2:30 of the seventh – the fight ended in similar fashion, with Williamson prevailing by technical knockout.

Opening bell rang on a silent Nokia Theatre at 5:06 PM local time. At 7:25, a venue security guard confirmed the door’s ticket count was 2,000.

Photo by Tom Casino / Showtime

LOS ANGELES – Friday afternoon on the second floor of the never-ending JW Marriott Hotel in the middle of downtown, last-minute main-event bantamweights Armenian Vic Darchinyan and Colombian Yonnhy Perez made weight for their Saturday consolation fight. But in an existential twist, the room was filled with the absence of Agbeko.

Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko, scheduled to fight Mexico’s Abner Mares in the finals of Showtime’s Bantamweight Tournament at Nokia Theatre, was not there and will not be in action Saturday. Citing sciatica – a nerve condition of the lower back and legs – and a pain so extreme that it caused him to collapse on Tuesday, Agbeko officially withdrew from his fight with Mares, at Thursday’s final fight-week press conference.

Friday’s weigh-in sagged somewhat from the deflation caused by that announcement. Like its host edifice, the weigh-in for what is now Darchinyan-Perez was resplendent but empty. There was ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. There was a pair of lasses scantily accoutered like ring-card girls. And there were Darchinyan, who weighed 117.8 pounds, and Perez, who made 117.6. But there was no Agbeko and no Mares, no Don King and no Oscar De La Hoya – who, along with Gary Shaw, co-promote the event – and those were not good omens for Saturday’s gate.

“We may have to give refunds,” said Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez, Friday. “It’s up to the venue, but it’s tough when you lose a main event. Tough on the fighters, too.”

Asked how close he came to finding a replacement for Agbeko on short notice, Gomez confirmed there were hopes on Wednesday. “Very close,” said Gomez. “We tried to find an opponent that resembled Agbeko’s style. But ultimately, Abner said, ‘What if something happens?’”

While Saturday’s new main event – which features two fighters who lost in the Bantamweight Tournament semifinals in December – should nevertheless be a very entertaining spectacle, much of the enthusiasm that accompanied the start of fight-week was gone by Friday afternoon.

The weigh-in could have used the robust charisma and cackle of co-promoter Don King, but he was not in attendance.

“Don was getting on a flight on Thursday morning, and this was Wednesday night,” said publicist Alan Hopper. “And I told him, ‘No, it’s OK, you don’t have to be here.’”

The show will go on just the same. Doors are scheduled to open on Nokia Theatre at 4:00 PM local time, with the opening bell set to ring at 5:00. 15rounds.com will have full ringside coverage.

Breidis Prescott’s new nickname “The Khanqueror,” ensures that every time he’s announced, fight fans are reminded that he was the man who beat Amir Khan. While Khan has recovered from the loss and gone on to bigger and better things, Prescott seems to have faded into the background and furthered the claim that he simply got lucky and caught Khan cold. Prescott’s fight tonight against the unheralded junior welterweight Bayan Jargal did little to convince anyone otherwise. If Prescott was looking make a case for a rematch with Khan based on this fight, perhaps those viewing it should only watch rounds one through five.

The bout took place at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Resort in Ledyard, Connecticut

Admittedly Prescott did look good for the first half of the fight. He came out wild in round one, clearly trying to take Jargal’s head off. Although a bit sloppy, many of Prescott’s punches landed hard and a left hook near the end of round one wobbled Jargal a bit. Prescott settled down in round two and began to put his punches together; stringing left hooks and uppercuts in with straight right hands. Rounds 3 and 4 were more of the same as Prescott upped the intensity and landed some beautiful combos on the charging Jargal. Prescott also let loose a great jab that disrupted Jargal’s forward momentum time and again.

Perhaps frustrated he couldn’t take Jargal out Prescott went all out in a wild round 5, unleashing nearly 50 punches in a row in the center of the ring. Jargal ate a surprising number of the punches in the exchange but refused to go down. If one thing can be said of Jargal in this fight, it’s that his chin must be cast of pure granite. Had the fight stopped at the end of the 5th, perhaps Prescott could have generated some buzz about a potential Khan rematch. Instead, a tired Prescott set himself on cruise control and did little over the final 5 rounds. Although Prescott was clearly winning the rounds, he allowed himself to be trapped on the ropes far too often and looked exhausted over the final two rounds.
Jargal, for his part never stopped fighting and managed to win a few cheers from the crowd as he threw punches with reckless abandon. But heart is often not enough in boxing and scores at the end of the fight were 99-91, 99-90 and 100-90 all for Prescott (now 24-2 19KOs.) Jargal drops to 15-2-3 9KOs. Perhaps one day Prescott will get his rematch with Khan. But showings like tonight’s won’t make it a must on any fight fan’s list.

Junior Middleweight prospect Demetrius Andrade notched another easy win as he dispatched under-whelming opponent Omar Bell in less than two rounds. Andrade calmly worked his southpaw 1-2 throughout much of round one and landed easily on the 32 year old Bell; whose previous fight was over a year ago. A little over a minute into round two, as Bell ducked down and forward in anticipation of a punch, Andrade slipped in a chopping left hand that landed on Bell’s chin and put him on the canvas. Though the punch didn’t seem particularly powerful, it was enough to ensure that Bell stayed on one knee as referee Dick Flaherty tolled the ten count above him. The bout was over at 1:31 of round two. For all Andrade’s Olympic pedigree, it seems he’s being moved quite slowly and it’s questionable how much he can be learning from wins such as these. Regardless, he runs his unblemished record to 13-0 9KOs. Bell records his second loss and is now 8-2 5KOs.

In a 4 round junior middleweight bout, Kevin Rooney Jr. (son of famed trainer Kevin Rooney) made a successful pro debut by battering fellow newcomer David Navarro en-route to a wide unanimous decision victory. It looked as if Rooney would make an early night of things as he came out and dropped Navarro early with a sweeping left hook along the ropes; but Navarro rose and was able to survive the follow up from Rooney by covering up and retreating. In round two Navarro continued to cover up behind a high guard and a slightly frustrated Rooney began to look for counter punches instead of creating the openings. It paid off as Rooney dropped Navarro hard with a counter left hook along the ropes midway though the round. It looked like a fight ending shot but Navarro (who was also making his pro debut as well) acquitted himself well and rose to absorb more punishment. Navarro made it though round two but was easily out-punched over the final two rounds. Scores at the end of 4 read a unsurprising 40-34 on all three judges scorecards, giving Rooney his first pro win and Navarro his first pro loss.

Undefeated heavyweight Joe Hanks battered journeyman Terrell Nelson into submission over 4 one-sided rounds, forcing Nelson’s corner to stop the fight between rounds. Hanks bludgeoned the listless Nelson around the ring with left hooks and right hands, dodging what little Nelson threw in return. After seeing enough, Nelson’s corner pulled the plug before round 5 started, giving Hanks the TKO victory. Hanks improves to 16-0 11KOs while Nelson slips to 8-12 5KOs.

Making his professional debut, light heavyweight Kevin Cobbs destroyed the previously unbeaten Nicholas Lavin in under a round. Cobbs wobbled Lavin with a hard right hand in the corner and put him down with a follow up barrage of punches. Lavin managed to make it to his feet but was put down under another assault from Cobbs and referee Steve Smoger called off the fight at 1:30 of round one. Cobbs is now 1-0 1KO while Lavin drops to 2-1 2KOs.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — Promoter Nasser Niavaroni brings professional boxing and mixed martial arts back to the Red Lion Hotel for the first time in over a year-and-a-half tonight. In the featured attraction, heavyweights Yohan Banks and Hector Martinez will look to pick up where they left off in March of last year as they engage in a six-round rematch. Also, rising local lightweight prospect Maximilliano Becerra will take on unknown Christian Gonzalez in the co-feature. Fighters weighed in Thursday afternoon at JB’s Lounge inside the hotel.

Banks (4-4-3, 2 KOs) of Redwood City, California met Martinez (5-5, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California at the Feather Falls Casino & Lodge in Oroville, California in a short-notice match-up just over a year ago. That night, Martinez took a little while to warm up and was dropped in the second round. Once Martinez regrouped, the fight quickly turned into a heavyweight shootout. As the fight progressed, it was Martinez that was getting the better of the exchanges. However the point Martinez lost for the knockdown proved to be the difference in the scoring, as Banks won over two of the judges, 38-37.

Since their initial meeting, Banks has gone 1-1, getting stopped by unbeaten Adam Kownacki and upsetting overhyped Quadtrine Hill via fourth-round knockout. Martinez has fought just once since the Banks loss, dropping another split decision heartbreaker to Lamont Williams this past January. Banks weighed in at 277 ½-pounds Thursday. Martinez, who launched into a Muhammad Ali-inspired rant while still on the scale, weighed in at 225.

Becerra (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of Vacaville, California returns to the site of his first three pro bouts against the unknown Gonzalez (2-0, 1 KO) of Bakersfield, California by way of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico in the four-round co-feature. Becerra, who has grown into a solid ticket seller in the area, pleased his local following with a dominant four-round unanimous decision over Omar Sanchez at the Fairfield Sports Center in nearby Fairfield, California this past January. Gonzalez, who has been out of the ring since 2009, weighed in at 136-pounds, as did Becerra.

The fighter most responsible for the popularity of the Badge VS. Badge series of events in Northern California, Larry Ward of Sacramento, will make his pro debut against former amateur standout Joshua Landers of the Bronx, New York. Landers, who currently trains out of the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, is also making his professional debut. Ward, who is known for his colorful personality, was unusually subdued at the weigh-in while scaling 223-pounds. Landers, a former novice division New York Golden Gloves champion, weighed in at 230-pounds.

Perhaps looking for a fresh start, Andrey Kim (2-3) of Sacramento fights for the first time almost two-and-a-half years in a four-round lightweight bout against Matt Mahler (0-2) of Stockton, California. Mahler himself has been out of action since a January 2009 knockout suffered at the hands of the aforementioned Maximilliano Becerra. Kim’s last bout ended via second-round stoppage to prospect Gabriel Tolmajyan in December of 2008. Kim and Mahler both weighed-in at 137-pounds Thursday.

Juan Luna of Sacramento will make his professional debut against Lee Reyes of San Jose, California in a four-round middleweight fight. Reyes, the son of well known martial artist Ernie Reyes Sr, is also making his professional boxing debut. Luna weighed in at 159-pounds. Reyes, who trains out of the Wild Card, originally came in one pound over at 161, but made 160-pounds after taking the scale in the nude.

In another pairing of pro debutants, Brett De La Torre of Vacaville will take on Sacramento’s Will Walters in a four-round light welterweight fight. The baby-faced De La Torre, who trains alongside Maximilliano Becerra at the Vacaville PAL, weighed in at 142 ½-pounds. Walters, who impressed ringside observers during the California Golden Gloves last year, also weighed in at 142 ½-pounds.

Mixed Martial Arts

Derrick Burnsed (6-1, 2 KOs, 4 Submissions) of Citrus Heights, California will take on Moses Baca (3-4) of Pleasant Hill, California in a three-round welterweight fight. Burnsed, who trains alongside Urijah Faber in Sacramento, weighed in at 154-pounds. Baca, who trains out of the Cesar Gracie Sports Center in Pleasant Hill, had trouble finding the hotel and weighed in at a later time.

Former California Golden Gloves Champion boxer Michael Ortega (1-1, 1 KO) had hoped to continue his MMA career in a scheduled three-round welterweight bout against Chris Quitiquit (4-0, 1 KO, 1 Submission). However their fight was a late scratch. Ortega fights for Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male and Quitiquit is part of the Nick Diaz camp. Reportedly the two camps have a gentlemen’s agreement to not match-up their fighters.

Amateur Boxing

Six amateur boxing exhibitions will open up the card. Drew Heneffe, who fights out of Overcome Training in Cameron Park, California, will take on Arnulfo Rizo out of the Cal Street Fight Club in Stockton, California in three-round heavyweight bout. Heneffe weighed in at 199-pounds, while Rizo scaled 192.

Joshua Green, fighting out of California Total Fitness in Manteca, California, will take on Koran Richardson of the Cal Street Fight Club in a three-round light heavyweight fight. Green weighed in at 161 ½-pounds. Richardson weighed in at 172 ½-pounds, which infuriated Green’s trainer and former pro heavyweight Gilbert Martinez. However, the weight difference is within the allowance for an amateur exhibition, and the fight will go on as scheduled.

Ukrainian import Aleksander Muza will take on Jesus Sandoval of the Cal Street Fight Club in a three-round bantamweight fight. Muza, who trains out of fight promoter Nasser Niavaroni’s gym, Niavaroni Kickboxing in Roseville, California, weighed in at 116-pounds. Sandoval, yet another fighter out of the Cal Street Fight Club in Stockton, weighed in at 123-pounds.

Jared Moore of Anaheim, California will take on James Davis out of Smash Time Boxing in Sacramento in a three-round light heavyweight fight. Moore weighed in at 175-pounds, while Davis came in at 178.

Fighters for the last amateur exhibition, Jason Williams and Albert Avina, will weigh in tomorrow.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Uppercut Promotions, are available by calling the Red Lion Hotel at 916-782-4757.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Heavyweights, 6 Rounds
Banks 277 ½
Martinez 225

Lightweights, 4 Rounds
Becerra 136
Gonzalez 136

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Ward 223
Landers 230

Lightweights, 4 Rounds
Kim 137
Mahler 137

Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Luna 159
Reyes 160

Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Walters 142 ½
De La Torre 142 ½

Mixed Martial Arts Weigh-in Result:

Welterweights, 3 Rounds
Burnsed 154
Baca*

Amateur Boxing Exhibition Weigh-in Results:

Heavyweights, 3 Rounds
Heneffe 199
Rizo 192

Light Heavyweights, 3 Rounds
Green 161 ½
Richardson 172 ½

Bantamweights, 3 Rounds
Muza 116
Sandoval 123

Light Heavyweights, 3 Rounds
Moore 175
Davis 178

*weighed in late Thursday

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

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF Bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko collapsed earlier this week and is not cleared to fight this Saturday against Abner Mares in the finals of the Showtime Bantamweight tournament scheduled for Los Angeles.

Showtime boxing chief Ken Hershman was on a family vacation in Italy and had not yet made a decision on what would happen with Saturday’s card.

“Ken is aware of the situation and will come to a decision soon,” Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio told ESPN.com.

“I was picking him up at baggage claim and we walked outside to the car and he literally collapsed in the roadway right next to the car,” said Don King’s PR maven Alan Hopper. “He could barely move. He literally was face down on the pavement until the police and ambulance arrived.”

“He’s very disappointed. Despondent would be the word,” Hopper said. “He said when he was laying on the pavement and when I was checking on him, all he was saying was, ‘This can’t be happening, I have to fight on Saturday night. This can’t be happening.’ This is the biggest fight of his life and he is very, very upset and disappointed. He has worked really hard for this fight.”

Gary Shaw, who promotes Perez and Darchinyan, said he was hopeful Showtime would still go through with the card by bumping the consolation fight up to the main event. Both fighters have been on Showtime several times and usually have produced action-packed fights.

“Here is my guess — the fact that Showtime has everything in place and has their crew here, I think they will go through with it,” Shaw said.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who promotes Mares, also said he hoped the card would go on. Schaefer said although he had not yet heard from Hershman, he had his matchmakers looking for a substitute opponent for Mares to fight.

“Gary feels, and I agree with him, that the show should go on and we are currently trying to secure a replacement for Agbeko, but I don’t know how Showtime is going to react to that,” Schaefer said. “I think it’s unfair to the other fights to call of the show just because Agbeko is out. We’ll see.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF/WBO Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA Champion David Haye will finally meet on July 2nd in Hamburg, Germany.

“We are very glad that this mega-fight will finally come true,” Bernd Boente, Klitschko’s manager, said Wednesday. “We expect more than 150 TV stations worldwide to show the fight live or on a delay. Klitschko vs. Haye is definitely one of the top highlights in sport.”

“Also, Hamburg is the second-biggest city in Germany after Berlin, so you have a huge potential fan base and the stadium is one a new stadium built just a few years ago,” Boente said. “We are sure that because of the city and the stadium that we will have a sellout crowd.”

“I am very happy that Haye finally dares to step into the ring with me,” Klitschko, 35, said. “He already ducked out of two fights with me and Vitali and is only trash-talking and producing stupid shirts. Now he has to prove in the ring what he has got. I have been waiting for this fight for over two years.”

Said the 30-year-old Haye: “I always said I would knock out Wladimir, get his belts and will then finish up his brother Vitali to end my career on the peak. Wladimir has only fought wimps and cowards so far. I will show him his limitations and what it is like to fight a real champion. That is a promise.”

“I’m very excited about it because it’s eventually time to make it happen. Finally. But it’s not matter of fact that David Haye will show up on July 2,” Klitschko said. “But I hope he will. We will face each other a couple of times at press conferences and I am a little bit worried about it because he is putting so much pressure on himself. He’s consistently putting himself in a corner and now the action has to follow. Now he has to follow through with all the promises.”

“I am completely recovered and I have been cleared by the doctor, so I am ready to go,” Klitschko said. “I can train now, but it’s early. I do will do the same preparation I always do. I’m, of course, taking this fight like any other fight –seriously. I know exactly what to expect from him and what to do with him. My game plan has not changed since I was preparing to fight him in June 2009. To me nothing has changed.”

Then Klitschko unveiled his dry wit: “To make it more clear, I am going to fight David Haye. After the clearance from the doctor, David Haye will get his wish to fight the younger, weaker Klitschko, as he says. It is his dream come true.”

“This will be the second heavyweight unification fight that we have promoted. The first was between Wladimir and Ibragimov at a sold out Madison Square Garden, but this fight between Wladimir and Haye is on a totally different level,” said Tom Loeffler, the managing director of Klitschko’s K2 Promotions. “It has been talked about for the last two years and now is the premiere event in boxing. The Klitschkos are the only boxers that can regularly fill the large soccer stadiums in Europe and the Imtech Arena in Hamburg is a great venue

World ranked 175-pound contender Otis Griffin has just informed 15rounds.com that he has signed to meet once-beaten Karo Murat in an elimination bout with the IBF #2 light heavyweight ranking at stake on May 7th at the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

Griffin (23-7-2, 9 KOs) of Sacramento, California rode a four-fight win streak into an IBF title elimination bout against Yusaf Mack this past March. Griffin had received a lowball offer to fight reigning IBF kingpin Tavoris Cloud, but opted to take the Mack bout instead in order to optimize his earning potential for the title bout. However, Griffin’s strategy backfired a bit, as Mack took a twelve-round split decision after several postponements of the bout. Now Griffin, currently the IBF #7 ranked light heavyweight contender, gets a second chance at making the Cloud bout a reality.

Murat (23-1, 13 KOs) of Kitzingen, Bayern, Germany is coming off of an eight-round unanimous decision over Griffin acquaintance and fellow Sacramento resident Christian Cruz which took place this past February in Germany. Murat’s only defeat came at the hands of current WBO Interim Light Heavyweight title holder Nathan Cleverly via tenth-round stoppage at the ringside physician’s request last September. Murat is currently the IBF #9/WBO #10/WBA #13 ranked 175-pound fighter.

Their light heavyweight elimination bout serves as one of main undercard attractions to the IBF Middleweight title bout between champion Sebastian Sylvester and mandatory challenger Daniel Geale.

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

Before his technical decision victory over Paul McCloskey this past Saturday, WBA Super Lightweight champion Amir Khan re-signed with promoters Golden Boy Promotions and television network HBO to four year extensions according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“We’ve been negotiating the extension and last week we signed it,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “We agreed awhile ago that we would want to continue to work together. It took time while we were negotiating the best possible deal for everyone.”

“Amir’s future is so bright,” said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who was ringside for the fight against McCloskey. “Amir wants to unify titles. He would also want to move up to 147 pounds eventually. There are many possibilities. He wants to fight the best and we want to make those fights for him. It’s very exciting for us. We will have a great champion for many years to come.”

Said HBO’s Kery Davis, “We believe Amir has a bright future in the sport and is an emerging star. We look forward to his next fight on HBO.”

Khan’s next fight is tentatively supposed to be a July 23 unification bout with American Timothy Bradley Jr. (27-0, 11 KOs), who owns two 140-pound belts. He unified two titles with a 10th-round technical decision victory against Devon Alexander on Jan. 29.

“We are trying to finalize that fight,” Schaefer said. “[Bradley promoter] Gary Shaw is going to be in Los Angeles this week, so we can talk about it some more. There’s been some talk that maybe the Bradley side isn’t going to take the fight or this and that, so I talked to Gary on Monday and wanted to know if we have a fight. He confirmed we have a fight, so we are working on the paperwork.”

“We are excited to continue to work with Amir,” Schaefer said. “He and his team see we have done a good job for Amir, taking his fights to New York and then to Las Vegas, and we know there are huge opportunities for Amir. I can see huge paydays for him. We want to start in July with Amir’s run with the fight against Bradley to get him in position where he can eventually fight for that No. 1 position on the pound-for-pound list.”

Orlando Salido won the WBO featherweight title with a stunning upset by scoring an eighth round stoppage over previously undefeated Superstar Juan Manuel Lopez at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Salido was consistently getting through with the right hand over the course of the fight and was definatly in the contest throughout. There were many solid exchanges with the fight really starting to heat up in the third. The first sign of Salido being a tough out for Lopez as the challenger landed a hard staright right that backed up the champion. Lopez quickly answered that by backing up Salido with a combination. In round five, Salido landed a booming right to the jaw the sent Lopez to the canvas and the champ was in a heap of trouble. Lopez was lucky that the knockdown came at the end of the round or he may have been stopped right then and there.

Salido continued to find a home for the right hand but Lopez showed a champions heart by continuing to fire back and get through with solid straight lefts.

In round eight, Salido landed another right hand that sent Lopez reeling all over the ring but this time there was enough time for Salido to stalk and throw some shots that connected and continued to hurt Lopez. Lopez was throwing to the very end but his shots were mostly missing in between battering shots from Salido when the bout was halted at 1:37 of round eight.

Salido, 126 lbs of Ciudad, Mexico is champion with a record of 35-11-2-1 with twenty-three knockouts. Lopez, 125 lbs of Caguas, PR is now 30-1.

Admitting to the severity of the knockdown, Lopez simply stated after the fight, “The punch in the fifth round hurt.”

The stoppage surprised – and angered – many in attendance, as the boos were following by flying beer and water bottles from the pro-Lopez crowd. Lopez echoed the crowd’s displeasure with the ref’s ruling. “[Salido] was hitting me but [Ramirez Jr.] shouldn’t have stopped the fight,” said Lopez. “I was still conscious.”

Proudly hoisting up his belt after the fight, the new champion said, “I came very prepared to fight the No. 1 featherweight in the world. I think the fight was going pretty evenly through the first five rounds but I knew I had to pressure [Lopez] because we were in his hometown.”

Luis Cruz had a couple of anxious moments but he fought well and scored a ten round unanimous decision over late replacement and former world title challenger Martin Honorio in a Jr. Lightweight bout.

Cruz built up a nice lead early as Cruz featured precise counter left hooks. Round six saw many wild exchanges that pleased the crowd with the exception of a moment when Cruz was buckled from a pair of right hands from Honorio.

Cruz steadied himself and boxed well for round’s seven through nine. Honorio buckled Cruz early in the final frame from a right to the body but Cruz once again regained his composure and finished up the fight by landing some solid uppercuts and left hands.

Cruz, 129 3/4 lbs of Las Piedras, PR won by scores of 100-90; 98-92; and 96-94 to remain undefeated at 18-0. Honorio, 131 lbs of Mexico City is now 29-6-1.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

MASHANTUCKET, CT (April 16, 2011) Forget what you know about Victor Ortiz. Forget what you know about Andre Berto. Nothing in either fighters past meant a damn thing tonight. The heart both men displayed and the way they fought has washed away any negative perceptions anyone could possibly hold about either fighter. Berto slugged instead of boxed, Ortiz over-came knockdowns and gutted out 12 hard rounds. Both fighters entertained and neither backed down. It’s what both needed and what they delivered.

Now the particulars. Round one set the tone for the entire fight, both men came out jabbing quickly, berto snaping off a few right hands. The felt each other out for a minute before Ortiz unleashed a left hand that glanced off of Berto’s should and head and put Berto down. Referee Michael Ortega did not rule it a knockdown but a few seconds later Betro was trapped in a corner went down amidst a barrage of Ortiz’s punches. Betro rose and the round ended but he was clearly shaken. Ortiz tried to exploit Betro’s shaky legs and charged him, swinging and landing. Betro survived and then leveled a perfect right hand counter that dropped Ortiz. Oritz rose and though not badly hurt, did mange to survive Berto’s follow up barrage. Rounds 3 and 4 had furious back and forth action between both fighters, with each giving as well as they were taking. Round 6 was the sure round of the year as Bertro dropped Ortiz hard with a counter right, only to be put down himself moments later from a perfectly time Ortiz left hand.

The fighters slowed a bit in rounds 7, 8 and 9 but there was still great two way action. The difference being that through those rounds, Ortiz appeared to be the slightly fresher, busier fighter. Ortiz was docked a point in round 10 for hitting behind the head but shook it off and closed out rounds 11 and 12 strong. It was truly a fight beyond words and both fighters gave it their all. When the scorecards were announced, Ortiz led on all three: 115-110, 115-112 and 114-111. Ortiz (29-2-2 22KOs) is now the WBC champ and appears to have handily overcome Maidana fight. Berto (27-1 21KOs) takes his first loss but will now hopefully be viewed as the truly exciting fighter he is.

Up and coming welterweight prospect Thomas Dulorme made a serious statement by notching a brutal 2nd round knockout over late replacement Harrison Cuello. Dulorme started quickly and had Cuello backpedaling for most of the first round, using hooks and straight right hands to keep Cuello off balance. Early in round 2, Cuello went down on an overhand right but was more off balance than hurt. Not long after he rose, Dulorme leveled a viscous right hand that instantly separated Cuello from his consciousness and dropped him straight backwards. Referee Johnny Callas didn’t bother to count and stretchers were immediately brought into the ring. Cuello (now 20-16-3 15KOs) was thankfully OK but there were a few tense minutes as medical staff attended to him. Dulorme, who improves to 11-0 10KOs with the knockout, has now certainly become a prospect to keep an eye on.

“Thomas Dulorme is one of the most devastating young punchers,” promoter Lou DiBella said. “He is the entire package. Within a year he will be challenging for a world title.”

Overcoming a 62 pound weight difference, the 223 pound female heavyweight Sonya Lamonakis claimed a hard fought unanimous decision over the 285 pound Gigi Jackson. Lamonakis initially looked a bit apprehensive as Jackson came forward and used her weight to push her around the ring, but by the second round, Lamonakis began to open up and score well with right hands. Through the next 2 rounds, Lamonakis was the busier fighter and pushed Jackson back behind strong right hands and left hooks. Ultimately it was work rate that caused the judges to give it to Lamonakis by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 (twice.) With the win, Lamonakis remains unbeaten at 5-0 1KO while Jackson falls to 2-2.

Deandre Latimore cruised to an unimpressive 8 round unanimous decision over Bayonne NJ’s Dennis Sharpe. Latimore was dominant in the early rounds and landed a number of good right uppercuts but seemed reluctant to follow up on any of his big punches. Each of the 8 rounds progressed in the same manner, with Latimore darting in and out and landing but refusing to open up and try for the stoppage. Sharpe did well to take Latimore’s hard shots but did little else throughout the 8 rounds. When the scorecards were announced, it was no surprise that all three read 80-72 in favor of the now 22-3 (17KOs) Latimore. Sharpe dropped is seventh in a row and stands at 17-7-3 4KOs

In an entertaining scrap between unbeaten bantamweights, New Haven, CT native Luis Rosa Jr. (6-0 5KOs) overcame the hard charging Joseliz Cepeda (4-1) of Neward, NJ and managed to pull out an impressive 5th round KO. The first three rounds of the fight were evenly contested as both fighters tee’d off on each other with near reckless abandon. The fight shifted in round 4 when Cepeda began to visibly slow. Rosa took advantage and pressed the action, putting in good work to the body. When the fifth began, Rosa began right where he left off and wisely went right back to Cepeda’s body. Less than a minute into the round, a left hook from Rosa dropped Cepeda to a knee and spelled the beginning of the end. Cepeda backpedaled to the ropes but was caught with another left hook to the liver and again took a knee; grimacing in pain as referee Dick Flaherty counted him out. Time of the stoppage was 1:12 of round 5.

Welterweight Joseph Elegele of Winter Haven, FL needed less than 2 rounds to blow out his out gunned opponent Angel Hernandez of Gary, IN. The talent disparity was quickly evident as Elegele dropped Hernandez early in round 1 with a counter right hook and proceed to tag him easily thoughout the rest of the round. Round 2 progressed in much the same fashion until Elegele landed a perfect left uppercut to Hernandez’s mid-section, causing him to crumple to the canvas. Referee Johnny Callas began a count but realized it wasn’t necessary and called the fight at 2:54 of round 2. Elegele remains undefeated and runs his record to 12-0 10KOs. Hernandez notches his tenth loss and is now 14-10 11KOs.

In the opening bout of the night, middleweight J’Leon Love of Dearborn MI, wiped out overmatched J.C. Peterson of Fort Myers, FL in less less than two rounds. Love dominated from the outset and rained punches on Peterson for the entirety of the fight. The end came as Peterson, trapped on the ropes, was stunned by a left hook and ate around 10 follow up punches en route to the canvas where referee Dick Flaherty waved it off. Time of the stoppage was 2:13 of round 2. Love is now 6-0 5KOs while Peterson stands at 1-11.

Post Fight Quotes

New World Boxing Council (“WBC”) Welterweight Champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz addressed the media following his thrilling twelve round unanimous decision victory over Andre Berto on Saturday night.

Berto, who hurt his right hand in round and required medical attention, did not attend the press conference.

Here are post fight quotes from the participants:

Victor Ortiz, WBC Welterweight Champion: “Andre Berto – I know he’s not here – we both went through a great war; nothing but respect. It was a very exciting fight. He hits very hard. I have a head harder than a rock. I wonder what the headline will read: Victor doesn’t have….fill in the blank. It wasn’t a walk in the park but I got the goods.”

“I want to thank Manny Pacquiao for his words. We talked today and he said to stick to my plan, that I’m a very good fighter, and don’t take anybody’s negativity.”

“I saw Andre Berto as a champion. There’s no stopping Berto. I didn’t prepare to knockout Berto. I knew it would go the full distance. I pictured myself with two black eyes, but I would have the green belt.”

“There are a lot of great fighters at 147’; I’m completely done with 140. I’m going to take a vacation and then shoot for the big names. I don’t make a helluva lot. Why not shoot for the big ones?”

“Stuff happens. That was the past. Maidana still doesn’t have anything on me. That wasn’t my night. I fought with a broken wrist and the fight was stopped. They said I gave up, I didn’t give up. I didn’t fight Morales. He’s a great guy but past his time and I strongly believe he beat Maidana. He wouldn’t give me a rematch but I’m the guy with no courage, no heart, no balls. But I’m the guy with the belt.”

“I didn’t see it as close. I knew I pulled off a victory. You see the new WBC Welterweight Champion.”

“I wasn’t expecting an easy fight. I expected a war. I studied him and he’s no joke. He knocked out some good guys but I saw the Luis Collazo fight. He (Collazo) was the first to beat him (Berto). I tip my hat to you.”

“It goes back to when I was young. I didn’t have anything when I was young. I raised my brother. I thought this was my dream. I wasn’t going to stand for anything less. I was moving up to 147 but knew I carried my power. For three months, every day at the gym, I would say the new champ.”

Lou DiBella, promoter of the show and Berto: “Berto can’t attend the press conference. Dr. Schwartz said he has a possible break of his right hand and possible concussion. He went to the hospital. We have no issues. Very, very close. No problems from our team. Victor Ortiz answered all of the questions about his heart. You know Victor Ortiz is a welterweight.”

“There were no losers when you out on a fight like this. I’m very proud to promote this fight.”

“Yesterday would have been the 39th birthday of Arturo Gatti. Arturo Gatti would have been very pleased of the fight tonight.”

Richard Schaeffer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Ortiz’s promoter: “We’ve been waiting for a guy to bring excitement back to boxing and Victor Ortiz did that tonight.”

“We’re very proud of Victor Ortiz. He was attacked by some in the media. They questioned his heart and the will to go to war. He proved he has heart and the will to win, against an undefeated guy like Berto and gave him no chance.”

“You saw one of the best welterweight fights in years. Definitely all fight fans would to see it again. There are a lot of opportunities for Victor at 147 bit we’ll sit down and get this fight made again.”

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Follow all the action live as undefeated WBC Welterweight champion Andre Berto takes on what many are calling his toughest test in Victor Ortiz. The action begins approx. 10pm eastern/7 pm Pacifiic

12 Rounds–WBC Welterweight Championship–Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO’s) vs. Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KO’s)

Round 1 Both Guys throwing hard, crisp punches…LEFT TO TO OF HEAD…DOWN GOES BERTO BUT RULED A SLIDP…BIG FLURRY IN THE CORNER …DOWN GOES BERTO AND HE IS HURT…Berto lands a big right…10-8 Ortiz

Round 2: Good uppercut by Berto…BIG RIGHT AND ORTIZ GLOVE HITS THE CANVAS…KNOCKDOWN…18-18

Round 3: Both guys slugging…Ortiz lands a uppercut…berto holds on…Left..Berto wobbling…Berto lands a left…Berto lands a hard right…Hook from Ortiz..Straight left..28-27 Ortiz

Round 4: Ortiz lands combinations on the ropes…Big left from Ortiz…Berto’s legs look tired…38-36 Ortiz

Round 5 Berto lands some jabs…Berto lands a right..Right hook from Ortiz..47-46 Ortiz

Round 6: HUGE COUNTER RIGHT AND DOWN GOES ORTIZ….Ortiz is hurt…Big right…BIG LEFT AND DOWN GOES ORTIZ…57-56 Ortiz

Round 7 Lots of mauling,,,Berto stumbling a bit…67-75 Ortiz

Round 8 Berto lands a right…76-75 Ortiz

Round 9: Ortiz tries to work the body…86-84 Ortiz

Round 10 Ortiz hits Berto behind the head and referee Michael Ortega docks a point from Ortiz…Ortiz lands a good left…95-93 Ortiz

Round 11 Ortiz lands a hard left and Berto looks very tired…105-102 Ortiz

Round 12 Berto lands a big right and left…Big left from Ortiz…114-112 Ortiz

115-110; 114-112; 114-111 FOR THE WINNER AND NEW WBC WELTERWEIGHT VICTOR ORTIZ

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

The much anticipated Amir Khan coming ended up successful when he scored a six round technical decision over Northern Irelands Paul McCloskey. Khan won a unanimous decision 60-54 on all 3 judges cards to retain his WBA Light Welterweight title for the fourth time. Though that only told half the tail. To his credit McCloskey had his moments during the fight.

Both fighters entered the MEN arena in Manchester to a raucous crowd thought to be around 17,000. Firstly McCloskey entered the arena cheered on by thousands of his fans who had travelled over from Ireland. It was then the turn of the champion Khan who also entered to a thunderous reception.

After the formalities the action got underway Khan’s impressive speed allowed him to win the round against McCloskey’s southpaw. It looked early as though McCloskey may be in trouble as he fought with his right hand low and this would allow Khan to pick him off but as the fight went on McCloskey who is no slouch in the speed department himself was able to get out of the way of many of Khan’s combinations.

The second was similar again with Khan’s speed being the key though to his credit McCloskey landed a few of his own shots and wasn’t troubled when Khan landed.

McCloskey has his best round of the fight in the third landing an impressive hook on a retreating Khan against the ropes which Khan acknowledges.

It prompted Khan to start fast in the fourth landing several combinations. Though McCloskey covered up well, by the end of the round both fighters engage each other to loud cheers.

Khan’s speed continues to be the deciding factor in the fifth though McCloskey keeps coming forward looking to land his own shots.

In the sixth both fighters clash heads, though it is McCloskey who comes off worse with a straight cut down towards his left eye brow. The referee Luis Pabon instructs the doctor to look at the cut surprisingly the doctor enters the ring, he then tells the referee to stop the fight. Under WBA rules the fight having gone passed the fourth round goes to the scorecards.

While it was no surprise that Khan won the decision the manner in which the fight was stopped was perplexing to many in attendance. The cut while nasty wasn’t bleeding in the eye so it was surprising the fight was stopped.

Afterwards at a rather ill tempered press conference things continued to simmer. First Oscar De La Hoya thanked everyone and was extremely happy to have such a great atmosphere and praised the fans in attendance. However things descended into chaos when he was repeatedly asked if he thought the fight should have been stopped and what he would of done as a former fighter. He repeated his answer “I don’t know I’m not a doctor” several times much to many peoples chagrin.

He continued and said he hoped to make a fight with Tim Bradley which would be a unification fight and is mooted for 23 July in America.

Khan took his turn to speak and answer questions and with tempers still flaring said “He should be happy this was stopped cos you were getting knocked out”. When asked if he would give McCloskey a rematch he continued “No point giving him a rematch”

While Khan was winning the fight he didn’t come off well in the press conference most likely due to frustration from the past week which has been rather frantic with the late announcement that the card wouldn’t be on Sky PPV and then cancelled from Sky Sports altogether only to be picked up by Primetime a channel with only several thousand viewers. It felt some what apt that after a week of shenanigans that this unsavoury end was preordained.

Stay tuned for the undercard report to follow.

Jr. Welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov scored an impressive eighth round stoppage over previously undefeated Ivan Popoca in a scheduled ten round bout at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula, California.

Provodnikov was very effective with the body work that he was digging especially with the left hand. In round five, Provodnikov battered Popoca against the ropes and had him in trouble but Popoca swithced up southpaw and was able to hold on enough to get out of the round.

Popoca rebounded well to have a good round six with some nice right hands and uppercuts. Provodnikov came out guns ablazing in the eighth by landed a big right that dropped Popoca. Popoca was able to continue only to eat some vicious shots before referee Pat Russell stopped the bout at 2:16 of round eight.

Provodnikov, 140 1/2 of Siberia is now 19-1 with thirteen knockouts. Popoca, 138 1/2 lbs of Taxia, Mexico is now 15-1-1.

Marvin Quintero stopped Juan Santiago in round three of a scheduled eight round Lightweight bout.

Quintero was very active in an action filled first two rounds which saw some good exchanges with Quintero getting the best of the action. Quintero opened up round three and landed nine straight shots to the head and referee Tom Taylor stopped the bout just twelve seconds into the round.

Quintero, 136 1/2 lbs of Tijuana, Mexico is now 22-3 with eighteen knockouts. Santiago, 137 lbs of Denver, CO is now 13-7-1.

In an exciting four round Light Heavyweight bout, Tyrell Hendrix and Mike Gavronski pounded each other for four rounds that resulted in a majority draw.

The two traded knockdowns in the opening frame with each scoring with punishing right hands. Gavronski was bleeding all over his face. The two traded hard shots with with little to separate from the action filled rounds.

Hendrix won a card 40-36 while the other two read 38-38.

Hendrix, 173 1/2 lbs of Los Angeles is now 5-1-2. Gavronski, 172 1/2 lbs of Bellevue, WA is now 2-0-1

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — The most dangerous times for leading contenders are the fights they take while waiting for that world title shot. Super featherweight contender Eloy Perez has had a top three world ranking for sometime now, but still waits for that right opportunity to come his way. Tonight at the Longshoremen’s Hall, Perez steps into the ring against unknown once-beaten Mexican Alejandro Rodriguez, risking everything he has worked so hard for in the process. Their ten-round bout headlines the Telefutura Solo Boxeo telecast. Fighters weighed in Thursday at the Radisson Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf just around the corner from where the fights take place tonight.

Perez (20-0, 5 KOs) of Salinas, California will be making the third defense of his WBO NABO Super Featherweight belt, a regional title he claimed with a fifth-round stoppage of Juan Santiago back in December 2009. It was a win that catapulted Perez into the WBO world rankings at 130-pounds. Currently, Perez sits at the WBO #2 position in the division, a spot that means the next call his manager Kathy Garcia gets could be from Scotland – the home of world champion Ricky Burns.

Before Perez can look at that possibility, he must first get past Rodriguez (12-1, 6 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Rodriguez represents that great unknown, as almost all of his fights have taken place in a small arena in Jalisco. In fact, every one of his widely reported bouts have taken place in Jalisco, while it is likely he has more fights under his belt than his listed record indicates. Rodriguez’ claim to fame, if you could call it that, was that he scored a twelve-round stoppage of a 5-0 fighter for the Jalisco State Lightweight title in August of last year. However, Rodriguez’ last win was over an 0-1 opponent, a level of opposition that will not adequately prepare anyone for Eloy Perez. Rodriguez weighed in at 129, while Perez scaled 129 ½-pounds Thursday.

In the televised co-main event, 2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland will take on long tenured Mexican journeyman Adolfo Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico in a six-round super featherweight fight. Russell had been slated to appear on a pay-per-view card last Saturday, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell, competing for the second time this year, weighed in at 128-pounds Thursday.

Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico is as experienced as they come, and enters the bout off of a rare victory. Landeros ended an eight-fight winless streak with a four-round stoppage of usually durable Juan Jose Beltran on April 1st. Prior to the win over Beltran, the last time Landeros tasted victory was a June 2008 split decision over then unbeaten prospect Alejandro Perez. Making the win stand out even more, Perez recently bombed out contender Antonio Escalante and looks to be a player at 126-pounds. Landeros, a super bantamweight in his prime, weighed in at 128-pounds Thursday.

In the first television swing bout, now likely to make air with the announcement today that Solo Boxeo will run two hours long, San Francisco’s Jonathan Chicas will make his debut against Maja Khali of Oakland, California in a four-round light welterweight fight. Chicas has been one of the better amateurs from the Bay Area in recent years while training under Ben Bautista at San Francisco’s Straight Forward Club. Khali, also making his pro debut, weighed in at 139-pounds, while Chicas scaled 140.

In the next swing bout, former amateur standout Bruno Escalante Jr. (2-0-1, 1 KO) of San Carlos, California by way of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines will take on tough journeyman Shaun Solomon (1-2-1) of Moreno Valley, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Though he does not have a glossy record, Solomon should provide Escalante with a stern test. Escalante, the 2008 National PAL Champion at 112-pounds, admittedly would be better suited for a lower weight class, but has taken fights at super bantam due to the dearth of available opponents any lower down the scale. Escalante scaled 120, while Solomon came in at 121 ½-pounds.

Exciting brawler Joe Gumina (1-0, 1 KO) of nearby San Bruno, California makes his much anticipated return to the Longshoremen’s Hall Friday against debuting Harry Gopaul of Sacramento, California in a four-round cruiserweight fight. Gumina excited the local fight fans with a first-round demolition of Jose Jesus Hurtado at the Longshoremen’s Hall in February. Gumina had planned to return to the ring in late March, but promoters in Fairfield, California had a hard time finding an opponent willing to get in the ring with the slugger. Gopaul, a professional mixed martial artist, gets the assignment tonight. Gumina weighed in at 181, while Gopaul came in at 183-pounds.

In another interesting cruiserweight attraction set for four rounds, Lamont Williams (3-1, 1 KO) of Fairfield will take on Juan Hernandez (1-0, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California. Williams comes in off of a hard-fought four-round split decision over much larger heavyweight Hector Martinez in February. A rematch had been planned between the two, before Williams was sidelined with a minor injury. Hopefully Williams is fully healed, because he may have his hands full with Hernandez, a powerhouse cruiserweight in the mold of former champion Kelvin Davis. Hernandez bombed out Seth Keeling in his debut in August of last year, but has been idle since. Hernandez scaled 197, while Williams came in at 194-pounds.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, are available online at http://theboxingtruth.vbotickets.com/events

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBO NABO Super Featherweight Championship, 10 Rounds
Perez 129 ½
Rodriguez 129

Super Featherweights, 6 Rounds
Russell Jr. 128
Landeros 128

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Chicas 140
Khali 139

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Escalante Jr. 120
Solomon 121 ½

Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds
Gumina 181
Gopaul 183

Cruiserweights, 4 Rounds
Williams 194
Hernandez 197

Photos by Mark Ortega

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

Once again 15rounds.com was prominent in the annual and prestigious Barney Awards for 2010 as staff writers took home three awards as Bart Barry took home an honorable mention for best News Story and Norm Frauenheim once again took home multiple awards as he took second place for feature under 1750 words and also was an honorable mention for Investigative Reporting for a piece that ran in Ring Magazine.

Barry and Frauenheim will get their awards on May 6th at the annual BWAA Awards banquet which will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

This was the 10th annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in honor of Barney Nagler, the late former president of the BWAA.

Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita notched his third consecutive victory Wednesday evening by earning a workmanlike eight round unanimous decision over offensively inefficient Ronnie Warrior Jr. at the Oceana Club in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY.

With a standing room only crowd cheering him on, Salita took the fight to Warrior from the opening bell, but tumbled to the canvas shortly thereafter following a clash of heads. Those on hand would soon learn that Warrior’s surname gave no indication of the way he fought.

While Salita spent much of the bout ripping body and head shots in close quarters, Warrior struggled to move his hands and relied on dirty tactics. On multiple occasions, the Oklahoma City, OK native led with his head, held and forced his elbow into Salita’s neck during clinches.

Rather than let his counterpart’s dirty tactics take him off his game plan, Salita continued to dominate the action until the completion of the 8th and final round of the welterweight contest.

Scores were 80-72 twice and 79-73.

Salita, whose only defeat came via first round TKO against Amir Khan in a world title bout, improves 33-1-1 with 17 KO’s. Warrior falls to 13-5-1 (4 KO’s) after the disappointing effort.

In his first fight in nearly two years, Luis Collazo (30-4, 15 KO’s, 149lbs) made his return to boxing (and New York City) against Franklin Gonzalez (13-8, 10 KO’s, 151lbs). Despite the disparity in wins, Gonzalez was expected to be crafty enough to show how much rust Collazo had built up during his layoff, and he had enough pop in his punches to show whether or not Collazo was capable of handling the punches at the junior middleweight weight class.

After a boisterous entrance, Collazo went right to work. Both fighters were left handed, so Collazo skipped right past the feeling out process and tried going right into Gonzalez’ chest. Despite not being known as a big puncher, Collazo’s strengths lie in his in-fighting. By the second round, Gonzalez was no match for Collazo. A short left followed by a right dropped Gonzalez just a few seconds before the bell to end the round had sounded. As the third round started, Collazo did not want to take too many risks, so he just went right back to the game plan that was already working.

Collazo landed a sharp combination consisting of a straight left, right hook, right body shot that seemed to hurt Gonzalez. Collazo followed up with a left uppercut, which sent Gonzalez down. After beating the count, Gonzalez was immediately met with another uppercut, and the referee was forced to stop the fight at the 2:14 mark, giving Collazo a TKO victory in the third round.

Although Philadelphia junior middleweight Greg “Hot Shot” Hackett’s professional ledger doesn’t coincide with his moniker, he’s without question tougher than a two dollar steak; or shall we say Philly Cheesesteak. Hackett, 2-8, dropped a hard fought unanimous decision to Mike Ruiz of Long Island, NY where he made the hometown favorite work throughout the six round contest.

Ruiz, 12-4 (6 KO’s), was the busier fighter, landed the cleaner punches and scored a knockdown in the final round with a straight right hand, but Hackett was consistently applying pressure throughout the bout. Hackett connected with a few solid shots that garnered a reaction from the crowd, although he wasn’t consistent enough to make a case for a victory.

Scores were 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55.

Wildly popular Brooklynite Rafael Vazquez scored an emotional third round TKO over Puerto Rico’s Juan Melendez. With autism awareness serving as a focal point of the card, Vazquez proudly sported trunks that read “I love a child with autism”. It was clear that he was out to make a splash to honor his child while pleasing his fans; and that’s exactly what he did. Vazquez was the busier fighter during the first two rounds, where he displayed solid body work.

In the third, Vazquez dominated Melendez and a hard combination sent the latter tumbling into the ropes, which prompted Referee Benjiy Esteves to rule it a knockdown. Before Vazquez could continue his assault, Mendez’ corner elected to end the junior lightweight contest by throwing in the towel.

Time of stoppage was 1:48.

Vazquez improves to 6-0 with 4 knockouts. Melendez slips to 2-5-1.

The first fight of the evening saw Hamid Abdul-Mateen (1-1, 180lbs) in the ring against a man with one name; Bakari (0-1). The bout was a sloppy affair. Abdul-Mateen was the more talented of the two and used his athleticism to gain advantage over Bakari. Bakari did not show much offensive arsenal.

He would go into a shell any time Abdul-Mateen threw a flurry, and after the fracas was over with, he would attempt a wild hook. Abdul-Mateen threw mostly flurries to the body, as Bakari’s defensive shell was difficult to work around. In the end, Abdul-Mateen walked away with a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36 in his favor.

Arben Paloka contributed to this report by covering the Collazo-Gonzalez and Abdul-Mateen-Bakari bouts.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the much anticipated rematch between WBC Lightweight champion Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon scheduled for the May 7 Pacquiao – Mosley undercard will not happen sue to Soto’s unhappiness and impending exit from Top Rank

“We are no longer with Top Rank and he is not fighting Antillon for sure,” said Fight attorney Michael Miller. “We’ll go out and find out if any other promoter is interested in signing him. We’ll start on that next week and see if Gary [Shaw], Lou [DiBella], Golden Boy, and anyone else, might be interested in making a bid for the guy. And then we have to see if we will seek legal action against Top Rank for the lost purses, which we certainly will. I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”

Miller said Soto and co-manager Antonio Lozada have been unhappy with his promotional agreement for some time and hired him last week as a co-manager and as an attorney to look at his contract.

Miller said there were several issues, including that Soto had been told the contract expired in October, even though Miller said he believed the deal had expired in 2009.

Miller said another serious issue was that even though the promotional contract was with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, he was being paid — and shorted — by Zanfer Promotions’ Fernando Beltran, who works closely with Top Rank on numerous fighters.

“Soto’s contract was with Top Rank and he was getting checks from Beltran and they were 40, 50, 60 percent of what they should be,” Miller said.

Miller said Soto was due a minimum purse of $200,000 to fight for a world title and $300,000 to defend the title.

“He was never paid $300,000 and Top Rank rarely even showed up at his fights,” Miller said. “[Soto and Lozada] would complain to Beltran about the money and he would promise to make it up. He never did. Our quick and dirty numbers are that they are $1.285 million short to Humberto compared to the minimums they owed him for something like 10 or 11 fights. He would complain. He was pissed. He was told they would make it up. And because he was shorted, that means Lozada is owed about $425,000.”

Miller said Soto continued to fight because he needed the money he was getting and because he was hopeful that he would receive what he was owed.

“I wrote Top Rank a letter [Wednesday] advising that he has been grossly underpaid and we need some answers,” Miller said. “Why was Beltran involved since Soto never signed a contract with Beltran?”

Miller said besides being underpaid on his minimum purses, Beltran sometimes paid him in installments — sometimes using cash — on the money he did receive, and another time his check bounced.

“I’m trying to get as much information as possible,” said Top Rank President Todd DeBeouf. “I’m reaching out to them. All I hear is stuff from other people. Right now, our primary issue is is the Soto-Antillon rematch happening? There is a high probability that it is not. If that’s the case, we will make adjustments.”

“Obviously, the supporting cast is fantastic with the return of [former middleweight champ] Kelly Pavlik and with the Wilfredo Vazquez-[Jorge] Arce [junior featherweight] title fight. We’d like to add something sensational.”

DuBoef said that without a rematch against Soto, Antillon likely would challenge Brandon Rios, another of the lightweight titleholders whom Top Rank promotes, on July 9 on Showtime.

“I’d like to do that fight,” duBoef said.

Featherweight prospect and 2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. will make his second ring appearance of the year this Friday night in the televised co-main event on Telefutura Solo Boxeo. Russell, who had been slated to appear on the ‘Action Heroes’ pay-per-view event this past Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada will take on long tenured journeyman Adolfo Landeros in a six-round bout.

Russell (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland was slated to fight on the free preview portion of the televised card at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on Saturday, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell was pegged for a step-up opponent in the form of former prospect Ira Terry, who withdrew earlier last week. Then Russell had been tabbed to me undefeated replacement opponent Sherali Dostiev, who missed his flight to Las Vegas.

Luckily for Russell, the co-feature slot had yet to be filled for this Friday’s edition of Solo Boxeo, emanating from the Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco, California. Landeros (21-18-1, 10 KOs) of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico is as experienced as they come, and enters the bout off of a rare victory. Landeros ended an eight-fight winless streak with a four-round stoppage of usually durable Juan Jose Beltran just eleven days ago, April 1st. Prior to that, the last Landeros victory was a June 2008 split decision over Alejandro Perez, a win that looks even better in retrospect. Perez recently bombed out contender Antonio Escalante and looks to be a contender at 126-pounds.

In the televised main event, WBO #2 ranked super featherweight Eloy Perez defends his WBO NABO Super Featherweight title and risks his world ranking against unknown Mexican contender Alejandro Rodriguez in a ten-rounder.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, are available online at http://theboxingtruth.vbotickets.com/events

Photo by Jim Wyatt

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

PHOENIX –About a year after controversy over immigration legislation forced the cancellation of Jose Benavidez Jr.’s hometown debut as a pro, the Arizona prospect has another chance to fight in his home state for the first time on June 11 at Wild Horse Pass at Gila River in suburban Chandler.

Gerry Truax of Showdown Promotions requested approval of the date Monday at a meeting of the Arizona State Boxing Commission for a card scheduled to feature Benavidez (10-0, 9 KOs), a Top Rank fighter who also is scheduled for a bout on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard on May 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said a couple of months ago that he had the go-ahead to seek a site and date for Benavidez to fight in Arizona. Before the immigration controversy forced him to stay on the road, Benavidez’ homecoming was scheduled for last July 17, also at Wild Horse and also on a card promoted by Showdown, which represents Antonio Margarito.

“We’ve been waiting for a long, long time to fight,’’ said father-and-trainer Jose Benavidez, Sr., whose 18-year-old son is considered Arizona’s best prospect since Jesus Gonzales and Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal. “I can’t tell you how happy we are at this opportunity. It’s really important, I think, to build a hometown identity.

“My son has been fighting in Las Vegas and Texas and just about everywhere but here at home.

Everywhere we go, everybody knows him, more than they know him here. It’s time to come home.’’

Showdown’s request for Commission approval of the June 11 date coincided with a federal appeal court’s refusal to lift a stay on the toughest parts of the controversial Arizona law, SB1070. The 9th U.S. Court in San Francisco on Monday rejected Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s appeal. Among other things, SB1070 would require police to check on an immigrant’s legal status during routine traffic stops.

Benavidez’ homecoming last July was canceled when Top Rank’s Bob Arum said he was told by TV Azteca and beer sponsor Tecate that they did not want to do business in Arizona. At the height of the controversy, World Boxing Council chief Jose Sulaiman issued a directive from his Mexico City office in which he banned Mexican fighters from bouts in Arizona. When two Mexicans fought on a Don Chargin-promoted card in Tucson last August, Sulaiman threatened to suspend both in their home country.

While watching Benavidez spar in February, Trampler said he was given clearance to schedule a hometown fight for the Phoenix prospect because the controversy had begun to subside.

Benavidez, who has been fighting as a junior-welterweight, has been training in Phoenix for the last several months after leaving trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. He signed as a 17-year-old, whose potential for stardom began to spread far and fast through YouTube clips of his sparring sessions with Amir Khan.

In other business heard by the Arizona commission Monday, Fanbase Promotions requested approval of a Phoenix card at Celebrity Theatre, featuring Gonzales (26-1, 14 KOs) against Henry Buchanan (20-2, 13 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Md., in a super-middleweight bout at Celebrity Theatre. Gonzales (24-20-7, 4 KOs) made his hometown comeback on March 18 with a unanimous decision over Dhafir Smith (24-20-7, 4 KOs) of Philadelphia, also at Celebrity.

Tomasz Adamek tuned up for a September 10th showdown with WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko with a workmanlike twelve round pounding over Kevin McBride in front of over 7,300 mostly Polish Adamek supporters at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was obvious early who this fight would go as Adamek had a what looked at times a “Light Years” speed advantage over the slow, plodding and and even confused McBride as Adamek landed combination s as Adamek concentrated in working the flabby body of McBride. The combination’s were three, four and five punches at a time as it was clear what Adamek was trying to do. It looked like all McBride wanted to do was push a weak jab and lean on Adamek in an effort to tire him out. McBride started to bleed under the right eye as early as round four.

A round later, McBride began to bleed from his forehead but neither cut bothered the big Irishman during the fight. Every once in a while McBride, who did walk Adamek down for most of the fight would land a punch but with the punches that could be timed by a sun dial Adamek was able to move enough to take most of the sting of McBride’s punches.

Over the last half of the fight it was more of the same that saw Adamek move in and out and use his legs to keep away from McBride. For all of his lack of shape, McBride showed good endurance as he didint look much more fatigued then Adamek, who showed signs of tiredness which was mostly due to all the moving and the many times that McBride would lay his ample body on top of the top contender from Poland. McBride was deducted a point in round seven for excessive holding. Adamek closed the show as he landed some hard punches and the two exchanged for most of the final round with neither man ever looking like they would be hurt or knocked down.

The fight, which was billed “The Last Big Hurdle” for Adamek as he jumped over McBride with ease as he won by scores of 120-107; 119-108 and 119-1108.

Adamek, 215 lbs of Jersey City, NJ will via Gilowice, Poland will return to the homeland for what will be the biggest sporting event in the history of that European country when he takes on Adamek with a record of 44-1.

McBrdie, (every bit of) 285 lbs of Brocton, MA via Ireland is now 35-9-1.

The co-feature saw rising Welterweight and former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali make easy work of Javier Perez by scoring a third round stoppage in a scheduled eight round bout.

Ali wasted no time by landing a left hook that sent Perez to the floor in round one. In round three, Ali landed a huge left hook that flattened Perez as he laid on the canvas for several moments.

The time of the stoppage was 2:40 of round three for Ali, 149 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY who remains undefeated at 12-0 with seven knockouts. Perez, 146 1/2 lbs of Ponce, PR is now 8-5.

Andrzej Fonfara warmed up the large Polish contingent by taking out Ray Smith in round four of an eight round Light Heavyweight bout.

Fonfara landed some nice punches over the first three round and then really turned up the heat in round four as he landed a big right on the ropes that rocked Smith. he followed that up with a big combination that sent Smith to the canvas. Fonfara landed a big right off the ropes that was followed by a perfect left that sent Smith down for the ten count at 1:09 of round four.

Fonfara, 175 lbs of Chicago is now 17-2 with eight knockouts. Smith, 179 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas is now 9-6.

Joselito Collado remained undefeated by scoring a six round split decision over Rafael Lora in a Featherweight.
Collado was cut early in round one over the right eye and it seemed to have bothered him just a tad but the cut was controlled nicely as the fight went on. The two fighters engaged in nice exchanges with each taking turns getting through with left hooks.

The fight was very close but Collado was a bit more active and scored the split decision victory by scores of 59-54 and 57-56 while Lora took a card 57-56.

Collado, 128 lbs of Queens, NY is now 12-0. Lora, 128 1/2 lbs of Irvington, NJ is now 11-4.

Jose Peralta beat up Eber Luis Perez and stopped him in round three of a scheduled six round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Peralta rocked Perez with a hard right in round two and followed up with a combination that sent Perez to the canvas. Peralta opened up round three with a hard left that started blood flow from Perez nose.
Peralta dropped Perez with a right hand later in the round. With Perez down, his corner decided to stop the bout at 2:49 of round three.

Peralta, 142 lbs of Jersey City, NJ is now 6-1 with four knockouts. Perez, 136 lbs of Cartegena, Colombia is now 12-20

Vinny O’Brien scored a fourth round stoppage over Shakir Aquel Dunn in a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

It was a tough bout with both guys landing good shots for which O’Brien, who has a terrific fan base, got in the better shots.

In round four, O’Brien landed some thudding shots that ended with a hard combination on the ropes and the bout was stopped just nine seconds before its scheduled conclusion.

O’Brien, 146 ½ lbs of East Hanover, NJ is 2-0 with both wins coming via stoppage. Dunn, 145 lbs of Newark, NJ was making his pro debut

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Marcos Maidana may have turned back the challenge of Erik Morales at the MGM Hotel & Casino tonight, but it was the Mexican legend’s unexpectedly heroic performance that will undoubtedly be remembered most.

Few gave Morales (51-7, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico any hope of even making the fight competitive in the days and weeks leading up to the fight. More than a few experts were fearful for Morales’ well-being. But after twelve wildly entertaining rounds, some of those same experts were calling for a rematch.

One of the top four fighters in the light welterweight division, Maidana (30-2, 27 KOs) of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina took the Mexican head on and pounded his way to the deserved majority decision.

Maidana, 140, got off to a solid start, as he forced Morales, 140, to the ropes in the very early going. Maidana found Morales’ body with his left hand and shot an uppercut that got the Mexican’s attention. Morales did land one right in the first that seemed to perk up Maidana and prompt the Argentine to close out the round throwing. Morales returned to the corner with a rapidly swelling right eye at the end of round one.

Maidana, the WBA #1 ranked light welterweight, began the second surprisingly measured, but eventually forced Morales to the ropes with a left to the body and a following combination. Morales came off the ropes throwing, and landed one right that looked good and excited the crowd.

In the third, again Maidana fought more tentatively than advertised, and may have allowed Morales to take the round with his jab and greater output. Early in the fourth, Morales landed a counter left hook that landed clean, but the round was mostly Maidana’s. If Morales’ right eye was not bad enough, he was now dealing with a cut over his left as well.

Maidana caught Morales with a right early in the fifth, but the Mexican returned fire with a combination that stopped the always fearless Maidana in his tracks. The warriors took turns rallying off flurries, but Morales landed a right uppercut that backed up Maidana. Glimpses of a younger Morales would flash intermittently throughout the fight. In one such instance, Morales made Maidana miss and countered beautifully circa 2002. Maidana walked slowly across the ring to his corner when the bell for the fifth sounded.

Each fighter had their moments in the sixth, as Morales did well early, but began to tire towards the end. Maidana came on, catching Morales clean with a looping right. Morales fired back and had Maidana in trouble before the round ended. Maidana began the seventh with a jab that staggered Morales, and took the round pretty clearly.

Morales, ranked WBA #5 entering the bout, battled back in the eighth, staggering Maidana, who rolled around behind his opponent and went for a rabbit punch. Morales came back with a one-two combination that had Maidana in trouble again. Not to be outdone, Maidana fired a right, left combination, to which Morales nodded back. Maidana tried pressuring Morales, but the Mexican warrior managed to evade the Argentine until the end of the round.

Maidana hurt Morales with a left to the body, and followed with two more to his back. Just as Maidana began to put the hurt on Morales, “El Terrible” battled back with a combination that stunned the Argentine. Morales pressured Maidana against the ropes and appeared to have Maidana in some trouble. Morales went for a wild punch that missed and forced his head through the ropes. Maidana, who had been rough and somewhat dirty, missed an opportunity to capitalize. By the end of the ninth, Morales’ right eye was not only swollen shut, but a large knot was forming around the socket.

Morales continued to keep the fight in close in the tenth, landing a right. Morales caught Maidana lazily waiting for a break with an overhand right, and followed with a left uppercut. Maidana was forced back to the ropes, but landed a stiff left that had Morales in trouble before the bell.

Another Maidana left hurt Morales in the eleventh. Just when everything was going his way, Maidana gassed out and stood winded, looking to gain a breath. But the 2011 version of Morales could not take advantage of the moment, and Maidana came on to close out the round strong.

Another right rocked Morales to start the twelfth, but it was the Mexican that got the best of the following exchange. As the round came to an end, it was Marcos Maidana that pulled an Erik Morales – throwing everything right at the ten second warning for the final bell. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had the fight a draw, as did one of the official scorers. But alas, the potentially monumental upset was not to be, as Maidana took the other two cards 116-112.

At the post-fight press conference, promoter Oscar De La Hoya pointed the finger at some of those media members who talked down the fight when it was made and said, “I told you so.” De La Hoya stated he would like to put together the Maidana-Morales rematch, something both Maidana and Morales seemed to welcome.

In a thrilling action fight, Robert Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California waged war for twelve rounds with Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KOs) of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was the type of fight Katsidis has become known for, but this time he met up with a stronger and more scientifically skilled foe in Guerrero, who came away with a wide unanimous decision to claim two interim titles.

Guerrero, the WBA #1/WBO #1/IBF #4 ranked lightweight entering the bout, flexed his muscle early and often. Determined as always, Katsidis, the WBA #2/WBO #3 ranked 135-pounder, came forward and was effective in spots, especially when Guerrero could be enticed to go blow-for-blow.

In the second round, Katsidis rocked Guerrero with a left. When Guerrero fell back, it appeared that his right glove touched the canvas. It was not ruled a knockdown by referee Russell Mora, who may have felt the fall was the result of contact between their feet. Whatever the cause, it seemed to provoke Guerrero into a firefight. Guerrero comes back with two hard lefts inside.

After a close third round, Guerrero was rocked by a straight right in the fourth, which kicked off another fiery exchange. The momentum of the fight began to turn more heavily in Guerrero’s favor in the fifth, as the three-time champion wobbled Katsidis with a straight left. Still on unsteady legs, Katsidis fired back, but Guerrero was clearly getting the better of the exchange.

In the eighth, the referee got unnecessarily involved after a stray low blow from Katsidis. Though it did not appear flagrant, a point was deducted from Katsidis for the infraction. Motivated to get the point back, Katsidis went for Guerrero’s body, which seemed to be taking an effect. One stray shot, prompted the referee to stop the action and deduct another point from Katsidis, which gave Guerrero time and effectively end the Aussie’s rally. Somewhat comically, the referee Mora seemed to make up for one of the Katsdis deductions by taking a point from Guerrero in the following round for an inadvertent low blow.

The action continued through the tenth, before Guerrero got back out at range and boxed Katsidis in the eleventh. Katsidis came out determined in the twelfth and caught Guerrero with one stiff shot before Guerrero took back over and closed out the fight landing the harder blows again. By scores of 118-107, 118-106 and 117-108, Guerrero claimed the interim versions of both the WBA and WBO Light Welterweight titles.

Former WBA Interim Light Middleweight titleholder Nobuhiro Ishida (23-6-2, 8 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan scored three first round knockdowns in an unbelievable upset over James Kirkland (27-1, 24 KOs) of Las Vegas. Kirkland, 158, fighting for the third time in a month after a two-year absence, came right out at Ishida, 158. The much taller Japanese import met him square on and took some decent shots.

Kirkland, already the WBO #4 ranked middleweight despite fighting complete fall guys in his two previous bouts this year, stepped right into a straight right from Ishida that dropped him and silenced the crowd. Ishida, the usually light-punching WBA #4 ranked junior middle, dropped Kirkland a second time with another right. Despite moving on wobbly legs, Kirkland still came forward throwing punches. It was an unwise move, as Ishida came straight with a third right to score a third and final knockdown.

With the three knockdown rule in effect, referee Joe Cortez waved off the fight at the 1:52 mark of the first. Afterwards, Kirkland claimed he was not hurt, and that his trips to the canvas (there were three of them) were flash knockdowns. With the victory, Ishida immediately becomes a player at junior middleweight. With the loss, the talk of Kirkland fighting Sergio Martinez for the middleweight crown looks pretty foolish in retrospect.

Paul Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York jabbed and move his way to a wide unanimous ten-round decision over undersized Jose Miguel Cotto (32-3-1, 24 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Cotto, 147, came out firing in the first and had Malignaggi, 147, in retreat for much of the round. Towards the end of the second, Cotto roughed up Malignaggi with a few right hands. However, by the third round, Malignaggi, the IBF #11/WBO #12 ranked welterweight, settled in to his usual stick-and-move style took over control of the bout.

Cotto, the WBO #11 ranked light welterweight, could not get into range for most of the fight, as Malignaggi moved three steps back anytime the Puerto Rican took one forward. By the late rounds, what steam Cotto carried up to welterweight had mostly come off of his punches, so when he did get his one shot in, it did not have close to the same effect it had early in the contest.

Unable to get in on Malignaggi, Cotto attempted to lure the former champion to him by languishing against the ropes. It was a tactic that did nothing but maybe give both men a short rest, as Malignaggi did not take the bait. In the end, Malignaggi won comfortably by scores of 97-93 and 99-91 twice. With the victory, Malignaggi gained a small measure of revenge over the Cotto family, as younger brother Miguel broke his right cheekbone en route to issuing him his first defeat back in 2003.

Emerging light welterweight contender Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia Pennsylvania did everything better, faster and harder on his way to a ten-round unanimous decision over faded former champion Nate Campbell (33-8-1, 25 KOs) of Jacksonville, Florida.

Garcia, 139, showed the poise of a veteran throughout a classy performance. Campbell, 140, did a little showboating and posturing, but never committed to any serious offensive attack. Garcia, the WBC #9 ranked light welterweight, was not baited by any of Campbell’s tactics, even remaining composed when the veteran took a swing at him long after the bell to end round nine. In the end, all three judges had the fight wide for Garcia, by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.

With his decisive victory, Garcia looks to be more than ready for the next level of competition. Campbell on the other hand appears to be comfortable in playing the role of opponent at this stage of his career. Campbell had announced his retirement after a loss to journeyman Walter Estrada last November before returning to the ring for tonight’s bout.

2008 Russian Olympic Gold Medalist Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Hamburg, Germany by way of Tobolsk, Russia continued rolling as a professional with a measured performance en route to a third-round knockout of journeyman Harvey Jolly (11-16-1, 6 KOs) of Adrian, Michigan.

Chakhiev, 203, pressured and chased Jolly, 203, around the ring for the most part. In the second, Chakhiev was credited with a knockdown when he forced Jolly to hunch over from a body shots. Although Jolly did not go down, he was not defending himself and referee Joe Cortez separated the fighters to administer a standing eight count. Finally in the third, Chakhiev landed the power shot he was looking for, an overhand right that sent Jolly down. The journeyman opted to sit out Cortez’ ten count, with the stoppage coming at 2:18 of the third.

In the opener, heralded former amateur star Mikael Zewski (9-0, 5 KOs) of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada had all he could handle in the form of rugged swinger Clint Coronel (4-2-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a six-round split decision victory.

Despite his solid amateur background, Zewski, 151, opted to stand and trade with Coronel, 151, who knows how to do little else. It turned out to be a solid scrap, with Coronel winning over the small crowd and rocking Zewski in the final round. In the end, two judges inexplicably had each fighter a shutout winner, 60-54. The third judge had the fight 59-55 for Zewski, thus maintaining his unbeaten mark.

Photo courtesy Golden Boy Promotions

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

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, newly crowned WBC Super Welterweight champion Saul Alvarez will make his first defense against Ryan Rhodes of England on June 18th in Mexico in a bout that will be televised by HBO.

“For me it is so huge, but for my Mexican people it’s going to be even bigger,” Alvarez said backstage at the weigh-in for Saturday night’s Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “It was my dream to have my first defense in Mexico and now the dream is reality. I am very happy.”

“After seeing the ratings Canelo had, the highest [‘Boxing After Dark’] ratings in like three years, they obviously are very interested to have Canelo back live on the network,” Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer said of the new television arrangement. “To have Canelo live on HBO before he does his first pay-per-view is the right approach.”

Featherweight contender Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico will open the HBO telecast, Schaefer said. Ponce De Leon (41-3, 34 KOs), a former junior featherweight titleholder, fought his last bout on the Alvarez-Hatton undercard, when he moved up to junior lightweight and lost a close, debatable decision to prospect Adrien Broner.

Ponce De Leon’s opponent has not been signed yet. “We have two names we are talking about, so we are working on it,” Schaefer said.

“They criticize Canelo for fighting smaller guys like Jose Cotto or Matthew Hatton. Now he’s actually fighting a bigger guy, a substantially bigger guy, because Ryan Rhodes has fought many middleweight fights,” Schaefer said. “He’s a big guy, he’s a strong guy and it’s a real, real test. I told Canelo this is a very tough guy and Canelo looked at me, flexed his muscles and said, ‘So am I.’ ”

Said Alvarez: “I respect my opponent. He is a real opponent. He has fought at middleweight. He’s a real, real challenger. I could do an optional defense, but I choose a real opponent. I just want to prove to the people and media that I am capable of dealing with those type of fighters.”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Beloved Mexican boxing icon Erik Morales returns to Las Vegas as a long shot to knock off fearsome puncher Marcos Maidana with a vacant interim title at stake to headline an event dubbed ‘Action Heroes’ at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino tonight. Fighters for the HBO Pay-Per-View event weighed in Friday at the same venue where the fight will be taking place tonight.

The match-up has many questioning aloud Morales’ readiness for such stiff competition and worrying about his well-being. Morales (51-6, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico returned to the ring a year ago last March, and has scored three wins against mid-level opposition. Morales, the WBA #5 ranked light welterweight, won over the hearts of Mexican fans everywhere over his long career with his aggressive and fiery style. Though he is a classy boxer when he wishes to be, he has a penchant for trading once the action heats up and the crowd gets into it. It is a penchant that could get him in serious trouble tonight. Morales weighed in at 140 Friday, bearing no resemblance to the anorexic guy that used to make 122-pounds.

Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina claimed the interim WBA title which is at stake tonight back in June of 2009 with an upset of Victor Ortiz and made three defenses before running into full champion Amir Khan last December. It is Maidana’s obscene knockout percentage that has many worried about Morales’ health. If there is one thing to pick out on Maidana’s resume that could give Morales supporters hope it would be the Argentine’s off night against DeMarcus Corley last August. Even though he won a clear decision, Maidana struggled with the classy boxer in a bout that went the full twelve. Maidana, the WBA #1 ranked light welterweight, weighed in at 140-pounds.

In the fight most insiders are predicting will steal the show, Robert Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California will take on Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KOs) of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia in a twelve-rounder with two interim belts on the line.

Guerrero, the WBA #1/WBO #1/IBF #4 ranked lightweight, appears to be on the cusp of breaking through as a major player in the sport and an impressive victory over Katsidis would go a long way in making that happen. In Katsidis, the WBA #2/WBO #3 ranked 135-pounder, Guerrero has an adversary that could make for a thrilling war, which is the type of fight that could launch the Gilroy native into stardom. Guerrero claimed titles at featherweight and super feather before abdicating the latter title for a move up to 135-pounds a year ago. Guerrero came in at 134-pounds Friday.

Katsidis is a blood and guts warrior in the mold of the late Arturo Gatti. Katsidis, a former WBO Interim Lightweight titleholder, has tripped up at the elite level, but always given a good account of himself in those situations. Does Robert Guerrero represent the elite level of the sport? That is the question that will be answered tonight. Katsidis, who unveiled a beach bum character throughout fight week, donning sunglasses and suntan lotion on his nose, scaled 134 as well. If you try to keep on the crazy title belt situation, this fight is for both the WBO and WBA interim versions of the lightweight crown. Juan Manuel Marquez holds the more recognized versions of both those titles.

In his first test since regaining his freedom after a 17-month prison term, former rising star James Kirkland (27-0, 24 KOs) of Las Vegas take on former interim belt holder Nobuhiro Ishida (22-6-2, 7 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan in an eight-round middleweight attraction. Kirkland returned to action for the first time in two years just one month ago and has already scored two quick stoppage victories. However, the former junior middleweight contender did look rusty in his last outing on March 18th, which ultimately ended in the second round.

Ishida, who claimed the WBA Interim Light Middleweight title in 2009 before dropping it to Rigoberto Alvarez by split decision last October, does have a sizeable height and reach advantage over the power-punching Kirkland. The loss to Alvarez was Ishida’s only fight outside of Japan, and it was a loss. Kirkland, already the WBO #4 ranked middleweight, and Ishida, the WBA #4 ranked junior middle, both scaled 158-pounds Friday.

The always colorful Paul Malignaggi (28-4, 6 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York, who takes on Jose Miguel Cotto (32-2-1, 24 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico in the ten-round pay-per-view opener, stole the show at Friday’s weigh-in, as came out painted up like a golden Green Lantern, spandex shorts and all. The former 140-pound title holder is now campaigning at welterweight and will take on the diminutive brother of Miguel Cotto in his second fight at the new weight class.

Cotto, who was underpowered as a lightweight title challenger, did rock current 154-pound titlist Saul Alvarez early in their meeting last May before succumbing to a ninth-round stoppage. Malignaggi has a history with the Cotto family, having fought Jose’s brother Miguel to a twelve-round decision defeat in a war back in 2006. Malignaggi, the IBF #11/WBO #12 ranked welter, and Cotto, the WBO #11 ranked light welterweight, both scaled the 147-pound welterweight limit Friday.

Fast-rising light welterweight contender Danny Garcia (20-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia Pennsylvania looks to embellish his reputation a victory over faded former unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell (33-7-1, 25 KOs) of Jacksonville, Florida in a ten-rounder that will be televised just before the pay-per-view hits the air at 6 o’clock.

Garcia has been on a knockout tear over the last year, most notably knocking out former title contender Mike Arnaoutis last October. Campbell retired after a shocking loss to journeyman Walter Estrada via split decision last November. Garcia is expected to get the victory, but a win over Campbell will look good on your resume nonetheless. Garcia, the WBC #9 ranked light welterweight, scaled 139, while Campbell came in at 140-pounds.

In the heavyweight attraction, former international amateur star Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7 KOs) of Hamburg, Germany by way of Tobolsk, Russia takes on journeyman Harvey Jolly (11-16-1, 6 KOs) of Adrian, Michigan. Chakhiev, who is apparently moving down to cruiserweight, weighed in at 203-pounds, as did Jolly.

In the scheduled curtain raiser, touted former amateur star Mikael Zewski (8-0, 5 KOs) of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada takes on west coast tough guy Clint Coronel (4-1-2, 1 KO) of San Jose, California in a six-round light middleweight fight. Zewski and Coronel both weighed in at 151-pounds.

2008 U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (14-0, 9 KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland was slated to fight on the free preview portion of the televised card, but had several opponents fall out before finally his bout was scratched. Russell was originally pegged to fight Ira Terry, and his replacement opponent Sherali Dostiev missed his flight to Las Vegas.

According to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer, a late replacement opponent for undefeated Omar Figueroa (10-0, 8 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas that was matched late Thursday also missed his flight. Originally tabbed opponent John Figueroa fell out early Thursday.

Ivan Morales (9-0, 5 KOs) of Tijuana, a southpaw that bares a striking resemblance to his older brother Erik, never had an opponent scheduled and fell off of the card.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Box Latino and Universum Box Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBA Interim Light Middleweight Championship, 12 rounds
Morales 140
Maidana 140

WBA Interim Lightweight Championship
WBO Interim Lightweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Guerrero 134
Katsidis 134

Middleweights, 8 Rounds
Kirkland 158
Ishida 158

Welterweights, 10 Rounds
Malignaggi 147
Cotto 147

Light Welterweights, 10 Rounds
Garcia 139
Campbell 140

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Chakhkiev 203
Jolly 203

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Zewski 151
Coronel 151

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

PRIMM, NEVADA — Former world champion Vivian Harris remained on his stool after a rough first-round against Jessie Vargas Friday night at the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino. When referee Joe Cortez made his way into the corner, Harris informed the official he was not continuing in the bout. Moments after the loss, his third in a row, Harris announced he was hanging up the gloves on his Facebook page.

“Just lost my fight [and] I am done with boxing because I [can’t] get a fight at the weight I want to,” said Harris, referring to his desire to fight at 147-pounds. “Boxing gave me a lot, thanks to all my fans.”

Harris’ post came roughly 45 minutes after he had left the ring. Harris (29-6-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Georgetown, Guyana had told 15rounds.com prior to Thursday’s weigh-in that he had been planning to fight at welterweight, but all his offers came in for light welterweight opposition. “I want to go up to 147, because making 140 was definitely a hard thing for me to do,” admitted Harris Thursday. “But I have to take the fight because I have a family to feed and I can’t just sit at home or at the gym training. I have to pay the bills and I have a mortgage to pay and stuff like that. That’s why when the fights come at 140 I have to take it.”

Harris claimed the WBA Light Welterweight title in 2002 with an eye-opening second round stoppage over Diosbelys Hurtado. Harris would make three defenses before a shocking knockout loss to Carlos Maussa, who had replaced Arturo Morua on short notice, in 2005. Though he notched a couple victories on the comeback trail, Harris never regained the career momentum he had heading into the Maussa bout.

Harris would be stopped by Junior Witter in a failed attempt at the WBC version of the 140-pound title, a fight that the Guyana-born former champion had been the favorite among boxing insiders. Two fights later, Harris collapsed in the ring after a second-round headbutt against Noe Bolanos in Tucson, Arizona. In his three fights since, Harris has been stopped inside the distance each time.

While retirements made in the immediate aftermath of a tough loss rarely stick, this writer hopes Harris is one of the exceptions to the rule. The former champion made a good run and one can only hope that he finds life outside the ring to be just as rewarding as his time as a champion.

Photo by Mark Ortega

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

PRIMM, NEVADA — Rising light welterweight Jessie Vargas announced his arrival with a stoppage of former world champion Vivian Harris in the televised main event of Telefutura Solo Boxeo emanating from the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino on Friday night. The bout ended after the first round when Harris remained on his stool, a decision that may effectively end his career, or at minimum its relevancy.

Vargas (15-0, 8 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada stunned Harris (29-6-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Georgetown, Guyana with the first shot he threw, a solid left hook. Vargas’ body attack clearly bothered Harris, 145, from the outset as well. Vargas, 143, allowed himself to get backed into the ropes briefly, but the Las Vegan quickly turned the situation around, landing a body shot that hurt Harris again.

Seconds later, Vargas landed a right that may have found Harris high on the head which ruined the former WBA Light Welterweight titleholder’s equilibrium. When action resumed, Vargas dug to Harris’ body before following with a straight right. The blow dropped Harris on the seat of his pants to the bottom rope, but with the bell ringing, referee Joe Cortez opted to not rule a knockdown. It proved to be academic, as Harris informed Cortez that he would not be continuing in the bout. According to Harris’ corner, it was completely their fighter’s decision to stop the contest.

With the victory, Vargas has a good name on his resume that could make him viable for an opportunity with a name fighter and perhaps a world ranking. Unfortunately for Harris, it appears to be the end of the line. A career that was so promising in 2003 has sputtered sharply downward. Harris had trouble making the contracted 144-pounds at yesterday’s weigh-in, taking the scale four times to get down to 145. Harris had said he wanted to fight as a welterweight, but needed to take the fights that he was offered in order to take care of his financial responsibilities. It is a formula that may lead Harris unwisely back into the ring.

Eddie Gomez (4-0, 3 KOs) of the Bronx, New York was not the aggressive puncher we have seen on television for his first three pro bouts, but he still outclassed Roberto Lopez (4-2-2, 1 KO) of Kissimmee, Florida in the six-round co-feature. Gomez, 150.5, did put the hurt on Lopez, 150.5, late in the opening round. The left hook was his primary effective weapon throughout the fight and it did the damage early. Gomez stunned Lopez with it, forcing the San Diego resident into the ropes for a damaging flurry of mostly lefts.

Somewhat inexplicably Gomez turned into a mover in the second round, and remained one thru most of the middle rounds. Gomez hurt Lopez in the third, as he uncorked a left hook and followed up with a flurry along the ropes. Gomez connected with two more left hooks before getting back on his toes and moving around the ring. In the end, Gomez was the unanimous winner by scores of 60-53, 59-55 and 59-54.

In an upset of sorts, power-punching prospect Bastie Samir (10-0-1, 10 KOs) of Las Vegas by way of Accra, Ghana was held to a six-round draw by Lester Gonzalez (11-3-2, 6 KOs) of San Diego, California by way of Havana, Cuba. Samir revealed plenty of defensive faults, but that may have been due to his low level of respect for Gonzalez’ power. In stretches it was an exciting fight, but in others it was not.

The free-swinging Samir, 161.5, was caught clean in several exchanges, but it was clear that Gonzalez, 163, was no puncher. The action really heated up in the third round, as neither fighter had any regard for defense and traded wildly. Samir was caught clean plenty, but did not appear to be too affected. Gonzalez, game, especially in the early going, landed a few wild swings himself.

The pace slowed in the middle rounds, but Samir appeared to be getting the more damaging punches through. Gonzalez was less and less willing to trade, before turning up the aggression in the sixth and final round. In the end, two judges had it 58-56 each way. The third judge made the draw with a 57-57 scorecard.

In a sloppy, but entertaining slugfest, Alexander Flores (4-0, 2 KOs) of Rowland Heights, California scored a minor upset over Quadtrine Hill (4-2, 1 KO) of Hollywood, California via four-round unanimous decision. Hill 219.5, you may recall was on the cover of ESPN The Magazine back in December of 2009, due to his status as a former University of Miami fullback and NFL practice squader. Flores, 225.5, decided he was not going to stick to the script, and he outslugged Hill en route to the decision by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice. Flores’ ability to make the off balance Hill pay for his mistakes was the difference.

In the opener, Paul Green (2-1) of Compton, California outworked Kai Zama (5-3, 3 KOs) of Costa Mesa, California by way of Tokyo, Japan over four rounds in what ended up being scored a split decision. Green, 136.5, was the quicker and flashier boxer in the bout. Zama, 139, moved forward and made a fight, but appeared to be outworked in just about every round. One judge favored Zama, 39-37. The other two judges had the fight for the winner Green, 39-37.

In a rousing walkout bout, Tatini Anderson (3-1-1, 3 KOs) of Las Vegas fought returning Lissette Medel (2-1-1) of Maywood, California to a four-round majority draw. Affectionately referred to as Mini Tyson, Anderson, 139, had the clear power edge, especially early. Medel, 138, was nothing if not game, especially considering she was ending a four-and-a-third year layoff.

Fighting in a Tyson-esque style, Anderson landed well and often in the first. Medel managed to back her to the ropes, but Anderson quickly landed a right that forced the Maywood native back to center ring. Medel landed a left that caught Anderson flush early in the second, and Anderson responded with a flurry to the body. However, Anderson’s punches seemed to have lost a little steam by the end of the round.

After a solid back-and-forth third round, which may have been edged by Anderson, both females opened up to start the fourth. Before ring announcer Joe Martinez could finishing telling everyone ringside that it was the fourth and final round, Anderson and Medel were going toe-to-toe, trading heavy shots. In the end, one judge had it for Anderson, 39-37, but was overruled by the other two, 38-38.

Promoter Roy Englebrecht informed the media that should both combatants be willing to do a rematch, he would attempt to put it together for his May 19th event at the Hyatt Regency Irvine in Irvine, California. After the fight, members of Medel’s team informed this writer that Anderson’s side already turned down the immediate rematch. That information is unverified as of press time.

Tonight’s card was a special edition of the “Fight Club Primm” series, which normally features both boxing and mixed martial arts. Roy Englebrecht Promotions will team with Golden Boy Promotions for another special edition of the series at Buffalo Bill’s on July 9th. When tickets go on sale, they will be made available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Delays

Not to close on a sour note after an excellent night of action, but something that requires mentioning, even though it is common practice for televised boxing events, would be the delays television crews cause in the flow of an event for the audience on hand.

Several TV-related delays occurred around the second fight of the night, the heavyweight clash between Alexander Flores and Quadtrine Hill. The fight was delayed several times after Flores entered the ring. The reason for a delay of close to ten minutes was that the TV crew needed time to film a segment, but the live show was continuing on regardless. After some confusion, Hill came out to the ring, but the fight was still held up for television taping. After another five minute pause to allow the cameramen to get into taping position of the introductions, the fight took place.

After the final televised fight ended, the women’s attraction remained, but production caused a delay in the start of that bout as well. Promoter Roy Englebrecht, clearly bothered by the delays, informed the TV crew that they needed to wrap up so that the fighters could come to the ring. Finally Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer ordered the next fight out, ending the delay.

The issue of balancing producing a televised event, while still keeping the house crowd entertained – and not halting the flow of the show – has become a consistent problem and one that has become more and more noticeable in recent weeks. This issue is something the powers that be in the sport need to address if they wish to keep fans coming thru the turnstiles instead of turning on their television.

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

Dyah Davis scored an upset victory when he won a ten round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Marcus Johnson in Laredo, Texas.

Davis boxed well early as he boxed and moved with precision. Davis landed rights and jabs and was out of range before Johnson could set. Johnson followed Davis around the ring without much success except for spots where he would get his jab in.

Davis all but sewed up the fight in round nine as he landed a right hand to the ribs that sent Johnson to the canvas. Davis wasn’t challenged for the final four plus minutes of the bout and took the bout in the home state of Johnson.

Davis, 169 1/4 lbs of Boca Raton, FL won by scores of 98-91; 98-91 and 96-93 to raise his record to 19-2-1. Johnson, 170 lbs of Houston, TX is now 20-1.

Gabriel Bracero scored an emphatic eight round unanimous decision over former U.S. Olympic alternate Danny O’Connor in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Bracero dominated the bout simply coming forward and landing combinations that bloodied the nose of O’Connor in round four.

That seemed to discourage O’Connor as Bracero turned up the heat as the rounds went on with less coming back from O’Connor.

Bracero, 140 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 80-72; 80-72 and 79-73 to stay undefeated at 15-0. O’Connor, 137 3/4 lbs of Framingham, MA is now 14-1.

Vincent Arroyo scored three knockdowns en route to an eight round majority decision over previously undefeated Willie Nelson in a Welterweight bout.

Despite having an eight inch disadvantage, Arroyo got in the better shots and it was evident early as in round one he buckled Nelson with a good right. In round three, Arroyo was deducted a point for holding but seconds later he more than made up for it by landing a huge left that dropped Nelson for the first time.

Nelson seemed to be getting in rhythm in the middle rounds until he was dropped again in round six from another right and once again in round seven from a hard right hand.

Arroyo, 144 3/4 lbs of Buffalo, NY scored his second consecutive win over an undefeated opponent as he stopped heralded Jeremy Bryan last April and is now 11-1. Nelson. 145 3/4 lbs of Cleveland is now 16-1-1

Labeled the next coming and undefeated, David Lemieux found out it wouldn’t be a cakewalk to a world championship as veteran Marco Antonio Rubio scored a shocking come from behind seventh round stoppage in front of a stunned crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal in a Middleweight title elimination bout.

Lemieux dominated the first five plus rounds with the first round being a typical Lemieux type of fight as he landed thudding punches that had Rubio against the ropes. Lemieux continued to land hard shots against Rubio who seemed to be waiting to take Lemieux into the late rounds.

In round six, Rubio got into the fight and landed a nice right hand that buckled the hometown favorite. Rubio finished up the round the round strong as he continued to pressure Lemieux.

Rubio wasn’t capitalizing early in round seven and allowed to get his legs back until Rubio landed a huge right that knocked Lemieux slumped into the corner which was was ruled a knockdown. Rubio kept up the presure and landed a barrage of punches which coerced Lemieux’s cornerman Russ Anber to wave the white towel at 2:36 of round seven.

Rubio, 160 lbs of Mexico will now face the winner of the June 4th fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sebastian Zbik and now has a record of of 50-5-1 with forty-four knockouts. Lemieux, 160 lbs of Montreal is now 25-1.

After nearly a year off, Adonis Stevenson took out Derek Edwards in round three of a scheduled ten round Super Middleweight bout.

Stevenson dropped Edwards twice in round two with left hands. The second coming from a vicious left for which Stevenson got full extension that bloodied and possibly broke the nose of Edwards.

In round three, Stevenson landed another vicious left that sent Edwards down and out at 1:48 of round three.

Stevenson, 166 lbs of Montreal is now 14-1 with eleven knockouts. Edwards, 167 lbs of Winston-Salem, NC is now 25-2.

Elider Alvarez wiped out Ernesto Zamora in round three in a scheduled four round Cruiserweight bout.

Alvarez dropped Zamora three times in the third round with booming rights and the final came on a hard combination at

Alvarez, 195 lbs of Montreal via Colombia is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Zamora is now 10-19-1