Gabriel Bracero once again thrilled his large and loyal fan base and is quickly becoming “Mr Broadway Boxing” as he scored a eight round unanimous decision over veteran Chris Fernandez at BB Kings in Midtown Manhatten on Wednesday night.

Gabriel Bracero vs. Chris Fernandez — 8 Rounds, junior welterweight

In the main event at BB King’s Bar & Grill in Times Square, Brooklyn’s Gabriel Bracero outpointed Salt Lake City’s Chris Fernandez to stay undefeated.

The first two rounds of the fight served as feeling-out rounds, as both fighter’s tried to establish their jabs. Both rounds were fairly uneventful and difficult to score.

In the third round, with the pro-Bracero crowd chanting “Tito! Tito!” Bracero picked up the pace a bit, putting together more combinations, and finally connected with his best punch of the round — a straight right hand — as the bell sounded to end round three.

In the fifth round, Bracero hurt Fernandez with a right hand and had his opponent backing up against the ropes. Bracero followed up and landed a nice combination while Fernandez was still gathering himself against the ropes. To his credit, Fernandez ate Bracero’s best shots and fired back with uppercuts and short punches. Again, the best action came in the final ten seconds of the round, as the two stood in the pocket, trading punches, with Bracero seemingly getting the better of Fernandez.

Round six looked much like the first two rounds, with both fighter’s throwing mostly ineffective jabs. Bracero won the round, however, when he threw — and landed — combinations. Just like the previous rounds, Bracero broke through late, and found success just before the bell with a left to the body, right the head combination.

The seventh round proved to be close, with Bracero slightly outworking his counterpart. The eight and final round opened with the fans serenading their fighting with melodic chants of “Tiiiiito! Tiiiiito!” Fernandez pressed the action, coming forward more this round than any of the previous seven. It was mildly effective, but Bracero still got the best of Fernandez, opening up a cut over his right eye.

When it was all said and done, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Bracero. The three scores were 80-71, twice, and 79-72.

With the win, Bracero improves to 14-0, 1 KO, while the loss drops Fernandez’s record to 19-12-1, 11 KO.

In the co-feature, Light Heavyweight Mark Tucker remained undefeated with an uninspiring six round unanimous decision over Ray Smith.

Tucker came out very active as he started pumping the jab from the southpaw stance. Smith started to get through with some good shots and started smothering Tucker on the ropes in round two. Smith started landing rights and left that bounced Tucker’s head back and forth and seemed to be finding a rhythm. It was more of the same in round four but Tucker showed signs of life and began picking up the tempo in round five before the two had a action filled round six.

Tucker, 174 lbs of Eldsburg, MD won by scores of 59-55 on all cards to remain undefeated at 15-0. Smith, 176 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas deserved better and is now 9-5.

Allan Benitez vs. Joseliz Cepeda — 4 Rounds, Featherweights

Before the first bout of the evening, promoter Lou DiBella, announced to the media that Allan Benitez is a fighter to watch. Benitez has a very strong amateur pedigree, and was hoping to showcase his skills in front of a very critical New York media. His opponent was Joseliz Cepeda, who was sporting a record of two wins and one loss. The featherweight bout was scheduled for four rounds.

The bout opened with Cepeda landing a strong right to the body that knocked Benitez back, and then following up with strong overhand rights. Benitez stayed strong, working with a body attack and not allowing himself to get caught up in a sloppy fight. The second round opened up with Benitez going hard to the body and eventually bringing it upstairs. A flurry that pinned Cepeda on the ropes seemed to take some of his confidence, because Benitez was met with much less resistance afterwards.

Despite being in control, Benitez still has a very amateur style in that he does not have any jab whatsoever, and all of his punches are good scoring blows that come in flurries, but there is not punch power behind them. By the end of the third, Cepeda regained some confidence and began landing short left hooks on the inside, and finishing off the round with two strong overhand rights. The last round saw lots of action, with Benitez starting very strong, and Cepeda landing a left hook that knocked Benitez back into the ropes. In the end, the scorecards read 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 for Cepeda. We scored it 39-37 the other way. It seems as if Cepeda’s harder punches were favored over Benitez’ higher output but soft punches. — Arben Paloka

Steven Martinez vs. Ishwar Amador — 6 rounds, Jr. Middleweights

In a junior middleweight fight scheduled for six rounds, Steven Martinez (7-0, 6 KO’s) took on Ishwar Amador (11-8, 7 KO’s). Martinez is managed by New York Giants halfback Brandon Jacobs and is coming in with lots of support from the crowd and from his handlers.

Neither fighter needed much time feeling eachother out. Martinez started the fight with a hard left hook, and then followed up with a right hand. Shortly afterwards, a right hand, left hook, right hand combination floored Amador. He beat the count, but was greeted with a vicious beating from Martinez that knocked him from one side of the ring to the other. Powerful rights and lefts were landed at will. The referee jumped in to save Amador at the 1:11 mark of the first round giving Martinez a TKO victory. — Arben Paloka

Deano Burrell vs. Sidell Blocker — 4 Rounds, Lightweights

In a major upset at the lightweight division, previously winless Sidell Blocker scored a unanimous decision victory over heavily favored, Deano Burrell.

In the opening round, Blocker was intent on making a statement. The winless fighter came out firing, swinging wildly, looking to land big punches. Burrell looked a bit flustered, and wildly returned fire, often missing. Midway through the first round, Blocker opened up a gash above Burrell’s right eye, courtesy of a left hook. With about thirty ticks remaining int he first stanza, Blocker floored Burrell with a quick right hand.

The second round picked up where the first left off. Blocker and Burrell trading ill-intentioned blows. Just when Burrell was beginning to find success, he stunned Burrell with another overhand right. A quick flurry of punches put Burrell on the canvas for the second time in two rounds. To his credit, Burrell shook off the knockdown and scored big to close out the round. As round two was coming to an end, Burrell landed a bullet-like straight left right on the chin of Blocker, who took it surprisingly well.

The third round opened up with Burrell showing desperation. He began throwing wild, looping power punches, hoping to hit a fistic home run. Blocker, who was a bit reckless for a fighter with a four-point lead through two rounds, traded with Burrell throughout the third.

When the rang for the fourth, Burrell once again pressed the action, constantly coming forward, engaging Blocker. The London-import, visibly tired, continued to through wide left. Once again, Blocker decided to play with fire and instead of tightening his defense, or riding his bike to victory, he stood and traded with the decorated amateur. In a shocking upset, Blocker was able to weather the storm and earn his first victory.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Blocker, 38-37 twice and 37-36.

With the win, Blocker improves to 1-3-1, while Burrell drops his first professional loss falling to 1-1, 1 KO. — Kyle Kinder

Ryan Kielczewski vs. Wilshaun Boxley — 6 Rounds, junior lightweights

Quincy, Massachusetts’s Ryan “The Polish Prince” Kielczewski impressed over six rounds en route to an easy unanimous decision victory over Minnesota’s Wilshaun Boxley.

From the opening round, Kielczewski established a crisp and effectively jab that created the distance necessary for him to go to work. A conscious commitment to the body from the “Polish Prince” proved to be an effective strategy to stop Boxley before he started.

Kielczewski beautifully pieced combinations together, most prominent in the middle rounds, and behind his tight defense, was rarely touched in this fight.

In the sixth round, it was clear that Kielczewski wanted to make a statement and not let this fight go to the scorecards. He came out firing, wailing heavy rights and lefts at the hard-to-miss Boxley. But no matter how hard Kielczewski’s punches landed — and they did indeed land — Boxley hung on to hear the decision read by the judges.

All three judges scored the bout a shutout for Kielczewski, 60-54.

With the win, Kielczewski improves his already unbeaten record to 9-0, 2 KOs, while Boxley drops to 6-8-1. — Kyle Kinder

Boyd Melson vs. Marquise Bruce — 4 Rounds, junior middleweights

The former Army man, Boyd Melson (1-0 1KO), hit the ring against Marquise Bruce (0-0-1) in a lightweight bout. Melson had many of his fellow West Point members in attendance for support. In his debut, Melson was very trigger happy to showcase his power in front of his friends, and ended up getting dropped. This time around, he took a very calm approach to start the fight and looked for his opponent to make a mistake. Melson, a southpaw, set the pace of the fight with his jab and straight left. Bruce tried turning the fight into a brawl, but Melson used his footwork to maintain a favorable style of fight.

In the second things got more heated as each fighter tried hurting the other. Left hooks were traded and neither fighter seemed phased. bruce landed another left hook that briefly stunned Melson, and now it was Melson on the retreat. Melson landed a right to even things out afterwards. The third round was absolutely wild as Melson decided to turn the fight into a brawl. Bruce obliged, but found himself against the ropes. Nothing serious was landed, but Melson was looking to make a statement. The pace slowed down by the middle of the round.

entering the fourth round, both fighters knew the fight was close and that the fight could possibly come down to wh owins the round. Bruce started things by landing a hard shot. Melson followed up with a higher volume of punching, but Bruce was able to land solid blows to counter. Both fighters traded hard straight punches. Melson’s nose began to bleed. The fight ended, and the scores read 38-38, 39-37, and 39-37 giving Melson a majority decision victory. — Arben Paloka.

Keisher McLeod-Wells vs. Melissa McMorrow — 6 Rounds, flyweight

In a female fight scheduled for six rounds and to be fought in the flyweight division, Keisher McLeod-Wells (3-1, 1KO) took on Melissa McMorrow (4-1-3).

McLeod-Wells started the fight utilizing her jab, while McMorrow, who was considerably shorter, tried getting beneath the jab in order to get inside. McLeod-Wells, a golden gloves champion, was too good and didn’t let down her guard. The second round saw McMorrow pick up ground as was finally able to land overhand punches. McMorrow began to work even harder as the fight progressed, and was able to turn the tables and turn the fight into more of a brawl. As the fight progressed, McLeod-Wells stayed disciplined and stuck to her game plan of keeping McMorrow at the end of her punches. In the sixth round, a stong straight right stunned McMorrow and she briefly touched the canvas. The pace of the fight remained the same afterwards, and McLeod-Wells rolled on to a unanimous decision victory with scores of 58-55, 57-56, and 57-56. — Arben Paloka

Seanie Monaghan vs. Angel Gonzalez — 4 Rounds, light heavyweight

In a bout scheduled for four rounds, Long Beach’s Seanie Monaghan squared off against Yonker’s Angel Gonzalez.

Good action was present throughout the first round, as both fighter’s were willing to engage one another. In the first half of the first round, Gonzalez outworked Monaghan, who ate a few powerful left hooks to the body and a series of uppercuts to the chin courtesy of his counterpart.

With an already marked-up face, Monaghan turned it on in the second half of the inaugural round, scoring with meaningful power punches to Gonzalez’s face. Perhaps the most significant punch landed by the fan-favorite, Monaghan, came at the rounds close, when he landed a perfectly placed straight right on the button.

In the second round, both fights came in close and never left. Both fighter’s went to work ont he inside and neither proved to be particularly elusive. Monaghan was able to land straight rights at will, while Gonzalez consistently landed his uppercuts. Midway through the first round, Monaghan cranked it up a gear again. He scored with a series of right hands, one so powerful it violently snapped Gonzalez’s head around. To his credit, Gonzalez came firing back, landing a series of punches while Monaghan was backed into the corner. Similar to the end of round one, Monaghan hurt Gonzalez with only seconds to spare in the round — this time it was a left hook to the body that had Gonzalez in pain.

Round three opened up with Monaghan once again finding a home for his straight right hand. Overall, round three belonged to Monaghan, but it didn’t come without him being on the receiving end of some punishment. With about a minute left in the round, a gassed Monaghan took a quick rest against the ropes. Gonzalez, who was equally as exhausted lost tons of steam on his punches by the third round.

When Gonzalez returned to his stool, he sat slumped over, his head resting just above his knees. The ringside doctor caught site of this, examined Gonzalez, and ordered the referee to call a halt to the bout before the fourth round began.

With the win, Monaghan improves to 5-0, 4 KOs, while Gonzalez drops to 2-5, 2 KOs. — Kyle Kinder

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

In what looks to be shaping up as the fight card of the year, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. will defend the WBO Super Bantamweight championship against former world champion Jorge Arce on May 7th underneath Manny Pacquiao defending the WBO Welterweight championship against Shane Mosley

“We’re done, we’re good to go,” said Carl Moretti of Top Rank of the deal with Vazquez promoter Tuto Zabala. “We’ve agreed on everything. We’ll be doing a lot of fights with Tuto and Vazquez.”

We could sign the papers on the night of the fight for all I know. I’ve known Tuto for 24 years. This deal is a result of a relationship that goes way back,” Moretti said. “I trust him and he trusts us and because of what we do on the island, and the opportunities we have coming up, it’s a win, win for everyone, especially [Vazquez].”

“Tuto has seen how we can take guys to the next level on the island and then cross them over in the [heavily Puerto Rican] New York market,” Moretti said. “We’ll make joint decisions on everything about Vazquez. We do what makes sense for the fighter first.”

“Vazquez is in a perfect weight class,” Moretti said. “We have guys who can come up and challenge him, and eventually he will move up to featherweight where there are a lot of good fights. It’s a great situation. He is well liked in Puerto Rico and he has his father’s name as part of the package.”

In addition to the main event, this fight could be on a card that will be a rematch of a fight of what many called the 2010 fight of the year between WBC Lightweight champion Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon as well as the return of former Middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com a much anticipated rematch between world Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins has a just a few hurdles to clear before it comes to fruition on May 21st.

The two fought a controversial draw on December 18th in a bout most people believe that Hopkins deserved the nod.

The fight was broadcasted on Showtime and the rematch will be headed to HBO if completed.

“The deal, as far as the fight itself, we have the date,” Hopkins said, adding that he also had worked out his financial agreement with Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer. “Now we have to find a site. I’d love to fight in Montreal. I’d love to go where the best offer is for the fight. Montreal, fine. In Las Vegas, fine. I’m ready and I just want to settle the score. I want to set the record straight.”

Said Schaefer, “Bernard is on board with everything. Now I just need to work out the venue with [Pascal promoter] Yvon Michel.”

Michel said he was confident he would come to terms with Pascal on their side of the deal.

“We haven’t finalized with Jean Pascal yet but we are working on the details,” Michel said. “It will be a few days before we finish that. And we have to meet with Richard and talk about some other things, but overall we are pretty happy that we could do this.”

The WBC, whose belt Pascal holds, ordered an immediate rematch with the winner mandated to fight Chad Dawson next. However, there was the thorny issue of a contractual rematch that Pascal already owed Dawson, who lost to Pascal in August. The rematch clause allowed the 28-year-old Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs) to take an interim fight, which he did against Hopkins, before he would be obligated to face Dawson again.

However, Pascal-Hopkins II is a far more lucrative fight than Pascal-Dawson II. So Gary Shaw, Dawson’s promoter, quietly worked with Golden Boy, Michel and HBO to work out a deal under which Dawson will pass on the rematch for the time being, fight on the televised undercard of Pascal-Hopkins II and then get a shot at the main event winner if he also wins.

“I believe Gary was able to get his own license fee from HBO to have a fight with Dawson on the show with the guaranteed license fee for Dawson to fight the winner of Pascal-Hopkins,” Michel said. “Overall, I believe Gary Shaw understood what was the most popular thing to do and he negotiated for his side to make sure Dawson was taken care of. He was very cooperative. He fought for his guy, but he understood the complexity. I really appreciated how he worked on the agreement. He helped make sure we could do this rematch, which is the best for the weight division and for the fighters and the fans.”

According to Schaefer and Michel, Dawson’s undercard fight could come against either Montreal’s Adrian Diaconu (a former titleholder) or Librado Andrade, the Southern California resident from Mexico who is popular in Quebec; he considers Quebec a second home. Andrade has challenged Montreal’s Lucian Bute for his super middleweight title twice in the province.

“I believe that it’s a historic situation for me and things worked out the way I expected,” Hopkins said. “I think it’s good for boxing and good for us to settle the score. I’m just very excited and looking forward to breaking George Foreman’s record and making history. I can’t wait [until] May 21 to show people I beat him the first time and I will beat him the second time. I’ll be a few months older than I was last time, which should put [the record] even more out of reach.”

I changed my opinion of fighting in Canada when it comes to Montreal,” Hopkins said. “I’ll go to Montreal. Everything is based on the referee and the judges. It wasn’t the fans that voted in the fight. The Canadian people treated me very well in Quebec City. The thing was the referee and the judges, mainly the judges. The judges didn’t do the right thing and the WBC agreed with us and ordered the rematch. I can’t punish Canada for what the judges see or don’t see. As long as the judges are straight and the referee is straight with the way he handles things, I will go back to Canada.

“Richard and I got the money done. That was not an issue with us. But looking for a fight sight, Richard asked me if I would go back to Canada. I said yes, as long as the judges and referee are neutral.”

“The date is very important to Bernard. He does not want to wait,” Schaefer said.

“I’m glad HBO invited me back home to end my historic career,” he said. “I still have a few things I want to do. My dream hit list is Pascal, Chad Dawson if he wins and then I would like to clean out Canada by beating Bute at light heavyweight. That’s an impressive list put together for an old man.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao wull relinquish his WBC Super Welterweight championship as his promoter Bob Arum said he wont be fighting in that division anymore.

Pacquiao’s 154-pound title was “declared vacant, following the unanimous voting of the WBC board of governors, due to the inability of the champion to defend his WBC title,” according to a statement from the Mexico-based organization.

Pacquiao had no intention of defending the title, which was vacant when he won it by easily outpointing Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

In line to fight for the now-vacant junior middleweight belt are mandatory challenger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and a contender to be appointed by the WBC.

MAYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — In what would have been a mild upset, Dyah Davis looked to have a decision victory in his grasp, but had to settle for a majority draw with world ranked super middleweight contender Francisco Sierra in Saturday’s main event at the Maywood Activity Center.

The actual fight will not further the career of either fighter, but Davis should have the victory on his record. Davis (18-2-1, 9 KOs) of Coconut Creek, Florida seemed to win a minimum of seven rounds, but two judges managed to find the fight even after ten rounds.

Sierra (23-3-1, 21 KOs) of Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico never got unhinged in the fight, which was not a crowd pleaser. Sierra, 170 ¾, could not get the bat of his shoulder and only managed to land one punch at a time whenever he did land. Davis, 169, worked well in spots from the outside, but most of the fight consisted of a lot of falling in and clinching.

Davis began to get more effective work done in the second half of the fight. A left hook forced Sierra to stumble coming in twice in the seventh, with the second having more power behind it. Davis’ confidence continued to rise, as he held his left hand down low and pursued Sierra in the eighth. Another lead left hook scored for Davis in the ninth and a left jab, straight right landed clean in the tenth. Sierra showed signs of life, landing a right late in the round, but as was the case for much of the fight, the Mexican could not maintain any sort of momentum.

In the end, only one judge had it for Davis, by the correctly wide tally of 98-92. The other two judges seated ringside unfortunately must have fallen asleep, deciding perhaps no one deserved the win, as they handed in scorecards of 95-95. Sierra entered the bout the WBO #10 ranked super middleweight, based solely on his knockout of prospect Donovan George last year.

Oscar Meza (21-4, 17 KOs) of Van Nuys, California by way of El Dorado, Sinaloa, Mexico moved past game journeyman Leo Martinez (15-15, 7 KOs) of Columbus, Ohio by way of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Estado de Mexico, Mexico by unanimous eight-round decision.

After a feeling out round one, Meza, 136 ¾, turned up the heat in round two, as he put his punches together a little more. Martinez, 135 ½, became more offensive in round three, but it was still Meza landing the harder shots. Meza really began to put a hurt on Martinez in round five, which was evidenced by the marks on his face. Martinez did not fare any better in the sixth either, as Meza kept up the pressure.

Early in the seventh, a left hook dropped Martinez hard to the canvas. The Ohio-based warrior got right back up and gamely made it out of the round and actually may have won the eighth with his activity level. In the end, all three judges had the bout for Meza, 80-72, 78-73 and 79-72.

Andy Ruiz Jr. (7-0, 5 KOs) of Imperial, California by way of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico battered Kelsey Arnold (4-6-2, 1 KO) of Lexington, Tennessee en route to a third-round stoppage. Ruiz, 257 ½, got rough in round two, bloodying the nose of Arnold, 241, and flooring him with a jab on a break. The potential knockdown was correctly waved off by referee David Mendoza. In the third, Ruiz relentlessly pounded Arnold, who was leaking crimson quite heavily, before Mendoza called a halt to the violence at the 2:19 mark of the third.

Fighting before a vocal supporting crowd in the first walkout bout, debuting Raymond Chacon (1-0) of Los Angeles scored a four-round unanimous decision over Manuel Machorro (0-3) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Chacon, 121, was the aggressor in an awkward fight, which was more than enough to get the unanimous verdict over Machorro, 119. All three judges handed in tallies of 40-36 for Chacon.

Jose Roman (9-0, 7 KOs) of Garden Grove, California remained unbeaten with a six-round unanimous decision over Johnny Frazier (2-5-3, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada in the night’s final bout. Frazier, 132, coming off of a four-round decision loss to Jose’s younger brother Jessie Roman, was dropped in the first. A right hook stunned him and set the table for a left hook that cleaned up for the knockdown.

Roman, 133, rocked Frazier with another sweeping left hook in the second. Frazier came alive in the third as he landed well with Roman’s back to the ropes. Roman shut down his offense for a bit after getting buzzed, but awoke late in the fight. The sixth featured some tense action, but in the end Roman had no need to worry, the fight was already his on the cards. In the end, Roman won by scores of 60-53 and 59-54 twice.

In a closer than anticipated contest, Patrick Teixeira (12-0, 10 KOs) of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil just got by Nampa, Idaho’s David Lopez (3-4) via six-round split decision. Lopez, 155 ½, won over the crowd with his active pace, but it was Teixeira, 155, that won over the majority of the official judges in the end. Two had it 59-55 for Teixeira, while one had it the other way, 58-56 for Lopez.

Davis-Sierra Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
Additional Photos by Mark Ortega

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

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBA Super Lightweight champion Amir Khan will battle Paul McCloskey on April 16th in Manchester, England in a fight between two fighters from the United Kingdom.

“I am delighted that this fight has finally been put together following some tough negotiations,” Khan said in a statement Saturday. “This is a matchup the British public want to see and will be a fantastic fight between two of the best light welterweights in the country.”

HBO will televise Khan-McCloskey on same-day tape in the United States while Sky Box Office will carry it live on pay-per-view in Britain. HBO plans to pair the fight with live coverage of Andre Berto’s welterweight defense against Victor Ortiz, who would move up from junior welterweight, from a site to be determined in the U.S. Berto-Ortiz is close to being finalized.

“Amir is back. The ‘King’ is back. It’s his homecoming, his first fight at home in over 12 months,” said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Khan’s promoter. “He is excited to take on an undefeated fighter in Paul McCloskey. He is looking forward to the showdown. I am still working with [Berto promoter] Lou DiBella to finalize the live fight from the U.S., Berto-Ortiz. It will be a great night of boxing.”

“McCloskey is European champion and he has been calling out Amir,” Schaefer said. “Amir had other fighters on his mind, but for his homecoming, to fight a guy from Northern Ireland who is undefeated, it makes sense. It’s an important showdown for the British fight fans and for Sky. McCloskey has yet to taste defeat. That makes him dangerous and motivated because he doesn’t know how to lose. McCloskey is licking his chops to get his hands on Amir.

“I heard that he wants to go and finish what Maidana started. Of course, Amir will have something to say bout that.”

SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA — Making the move from prospects to contenders, featherweight Luis Franco and cruiserweight Lateef Kayode were matched tough, but well as they passed their most demanding tests to date at the Chumash Casino Resort on Friday night.

Competing for just the ninth time as a professional, Franco (9-0, 5 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of Havana, Cuba moved past veteran Leonilo Miranda (32-3, 30 KOs) of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico with an entertaining ten-round split decision.

Things did not start out well for Franco, 126, in the first. Miranda, 126, buzzed him early in the round and seemed to score a knockdown with straight left as Franco backed up. Though Franco looked hurt, referee Marcos Rosales ruled it a slip.

After a first round that was all Miranda, Franco came out and boxed in the second as if the fight was starting over. When the former Cuban Olympian utilized his superior boxing skills, he seemed to be on a completely different level than Miranda. Through the fourth round, Franco kept his range and frustrated the free-swinging Mexican with his constant movement.

Inexplicably, with the fight going his way, Franco decided to stand and trade with Miranda in spots. Franco was giving Miranda his only chance for victory, because when the Cuban boxed and moved, the Mexican had no answer. In the fifth, Miranda seemed to stun Franco with a left hook at one such instance, but the Cuban came back and closed out the round well.

In the sixth, Franco, the WBO #9/IBF #13 ranked featherweight contender, went back to his bread and butter style and controlled the next few rounds. Franco closed out the eighth pressuring Miranda against the ropes has he sat down on a flurry. However, in the ninth, Franco again decided to stand his ground and trade with the Mexican puncher. It was a risky move, but Franco was outworking the tiring Miranda.

Franco fought the tenth much the same as the ninth, and Miranda obliged as the round featured some excellent two-way action. Both warriors were visibly tired, but still throwing a ton of punches. Franco’s higher output and movement gave him an edge in the round as they closed out the ten-round bout.

Judge Ray Balewicz saw the fight for Miranda, 96-94. Judges Ralph McKnight and Steve Morrow had Franco the winner, 97-93 and 96-94 respectively. With the win, Franco retained his WBO Intercontinental Featherweight title and likely improved upon his world rankings.

In the co-feature, WBA #4/WBO #4/WBC #6 ranked cruiserweight Lateef Kayode (16-0, 14 KOs) of Hollywood, California by way of Lagos, Nigeria saw his 14-fight knockout streak snapped, but he did score a ten-round unanimous decision over Nicholas Iannuzzi (16-2, 9 KOs) of Tampa, Florida.

Iannuzzi, 198, probably fought the best fight he could have, but it was not enough to win over the official scorers seated ringside. The first two rounds featured little action, as Iannuzzi moved and moved, and Kayode, 199, was far too patient. The fight began to pick up a bit in the third, after Iannuzzi gained some confidence after landing a solid counter right. Iannuzzi began to mix in some offense with his constant movement, as he landed well in spots and wisely got out of danger.

In the fourth, Iannuzzi was even braver, as he stood his ground at times and landed well. Kayode was slow to pick up his work rate until late in the fifth round. The sixth round told the story of the fight. Iannuzzi landed a good combination after countering Kayode and picked his spots at other times in the round. However, the most telling blow was landed by Kayode, a short left that rocked Iannuzzi. It would be up to the judges if they preferred Iannuzzi’s higher output, or Kayode’s one or two power punches.

Iannuzzi continued to stick to the game plan in the seventh, as he landed a quick combination upstairs and quickly got out of range. At one moment, Kayode feinted being hurt to try and entice Iannuzzi forward. Late in the round, Kayode landed a solid hook upstairs and then placed another to the body. The second one seemed to take a little steam out of Iannuzzi for a bit.

Iannuzzi had his moments in the final two rounds, most notably a left hook that snapped Kayode’s head back in the ninth, but the Nigerian’s pressure seemed to win him the rounds. Iannuzzi was not moving as well as earlier in the bout, which allowed Kayode to get more work done. They traded at the bell to close the fight, with Iannuzzi getting one or two in after.

In the end, Iannuzzi had won over the crowd, but had lost the fight. Judge Ray Balewicz had it close, 95-94, but judges Ralph McKnight and Steve Morrow had it rather wide, 97-92 and 98-91 respectively. With the win, Kayode retained his WBO NABO and NABF Cruiserweight titles and gained some much needed experience.

Francisco Santana (12-2, 6 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California returned to action with a devastating first-round stoppage over Adan Leal (6-3, 5 KOs) of Nogales, Arizona by way of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Santana, 156, quickly got Leal, 158, to retreat to the ropes and uncorked a picture perfect left hook that absolutely wreaked Leal. Referee Marcos Rosales began his count while Leal gamely tried to get to his knee. When Leal fell into the ropes, Rosales waved off the fight at the 1:57 mark of the first.

Welterweight prospect Michael Anderson (10-0, 8 KOs) of New York, New York scored a come from behind victory of sorts, stopping determined journeyman Octavio Narvaez (7-8-1, 4 KOs) of Chinandega, Nicaragua in the fourth round of a scheduled eight.

Narvaez, 148, was an aggressive adversary from the outset as he repeatedly pressured Anderson, 147, to the ropes. Narvaez did not seem to have all that much on his punches, but the sheer volume kept Anderson on the defensive for much of the four rounds. Anderson employed a Floyd Mayweatheresque defense, and was very selective with his shots.

Before the start of the fourth, Anderson was down 30-27 on two cards and 29-28 on the third. Scoring would not matter, as Anderson unleashed a left hook to the body that took the wind and all of the determination out of Narvaez. Official time of the stoppage was 2:42 of the fourth round.

Rufino Serrano (8-3) of nearby Santa Maria, California outboxed Jose Morales (6-3, 1 KO) of Denver, Colorado en route to a six-round unanimous decision. Serrano, 128, had both the better boxing skills and conditioning, which was more than enough to get the better of Morales, 128.

After controlling most of the first three rounds with his jab and movement, Serrano began to sit down on his punches more in the fourth. An exchange of hooks late in the round sent Morales to the ropes where Serrano landed a clean left hook just before the bell. Serrano highlighted the fifth with an attempted bolo punch and a clean uppercut. Morales seemed to be danger of getting stopped in the sixth, but Serrano did not have the power to get him out of there. In the end, two judges scored it 59-55 and the third had it 60-54, all for Serrano.

In his debut under the Gary Shaw Productions promotional banner, Kurtiss Colvin (3-0, 3 KOs) of Austin, Texas wowed the crowd with a first-round knockout of accomplished mixed martial artist-turned boxer Tony Hervey (0-2) of Detroit, Michigan. Hervey, 159 ½, stood up to the onslaught early, but eventually Colvin, 162, caught him with a combination upstairs that sent him bouncing against the ropes on two sides of the ring. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the bout with the official time of 2:12 of the first.

Former amateur standout Roman Morales (1-0, 1 KO) of San Ardo, California looked impressive in his debut without headgear as he stopped Shaun Solomon (1-2-1) of Moreno Valley, California in the first round. Morales, 123, landed a left hook, followed by a straight right hand up the middle that downed the southpaw Solomon, 124, early in the round. Another left upstairs forced a wobbly Solomon to touch one of his gloves to the canvas and thus another knockdown. Referee Marcos Rosales allowed the fight to go on, but when Morales landed two more hard rights, he leaped in to stop the bout at 2:59 of the first.

Two amateur exhibitions began the night. In spirited bouts, Francisco Ortega, fighting out of the Santa Rita Boxing Club, took on Brandon Gutierrez of the Santa Rita PAL and Maggie Soares of the Santa Rita Boxing Club met Erika Guaderama of the Santa Rita PAL to open up the evening.

Photos by Mark Ortega

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

Emerging super middleweight prospect Vladine Biosse of Providence, RI scored the biggest win of his fledgling career tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena, knocking out former junior middleweight titlist Santiago Samaniego in the third round.

Samaniego, despite once holding a WBA title, was years removed from his best (he has only 1 win since 2002) but still represented a significant step up in class for the 28 year old Biosse. 30 of Samaniego’s 37 wins were by knockout, so at the very least he had a proverbial “punchers chance” coming into the bout. None of Samaniego’s achievements seemed to matter to Biosse though and from the opening bell, he stalked his opponent around the ring behind a southpaw jab; occasionally putting a straight left behind it for good measure. Biosse cut down the ring well and quickly had Samaniego along the ropes where he strafed him with two fisted combinations; firing them from different angles to keep Samaniego guessing. By the second round it was obvious that Samaniego had little chance against his younger opponent and despite his best efforts, Samaniego’s punches were simply too slow to come close to connecting with the ever-moving Biosse. Throughout the second round, Biosse continually utilized angles to turn Samaniego to the ropes where he would punish him with both hands. 25 seconds into the third, a flurry from Biosse dropped Samaniego along the ropes. Samaniego rose looking more tired than shaken and moved away from his pursuer to avoid more punishment. Biosse showed poise and didn’t go for broke on the follow up. He patiently waited for his moment, forced Biosse to the ropes and unleashed a left uppercut that dropped Samaniego to the canvas. Clearly out-classed and with no hope of winning, Samaniego took the full ten count while on one knee. Biosse has a lot to be proud of with the win and displayed that he is now ready to begin taking on the tougher challengers in the super middleweight division. The win improves his record to 10-0 5KOs. Samaniego, who looked about 10 pounds too heavy, ought to seriously consider his future as a professional fighter. His latest loss leaves him at 37-13-1 30KOs but with only 1 win in the last 9 years, his days as an effective fighter are clearly behind him.

Eight months after being KO’d in one round by rising middleweight prospect David Lemieux, New Haven CT’s Elvin Ayala got back into the win column with a 6 round unanimous decision over Indianapolis, IN’s Mustafah Johnson. Ayala controlled most of the bout from the outside, utilizing a crisp jab to keep Johnson at bay. Ayala also mixed in left hooks to good effect and was able to slip most of what Johnson threw back in return. The fight progressed in much the same way until the 4th round when Johnson was able to catch up to Ayala and force his back to the ropes. In response Ayala began fighting more and boxing less, opening up with stinging left hooks and using angles to spin Johnson onto the ropes. Johnson was game and continued to press the action, but Ayala proved too fast and accurate for Johnson to mount any significant offense. When the scorecards were read, it was no surprise all three favored Ayala by scores of 60-54. Although Johnson was a soft touch, Ayala deserved an easy win after the nature of his knockout loss to Lemieux. Ayala is now 21-5 9KOs. Johnson drops to 8-10-1.

Prior to the 4 round middleweight bout between New Haven CT’s Greg McCoy and Pawtucket, RI’s Thomas Falowo, the ring announcer warned the crowd: “Watch out. This fight just might steal the show.” The statement couldn’t have been more accurate. The 4 rounds between McCoy and Falowo had everything the crowd had paid to see: non-stop back and forth action, big punches and a definitive winner. At the opening bell, both fighters charged from their corners throwing (and landing) every punch in the book. Hooks, uppercuts, straight right hands; every punch either fighter threw landed and on multiple occasions both fighter looked to be on shaky legs. The crowd was on their feet at the end of the first and though the action in round 2 was no less impressive, Falowo began to out-land McCoy. As the round progressed, McCoy began to steadily tire and his punches had less and less effect on Falowo, who began to press the action and land hard right hands. By the 4th, McCoy was still fighting back valiantly but it was clear he was all but spent. Falowo backed him into the ropes and hurt him with an overhand right. Sensing the end was near, Falowo poured out everything he had and landed 10 plus unanswered punches before referee Dick Flaherty jumped in and stopped it at 1 minute 40 seconds of the fourth round. With an impressive display of stamina, Falowo picked up his second professional win and now stands at 2-0 2KOs. McCoy drops to 2-2-1 1KO but no doubt did well to secure a good pay day in his next fight with his incredible display of heart.

If there were an award for punch of the night, it would belong to Hartford, CT’s Javier Flores. Flores, who was matched against Rochester NY welterweight Marcus Hall, was being out-boxed though much of the first 2 of a scheduled 4 rounds when he began to launch left uppercuts that landed hard on the chin of Hall. As Hall was backing up to escape them, he became trapped against the ropes and ate another crunching lead left uppercut that dropped him to the floor. Referee Eddie Cotton didn’t bother with a count and called the fight at 2 minutes 5 seconds of the second round. With the impressive display of power, Flores bumped his record up to 5-0 5KOs. Hall, who fought well up until the stoppage, drops to 4-3-1 2KOs.

In an ugly bout, welterweight Sean Eklund of Lowell, MA was able to muscle his way to a 4 round unanimous decision over Springfield, MA’s Noel Garcia. From the opening bell both fighters appeared nervous and came at each other winging punches. Neither fighter was able to land anything of note, although Eklund settled in as the aggressor and began to press the action. Each round appeared to be a mirror image of the last, with Eklund pressing forward with wild abandon and Garcia flailing punches when Eklund came in close. With the amount of punches being thrown, it was surprising that very little was landing for either fighter. The difference in the fight was Eklund’s commitment to coming forward and no doubt was the deciding factor on the judges scorecards. At the end of 4, all three judges had it 39-37 in favor of Eklund, improving his record to 8-4 1KO. Garcia notches another loss and stands at 2-7-1 1KO.

Local junior welterweight favorite Edwin Soto (6-0-1 2KOs) of New Haven, CT, easily won a six round unanimous decision over his game opponent from Niagara Falls, NY James Ventry (7-13 4KOs.)
Soto began the fight moving and boxing well, getting in and out with two fisted combos to the body and head of Ventry. Ventry was consistently coming forward but did not utilize a jab and paid the price for not working his way inside; often taking 4 or 5 shots to land one. Soto began to slow in the 4th round and as a result, found himself with his back to the ropes and Ventry looking to tee off on him. Soto responded well though and countered Ventry successfully from the ropes with left hooks to the body and head. Ventry had his best round in the 6th when his shots finally began to find the chin of the tiring Soto. At that point though, it was too little too late and Soto had already secured his victory. Scores at the end gave little credit to Ventry as all three judges scored it a shutout at 60-54.

One of the unfortunate realities of the heavyweight division is that in comparison to every other division in boxing, the skill level of the average practitioner is markedly lower. As I watched heavyweight’s Theron Johnson of Chicago, IL and Billy Mofford of Randolph, MA fight for six rounds, there seemed little reason to question this. Mofford appeared out of shape and seemed to have no game plan outside of throwing single shot hay-makers and praying for a knockout. Johnson easily out-worked Mofford by throwing in combination, but won nearly all of the six rounds on the strength of his overhand right. One of his overhand rights in round two caught Mofford in the nose and caused him to bleed off and on for the rest of the fight. Mofford’s only moment came in the 5th when he managed to connect with a solid right hand that buzzed Johnson momentarily. Johnson shook it off and out-boxed Mofford through the rest of the fight. Scores at the end read 60-54 and 59-55 (twice) in favor of Johnson who improves his record to 5-3 1KO. Mofford slips to 9-2-2 4KOs.

Ledyard, CT middleweight Brian Macy returned from a two year layoff to lose a surprising 4 round split decision to Fort Myers Florida’s JC Peterson. Peterson, who was 0-8 going into the bout, started impressively by dropping an off balance Macy with a left jab to the face early in round one. Over the course of the next 3 rounds, both fighters stood shoulder to shoulder and traded punches to the body and head which made for difficult scoring. The close nature of the bout was reflected by the scorecards at the end: 38-37 for Macy and 38-37 (twice) for Peterson. With the win, Peterson picked up his first professional win and now stands at 1-9. Macy drops his second in a row and falls to 5-2 2KOs.

In the opening bout of the evening, New Haven, CT super bantamweight Luis Rosa (5-0 4KOs) dismantled Cape Coral, Florida’s Justin Goodall (1-2 1KO) in 3 lopsided rounds. Rosa dropped Goodall in the opening 15 seconds with a sweeping left hook, and Goodall appeared all but spent when he rose on shaky legs. He managed to survive Rosa’s follow up barrage and was able to make it through rounds one and two on his bicycle, offering little more than a keep away jab to discourage Rosa. By round 3 Goodall has lost his legs completely and coming out of one of the numerous clinches of the round, Rosa landed a sharp left hook that dropped Goodall flat on his back. Referee Eddie Cotton immediately waved off the fight, stopping it at 1:14 of Round 3 and giving Rosa his 3rd KO victory in a row.

Michael Perez remained undefeated with an eighth round stoppage over Marcos Herrera in the final scheduled round of their Lightweight bout in Lares, Puerto Rico.

Perez bloodied Herrera as early as round two and continued to the pressure until round eight when he rocked Herrera with a barrage of punches that sent him to the corner and the bout was stopped at 1:36 of the final round.

Perez, 136 lbs of Newark, NJ via Puerto Rico is now 12-0-1 with six knockouts. Herrera, 135 lbs of Denver, CO is now 6-4-1.

Good looking Featherweight prospect Jayson Velez stopped John Molina after five rounds in a scheduled eight round bout.

Velez, 123 1/2 of Juncon, Puerto Rico is now 15-0 with twelve knockouts. Molina, 123 1/2 lbs of Cartegna, Colombia is now 28-15-3.

Eddie Gomez remained undefeated with a second round stoppage over Jose Ramon Sanchez in a scheduled four round Middleweight fight.

Gomez floored Sanchez with an overhand right and the referee waved off the fight at 2:31 of round two.

Gomez is 3-0 with three knockouts. Sanchez is now 2-9-1.

Braulio Santos needed just sixty-seven seconds to win his pro debut over Jose Padilla in Super Featherweight bout scheduled for four rounds.

Padilla is now 0-3.

Brian Vera scored an upset split decision over former world champion Sergio Mora in ten round Middleweight bout at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was a close fight throughout with Vera being the aggressor while Mora looked for spots to counter and he did that very nicely at times. Vera would get inside consistently with short combination’s and flurries. At times Mora would set combination’s up with his jab but he did not do that enough.

Late in the fight, the blood was flowing as in round seven Mora was cut around left eye from a punch and in round eight the right was split open due to a headbutt. There were some good exchanges in the final round with Vera being cut around his right eye just moments before the final bell sounded.

Vera, 163 of Fort Worth, Texas won two cards by a 96-94 tally while Mora won a card 96-94.

Vera, who also scored an upset over Andy Lee is now 18-5. Mora, 163 of East Los Angeles, California was coming off a draw with legendary Shane Mosley and is now 22-2-2.

Chris Chatman needed a last round knockdown to fight a majority draw with heralded and previously unblemished in an eight round Jr. Middleweight bout.

Hatley scored a knockdown in the first minute of the fight and almost had Chatman out before the opening frame was complete as he peppered Chatman with clean shots. The fight never seemed to get a good rhythm to it as Chatman regained his composure and continued to press the action started getting through with some good shots. Hatley won most of the middle rounds until he seemed to tire late.

Chatman scored a knockdown with a left hand with over a minute to go in the fight and had Hatley holding on until the final bell to get the draw.

18 year old Ray Ximenez Jr. scored a four round unanimous decision over Alfredo Berto in a Bantamweight fight.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Ximenez, 117 lbs of Dallas and is 2-0. Berto, 118 lbs is now 1-4.

Hatley, 153 lbs of Dallas, Texas was a former national amateur champion won a card by 77-73 but that was over ruled by the two remaining judges at 75-75.

Hatley is now 14-0-1. Chatman, 153 lbs of San Diego was fighting his third consecutive undefeated fighter and now 9-1-1.

Since its 2001 debut, Showtime’s long-running series Shobox: The New Generation has been a proving ground for several of the sport’s brightest prospects on their way to claiming world championships. Tonight the series showcases two more unbeaten potential future champions looking to move forward in their careers in separate bouts at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. Former Cuban Olympian Luis Franco takes on his toughest challenge to date in the form of 34-fight veteran Leonilo Miranda in the main event, while cruiserweight knockout artist Lateef Kayode meets Nicholas Iannuzzi in the co-feature. Fighters weighed in Thursday evening at the casino.

Just four fights ago, Franco (8-0, 5 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of Havana, Cuba was fighting in a four-rounder. Now, just entering his ninth pro bout, Franco is just a win or two away from serious contention. Franco is coming off of a disqualification victory over once-beaten Eric Hunter in December and now finds himself the WBO #9/IBF #13 ranked featherweight.

Franco, who represented Cuba at the 2004 Olympic Games, plans to fall back on his amateur experience to get past the veteran puncher Miranda. “I won’t have an issue fighting a southpaw,” said Franco. “I fought plenty as an amateur. “I think he’s knocked out guys who just stood in front of him. We won’t be doing that.” Franco will look to outbox the forward-moving Miranda, but the Mexican will be dangerous for every frame of their scheduled ten-rounder. Franco, who will be defending his WBO Intercontinental Featherweight title, scaled 126-pounds.

Miranda (32-2, 30 KOs) of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico rebounded from an 0-2 run in 2009 to score two knockouts in 2010, one of which was a short-notice stoppage of Andre Wilson on ESPN2. With an upset victory tonight, Miranda would catapult himself into the world rankings at featherweight. Miranda has to force the fight and try to rough up Franco in order to make his puncher’s chance prove fruitful. “I’m coming to fight ten rounds, but I have the punching power to change the fight at any time,” understands Miranda. “We’ll try for the kayo if it’s there.”

Kayode (15-0, 14 KOs) of Hollywood, California by way of Lagos, Nigeria has allowed only one opponent to last the distance, and that was in his pro debut. Last time out, Kayode, the WBA #4/WBO #4/WBC #6 ranked cruiserweight, stopped Ed Perry with a perfectly place uppercut to the body in the sixth. “These knockouts have been a blessing for me,” said Kayode. “I’m aggressive. If I land a good shot I’m not going to stop. I’ll keep coming until the kayo comes, until they are down.” Kayode, defending his WBO NABO/NABF Cruiserweight titles, weighed 199-pounds for the ten-round encounter.

Iannuzzi (16-1, 9 KOs) of Tampa, Florida has bounced back from his sole defeat to reel off four consecutive victories. The last came against former Kayode knockout victim Jose Luis Herrera, as Iannuzzi scored a six-round unanimous decision this past October. Iannuzzi feels his one loss has served him well. “My only loss was good for me,” said Iannuzzi. “It was a huge stepping stone for me and I won’t let it happen again. I learned a lot from it.” Iannuzzi weighed in at 198-pounds.

In off-television action, Rufino Serrano (7-3) of nearby Santa Maria, California will take on Jose Morales (6-2, 1 KO) of Denver, Colorado in a six-round super featherweight fight. Serrano, who closed out 2010 with a six-round decision over Rodrigo Aranda at the Chumash Casino Resort in December, scaled 128-pounds. Morales, out of action since a first-round stoppage to Gabriel Tolmajyan last April, weighed in at 128-pounds.

Francisco Santana (11-2, 5 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California will take on Adan Leal (6-2, 5 KOs) of Nogales, Arizona by way of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico in a six-round middleweight bout. Santana, coming off of a kayo loss to prospect Karim Mayfield back in November of 2009, scaled 156-pounds, while Leal, a kayo victim in his last two, came in at 158-pounds.

Recently signed by Gary Shaw Productions, Kurtiss Colvin (2-0, 2 KOs) of Austin, Texas will meet Tony Hervey (0-1) of Detroit, Michigan in a four-round middleweight fight. Colvin weighed in at 162-pounds, while Hervey scaled 159 ½-pounds.

Undefeated welterweight prospect Michael Anderson (9-0, 7 KOs) of New York, New York will meet Mexican journeyman Octavio Narvaez (7-9-1, 4 KOs) of Chinandega, Nicaragua in an eight-round bout. Anderson, looking for his seventh straight knockout, scaled 147-pounds, while Narvaez, normally a durable opponent, weighed in at 148-pounds.

In the opener, former amateur star Roman Morales of San Ardo, California makes his pro debut against the capable Shaun Solomon (1-1-1) of Moreno Valley, California in a four-round super bantamweight bout. Morales scaled 123-pounds, while Solomon was 124.

Tickets for event, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, are available online at ChumashCasino.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBO Intercontinental Featherweight Title, 10 Rounds
Franco 126
Miranda 126

WBO NABO Cruiserweight Title
NABF Cruiserweight Title, 10 Rounds
Kayode 199
Iannuzzi 198

Super Featherweights, 6 Rounds
Serrano 128
Morales 128

Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Santana 156
Leal 158

Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Colvin 162
Hervey 159 ½

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Anderson 147
Narvaez 148

Super Bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Morales 123
Solomon 124

Photos by Tom Casino/Showtime

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

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that a terrific undercard is being assembled underneath the May 7th showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley that could feature the rematch of one of the best fights of 2010 as well as the return of former world Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.

The co-feature in the works would match lightweight titlist Humberto Soto (54-7-2, 32 KOs) against Urbano Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs) in a rematch of their epic Dec. 4 slugfest, which Soto won via tight unanimous decision.

“There’s no paperwork done yet, but the sides are aware of it and have [verbally agreed to the rematch],” Top Rank’s Carl Moretti told ESPN.com Thursday. “We’ve talked to both sides and the camps are both up for the date and we’re trying to get it closed up.”

Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) has not fought since losing the middleweight championship to Sergio Martinez last April. He pulled out of a comeback fight scheduled for Nov. 13 on Pacquiao’s last undercard and checked into an alcohol rehabilitation clinic for the second time. He spent two months at the Betty Ford Center before coming out in early January.

“He’s itchin’ to fight,” Moretti said.

“All indications are that Kelly would like to take advantage of that,” Moretti said, adding that there has been no discussion yet of a specific opponent.

Cameron Dunkin, Pavlik’s co-manager, said Pavlik is planning to fight on the card.

“The idea is that is he going to fight on May 7,” Dunkin told ESPN.com. “We’re just taking it one step at a time, but he’s scheduled. He’s terrific. He’s working out and very happy, spending time with his family. Everything is wonderful right now.”

“I would think he will fight at 168 or 169 pounds,” Dunkin said. “He says he wants to be a super middleweight now. There’s no way he can go back the other way [to 160]. He realized he is just too big.”

When Moretti is in Puerto Rico for a news conference on Tuesday to formally announce featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez’s April 16 fight with Orlando Salido, he said he is going to meet with promoter Tuto Zabala Jr., who promotes Puerto Rican junior featherweight titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-0-1, 17 KOs).

Moretti said he and Zabala will try to close the deal that they have been working on to match Vazquez in a title defense against Mexico’s Jorge Arce (56-6-2, 43 KOs), a former flyweight and junior bantamweight titlist. Part of that deal could be Top Rank coming aboard as Vazquez’s co-promoter.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, World Featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez will defend his title against former champion Orlando Salido in Lopez native homeland of Puerto Rico and the bout will be televised on Showtime.

” ‘Juanma’ is one of the top four television fighters today. He makes great fights,” Top Rank’s Carl Moretti said. “No matter who he is in with, you’re going to be entertained. We’re at a great arena in Puerto Rico that will have 8,000 to 10,000 people and I think it will be a good evening all around.”

“I think it’s a tough fight for Juanma,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. “Salido is a really solid, durable guy. Yuriorkis Gamboa had to work really hard to get past him and with this fight we will be able to see comparatively where the two hot, young featherweights are. Salido is going to be there all night. Juanma is really going to have to work for it.”

“Salido is a hard-nosed, grizzled Mexican with a great chin and good power [and] this could be his last shot at a title,” Moretti said. “And Juanma has been known to catch better sometimes than fellow Puerto Rican Jorge Posada.”

Said Salido: “It’s a tough fight, but for me it’s an opportunity to win a title belt and become a world champion again.”

“It’s going to be a measuring stick on where both of them stand against each other, so what Juanma has to protect against is fighting the guy and thinking, ‘I gotta look good. Can I knock him out? Do I get out of my game plan just to prove a point because Gamboa went the distance with him?’

“There’s a feel for when it’s ready to go,” DuBoef said. “I think sometimes there’s a road map and sometimes it’s a sixth sense when it’s time to match them up. We’re working to get there with these guys and to make this as big as it can be. We’re creating a business around both guys. Lopez is more advanced in that sense because he’s become a big draw, especially in Puerto Rico. But we’re working on it with Gamboa. There is something naturally that happens where fighters are on two independent paths and they eventually merge into one, and the fight happens.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that former four-time Heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield will now take on Danish star Brian Nielson in May 7th instead of March 5th after Holyfield suffered a cut around his left eye in his January 22nd bout with Sherman Williams.

“I had hoped to be fully fit to fight Brian on March 5 but after another close examination this week the doctor said I could not do sparring until the end of the month,” said Holyfield, who is due to earn $500,000 against Nielsen. “My good physical shape and my meticulous preparation have been my biggest advantages throughout my career, and I will not enter the ring against a determined opponent like Nielsen when I am not 100 percent prepared.

“I take Nielsen very seriously. I need a convincing victory to put myself back in line for another shot at the world title, so I will give the cut enough time to heal before resuming practice. I will be in top shape on May 7 and defeat Brian Nielsen.”

“Always look on the bright side of life,” Nielsen said. “The more training I get, the stronger I will become. I would have been ready to give Evander a great fight on March 5. I have worked my butt off in practice where [trainer] Karsten Rower has been torturing me twice a day.

“Although I am not exactly thrilled to be in his German training hell for two more months, every single practice session will only make me better,” he added. “I will make sure Evander gets a nice souvenir from his trip to Copenhagen. I will cut his other eye, too. He will be good friends with the doctor he has been seeing.”

“We fully understand Evander’s decision. It is the right thing to do,” promoter Kalle Sauerland said. “We have stressed from the very beginning that we would never let a fighter inside the ring if he is not 100 percent ready, and that includes a perfect preparation. As we have learned from Brian, let’s look at the bright side. Two more months of professional boxing training and sparring will make him even better.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, world rated Heavyweight Tomasz Adamek will take on the man who retired Mike Tyson, Kevin McBride on April 16th in either Poland or New Jersey.

“We have confirmed Kevin McBride as Adamek’s April opponent, but we were holding off on a formal announcement until after I had the chance to meet with [Adamek co-promoter] Ziggy [Rozalski] to go over the two site alternatives with him and make a decision.”, said Adamek’s promoter Kathy Duva.

PONTIAC, Mich. – There’s a reason it’s hard to get in the major leagues with a hitch in your swing. St. Louis’ Devon Alexander may have made it to the majors, but Saturday night he ran into a first-rate pitcher in Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley and got struck out.

In the main event of “The Super Fight,” boxing’s debut in the Silverdome, California’s Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) defeated Alexander (21-1, 13 KOs) by technical-decision after fewer than 10 rounds – when the fight was stopped because of an accidental head butt – and did so by scores of 97-93, 96-95 and 98-93, establishing himself as the world’s premier junior welterweight.

The 15rounds.com ringside scorecard concurred, scoring the match a lopsided 99-92 for Bradley.

While both fighters began tense and nervous in the opening rounds, Bradley loosened up, catching Alexander with one decisive right hand in each stanza, and bullying Alexander with ineffective aggressiveness. Alexander appeared overwhelmed, never finding his range or setting a successful trap.

As the fight progressed, Bradley detected the massive hitch in Alexander’s proverbial swing: Alexander cocks his every combination. Once Bradley deciphered this, he hit Alexander awkwardly and often. Alexander had begun to fade when the two fighters’ heads collided severely enough in round 10 to disrupt Alexander’s vision and cause the ringside doctor to advise a stoppage.

After the fight, Bradley graciously called Alexander a warrior, promising the St. Louis native would one day be champion again. Bradley then quixotically called-out Manny Pacquiao, a junior-middleweight titlist who would likely whup him.

VERNON PARIS VS. EMANUEL AUGUSTUS
Vernon Paris (24-0, 14 KOs), the undefeated Detroit junior welterweight the largest number of Saturday’s fans came to see, might have reviewed his opponent’s record and smirked during training camp. But Emanuel Augustus (38-34-6, 20 KOs) proved to be a humorless test for Paris, who, despite being roughed-up, frustrated and worn-down, won by unanimous-decision scores of 76-73, 77-72 and 77-72.

Augustus, a veteran of 77 fights who now calls himself “The Outlaw,” would not be run out the ring. He resorted to a large number of the tricks in his substantial bag to take the younger and faster crowd-favorite off his game. Once Augustus had Paris distracted, he began talking to him, dancing between rounds and fouling him wherever the referee couldn’t see.

The referee did see enough antics, though, to penalize Augustus two points for a fraction of the indiscretions he committed.

But whatever the final tally, Augustus proved he can still teach a young fighter, and Vernon Paris still has plenty left to learn.

UNDERCARD
The penultimate undercard match of the night saw its most-devastating knockout as Miami heavyweight Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne (20-1-1, 19 KOs) rocked then ruined Trinidad and Tobago’s Kertson Manswell (19-1, 15 KOs), stopping him at 1:52 of the second round – with a 1-2 followed by four left hooks – to take the ‘0’ from the loss side of Manswell’s ledger.

In the evening’s sixth and dullest fight, Marcus Oliveira (21-0-1, 16 KOs), an undefeated Kansas light-heavyweight, decisioned Detroit’s Demetrius Jenkins (21-18-1, 16 KOs) by unanimous scores of 60-54.

The evening’s second-most-lopsided mismatch came in its fifth bout, as New Jersey’s Kendall “Rated R” Holt (26-4, 13 KOs) made an NC-17 mess of Florida welterweight Lenin Arroyo (20-15-1, 4 KOs), knocking him cold at 1:50 of the first round and causing the few knowledgeable fans in attendance to wonder why a prizefighter of Holt’s caliber would even be making eight-round tilts with 14-loss journeymen.

New York welterweight Allen Conyers (12-4, 9 KOs) calls himself “Dream Shatterer,” and in the fourth fight of Saturday’s Silverdome card, formerly undefeated Texan James De La Rosa (20-1, 12 KOs) learned why. Dropped thrice and made to look like a lousy Zab Judah impersonator, De La Rosa dropped the first decision of his career, losing a 10-round fight by three scores of 95-92.

Saturday’s most-lopsided mismatch came in its third bout, when Philadelphia’s Julian Williams (5-0, 4 KOs) blew directly through Indiana’s Alan Moore (2-10, 2 KOs) in 28 seconds to win a first-round technical knockout. Moore’s shaky legs at the opening bell and complete want of competitiveness raised questions of how he was even able to attain a license from the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission.

Before that, in an entertaining eight-round super middleweight scrap, Detroit’s own “Son of a Preacher Man” Darryl Cunningham (22-2, 10 KOs) outclassed Dominican Alberto Mercedes (16-15, 10 KOs), dropping him in the final round and winning by three, unanimous-decision scores of 60-53. Despite absorbing punches and being hurt at the 1:30 mark of round 8, though, Mercedes stayed game throughout, even dissuading the onrushing Cunningham in the fight’s final minute.

Saturday’s opening fight, California welterweight Julio Diaz (38-6, 26 KOs) versus Tijuana’s Pavel Miranda (16-7-1, 8 KOs), ended in an eighth-round TKO for Diaz when a disappointing Miranda could not continue.

Doors for “The Super Fight” opened at 6:00 PM, and the opening bell rang on an empty arena at 6:15. The event’s promoters announced an attendance of 6,247.

Many fighters throughout boxing history have earned redemption.

From Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard, Manny Pacquiao, Roy Jones Jr. and most recently Sergio Martinez, each scored a scintillating victory to silence their harshest critics while defeating an opponent that previously frustrated them. The difference between the aforementioned stars and unbeaten light heavyweight Ronson Frank? Frank was facing Philadelphia’s Tony Ferrante for the first time.

The two were scheduled to square off September 24 until Ferrante missed weight by more than four pounds, prompting Frank to cancel the bout. Many were outranged by Frank’s decision not to fight on, but the Rosedale, NY based Guyanese stood by his decision and vowed to make the overconfident Ferrante pay for his unprofessionalism.

And that’s exactly what he did last night at the Armory in Yonkers, NY.

Frank scored his most impressive victory to date and had the last laugh after mercifully stopping Ferrante in the third of their eight round contest. Frank, a lanky southpaw with solid boxing skills, was in control from the opening bell, ripping hard shots to both the body and head of his once beaten counterpart. Ferrante was unable to surmount a consistent offensive attack and unsuccessfully attempted to pressure Frank.

After badly outboxing Ferrante in the second, Frank unloaded a vicious multi-punch combo capped off by a right hook to the head which knocked Ferrante out cold and brought the crowd to its feet.

Ferrante remained motionless for a few minutes before making it back to his feet.

Time of stoppage was 1:58.

“We are ready to take that next step up,” Promoter Brian O’Shea said of Frank following the victory. “Ronson is sharp and ready for anybody out there. We want to fight that 10-0 Russian kid (WBA Light Heavyweight titlist Beibut Shumenov)!”

Editor’s Note: Shumenov is from Kazakhstan and has a record of 11-0.

Frank is now 16-0 with 8 wins by kayo following one of the best knockouts this writer has ever seen. Ferrante slides to 9-2.

Allen 2 Sharpe for Orta

In the co-feature, Boxing360 promoted super middleweight Lennox “2 Sharpe” Allen stopped rugged Jesse Orta of Dallas, TX inside of two rounds. Like his close friend Frank, Allen is a New York transplant hailing from Guyana, but in this bout there was no story line.

Allen dominated the opening round with excellent hand speed and decked Orta with a perfectly placed check hook at the bell. Orta went down hard and Allen jumped on the top rope to celebrate what appeared to be a knockout. Much to his surprise, Orta made it back to his feet and the celebration was postponed; albeit not much longer.

Allen jumped on Orta as the bell sounded for the second round, teeing off with vicious combinations to force a stoppage 37 seconds in.

Allen is now 14-0-1 with 9 wins by kayo. Orta, whose only prior knockout defeat came to Danny Jacobs in December, falls to 7-15-2 (4 KO’s).

Collado outpoints Irizarry in a thriller!

Chronically inactive featherweight Jhovany Collado overcame a 5 ½ year hiatus to defeat heavily favored “Crazy” Eddie Irizarry by split decision.

In a six round slugfest between two New Yorkers, Collado dropped Irizarry hard in the second round with a left hook and managed to slightly outwork his gutsy foe in a back and fourth bout.

Scores were 57-56 Collado twice and 57-56 Irizarry. 15rounds also ruled the bout in favor of Collado by a tally of 57-56.
Queen’s Collado improves to 2-7-2 (1 KO). Irizarry of the Bronx drops to 7-3 (2 KO’s).

McDowell batters James

Former New York Golden Gloves Champion Chazz “Magnificent” McDowell dominated debuting Ian “Iron Skin” James in a four round lightweight contest.

From the moment the bout started, it was evident that McDowell was the far more polished fighter. The Yonkers resident ripped James with a number of impressive combinations and hurt him on multiple occasions, impressing the vocal crowd on hand. Towards the end of the bout, McDowell was clearly gunning for a knockout and threw some wild shots, but James was game and finished the bout on his feet.

Scores were 40-36 twice and 39-37 for McDowell.

“I saw him hurt in the first round so I was thinking he may go down,” McDowell said of James. “I thought an overhand right and a crazy left hand would have (dropped him), but he didn’t fall so I had to use my boxing skills. It was a bit frustrating (that I couldn’t get him out of there) because I wanted to get rid of him.”

McDowell, who informed us that he’ll return in March as part of the Sergio Martinez-Sergiy Dzinziruk undercard at the Foxwoods Casino, is now 4-0 with 1 KO. James of Brooklyn is 0-1.

Bronx Natives Battle to a Draw

Bronx based light heavyweights Owen “Pointblank” Rodway and Tafari Lawton fought to an entertaining four round draw. The two seemed quite familiar with one another, perhaps due to past sparring sessions, and both had their moments of success in a bout that correctly ended in a draw.

Scores were 39-37 Lawton and 38-38.

Rodway is now 1-0-1 (1 KO). Lawton’s record stands at 1-1-1.

In other action, debuting super middleweight “Notorious” Travis Peterkin of Brooklyn, NY stopped Allentown PA’s Edgar Sanjuro in the opening round when the latter was unable to continue, citing he couldn’t breather after taking a number of hard shots to the nose.

Time of stoppage was 2:05. Peterkin, who looked to have solid skills, is 1-0 with 1 KO. Sanjuro, inactive for more than eight years since his last fight, slips to 2-2.

In the first bout of the evening, Brooklyn light heavyweight Hamid “The Dream” Abdul-Mateen, 1-1, outpointed Washington, DC’s Dameon Marshall, 1-3, over four rounds. Abdul-Mateen was the naturally bigger fighter and hurt Marshall on multiple occasions of a one sided affair.

All three judges scored the contest 40-36.

Last night’s card marked the sixth time O’Shea Brothers Boxing hosted a show at the Yonkers Armory since May 2009.

And who said local boxing was dead?

Former world Heavyweight title challenger, Chris Arreola stopped Joey Abell in round one of a scheduled ten round Heavyweight bout of knockout artists at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula, California.

Abell had a little success early as he landed a couple of decent left hands. Arreola then landed a huge right that rocked Abell on the ropes. Arreola then landed three vicious shots that led to referee Tony Crebs possible early stoppage at 2:18 of the opening frame.

Arreola, 249 1/2 lbs of Riversidce, CA is now 30-2 with twenty-six knockouts. Abell, 238 1/2 lbs of Champlin, MN is now 27-5.

Josesito Lopez fought through a nasty cut from round one and came back to stop previously undefeated Michael Dallas Jr. in round seven of a scheduled ten round Jr, Welterweight bout.

Dallas showed the speed early and cut Lopez over the left eye in round one. Dallas fought very well over the first four rounds . Slowly but surely, Lopez started imposing his well and landed a nice left that rocked Dallas in round seven. Lopez jumped on Dallas with two shots and referee Raul Caiz stopped the bout at 1:47 of round four.

Lopez, 140 lbs of Riverside, CA is now 29-3 with seventeen knockouts. Dallas, 139 3/4 lbs of Bakersfield, CA is now 17-1-1.

Former U.S. Olympian Shawn Estrada remained perfect by dropping Jon Schmidt three times in round one of a scheduled four round Super Middleweight bout.

Estrada, 167 lbs of East Los Angeles is now 11-0 with ten knockouts. Schmidy, 166 lbs of North Minneapolis, Mn is now 10-2.

Matt Villeuneuva kept his perfect knockout streak in tact by scoring a second round stoppage over Jose Luis Cardenas in a scheduled four round Super Flyweight bout

Villeuneuva, 114 lbs of Burbank, CA is 5-0 with five knockouts. Cardenas, 115 lbs of Santa Ana, CA is now 6-12-2.

PONTIAC, Mich. – Junior welterweight champions Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander shared a lot of similarities Friday at Silverdome. Both were dark, muscular and respectful to one another and those gathered round a makeshift stage in a glass-paneled sports bar overlooking the arena. If it was a study in contrasts you were after, then, the place to look was backstage.

That was where Alexander’s indefatigable promoter Don King plied his syrupy cackle and unpredictable vocabulary in a final publicity push for Saturday’s “Super Fight.” And in a corner across the room stood Bradley’s promoter, Gary Shaw, quietly prepping for an upcoming rules meeting.

Friday afternoon Bradley and Alexander took to the scale and made 139.5 pounds and 140, respectively. Both looked excellent. Neither looked ready to relent. Each looked a righteous foil to the other.

Meanwhile, their promoters acted more in complementary roles than adversarial ones.

King is, and has been for decades, more famous than the fighters he promotes. The shocked hair, the bedizened jean jacket, the exploding voice; all contribute to a presence round which even confident public figures orbit like tiny moons. Regardless of the merits of his product, King is the spectacle that fills the tent. Few bring to any job the mastery and joy King brings to public self-edification. And yet.

There’s an easily missed humility in the access he affords every promotion. He is not a wind-up toy; were he that, writers would have stopped quoting him 30 years ago. Rather, he is a robust cult of personality hurling himself on the mercy of a crowd.

“You want them to buy what you’re selling!” King said Friday, when asked about an appearance schedule this week that has put his distinct voice all over local Michigan airwaves. “Give them what they want. People are my most important asset!”

But are they buying what he’s selling this time, and just how many assets will be in seats Saturday night?

“Make the economy rise!” King thundered, when asked about his choice of a city 30 miles north of Detroit. “The spirit of Detroit is alive! Detroit is a model for the rest of the country.”

That it is. To most of the rest of the country, though, Detroit is a model of what an American city should not become. While the reports of Detroit’s death are indeed exaggerated, there’s no doubt the area is wanting in both capital and hope.

“The people need you here,” said King. “This is a commercial for three or four hours for Detroit. This (fight) is an infomercial.”

Standing in a hallway 50 feet away – but by no means outside the range of King’s voice – Gary Shaw contrasted his style with that of his co-promoter’s.

“Don is a self-promoter, he’s the marketing,” Shaw said. “I am more operationally seasoned.”

When asked if he thought the two made a good team, Shaw nodded.

“Don’s a legendary name,” he said. “That’s not who I am.”

How good a team the two men have made will be challenged Saturday at Silverdome. Friday’s view of the arena afforded a glimpse at how ticket sales are going. With the ring tucked in a far away corner, blue curtains indicated fewer than a fifth of Silverdome’s 80,000 or so seats will be on sale.

A strong walk-up crowd is predicted. Any service person in uniform will be given a free seat. But whatever the actual gate, you hope for a good throng of committed boxing fans. Detroit and Pontiac need it. Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander deserve it.

Doors to “The Super Fight” open Saturday at 6:00 PM local time. 15rounds.com will have full ringside coverage.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, a new boxing series will be televised by Fox Sports Net and it will feature former three division world champion James Toney in the first installment that will take place on February 24th.

The series, called “Fight Night in America,” will generally air on the last Thursday of each month, Cohen told ESPN.com. Some of the early shows will air on tape delay, as was the case with the Dec. 17 debut card Prize Fight-promoted welterweight prospect Jesse Lubash (14-0, 8 KOs) of Pittsburgh.

Toney (72-6-3, 44 KOs) will face Damon Reed (45-14, 32 KOs) on Feb. 24 at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in San Bernardino, Calif., in a heavyweight fight in the main event of the next edition, which will also air on tape delay.

“We are not averse to working with other promoters because we are looking to make this series a real success,” said Empre Sports CEO Greg Cohen, who hopes to develop fighters who can move on to the HBO and Showtime level of fights. “We want to make competitive fights. We are looking to build a brand. It’s good for the sport. The more televised boxing, the better it is for the sport.”

“We’re starting as a monthly show and we hope to grow to be bigger than monthly. Twice a month would be the goal,” Cohen said. “If we will deliver on our end and Fox delivers on its end, this will be a great partnership. We are taking care of the production, but Fox made a very favorable deal with us on the sponsors we brought the to table. It’s a nice situation for both parties.”

It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago, Tomasz Adamek would step onto a physician’s scale the day before a fight and the balance beam would find a happy medium somewhere around 175 pounds.

Since those light heavyweight days not so long ago, where he engaged in two all-out brawls with Paul Briggs and lost a hard fought bout to Chad Dawson, Adamek has breezed through the cruiserweight division capturing the IBF and Ring Magazine championships before setting his sights on heavyweight gold.

Now, just fifteen months after bidding adieu to the cruiserweight division, the highlander from Poland will get an opportunity to become a heavyweight champion of the world.

As Dan Rafael of ESPN first reported yesterday, Adamek and his camp — Main Events & Ziggy Promotions — publicly announced that they had finalized a contract to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September, at one of two newly constructed stadiums in Poland.

The initial report stated that if both Vitali and Wladimir win their upcoming bouts, against Odlanier Solis and Derek Chisora, respectively, it will be most likely be Wlad who steps through the ropes in September to participate in one of the biggest fights in Polish boxing history.

If one brother loses, Adamek will square off against the brother who won, and if both fall, the fight with Adamek is off.

The last condition states that the Pole must win his April 16 bout in Katowice, Poland against the always dangerous TBA in order for his September title bout to take place.

While the fight will no longer be against Samuel Peter, as once reported, but it will come against “a popular opponent who is taller than me,” according to Adamek.

Back in December, at the post fight press conference for the Adamek-Vinny Maddalone fight, Duva admitted to reporters that she had been in contact with representatives of the Ukrainian champions.

While acknowledging the two sides had participated in discussions regarding a championship title bout, Duva shot down rumors that Adamek would do battle with a Klitschko in March of 2011 at Madison Square Garden, which was a popular rumor in early December. The significant of a heavyweight title fight taking place in March at Madison Square Garden is because it would mark the 40th anniversary of “The Fight of Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

While I presume there was some appeal to make that fight in late March at the Garden from a marketing standpoint, Duva ultimately stayed loyal to the Prudential Center in Newark, which has become Adamek’s home away from home.

I imagine that for the Klitschko’s there is little appeal in fighting in Newark. Therefore, the fight shifts to Poland, where new stadiums are sprouting up throughout the nation to prepare for EURO Cup 2012, when they will play co-hosts to the big soccer tournament, along with the Ukraine.

As recent as July 2009 there was buzz around the soccer world that the scheduled host counties might possibly be switched to Hungary and Germany if the building of the facilities in Poland and the Ukraine didn’t pick up the pace.

With hard work, Poland put skeptics to rest as three entirely new stadiums will be up and running by the time EURO 2012 rolls around. Two of them are in the running to host Adamek vs. Klitschko.

Both Stadion Majeski and Stadion Nawodwy (National Stadium) are set to be completed in June 2011. The Stadion Nawodwy, which is located in the capital city of Warsaw, will be able to seat 56,000, while Stadion Majeski, located in the city of Wroclaw, will hold 42,771.

Geographically, Wroclaw is significantly closer to the German border than Warsaw. A fight at the Stadion Miejeski in theory could draw more Klitschko supporters than if it were to be held in the further Stadion Nawodwy. Make no mistake, however, regardless of location, this crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Adamek, but being that the Klitschko brothers are now based out of Germany, thousands of their supports will undoubtedly spill over the German-Polish border to witness their beloved champion do battle, whichever brother it may be.

For me, the most intriguing part about this fight is that one of the champions will be facing the best Tomasz Adamek they can possibly face. Unlike most of their recent opponents, who prematurely jump at the chance to get a crack at the crown, Adamek has been to the top of the mountain in two different weight classes already.

He has set goals for himself and hasn’t stopped until he has grabbed titles. For the last fifteen months, Adamek and his team have been preparing for the very moment that will come in September.

He has proven he could take a heavyweight’s punch when he duked it out with Chris Arreola over twelve rounds. He has proven he could beat a taller fighter when he outpointed the 6’7” Michael Grant. And perhaps most importantly as a heavyweight, Adamek proved that he is world class boxer.

After his first two heavyweight fights — against Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada — Adamek and his longtime trainer Andrzej Gmitruk split ways, allowing Gmitruk to tend to his own health concerns. That’s when “Goral” picked up Roger Bloodworth as his primary trainer.

Since linking up with Bloodworth, Adamek is noticeably more mobile. He has Americanized his fight-game and sharpened his defense. He hits and he moves. He throws countless combinations and less willing to go blow-for-blow with an opponent, as he was accustomed to at lower weight classes.

Adamek was quicker than the five heavyweights he’s faced so far, and he’ll be quicker than both Klitschkos. I don’t think many people will be giving Adamek much of a chance against either Klitschko, but it’s comforting to know that the to-be-challenger is a ex-champion who deserves his crack at heavyweight glory.

At the age of 34 and having done it twice already, Adamek knows what it takes to be world champion. After handpicking opponents to prepare him for a meeting with one of the Ukrainian giants, come September Adamek will be as ready as he’ll ever be.

Kyle Kinder can be reached via Twitter at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or at KyleKinder1@gmail.com.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that former two-division world champion Tomasz Adamek will challenge either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko in September in Adamek’s homeland of Poland.

“I am ecstatic. I can’t even put it into words,” Main Events CEO Kathy Duva said. “To work so hard with Tomasz with a goal in mind — moving him up to heavyweight, getting a heavyweight title fight. We got him there and we got a good deal.”

Said Bernd Boente, who manages the Klitschko brothers, “We made some changes, their side and our side. We now agree on everything. We have a go from both sides for a fight in September.”

The fight will take place at a new soccer stadium being built in either Warsaw or Wroclaw, Poland. Duva said there are four new stadiums being built in Poland for the 2012 European Soccer Championships and that two of the stadiums are bidding for the fight.

“There is this window of opportunity for this fight because of the stadiums being built in Poland,” Duva said. “It will be a huge event in Poland.”

If both Klitschkos were to lose, the deal with Adamek would be dead. If one loses, Adamek, a former light heavyweight titlist before winning the cruiserweight championship, would face the other brother under terms of the deal, Boente and Duva said.

If both Klitschkos win, the choice of Adamek’s opponent would be decided by the Klitschko side.

“Either one, their option,” Duva said. “We don’t care which one it is. They have to tell us something like 90 days before the fight which one it will be. Tomasz’s attitude is, ‘I want a heavyweight title fight. I don’t care which one of them I fight.'”

“Knock on wood, both brothers win their respective fights and then we will make a decision,” Boente said.

However, if they both win it is likely to be Wladimir against Adamek, both sides said.

Sergio Martinez was named the Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers association of America for 2010 in the strength of his winning the Middleweight title over Kelly Pavlik and crunching second round knockout over Paul Williams in November.

“I’m happy for him. He earned it. I don’t think there was any question,” Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, told ESPN.com. “He’s a humble guy, but I think he knows he was fighter of the year. I know that he will be proud. He worked very hard to get there and most of that time quietly and unknown to fans. This is 15 years of hard work.”

Freddie Roach, best known for his work with Pacquiao, won the Futch award for trainer of the year.

Junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan of England and Argentina’s Marcos Maidana will share the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier award for fight of the year.

Khan won a barnburner on December 11th where he had to overcome some crunching blows from Maidana after Khan dominated the first half of the the thrilling fight.

Also to be honored by the BWAA:

• Bill Caplan, a longtime publicist beloved by writers and fighters alike, will receive the Marvin Kohn good guy award. Caplan worked with George Foreman for decades and was with Top Rank for many years, and now is with Golden Boy Promotions.

• Lightweight contender Robert Guerrero will receive the Crawford award for courage and overcoming adversity. Guerrero, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist, put his career on hold to be by his wife Casey’s side as she battled leukemia before making a successful return.

• Jack Obermayer, who has been ringside to chronicle more than 3,000 cards for various publications, will receive the Condon award for long and meritorious service to boxing.

• In two previously announced awards, former Ring magazine and KO magazine editor Steve Farhood, who has written about boxing for more than 30 years and continues to write for England’s Boxing Monthly and work as a Showtime analyst, will receive the Fleischer lifetime award for excellence in boxing journalism, and former junior welterweight contender Micky Ward will be honored with the James A. Farley award for honesty and integrity.

At the Hamilton Manner in Hamilton, New Jersey, former Olympic bronze medalist, Terrance Cauthen, outpointed Philadelphia’s Philip “Mongoose” McCants to recapture his winning ways.

For Cauthen, this bout marked his first fight since losing John O’Donnell in London last September, while for McCants, this was only his second fight since 2006.

Each stanza of the six round bout seemed to be a mirror image of the previous round. The fight was riddled with clinching and holding — and for the first time all night, the crowd demanded more action.

For the type of fight this turned out to be, there was no doubt Cauthen was better suited. The quick southpaw would throw one or two punches at a time before (and to his credit, landed them at high success rate) leaning on McCants, waiting for the referee to step in and separate the two.

McCants had trouble finding ways to let his hands go, as much of his punches were thrown with little to nothing on them while he and Cauthen were in close, tied up.

The “Mongoose” had no answer for Cauthen’s speed as the former Olympian’s jabs and straight lefts were beginning to leave their stamp on McCant’s face as early as the second round. As the fight progressed, McCants’ right continued to swell at an alarming rate, undoubtedly making it more difficult for the native-Philadelphian to conduct his work.

While it was Cauthen who did much of the leaning and holding, McCants was a guilty culprit at times as well and in the fourth round, the referee took points away from McCants and Cauthen for that very reason.

In the fifth round, Cauthen shoved McCants a bit, forcing him off-balance and at the same time threw a punch that grazed McCants and sent him to the canvas. The referee ruled it a knockdown and subsequently the round should have been scored 10-8 Cauthen.

Similar to American super middleweight Andre Ward, Cauthen is a fighter with an outstanding amateur pedigree. There is no doubt that he can box when he wants to.

However, also like Ward (of recent), Cauthen saw it fit to initiate clinching between he and his opponent and fight an unpleasing style.

With that said, “Heat” did what he had to do to get back in the win column and that’s all that counts.

All three judges scored the bout in favor for Cauthen. Judge George Hill had it 58-53; Luis Rivera saw it 59-53; and Gene Williams scored it 59-52.

With the win, Cauthen improves to 36-7, 9 KOs, while McCants falls to 8-2-1, 3 KOs.

Charles Hayward vs. Jason Burrell — 6 Rounds, light heavyweight

Philadelphia’s Charles Hayward went all Bachman Turner Overdrive on Wilmington Delaware’s Jason Burrell and took care of business before three rounds, improving his record to 6-2, 2 KOs.

Sporting Duke University trunks (basketball shorts), Burrell seemed a little out of place from the start, when he and his team walked to the wrong corner of the ring.

Having not fought professionally in over five years, Burrell showed no immediate signs of ring rust, engaging in a brawl with Hayward from the opening bell, exchanging wild, ill-intentioned power punches with one another.

This proved to be a bad idea for Burrell when he got caught with a left-right combination that sent him to the canvass. He beat the ref’s ten count, but less than a minute later was dropped with another left-right combo at the bell. Burrell flamboyantly returned to his feet, raising his arms in the air to signal to the crowd he was alright.

However, after returning the stool on unsteady legs, referee Dave Franciosi wasn’t convinced. When Burrell stood up for the start of round three, Franciosi didn’t like what he saw and called a halt to the bout, awarded Hayward the TKO victory.

Burrell drops to 2-6-3, 2 KOs with the loss.

Derrick Webster vs. William Chouloute — 4 Rounds, middleweight

Although he dropped a four round decision to Derrick Webster, he won me over with his fantastic nickname: William “21 Gun” Chouloute.

Trenton’s Webster using a snapping jab to keep Chouloute on the outside for all four rounds, making him pay a dear price when he dared to rush inside. After cruising through the first three rounds, the undefeated Webster turned up the heat in the fourth, clearly making an effort to add another KO to his record.

With a barrage of rights and lefts, Webster overwhelmed Chouloute until the finally was knocked off balance, letting gravity due the rest. “21 Gun” Chouloute beat the referee’s ten count, however, and survived to hear the final bell.

Webster won on all three scorecards by scores of 40-35. He improves to 6-0, 4 KOs, while Chouloute drops to 1-2, 1 KO.

Alando Swain vs. David Navero — 4 Rounds, super middleweight

Philadelphia’s David Navero’s professional debuted lasted all of just 1:44 seconds. That was all the time Alando Swain needed to drop Navero twice and force referee Al Huggins to step in and call a halt the bout.

About a minute into the inaugural round, Swain perfectly placed a right hand on Navero’s chin, sending him to the canvas. After the Philly fighter beat the 10 count, Swain immediately picked up where he left off, throwing two vicious left hooks to Navero’s body, before dropping him for the second and final time with one more right hand.

With the win, Swain improves to 2-1, 2 KO, while Navero starts his career 0-1.

Mark Ford vs. Tyaab Beale — 4 Rounds, heavyweight

In a battle of two big men, Newark’s Tyaab Beale easily navigated by Trenton’s Mark Ford, sweeping a decision on all three judge’s scorecards, earning himself a unanimous decision victory.

Beale was slightly more athletic and undoubtedly in better shape than his opponent. After a mildly competitive first round, Ford got up off his stool and was gassed. He spent at least two-thirds of the second round catching his breath while taking punishment with his back pinned against the corner of the ring.

Beale capitalized on his opponent’s lack of punch output and outworked his opponent in all four rounds.

With the win Beale improves to 3-3, 1 KO, while Ford drops to 2-2, 1 KO.

Marcus Smith vs. Bernard Porter — 4 Rounds, junior welterweight

Trenton’s Marcus Smith decided it was time for his “O” to go. When he entered the Hamilton Manner’s doors he was an 0-3 fighter, having just been stopped in his last fight.

When he exited the ropes after his fight concluded, he was the proud owner of a 1-3 record, with that coming by way of second round stoppage.

Both fighters weren’t particularly hard to find, and in the first round they both got touched up. When the round concluded, Porter — who was making his professional debut, was sporting a bloody nose.

Unlike the first round, which featured a bit more back and forth action, the second round belonged to Smith. The Trenton native dropped Philadelphia’s Porter early in the round courtesy of a short left hook. Shortly after he beautifully countered a straight right with a straight right of his own that landed right on Porter’s chin, sending him crumbling to the canvas. That’s when Porter’s corner stepped in and stopped the fight at the :56 mark of round 2.

Yehudi Fracas vs. Jesse Crawford — 4 Rounds, welterweight

In the night’s opening bout, Trenton’s Yehudi Fracas bested Philadelphia’s Jesse Crawford via majority decision to start his professional career with a 1-0 record.

Both fighter’s found success at different times throughout their twelve minutes in the ring together, however, it was Fracas who continually got the better of Crawford, who spent too much time going backwards.

When it was all said and done, one judge scored the bout even, 38-38, while two judges awarded Fracas the decision by scores of 40-35 and 39-36, respectively.

Melvin Guillard scored a first round stoppage over Evan Dunham in a scheduled three round lightweight bout that highlighted UFC Fight for the Troops in Fort Hood, Texas.

Guillard landed some quick punches that hurt Dunham and Guillard followed up with several vicious kicks and punches that led to the stoppage at 2:58 of round one.

Guillard, 155 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 45-9-3-1. Dunham, 156 lbs of Las Vegas, NV is now 11-2.

Matt Mitrione remained undefeated by scoring a first round stoppage at 2:59 over Tim Hague in a scheduled three round Heavyweight bout.

Mitrione dropped Hague with a straight left and landed a barrage of punches while Hague covered up on the canvas and the fight was stopped.

Mitrione, 260 lbs of Indianapolis, is now 4-0. Hague, 256 1/2 lbs of Edmonton, Alberta, CAN is now 12-5.

Mark Hominick scored a devastating first round knockout at 1:28 over George Roop in a scheduled three round Featherweight fight.

Hominick landed a blistering left hook that sent Roop to the canvas and followed up with a crushing left to the face while a defenseless Roop sat on the canvas and the fight was stopped.

Himinick, 145 1/2 lbs of Ontario, Canada now will earn a title shot at UFC Featherweight champ Jose Aldo and is now 20-8. Roop, 145 1/2 lbs of Tucson, AZ is now 11-8-1.

Pat Barry scored a three round unanimous decision over Joey Beltran in a exciting Heavyweight bout.

Scores were 30-27; 29-28 and 29-28 for Barry, 240 lbs of Milwaukee, WI and is now 6-2. Beltran. 230 lbs of Carlsbad, CA and is now 12-5.

Matt Wimon scored a dominating three round unanimous decision over Cole Miller in a Lightweight bout

Scores were 30-27 on two cards while a third read 28-28 for Wimon, 155 lbs of Colorado. Miller, 155 1/2 lbs of Coconut Creek, FL and is now 17-5

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that hot shot Middleweight prospect David Lemieux will take on former multiple time world title challenger Marco Antonio Rubio in a WBC Middleweight eliminator on April 8 in Montreal in a bout that will be carried by ESPN 2.

“David Lemieux has defeated each and every one of the opponents put in front of him since the start of his career in thrilling fashion,” said Yvon Michel said. “In Rubio, he will face veteran warrior, himself a KO specialist who is at his physical peak at 30 years of age. I have no doubt that our young protégé will shine brighter than ever and show the entire world what all the hype is about.”

“I am thrilled with this news and very excited about all the possibilities that are waiting for me after I win this fight,” Lemieux said. “I know that it is now up to me alone to pass this test and enter the next chapter of my career. Rubio has a ton of experience and they tell me that he packs a hard punch, but now we’ll see if he can take one, too.”

Also Friday, Canadian promoter InterBox won a WBC purse bid for the light heavyweight title elimination fight between former titleholder Adrian Diaconu (27-2-0, 15 KO), 32, a native of Romania based in Montreal, and Chris Henry (25-2-0, 20 KO), 29, of Houston.

“We are very happy to have won the bid,” Jean Bedard of InterBox said. “We tried hard to come to terms with Team Henry during the free negotiation period but it all collapsed right before the bid. Maybe they believed this fight was worth more than what we originally offered them. This is an extremely important fight for Adrian, so we will be busy over the next few weeks studying where to best place this fight.”

Johnny Garcia scored two knockdown en route to a twelve round unanimous decision over previously undefeated William Urina in a Super Flyweight bout in Polanco, Mexico

Garcia dropped Urina in round’s four and twelve and with the victory he is now 17-2-1. Urina is now 17-1.

In an upset Angel Michael Aguilar scored a eight round split decision over former world title challenger William Gonzalez in a Bantamweight bout.

Aguilar, 120 lbs is now 5-5. Gonzalez, 121 lbs of Nicaragua is 25-4.

In one of the most dubious refereeing jobs in recent memory, former world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley was allowed to be dropped NINE times in dropping about to Lucas Matthysse via eighth round stoppage in Mendoza, Argentina.

Matthyse softened Corley up over the first four round before dropping Cor twice in round five, once in round six, three times in round seven and two times in round eight. Most of the shots were hooks to the body and ironically the last knockdown looked like Matthysse clearly missed Corley but Corley slipped and the referee waved the bout off.

Matthysse, 139 1/2 lbs was fighting for the first time since his first professional loss which came last November to Zab Judah is now 28-1 with twenty-six knockouts. Corley, 138 3/4 lbs of Washington, DC is now 37-16-1

Claudio Tapia scored a fourth round stoppage over previously undefeated Pablo Barboza in a scheduled six round Super Featherweight bout.

Barboza was docked two points in round three for low blows. That seemed to incite Tapia as he came out with reckless abandon as he dropped Barboza twice with the first coming from a wild left hook. He finished Barboza off with a head shot and the referee counted Barboza out.

Tapia, 129 1/2 lbs of Buenos Aries, ARG is now 19-10-4 with six knockouts. Barboza, 129 1/4 lbs of Santa Fe, ARG is now 13-1.

Oscar Medina, 148 1/2 lbs of Buenos, Aries, ARG scored a four round split decision over Diego Ledesma, 147 lbs of Cordoba, ARG.

Medina is now 20-5-2. Ledesma is now 9-5-1

In what is a surprising move inside the boxing industry, the May 7th showdown between Pound for Pound King Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley will be distributed by Showtime rather than HBO according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

HBO had been a staple in the distribution of both Pacquiao’s and Mosley’s fights and both guys have done big numbers on the Pay Per View arm of HBO.

Showtime is a sister company of over the air network CBS and it is believed that CBS will have participation in the marketing of the event.

Neither Showtime nor Top Rank had any comment on the impending announcement.

Top Rank CEO recently inked a deal with Showtime PPV to distribute the March 12th Miguel Cotto – Ricardo slowdown which will also be in Las Vegas

Symbols have been attached to the Timothy Bradley-Devon Alexander fight, so many in fact that they might outnumber the tickets sold for the junior-welterweight bout at the Silverdome, a blimp-like arena in Pontiac, Mich., that for years has been full of only empty seats and hot air.

Conflicting and perhaps premature projections promise only more empties and air. Even with a good walk-up before opening bell on Jan. 29, there will still be a lot of both.

Ten-to-fifteen thousand seats are for sale in an arena once big enough for two crowds of more than 93,000 each for Pope John Paul II and Wrestlemania in 1987. Promoters Don King and Gary Shaw said the plan always has been to set up the arena for a fraction of its current capacity, now said to be 70,000. That’s a lot of curtains.

The dismal projections are unfortunate, mostly because they have become a story that takes away from a bout, as significant as it is intriguing, between two unbeaten fighters, both African-Americans.

When the site was first announced, Shaw told reporters that he wanted to stage the fight in a city with a big African-American population. Atlanta or Detroit, he said.

Detroit, Motown, sounded good then. It might have been, if the town was Detroit instead of Pontiac, a dateline and troublesome symbol in itself. A new Pontiac is harder to find than a good American heavyweight these days. There are none. General Motors quit making the car in 2009.

For symbolism, Alexander-Bradley belongs about 30 miles away, in Detroit, at Joe Louis Arena, which was named for an iconic and African-American heavyweight who made his historic impact before Jackie Robinson broke major-league baseball’s color line and Muhammad Ali opened his mouth.

These days, The Joe is a hockey arena, home for the Detroit Red Wings. On the night of Alexander-Bradley, the Red Wings won’t be there, but college hockey will be with Michigan-versus-Michigan State.

I’m not sure whether there was an alternate date at The Joe or on HBO’s schedule. I’m also not sure whether any arena anywhere was willing to pay the $500,000 site fee that Shaw and King reportedly got from the Silverdome. That dollar sign might have been the biggest symbol at play.

Even if Alexander-Bradley had wound up at The Joe on a different date, it might not have mattered. Last March, Arthur Abraham’s disqualification in the Super Six bout against Andre Dirrell, a native of Flint, Mich., at The Joe drew a disappointing crowd, reportedly about 5,000.

Predictably, Shaw expressed frustration at criticism of the site during a conference call Tuesday.

“First, let’s wait until January 29 and find out how many people are in there,’’ said Shaw, Bradley’s promoter. “No. 2, I put on the greatest fight of the decade, (Diego) Corrales vs. (Jose Luis) Castillo and we didn’t sell even 2,000 tickets. I never heard anyone say that it wasn’t a fight that was extraordinary.

“We have two great undefeated American fighters and we went to a place we thought was befitting. We never set if for 70,000 – the set-up was always going to be between 10,000 and 15,000. Those that came to the press conference saw how it would be mapped out. The Silverdome was well-prepared and did a great job.

“There should be compliments to the new owner of the stadium who wants to do more boxing and is willing to take the risk to bring big-time boxing back to the Detroit area. I think it’s a terrific place to do the fight. I’m not sorry and Don’s not sorry. We are doing something for that economy. We are bringing HBO, which is going to shine a big spotlight on that economy.

“Everybody claimed a couple years ago the U.S. automobile industry was dead. If you’d all bought stock in those companies, you would be rich today.’’

Please, promoters aren’t in the business of propping up any economy other than their own.

Yet, Bradley-Alexander is a worthy fight, mostly because it has a chance to stimulate interest in boxing’s battered model of an American game.

In terms of philosophy, this one has a chance to be a game-changer. American fighters have become increasingly protective of their unbeaten records – the so-called 0, which both Alexander (21-0, 13 KOs) and Bradley possess (26-0, 11 KOs).

Greatness in boxing is often measured in large part by how a fighter comes back from defeat. Rocky Marciano is known for retiring unbeaten, but is his name at the top of any all-time, pound-for-pound lists?

King said a lot of things during Tuesday’s conference call.

“Ticket sales will not determine the greatness of this fight,’’ King said.

Yeah, and I’ll be the next chairman of GM.

But he did say something that could help boxing recapture some of the fan interest that has eroded precipitously since last year’s second round of abortive talks for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The winner, King said, will be a superstar.

“But the loser will be a star, too,’’ said King, who echoed a comment from Bradley 10 days ago when the multi-skilled junior-welterweight said big fights were more important to him than the play-it-safe desire to protect the 0 and only the 0.

If Bradley-Alexander can help alter thinking behind a zero-sum game, it will be remembered as a winner, regardless of the zip code.

“We can spotlight this hard-hit economy,’’ said King, who talked about Motown as if it were boxing.

On the economic GPS, they’re in the same place.