FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA — Poised to make the move from prospect to contender, middleweight Brandon Gonzales moved past rugged Lester Gonzalez with a decision victory Friday night at the Fairfield Sports Center. In the co-main event, Fairfield’s own Alan Sanchez pleased the overflow crowd as he turned back a tough test in veteran Cristian Favela.

Gonzales (14-0, 10 KOs) of Sacramento utilized his refined boxing skills to outpoint the tough Gonzalez (11-2-1, 6 KOs) of San Diego, California by way of Havana, Cuba over eight rounds. Gonzales, 160, boxed and moved his way through the first round before relying on his powerful right hand more in the second. The southpaw Gonzalez, 162, began to land in the third, as he most notably found a home for a straight left late in the round. That punch, however, was preceded by a well-timed uppercut by Sacramento’s Gonzales.

The fourth was perhaps San Diego’s Gonzalez’ best round. Early in the round, Gonzalez landed a right over Gonzales’ left. As the round progressed, Gonzalez’ left became his primary weapon. Gonzalez’ briefly gained momentum dissipated in the fifth, and it was pretty much Sacramento’s Gonzales’ fight the rest of the way.

As the latter rounds rolled by, Gonzales at times displayed the combination of speed and power that makes him one of the top prospects in the region. Gonzales wobbled Gonzalez with a right early in the sixth round, and continued to rock the San Diego resident with the follow-up barrage. Lester Gonzalez was in retreat before coming back with some offense of his own just before the bell.

The classier boxer Gonzales maintained his edge in the bout down the stretch by dictating the style of the fight and landing the harder shots. When the decision was announced, Brandon Gonzales had taken home a wide unanimous decision victory. One judge had it scored 79-73 and the other two had it 78-74. After the fight, Gonzales’ trainer Jeff Mayweather was succinct in his assessment of the performance. “He stuck with the boxing and made the adjustments necessary,” said Mayweather. “He did what he had to do.” With the win, Gonzales could be in line for a crack at a regional title in the next fight or two.

In co-feature, Alan Sanchez (6-2-1, 2 KOs) took a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision over gritty journeyman Cristian Favela (28-30-7, 18 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Sanchez, 146, found Favela, 146, to be an unrelenting and determined adversary, but he was able to make use of his physical advantages enough to earn the unanimous verdict. Sanchez kept his range early in the first, while Favela had trouble moving in close. The momentum of the bout was briefly halted when the lights flickered on and off above the ring.

Sanchez got on his toes and boxed better beginning in the second round. One two-punch combination in particular was a thing of beauty for Sanchez. Favela found some success in the middle rounds, as he took advantage when Sanchez got on his bike. By the sixth, Sanchez superior boxing skills were the difference the bout. However, late in the round, Favela goaded Sanchez into a trading match. The taller, stronger Sanchez got the better of it, but it was Favela’s only hope.

When Sanchez landed a clean combination in the eighth, Favela smiled and immediately offered back. Their exchange kicked off an action-packed close to the fight and it may have been Favela that stole the last round late. In the end, the local favorite Sanchez won comfortably on the cards, by scores of 80-72 and 78-74 twice.

In an impressive performance, Jonathan Garcia (4-0, 3 KOs) of Watsonville, California punished a normally durable Luis Sanchez (0-5) of Fairfield before scoring a second-round stoppage. Garcia, 142, opened round one with a left to the body of Sanchez, 142, and kept control of the bout from that point on.

Garcia rallied Sanchez against the ropes and forced him into a corner. Sanchez was in trouble, but lasted the round. Garcia came out quick in round two and landed a clubbing right that stunned Sanchez against the ropes again. Sanchez was in trouble for most of the second round, but made it to his stool. In the corner, Sanchez’ trainer Jesse Lopez Sr. became aware of an injury to his charge’s left arm and stopped the fight. Official time was 3:00 of round two.

In an out-and-out brawl, Maximilliano Becerra (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of Vacaville, California remained unbeaten with a four-round unanimous decision over game Omar Sanchez (0-1) of Fairfield. The fight, which matched two locals who drew a vocal supporting audience, had just about everyone out of their seats.

After a tense first round in which both had their moments, Beccera, 138 ½, came out guns blazing and seized control of the fight. However, Sanchez, 139, was an undeterred battler that never took a backward step, which made for great action. In the third round, an overhand right landed for Becerra and got Sanchez in some trouble. With Sanchez still reeling, Becerra rattled off a three-punch combination that ended with a crushing left to down the Fairfield resident.

Sanchez made it back to his corner and came out swinging in the fourth. Sanchez managed to work Becerra back into a corner for a stretch, but the Vacaville favorite eventually rolled out and rocked Sanchez at the close of the fight. In the end, two judges had 39-36, with the third scoring it a shutout, 40-35.

In a free-swinging affair, Fairfield’s Lamont Williams (3-1, 1 KO) took a four-round split decision over Hector Martinez (5-5, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California. Williams, 206, outboxed Martinez, 227, in the first, but the tempo of the fight changed before round’s end. Despite winning the boxing match, Williams elected to stand and trade with Martinez to close out the first.

In the second, a more determined Martinez upped his work rate and controlled most of the round. Williams did wake up late in the round to land some hard shots. Martinez came back to rock Williams early in the third. Williams did come back to get in a few tough shots before the bell. With the fight on the table, Williams outworked Martinez for much of the fourth. In the end, one judge favored Martinez, 39-37, but was overruled by the other two, who both had it 39-37 the other way.

Ivan Redkach (6-0, 5 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Shostka, Ukraine did what he was supposed to do and got journeyman Jaime Orrantia (13-29-5, 4 KOs) of Lakeside, California by way of Los Mochis out of there inside of three rounds.

Redkach, 145, was dominant at the outset and rocked Orrantia, 141, several times in the first. Referee Ray Balewicz missed a knockdown, when a two-punch combination forced Orrantia to touch his right glove to the mat. The southpaw Redlach controlled the second in much the same manner, punishing Orrantia all over the ring.

By the third, Orrantia was ready to go. Redkach rocked him with the first right that landed in the round. With the Mexican in retreat, Redkach pressed forward and eventually downed him with a short blow. Too game for his’ own good, Orrantia got up only to be rocked against the ropes and canvassed again. Balewicz immediately stopped the bout without a count at 1:43 of round three.

With a strong turnout from the local fight fan base, it is expected that tonight’s team of promoters will bring another show back to the area within the next two months. They may need a bigger venue the next time, as reportedly fire marshals turned away ticket holders at the door when the allowed occupancy of the building turned out to be lower than was expected.

Photos by Mark Ortega

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

Mauricio Herrera scored an unlikely twelve round unanimous decision over previously undefeated and world ranked Ruslan Provodnikov in a Jr. Welterweight bout at The Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was a good fight as Provodnikov landed the harder shots and the by-product of his work showed early as Herrera was cut under his right eye in round two and and nasty swelling started to form in round three. Herrera had some good moments as he landed combinations as he jumped in and out in an effort to stay away from the heavy hands of Provodnikov.

With each round, Herrera’s left eye was the focus of the ringside doctor as Herrera was checked multiple times throughout the contest. Provodnikov was effective with over hand right’s which caused blood to start leaking from the nose of of Herrera. Everytime Provodnikov seemed to be in control, Herrera showed guts by firing back and landing some solid combinations. Herrera’s will kept him in the fight and he had a solid last round where he landed his biggest punch of the fight.

Compubox favored Providnikov 326-886 to Herrera’s 300-898

Herrera, 140 lbs of Riverside, CA won by scores of 116-112; 116-112 and 115-113 to raise his record of 16-1. Provodnikov, 140 lbs of Russia is now 17-1.

Stated Herrera: “I thought I was winning on numbers, but he landed the harder shots.
I won’t deny that.”

Added Herrera, “It’s huge. This win is what I had dreamed about… Now, it’s upward
from here.”

Former U.S. Olympian Demetrius Andrade scored an eight round unanimous decision over tough Albert Herrera in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Andrade came out blazing in the first round as he put together some hard combination’s that were set up by solid uppercuts and body shots wit the left heand.

Andrade featured the uppercut over the course of the next seven round and mixed in combinations as he had a decided speed advantage. Although outgunned, Herrera showed plenty of courage as he continued to come forward and get in some shots of his own.

Compubox stats showed Andrade landing 146-554 shots while Herrera landed 101-327

Andrade, 153 1/2 lbs of Providence, RI won by scores 80-72; 80-72 and 79-73 to stay undefeated at 12-0. Herrera, 152 lbs of Riverside, CA is now 7-2-1.

FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA — Middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales may be on the cusp of emerging on the national scene, but first he must move past once-beaten Lester Gonzalez at the Fairfield Sports Center tonight. Local welterweight prospect Alan Sanchez takes on journeyman Cristian Favela in the Telefutura-televised co-feature. Fighters weighed in Thursday at the Courtyard by Marriott Fairfield Napa Valley Area in Fairfield.

Gonzales (13-0, 10 KOs) of Sacramento, California fought all of 2010 in Nevada, but returns to his home area tonight against Gonzalez (11-1-1, 6 KOs) of San Diego, California by way of Havana, Cuba in the eight-round main event. Gonzales’ promotional team is poised to move him into a regional title bout, but at the time same, they are not looking past Lester Gonzalez. “There are so many opportunities that are being discussed for Brandon,” co-promoter Terry Lane of Let’s Get It On Promotions told 15rounds.com yesterday. “We are looking at ESPN Friday Night Fights for his next fight, if not, the one after. But no one is looking past Lester Gonzalez. What happens with Brandon, and how quickly, may depend on his performance tomorrow.”

San Diego’s Gonzalez is coming in off of his first career loss, an eight-round decision to light middleweight prospect Chris Chatman in November. Ironically it was Lester Gonzalez, a career light middleweight, that had trouble making weight Thursday. The contract weight for the fight was 162-pounds. On his initial try, Gonzalez scaled 164. Brandon Gonzales, who has fight as high as 176-pounds in his career, made it a point to come all the way down to the middleweight limit of 160-pounds. Reportedly Lester Gonzalez sweated off the two pounds to make 162-.

Much of the reason why professional boxing has returned to Fairfield for the first time since the late 1980’s is welterweight Alan Sanchez, who fights in the televised co-main event. Sanchez takes on California matchmakers’ favorite journeyman opponent Cristian Favela (28-30-7, 18 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Sanchez (5-2-1, 2 KOs) of Fairfield is coming off of a controversial draw with Luis Grajeda, which was televised on Telefutura. Sanchez had Grajeda down twice in the eight-round bout, but was forced to settle for a unanimous decision draw.

Unfortunately for local fight fans, touted former amateur star Manuel Avila (1-0) of Fairfield will not be in action, as his replacement opponent Manuel Ortega (1-3) of Seattle, Washington could not come close to contracted weight. Avila, who was signed out of the amateurs by manager Cameron Dunkin and Golden Boy Promotions, weighed in at 121-pounds. Ortega came in nine-pounds heavier at 130-.

Undefeated Ivan Redkach (5-0, 4 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Shostka, Ukraine will take on Jaime Orrantia (13-28-5, 4 KOs) of Lakeside, California by way of Los Mochis in a six-round welterweight fight. Redkach, who has fought his entire pro career in California, scaled 145-pounds, while Orrantia weighed in at 141 ½-pounds.

Luis Sanchez (0-4) of Fairfield hopes to get pro victory number one in front of the hometown crowd as he takes on Jonathan Garcia (3-0, 2 KOs) of Watsonville, California in a four-round light welterweight fight. Sanchez, who is headliner Alan Sanchez’ brother, scaled 142-pounds, as did his opponent Garcia.

Popular local prospect Maximilliano Becerra (3-0-1, 2 KOs) of Vacaville, California will take on debuting Omar Sanchez of Fairfield in a four-round light welterweight fight. Becerra sat out all of 2010, but is ready to get an early start to 2011 and in front of the hundreds of fans who bought tickets out of nearby Vacaville. Becerra weighed in at a career high 138 ½-pounds, while Sanchez came in at 139-.

Heavyweight Hector Martinez (5-4, 4 KOs) of Broderick, California will take on Fairfield’s Lamont Williams (2-1, 1 KO) in a four-round bout. Williams, who trains out of the same JL Tepito Boxing Club in Fairfield as the three Sanchez boys on the card, scaled 206-pounds. Martinez, a longtime Sacramento area favorite, scaled 227-pounds.

The event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions and Paco Presents, is announced to be completely sold out.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Middleweights, 8 Rounds
Gonzales 160
Gonzalez 162*

Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Sanchez 146
Favela 146

Welterweights, 6 Rounds
Redkach 145
Orrantia 141 ½

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Sanchez 142
Garcia 142

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Beccera 138 ½
Sanchez 139

Heavyweights, 4 Rounds
Williams 206
Martinez 227
*originally came in at 164, reportedly made it down to 162 on his second try

Gonzales Photo by Erik Killin/Boxingbb.com
Other Photos by Mary Eble/JLTepitoBoxingClub.org

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

It was in the mid eighties or there abouts that I first saw Gary Mason box on the telly, as it happens
it was October 1986 to be precise against a certain Donnie ‘master of disaster’ Long who didn’t last that long against the powerful chunkily built Mason who obliterated his American adversary in devastating fashion.

The win’s would pile up for Mason who not particularly a decorated amateur did annex the South East counties championship at heavy back in 84! in the unpaid ranks, possibly Gary’s brawling style was best suited to the pro game though.

Mason would appear again against Lorenzo Boyd and would destroy Boyd in quicker time than that of Mike Tyson who at the time was still a month or so shy of his first title try v Trevor Berbick, Mason lifted Boyd off of the floor ala Foreman-Frazier back in 73!

Still Mason pummeled on all put before him and his reputation was fast growing as a force to be reckon with, one guy who didn’t fall down too easy was Welshman Andy Gerrard who put up a tremendous performance on the Bruno-Bugner show back in October 1987 despite getting stopped by the Londoner, Mason the following year would move up a notch name wise and was fed a couple of former World cruiser champ’s in Rickey Parkey {ko 1} and Alfonzo Ratliff {ko 6} before taking out James ‘Quick’ Tillis who simply wasn’t as Mason caught up with him stopping the durable cowboy in four!

Mason was now in contention for the British title vacated by former stablemate Horace Notice as Gary duly obliged and KO’d Trevor Hughroy Currie in brutal fashion, finally Mason had arrived and was for real it seemed has he was finally stepping away from the shadow of stablemate Frank Bruno.

In Vegas for Bruno’s title attempt at Mike Tyson in Febraury 1989 Mason while being interviewed on tv told of the legendary Floyd Patterson telling himself that he had the style to defeat Tyson……!
Still Mason had to earn such a monumental task and in subsequent fights Gary would dispatch Jess Harding inside of two rounds in an easy defence of the British crown there in Brentwood in Essex before being moved up into World class against the still useful and World rated former Olympic Gold medalist in Tyrell Biggs who himself had only been defeated by World champion Tyson and future W.B.O World champ Francesco Damiani.

Mason was bewildered as he was comprehensively out boxed by the slick Biggs until finding the equalizer and kayoing Biggs in the seventh, many ringsiders at the time were wondering if a punch did land, it did I should know as I was there!

Mason next couple of outings would prove testing, more so the one versus Mark Wills, Wills had stopped former W.B.A boss Greg Page twice and proved a durable opponent for Gary, the following year Mason would defeat former prospects in Everett Martin and James Pritchard, all the while a certain Lennox Lewis had just annexed the European title by defeating French gypsy Jean Maurice Chanet in Crystal Palace the previous October and naturally Mason-Lewis for the combined British and European titles was a natural in the British public’s eyes.

The match was made for March 1991 and Mason put up a brave effort, sadly Mason’s eye’s were almost closing and Lewis put paid to Mason’s reign as the ref stepped in and saved a brave but outgunned British champion in seven rounds…….Mason finished on his feet and throughout his career showed tremendous durability never tasting the canvas and possessed the crippling punching power to make many fold before his brutal fists.

After a short while Mason due to eye trouble had his British license revoked and went to America to box, where he got a win but Gary despite his victory called it a day and became a professional rugby player and opened his own jewelers aptly named ‘punch n Judy’ however Mason wasn’t to be far from the public eye as he also enjoyed success as a tv pundit on Sky’s Ringside show alongside the likes of presenters Richard Keys and Simon Reed {brother of Oliver the famous actor who once himself sparred 60’s heavy Billy Walker}

Strangley enough an old computer game called ‘World championship boxing manager for the Commodore 64 had on the games cover a drawing of Gary Mason holding up the I.B.F World championship belt, it might have been just a bit of artwork for a computer game but if Mason had been around today it surely would have been art imitating life what with today’s limp brigade disguised as the I.B.F heavyweight champion!

I remember the time in 1991 when Mason celebrated his 29th birthday “I’m glad to be here, many don’t make it to this age” he would say in the Sky Sports studio on the show, sadly Gary won’t make it to his forty ninth birthday this year…….

it’s true what they say you know ‘the good die young’….

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the WBC has ordered a rematch between Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins following their controversial draw on December 18th in Montreal.

“The WBC board of governors has voted in favor of ordering the immediate rematch between WBC champion Jean Pascal and emeritus champion Bernard Hopkins for the WBC light heavyweight championship of the world,” WBC president Jose Sulaiman wrote to the camps. “The winner of this fight has the obligation to fight Chad Dawson immediately without any intervening contest.”

“This is a great thing for boxing and hopefully fans will get to see another great fight with Pascal and I,” Hopkins said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to starting off the New Year by making history as the oldest athlete to win a major championship in any sport.”

“I’m very happy the WBC did the right thing,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Hopkins’ promoter, told ESPN.com. “I think Bernard clearly deserves the immediate rematch. I feel very strongly that Bernard Hopkins won the fight. Now we just need to get it on again. I am sure that Bernard will leave no doubt that he is the light heavyweight champion. I’m going to be talking to [Pascal promoter] Yvon Michel and, based on the conversations I’ve had with him in the last few days, he and Jean Pascal are interested in the fight.”

Their could be a monkey wrench that would stand in the way of the rematch as Pascal has a rematch clause to fight Chad Dawson whom Pascal defeated last August.

“We have signed an agreement to fight Chad Dawson if HBO or Showtime is willing to pay a license fee the same or higher than the last time. So I don’t know,” Michel said after the Pascal-Hopkins fight, when asked which rematch they would pursue.

“Ken Hershman told me the fight was the highest-rated boxing event on Showtime in over three years,” Schaefer said. “The fact that this fight generated tremendous ratings on Showtime means there is a spot for Bernard Hopkins on Showtime. They are excited about having Bernard Hopkins. Bernard showed against Pascal that you can’t count out the older guys.”

Hopkins campaigned for a rematch immediately after the fight, saying, “If this guy has a backbone and wants to walk around with any kind of dignity and self-worth, the only thing he can do is fight me again. If that was me I know that is the only way I could really live with myself.

“If I were him, I would want to redeem myself and my reputation immediately after what happened.”

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that after Jurgen Brahmer dropped out of his Satirday unification fight with Beibut Shumenov that former Middleweight champion William Joppy has stepped in on two days notice to face WBA Light Heavyweight champion Shumenov in Kazakhstan.

“Coming back to his hometown of Shymkent as a world champion was a major homecoming for him,” promoter Dan Goossen said of Shumenov, who is based in Las Vegas. “With Brähmer slipping out of town, we couldn’t allow the show not to go on for his homecoming. With the prime minister and so many other dignitaries attending, it would have been two devastating losses if the show didn’t go forward with Beibut defending his world championship.”

“As Joppy said to me, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to fight for the title,” Goossen said. “He said he was in great shape coming in and believes Beibut will be on a downer with Brähmer’s escape from Kazakhstan.

“I trained too hard for Brähmer and will not disappoint my fans and many dignitaries, including the prime minister of Kazakhstan, attending this sold-out show,” Shumenov said. “I’m putting Brähmer in the rear-view mirror and intend to get right back on track defending my title against Joppy, who I applaud for accepting this fight, and focus on collecting the other world light heavyweight titles.”

“I am super disappointed,” Brähmer said. “I’m sorry for Beibut, but I also trained hard. I was in the [best] shape of my life, but I caught something. This sucks. I hope it’s nothing bad. The last two days were hell for me. I would wish this on nobody. I’m just glad to be back here again and want to be healthy as soon as possible.”

Said Universum chief Klaus-Peter Kohl: “Rather than fly to the fight in Kazakhstan, now I have to visit Jürgen in the hospital.”

Having fought twice last year in Belgium Randall Bailey is headed back for a third occasion on the 18 February according to his manager Si Stern. It is hoped that if all goes well the power punching Florida native will fight IBF Welterweight champion Jan Zaveck in June, most likely in Europe.

The love affair for Bailey started last March when he headed into unfamiliar surroundings to fight former European Welterweight champion Jackson Osei Bonsu in an IBF title eliminator. Bonsu originally from Ghana had made his home in Belgium and was extremely popular fighting for his adopted country for his whole career. Bailey didn’t read the script and stunned the 7,000 in attendance stopping Bonsu in a single round, dropping him hard twice with devastating left hooks before the fight was called off. Like Rocky 4 the boo’s turned to cheers and Belgium greeted a new hero.

So much so they asked him to come back and fight again. He returned last December to fight Roger Mayweather protege Said Ouali 27-3(19) who also had a certain Floyd Mayweather Jnr in attendance to cheer him on. Once again Bailey started fast dropping Ouali in the first, some how Ouali got through the round. On this night Ouali needed to transform into one of the Mayweather’s as he was no match for Bailey stunning power. The fight wasn’t to end there though, it had a bizarre ending when Bailey and Ouali came together some how Ouali ended up falling over the top rope. He was unable to continue and the fight was called a No contest

It’s an unlikely alliance but if Bailey can keep coming up with the highlight reel knock outs he may just be able to give the Belgian’s what they want…a world champion.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that talks have broken down for a proposed spring bout between recognized Heavyweight champion and WBA Heavyweight champion David Haye. Klitshcko will now defend his title against Derek Chisora, who Klitshcko was supposed to defend against until Klitschko pulled out with a rib injury.

“I am very happy that we have found a new date for the fight so quickly,” Klitschko said. “Chisora insulted me many times and that is why I still have unfinished business with him. He is a very good boxer but as a person he is a loser. Like I had [planned] in December, I will now teach him a lesson at the end of April.”

Still, Klitschko’s manager Bernd Boente said he was confident the Klitschko-Haye fight will eventually be made.

“I’m pretty sure the fight will happen. I’m very positive about it,” he said. “We were close with all the details. It was really a question about the date and venue. We always have to bring RTL and Sky together as our main TV partners and then go from there. We hadn’t gotten into details about U.S. TV, but that would have been HBO or Showtime, and I would prefer Showtime.”

“We wanted to do the fight April 30 with Haye. We had two stadiums available in Germany, and coming to Germany was not a problem for Haye,” Boente said. “They only wanted neutral officials, judges, referee, all that. That is no problem. We agreed on all the points, but the major issue was Sky was not willing to do a second pay-per-view in April.”

Junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan is slated to fight April 16 in England on Sky Box Office, even though he does not have a set opponent.

“We asked them to change the Khan date, maybe move it back to May, but they didn’t want to do that,” Boente said.

“We couldn’t find a date after April, not in May or June,” Boente said. “Either there was no date for RTL or Sky or a stadium [because of the heavy soccer schedule]. We couldn’t believe it, but that’s Sky’s decision. April 30 was the perfect date for RTL and for a stadium, but Sky never has done two pay-per-views in one month. Klitschko-Haye would be a way bigger pay-per-view event [than Khan].”

Boente said the earliest date for the fight they could come up with that matched the networks and venue availability was July 2.

Both sides were willing to fight on that date, Boente said. However, he said that the Haye and manager/trainer Adam Booth refused to allow Klitschko to take the April 30 interim fight with Chisora.

“They would not accept that, but Wladimir was not willing to wait another six months and have it be 10 months since his last fight against Sam Peter [in September],” Boente said.

“I think the fight will come, but too bad it’s not now because of the date and venue,” Boente said. “We could still do it if they would agree to July 2. We still have the door open for that, but Wladimir is going to have a fight in April. Haye can also do a fight in between, maybe the mandatory with Ruslan Chagaev. We are not opposed to that.”

“This news is a fantastic late Christmas present,” the 27-year-old Chisora said. “I always believed that I would fight Klitschko, and my faith has been repaid. I was a bit worried that he might try and fight an easier touch, but I think I’ve earned my opportunity. I was gutted when Wladimir pulled out of our fight just a couple of days beforehand. But now I’ve got another chance to take his titles away. He’s a great world champion, but his time at the top is well and truly up.

“My promoter, Frank Warren, has done a great job in getting me this opportunity because there was no guarantee Wladimir would fight me again after he got injured.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the IBF has ordered a rematch of the December 18th controversial fight between Jr. Flyweight champion Luis Lazarte and Ulises Solis.

Under the order, sent in a letter to both camps, neither fighter can take another fight until after the rematch — unless Lazarte wants to forfeit his 108-pound belt. The sides have until Feb. 3 to make a deal, or a purse bid will be ordered, with the fight due to take place by May 3.

Mexico’s Solis, a former titleholder, traveled to Lazarte’s hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to challenge for his old belt on Dec. 18 and seemed to clearly get the better of him during a fight in which Lazarte repeatedly fouled him.

The Solis camp protested to the IBF. After Daryl Peoples, the organization’s president, and Lindsey Tucker, the chairman of its championships committee, reviewed a DVD of the fight, an immediate rematch was ordered because of the repeated fouls.

Lazarte illegally hit Solis behind the head over and over during the fight. Referee Max Parker deducted a point from Lazarte in the fourth round and another one in the 10th round for the flagrant infractions, but he allowed many others to go unchecked.

Lazarte also blatantly hit Solis below the belt, for which he was warned, and attempted to bite his neck during a clinch in the third round, which Parker missed but is clearly seen on the video.

“I had confidence that the IBF would do justice in reviewing the video,” Solis said in a statement. “I am very happy with that resolution and the support of my promoters Zanfer and Top Rank and, hopefully, I can get my promoters to bring the fight to Mexico so Lazarte will not have any opportunities to commit his illegalities in the ring.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former world Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is scheduled to leave an Alcohol treatment facility on Tuesday.

Pavlik was at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, California according to his manager Cameron Dunkin.

“He’s real hungry and wants to come back,” Dunkin said.

“Mike (Pavlik’s father) told me Kelly sounds 150 percent better and that he’s got a great attitude,” Dunkin said. “I told Mike, ‘Let’s not worry about boxing right now. Let’s see how he feels when he gets out.’ But Kelly wants to box. Mike said all he does is talk about it constantly. He wants to mend his ways and accomplish so many other things in boxing. He’s very motivated to fight again. I said, ‘Let’s take it one step at a time.’ There’s no pressure on Kelly and no rush.”

Dunkin said that Top Rank’s Bob Arum is aware of the situation and that he told him that if Pavlik is up to it, he would give him a spot on the undercard of Pacquiao’s fight with Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“Bob says we have May 7 if Kelly wants it and that would be a great place for him to start again,” Dunkin said. “But we just don’t know. It’s out there for him if he wants it. It’s all up to Kelly now.

“I’d like to see the old Kelly back, but I’ll be happy just to see him back and not doing all that nonsense.”

“They let him work out and he’s been running and exercising and lifting,” Dunkin said. “He’s literally been training four to six hours a day because he has nothing else to do besides attend his meetings and stuff.”

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

The Attendance was 12, 688 which produced a gate of over $2,174,000

The Submission of The night was awaded to Clay Guida

The Knockout of the night was awarded to Jeremy Stephens

The fight of the night was Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and each will receive their win bonus

It was announced at the press conference that Edgar will next defend his title against the exciting Anthony Pettis

Frankie Edgar retained the UFC Lightweight championship as he survived a first round drubbing to come back in his fight with Gray Maynard to headline UFC 125 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Midway through the first round, Maynard landed a vicious left hook that dropped Edgar to the canvas and Maynard immediately pounced on the champion. For the next two-plus minutes, Maynard savagely drilled a visibly hurt and bloody Edgar all over the octagon. Edgar was bleeding from the nose and on several occasions it seemed that he was just one shot away from being stopped. Edgar began to show some signs of life towards the end of the first frame. Edgar gathered himself and began winning most of the nest three rounds and he started landing hard shots of his own and solid kicks as he began to figure out Maynard. Edgar had a big round four as he momentarily locked in a guillotine choke. Round five was good back and forth action as both men gave all they had left to the delight of the crowd.

When the scores were read, each man took a card at 48-46 while a third card was tallied at 47-47.

Edgar, 155 lbs of Summit, NJ retains his belt for the second time. Maynard, 155 lbs of Phoenix, AZ was attempting to beat Edgar for the second time and is now 11-0-1-1.

In The co-feature, Brian Stann pounded out Chris Leben at 3:37 of round one of their bout.

Stann of Scranton, PA is 10-3. Leben is 21-7.

Thiago Silva scored a three round unanimous decision over Brandon Vera in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Scores were 30-36; 30-27 and 30-27 for Silva, of San Paulo, Brazil and is now 15-2. Vera, 205 lbs of Norfolk, VA is now 11-6.

Dong Hyun Kim scored a three round unanimous decision over Nate Diaz in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Kim, 171 lbs of Suwon, South Korea and is now 14-0-1. Diaz, 170 lbs of Stockton, CA is now 13-7.

Clay Guida scored a second round tapout over Takanori Gomi in a scheduled three round Lightweight bout.

Guida choked Gomi out with a guillotine at 4:27 of round two.

Brad Tavares pounded out veteran Phil Baroni in round one of their scheduled three round Middleweight bout.

Tavares landed a high leg kick to the head that startled Baroni which led to an assault of punches that forced referee Josh Rosenthal to stop the bout at 4:20 of round one.

Tavares, 186 lbs of Las Vegas is now 6-1. Baroni, 186 lbs of Las Vegas is now 13-13.

Guida, 156 lbs of Ground Lake, IL is now 28-8. Gomi, 155 lbs of Kanangawa, Japan is now 32-7-1

Dustin Poirier scored a three round unanimous decision over Josh Grispi in a Featherweight bout.

Scores were 30-27 on all cards for the twenty-one year old Poirier, 145 lbs of Lafyette, LA and is now 9-1. Grispi, 146 lbs of Massachusetts is 14-2.

Jeremy Stephens scored an explosive one punch knockout over Marcus Davis in the final scheduled round of their three round Lightweight bout.

Stephens landed a crushing right that knocked Davis down aand out.

Stevens, 156 lbs of San Diego, CA is now 19-6. Davis, 156 lbs of Bangor, ME is now 22-9.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Ronald Hearns will try to follow in he footsteps and capture a Middleweight championship when he takes on Felix Sturm on February 19th in Stuttgart, Germany.

“We’ve agreed in principle on the terms and we are exchanging the paperwork,” said Hearns’ promoter Lou DiBella of his deal with Arena Box promoter Ahmet Öner, who works with Sturm’s own promotional company on his fights. “We hope to have it signed by Saturday.”

“It’s a tremendous career opportunity for Ronald,” DiBella said. “It’s a shot at a title his father once held so proudly.”

“I think that Sturm is extremely talented. We all know that, but he’s been around for a long time,” DiBella said. “He’s not a huge puncher and Ronald can really punch, so it’s a great opportunity for him. It’s an opportunity he won’t get here [in the United States].

“If Ronald can go to Germany and do well, even if he loses, he can come back here bigger than when he left. He’ll go there and give it everything he has against one of the best middleweights in the world.”

Atlantic City welterweight contender Shamone “The Truth” Alvarez will journey north to battle Antonin Decarie (24-1, 7 KO) in the Canadian’s hometown of Montreal on February 11. The scheduled 10 round bout is part of a card that will be nationally televised in the US as part of ESPN’s Friday Night Fight Series. The Bell Centre, which consistently provides an electric atmosphere on fight night, will serve as as the venue.

Alvarez (21-3, 12 KO) is looking to rebound from a ten round majority decision loss to Ayi Bruce at Bally’s earlier this month. With a win on national TV, he figures to get back in the thick of the crowded welterweight division.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to gardenstatefightscene.com

Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz sent word out on Tuesday evening that one of the great middleweights, Bennie Briscoe passed away after an illness

Peltz statement read “Bennie Briscoe, one of the best never to win a world title (when world titles meant something) and the man who presided over the last Golden Age of Boxing in Philadelphia (the 1970s) passed away today at 5.52pm EST. He had been in Temple University hospital for about a week before being moved to hospice. His wife Karen, who I have been in contact with over the last two weeks, called my at about 6.20pm EST to give me the news.”

Brisoce had a record of 66-24-5 with fifty-three knockouts fought all of the top Middleweights of his era as he held the great Carlos Monzon to a draw in Monzon’s home country in Argentina.

He was stopped in seven in an effort to win the WBC Middleweight title in the rematch with Monzon and then lost two more chances to win the title against Rodrigo Valdez. he also dropped a decision to the legendary Emile Griffith and then held Griffith to a draw in the rematch.

He also lost a decision to Marvin Hagler.

Among some of Briscoe’s finest wins are over the great George Benton; Tony Mundine; Future world champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad; “Cyclone” Hart

Briscoe was sixty-seven years old

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com terms for the May 7th showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley have been reached.

“We came to a meeting of the minds,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com on Tuesday night after a final meeting with Mosley and his adviser, James Prince, at the Top Rank offices in Las Vegas. “[Top Rank matchmaker] Bruce Trample says it’s a very difficult fight. I believe it will be an exciting fight. Shane knows how to fight and how to deal with the speed. Manny is in for a hellacious fight. I really believe styles make fights.”

“I know that they think I’m an old man and that Manny is going to beat me. Let them think that,” said Mosley, a former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champion. “I still have power and speed. They thought I was done before I knocked out [Antonio] Margarito, too. So they can think whatever they want. I know what I can do.”

“I hurt Floyd in our fight, but he’s a great fighter and has great defense,” Mosley said. “What can I do about Mora? Do you really think that was a draw? Come on. I won that fight. He ran from me all night. But Pacquiao? Come on, man. I’m a bigger guy than him and he gets hit. And you saw how I hurt Floyd. Manny is going to come forward and I will hit him on the chin at some point. His defense is not like Floyd’s. Manny will come at me, and I will knock him out.”

“I thought Mosley was the best draw of the three and it would do the best business,” Arum said.

“They had to be insane, putting Shane in the ring with Mora,” Arum said of Golden Boy’s decision to match Mosley with a fighter with a tough style who usually makes fights with little entertainment value. “With Floyd, Shane had him in real bad trouble in the second round, so he’s capable of doing a really good fight with Manny and Manny knows that. He’s talking to [trainer] Freddie [Roach] about doing five weeks of training in the United States rather than four weeks here and four weeks in the Philippines.”

“He’s getting a little older, which is in our favor, but I expect Shane to be at his best because he’s wanted this fight for a long time. I will get Pacquiao well prepared for this one.”

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer was disappointed to hear that the deal for Pacquiao-Mosley had been made without even receiving a call from Mosley or Prince.

“Good luck. He’s obviously no longer part of Golden Boy. That’s all I’m going to say,” Schaefer said. “I wish him luck.”

The always exciting Jorge Arce took out Adolfo Ramos inside of one round of their scheduled ten round Super Bantamweight fight in Campide, Mexico

Arce dropped Ramos with a nice counter right midway through the first frame. Arce jumped on Ramos and froze Ramos with a big right on the ropes and the referee stopped the bout after three more unanswered punches at 2:06 of the round one.

Arce, 121 1/2 lbs of Los Mochis, MX is now 56-6-2 with forty-three knockouts. Ramos, 121 1/2 lbs of Monitos, Colombia is now 16-11-1.

Ramon Garcia remained the WBO Mini Flyweight championship with a twelve round unanimous decision over Omar Soto.

Garcia scored a flash knockdown in round four and hard knockdown in round ten and cruised to the unanimous decision by scores of 120-106; 119-107 and 118-108.

Garcia, 107 lbs of La Paz, Mexico is now 16-1-1. Soto, 107 lbs of Guaynabo, PR is now 15-7-1.

Former world title challenger Jorge Lacierva scored three first round knockdowns en route to a ten round unanimous decision over Joksan Hernandez in a Super Featherweight bout.

Lacierva is now 38-7-6. Hernandez is now 22-3.

Call the Mountie Police, because a robbery was committed at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada as Bernard Hopkins overcame two knockdowns to comeback and dominate the remainder of the other ten rounds and yet was held to a draw in an effort to wrestle the WBC Light Heavyweight title and a win would have sent Hopkins into the history books at the oldest man ever to win a major boxing championship.

Things did not start out well for Hopkins as at the end of round one he caught a counter left behind the head that sent him to the canvas for the first time in sixteen years. The shot was a debatable shot as it could have been ruled a Rabbit Punch. Hopkins steadied himself to begin his effective countering but that was interrupted in round three as Pascal caught Hopkins coming off the ropes with a left hand that dropped the legend for the second time in the first three frames. Hopkins showed his old tricks at the end of the round as he fired and landed three shots after the bell and the tone was now set for the rest of the fight as Pascal was much less aggressive and paid for it.

Over the next eight rounds the forty-five year old Hopkins put on a boxing clinic that even the best professors would not have a syllabus that would equal to what Hopkins was teach Pascal as he ripped hard body shots and straight right hands that had the eighteen years younger “champ” on his heels and having no answers to Professor Hopkins questions. Hopkins had trouble missing the baffled Pascal with any shots as he showed impressive handspeed for a man twenty-five let alone forty-five. Hopkins was so in control that after landing a hard right he stuck his tongue to Pascal. In the next round, a big right sent Pascal back towards the ropes and he appeared a bit dazed. Pascal showed little offense with the exception of an occasional uppercut on the inside that was sandwiched between Hopkins pinpoint shots that seemingly should have put rounds in the bank.

The twelfth round saw both guys go for the win as it was a close fight. The most telling shot may have saved Pascal’s belt as he landed a good right that landed on Hopkins head. Both guys fought hard until the bell sounded to the delight of the boisterous pro-Pascal sold out crowd.

The official scores read 114-112 Hopkins, 113-113 and 114-114. 15rounds.com card (off-tv) favored Hopkins 115-111.

Hopkins, 174 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 51-5-2. Pascal, 174 1/2 lbs of Montreal may have received an early Christmas gift and is now 26-1-1.

“I got up and fought like a champion,” said Hopkins after the fight. “Look at his face. Look at mine.”

Clearly annoyed by the outcome, Hopkins said, “[I’ve] got no reaction. The world [has] seen it. I had the guy beat up.” He continued, “You don’t see Pascal jumping around happy. I am not going anywhere. You saw a young man in an old man’s body. I still have the fight in me.”

Proudly donning his Light Heavyweight belt, Pascal stated after the fight, “Of course I thought I won. I stood there. I dropped him twice. We’ve got fair judges in Canada.” Though he did admit, “That wasn’t my best fight.”

When asked about going another 12 rounds with The Executioner, Pascal responded, “If he wants a rematch, any time.” Hopkins later added, “The closest I will ever come to Canada again is Niagara Falls.”

Ronny Rios remained undefeated by defeating veteran trial horse Adolfo Landeros in a eight round Super Featherweight fight via unanimous decision at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego, California.

Rios, 128 lbs of Santa Ana, CA won by scores of 80-72 on all cards to go to 13-0. Landeros, 128 lbs of Ciudad, Mexico is now 20-17-1.

Christopher Martin remained undefeated by scoring an eight round unanimous decision over Yogli Herrera.

Scores were 80-72; 80-72 and 78-74 for Martin of San Diego and is now 21-0-2. Herrera is now 22-14.

Miami FL – Undefeated Cuban Olympic heavyweight gold medalist Odlanier “La Sombra” Solis (17-0, 12 KOs) earned the right to face WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko at American Airlines Arena in Miami when he won by disqualification over World Boxing Council No. 1-ranked Ray “The Rainman” Austin (28-5-4, 18 KOs). Solis fought the fight in a defensive come forward counterpunching style that edged the 6’6” Austin. Solis rocked the giant in round five with a brutal uppercut and an onslaught of punches that put him down to the chants of Solis by the Cuban contingency. Austin rose to the count partly due to referee Tommy Kimmons taking a couple extra seconds to direct the excited Solis to the neutral corner. Austin slowly started to fight his way back in the following rounds staying on the outside and landing uppercuts. Then the fight got real excited and bizarre in the 10th round when Austin threw Solis down after an exchange in which he was deducted a point. The two fighters met in the center of the ring, Austin clearly out of gas and threw bombs on each other with Solis getting the better of the two. The fighters tangled up against the ropes with Solis back to the ropes when Austin then leaned on him causing the Cuban to be bent over the top rope with both fighters nearly falling out of the ring over the top rope. Ringside officials tried to hole the two huge fighters back from falling out all the while with Austin holding on to a rope securing the position, in what appeared to be a bid to buy time. When Referee Tommy Kimmons finally got the two giants off of the ropes while the bell rang, Austin then punched the Cuban on the final break prompting the referee to raise Solis hand in victory and awarding him the right to Klitschko. After the fight Austin said “Solis will beat Klitschko, he is accurate and has great defense, if there is any doubt it would be his chin.” Austin was actually winning on one of the cards and tied on another. The official time was 2:59 of the 10th.

Scores at the time of the disqualification:
Judge: Rocky Young, Fla. 94-93 S After 9th: 86-84 Austin
Judge: Ged O’Conner, Fla. 95-93 S After 9th: 85-85
Judge: Mike Ross, Fla. 98-90 S After 9th: 88-82 Solis

Undefeated IBF Light Heavyweight champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud 22-0(18KO) looked sharp while defending his strap in a great fight versus the tough and tested iron chinned Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga 24-5(21KO). Cloud controlled the fight with sharp and heavy punches and winning the exchanges but not without taking shots himself. Zuniga had a decent fourth round catching the champ. Zuniga was knocked down in round five with a big right hand and Cloud poured it on to finish the round with Zuniga still standing but on unsteady legs. After taking off round six Cloud answered the bell of round seven by ringing Zuniga’s bell with a brutal right hand that was easily heard in the three hundred section of the Miami Arena. Cloud built on his lead round by round by often staggering the tough Colombian with crushing right hands and double and triple left hooks. Cloud dropped Zuniga in round twelve with a brutal left uppercut but once again the resilient Colombian survived the onslaught of the rugged Floridian Cloud. This was a great fight that left both fighters faces bloodied and beaten. As the final bell rings with both fighters swinging for the fences the great crowd in the Miami Arena went wild. The cards read 116-109 117-108 118-108. Previous to this fight, Cloud faced the stiffest test of his career in his last fight on Aug. 7 in St. Louis against Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson, the former IBF light heavyweight champion and 2004 Fighter of the Year. Cloud won the vacant IBF title from Clinton Woods at the Seminole Hard Rock on Aug. 28, 2009. Woods, always a consummate boxer, had held the IBF crown from 2004 to 2008. He held his own against Cloud, but it wasn’t enough as Cloud won the decision. Zuniga’s most notable wins came against rugged contender Antwun Echols and against a tough Mexican veteran, Jose Luis Zertuche. Zuniga has fought in world championship matches at 154 pounds, 160 pounds and 168 pounds. Last year he moved to the 175-pound limit and has notched two wins.

Former three-time world champion Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KOs) from Managua, Nicaragua, returned to the ring at middleweight to stop Michael “Midnight Stalker” Walker (19-6-2, 12KOs), from Chicago. Mayorga landed huge frequent shots from the opening bell and often fought inside taking unnecessary shots from Walker while maintaining his usual ring play tactics of taunting and playing to the crowd who was entertained by the 37 year old Mayorga. Round five was a good round for Walker and for the fans as the two brawled often and Mayorga inviting walker into the corner just to be met with a barrage of heavy shots. Walker hurt Mayorga in an entertaining round six with a huge overhand right where the Nicaraguan had to hold on to get his senses and feet back, and had momentum. Mayorga came back at the end of the round right after lying on the rope playing to the crowd and opened with heavy shots that dazed Walker. In round 9 Mayorga dropped walker but hit him while he was down and was deducted 2 points. After the deduction Mayorga hurt him with a huge uppercut that back the Chicago fighter into a corner and bombarded him with shot prompting the referee to step in at 1:09 of the ninth round.

The New York State Heavyweight Champion Darrel “King David” Madison 16-1(4KO) won a WBC elimination bout over Mike “The Sunshine State Brawler” Marrone 19-2(14KO). It was a very close first round where Marrone worked his jab well following up with an occasional combination and Madison landed with a couple nice straight lefts. As the fight wore on, it totally favored Madison who was more active and accurate leaving Marrone a bit flat footed, hesitant, and standing right in front of Madison’s punches. Madison, a slick southpaw had no problem hitting Marrone as he could not seem to reach the slick Kind David. Some great jawjacking before the fight proved to be nothing more than smack when Marrone said he was going to rename Madison from “King David” to “Burger King “when in the end… Madison served up a happy meal, as he said he would. Madison won by unanimous decision with the cards reading 100-90 98-92 99-91.

In an exciting female bout Eileen “The Hawaiian Mongoose” Olszewski 7-2-2 retained the WIBA flyweight title and gained the GBU strap with a dominate unanimous decision win over Anastasia Touktalova 13-11(2KO) from Russia fighting out of Tampa. Throughout the bout, Olszewski beat Toktoulova to the punch and counterpunched great often landing nice power shots. Olszewski controlled the center of the ring with sharp punches and when inside used great footwork to quickly get out. During her three year reign in the amateurs, Olszewski dominated the 112 lb. division, with a record of 28-0 (7 TKO’s) in the national level amateur competition and a 3-4 (2 TKO) record at the international level. All three judges 80-72

Undefeated lightweight prospect Angelo “La Cobra” Santana (10-0, 7 KOs), from Cuba and now fighting out of Miami, was impressive while he stopped John David “J.D.” Charles (6-2, 1 KO), from Corpus Christi, Texas in the third round. The official time as 2:59 of round three.

Heavyweight Erkan Teper 3-0(3KO) easily outmatched Donato DeMartiis 2-1(1KO) with a knockout win at 1:49 of round one.

In the first fight of the night on the undercard of Don Kings “A Tribute to Freedom” Cruiserweight Pedro “Machine Gun” Rodriguez 4-0(4KO) stopped Thomas “TJ” Cook 1-1(1KO). Rodriguez overwhelmed Cook at the end of the second with the referee stepping in to stop the bout at 2:59 of the second round.

Post-Fight Ring Quotes

Odlanier Solis: “I wanted to make Austin suffer for the things he said at the press conferences leading up to the fight. I didn’t like it when he said that when he was done with me, they were going to send me back to Cuba. Now I sent him back to Cleveland where all they have are cows.

“I wasn’t tired at all. It was my strategy to fight the way I did tonight. What’s the worst thing that could have happened? I could have knocked him out or made him look ridiculous, which I did.”

At the post-fight press conference: “I don’t think I’m fat. What I would like to do is slap around some of the newspaper writers that say I’m fat.”

Ray Austin: “Solis will beat Vitali Klitschko. He’s accurate and has a good defense. He rests and recovers well, too. The only downside I see might be his chin.

“He showed a lot. I see him being the next WBC heavyweight champion. He’s good.”

Tavoris Cloud: “I got hit with a headbutt in the second round that caused a cut over my left eye, but Zuniga was a tough guy. I knew I had better skills but he came into this fight in good shape.

“I only give my performance a “B” tonight. I will tell you I took this man seriously because I knew he would come to fight.

“I want the winner of Pascal-Hopkins tomorrow night, or Chad Dawson if he ever decides he wants to fight me.”

Fulgencio Zuniga: “Both times I went down were from headbutts. I thought I did enough to win.

“Cloud was a strong guy, a champion and a hard puncher. But I was still proud of my performance.”

Ricardo Mayorga: “I showed tonight that I can still fight. [Michael] Walker thought he had something for me, but the outcome was never in doubt. El Matador is back.”

Floyd Mayweather was arrested on Thursday night and charged with offenses related to an incident with a security guard last month.

According to TMZ.com, Mayweather arrested at a casino on the strip when a security guard recognized him and called the Las Vegas police.

Mayweather, who was all smiles in his latest mugshot, is still in custody.

A security guard patrolling Floyd’s gated community claims the boxer poked him in the face when confronted about a parking violation.

If convicted Mayweather faces a maximum of 6 months in jail

Former world title challenger and crowd favorite Dmitry “Star of David” Salita brutalized game veteran James Wayka en route to a third round stoppage Thursday evening before a packed house at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, NY.

Led into the ring by reggae sensation Matisyahu’s hit single “King Without A Crown”, Salita overcame a minor cut above his left eye to score two knockdowns in the second round following vicious body shots. The Brooklyn, NY based Ukrainian sliced open Wayka’s eye moments into round three before finishing him off.

Shortly thereafter, Salita scored a third knockdown with a hulatious left hook to his counterpart’s body. Wayka, who came all the way from Shawano, WI on short notice, made it back to his feet before hitting the canvas for a fourth time, forcing Referee David Fields to halt the contest at 1:53.

Salita, 32-1-1 (17 KO’s), claimed the New York State Welterweight crown, making him a king with a crown for what it’s worth. Wayka, who has fought excellent opposition and defeated former champion Frank Toledo, falls to 16-10-1 with 8 wins by kayo.

In the co-feature, exciting Bronx based light heavyweight Joel “El Ray” Castillo notched his second consecutive win following a 3 year hiatus, stopping fellow Empire State pugilist Angel “Latin Stallion” Gonzalez of Yonkers inside of two rounds. Castillo made it known that he was going to bring the heat from the opening bell and quickly found success.

Castillo landed a number of crisp shots in the first three minutes of the bout and relentlessly teed off on Gonzalez after hurting in the very next round until the bout was stopped at 1:46.

Castillo, an exciting prospect who sticks out like a sore thumb due to his overzealous ring entrance which includes a gaudy ring jacket and shiny crown atop his head, improves to 7-0 with 4 KO’s. Gonzalez slips to 2-3 (2 KO’s.

In perhaps the most unique ending to a fight in the history of Western Civilization, debuting lightweight Scott “Bang Bang” Burrell of Brooklyn by way of the UK scored a vicious second knockout over fellow newcomer Jonathan Caban of the Bronx. After a solid opening round for the Brooklynite, Burrell and Caban simultaneously connected with good punches, causing both men to hit the canvas ala Cornelius Bundrage-Sechew Powell.

Unlike the Bundrage-Powell fight, Burrell quickly popped up while Caban lay motionless on the canvas. Time of stoppage was 2:20.

Brooklyn based junior lightweight Rafael “Dinamita” Vazquez moved to 3-0 (2 KO’s) by stopping Paterson, NJ’s Hector Rivera, 2-7 (1). Vazquez scored a knockdown in the first round and managed to get out of some trouble in the second before decking his opponent again in the third with as perfect of a left hook that a fighter can throw. The game Rivera made it back to his feet in bad shape and his night was cut short moments later after a follow up barrage convinced Steve Smoger to call an end to the bout at 1:52.

Popular junior middleweight Frank Galarza of Brooklyn outworked Bronx based Felix Rangel over four rounds. Galarza had the superior offensive ability, but Rangel was tougher than advertised and fought well in the final round.

Scores were 39-37 twice, matching our scorecard, and 40-36.

Galarza improves to 2-0 with 1 KO. Rangel remains winless at 0-5-2.

George Santiago vs. John Passantino

In a fight where somebody’s “O” had to go, Brooklyn’s George Santiago stopped Selden, New York’s John Passantino to score his first win as a professional prizefighter.

The first thirty seconds of the bout were perhaps Passantino’s best, as he came out aggressively, landing three solid left hooks early.

Later in the first round, Santiago, who began to impose his will on his counterpart, caught Passantino with a straight right hand that left him momentarily dazed.

The second round was all Santiago, whose relentless aggression forced Passantino to try to fight with his back against the ropes for the entire three minutes. The key word being ‘try’. Santiago had his way against Passantino, battering him with a nice mix of head and body shots.

Finally, in the third round, after being battered, while being pinned against the ropes, referee Benjy Esteves stopped the bout at the 1:20 mark in round two.

With the win, Santiago erases his “O” and improves to 1-2, 1 KO, while Passantino drops to 0-2. —-Kyle Kinder

Jose Peralta vs. Henry Northan

In a bout that was entertaining while it lasted, Brooklyn’s Jose Peralta was able to stop Philly’s Henry Northan to win his professional debut.

Immediately after the bell sounded to signal the start of the fight both fighter’s were trading big punches, out to land a big KO punch. It would eventually come, but not in round one.

During the exchanges in the inaugural round, Peralta got the better of Northan. While they both found their targets on occasion, Northan’s punches were wider and wilder than Peralta’s and therefore the Brooklynite’s punches were doing more damage in the opening round.

In the second round, Northan finally landed the big overhand right, hurting Peralta who immediately went into survival mode. With a cut lip and blood dribbling slowly out of his mouth, Peralta took the next minute off, trying to avoid Northan, while regaining his legs.

Late in round two, with Peralta back at full strength, he landed a left hook to the body-straight right on the button combination that send Northan crashing to the canvas where he was counted out by referee Steve Smoger. The stoppage came at the very end of round two, the three minute mark exact.

With the win, Peralta starts his career off 1-0, 1 KO, while Northan falls to 0-3.–Kyle Kinder

Jon Bolden vs. Richard Mason

Jon Bolden overcame a first round knockdown to stop Richard Mason in round two and improve his record to 2-1, 1 KO.

Less than ten seconds into the first round, Bolden found himself with his back on the canvas after being hit with a sweeping right body shot. Fortunately for Bolden, the knockdown probably occurred due to more of a lack of balance, than the effectiveness of Mason’s punch.

Being that the bout was scheduled for four, Bolden knew he had no more room for error. He immediately kicked it into another gear, working effectively behind a crisp jab, he began peppering Mason with bullet-like straight rights and crackling body shots.

In the second half of round one, Bolden made a to earn his point back after being floored.

But I still scored it 10-8, Mason.

It didn’t matter anyway, however. In the second round, Bolden continued to dominate Mason the way he did for the last minute and a half of the first round, and finally caught Mason with a huge straight right that sent him to a knee. Referee Earl Brown began the ten count before realizing that Mason was in no shape to continue. He called a halt to the bout at the 1:31 mark in round two.–Kyle Kinder

Jonathan Cuba vs. Artie Bembury

In a bout that looked to be going the distance, Queens New York’s Jonathan Cuba scored a scary fourth round KO over the Bronx’s — and Reggie Cleveland All-Stars candidate — Artie Bembury.

The bout didn’t get heated until the second round, when Cuba started to press the action, continuously walking forward, challenging Bembury to try and ward him off. He had to be questioning this strategy when Bembury scored with a big left hook while his back were against the ropes, opening up a cut over Cuba’s right eye.

He stuck to his game plan, however, and it paid off. In round three, Cuba battered Bembury while he was against the ropes. During this time, Bembury didn’t throw a single punch for over forty seconds.

The fourth and final round saw the knockout of the night, when Cuba landing an electric right hand, that resulting in Bembury doing his best Paul William’s impression — using his face to break his fall. It was scary and unfortunate for Bembury. Thankfully he was able to collect himself after a few minutes and walk out of the ring under his own power.

The KO came at the 1:54 mark of round four.

Cuba improves to 5-2, 4 KOs, while Bembury falls to 2-4.–Kyle Kinder

Mickey Helliet put on a three fight card at the recently £220 million refurbished Savoy Hotel in the Strand in London as part of a charity event to raise money for the Antony Nolan charity that helps Leukemia patients get matches for transplants.

‘Kid’ Lewis Edwards {Guildford} v Danny Dontchev {Bulgaria}
First up was a light middle tussle between Bulgarian hard man Danny Dontchev {10st 11} and Lewis Edwards {11 st 2} who call’s himself ‘Kid’ Lewis, possibly named after that great fighter from yesteryear Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis.

In the opener Lewis looked to use his left jab which he did sparingly as Dontchev took a few rights before trying to come back with some of his own, Lewis easily seemed to take the opener.

In the second Dontchev changed tactics completely as he came forwards taking the fight to Edwards and ultimately bullied the Guildford man out of his game plan as he kept up the pressure, from the second round on Dontchev kept up the pressure on his man, though sustaining a cut late on that bled from over his right eye, undettered Dontchev stuck to his game plan and kept it, though he took a few for his troubles the Bulgarian was on top and scored a solid right hand to Lewis chin who seemed to run out of idea’s let alone stamina as he breathed heavily, Dontchev sustained a cut over his right eye in the third but kept coming proving the stronger of the two protagonist’s it was Lewis not surprisingly who found himself in a corner, one right landed from Dontchev just before the bell as if it was a punctuation mark to end the last three minutes of fistical dominance from the Eastern European!
Fourth round action saw Dontchev hurt Edwards with a decent left hook that seemingly stopped Edwards in his tracks, one time Dontchev slipped to the canvas more a sign of enthusiasm getting the better of him than anything of note that Edwards could produce, at the bell Dontchev planted a kiss on his vanquished foe and took a well deserved 39-37 points winner.

***************************************************************************************************************************

Tony Owen {Carshalton} v Johnny Greaves {East Ham}

At light Tony Owen took on solid journeyman Johnny Greaves in a good value for money four rounder, Greaves the recent feature of an interview in Boxing Monthly magazine was getting the worst of things as southpaw Owen a tall rangy type could hardly miss as he connected with sharp combinations that Greaves couldn’t help but take, that said it looked early on that Owen {10st 3} might achieve something of a variety and actually get the stoppage over the normally durable East Ham man who did begin to try and mix it and did start to find his way back into the contest.
In the third Greaves was certainly getting the better of things throwing far more leather than that of his adversary, in the final session both almost stood toe to toe for the best part of the round, but it was Owen who was resuming control as Greaves began to concede ground and found himself cornered where at one stage he dropped his hands and invited Owen in to have a ‘go’ Owen duly obliged and took a hard fought points verdict of 40-36, though I had it quite a bit closer mathematically myself {for what that’s worth}

***************************************************************************************************************************

Gavin Putney {Luton} v Bheki Moyo {Earl’s Court}

In a battle of journeymen, Luton’s Putney and West London’s Moyo {10st 8} a transplanted South African closed the show with a fairly messy crude swinging affair at times, though Putney {10st 9} exhibited the slightly better boxing skills of the two, it was hardly text book the way he moved and threw jabs, he at times resembled a novice who seemed devoid of any real skill factor.

Moyo proved the aggressor throughout has the Luton man got on his bike as he flicked out a fairly tame left jab as he got on the move, but Gavin seemed to do enough to shade the opener, in the second Moyo seemed to do enough but from the third Putney seemed to get the worse of it as Moyo was throwing hayemakers from the front row almost, crude swings were aimed at Putney many of which missed the intended target, Moyo seemed to connect enough but then all of a sudden Putney connected with a good left hook that sent Moyo to the deck for a count, getting up he fought back gamely showing a lot of courage , but it wasn’t too long before Putney connected again with another big left hand that made Bheki stagger in an almost delayed reaction, Moyo showed heart and fought fiercly to the bell.

The final session saw Putney keep out of harm’s way as he literally circled the ring as Moyo kept coming forwards but Putney seemed to be that bit quicker in the final session as cornerman and former British lighweight champ Graham Earl worked Gavin’s corner, at the bell Putney got the decision on ref Ken Curtis card of 39-37.

If you are interested in finding out more about the aforementioned charity then please visit www.anthonynolan.org.uk

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Pound for Pound king Manny Pacquiao’s next bout will be “pushed back” to May 7th instead of April 16th and the opponent for that bout will be announced within days.

“We had a meeting [Monday] night after dinner in my suite and went over everything and he absorbed it all, and we will talk further on Friday when I get to [Pacquiao’s hometown] General Santos City and see him again,” promoter Bob Arum said. “Friday is his birthday and he’s going to tell me Friday. We went over all the details and talked about it for about an hour.”

“Manny preferred May 7 because his congressional schedule is such that he preferred an early May date so the congress is definitely not in session,” Arum said.

“We’re going on May 7 and we reserved that date with all of the pay-per-view industry,” he said.

“The pay-per-view industry was very, very adamant about wanting Manny to go in May because they felt going in April there were too many pay-per-view events with WrestleMania and a UFC. While they may not be directly competitive for viewers, they are when it comes to the ad space on cable systems and the [satellite] dishes.”

We only can go essentially in a non-state tax state,” Arum said.

“Manny said he was going to work really hard and that he would train for four full weeks in the United States and maybe even five,” Arum said. “He’ll be in the U.S. longer this time, which is good for him and good for the promotion.”

Pacquiao will choose from Shane Mosley, Andre Berto and a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez

“But the problem with Juan Manuel Marquez is the number he wants is so damn high and he hasn’t moved off it, and that’s preventing the Marquez fight,” Arum said. “We know what he got when he fought [Floyd] Mayweather and we feel that asking for double what he got for the Mayweather fight after he lost to Mayweather is a little bit much. Maybe he doesn’t feel that way.”

As for Berto, Arum said his offer was “the most reasonable. He came in below everybody and he would be an excellent, excellent opponent. But his promoter [Lou DiBella] got to get out and promote him so he has a persona and that if we put him in with Pacquiao people don’t say, ‘Who the hell is that?’ ”

Mosley is the most well-known of the three, but has shown significant signs that he is near the end.

“He’s the guy everybody knows, the pay-per-view guys, the casinos, the foreign television. Sugar Shane resonates,” Arum said. “The downside is he has two bad performances, but he’s still Sugar Shane. With Shane, there’s room to make an adjustment, a little tweak here or there, and I’m sure we could get it done.”

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, This Saturday’s Lightweight bout between former world champions Erik Morales and Jorge Barrios will need a change of opponents due to Barrios not being able to travel outside of Argentina due to a previous legal problem.

In January, Barrios was involved in a car accident in which a pregnant woman was killed, which led to a lengthy court case. Barrios was eventually exonerated and resumed his career after an 11-month layoff in October.

According to Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez, “about a month ago he got the green light to travel” for the Morales fight. “The judge approved Barrios to travel and everything was fine,” Gomez said. “He was supposed to pick up the special travel permit on Monday and then travel on Tuesday.”

However, Gomez said he was told by Mario Arano, the promoter from Argentina who is Golden Boy’s partner on Barrios, that the family of the woman who had been killed had gone to court seeking to reopen the case and wanted to stop him from leaving the country.

Gomez said that Arano told him that during a hearing on Monday, the judge told Barrios she would need some time to review the case. The judge was a different judge than one originally assigned to the case because that judge was on vacation, Gomez said.

“The judge made a remark and said she needed some time and I guess the attorney [for Barrios] snapped at her that the decision had already been made by the other judge,” Gomez said. “She got upset and said, ‘It’s my decision now.’

“After a recess, [the judge] said it was not a good idea for Barrios to travel and she denied it. Barrios is appealing, but there’s no time. The original judge was on early holiday and gone for the rest of the month,” Gomez said.

Gomez said the two leading possibilities are former world title challenger Francisco Lorenzo (35-8, 16 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and David Rodela (15-3-3, 6 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif., who is promoted by Golden Boy.

“Rodela has accepted the fight and we’re waiting to see about Lorenzo. He has a similar style to Barrios,” Gomez said. “Erik said he would talk to his dad about it and look at some film.”

Joseph Agbeko got redemption and in one swoop reclaimed the IBF Bantamweight championship and advanced to the Bantamweight tournament finals with a twelve round unanimous decision in a rematch with the man who took the title from him in Yonnhy Perez at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.

Agbeko boxed beautifully over the first half of the fight as he moved in and out and would land some solid rights and used some solid movement for which Agbeko hasnt been previously known for.

In round six, the two went to war throughout the full three minutes as Perez consistently pinned Agbeko against the ropes and landed some hard shots but Agbeko was always answering the barrages of the taller Perez.

Perez had some solid rounds as he featured some lead left hooks that got him back into the fight. Agbeko then turned back to boxing over the last three rounds as he landed and moved as Perez looked a little tired and had little on his punches.

Agbeko of Accra, Ghana won by scores of 117-111; 116-112; 115-113 and is now 28-2. Perez of Colombia is now 20-1-1.

Referencing the IBF belt now in his hands, Agbeko exclaimed. “This is my meal ticket and I’m glad I got it back. I am presenting it to Ghana as a Christmas bonus.” When asked about the upcoming tournament final with Mares, he said, “I’ve watched Abner Mares. He is a very smart kid. King Kong is always King Kong. I’m going to get the crown from him.”

Respectful in defeat, Perez offered, “Agbeko had an intelligent fight today and he won fair and square. I did not expect this game plan from Agbeko.”

Bloodied, knockdown and a point taken away, and that was in the first three rounds but Abner Mares came on late to win a split decision over Vic Darchinyan.

The tone was set early in round one as the two clashed heads and a bad cut was viable on the high left forehead of Mares. I did not get any better for Mares in round two as he was dropped when a big left from Darchinyan had the affect which made Mares glove touch the canvas for a knockdown. Round three didint get any better for Mares as he deducted a point for repeated low blows. The blood began to worsen in that round as well but it seemed to spur Mares on.

The two continued to trade heavy shots and showed incredible courage in this fight that had action in every round. In round seven, a left hand sent Darchinyan to the canvas for a flash knockdown. Mares seemed to be fighting more in combination whereas Darchinyan was loading up for one big shot. Over the last three frames it was Mares forcing the action on what looked to be a very tired Darchinyan as the both continued to fight to the end.

Mares won by scores of 115-111 and 115-112 while Darchinyan took a card by a 115-111 tally.

Mares is now 21-0-1. Darchinyan is now 35-3-1

“Our plan was to push him back because we know he likes to bully people. He has a tremendous punch. I proved that I could take punches,” said the emerging Mexican star who hails from Guadalajara and lives in Montebello, Calif. “I kept pushing him back. I heard him moan every time I landed a body shot.”

The close fight and split decision loss did not leave Darchinyan pleased. “It’s very disgusting, very bad ref. I think, of course, I won. He didn’t let me do what I wanted to do,” said Darchinyan before conceding about Mares, “He is a tough kid.”

LAS VEGAS – LAS VEGAS – Amir Khan’s date with stardom is still there. But for one night it had to wait. Survival got in the way and perhaps forged a stronger possibility that Khan will indeed be the next big thing in boxing.

First, however, he had to prove he could endure.

Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) did so Saturday night in front of an announced Mandalay Bay crowd of 4,600 against volatile Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs), the son of an Argentine gaucho who was as wild and dangerous as an angry stallion.

Maidana suffered a first-round knockdown from a body punch, a Khan left that he never saw. He was penalized a point by referee Joe Cortez in the fifth for throwing an elbow. In every round, he threw punches that sometimes left Khan looking dazed and often left at the perilous edge of defeat.
Khan danced away, ducked, countered and desperately held on to victory. He won a decision that was unanimous in name only and narrow in fact.

Judges Jerry Roth and C.J. Ross scored it for Britain’s 140-pound champion, 114-111 each. On Glenn Trowbridge’s card, it was even closer — Khan by a mere point, 113-112.

Immediate emotion after the final bell was evident in some frustration expressed by Maidana’s corner, which to a man was convinced that they had been robbed of victory.

“I thought I did enough in the later rounds to win,’’ Maidana said.

An unidentified member of Maidana’s corner rushed into the ring and appeared to go after Cortez.
He couldn’t get to him, unlike Maidana, who repeatedly got to Khan.

For Kahn, however, part the victory as in a newfound ability to withstand the most powerful puncher in the division. His ability to take a punch has been an apparent weakness since he was stopped within a minute by by Breidis Prescott.

“I’ve got a chin,’’ Khan said. “I was hurt, but I came back stronger.’’

Strong enough perhaps to become the star that everybody believes he can be.

The assumption was that Victor Ortiz was fighting for a chance at a rematch with Marcos Maidana.

Think again.

First, Ortiz might have to settle for a rematch with Lamont Peterson.

Ortiz’ priorities and perhaps career were shuffled with a majority draw Saturday night with Peterson at Mandalay Bay in a junior-welterweight steppingstone before Maidana’s bid at an upset of Amir Khan.

Two judges scored, Dave Moretti and Patricia Morse Jarman, scored it 94-94. On judge Robert Hoyle’s card, it was 95-93 for Peterson.

Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KOs) was left with the tie, an ambivalent mark on his resume, after scoring two knockdowns in the third round. Slowly, Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs) came back with series of punches that lacked power, yet were on target.

“I fell like crap,’’ said Ortiz, whose career was stalled when he was knocked out in 2009 by Maidana. “I thought I pulled it off. He doesn’t hit that hard. But, you know, bleep happens.’’

But there was more than just bleep. There were precise Peterson punches from the seventh round through the 10th. He repeatedly sent sweat flying off Ortiz’ face and head with lefts, rights and just about anything else he threw. Peterson landed 111 punches to 95 by Ortiz, according to PunchStats.

It said Mr. Nice Guy on the green waistband of Jacob Thornton’s trunks.

No argument there.

Thornton (2-2), a super-lightweight from St. Louis, was nice enough to go to his knees in the opening seconds of a first-round loss to Jamie Kavanaugh (4-0, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles.

Forty-four seconds after opening bell for the third fight Saturday on the card featuring Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana at Mandalay Bay, Kavanaugh’s opening assault left Thornton kneeling. It looked as if he were begging for a stoppage.

Junior-welterweight Sharif Bogere (18-0, 11 KOs), an African living in Las Vegas, had the look of a lion. The face of one adorned the front and back of his black trunks. A woman in lion’s costume accompanied him into the ring in the fifth fight on the Khan-Maidana card. Chris Fernandez ( 19-11-1, 11 KOs) of Salt Lake City was prey. Boegere, blood streaming from cuts near both eyes, mauled him for eight rounds, winning a unanimous decision.

Referee Jay Nady granted Thornton’s apparent wish, stopping the fight as though it had been scheduled to last only within the span of two NBA shot clocks.

In the card’s second bout, super-bantamweight Randy Caballero (6-0, 4 KOs) of Coachella, Calif., got a predictable victory and some necessary work in a four-round unanimous decision over Robert Guillen (5-9-3, 1 KO), a tough Phoenix fighter who was knocked down in the opening round.

The show opened in front of few fans and fewer chances for Arizona middleweight Gustavo Medina (1-3-1), who had no defense and even less offense in a third-round loss by TKO to rangy Venezuelan Alfonso Blanco (2-0, 1 KO).

The fourth bout on the Khan-Maidana card was a cross-town battle, two junior-welterweights from Las Vegas. Unbeaten Jessie Vargas (13-0, 7 KOs) prevailed. With Floyd Mayweather Jr. advisor Leonard Ellerbe in his corner, Vargas scored an eight-round, unanimous decision over Ramon Montano (17-9-2, 2 KOs).

Junior-welterweight Sharif Bogere (18-0, 11 KOs), an African living in Las Vegas, had the look of a lion. The face of one adorned the front and back of his black trunks. A woman in lion’s costume accompanied him into the ring in the fifth fight on the Khan-Maidana card. Chris Fernandez ( 19-11-1, 11 KOs) of Salt Lake City was prey. Boegere, blood streaming from cuts near both eyes, mauled him for eight rounds, winning a unanimous decision.

Heavyweight Seth Mitchell (20-0-1, 14 KOs) won the card’s sixth bout. But he didn’t celebrate. At least, not immediately. The ex-Michigan State linebacker was disappointed that Taurus Sykes (25-7-1, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn quit. Not long after a Mitchell left dropped him early in the fifth, Sykes went down again from what appeared to be a grazing punch. Mitchell urged him to get up. Sykes wouldn’t. He stayed down, a KO loser, at 1:42 of the fifth. Mitchell waved his gloves at him in disgust. Then, he celebrated.

In the end, only a white towel was defense against New York welterweight Joan Guzman (31-0-1, 18 KOs). Jason Davis’ corner threw it in surrender at 29 seconds of the second after the intimidated Canadian (11-8-1, 3 KOs) was unable to cope with the powerful Guzman, who dropped him in the opening round with a low blow in the card’s seventh fight and the last one before junior welterweight Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson clashed in the co-main event.

Ed Paredes survived some late anxious moments including an eleventh round knockdown to win a split decision over former world title challenger Antonio Pitalua in a twelve round Welterweight bout in Kissimmee, Florida.

Paredes used his length and speed to bank a lot of the early rounds and he needed them as Pitalua came on late as he rocked Paredes with a series of hard right hands in round ten. In round eleven, Pitalua landed a right hand that was combined with the fighters feet being tangled for the knockdown. Paredes left eye was swollen shut but was able to box and stay out of harms way for the final four plus minutes.

Impressive Darley Perez continued his knockout prowess as he stopped fellow unbeaten Remasis Gil in round four of a scheduled six round Lightweight bout.

Perez dropped Gil in round one from a big right hand. Gil showed some signs of life as he fought back and scored with some good punches at the end of the round. In round four, Perez rocked Gil with a big left hook and Perez jumped Gil and landed about twenty unanswered punches with the last half of then as Gil was caught between the third and fourth rope and referee Max Parker jumped in and stopped the bout.

Perez, 133 lbs of Barranquilla, Colombia is now 18-0 with fifteen knockouts. Gil, 137 lbs of Carolina, Puerto Rico is now 6-1.

Paredes is now 27-3. Pitalua is 50-5

Paredes, 145 lbs of Miami, FL won by scores of 117-110 and 114-113 while Pitalua, 147 lbs of Monteria, Colombia won by a 115-112 on a third judges card.

Paredes is now 27-3. Pitalua is 50-5

Twenty year-old Lightweight Michael Perez scored a crowd pleasing split decision over Jose Hernandez at the Coliseo Samuel Rodriguez in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico.

Both guys traded hard shots with each getting rocked throughout the fight. Hernandez had his best moments in rounds four where he landed hard shots and round eight where he trapped Perez on the ropes and landed a combination that snapped Perez head back. Perez was solid throughout the fight as he had the better boxing skills, for which he displayed when he wasn’t standing toe to toe with Hernandez.

Perez, 136 lbs of Lares, Puerto Rico and now resides in Newark, New Jersey won by scores of 97-93; 96-94 while Hernandez, 135 lbs of Fort Worth, Texas took a card by a 96-94 mark.

Perez is now 11-0-1. Hernandez is now 10-4

Undefeated Super Featherweight Luis Cruz scored a spectacular second round stoppage over Wilfredo Acuna in a scheduled eight round bout.

Cruz landed a highlight reel uppercut that landed flush on Acuna’s chin that dumped Acuna on the canvas midway through round two. Acuna gamely got to his feet but took a barrage of punches before the referee stopped the bout at 2:27.

Cruz, 130 lbs of Las Piedras, PR is now 17-0 with fourteen knockouts. Acuna, 128 1/2 lbs of Managua, Nicaragua is now 14-8

Jonel Tapia remained undefeated by scoring a four round unanimous decision over Emil Gonzalez in a Middleweight bout.

Tapia of Caguas, Puerto Rico is 7-0. Gonzalez Guaynabo, PR is now 4-3.

LAS VEGAS – He has mastered the Manny Pacquiao pose. Amir Khan looked as if he had been rehearsing it Friday at the weigh-in for his junior-welterweight date with Marcos Maidana at Mandalay Bay.

Khan was on target, on the scale and for the cameras. After checking in at the mandatory 140 pounds, Khan went into the Pacquiao pose, arms down and hands pressed together in a familiar look that has rippled through the internet for as long as the Filipino has been the brightest in a sport without many.

It was no coincidence, perhaps. Khan (23-1, 17 KOs) has been learning at the foot of Pacquiao’s throne as a sparring partner. For now, at least, Khan is Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach’s second favorite student. But it is impossible to know whether the pose was just another imitation in a town already full of Elvis impersonations.

A hint is forthcoming Saturday night.

Against Maidana (29-1, 27 KOs), the pose will prove to be nothing more than a cheap mask or in fact a sign that Khan is poised to move in when Pacquiao moves on, possibly in three years. The bet is that Khan’s pose is real — a good look at what can happen. He is about a 3-1 favorite to beat Maidana, a feared power puncher who was at 139 pounds Friday.

In the other featured junior-welterweight bout on a nine-fight card, Maidana knockout victim Victor Ortiz (28-2-1, 22 KOs) was 141 pounds and Lamont Peterson (28-1, 14 KOs) was at 140.

But the small crowd was there to see Khan and only Khan

“A-mir, A-mir’’ was the chant from his British fans.

There was only a fraction of the UK party that used to follow Ricky Hatton to Vegas. Then again, the Maidana fight is Khan’s first on the Strip and only his second in the United States. His first U.S. bout was in New York last May in a victory over Paulie Malignaggi.

Khan, who was was heavier Friday than he has ever been at a weigh-in, remains mostly-unknown in the U.S. and that might be evident at the box office. Ticket sales were reportedly slow Friday.

But if the pose takes on the real look of a potential Pacquiao successor, Saturday will be remembered as a successful introduction.

Photo By Claudia Bocanegra