Sources close to the situation have informed 15rounds.com that the November 8th boxing special to air on ESPN2 from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on November 8th will be headlined by a pairing of heavyweight prospects. Once beaten big men will look to regain some of their luster, as Travis Kauffman is pegged to take on Bowie Tupou.

Kauffman (20-1, 16 KOs) of Reading, Pennsylvania has won two straight against journeymen opponents since suffering a nationally televised setback against Tony Grano last September. Despite an accomplished amateur career, Kauffman made the mistake of slugging with the crude Grano, which made for an entertaining fight for Showtime, but ultimately helped lead to a somewhat controversial fourth-round stoppage defeat. In his last bout, Kauffman knocked out the well traveled Chris Koval in two rounds this past May.

Tupou (19-1, 15 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Nuku?alofa, Tonga quietly built himself into a prospect by scoring a string of quick knockouts in mostly non-televised fights before running into longtime opponent Demetrice King in August of last year. King caught Tupou with a counter off the ropes to score a knockdown late in the first that swung the fight in his favor. Tupou, who had been signed by prominent promoter Gary Shaw, did not recover during the minute rest between rounds and was ultimately stopped in the second round. In his one fight since, Tupou stopped Alexis Mejias in four rounds in May.

The Veterans Day themed card has become an annual tradition for ESPN. Tickets will not be sold and the crowd will be comprised of servicemen and women.

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

York, PA Super Featherweight Eric Nemo thrilled his hometown fans with a dominant six round unanimous decision over southpaw spoiler Stephan Alexander at the elegant Valencia Ballroom last Saturday evening.

Backed by nonstop chants of “Nemo, Nemo”, the local product was effectively aggressive from the opening bell, tagging Alexander in close quarters en route to dropping him with a short left hand in the second. The lanky Alexander attempted to work his way back into the fight by boxing from the outside, but had minimal success.

Despite a significant height disadvantage, Nemo consistently landed flush punches on the inside en route to taking a one sided victory.

Judges Bernard Bruni and Tony Wolfe scored the contest 60-53, while John Gradowski’s tally read 59-54. 15rounds.com also scored it 60-53 in favor of Nemo.

“I knocked him down and controlled the fight. but I didn’t feel like I was that sharp tonight,” Nemo surprisingly said following an adequate performance. “I didn’t train for a tall southpaw and he was very awkward.”

Nemo, whose lone defeat came in 2005 to future world champion Juan Manuel Lopez, improves to 10-1-1 with 5 KO’s. Alexander returns to Norfolk, VA at 4-3 with all four wins coming by knockout.

In the co-featured bout of the evening, tough but predictable welterweight Doel Carrasquillo was unable to capitalize on a rare hometown appearance, dropping an eight round majority decision to rugged Ghanaian Ayi Bruce.

Carrasquillo stood directly in front of Bruce from bell to bell firing hard hooks, but his lack of speed and movement gave his counterpart plenty of opportunities. With a close friend recording the fight near ringside while shouting instructions in his native tongue, Bruce landed the majority of the clean punches and avoided most of Carrasquillo’s return shots.

Scores were 78-74, matching 15rounds’ tally, 77-75 and a questionable 76-76.

“I knew he was a hard puncher, so I kept my hands up and countered him,” said Bruce, who resides in Albany, NY. “He was very tough and is a good fighter.”

Bruce is now 16-3 (11 KO’s). Carrasquillo, of Lancaster, PA, slips to a decisive 14-16-1 with 12 wins by KO.

Pro debutant and York native Jesus Saucedo successfully entered the paid ranks with a crowd pleasing four round UD over a very game Mike Denby. All four rounds of the welterweight contest were fought at a toe to toe pace, with both men throwing power shots as if there were no tomorrow. Although he was outweighed by 4.5 lbs, Saucedo was clearly the stronger puncher and hurt Denby on a few different occasions.

Judges Gradowski, Wolfe and Bruni all scored the bout 39-37.

Denby, of Dover, DE, falls to 3-5-3 (2 KO’s).

Entertaining middleweight Mike Moore of Cleveland, OH kept his perfect record alive following a close four round majority decision over gritty Robert Sockwell of East Stroudsburg, PA. The shorter Moore consistently brought the fight to Sockwell, who fought back valiantly and buzzed Moore with a hook in the third. Moore closed the show in style, dominating the final stanza with an impressive array of punches in close range.

Scores were 39-37 twice and 38-38.

“I saw him yesterday at the weigh in and tried to size him up, but he was a little bit more awkward than I thought he would be,” Moore said after the victory. “I came into the fight in great shape, am looking for my next fight already and am ready for whomever!”

Sockwell falls to 2-2 (2 KO’s).

In the opening bout of the evening, lightweight prospect Julius Leegrand of Cleveland moved to 4-0 with a unanimous decision over fellow Ohioan Eric Ricker. Leegrand worked behind a snappy jab throughout the contest, while mixing in left hooks and straight right hands in a solid showing.

Scores were 40-36 and 39-37 twice.

Leegrand is now 4-0 with 2 KO’s. Toledo’s Ricker slides 3-6.

Headed by Julio Alvarez, who worked double duty as the trainer of Nemo, Carrasquillo and Saucedo, the card served as A&D Promotions’ debut.

One of the most highly anticipated rematches has finally been inked as according to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez will defend his crown against Paul Williams on November 20 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

“It’s nice to get it completed,” Dan Goossen, Williams’ promoter, said. “It’s not a matter of whose fault it is [that the fight took so long to make], it’s a matter that you have two of the most feared fighters in the world facing each other. It doesn’t just get made overnight. There’s a lot more to it. That’s what took time.”

Said Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, “Martinez is not afraid of anybody and we did the deal that HBO wanted us to do. My take on the fight it’s the best f—— fight the rest of the year. Period. It’s the best fight for fight fans and they don’t have to fork over $60 to watch it on pay-per-view.”

The fight will be contracted at 157 pounds.

“It’s at 157 because we didn’t have a choice,” DiBella said. “Williams wanted the catch weight. There was an issue on the weight and we gave on the weight.”

When they met for the first time on Dec. 5 in the smaller arena upstairs at Boardwalk Hall, both fighters were knocked down in the first round of what turned out to be a rousing, slugfest and one of the most action-packed fights of the year. Williams won a heavily disputed majority decision in the nontitle bout.

“The fight can’t miss,” DiBella said. “You saw the first fight but I thought my guy won the first fight and I think he’ll win this one easier. I don’t think you’ll ever fight Paul Williams and have an easy fight, but I think this time he will win more clearly.”

“Sergio has just wanted to get back in the ring and wants to be treated like the middleweight champion,” DiBella said. “He knows what this fight means. He knows it’s the last time he will be bullied by anybody in a business sense. That won’t happen again if he wins. If he can beat Paul Williams after what he did to Pavlik and the damage he and Williams did to each other in the first fight, people should give him his props and he should be considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world below Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Sergio can establish himself at that level if he can perform in this fight. This is the prime of his career. This fight is everything to him.”

“Paul is very excited about the fight, so is [trainer] George [Peterson],” Goossen said. “It’s the type of fight boxing needs and wants and one that we’re looking to deliver. When everything is said and done, this is the fight everyone wants. But we never made any bones about the fact that we were looking for a welterweight fight. It wasn’t that we didn’t want a Sergio Martinez fight. We were hoping for the big fight at 147 pounds. We didn’t get it and therefore we went for the next biggest fight, and that was obviously against Sergio.

“The great thing about is it Paul will have more than three weeks to train for Martinez, which is what happened last time when Pavlik pulled out and we had to change opponents and train for a southpaw.”

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Despite a disastrous stretch, former world champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris of Carlstadt, NJ isn’t ready to hang up the gloves just yet.

Harris, 29-5-1 (19 KO’s), was on the wrong end of a third round knockout to Victor Ortiz Saturday night in Los Angeles, CA as part of an HBO pay per view telecast. Against the well regarded Ortiz, Harris got dropped four times and was unable to work his way back into the fight.

Prior to that, Harris, who was once considered an elite junior welterweight, lost a controversial fourth round TKO to Lucas Matthysse. To make matters even worse, the Matthysse fight was preceded by a scary no contest against Noe Bolanos in 2009, where he left the ring on a stretcher following a grotesque clash of heads.

While Harris has been sent to the hospital after two of his last three fights and is without notable victory since 2007, he refutes any assertion that he is going to call it quits.

“People just like to talk and they don’t know boxing,” exclaimed the always animated Harris. “This is a dirty and crazy sport. I was forced to fight (at or) around 140 and I can’t make that weight anymore. I am going to continue as a full fledged welterweight and you will never see me fight below (147 pounds) again!”

He also cites the contract weight for the Ortiz fight as a major issue.

“We tried to make it at 144 lbs, give or take a pound, but his people said no.” “They wanted to call this a welterweight fight, but (if that was the case) than why couldn’t I (fight at the) weight I wanted to? I am not trying to take away anything from his victory he did what he had to do, but (the issue over the weight) is complete bulls**t.”

Although he was also stopped in the two aforementioned fights and to Junior Witter via one punch knockout in 2007, Harris believes his punch resistance will only improve in his new weight class.

“I will be stronger at welterweight” I had to lose a good amount of to make 140 and it drained me. I (spar) with heavier guys and taking their punches (has never been) a problem.”

Upon completing his mandated suspension for the knockout loss, the former WBA champion, who is still under contract with Golden Boy Promotions, will actively seek fights with a notable welterweight.

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

On an a stacked card from Birmingham, England in front of around 8,000 at the LG Arena Frank Warren matched several of his up and comers in intriguing fights. Notably Nathan Cleverly beat Karo Murat in a WBO Light Heavyweight eliminator & Olympic gold medallist James Degale put on his best performance so far vanquishing Carl Dilks easily. Both appear to have the star power to follow on from here to win World Titles.

The bumper PPV started at 6pm with James “Chunky” Degale 8-0(6) getting things underway against Carl Dilks 14-3(5). Though he was favoured to win, it was expected to be Degale‘s, toughest test to date and provide him with rounds and more experience. It turned out to be anything but that as Degale had far to much speed and power for a shell shocked Dilks. In the final 10 seconds of the round Degale opened up sending Dilks back into the ropes, he followed up before referee Howard Foster Jnr stepped in for what looked a premature stoppage at 2.54 of the first. However Dilks was already bleeding from the left eye and nose and seemed not to have a problem with the stoppage.

Originally Ryan Rhodes was supposed to defend his European title against Lukas Konecny 45-3(21) however when Rhodes fell out with injury Matthew Hall 23-3(16) who was due to fight a week later was drafted in to face Konecny for the vacant EBU crown. It was a fight that promised much, both guys appeared mirror images of each other both short, with shaved heads and similar all action styles. From the first bell both stood in close and fought at close distance. Hall was busier early on while Konecny was more accurate. The Czech Konecny picked his way through dropping Hall near the ropes mid way through the sixth, Konecny used his greater experience to quickly follow up and drop Hall for a second time prompting the stoppage at 1.53 of the sixth.

The third fight of the PPV was Wales rising star Nathan Cleverly 20-0(10) against fellow unbeaten Karo Murat 22-1(13) an electric crowd responded to both men’s entrance’s. From the first bell Cleverly neutralised his greater hand and foot speed picking his way through Murat’s high held guard. After three rounds Cleverly looked fantastic picking apart Murat who showed considerable resolve taking so many shots. Murat who is an Arthur Abraham hybrid looked to close the distance and though he did land some punches he had to take 3 or 4 to land one. Things got worse for Murat in the eighth when a slashing punch cut him across the nose. Finally Murat was retired at the end of the ninth round on the advice of the ringside doctor. It was vintage Cleverly all the way he later admitted he took a few chances because he believes in his own ability and wants to be exciting.With the win Cleverly became the mandatory for Jurgen Braehmer who has to face Cleverly next. The status of Braehmer is up in the air, because of a previous indiscretion he could be incarcerated. He’s currently appealing against this if he successful he has to face Cleverly next if not Cleverly will be named the new WBO Champion.

The much anticipated Kell Brook 22-0(15) & Michael Jennings 36-3(17) fight finally took place however it ended anticlimatically when Jennings was cut in the fifth soon after the fight was called off. After a quite start in which Brook seemed to take a look at what Jennings had to offer he slowly picked his way through until the cut forced an end to the fight at 47 of the fifth. With the win Brook retained his British & WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight titles also reaffirming himself as the number 1 contender for the WBO title currently held by Manny Pacquiao. It is hoped Pacquiao will vacate because of the Margarito fight taking palce at Light Middleweight allowing Brook to fight for the next available contender.

In a rematch from 2 years ago Heavyweights Sam Sexton 13-2(6) & Dereck Chisora 14-0(9) met for the British & Commonwealth titles. There was bad blood between the two, Frank Warren had to stand between them at the Weigh in when it threatened to boil over. The action began when both guys got involved early both having there moments. By the midway point Chisora was getting the better of things. In the final minute of the ninth Chisora put his punches together hurting Sexton who dropped to the canvas though he rose he was allowed to carry on, Chisora who’s an excellent finisher jumped on him and fired away until referee stepped in and called a holt to the action with Sexton in no position to defend himself with seven seconds left in the round.

The knockout of the night maybe the year came in the action packed Enzo Maccarinelli 32-5(25) & Alexander Frenkel 23-0(18) fight. After a lively start in which Maccarinelli appeared to be getting the better of things stalking his European title challenger. Though the wild shoot out expected by many never took place it seemed more a war of attrition. In the seventh both guys threw punches Frankel’s left hook landed hard pitching Maccarinelli backwards and down hard. Always a proud warrior he rose on unsteady legs and much to many in attendance chagrin was allowed to carry on. Frenkel charged over landing another monster left hook that nearly decapitated Maccarinelli who went down heavily. The fight was instantly waved over at 2.30. There were a few anxious moments as Maccarinelli received oxygen thankfully he appeared ok leaving the ring under his own steam. While Frenkel can look to fight the big names at Cruiserweight it must be the end for Maccarinelli who won the WBO title in a storied career.

The final fight of “The Magnificent Seven” saw local Matthew Macklin 27-2(19) win the European Middleweight title for the second time when he dismantled game but over matched late substitute Shalva Jombardashvili as he systematically broke him down over 5 rounds before the fight was called off early in the sixth. Macklin who hadn’t fought in nine months showed no signs of ring rust.

Former World Amateur champion Frankie Gavin improved to 8-0(7) with a workmanlike fifth round stoppage over game Michael Kelly for the Vacant Irish title. Gavin dictated the action behind a steady jab and picked apart Kelly before the stoppage at 2.59 of the fifth.

Also in action Light Middleweight Joe Selkirk 5-0(3) stopped Jan Cernouskis 4-8(4) at 2.17 of the fourth and final round.

At Welterweight Ronnie Heffron 3-0(2) went the distance for the first time against Billy Smith 12-82-2(7).

Afterward Frank Warren said his 30 year anniversary of promoting will be this December when he will stage another bumper bill on the 11th presumably as the British leg before Khan-Maidana. He said he intends to once again have a big show with Cleverly, Macklin, Brook among others appearing along with a come backing Kevin Mitchell with Billy Joe Saunders hopefully coming back from injury.?

Arthur Abraham, Sebastian Sylvester & Marco Huck were in attendance to support Kurat & Frenkel. Also watching were Naseem Hamed supporting friend Kell Brook, Paul & Stephen Smith, Tony Bellew, Billy Joe Saunders, newly minted WBO 130 champion Ricky Burns who was presented the title in the ring between on of the fights, Amir Khan who worked the PPV for Sky TV, David Haye & George Groves were also ringside.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, talks have re-heated for a proposed January showdown between 140 lb titlists Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander.

Alexander has already agreed to the January 29 fight as well as a proposed rematch in the late spring.

Bradley was balking that he would have to sign a contract extension with his promoter Gary Shaw.

However, Bradley and his managers, Cameron Dunkin and Michael Miller, have not been able to come to terms with Shaw.

The issue has been Shaw’s demand that Bradley agree to an extension of their promotional contract beyond its May 10 expiration as part of the deal to get the fight with Alexander, which Bradley and his team rejected.

However, the breakthrough came Friday, when the managers said Shaw offered Bradley a two-fight deal — the Alexander fight plus an automatic rematch, win or lose — and agreed to end his demand for a contract extension.

“HBO is willing to do both fights and so are we, as long as the rematch takes place by May,” Miller said. “But we’d give them until June 4.”

“We talked to Tim and he’s interested in the deal, but he wants to talk it over with is wife,” Miller said. “He thinks the money is still short, but he wants the fight. He’s supposed to get back to us Monday.”

“I won’t tell my fighter to sign a long-term agreement before he listens to other offers,” Dunkin said. “But this is going to be Timmy’s call on what he wants to do. He’ll tell us what he wants to do and we’ll go from there.”

Former world champion, Jorge Arce and Lorenzo Parra battled to a draw in a ten round Super Bantamweight fight in Culican, Mexico

Arce stalked for the most part with Parra coming on late and seizing some of the late rounds to get the draw.

Arce, 122 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico is now 55-6-2. Parra of Venezuela is now 31-2-1.

Humberto Soto retained the WBC Lightweight championship with a twelve round unanimous decision over Fidel Monterrosa.

It was an action filled fight at times with the challenger trying to exchange with the classy champion. The two fighters slipped numerous times on the wet canvas. Soto was very effective going to the challengers body while Monterrosa was looking for one shot in effort to wrestle away the title.

Scores were 118-109, 115-112 and 115-112 for Soto, 135 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico and is now 53-7-2. Monterrosa, 135 lbs of Barranquilla, Colombia is now 23-2.

Omar Chavez scored a fourth round stoppage over Ricardo Juarez in a scheduled six round Welterweight bout.

Chavez dominated the action and in round four he landed four hard shots to the head that sent Juarez to his knees and was counted out at2:47 of round four.

Chavez., 147 lbs of Culican, Mexico is now 24-0-1 with seventeen knockouts. Juarez, 147 lbs of Tijuana, Mexico is now 16-12-1.

In front of the many boxing aficionados in the house such as former greats such as Pepino Cuevas and Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora fought to a highly debatable draw in the main event at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Sergio Mora (22-1-1, 6KO’s) made his way to the ring first to a huge applause. Followed shortly after by Sugar Shane Mosley (46-6, 39KO’s) to meet in a 12 round, Jr. middleweight battle.

In round one, The taller Mora danced around the ring as Mosley chased him around trying to land a jab. Mora seemed very cautious as he only threw one maybe two combination’s the entire round. Mosley couldn’t catch him so he didn’t fair much better. In round two, it was more of the same. Mora switched from Orthodox to southpaw many times as he continued to dance and faint his way around the ring. Whenever Shane got too close, Mora would tie him up. There was a small exchange at the bell, which was have been the most action of the fight. In round three, after landing a somewhat meaningful right hand, Sergio got on his horse and ran around the ring as Shane chased him, attempting to land a shot. After he got off of his bike, he seemed to want to trade a bit more but still, no meaningful punches were thrown or landed. Round 4 started with Mosley becoming more aggressive and attacking at the onset. He trapped Mora on the ropes and began to do work. Mora would clinch and and try to get off all at once. The two began to fight in a phone booth…great strategy change by Mosley. He threw more punches and landed more when he forced Mora to fight him. Mora landed a big right that didn’t seem to phase Mosley, but Mora now has a visible cut over his right eye that is leaking blood fro, an inadvertent. Round five saw a much more aggressive Shane as he would not give Mora any breathing room. Mora seemed to want to exchange more, so it made the fight pick up a bit. As slick as a snake, Mora began to play to the crowd, as he stood in front of Shane daring him to punch him. It may have looked good, but he wasn’t letting his hands go. Round six Mora seemed to revert to his running ways in the first half of the round, as he backed up and jabbed. Mosley tried hard to get him on the ropes and do work but Mora was not a willing participant. Once on the ropes, Mosley was unloading when Mora caught him with a clean, counter left hook to the chin. If Mora had any power, it may have affected Shane. The round ended in a clinch with both fighters landing body shots.

A visibly gassed Mosley came out in round seven, which seemed to give Mora a license to fight as he was more apt to stand and trade. This may have been the most punches landed from any round up until this point. It seems as if Mora got the better of Mosley that round as they exchanged combination’s. Round eight looked like a wresting match. there was a ton of holding and clinching. The tired Mosley seemed to want to lean on Mora and pot shot him. Meanwhile, Mora landed some meaningful punches in this round. Perhaps the tide is changing but it may be too late. Mosley seemed to get the edge in round nine as he had a nice flurry against the ropes. may have been his best round yet. A very nice exchange toward the end of round ten that Mora seemed to get the better of. The two guys stood toe to toe and just let their hands fly. Neither fighter would back up or give in.much more energy than Shane. The round, in my opinion, went to Mora. As we delve deeper into the championship rounds, round eleven looked like round ten. Constant body contact with an array of big punches scattered throughout the round. The older Mosley is breathing heavily out of his mouth, you have to wonder how much gas is left in the tank. Yet he keeps pressing forward (by corcelli). Mosley landed four huge shots to end the round that seemed to wobble Mora somewhat. In the twelfth and final round, it started off as somewhat of a brawl. Both boxers where throwing many punches and pushing each other around. Mosley was head hunting attempting to get Mora out of there while Mora seemed to be attempting the same while fighting with his back on the ropes! The bout ended in the corner with both guys throwing big shots trying to end it before the final bell tolled. As we go to the scorecards, 115-113 Mora, 116-112 Mosley, 114-114 for a draw!

Sugar Shane Mosley

“We both fought hard. It was a good fight so it was a good decision.

“He is not a good puncher so we had to box more.

“This was a different fight because he had to come down in weight and I had to go up.

“It would have been different if I was fighting someone my height and weight.

“Mora moved, ran away, rested and held. There were lots of head butts and that effected me.

“He was moving too much so it was hard for me to get my shots in.

“I still want to fight someone more my weight and height like Cotto.”

Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora

“I came to win and I wanted to win, but my respect for Shane Mosley got in the way.

“I got hard headed and should have listened to my corner. They were telling me it was close and I thought I was winning the fight and my respect for Shane got in the way.

“He threw really good punches. He hit me with some hard shots.

“Going 12 rounds with Shane Mosley says something in and of itself. Honestly, I thought I won the fight.”

Making his way to the ring first Carlos “Tata” Baldomir, looking to pin the first loss on Saul Alvarez’s record. This is a scheduled 10 rounder in the super welter division. Alvarez, out of Mexico, was easily the crowd favorite as they roared as he made his way to the ring in the co-main event of the evening. There was really no hesitating in the fight. Both fighters threw many punches and came at each other, not many landed. There were a few exchanges in the second round. It seemed when one fighter would land, the other would jump right back as to say, I’m not going anywhere! The third saw more action and more exchanges but it seems to be an even match or Baldomir is slightly ahead. No huge action or huge shots to speak of as of yet. Baldomir looked like a grizzled old veteran as he landed a sneaky right in between the gloves of Canelo many times. Alvarez, however has a left hook/uppercut that seems to land whenever he fires it. Baldomir seemed to take one of Canelo’s biggest punches and urged him to bring more!

Alvarez landed big shot after big shot in the fifth round, but Baldomir would not budge. He stayed on the inside and loaded up his right hand, waiting to fire it. Canelo is clearly the faster fighter though which is to be expected given that he’s 19 years Baldomir’s junior. Towards the end of the round, Alvarez landed a series or huge power shots! Baldomir tried his best but the onslaught was way too much for him to handle! The youngster has power in both hands and he proved it as he dropped Tata with a left hook. Baldomir fell down face first and as he tried to recover, he was counted out at 2:58 of the fifth round. Alvarez is still undefeated as he improves to 34-0-1 with 26 knockouts. Baldomir fades into the darkness with a record of 45-13-6.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez

“I told you guys I was going to come with experience. I didn’t talk very much. I just showed you.

“I came to give it my all. This is for Mexico and all of my fans.

“I was prepared for the distance. Sometimes the knockout comes when you prepare for it, and it did tonight.

“He wasn’t very fast and I used that to my advantage.

“I want to fight at welterweight and be a welterweight champion. I am going to do my best to be the best in the world.”

Carlos “Tata” Baldomir

“It is true that he hits hard. I was surprised by his power.

“I am going to go home and think about what I am going to do next.

“He is the real deal. He is oing to be a real champion.

“No one has hit me like he did. No one has knocked me down like he did. He is definitely the real deal.”

The next bout was to determine who was more “Vicious”….Vicious Victor Ortiz or Vicious Vivian Harris. East Coast vs West Coast! Victor fighting out of Ventura, CA while Vivian is representing Brooklyn. The bout was scheduled for 10 in the 147 pound division. Not much action to speak of in the first. Both guys looked somewhat timid, while Harris was looking to counter. Early in the second round, Ortiz dropped Harris with what seemed to be more so a result of Harris being off balance. But moments later, Ortiz landed another right and floored Harris for a second and a long left that dropped him a third time! Harris did not seem hurt, but he was visibly confused. In the third round, Mr. Ortiz landed a mini Mike Tyson-esque combo…a short right to the body and even shorter right to the head, dropping Harris for the fourth and final time at :45 seconds in the third round. Ortiz is now 28-2-1 with 22 knockouts while Harris drops to 29-5-1

“Vicious” Victor Ortiz

“The fans either love me or they hate me, but hopefully they love me now.

“I sensed his bluff at the weigh in and I called him out on it.

“I have progressed and learned a lot since the fight with Maidana. I still want him wherever he is.

“I want a shot at a world championship. I am not dodging anyone. I am ready for anyone.

“I listened to what my coaches said and I got the victory.”

“Vicious” Vivian Harris

“He caught me with some great punches. He looked very different. He was very sharp and accurate.”

.

Antonio Escalante (23-2, 15KO’s) met Daniel Ponce De Leon (39-2, 32KO’s), in the WBO Featherweight Eliminator. The first round was the typical feeling out routine. Both fighters kind of measured the other to see where they were. Escalante landed a few big shots in the second round and did a semi-good job of avoiding the return fire of De Leon. De Leon is very aggressive and relentless and throws punches from many different angles. The third round saw both guys throwing many combonation’s that would drop many men. Nearing the end of the third, De Leon landed a mean left upstairs immediately followed by a right hook to the face that floored Escalante. The referee didn’t waste a second in waving the fight off, declaring De Leon the victor at 2:40 of round 3.

“My timing was off, but once I loosened up and got in my groove it was over”, Said De Leon

“I didnt feel his punches at all and I am gonna be a world champion again.”

“De Leon was very poweful and strong and he deserved to win the fight”, said Escalante

So what did we learn today?? Nothing! I think everything that we expected came to fruition. Daniel Ponce De Leon is a stud and is a top contender in the featherweight division. Victor Ortiz and Saul Alvarez are the future of Golden Boy boxing. Alvarez made a huge impression and will be a force in the 154 division. An old, and tired Mosley still has enough in the tank to draw a powerless Sergio Mora.

The next big thing to come out of the Golden Boy stable put on a show for the fans in Los Angeles. Frankie Gomez of East Los, improved his record to 6-0 all by knockout as he pushed around and bullied Ricardo Calzada of Las Vegas. The first round, Gomez felt the power of Calzada and once he knew he couldn’t be harmed, he seeked and destroyed! Calzada did his best to hold on and made it out of the second round, but the third round was a different story. Gomez came out head hunting and got right in Ricardo’s kitchen. He landed a few tough shots on the inside, to the head, that put Calzada on his butt. He rose only to meet an onslaught of punches from all different angles that bloodied his nose and once again saw him on the canvas. The ringside doc stood on the edge of the canvas before the ref even started his count, and at 1:06 of round three, the fight was over. Calzada heads back to Vegas with a record of 2 up and 3 down.

Our next fight was a scheduled six rounder in the lightweight division. David Rodela of nearby Oxnard met Juan Manuel Montiel of Mexico City. This was one of the first bouts of the night where it seemed as if both fighters were using their boxing skills and not a flat out brawl. There were many jab-led combination’s from both fighters. This also made for a boring fight and left the crowd jeering and booing, begging for more action. It seemed like a sparring session and that both guys were going through the motions. The final round did see somewhat of a spike in action which somewhat energized the restless crowd but still, no one really stood out. The fight went the distance, and according to the scorecards which were 59-55 Rodela and the others had it 57-57 resulting in a majority draw, basically indicative of what both fighters displayed. Rodela is now 15-3-4 while Montiel is 6-3-2.

For the only female bout of the night, local lady Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West met Angel Gladney of South Carolina in a scheduled 10 rounder. The first round was a feel out round but West ladned a few meaningful punches as she pressed the action. The next few rounds were all uneventful, not much action, but a lot of faints and jabs. It seemed as if neither fighter wanted to take a chance. In the fourth round, West opened up a bit and started throwing, and landing, meaningful combination’s. Near the beginning of round seven, Wild West landed a huge left that floored Gladney. Gladney rose but the ref waved the fight at :59 seconds in round 7. West, now 13-1-2 with 4 KO’s, is the new bantamweight champion while Gladney drops to 6-3-1.

The third bout was in the junior middleweight division. Undefeated Keith Thurman walked across the ring in the opening seconds and was dropped by a humongous right to the head by Quandray Robertson. Thurman returned the favor at the end of the round as he dropped Robertson with a flurry of punches. Robertson survived the round. This bout was an all out brawl, both boxers swinging wildly when Thurman landed a sneaky body shot that dropped Robertson for the second time midway through round two. In a somewhat uneventful third round, out of nowhere, Thurman landed a left hook inside and up top floored Robertson. The ref immediately waved the fight off and at 2:40 of the third round, Thurman maintained his undefeated record improving to 14-0 with 13KO’s. Robertson drops to 15-10.

Undefeated Sharif Bogere from Nevada made an impressive entrance into the ring as he was donning the fur and head of a lion. Got the few people that are actually in attendance excited. He is facing Julian Rodriguez in a six round, junior welterweight battle. All the action was pressed by Bogere as he landed a thunderous left hook up top at 1:42 of the second round to win by KO and improve his record to 17-0 with 11 KO’s. Rodriguez drops to 17-20-4.

In our first bout, Eric Areola of Mexico met Missael Nunez, also of Mexico, in a four round, featherweight battle. In what was a lopsided fight, Areola improved to 1-1 with a majority decision as the judges called it 38-38 on one card and 40-36 on the other two. Nunez drops to 4-9-2.

Nestor Rocha pounded out an eight round unanimous decision over Jose Navarro in a bantamweight fight between former world title challengers that took place outside LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.

The two stood in the pocket and fought at close quarters with Navarro’s eye shutting as early as round three.  Rocha continued to pressure and by the eighth round, the right eye of Navarro was grotesquely shut.

Scores were 79-73 on all cards for Rocha, 118 1/4 lbs of Montebello, CA and he is now 23-2.  Navarro, 118 lbs of South Central Los Angeles, CA is now 27-6

Luis Ramos Jr. scored a last round knockdown en route to an eight round unanimous decision over John Figueroa in Jr. Welterweight bout.

Ramos Jr. dropped Figueroa with a left in the final round and coasted to the victory.

Ramos Jr., 138 1/2 lbs of Santa Ana, CA is 17-0.  Figueroa, 137 1/2 lbs of Salina, PR is now 7-7-3

WBO Welterweight Eliminator (10st 7lbs)
Michael Jennings – 10st 6lbs 8oz
Kell Brook – 10st 6lbs 8oz

European Middleweight title (11st 6lbs)
Shalva Jomardashvili – 11st 5lbs
Matthew Macklin – 11st 5lbs

WBO Cruiserweight Interim title (12st 7lb)
Karo Murat – 12st 5lbs 8oz
Nathan Cleverly – 12st 5lbs 8oz

12 Rounds Super-Middleweight (12st)
Carl Dilks – 11st 13lbs 8oz
James DeGale – 12st (at second attempt)

European Cruiserweight title (14st 4lbs)
Alexander Frenkel – 14st 0lbs 12oz
Enzo Maccarinelli – 13st 13lbs 8oz

British and Commonwealth Heavyweight title (No limit)
Sam Sexton – 17st 2lbs 8oz
Derek Chisora – 17st 6lbs 8oz

European Light-Middleweight title (11st)
Lucas Konecny – 10st 13lbs 12oz
Matthew Hall – 10st 12lbs 12oz

According to Dan Rafael the WBC/Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal will take on Bernard Hopkins on December 18th in Quebec City, Canada and it will be televised on Showtime PPV.

“Showtime will be using their announcers and doing it like a first-class Showtime broadcast. Showtime is excited about it and so are we,” Said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

Hopkins said he weighed 182 pounds on Thursday and was anxious to begin training for the 175-pound fight. He usually prepares for fights in Miami, but said he would instead train in either Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains or New York’s Catskill Mountains.

“I’m doing that because of the climate and the conditions,” Hopkins told ESPN.com just before signing on the dotted line. “I’m not going to train in 80-degree Miami and then go to Canada, where it will be five below.”

“This is the fight where I see if I can go forward or does it end for me,” said Hopkins, who routed nemesis Roy Jones in a lopsided decision in April in a rematch of Jones’ middleweight title win 17 years ago.

“I know what I gotta do to pull out another surprise,” Hopkins said.

Fighting on his 29th birthday, Jhonny Gonzalez dropped Jackson Asiku three times in less than six rounds to wrest the IBO Featherweight title and validate his standing among the top 126-pounders in the main event of a pay-per-view telecast emanating from the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday night.

What ended up becoming a dominate showing for Gonzalez (46-7, 40 KOs) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, was actually a highly competitive fight for the first three rounds. Asiku (26-4, 14 KOs) of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia by way of Uganda traded on even ground with the Mexican free-swinger, and may have deserved the nod in the first and third rounds. The third round especially featured some excellent two-way action.

Gonzalez, 125.8, turned the fight completely in his favor with a picture-perfect left hook that landed squarely on Asiku’s chin halfway through the fourth round. The punch rocked Asiku, 125, with Gonzalez’ follow-up swings leading to the first knockdown. Asiku returned to his feet and stayed on his toes the remainder of the round. Gonzalez closed the gap late, but time ran out before he could really punish him any further.

Early in the fifth, Gonzalez, the WBC#3/WBA #3/IBF #4 ranked featherweight, dropped the defending IBO titlist with another clean left to the chin. Asiku showed great heart in getting up again, but he would taste the canvas after another left late in the round. Referee Kenny Bayless looked to have thoughts about stopping the fight then, Asiku still had the foot work to maneuver around the ring and out of the round.

Asiku’s bravery would be for not, as Gonzalez rocked the Ugandan into a corner with a two-handed flurry early in the sixth, leaving Bayless with little other choice but to leap in and stop the fight. The official time of the stoppage was 1:09 round of round six. The victory netted Gonzalez the IBO title and could put him in line for a crack at one of the major title holders or other top featherweights. “I am ready for anybody,” boldly proclaimed Gonzalez after the fight.

All-action super featherweight Miguel Roman (31-7, 23 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico notched a quality win over Tyrone Harris (24-7, 16 KOs) of Lansing, Michigan via fifth-round stoppage. Roman, 131.8, began asserting himself in the second round, pressuring Harris, 130, and landing a few big shots.

Even though he took control early in the bout, it looked as though Roman may get himself into trouble with fouls. Referee Jay Nady warned him twice for headbutts and called a timeout for a low blow in the third. Harris took his time recovering from the low blow, which may have been an indication that his dedication to the fight was waning.

Roman continued to press the action into the fifth, before landing a rib-caving left to Harris’ body that prompted a delayed knockdown. At 2:03 of round five, Nady counted Harris out. This fight was put together on short notice, when Harris’ originally scheduled opponent Juan Carlos Salgado pulled out of their fight with an injury. Roman had been slated to fight Cuauhtemoc Vargas on the undercard. By weighing in over the super featherweight limit, Roman may have cost himself a fight against Salgado, which would have been for the IBO Super Featherweight title.

Middleweight prospect Marcos Reyes (17-1, 15 KOs) of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico made short work of journeyman Victor Villereal (9-6-2, 5 KOs) of Longmont, Colorado, scoring a second-round technical knockout. Reyes, 159, opened up early in the second, eventually hurting Villereal, 158, with a right to the body and dropping him with a follow-up barrage upstairs. Villereal beat the count, but was soon down again from another body shot. When Villereal rose again, Reyes pounced looking for the knockout. With Villereal covering up and moving against the ropes, referee Russell Mora stopped the fight at 2:57 of the second.

Khadaphi Proctor (6-5-1) of Hesperia, California took advantage of his reach advantage to score a four-round unanimous decision over Rynell Griffin (6-3-1, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas. Griffin, 133, boxed well to open the fight as he outworked the longer Proctor, 135.2. As the fight wore on, Proctor began to move his hands and stay out of the shorter Griffin’s punching range. One judge scored the fight even, 38-38, but was overruled by the other two judges who had the fight a shutout 40-36 for Proctor.

In the televised opener, Yohan Banks (4-4-3, 1 KO) of Redwood City, California rescued a decision defeat with a right uppercut induced knockout over ESPN The Magazine cover boy Quadtrine Hill (1-1, 1 KO) of Sunrise, Florida with less than a minute to go in the fight. Hill, 228, controlled the pace for much of the bout and landed two hard left hands which may have left him overconfident. With one swift right, Banks, 272, made all of Hill’s hard work for not. Officially the knockout came at 2:24 of round four.

Photo by Naoki Fukuda/Roy Englebrecht Promotions

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

According to Promoter John Lynch of Pound 4 Pound Promotions, super bantamweight phenom Jorge “King” Diaz of New Brunswick, NJ will headline Saturday, October 30 from Bally’s in Atlantic City against former world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero.

The always entertaining Diaz, 14-0 (9 KO’s), was scheduled fight James Owen this Thursday in New York, but the card was postponed. Diaz is becoming a familiar face amongst local fight fans, scoring impressive victories over 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Yan Barthelemy and rugged Korean Jae Sung Lee amongst others.

Although he has fought just once since 2007, the Bronx, NY based Lucero will be Diaz’ most experience foe to date. At 24-5-1 (14 KO’s), Lucero battled the likes of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, Rocky Juarez, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Jason Litzau and Valdemir Pereira. He also has a victory against contender Rogers Mtagwa.

Slated to appear on the card are Paterson, NJ based junior welterweight Jeremy “Hollywood” Bryan (14-1, 7 KO’s) and Passaic, NJ junior middleweight Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KO’s). P4P is expected add more local talent on the undercard shortly.

Sources have also notified 15rounds that the card will air on a Fox Sports affiliate.

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

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that WBA Super Lightweight champion Amir Khan will battle interim champion Marcos Maidana on December 11 in Las Vegas.

“We came to an agreement [Tuesday] night. Khan is on board. Maidana is on board and I am finalizing everything with Mandalay Bay,” Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said outside of Staples Center during a news conference promoting Saturday night’s Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora HBO PPV card.

“Amir wanted to have this fight in the U.K. and Maidana wanted the fight to be in the United States, but we worked on things and I was informed by Amir’s lawyer that he would fight in the U.S.,” Schaefer said. “There was some urgency for us to make a deal because of the purse bid coming up, but now we have a deal and I will inform the WBA that the fighters have reached agreement.”

“We worked it out financially where everyone was happy,” Schaefer said. “It was a difficult fight to put together but this was the fight I kept hearing from fans and media that they wanted to see. Golden Boy made some concessions and we got the fight done.”

“I want this fight and the fans want to see this fight,” said Khan, who had called Schaefer’s cell phone from England and spoke to ESPN.com. “It’s two explosive styles meeting up. It’s the explosive puncher [Maidana] against the quick and explosive boxer. They say Maidana has a style to beat a boxer, so let’s see how good he is. Maidana wants to stop me from having my legacy, but that is not going to happen. But let him try.”

“I’m coming to fight him where he wants to fight. But I want this fight, so I am going where he wants to fight,” Khan said. “That’s how much I want this fight.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The October 2nd Super six Super Middleweight showdown between Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch will be postponed due to an Injury to Froch.

“We were informed [Monday] morning of a back injury that prohibits him to fight on Oct. 2, but that would allow him a fight about seven or eight weeks later,” Chris Meyer of Sauerland Event, Abraham’s promoter, told ESPN.com.

There is no new date set for the fight, however. Sauerland Event and Froch promoter Mick Hennessy need to huddle with Showtime as well as with their European broadcast partners to figure out a new date.

“Froch claims he has a back injury and the promoters are talking to [Showtime’s] Ken [Hershman] about a new date,” Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio told ESPN.com

Passaic, NJ’s Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KO’s) was slated to take on rugged veteran Edvan Barros last night in Las Vegas, NV, but the bout was scrapped due to a scheduling issue.

Tapia had a solid training camp and was ready to go however, the cancellation of another card prompted promoter Top Rank to put some of their fighters under contact on last night’s show, which forced them to can the Tapia-Barros fight.

Luckily for Tapia, his hard work and dedication to training wasn’t wasted. Tapia informed GSFS that he is leaving for Los Angeles this evening to spar with pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao leading up to his November 13 bout with Antonio Margarito.

The former amateur standout, who previously served as a sparring partner for Miguel Cotto, views everything that happened as a blessing.

“I am excited to get this opportunity to train with one of the greatest in the world,” said Tapia. “I am going to learn a lot from him and this will be a great step towards bettering my career.”

Tapia is also thrilled to share the squared circle with a fighter he admires and strives to model himself after.

“I am a big fan of (Pacquiao) and I really like the intensity he fights with because he goes in there to give the fans a show, beat his opponents up and knock them out. I like to do the same so working with him will make me better at what I do.”

Tapia’s next fight will take place October 30 in Atlantic City against an opponent TBA.

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

Mexican icon Erik Morales did not dare disappoint the crowd of over 50,000 on hand at the Monumental Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico celebrating in advance of Mexican Independence Day Saturday night, as he stopped Willie Limond in six rounds to notch his 50th career victory. Just two fights into his comeback, Morales seems to have shaken off much of the rust left from his retirement.

Limond (33-3, 8 KOs) of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom got off to a solid start. Limond, 143, showed solid defense as he blocked and parried a fair amount of the Morales, 143, offense for the first two rounds. While Limond may have been the naturally bigger guy, his eight kayos indicate that he is not much of a puncher. Morales (50-6, 35 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico was the heavy hitter in the fight, and that became clear as the fight progressed.

By the fourth round, Morales was asserting himself in the fight. Whereas Limond returned fire on even ground for the first few rounds, he was left defensive against Morales’ offensive pressure as the bout moved into the fifth round. In the sixth, Morales broke through with a vicious body shot that dropped Limond. While the Scot was clearly in pain, he was able to muster the energy to angrily punch the ground while taking referee Jay Nady’s count. Before the conclusion of the round, Morales dropped Limond twice more prompting the stoppage at 2:46 of the sixth.

Strangely, even though both fighters weighed in at the contracted 143-pounds, it was announced that the bout was for the WBC Silver Light Welterweight title. The light welterweight division limit, or super lightweight as the WBC calls it, is 140-pounds. Maybe even stranger, the WBC issued a press release earlier in the month that if Morales, the WBC #2 ranked light welterweight, defeated Limond, the Mexican legend would be made the mandatory challenger for the WBC Lightweight title. Morales has not made the lightweight limit of 135-pounds since August of 2007.

After the fight, Morales clearly stated his desire to campaign at lightweight. Looking ahead for Morales, the current WBC Lightweight Champion is Humberto Soto, who fights unheralded Fidel Monterrosa Munoz on September 18th in Mexico. Reportedly, Soto has a title defense against Marco Antonio Barrera in the offing. Should Barrera defeat Soto, it goes without saying that a Barrera-Morales IV would be the biggest fight either fighter’s handlers could make.

In a thrilling fight, WBC #1 ranked flyweight/IBF #5 108-pounder Edgar Sosa (40-6, 23 KOs) of Mexico City stopped game Filipino Ryan Bito (18-7-3, 6 KOs) of Sucat, Muntinlupa City, Philippines to win the WBC International Flyweight title.

Bito, the WBC #16 ranked flyweight, fought on even ground with Sosa, 111.76, early on in the bout, but eventually wilted to the Mexican’s vicious attack. Sosa supporters had reason to worry early on, as an accidental head clash opened a cut on his forehead in the third round. The blood seemed to give Bito, 110.26, additional confidence, as he landed several hard shots in the third and fourth.

Another accidental clash late in the fourth opened another cut on Sosa’s forehead late in the fourth. With two bad cuts bleeding steadily before the fight had gone long enough to become official, the bout was in danger of being stopped as a no contest. Especially considering Bito, fighting in North America for the first time, was having considerable success – it would not have been a surprise if the Mexican official stopped the fight at that convenient juncture.

Just as it seemed Sosa was in trouble, he rocked Bito just before the bell to end the fourth. As the fight entered into the middle rounds and the blood coming from his cuts stopped flowing, Sosa began to control the action. Sosa, in his third fight as a flyweight since dropping his WBC 108-pound title in controversial fashion to Rodel Mayol, varied his attack to Bito’s body and head, and started backing up the Filipino.

One minute into the tenth, Sosa dropped Bito with a horrid left body shot. Bito looked done, but gamely rose to his feet, and immediately entered into a fiery exchange with Sosa. A minute later, Sosa dropped Bito again with the same exact shot. Again Bito got up before the count of ten, but referee Guadalupe Garcia wisely stopped the contest. Official time of the stoppage was 2:05 of round ten. “I’d like to have one more fight before I fight for the title,” said Sosa after the fight.

Ana Maria Torres (22-3-2, 13 KOs) of Mexico City pleased her compatriots on hand at the bullring with an almost shockingly dominant ten-round unanimous decision over Alesia Graf (24-2, 9 KOs) of Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany to retain her WBC Super Flyweight title. Torres, 114.4, dropped Graf, 114.4, twice in the third round and continued to control the entire fight. Graf, the reigning WIBF/GBU 122-pound title-holder, not only had the superior boxing skills of Torres to deal with, she slipped at several instances on the rain dampened mat. Torres seemed on the verge of scoring a stoppage in the ninth, but Graf managed to make it the distance. All three judges scored the bout for Torres, 100-88.

Photos by Notimex

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

Yuriorkis Gamboa suffered the fifth knockdown of his career but like the other four, he got off the deck and won. Gamboa scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Orlando Salido to regain his WBA and capture the IBF Featherweight championship at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gamboa boxed nicely and took most of the first six rounds by landing shots and moving in and out. Salido, the cagey veteran that he is made the fight a raggedy one as he bored in and either tied up Gamboa or landed some pitter pat combinations

In round eight, Salido connected on a perfect right to the chin and dropped Gamboa for the fifth time in his young career. Gamboa got things going again in round ten when he landed a combination that he followed up with a huge left hook that bucked the knees of Salido. In round eleven, Gamboa trapped Salido in the corner and landed a combination. While in the corner, the two clashed heads and a bad cut opened up on the right side of Salido’s forehead.

The twelfth was a wild when as Gamboa dropped Salido with a quick left hook. Gamboa went to end things and actually sent Salido to the canvas again but while Salido was down Gamboa landed a shot to the back of the head. Referee Joe Cortez immediately docked two points from Gamboa. Not much happened in the last moment and Gamboa held on for the victory

Gamboa of Cuba won by scores of 114-109; 115-109 and 116-109 to stay undefeated at 19-0. Salido of Mexico, actually lost his belt on the scales at the second day weigh in as he gained twelve pounds over night when IBF by laws only allow a ten pound gain. Salido is now 34-11-2.

Brandon Rios scored a disqualification victory over Anthony Peterson in a scheduled twelve round Lightweight bout.

The two went to war ealy as they stood in the pocket and started throwing heavy punches in close. In round two, Rios started to impose his will as he started landing wicked uppercuts that got Peterson’s attention. Rios continued to pound away at Peterson and hurting him on several occasions.

In round five, Rios landed a big left hook that dropped Peterson for the first time in his career. clearly shaken, Peterson’s shots started straying low and in the next round he was deducted twice for low blows. Ironically Peterson seemed to have been steadying himself for two round until a left that went below the belt just as the bell rang to end round seven and referee Russell Mora waved the fight off due to the excessive low blows.

Rios of Oxnard, CA is now 25-0-1. Peterson is now 30-1.

Diego Magdaleno scored a fifth round stoppage over Carlos Oliveira in a scheduled six round Lightweight bout.

Magdaleno dropped Oliveira with a right hook in round two and hurt him badly again with the same punch in the next round. Magdaleno kept up the pressure until referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout at 1:13 of round five.

Magdaleno, 131 lbs of Las Vegas is now 16-0 with four knockouts. Oliveira, 134 1/2 lbs of Brazil is now 25-2

Notre Dame Grad Mike Lee made easy work of Alex Rivera by stopping him at 2:59 of round two of a scheduled four round Light Heavyweight bout.

Lee, 176 1/2 lbs of Wheaton, IL is now 2-0 with one knockouts. Rivera, 173 lbs of Las Vegas is now 2-3.

Seventeen year old wunderkind, Jose Benavidez scored his eighth consecutive knockout in as many fights as he took out Manuel Del Cid in round two of a scheduled six round Lightweight bout.

Benavidez scored well with a hard body shot that hurt Del Cid in round one. He hit Del Cid with similar shot in round two that backed Del Cid into the corner and landed a couple more shots before referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout forty-one seconds into round two.

Benvavidez, 138 1/2 lbs of Phoenix, Arizona is 8-0 with eight knockouts. Del Cid, 138 1/2 lbs of Los Angeles is 4-3.

Matt Korobov remained undefeated by scoring an eight round unanimous decision over Anthony Greenridge.

It was a good fight with Greenridge trying hard against the much more skilled Korobov. Greenridge was cut badly around the right eye by Korobov’s combination punching. Korobov had a varied attack of body and head punches. Greenridge’s cut worsened in the final round and was rocked hard on the chin midway through the final stanza.

Korobov, 160 lbs of Russia won by scores of 79-73 on all cards and remained undefeated at 12-0. Greenridge, 159 lbs of Atlanta is now 14-5-1

Photos By Chris Farina / Top Rank

Follow all the action as Yuriorkis Gamboa puts his WBA Featherweight title on the line when he takes on IBF champion Orlando Salido from the Palms in Las Vegas. The action begins at 10pm eastern with an intriguing battle of undefeated Lightweight’s featuring Anthony Peterson and Brandon Rios.

REFRESH AFTER EACH ROUND

12 Rounds WBA/IBF Featherweight championship–Yuriorkis Gamboa (18-0, 15 KO’s) vs. Orlando Salido (34-10-2, 22 KO’s)

Round 1 Good right from Gamboa..Handpeed from Gamboa…right to the body…10-9 Gamboa

Round 2 left from Salido..Gamboa lands a jab..20-19 Gambia

Round 3: Gamboa lands a big flurry..Good right from Salido…30-28 Gamboa

Round 4 Good jab from Gamboa…Lead left..left hook to the body…40-37 Gamboa

Round 5 Good left from Gamboa..Salido lands a sneaky right..50-47 Gamboa

Round 6 Raggedy action with Gamboa getting in a few shots…60-57 Gamboa

Round 7 Lots of holding and clutching..Gamboa lands a shot after the bell..70-67 Gamboa

Round 8 Right from Gamboa…HARD RIGHT FROM SALIDO AND DOWN GOES GAMBOA…Right from Salido…Left From Gamboa…78-77 Gamboa

Round 9 Left from Salido..Guys feet get tangled and both hit the canvas..87-87

Round 10 Combination and good left hurts Salido..97-96 Gamboa

Round 11 Gamboa lands a lead left hook and a right..Salido cut above left eye and doctor looks at it..accidental headbutt ruled..lead uppercut from Gamboa..107-105 Gamboa

Round 12 QUICK LEFT HOOK AND DOWN GOES SALIDO…Good left right combination..Left ..Hard combination and down goes Salido…Cortez saying Saildo was hit while he was down…Cortez deducts 2 points from Gamboa…115-112 Gamboa

12 Rounds Lightweights–Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KO’s) vs Brandon Rios (24-0-1, 18 KO’s)

Round 1: Trading body combination..Jab from Rios…good uppercut shakes Peterson..Good right and another from Peterson…10-10

Round 2: Uppercut from Rios..Good combination…right…left..Peterson lands a counter..Right from Rios snaps Peterson;s head back..good left hook to the body from Peterson..20-19 Rios

Round 3: Big uppercut from Rios…left uppercut…right..hook to the head..left..hook to the body..Peterson lands a left, right, counter right and 2 body shots..30-28 Rios

Round 4 Combination hurts Peterson..left hook..uppercut…hard left hurts Peterson..left hurts him again…uppercut inside,,,40-37 Rios

Round 5 Rios lands a good jab..ripping right…Short left…Peterson lands a left..BIG LEFT HOOK AND DOWN GOES PETERSON..50-45 Rios

Round 6 Peterson double jab..Low blow landed by Peterson and is warned..LOW BLOW AND PETERSON IS DEDUCTED A POINT…ANOTHER LOW BLOW AND A 2ND POINT IS DEDUCTED……59-53 Rios

Round 7 Rios lands an uppercut..Peterson lands a body shot..left and right from Peterson..Rios with a right..Peterson with a left..combination..left right staggers Peterson…nice combination..LOW BLOW AT THE BELL AND PETERSON GETS DISQUALIFIED

Wladimir Klitschko was dominant against as he reatined the Ring Magazine/IBF/WBO Heavyweight championship with a tenth round beatdown of Samuel Peter in a rematch of a bout from five years ago at in front of nearly 40,000 onlookers The Commerce Bank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany.

It was a typical fight for Klitschko as he dominated the fight with his jab that was consistently followed by a hard right hand. Peter’s eye began to swell as early as round two as a result of that jab. Klitschko continuously landed that same combination and forced Peter to be relegated to nothing more then attempted winging shots and seemed almost too happy to clinch on the inside.

Peter’s trainer Abel Sanchez tried to motivate his man after the seventh round by threatening to the stop the fight unless Peter started moving his hand. Peter tried in spots but it was was attempted shot at a time as he began to have a look of defeat on his face as his right eye closed.

Klitschko landed an uppercut in tenth that wobbled the challenger that followed up by a flurry of punches that were mostly glancing but it was enough to put Peter on his back that forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at 1:22 of round twn.

Klitschko, 247 lbs of Kiev, Ukraine made the ninth title defense of this reign, and now fourteenth title defense overall and his record is now 55-3 with forty-nine knockouts.

Peter, 241 1/2 lbs of Las Vegas is now 34-4 with three of his four loss coming to the Klitschko brothers.

Steve Molitor traveled to England and retained the IBF Jr. Featherweight title with a hard fought majority decision over Jason Booth in Houghton, England.

The bout was fought at close quarters with Molitor being just a bit more active and landing the better punchers against Booth, who was visibly the smaller man yet continued to come forward. Molitor had a big eighth round as he pounded Booth on the ropes but was unable to noticeably hurt the challenger.

The fight was close down the stretch with many of the rounds being close.

Molitor of Mississauga, Canada made the first defense of his second reign as champion. He has made five defenses of the belt in his tour as champion, won by scores of 116-112; 116-113 and 114-114 to raise his impressive mark to 33-1.

Booth of Nottingham, England is 35-6

Fresh off his minor upset win over Chris Avalos, Christopher Martin was workmanlike before stopping Jose Luis Araiza in the eighth and final scheduled round of their Featherweight bout at the Four Points Hilton in San Diego, California.

Martin enjoyed a size advantage and that allowed him to do what he needed to do but Araiza was tough as he tried to press the action and wasn’t afraid to stand toe to toe on occasion.

Midway through round seven, Martin scored a knockdown with a hard right hand. Martin ended things with a left at 2:03 of the final round.

Martin, 123 lbs of San Diego is now 20-0-2 with six knockouts. Araiza, 124 lbs of Mexico is now 32-3.

John O’Donnell scored a twelve round decision over former U.S. Olympian Terrance Cauthen at Old York Hall in London, England.

O’Donnell was the more active of the two combatants as Cauthen tried to dart in and out and tie up on the inside. O’Donnell picked up the tempo as the fight moved into the later rounds which was ironic since it’s Cauthen who has fought many more rounds in his pro career then O’Donnell.

The score by the referee was 118-112 for O’Donnell, 146.9 lbs of Sheperds Bush, England and is now 24-1. Cauthen, 147.1 lbs of Trenton, NJ is now 35-7.

Massive young Heavyweight Tyson Fury scored an eight round decision over late replacement Rich Power in a battle of undefeated fighters.

Fury was particularly effective with his long right hand that continued to push Power back. the effects of that punch was evident as Power was cut around the left eye in the third round but the blood was not a factor during the fight. Despite his 6’9″ frame, Fury fought very well on the inside with the exception of one big uppercut that Power landed in round six.

Power was exhausted down the stretch but made it to the finish line. Referee Jefferey Hinds was the only scorer and he saw a shutout, 80-72 in favor of Fury, 263 lbs of Manchester, England and is now 12-0. Power, 221 1/2 lbs of San Diego is 12-1.

“Power was a bit more awkward than I expected,” Fury said. “He was slipping and sliding all over the place but I handled him well enough to win each round.”

“When I weighed in at 221, I knew I was in trouble,” said Power, who was outweighed by 40-plus pounds. “But I refused to give up and I think I proved to his crowd that I have heart and desire. I love to fight.”

According to TMZ.com, pound for pound best fighter, Floyd Mayweather may have been involved in an incident this morning in Las Vegas.

Multiple cop cars from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department showed up at Mayweather’s home early this morning. We’re told cops received a call at 5:03 AM from Floyd’s baby mama, Josie Harris, who claimed the boxer attacked her.

Sources tell TMZ Harris went to Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas at some point after the incident and has now left.

Law enforcement sources say police were unable to find Floyd and are now looking to interview him.

Cops want to speak to Floyd before determining if they will arrest him.

TMZ was told Harris is going to court today to get a restraining order against Mayweather.

In 2003 Harris accused Mayweather of punching and kicking her inside a Bentley in Vegas. Charges were filed but dismissed in 2005 after Harris testified she lied to cops because she was angry that Floyd had left her for another woman.

This hasn’t been a particularly good week for Mayweather as he released a profanity laced tirade last week against Manny Pacquiao that drew criticism from the boxing community and various ethnic groups around the world

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the much rumored four man Bantamweight tournament will begin December 11 in Leon, Mexico and will feature first round fights between Vic Darchinyan taking on Abner Mares and a rematch between Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko.

Gary Shaw, who promotes Darchinyan and Perez, said the tournament, which has been in the works for a couple of months, was finalized during an afternoon conference call.

“It’s a very exciting night of fights for a great year-ending card on Showtime,” Shaw said. “Time to see who the real 118-pound champion will be.”

“I think it’s a great opportunity for these guys,” said Frank Espinoza, who manages Mares and Perez. “I think what Showtime is doing for the bantamweight division is great. You have four top boxers in the division. The winner of the tournament will be a superstar in the making. There’s a lot of good stuff in this tournament and I am looking forward to this.

“I know Abner and Yonnhy are also looking forward to the tournament. We are happy that everyone involved, Gary Shaw, [Mares promoter] Golden Boy, [Agbeko promoter] Don King and Ken Hershman from Showtime made this happen. We’re really excited.”

Jorge Solis scored two knockdowns en route to a six round stoppage over previously undefeated Francisco Cordero to retain the interim WBA Interim Super Featherweight championship in Solis’ hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Solis dominated the bout as he dropped Cordero in round one from a hard flurry in the corner. In round four he landed a booming right that sent Cordero to his knees and got up at the count of nine. Cordero barely continued in the contest. In round six, Solis landed approximately ten unanswered blows for which there were a handful of hard uppercuts that forced the referee to stop the fight at 1:45 of round six.

Solis of Guadalajara is now 40-2-2 with twenty-nine knockouts. Cordero of Colombia is now 23-1.

Omar Nino retained the WBC Light Flyweight title when challenger Ronald Berrera did not answer the bell for round seven of their scheduled twelve round round title bout.

Nino clashed heads on several occasions but landed the more telling blows and Barrera started to have a look of resignation on his face and called it quits before round seven began.

Nino of Guadalajara, Mexico is now 30-3-2 with twelve knockouts. Barrera of Colombia is now 27-8-2.

Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. remained undefeated as he scored a four round unanimous decision over Victor Orosco.

Gonzalez Jr. is now 3-0-1. Orosoco is now 8-7-3.

Felix Sturm returned after an almost fourteen month layoff to retain the WBA Middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Giovanni Lorenzo in Cologne, Germany

Sturm dominated the action with with a stiff jab that was followed up by occasional right hands while Lorenzo never mounted more then a solid body attack.

Scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 for Sturm who is now 34-2-1 and made the ninth total defense over three title reigns. Lorenzo is now 29-3 and was making his second attempt at a world title.

Former German amateur star Erkan Teper made a successful pro debut with a third round stoppage over veteran Marcel Zeller in a scheduled six round bout.

Teper dropped Zeller with a left hand in round three and bloodied a battered Zeller until the fight was stopped in that same round.

Teper is 1-0 with one knockout. Zeller is now 22-8.

Mike Keta scored a six round unanimous decision over Atila Kiss.

Keta is now 6-1. Kiss is 9-58-3.

According to wire service reports, John Arum, the forty-nine year old son of Hall of Fame Promoter Bob Arum was found dead on Friday evening after a five day search found his body on the mountain.

Arum, a avid outdoorsman, was looking the climb the Storm King mountain outside of Seattle when he failed to come home on Sunday evening after a weekend climbing expedition.

According to reports, It wasn’t immediately possible to retrieve the body but it was clear to searchers in the helicopter that the 49-year-old Seattle environmental attorney was dead, Olson said. Those involved in the search said Arum likely died in a fall, Said Kerry Olson who is a spokesperson for the North Cascades Park

The search for Arum began Monday after he failed to return from a weekend trip to climb the mountain, which is about 85 miles northeast of Seattle.

15rounds.com sends out heartfelt condolences to Arum and his family.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that former Jr. Welterweight and Welterweight champion Zab Judah may fight undefeated Argentinian Lucas Matthysse on November6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

“HBO likes the match,” Said Richard Schaefer. “So we are trying to work it out.”

Said Main Events chief Kathy Duva, “We are trying very hard to make it happen, but Zab is definitely interested. I’m all for it, but it’s a complicated thing to do. But I think if it’s going to happen, we’ll have it worked out in the next couple of days.”

Schaefer said former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist Robert Guerrero is slated for the televised co-feature. Schaefer said he could challenge lightweight titlist Miguel Vazquez.

“We’ve discussed that fight and HBO is interested. We’re talking to the Vazquez camp,” Schaefer said.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBC/Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight champion Jean Pascal will take on former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight king Bernard Hopkins on December 18th in Quebec City, Canada

“We agreed on everything,” Hopkins said. “There is no issue. There is no problem with my side or Pascal’s side. The contracts have been drafted. It’s a done deal. All I gotta do is sign.”

Hopkins said he is reviewing the contract, but “I’ll probably sign it before Friday because the [Labor Day] holiday is coming up and I’m going away for a few days.”

Said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, Hopkins’ promoter, “The fact is that both sides have agreed to the terms. Now we have to get it signed, but I don’t anticipate any problems.

“Both fighters really wanted the fight. If you have two fighters who really want to fight each other then I think the promoters just have to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. I am excited to work with [Pascal promoter] Yvon Michel. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“It’s a big fight for Pascal and a big fight in Quebec,” Said Don Majeski who is the agent for Pascal. “Hopkins is one of the biggest stars in boxing and those are the kind of fights Pascal wants.”

“It could be live on Showtime. We’re having discussions,” Schaefer said. “Or it could be pay-per-view.”

“It’s a crossroads fight. It doesn’t get more crossroads than this one,” Schaefer said. “You have the young guy coming off the biggest win of his career and he’s at an all-time high. Can he beat another star like he did with Dawson? Then you have Hopkins, the experienced veteran wanting to again turn back the clock. Can he do it again and beat an emerging star like he’s done before? It’s a fascinating fight.”

Hopkins, who made a record 20 middleweight title defenses, won the lineal light heavyweight title against Tarver and lost it on a split decision to Joe Calzaghe in 2008. Regaining it is important to Hopkins.

“I need it around my waist,” Hopkins said. “This fight will prove to the world that I am not done.

“I hold no malice or bad feelings to those who are concerned about me, but I’ve always been a son of a bitch when it comes to rising up to the occasion. This for me is the type of fight where I have to top what I’ve done before. I want to keep giving them something where they can’t understand how I’m doing it.”

“I was going through my memory and I had a conversation with [trainer] Naazim [Richardson] and we got stuck on just [two] guys,” Hopkins said of heavyweight George Foreman and light heavyweight Archie Moore.

“It’s a very short list of the guys who’ve done that, so that’s one of my motivations,” Hopkins said. “To make that happen and to add it on top of all the other unusual things I have done in my career, it’s very motivating to me.”

“I have no problem going to Canada,” he said. “I suggested we go to Canada based on the fans that Pascal has up there. And the Canadians have been making a lot of noise lately with [super middleweight titlist Lucian] Bute and Pascal.”

Hopkins, of Philadelphia, has not fought outside the United States since 1994, when he received a draw against hometown fighter Segundo Mercado in a vacant middleweight title bout in Quito, Ecuador.

“I’d rather be fighting in Canada than Ecuador,” Hopkins said.