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By Matt Thompson at ringside

Highly regarded defending IBA world and WBA/NABA jr middleweight champion Mark DeLuca, 21-1, 13 KOs of Whitman, MA suffered his first defeat, losing a 12-round split decision to former amateur standout Walter Wright of Seattle, WA, 17-4, 8 KOs at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavillion in Gilford, New Hampshire.

The slick-boxing Wright started well, using a fast jab and clever right hand leads to jump to an early start, but DeLuca cut the distance and bullied Wright to the ropes in the middle rounds, banging away at the body and roughing Wright up whenever he got close. Continue reading “Wright shocks DeLuca for NABA and IBA belts”

By Ron Jackson

A confident looking Thulani Mbenge of South Africa’s coming into the ring without his customary dreadlocks gave a polished performance when he stopped Diego Gabriel Chaves from Argentina in the seventh round to win the vacant IBO welterweight belt at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Saturday night. Continue reading “Mbenge stops Chaves, wins vacant IBO belt”

By Gabriel F. Cordero

WBC #1 rated super featherweight Miguel “Micky” Román (60-12, 47 KOs) scored a second round KO over previously unbeaten Venezuelan KO artist Michel Marcano (17-1-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at the Fería de Juárez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. A body shot finished Marcano, who was facing his first ever opponent with a winning record. Roman is WBC super featherweight champion Miguel “Alacrán” Berchelt’s mandatory challenger.

Undefeated super lightweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) continued to impress with a third round knockout victory over former world champion Juan Carlos Salgado (27-9-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at The Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, California. A brutal left hook to the body finished Salgado.

In the co-main event, Hector “Finito” Tanajara Jr. (14-0, 5 KOs) outpointed Roger Gutierrez (18-2-1, 15 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight battle.

In a WBC super lightweight eliminator, unbeaten 2012 Olympian Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) defeated former WBC world champion Viktor Postol (29-2, 12 KOs) at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Close, good action fight. Taylor dropped Postol in round ten. Correct man won, but the 118-110, 117-110, 119-108 seemed way too lopsided. Judges had Postol winning two, three, and one round against hometown hero Taylor.

2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Tony Yoka (5-0, 5 KOs) scored a tenth round TKO over tough guy Dave Allen (13-4-2, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at the Dome de Paris-Palais des Sports in Paris, France. Yoka dominated as expected and a barrage of unanswered punches prompted a referee’s stoppage.

Sad news. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has reported the passing Sam Macias, the former Nevada State Athletic Commission member and President of the North American Boxing Federation.

Well known boxing official Pete Podgorski has resigned his position as a Chicago City Committeeman. Pete was first elected Committeeman (R) 36th Ward Chicago in March of 2012 from a field of four candidates. After city re-zoning put Podgorski’s residence in Chicago’s 38th Ward, he was re-elected Committeeman 38th Ward in March of 2016. He is passing on the position to the younger generation.

Former interim WBO interim middleweight champion Avtandil Khurtsidze is facing up to forty years in prison after being found guilty on racketeering, wire fraud and other charges.

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Micky Roman 129.50 vs. Michel Marcano 129.80

Diana Fernández 112.65 vs. Olga Julio 111.55
Bryan Flores 137 vs. Flavio César Ramos 134.20

Venue: Feria de Juarez en Plaza de la Mexicanidad
Promoter: Promociones del Pueblo
TV: Televisa (Mexico)

By Brad Snyder

Ten Count Promotions along with Jackie Kallen and Thomas “Hitman” Hearns present Pro Boxing live from the International Banquet Center at the Atheneum Suite Hotel in Detroit Mi on Saturday. Fights begin at 7PM. Tickets available at the door or by Neptix.com

Taylor Duerr 177.7 vs. Leroy Jones 177.7
Derrick Coleman 161.9 vs. Deantuan Jackson 169.4
Ardreal Holmes 155.4 vs. Domonique Foster 155.4
Cedric Paul 162.5 vs. Antonio Hernandez weigh in later
Christion White 145.1 vs. Terrence Arrington 148.7
Paolo Parente 208.4 vs. Daniel Henry 249.5

Photos

Vergil Ortiz Jr 139.4 vs. JC Salgado 139.8

Hector Tanajara Jr 135 vs. Roger Gutierrez 134.2
Ferdinand Kerobyan 154 vs. Edgar Garcia 150.4
Meiirim Nursultanov 163.6 vs. Josue Obando 164

Venue: Belasco Theater, Los Angeles
Promoter: Golden Boy
TV: ESPN2

Martin Murray lashed out at WBC silver middleweight champion Roberto “Amenaza” Garcia ahead of their big clash on Saturday night at London’s o2. The feuding fighters clashed after both weighing in for Garcia’s title defense against the St Helens man, where the mandatory position for Gennady Golovkin’s WBC crown is at stake.

After weighing in the pair had an intense 15 second stare just inches apart, but when they turned to face the press and TV cameras, Murray saw red. He muttered, then shoved the Mexican sending him hurtling. It sparked a furious reaction from Garcia’s trainers and calm was only restored when security guards separated the teams.

Roberto Garcia 158 vs. Martin Murray 159.6
(WBC Silver middleweight title

Anthony Yarde 174.5 vs. Darius Sek 174.5
(WBO IC & European light heavyweight title

Daniel Dubois 236.5 vs. Tom Little 250
(English heavyweight title)

Paul Kamanga 139.25 vs. Ohara Davies 139.3
(WBC International super lightweight title)

Inoue’s brother #9 Takuma to face #3 Yap in WBC 118lb eliminator; IBF 122lb champ Iwasa to meet #1 Doheny

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Boxing Beat, Joe Koizumi

Every week some promoters make public announcements of forthcoming big events here in Japan. Ohashi Promotions, presided by former WBC/WBA 105-pound champ Hideyuki Ohashi, had a press conference on Thursday to announce a WBC bantamweight eliminator to decide the #1 official challenger to the championship that is still vacant at this moment to be disputed by the leading available contenders soon.

Unbeaten prospect Takuya Inoue (11-0, 3 KOs), the younger brother of the WBA bantam ruler “Monster” Naoya, will cope with OPBF titleholder #3 Mark John Yap (29-12, 14 KOs), a Japan-based Filipino import residing in Osaka, in Tokyo, Japan, on September 11. Yap’s OBPF belt will not be on the line. Continue reading “Japan Update”

Zlaticanin suffered both a broken nose and a broken jaw

In a shocker, former WBC lightweight world champion “Dynamite” Dejan Zlaticanin (23-2, 16 KOs) was annihilated in two rounds by massive underdog Tijuana fighter Roberto “The Rifle” Ramirez (18-2-1, 13 KOs) on Thursday night at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Action-packed fight. Ramirez was rocked himself but dropped Zlaticanin twice to get the second round stoppage. To give you an idea of how big of an upset this is, Ladbrokes listed Zlaticanin as a 10,000:1 favorite.

In the main event, unbeaten welterweight Mikkel Les Pierre (20-0-1, 9 KOs) halted Gustavo Vittori (20-4-1, 11 KOs) in round seven.

By Joe Koizumi

Somebody up there doesn’t like the Japanese bantamweight championship bout, which hasn’t taken place since January—with three cancellations. The national 118-pound title bout for the vacant throne of former world challenger Suguru Muranaka and Yuta Saito was scheduled to be held today (Friday), but it was abruptly cancelled yesterday since Muranaka, who reportedly failed to make weight, was hospitalized probably due to dehydration.

Before mentioning Muranaka, we pay our attention to the Japanese bantamweight title go at first. On January 18, defending champ Ryo Akaho, who had often committed an overweight incident, was hospitalized because of dehydration a couple of days before the fight and his defense with the top contender Yusuke Suzuki was therefore called off with Akaho’s belt vacant. Continue reading “Muranaka hospitalized; Japan’s bantam title bout cancelled”