WBO #12 junior middleweight Carlos “Chema” Ocampo (29-1, 19 KOs) scored a second round KO over Iván “Demolisher” Matute (30-4, 25 KOs) on Saturday night at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, BCN, Mexico. A vicious body attack by Ocampo put Matute on the canvas three times in the second round. Official time was 1:52. Matute spent a few minutes on the deck writhing in pain, but eventually got up with an ice pack on his liver.

Former WBA flyweight world champion Juan Carlos Reveco (40-4, 19 KOs) returned to the ring for the first time in over 3 years. His last appearance was in February 2018 losing in a world title opportunity versus hen world champion Donnie Nietes. The 37-year-old Reveco ground out a dominating but hard-earned unanimous decision victory over local journeyman Jeremias Javier Ulibarre (8-12-1, 1 KO) on Saturday night at the Club Atlético Talleres, Villa Gobernador Galvez, Santa Fe, Argentina. The official scores were 60-55, 60-54, and 60-53.5 all in favor of Reveco. Continue reading “Ex-champ Reveco returns with win in Argentina”

Undefeated WBO #7, IBF #9, WBC #12 welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs) overpowered and knocked out former world champion and IBF #3 rated Sergey Lipinets (16-2-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. A Lipinets slip in round four was incorrectly ruled a knockdown. No mistake about the knockdown in round six, however. A straight left put Lipinets down and out. Time was 2:11. Another dominant and impressive performance by Ennis.

“I’ll always be hard on myself when I look back at my performance,” said Ennis. “My goal is to keep getting better, sharper, faster and stronger so I can become world champion. As long as I keep fighting top guys, I’m happy. I feel like I will be world champion by the end of this year or beginning of next year. Patience is the key though. Continue reading “Ennis KOs Lipinets in six”

The “Common Man” Joe Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KOs) took a hard fought majority decision over Maxim Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) to claim the vacant WBO light heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The lanky awkward Vlasov outworked Smith early and cut Smith over the left eye in round one. That cut troubled Smith the rest of the way. Smith connected with a big right hand in round two, but Vlasov continued to outwork him. Vlasov started bleeding from the mouth in round five. Smith landed some big shots in round seven. Vlasov rebounded well in round eight and had a big round nine as Smith faded. Smith rallied in round eleven. Vlasov went down down but referee Gary Ritter ruled it a punch behind the head. Still, a big round for Smith. Smith also won round twelve. Scores were 114-114, 115-113, 115-112.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Smith. “It was definitely a close, tough fight. I give it to Vlasov. Great fighter. He really put on a great show tonight and toughed it out. I believe that round where I hurt him there… I believe he had his head down, and I should’ve got the knockout. I think I would’ve got the stoppage that {11th} round, but he pulled it off and made it out on his feet. I believe I got the victory tonight because they saw I landed the harder shots. He landed a lot of punches. It was a great fight. Continue reading “Smith edges Vlasov to win WBO LH title”

IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs) retained his title against Jonathan Rodríguez (22-2, 16 KOs) in a slugfest on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Toe-to-toe action for all twelve rounds. Ancajas battered Rodriguez to the canvas with a barrage of punches in round eight. Scores were unanimous for Ancajas 115-112, 116-111, 117-110.

Unbeaten welterweight Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator. Stanionis pressed the action and won 115-113, 116-112, 117-111.

Undefeated heavyweight Mike Balogun (17-0, 13 KOs) scored a second round KO over Keith Barr (20-14-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at The Rustica in Vero Beach, Florida. Balogun dropped Barr three times in round two to end it. Time was 2:45.

A wild clash between cruiserweights Johnnie Langston (9-3, 5 KOs) and Demetrius Banks (10-10-1, 3 KOs) ended in a no-contest. Both fighters were down in round one. Banks suffered a leg injury in round three when Langston threw him down from a clinch and the bottom rope snapped.

Unbeaten WBC #11, WBA #11 heavyweight Efe Ajagba (15-0, 12 KOs) explosively knocked Brian “MVP” Howard (15-5, 12 KOs) out cold in round three in the Smith-Vlasov co-feature on Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A massive right hand that sounded like a cannon shot landing on the ear of Howard sent him twisting to the canvas live a pretzel. Time was 1:29.

Unbeaten heavyweight Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (9-0, 9 KOs) scored a second round KO over Jeremiah “The Bullfrog” Karpency (16-3-1, 6 KOs) Anderson dropped Karpency with a body shot in round one. Identical punch in round two put Karpency down for the count. Time was :34. Continue reading “Ajagba, Real Big Baby score early knockouts”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Jack Maris (2-1, 0 KOs) in round one at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia on Saturday. Referee Paul Tapley saved 6’9 Maris from further punishment at 2:50.

“It feels amazing, it feels fantastic to be back,” Huni said. “It is what it is. It’s out of my control. I did all the hard work. There’s no pressure.” Huni is 2019 amateur world championship bronze medalist. Continue reading “Huni victorious, remains unbeaten”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Unbeaten Yousef Dib (15-0, 7 KOs) captured the vacant Australian super lightweight title against Hunter Ioane (8-2-1, 5 KOs) on Friday at Club Punchbowl, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Dib was down in round one, but came back to control the fight in most of the rounds as he outworked Ioane on the inside and at long range. Scores were Will Soulos 97-92, Ian Batty 97-92, Charlie Lucas 96-93. Dib holds a 2015 amateur victory over world-rated Conor Benn and lost by split decision to current IBF, WBA super lightweight champion Josh Taylor in the amateur ranks. Continue reading “Dib captures Aussie 140lb crown”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Hard-punching IBF#6 Keita Obara (24-4-1, 21 KOs), 146.25, kept his Japanese welterweight belt as he edged game and gallant Shoki Sakai (25-12-2, 13 KOs), 146.25, by a close but unanimous decision (all 96-94) over ten hard-fought rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

Obara, making his initial defense, was at first befuddled by Sakai’s aggressiveness from the outset, but tried to outbox and outpunch the willing mixer in the first half, which read by open scoring system: 48-47 twice for the champ and 47-48 for the challenger. Continue reading “IBF #6 Obara defeats Sakai, keeps Japanese 147lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi

Prohibitive favorite Tsunami Tenkai (28-12-1, 16 KOs), 107.5, impressively kept her WBO female junior flyweight belt as she displayed her superior speed and skills, gave a lesson to Shione Ogata (11-7-1, 3 KOs), 107.5, and scored a shutout decision (identically 100-89) over ten lopsided rounds on Sunday in Osaka, Japan.

Tenkai, making her third defense, effectively battered the challenger and floored her with quick combinations in round two. Though Ogata fought back hard, Tenkai had them missing with her flexible mobility and scored with accurate counters nearly at will. Continue reading “Tenkai shuts out Ogata, keeps WBO female 108lb belt”

Unbeaten prospect Kevin Luis Munoz (12-0, 5 KOs) of Argentina TKO’d countryman Matias Emanuel Iriarte Monserrat (8-7-2, 3 KOs) in round four. Munoz successfully defended his South American super flyweight title. The 10 round main event took place Saturday night at the Complejo Multifuncion, Perez, Santa Fe, Argentina. Continue reading “Munoz KOs Monserrat in four”

Heavyweight Joey “The Tank” Dawejko (21-8-4, 12 KOs) scored a first round KO over Joe Jones (11-4, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Dawejko overpowered Jones, dropping him twice in round one to get the win at 2:50. Continue reading “Dawejko demolishes Jones in one”

In the most impressive performance of his career, WBO super featherweight champion Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) dominated, then stopped Carl “The Jackal” Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) in round six on Saturday night at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai in Dubai, UAE. Southpaw Herring dropped Frampton with a straight left in round five. Herring then dropped Frampton again with an uppercut in round six, and battered him until Frampton’s corner threw in the towel. Time was 1:40.

After the fight, the 34-year-old Frampton announced his retirement. Herring, 35, called out WBC champ Oscar Valdez.

WBO President Paco Valcarcel tweeted, “Congratulations to our 130 lbs world champion! Now he must face the winner of the Shakur Stevenson-Jeremiah Nakathila bout scheduled for June 12.”

In his first bout since 2018, 38-year-old four-division world champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes (43-1-5, 23 KOs) easily outboxed WBA #8 rated Pablo Carrillo (25-8-1, 16 KOs) over ten one-sided rounds to claim the vacant WBO International super flyweight title on the Herring-Frampton undercard Saturday night at the Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai in Dubai, UAE. Scores were 96-95!?, 98-92, 99-91. Continue reading “Ex-champ Nietes schools Carrillo”