World Fighting Championships scored a knockout comeback this past Saturday at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, CA.

In the main event of WFC 98, jr middleweight Madiyar Ashkeyev (11-0, 6 KOs) from Kazakhstan but now fighting out of Oxnard, CA scored a unanimous decision over veteran Luis Hernandez (16-7, 9 KOs) of Puerto Rico. The scores were 98-91 (twice) and 99-90.

In the co-feature, middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov (9-0, 7 KOs) – also from Kazakhstan but now fighting out of Oxnard, CA – knocked out Ramon Aguinaga (13-1, 9 KOs) of Chula Vista, CA at 2:50 of the second round.

Both Ashkeyev and Nursultanov train at the Boxing Laboratory in Oxnard, CA which produced WBO/WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. Continue reading “Ashkeyev, Nursultanov win at Chumash Casino”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

In the main event of the first show celebrating this year’s Carnival of Champions, Ryoichi Tamura (12-3-1, 6 KOs), 121.75, acquired the vacant Japanese super-bantamweight belt by an upset decision (99-91 twice, 97-93) over Mugicha Nakagawa (AKA Yuta Nakagawa/his real name Yuta Takeda; 24-6-1, 14 KOs), 122, in a furious ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Continue reading “Tamura upsets Nakagawa to win Japanese 122lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

The 40th annual Carnival of Champions where all Japanese national champions are obliged to defend their belts against mandatory challengers started with unexpected results on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The Korakuen Hall became a house of upsets.

Unheralded JBC#1 Norihito Tanaka (18-7, 10 KOs), 105, stunned the crowd when he displayed a remarkable opening attack, dropped WBC#13/WBA#13/IBF#12/WBO#5 defending titlist Shin Ono (23-10-3, 6 KOs), 105, with a smashing right in the third and accelerated his rallies to deck the champ again to cause the referee Biney Martin’s intervention at 0:22 of the eighth round in a scheduled ten. Continue reading “Tanaka upsets Ono to win Japanese 105lb belt”

By Rocky Morales at ringside
Photos: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions

Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant (18-0, 10 KOr) captured the IBF super middleweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over defending champion, Jose Uzcategui (28-3, 23 KOr) on Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. Plant got off to a blazing fast start with two knockdowns in the first four rounds, each with left hooks.

Uzcategui, however, remained the aggressor and came on strong in the middle rounds only to start fading in the late rounds. It was a war of attrition with Uzcategui looking fresher at the end while Plant was a bloody mess but comfortably ahead on the scorecards. Ultimately, Plant simply outboxed Uzcategui who was not busy enough and failed to keep his middle round momentum going. By unanimous scores of 116-110, 115-111 and 116-110, Plant becomes a world champion in his eighteenth professional bout. Continue reading “Plant dethrones Uzcategui, wins IBF 168lb title”

By Rocky Morales at ringside
Photos: Luis Mejia/TGB Promotions

Former unified super bantamweight champion Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (18-1, 12 KOs) made his ring return a successful one with a first round knockout over Giovanni Delgado (16-9, 9 KOs) on Sunday night in a super bantamweight clash at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Rigondeaux was fighting for the first time in 13 months following his loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko. A perfectly placed lead left cross landed flush on the chin of Delgado at the bell to put him down for the count at 3:00 of the first round of a scheduled eight round super bantamweight bout. This is the fourth consecutive time, three times in the last 10 months, that Delgado has been stopped. With the victory, the now 38-year-old Rigondeaux instantly becomes a title contender to fellow PBC fighters Leo Santa Cruz and Gary Russell Jr. Continue reading “Rigondeaux destroys Delgado in one round”

By Rocky Morales and Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa (18-0, 13KO) made easy work out of former WBA interim super bantamweight champ Moises Flores, knocking him down with a left hook in the second round and moments later with a barrage of punches to knock him out.

Figueroa hurt Flores to the body leading up to each knockdown before coming back upstairs with a power punch to drop him. Figueroa is the younger brother (just 22 years old) of undefeated former WBC lightweight champion, Omar Figueroa Jr. This bout was a WBA super bantamweight eliminator so with the win, Figueroa becomes the mandatory challenger to WBA super bantamweight champion, Daniel Roman.

Ahmed Elbiali (18-1, 15KO) brutalized and knocked out former world title challenger, Allen Green (33-6, 22KO) at 1:16 of the third round of a scheduled eight round light heavyweight bout. Green, having fought just once in the prior five years, was a shell of his former self and knocked down in the first round, again in the second round and should not even have been allowed to proceed, by the referee, into the third round as he was not at all in the fight. Elbiali, to his credit, did what he had to do but still does not look like a legitimate threat to the light heavyweight champions. Continue reading “Undercard Results from Los Angeles”

By Ricardo Ibarra
Photos: Mike Blair/Boxingprospects.net

Notching his most impressive win to date, unbeaten Jr. lightweight prospect Giovanni Cabrera-Mioletti (15-0, 6 KOs) scored a decisive third round stoppage win over former world title contender Antonio Escalante (29-10, 20 KOs) on Friday night at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.

Cabrera-Mioletti went to work early and dropped Escalante mid-way through the second round. In the third, Cabrera-Mioletti picked up the pressure and sent his foe to the matt for one last time with a series of hooks. The referee called an end to the fight at 1:48 of the round. Continue reading “Cabrera-Mioletti stops Escalante in three”

In an upset, super lightweight Jaider Parra (33-2-1, 21 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Fabian “TNT” Maidana (16-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Scores were 98.5-94, 98-94.5 and 97.5-95.5. Fabian Maidana is the younger brother of former champ Marcos Maidana, who was making his debut as a promoter with this event.

In another upset on the same card, super lightweight journeyman Jonathan Jose Eniz (23-11-1, 9 KOs) took a ten round unanimous decision against Cesar Rene Cuenca (48-3, 2 KOs). Scores were 97.5-94, 98-94, 98-94.5. The feather-fisted Cuenca, who was once 48-0, has now lost three straight.

Former female world champions Silvia “Guerrerita” Torres and Zulina “Loba” Muñoz were both victorious in separate bouts on Saturday night at the Gimnasio del Sindicato de Trabajadores del Metro in Mexico City.

Torres (20-1-1, 7 KOs) dominated from the opening bell and won when Norleidys Graterol (10-2, 8 KOs) didn’t come out for round six in a light flyweight encounter.

Muñoz (49-2-2, 29 KOs) won when Arely Valente (12-4-1, 6 KOs) didn’t come out for round six in a super flyweight clash. “Loba” is aiming to regain the WBC super flyweight title and avenge her loss to Lupita Martinez. Continue reading “Torres, Munoz victorious in Mexico City”

In a clash of unbeaten lightweights, rising star Devin Haney (21-0, 13 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Xolisani Ndongeni (25-1, 13 KOs) on Friday night at StageWorks of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana. Haney dropped Ndongeni with a right hand in round two and dominated the fight. Scores were 100-89, 99-90, 100-89. Continue reading “ShoBox Results from Shreveport, LA”

E Butts Jr Promotions had the distinction of presenting the first boxing card of 2019 in the United States. Last Saturday at the Shrine Temple in Macon, Georgia, unbeaten cruiserweight Johnnie Langston (5-0, 3 KOs) was victorious when Brad Austin (13-30, 9 KOs) couldn’t come out for round two in the main event.

Former world champion and future Hall of Famer Floyd “Money” Mayweather easily demolished kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round of a boxing exhibition on Monday night at the Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan. Smiling the whole way, 41-year-old Floyd dropped 20-year-old Nasukawa three times before the one-sided slaughter was halted. The result will not go on either fighters’ official boxing or MMA records.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Sumio Yamada

In an encounter of three-class ex-champions, Filipino veteran Donnie Nietes (42-1-5, 23 KOs), 115, was awarded a split verdict over Japanese speedster Kazuto Ioka (23-2, 13 KOs), 114.5, to acquire the vacant WBO junior bantamweight belt on New Year’s Eve at the Wynn Place Kotai, Macao, China. The hairline tallies were as follows: Patricia Morse Jarman (US) 116-112, Levi Martinez (US) 118-110, both for Nietes, and Samuel Nieto Gonzalez (Panama) 116-112 for Ioka. The third man was Robert Byrd (US).

Ioka, an artful dodger, made best use of his faster side-to-side footwork to avert Nietes’ punches, but he should have thrown and hit more punches to the Filipino rival. It was Ioka that kept jabbing and moving away from Nieto’s retaliations. Continue reading “Nietes edges Ioka; wins fourth world belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Sumio Yamada

Ring-crafty and physically stronger South African, 36-year-old Morti Mthalane (37-2, 25 KOs), 111.5, retained his IBF flyweight belt as he continually battered game Japanese Masahiro Sakamoto (13-2, 9 Kos), 111.5, in furious exchanges of punches, and finally retired him with the doctor’s advice to the referee because of his closed right optic at the end of the tenth round on Monday at the Wynn Palace Cotai, Macao in China.

The veteran champ, who made his first defense, was leading on points—100-90, 99-91 and 98-92. The referee was Ignatius Missailidis (Australia).

Photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Sumio Yamada

Unbeaten former IBF 105-pound champ, Japanese puncher Hiroto Kyoguchi (12-0, 9 Kos), 107.75, captured his second world belt as he kept whipping WBA 108-pound titlist Hekkie Budler (32-4, 10 Kos), 106.75, with effective left uppercuts to the face and the side of the belly, weakened him round after round, and was awarded a TKO victory after the tenth round when Budler, 30, gave up going on because of his accumulation of punishment on Monday in Macao, China.

The new champ Hiroto, 25, was ahead on points at Hekkie’s abrupt surrender—Reina Urbaez (Venezuela) 98-92, Derek Milham (Australia) 96-94, Chalerm Prayadsab (Thailand) 97-93, all in favor of the Japanese pressure fighter with his tight guard. The referee was Mark Cal-oy (US).

Photos

By Joe Koizumi

WBO junior lightweight champ Masayuki Ito (25-1-1, 13 KOs), 130, successfully made his initial defense when he battered #1 ranked Russian Evgeny Chuprakov (20-1, 10 Kos), 129.25, so furiously that his cornerman tossed in the towel for surrender at 2:11 of the seventh round on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. Ito took the initiative from the outset, had Evgeny hurt with faster combinations and finally caught up with him in the fatal session. Laurence Cole (US) was the referee.

(More to come)

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten brother of “the Monster” Naoya, Takuma Inoue (13-0, 3 KOs), 118, successfully followed his footstep as he acquired the vacant WBC interim bantamweight belt by winning a unanimous decision over Petch CP Freshmart (AKA Tasana Salapat (48-1, 33 KOs), 118, over twelve heats on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. All the judges agreed with a 117-111 tally in favor of Takuma.

But it wasn’t an easy fight at all since Petch, a taller southpaw, was an aggressor stalking the fast-handed Takuma, who often countered him with precision. After the eighth, the open scoring system showed Takuma leading on points—77-75, 78-74, 79-73. Petch, in round twelve, had Takuma at bay with a flurry of punches, pinning him to the ropes, but Takuma desperately fought back hard to survive the final crisis. The third man was Frank Garza (US).

(More to come)

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten footworker Ken Shiro (15-0, 8 Kos), 107.5, kept his WBC light-flyweight belt as he kept moving all night to avert the retaliation of Mexican Saul Juarez (24-9-2, 13 Kos), 108, and pounded out a lopsided decision over twelve fast rounds on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. The official tallies were as follows: Steve Morrow (US) 120-108, Perla Rodriguez (US) and Jun-Bae Lim (Korea) both 119-109, all for the baby-faced champ who registered his fifth defense. The referee was Vic Drakulich (US).

(More to come)

Unbeaten welterweight Zino Meuli (13-0, 6 KOs) took a hard-fought majority decision over Josef Zahradnik (10-1, 5 KOs) on Wednesday night at the Bodensee-Arena in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. Meuli started well, using his longer reach to keep the aggressive Zahradnik at bay while connecting with well-timed straight punches. Halfway through a very competitive fight it appeared that local man Meuli had gained control, but the visitor never gave up and finished stronger. Swiss Judge Joerg Mangott saw the fight completely even at 114-114, but he was overruled by 115-113 and 116-112 scores in favor of Meuli from Germany´s Alexander Plumanns and Howard Goldberg from South Africa. The win earned Meuli the World Boxing Federation (WBF) world title. Continue reading “Meuli edges Zahradnik, Paziwapazi KOs Cheka”

By Joe Koizumi

Hard-punching Japanese Keita Kurihara (13-5, 11 KOs), 118, acquired the vacant OPBF bantamweight belt as he dropped compatriot Yuki Strong Kobayashi (14-8, 8 KOs), 118, four times, withstood his furious retaliation and emerged victorious with a unanimous nod (all 113-111) over hard-fought twelve rounds on Monday in Osaka, Japan.

The OPBF belt became vacant after former champ Mark John Yap, a Japan-based Filipino, lost to Takuma Inoue in a WBC eliminator this September. Kurihara, from Tokyo, had the local favorite on the deck in rounds one, two and five, but it wasn’t a lopsided affair because of Kobayashi’s persistent retaliatory attack. The twelfth and final session saw Kurihara floor the game aggressor with a vicious left hook—for the fourth time—in the closing second. Without the dramatic knockdown down the stretch it would have been a draw due to the loser’s admirable surge.

By Joe Koizumi

Former world challenger and ex-OPBF featherweight champ Hiroshige Osawa (34-5-4, 20 KOs), 125.75, very impressively finished highly regarded WBA#7 Belmar Preciado (18-2-1, 11 KOs), 125.25, when he continually battered the breadbasket of the Colombian, had him visibly slowing down and finally dropped him twice en route to a clean knockout victory at 2:33 of the ninth round on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.

Having failed to win the WBO 126-pound belt at the hand of Oscar Valdez via seventh round stoppage in Las Vegas in November 2016, Osawa scored three wins since but dropped his last to former WBA 122-pound ruler and compatriot Shun Kubo by a split duke this April. Continue reading “Osawa finishes WBA #7 Preciado”

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten prospect, the son of former two-time WBC bantam champ Joichiro, Juiki Tatsuyoshi (10-0, 7 KOs), 121, showcased his improvement in overwhelmingly halting Yuki Hirashima (9-3-1, 3 KOs), 121.75, at 2:39 of the third round in a scheduled eight on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.

Juiki, 22, floored his older opponent, 35, with solid shots twice in the opening session, and took the initiative in round two. The third witnessed Tatsuyoshi Jr. batter him from all angles and badly hurt him with the referee Tanaka’s well-timed intervention. His strict father said, “Juiki has become better little by little, though still green.” Juiki may aim at the WBC youth 122-pound belt in the near future.

Bantamweights José Briegel “Gallito” Quirino (20-2-2, 9 KOs) and Joel Córdoba (14-4-1, 1 KO) battled to a ten round draw on Saturday night at the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, BCN, Mexico. Quirino boxed well, but when he slowed down he was hurt by the combinations and power shots of Córdoba. The fight was exciting from start to finish. Referee “Cuqui” Ramos had a controversial performance by deducting two points from Córdoba.

Former world champion Juan “Churritos” Hernández (35-3, 26 KOs) dropped Julio César Castillo (15-4-1, 4 KOs) in round one, then finished him with two more knockdowns in round four. Continue reading “Quirino-Cordoba ends in a draw”

Photos: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions

WBC interim middleweight world champion Jermall Charlo (28-0, 21 KOs) scored a hard fought twelve round unanimous decision over late sub Matt Korobov (28-2, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Korobov gave Charlo all he could handle for the first eleven rounds. Charlo finally rocked Korobov in the last round. Scores were 119-108, 116-112, 116-112. Continue reading “Jermall Charlo gets past Korobov”

Super welterweight Tony Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs) dethroned WBC champion Jermell Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) by stunning twelve round unanimous decision on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Charlo was the aggressor but didn’t close the show and Harrison took a controversial 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 verdict.

–

Per CompuBox, Harrison connected on 34 percent of his punches throughout the fight to Charlo’s 29 percent clip, while Charlo out landed Harrison 160 to 128, plus a 108 to 71 advantage in power punches landed. Continue reading “Shocker: Harrison dethrones Jermell Charlo”