By Damon Gonzalez / LatinBox Communications

In Friday night’s main event in a sold out crowd at the Hilton Downtown Tampa in Tampa, Florida presented by Alessi Promotions, unbeaten heavyweight Drake Banks (6-0, 5 KOs) from Homosassa, Florida. was overpowering as he broke down a very tough Alexis Soriano Taveras (3-2-1, 1 KO) from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ending his night at the 1:34 mark of round three by TKO victory. Continue reading “Heavyweight Banks remains unbeaten”

WBC #2 super featherweight Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez (36-2, 32 KOs) scored a six round unanimous technical decision over Thomas “Gunna Man” Mattice (22-4-1 17 KOs) on Thursday night at the Arena Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The bout was stopped after six rounds due to a cut (caused by a headbutt) suffered by Hernandez. Judges scored it 59-55, 58-55, 58-56. Mattice, who was getting stronger as the bout progressed, wasn’t happy about the stoppage.

By Brad Snyder at ringside
Photos: Bob Ryder

Unbeaten USBA junior middleweight Ardreal “Bossman” Holmes Jr. (16-0, 6 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Hugo Noriega (10-3, 5 KOs) on Thursday night at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. Holmes outboxed Noriega and won by scores of 96-94, 97-93, 97-93.

Unbeaten super welterweight prospect Joseph “Sug” Hicks (11-0, 7 KOs) outpointed Ronnie Austion (10-2, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Scores were 79-73, 78-74, 80-72. Continue reading “Holmes, Hicks remain unbeaten”

Super Welterweight Vladimir “24K” Hernandez (16-6, 7 KOs) hammered out a ten round unanimous decision over Raul “El Doma” Garcia (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Wednesday night at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida. Scores were 94-93, 95-92, 96-91. Garcia dropped Hernandez in round three, but Hernandez later floored Garcia twice.

Hernandez-Garcia was moved to the main event after a scheduled super middleweight clash between Lester Martinez and Joeshon “Showtime” James was scrapped due to an illness suffered by Martinez.

Featherweight Oscar ‘Cachorro’ Murguia (12-1, 4 KOs) scored an upset split decisión over countryman Adrian Montoya (15-2, 13 KOs) in the 10 round main event Friday night in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Murguia seemed to control the action for the better part of the bout landing the more precise punches. Montoya had his moments in spurts as the aggressor landing some flush punches. Murguia took them well and stayed in the pocket landing many eye catching counter punches. In the end the judges had it officially 97-94, 97-96, and 96-94. It was not specified which scores were for which fighter. An emotional Murgia fell to the canvas in tears of joy after he was announced the winner.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw puncher Mikito Nakano (11-0, 10 KOs; amateur mark 68-9, 48 KOs), 126, impressively acquired the vacant OPBF featherweight belt when he connected with vicious body bombardments to finish Filipino Brix Piala (9-2, 3 KOs), 125, for the count at 0:34 into the fourth round in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Nakano, from the start, aggressively attacked the cautious Filipino southpaw and quickly decked him with a left uppercut to the belly just before the gong to end the third session. Swarming over the still damaged opponent in the next round, Nakano landed wicked shots exclusively to the midsection to have him down in agony for the fatal ten. Teiken gym now dominates both Asian regional feather champs in WBO AP’s Kenji Fujita (7-0, 3 KOs; amateur 153-21) and OPBF’s Nakano. Both are worth watching.

Photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Elongated southpaw Kun-Tae Lee (8-0-1, 2 KOs; amateur mark 102-10), 140, successfully kept his Japanese 140-pound belt as he defeated Ryan Joshua Yamamoto (7-7, 1 KO), 139.25, by a unanimous decision (99-91 twice, 100-90) over ten on Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Lee, a Japan-based Korean who had scored sixty-two consecutive victories to make it a national amateur mark, was in command almost all the way, but the challenger occasionally showed his strong heart to withstand the champ’s faster and more accurate combos and gamely retaliated toe-to-toe, winning the fifth round. Despite his retaliation Lee swept the second half and had him at bay down the stretch. In the super light category, in Japan, the 5’11” Lee may face tough opposition in the future against WBA mandatory contender Ghanan-Japanese Andy Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs), OPBF and WBO AP ruler Daishi Nagata, unbeaten JBC contenders #1 Kotaro Sekine (9-0-1, 8 KOs) and #2 Mikyo Watarai (5-0, 3 KOs; amateur mark 77-15, 19 KOs).

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Former world title challenger Jose “Chon” Zepeda (38-5, 28 KOs) destroyed Ivan Redkach (24-8-1, 19 KOs) in a welterweight clash on Friday night at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California. Zepeda dropped Redkach with a body shot in round one and RedKach barely beat the count. The end came after two more knockdowns in round two. Time was 2:02.

Super lightweight Kevin Hayler Brown (6-0, 3 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over John Bauza (18-2, 8 KOs) on Friday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Brown dropped Bauza in round one battled to a 96-93, 98-91, 97-92 verdict.

Undefeated NABF super lightweight champion Arthur Biyarslanov (16-0, 14 KOs) against previously unbeaten late sub Tamas Kiliti (10-1, 6 KOs) on Thursday night at the Casino de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Biyarslanov dropped Kiliti twice in round one and once at the end of round two. The bout was finally stopped after a fourth knockdown in round three. Time was 1:38.

Unbeaten NABF light heavyweight champion Imam Khataev (8-0, 8 KOs) pounded on game Ezequiel Maderna (31-13, 21 KOs) until Maderna took a knee in round seven. Time was :45.

In a clash for the vacant WBA interim female super welterweight title, hometown hero Mary Spencer (9-2, 6 KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Naomi Mannes (7-3-1, 4 KOs). Close fight with the 39-year-old Spencer scoring a questionable tenth round knockdown in a 96-93 3x win. This was Spencer’s third attempt to win a world title.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)

Undisputed 122-pound champion Naoya Inoue kept his belts by halting TJ Doheny at 0:16 of the seventh round on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Naoya maintained the pressure on the more experienced Doheny, who abruptly complained of his lumbago and his incapability to walk and fight. It might be a disappointing end, but Inoue showed his strength and kept his belts with no problem.

(More to come)

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Southpaw footworker Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8 KOs), 117.75, very barely kept his WBO bantamweight belt as he was awarded a hairline unanimous decision (114-113 twice, 115-112) over ex-WBC flyweight champ Daigo Higa (21-3-1, 19 KOs), 117.75, over twelve sizzling rounds on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Takei kept circling to counter with uppercuts to the shorter but more powerful challenger. The tide turned busily as Takei and Higa scored with solid shots each other. The eleventh round saw Higa connected with a roundhouse shot at the neck of Takei, who went down to take the count. Takei, however, furiously went forward to overcome his deficit on point in the final session, when Higa didn’t show any of his aggressiveness only to try to keep his accumulation of points. It turned out to be a serious mistake for Higa. Though the judges eventually favored the defending champ, it wasn’t a good performance for Takei.

Photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten southpaw Andy Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs), 140, impressively acquired the right of the WBA 140-pound mandatory challenge against Jose Valenzuela, as he kept outjabbing WBA interim champ Ismael Barroso (25-5-2, 23 KOs), 140, from Venezuela, floored him three times and halted him at 2:58 of the ninth round on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. The younger, taller and faster Andy kept sticking and moving to frustrate the older Venezuelan, 41, who kept stalking the Fancy Dan. Andy, thirteen years his junior at 28, sent him to the deck with a countering southpaw right hook in the sixth, and finally accelerated his attack to deck him twice more in the fatal ninth. For Andy it was an impressive victory over the dangerous hard-puncher Barroso, whose interim belt wasn’t at stake. The referee was Christopher Young. Photos

Keeps OPBF, WBO AP 147lb belts

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Free-swinging WBO#3, WBC#5, WBA#4, IBF#4 Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17 KOs), 146.25, kept his OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific welterweight belts as he decked muscular Australian Qamil Balla (15-2-1, 8 KOs), 147, twice and finally blasted him out at 0:52 of the seventh round on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Sasaki pressed the action with his whirlwind attack from the start, and dropped Balla with a vicious left hook in round three. They mixed it up in the close quarter and swapped roundhouse blows, but Jin had the upper hand over the fading Qamil. The fatal seventh witnessed Sasaki pin him to the ropes and swam over him with his favorite left hooks, decking him again to prompt the referee Someya’s halt. Photos

Keeps Japanese 122lb belt

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBA#9, WBC#10 elongated southpaw Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs), 121.75, had a tough time but defeated up-and-coming challenger Ryuya Tsugawa (13-2, 9 KOs), 122, by a unanimous decision (96-93 twice, 97-92) to retain his Japanese national super bantam belt on Tuesday at Ariake Arena, Tokyo. The 5’10” lanky champ made good use of his advantageous height and reach, and made himself a difficult target for the hard-punching challenger to catch up with. Shimomachi was leading on points after the fifth on the open scoring system: identically 49-46. Tsugawa, however, caught him with a left hook followed by a solid right, dropping Shimomachi midway in round eight. But the lefty champ survived the last two sessions and barely kept his national title.

Continue reading “WBA #9 Shimomachi defeats Tsugawa”

Unbeaten super lightweight Cain Sandoval (14-0, 12 KOs) scored an impressive sixth round KO against Romero Duno (26-6, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. A right hand to the body in round six floored Duno for the count. Time was 1:59.

Fighting for the first time in the United States, middleweight Sadriddin Akhmedov (14-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Antonio Todd (17-11, 9 KOs) in the first round of their scheduled eight rounder.

Fighting for the first time in nine months, light heavyweight powerhouse Umar Dzambekov (9-0, 6 KOs) stopped Eddie Ortiz (13-1-2, 5 KOs) in the fourth round.

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Boxing was back at the “War Grounds” as local undefeated WBO #1 super middleweight Diego Pacheco (22-0 18 KOs) of Los Angeles made a statement in knocking out the always durable Maciej Sulecki (32-3, 12 KOs) of Poland in the sixth in headlining on DAZN from the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Firing away the jab in the opening round, Pacheco boxed and kept Sulecki at a distance. Pacheco kept pumping the jab and boxed patiently in round two as Sulecki pressed and looked to work his way in. Sulecki slipped to start round three and pressed, Pacheco continued to work the jab and began to let go of the right hand. Continuing to box in the fourth, Pacheco stuck to the plan as Sulecki kept going forward, Pacheco peppered away with the jab and follow up with the right as Sulecki kept pressing.

Stepping up the pace, Pacheco hurt Sulecki late in the fifth round and followed up with powerful right hands as the Polish fights was saved by the bell. A crunching left hook to the body by Pacheco did it in the sixth as Sulecki hit canvas and referee Ray Corona reached a ten count at 54 seconds of the sixth. Continue reading “WBO #1 Pacheco KOs Sulecki in six”

WBA #15 cruiserweight Aleksei Papin (18-1, 17 KOs) scored an impressive fifth round KO against former world title challenger Felix Valera (23-5, 20 KOs) on Friday night at the Ice Arena in Cherepovets, Russia.

44-year-old former heavyweight title challenger Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (36-22-2, 20 KOs) won a four round majority decision over Sean Turner (12-5, 8 KOs).

By Evan Jacobs

Fight Club OC returned on August 29th to melt the dome off the Hangar at the OC Fair & Events Center in auspicious Costa Mesa, CA. It was a night filled with thrills, chills and spills as the fans were treated to a show that was sold out weeks before it happened! With 6 bouts showcasing multiple fighters, disciplines and styles, this hybrid boxing/MMA card did not disappoint. Continue reading “Fight Club Results”

Unbeaten super welterweight Nikita Tszyu (10-0, 8 KOs) stopped Koen Mazoudier (12-4-1, 5 KOs) in round nine on Wednesday night at the ICC Sydney Theatre in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Tszyu broke open a competitive fight to get a referee’s stoppage at 2:05 of round nine after a barrage of punches. With the win, Tszyu claimed the vacant IBF Australasian and WBO Inter-Continental belts.

Tszyu is the son of ring legend Kostya Tzsyu and brother of former WBO 154lb champion Tim Tszyu.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

In the main event of a regional title tripleheader, WBC#15 Kazuki Nakajima (16-2-1, 13 KOs), 122, successfully kept his OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) super bantam belt when he caught up with former world challenger Shingo Wake (31-9-2, 22 KOs), 121.5, and finished him for the count at 2:11 of the second round in a scheduled twelve on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Nakajima once had the WBO AP belt, but was dethroned by TJ Doheny (who will have an ambitious shot at Naoya Inoue’s unified 122-pound belts a week later) via TKO route in June last year. The hard-punching southpaw Nakajima, 31, then acquired the vacant OPBF belt, and this was his first defense since. Veteran southpaw Wake, 37, also had a bitter experience in his failure to win the IBF belt with his eleventh-round TKO by defending champ Yonatan Guzman in 2016. In this fight Nakajima proved more energetic and powerful for the fading Wake, who badly hit the deck to be counted by the referee Nakamura. Continue reading “WBC#15 Nakajima finishes Wake, keeps OPBF 122lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Japanese super feather champ Tsubasa Narai (14-2, 10 KOs), 129.75, barely kept his national belt by eking out a close but unanimous nod (96-94 twice, 97-93) over JBC#1 Kanta Fukui (12-6-1, 8 KOs), 129.75, over a hairline ten on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. The taller Fukui, a late bloomer, fought well in the first half, utilizing solid right crosses over the champ Narai’s leading lefts. The hard-punching champ, however, maintained the pressure, if not sufficient punches, in the second half to be given a very close decision. Either should have scored with cleaner and more effective shots to the rival to make it a clear contest. Continue reading “Narai barely keeps Japanese 130lb belt”

Wins mandatory right against Angelo Leo

By Joe Koizumi
Photo by Boxing Beat Magazine

Formerly two-division champ IBF #3 feather Tomoki Kameda (42-4, 23 KOs), 125.75, eked out a split decision (114-113, 116-111, 113-114) over #2 Lerato Dlamini (20-3, 11 KOs), 125.25, from South Africa in a twelve round eliminator to win the mandatory right to challenge newly crowned IBF 126-pound ruler Angelo Leo on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.

Having dropped an a split nod to Dlamini in their first encounter here last October, Tomoki, 33, this time changed his style to be much more aggressive all the way, decking his grudge rival with a fusillade of punches midway in round five. Dlamini, 30, kept moving and countering with a fewer but well-timed uppercuts against the onrushing Japanese. This time Tomoki looked like a winner since he kept stalking Dlamini with busier combination from the outset and scored an impressive knockdown.

Ex-WBC minimum champ Yudai Shigeoka, 106.75, won a unanimous decision (97-93 twice, 96-94) over WBO#11 Samuel Salva, 106.5, over ten. Yudai had the upper hand over the less aggressive Filipino, though he couldn’t score a knockdown.

WBO#11 Kenbun Torres (14-5, 10 KOs), 115.75, Mexico, upset WBO#1 junior bantam Filipino KJ Cataraja (17-1, 13 KOs), 115, winning a split decision (96-93 twice, 94-95) over a close ten. Having upset then WBO #1 bantam Reymart Gaballo in the first round in the Philippines this May, the Mexican son of ex-world champ German Torres, 36, seemed to have a big resurgence in his turbulent career of having been in jail twice in eleven years in total.

Promoter: Kameda Promotions.

47-year-old ring legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. made his Mexico City debut in an exhibition on Saturday night at the iconic Arena Ciudad de México. The affair was a rematch of a June 2023 exhibition between Mayweather and MMA fighter John Gotti III. Mayweather schooled Gotti over the eight two-minute rounds. In round two, the referee warned Floyd for hitting behind the head was promptly replaced by another ref.

WBC #1 super bantamweight and silver beltholder Alan David Picasso (29-0-1, 16 KOs) hammered out a twelve round unanimous decision over Azat “Crazy A” Hovhanisyan (21-5, 17 KOs). Good two-way action with local favorite Picasso winning 118-110, 118-110, 120-108.

Former WBC welterweight champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) returned from a two-year layoff to go eight two-minute rounds against Rodrigo Damián Coria (13-6, 2 KOs) in an exhibition match.

18-year-old lightweight prospect Curmel Traymayne Moton (5-0, 4 KOs) needed just 55 seconds to annihilate Victor Vazquez (5-3-1) in the first round.

Kris Lawrence (Heavyweight Factory Promotions) presented pro boxing Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida. The main event saw unbeaten former amateur stand-out and unbeaten super featherweight prospect Yosdiel Napoles (6-0, 5 KOs) of Cuba beat previously unbeaten compatriot Frank Zaldivar (5-1, 3 KOs) by 10 round unanimous decision. Napoles dropped Zaldivar three times in route to retaining his WBC silver international title and won the WBA Continental america gold title. Continue reading “Napoles, Bonilla twins win at Hard Rock”