By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In a rematch of their 2017 bout, Rene Alvarado (32-9, 21 KOs) out of Managua, Nicaragua squared off once again against Richard Gutierrez (25-3-1, 20 KOs), from Maracaibo, Venezuela, a fight Alvarado won by knockout. Gutierrez, though, was more than up for the challenge this time around as he wobbled Alvarado in round one and then dropped him twice in round three with a barrage of punches and again in round twelve to win a unanimous decision 113-112 on all three scorecards. The knockdown in the twelfth proved to be the difference between winning and losing for Gutierrez who takes home the WBA super featherweight title with the revenge victory against Alvarado. Continue reading “Gutierrez beats Alvarado, seizes WBA 130lb title”

By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

IBF lightweight champ Felix Alvarado (36-2, 31 KOs) from Managua, Nicaragua retained his title with a show stopping performance against the tough, former IBF minimumweight champ DeeJay Kriel (16-2-1, 8 KOs) from Gauteng, South Africa with a 10th round TKO stoppage. Alvarado, the twin brother of Rene who is also showcased on the Golden Boy Card, dropped Kriel in the second and fourth rounds before connecting with multiple powerful right hands in the tenth with Kriel against the ropes in his own corner, that forced referee Mark Calo-oy to stop the back and forth slugfest. Continue reading “Alvarado stops Kriel, retains IBF 108lb title”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Promoter Oscar de la Hoya told Fightnews®.com that discussions are at an advanced stage for a clash between IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) and unbeaten former jr middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs). “Both fighters interested and willing,” said Oscar. No time frame other than “the near future.”

By Joe Koizumi

In a greatly anticipated encounter of Japanese compatriots, WBO junior bantamweight champ Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs), 115, very impressively kept his belt as he sent previously unbeaten Kosei Tanaka (15-1, 9 KOs), 115, to the deck twice with a well-timed left hook in the fifth and sixth and finally halted him at 1:35 of the eighth round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. It was a beautiful demonstration of Ioka’s skills in averting Tanaka’s opening attacks and precisely counterpunching him with the picture-perfect left hooks. The ref was Michiaki Someya, Japan, who made a well-timed stoppage to save the battered and bloodied loser from further punishment.

Former WBC flyweight ruler Daigo Higa (17-1-1, 17 KOs), 118, wrested the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight belt by flattening defending titlist, compatriot Yuki Strong Kobayashi (16-9, 9 KOs), 117.5, at 0:45 of the fifth session in a scheduled twelve. Higa had swept all rounds prior to the trick happening with his vicious uppercut to the face.

(More to come)

WBO mandatory challenger Shawn Porter says Top Rank needs to make a better offer if they want him to challenge WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

“I’m not taking a million,” said Porter on his podcast. “I did the best I could to send a message to Bob Arum and I also know people who know Bob and I told them ‘Tell Mr. Arum I don’t mean any disrespect and I know that he doesn’t, but if you’re gonna lowball me, don’t do it! If you feel that’s the way you get out of fighting me, that’s weak. Don’t do it! However, if you want to make the fight happen, don’t lowball me. I’m worth more than a million dollars.’

“Eff a million dollars. I’m gonna keep it as clean as possible but I’m not fighting Terence Crawford for a million dollars!”

The long past its due date grudge showdown between bitter rivals Amir Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) and Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) may finally happen in 2021. “I think with Kell Brook, who has always been running his mouth, I think put him in his place now. I think it is about time now to put him in his place and shut him up for good,” Khan told the Khaleej Times.

“…the gloves are still on. I’m thinking of fighting probably next year. This year was a bit of a bad year for everybody. And boxing was off. They wanted to fight behind closed doors. I didn’t really feel like I could motivate myself, but hopefully, if it opens up next year, we can make something happen. I want to fight again around March or April and there are so many names out there, there are so many deals on the table, in the Middle East as well. So, let’s see how that plays out.”

WBC/IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev has been forced to postpone his title defense against Adam Deines — scheduled for Jan. 30 at VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia — after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Beterbiev and Deines were originally scheduled to fight October 23, but Beterbiev suffered a rib injury in training. Information about the rescheduled Beterbiev-Deines showdown will be announced in due course.

Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs), the only current world champion with a 100 percent knockout rate, has not fought since his knockout victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 to unify world titles.

By Joe Koizumi

Former all four-body world 105-pound champ, 37-year-old Japanese Katsunari Takayama (32-8-1-1NC, 12 KOs), 107.75, made a successful comeback after such a long hiatus as four years and four months when he pounded out a nearly shutout six-round decision (60-54, 59-55 twice) over WBC#11 light-flyweight compatriot Reiya Konishi (17-3, 7 KOs), 108, on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. Konishi, 27, a prefight favorite, suffered another defeat following his failure to win the IBF 108-pound belt from Nicaraguan Felix Alvarado last May. Takayama made best use of his trademark footwork to befuddle and bewilder the flat-footed puncher Konishi, steadily piling up points with his speed and skills. Konishi attempted to go forward and catch up with the fleet-footed veteran, but Takayama was obviously too sharp and swift for him. It’s like a Tom-and-Gerry game. Continue reading “Ex-champ Takayama returns after 4-year hiatus”

In a non-title bout, WBA interim super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. (4-0, 3 KOs) scored a brutal third round TKO over WBA #11 Mike Gavronski (26-4-1, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. 50:1 favorite Morrell teed off on Gravonski immediately and dropped him at the end of round one. After more punishment in rounds two and three, referee Jack Reiss waved it off at 2:45 of round three. The bout was switched from a world title defense to a 170lb limit non-title ten-rounder at the last minute.

Hard-punching middleweight Juan Macias “Juanito” Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KOs) destroyed fan favorite James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (34-3, 30 KOs) in the first round. Kirkland started aggressively, but walked into a punch and was dropped. Montiel then floored the 36-year-old Kirkland two more times before the bout was waved off at 1:56. Impressive win for Montiel, who was a slight -130 favorite. He is the nephew of former world champion Fernando Montiel. Continue reading “Morrell batters Gavronski, Montiel KOs Kirkland”

This is interesting. According to PBC, Saturday’s fight between WBA interim super middleweight champion David O. Morrell and WBA #11 rated Mike Gavronski was agreed to for 170 pounds at some point beforehand, so the world title is not on the line and is still Morrell’s. This conflicts with all the pre-fight publicity that clearly stated Saturday’s clash was a 12-round world title fight, but in any event it looks like Morrell is keeping the interim belt.

David Morrell Jr. 170 vs. Mike Gavronski 167.4
(Bout switched to a ten round non-title affair)

Venue: Shrine Auditorium, downtown Los Angeles
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: FOX, FS1