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Former IBO super lightweight world champion and former IBF world title challenger Jermias Ponce (32-1, 21 KOs) of Argentina decisioned countryman Alexis Nahuel Torres (12-8-1, 6 KOs) on Friday night at the Club Social y Deportivo El Porvenir, Quilmes, Argentina. Ponce dropped the tricky southpaw Torres in round one but Torres was game and fought to the end. The official scores were 98-91 twice and 99-90. Ponce fought valiantly last year in his world title fight loss to then-world champion Subriel Matias.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

In just eighty-nine seconds a trick happened. In quest of the vacant WBO Asia Pacific 130-pound belt Kai Watanabe (13-1-1, 7 KOs), 130, scored a shocking stoppage of previously unbeaten Toshihiro Suzuki (5-1, 4 KOs; amateur mark 82-22), 130, at 1:29 of the opening session in a scheduled twelve on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Toshihiro, the younger brother of former OPBF lightweight champ Masahiro Suzuki (10-2-1, 7 KOs), maintained the pressure from the start, but Watanabe furiously fought back by throwing a fusillade of non-punches. As he stopped punching, Suzuki began his retaliation, when the taller and younger Watanabe landed a vicious countering left hook to the face. Down he went with his back to the canvas. The ref didn’t bother counting over the completely flattened loser, who was carried out of the ring on a stretcher.

Promoter: Shisei Promtions.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions on Thursday announced seven world title bouts to take place in a couple of days at the same Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, as follows:

October 13, Sunday

WBA 118lb title bout
Takuma Inoue vs. Seiya Tsutsumi

WBC 112lb title bout for the vacant belt
Kenshiro Teraji vs. Cristofer Rosales

WBA 112lb title bout
Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Thananchai Charunphak

WBO 108lb title bout for the vacant belt
Shokichi Ishida vs. Jairo Noriega

October 14, Monday

WBC 118lb title bout
Junto Nakatani vs. Tasana Salapat

WBO 115lb title bout
Kosei Tanaka vs. Phumelele Cafu

WBO 112lb title bout
Anthony Olascuaga vs. Jonathan Gonzalez

WBO Asia Pacific 118lb title bout for the vacant belt
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Gerwin Asilo

TV: Amazon Prime Video in Japan; ESPN+ in US

Is it possible to stage no less than seven world title goes in just two days under recession? Yes, Teiken can.

Photos

Report/Photos: Boxing Bob Newman

Opening the meeting, Texas Commissioner Greg Alvarez gave the official welcome speech to the convention delegation.

NABF vice president Joanna Aguilar then called for the sounding of the bell for a ten count mourning the losses of Martha Sulaiman and Joe Mason of the Colorado commission, this year.

NABF president Duane Ford then greeted the delegates with praise- “You all make the NABF. Without you all, there is no NABF.”

Ford specifically cited ring officials as the protectors of the sport of boxing.

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“Ring officials need to participate in teamwork with each other. Support your teammates.” Ford stressed the code of ethics and looked at it as a “code of honor.” Ford had been referred to as a “barnacle” by an associate many years ago. The reference was to how barnacles protect whales in the ocean. Ford compared whales to boxing and the ring officials as barnacles, thus protecting boxing.

A video message from NABF vice president and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was played, wishing the NABF a very successful convention and gave praise to President Ford.

Former Nevada State Athletic Commission director Mark Ratner addressed the convention. Ratner gave a synopsis of his own history in the sport starting with attending the Liston-Patterson fight as a young fan.

Ratner reviewed some of the controversies which occurred during his tenure. The first was during Holyfield-Bowe #2 and the “fan man” debacle.

The round was scored after it resumed, once the “fan man” was removed, some 20+ minutes later. It ended up being scored 10-9 Bowe, 10-9 Holyfield and 10-10. Had the judge who scored it a draw, scored in favor of Bowe, the fight would have ended up a draw and Bowe would have retained the title, thus, altering boxing history.

Holyfield -Tyson #2, the infamous bite fight, was up next. Referee Mills Lane told Ratner he wanted to immediately disqualify Tyson. Ratner asked Lane if he was sure, giving Lane pause and then allowing the fight to resume. At that time Tyson committed another foul and bit Holyfield again, forcing the DQ by Lane.

The last incident was the Mayweather-Judah fight where a low blow by Judah resulted in a melee near the end of the 10th round. Both corners, advisors and Las Vegas police filled the ring in a scrum that took several minutes to clear.

Judge Steve Morrow was up next, giving a fascinating talk on his first intro boxing, first as a writer for the now defunct Boxing Update & Flash, then as a boxing judge. A former police officer, Morrow balanced his job of what would be 30+ years, with boxing, often at the cost of family time. “Perspective” was the theme of Morrow’s talk. As time went on, health issues would arise, and a lack of assignments would come his way. Throughout it all, Morrow had to keep perspective.

His advice on keeping perspective:
Family first, be the best ring official not working, and something he was told when first entering boxing- Outlive the bastards!

Ford called an audible and asked Canadian judge Joel Scobie up to the microphone. Scobie gave a brief synopsis of his entry into judging and refereeing in professional boxing.

Ray Corona also chronicled his path from prison to the ring as a top California referee. Faith and persistence was Corona’s guiding light back to solid standing with the CSAC.

Esther Lopez shared her journey through the gauntlet that is being a boxing judge.
At one point early in her career, Lopez had to judge her son! Fortunately, he scored a second round knockout and she avoided any potential scrutiny.

Oscar Cantu talked about his transition from rising contender and a participant in boxing for 23 years, to stepping outside the ring after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2000.

Barry Lindenman- statistician and boxing judge, reviewed the WBC remote scoring app and the statistical summary gathered every month, including whether the judges who used the app are purely judges, refs and judges, scoring variances of all participating judges, scoring accuracy by country (Canada narrowly leads the USA among the NABF countries). Lindenman cited author Malcolm Gladwell who opined that one must practice 10,000 hours in order to rise to the peak of proficiency in any endeavor.

NABF featherweight champ Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington accepted his Champion of the Year award. Carrington heads back to Las Vegas to continue training for his September 27 fight against Sulaiman Segawa at MSG.

The afternoon session was compromised of the round table sessions in which a veritable cornucopia of topics were discussed within the 20 person groups that were assembled. Social media, pre fight preparation for ring officials, mental health repair after a tough assignment, getting more assignments, were the topics.

At the end of the round table session, Duane Ford and Andy Foster opined with advice on each of the topics.

By Damon Gonzalez / LatinBox Communications

Ryan Maine 154.4 vs. Omar Rosales 154.8
(NBA Americas super welterweight title)

Julio Rosa 140.6 vs. Bryan Rodriguez 142.2
Kevin Nunez 124.6 vs. Sirdarious Smith 122.8
Israel Torres 132 vs. Bacillo Monterroso 131.2
Angel Hernandez 137.8 vs. Christopher Wingate 139.6
Amire Lewis 197.2 vs. Stephen Kirnon 158.8
Daniel Ramirez 169.8 vs. Carlos Cruz 174

Date: Saturday August 24
Venue: Wyndham Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida.
Promoter: Gonzalo Sapia – Boxlite Promotions

By Boxing Bob Newman

The NABF’s 54th annual convention has landed in San Antonio, Texas at the Grand Hyatt Riverwalk hotel.

A closed meeting of the executive board took place this afternoon with one topic as hot as the 105° temperature outside: that being the gender issue, specifically in female boxing, which practically overshadowed all other boxing news in this year’s Olympics in Paris.

A committee was convened to take a hard look at what the NABF’s approach should be regarding this situation. Much like the issue of PED’s in the sport and testing to detect them, gender confirmation will be a touchstone for some time to come and the NABF wants to lead the way in getting a handle on this issue. Continue reading “NABF 54th Annual Convention Opening Day”

Eddie Hearn and Matchroom has announced the signing of WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs). It was also confirmed that Stevenson will defend his belt against former IBF 130lb champ Joe Cordina on October 12 in the upcoming Riyadh Season spectacle in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Stevenson-Cordina will be featured on the undercard of the big Beterbiev-Bivol clash for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.

“I am ready to start this next chapter of my career and it begins on October 12 with Joe Cordina on the stacked Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia,” said Stevenson. Continue reading “Matchroom inks Shakur Stevenson”

Undefeated ring legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and John Gotti III faced off at the final press conference for their PPV clash in Mexico City.

Floyd Mayweather Jr: “I want to say thank you to my team and the Gottis. Let’s go out there and put on a show. One thing about me is that I’ve heard it all. I’ve been around the world and competed against the best. When you talk about the Olympics, I’ve competed against the best. Whether it was the world champion in the Olympics or professionally. The pedigree of Mexico boxing is truly unbelievable. You talk about the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez; my uncle Roger Mayweather fought him twice. He came up short, but he fought him twice. It is always about competing and going up against the best. So, Saturday it is what it is. I’ve already faced the best.”

John Gotti III: “Floyd honored his word and gave me the rematch. He didn’t have to. He could have moved on and did his thing and I appreciate that. We’re gonna put on a good show. We’re gonna fight. It’s gonna be exciting…I know what to expect. I’ve felt Floyd’s punches, I’ve seen him move. He’s still got it at 47-years-old and mentally, for a year, I’ve been preparing for that style. We have to get in the trenches here and fight. There is no other way. If he has to get knocked out. If I have to get knocked out, so be it. It has to happen. Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen.”

In a middleweight clash between former unified super welterweight champions, “Swift” Jarrett Hurd (25-3-1, 17 KOs) and Jeison “Banana” Rosario (24-4-2, 18 KOs) battled to a ten round draw on Wednesday night at the ProBox Event Center in Plant City, Florida. Close rounds with both having their moments. Scores were 96-94 Hurd, 96-94 Rosario, 95-95.

By Damon Gonzalez / LatinBox Communications

Jarrett Hurd 162.4 vs. Jeison Rosario 164
Ivan Dychko 236 vs. Craig Lewis 263.8
Dominic Valle 130.6 vs. Kevin Piedrahita 131
Michael Angeletti 117.8 vs. Geraldo Valdez 117
Tristan Gallichan 139.8 vs. Renny Viamonte Mastrapa 138

Venue: Whitesands Events Center, Plant City, Florida
Promoter: ProBox
TV: ProBox TV

Reigning WBA Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara will look to extend his three-fight KO streak when he faces off against two-division world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia in the Canelo-Berlanga co-main event a PBC Pay-Per-View available on Prime Video taking place Saturday, September 14 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“Danny Garcia is a great fighter, a multiple-division world champion, and like me, he’s one of the best fighters of this generation,” said Lara. “This is going to be the fight of the night. I knocked out my last three opponents, and I’m training to make it four. This is going to be a tough fight, I know that. But every fight at the championship level is tough and has its challenges. I’m preparing hard for Danny and I believe that my experience fighting at this weight will be an advantage.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived in Mexico City late last night, just before midnight, and was greeted by a vibrant group of mariachis who surprised him with traditional music. In an unexpected and heartfelt gesture, Mayweather not only stopped to listen but also joined in the celebration, dancing to the music and embracing one of the mariachis.

Before heading to his hotel, Mayweather took a moment to send a message to his Mexican fans: “I am very grateful to be here in Mexico City, a place full of history and world champions. It is an honor for me to fight in this country that has given so much to the world of boxing. See you soon in the ring.”

Mayweather exhibition rematch with John Gotti III, the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, will take place on Saturday at Arena CDMX with a worldwide PPV audience.

Iaaac Carbonell 175.4 vs. Cleotis Pendarvis 176.8
Curtis Harper 270.4 vs. Deon Ronny Hale 325
Precious Harris vs.McCray vs. Sonya Dreiling 158.5
Michael Cserenyi 236.4 vs. Julio Mendoza 248.8
Ry Leek Born 1334 vs. Jayvonne O’Neal 128.4
Lindsey Ellis 127.2 vs. Sarah Click 127.4

Venue: Troubadour Nashville
Promoter: Jimmy Adams Promotions
TV: Countrybox247.com, itube24.com, Trillerr.TV (Marc Abrams and Albert Haynesworth on the call)
1st Bell 7PM CT (8 PM ET)

In this weekend’s biggest boxing telecast, ring legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes his long-awaited debut in Mexico City when he takes on John Gotti III in an eight-round exhibition rematch on a $49.99 PPV Saturday night at the renowned CDMX Arena. In their first encounter, Floyd handily outboxed Gotti III, the grandson of the famous New York mob boss John Gotti. When the bout was stopped, the action started as an enraged Gotti charged after Floyd and prompted a wild melee in the ring.

In addition to the main fight, the card will include an eight round exhibition between former WBC welterweight champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz and Rodrigo Damián Coria, WBC super bantamweight silver champion Alan David Picasso (28-0-1, 16 KOs) against former world title challenger Azat Hovhanisyan (21-4, 17 KOs) in a twelve-rounder, and Curmel Tramayne Moton (4-0, 3 KOs) against Victor Vazquez (5-2-1) in a six round lightweight matchup.

By Robert Coster

French movie star heartrob and boxing lover Alain Delon has passed away at age 88. Delon´s tie to boxing consisted of the two title fights he promoted in the early 1970s, using his own money, pitting WBC middleweight champion Carlos Monzon against his challenger, local favorite Jean-Claude Bouttier. In their first fight, Monzon stopped Bouttier in 12 rounds (June 17-1972). The second battle on September 29,1973, had Monzon winning on points over 15 rounds. Delon attracted the French jet set to these two memorable fights, filling Parisian arenas. RIP Alain Delon.

Ramon Arellano (Arellano Boxing Promotions) presents another night of boxing Thursday September 12th in Nashville, Tennessee featuring his promotions’ top fighters. The site of the event will be Arellano’s popular San Jose Fiesta Mexican restaraunt. The 6 round light heavyweight main event will see a quick return to the ring for the comebacking unbeaten Carlos ‘ Pupita’ Fidel Guity Miranda (7-0, 3 KOs) of Honduras. Guity now 26, will step up taking on unbeaten Michael Nelson ( 3-0, 2 KOs). Continue reading “‘Pupita’ Guity-Nelson Nashville Sept 12”

Pound-for-pound, which is the most competitive category in Japan?

Lightweight division, this reporter believes. If not world class, we have many good crowd-pleasers in this class.

Japanese champ IBF#13 Hironori Mishiro (16-1-1, 5 KOs), 134.75, proved too sharp and skillful for hard-punching southpaw JBC#11 Kazuaki Miyamoto (10-9, 8 KOs), 134.5, decked him with a well-timed right in round five and finally halted him with the referee’s intervention at 0:31 of the sixth round on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. The triumphant victor who retained his national belt said from the ring, “I’m willing to unify the regional belts.” His first target is the newly crowned OPBF ruler Shu Utsuki (14-1, 12 KOs), and the next may be WBO AP titlist Katsuya Yasuda (14-1, 9 KOs). Continue reading “IBF#13 Mishiro halts Miyamoto, keeps Japanese 135lb belt”

By Boxing Bob Newman

Doña Marta Saldivar Sulaiman, widow of former WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman, mother of WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and matriarch of the Sulaiman and WBC family, passed away this morning surrounded by family.

Mauricio issued the following statement on his Facebook page just two hours ago:

“Martha has joined Jose, the love of her life for eternity. Our dear mother Martha has passed away in peace in the company of her loved ones. Her memory will be eternal and she will be remembered as a kind adorable woman who lived life at its fullest, always caring for others with sacrifice, love & compassion. So many boxers called her “Mama” as she took them all under her wing, whether it was Tyson or Chavez or an amateur humble kid. Thank you for everyone’s care, concern and attentions during these difficult times.”

The mother of six children, grandmother of fourteen, Doña Marta will be interred at Panteón Francés de la Piedad cemetery in Mexico City.

Descanse en paz (Rest in peace) Doña Marta.

Heavyweight Guido Vianello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) registered the most important win of his career by upsetting Arslanbek Mahkmudov (19-2, 18 KOs) via eighth-round TKO victory in Saturday night’s co-feature. At the start of the eighth, the ring doctor deemed Makhmudov no longer fit to continue due to a swollen shut eye. Mahkmudov had just been rated #9 in the new WBC ratings.

Guido Vianello: “I am a contender now. I am ready for the world level, and I proved that tonight…I thought I beat Efe Ajagba, and I came into this fight with a lot of confidence. I was in the best shape of my career, and that showed tonight. I dominated him and then knocked him out…I just had to stay composed. There was a knockdown that wasn’t called, but I knew if I stuck to my strategy, I would get the knockout.”

Vianello and Mahkmudov originally met in the World Series of Boxing nearly 10 years ago, with Vianello retiring in the fourth due to an ear injury. This time, things were different.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Having their baby just a fortnight ago, his wife worked the corner of Japanese flyweight champ WBA#11 Jukiya Iimura (7-1, 2 KOs; amateur mark 68-13), 111.5, who successfully kept his national belt on a nearly shutout decision (100-90, 99-91 twice) over JBC#9 Tetsuya Mimura (12-5, 3 KOs), 112, over ten heats on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

Mrs. Iimura, former amateur lightweight boxer (retired), wrapped the husband’s hands and served as a corner-person to see Jukiya’s onesided victory. Making his third defense, Iimura, whose idol is Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, made good use of lateral footwork, confused the less skillful challenger and steadily piled up points with his hit-and-run tactics thanks to his better half’s encouragement in the corner. After the triumph they rushed back home to see their two-week old daughter. Continue reading “Iimura shuts out Mimura, keeps Japanese 112lb belt”

Unbeaten WBC #1, WBA #2, IBF #3, WBO #3 super middleweight Christian Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) scored ten round unanimous decision over three-time world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-6, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada. The 38-year-old Derevyanchenko showed good skills, but Mbilli simply overpowered him with his attacks. In round four, Derevyanchenko appeared to injure his left arm and after that he mostly fought with his right hand with some success. Mbilli aggressively attacked in round six to get the momentum back. Derevyanchenko was drastically handicapped with the arm injury as Mbilli broke him down. Derevyanchenko showed incredible heart, but Mbilli was a clear winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91, 98-92.

In a crossroads heavyweight fight, Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) upset Arslanbek Makhmudov (19-2, 18 KOs) by eighth round stoppage. Vianello got the better of the early rounds with Makhmudov’s left eye completely closed by round three. Makhmudov was game but got the worst of the exchanges. Makhmudov was deducted a point for hitting behind the head in round six. Vianello landed some big shots that rocked Makhmudov in round seven. The bout was finally stopped by the ring doctor at the start of round eight.

IBO super middleweight champion Osleys “El Tornado” Iglesias (12-0, 11 KOs) impressively crushed Sena “The African Assassin” Agbeko (28-4, 22 KOs) in a non-title fight. Iglesias floored Agbeko toward the end of round one. The bout was stopped at 1:16 of round two with Iglesias mercilessly teeing off.

Unbeaten lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason continues to impress. Mason (15-0, 13 KOs) destroyed Mike Ohan Jr. (19-2, 9 KOs) in round two. Mason dropped Chan in round one, then in round two, Ohan’s corner stopped it after Mason scored a second knockdown. Time was :40. Continue reading “Mbilli beats D’chenko, Vianello halts Makhmudov”

The 10 round main event saw young unbeaten prospect Harvin “Manimal” Aguirre (13-0, 9 KOs) of Managua, Nicaragua unanimously decisión veteran Alberto “Metralleta” Mosquera (28-7-2, 16 KOs) of Panama at the Coliseo De Combates in Panama City, Panama.

Mosquera came out aggressive in round 1 stalking Aguirre but it was Aguirre who counter punched and had Mosquera staggering badly but Mosquera survived the round. Mosquera seemed to have very poor balance a fact mentioned multiple times by Hall of Famer and former two-division world champion Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon who was on the ESPN Knockout broadcast team commentating the fight. Continue reading “Aguirre decisions Mosquera in Panama”

Former world title challenger and current #1 WBC cruiserweight contender Ryan ‘ The Bruiser’ Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs) is dialed in for his challenge against WBC cruiserweight world champion Norair Mikaeljan (27-2, 12 KOs). The main event bout will take place September 28 at the Casino Miami Jai Alai, Miami, Florida. The Cape Breton Nova Scotia native Rozicki is looking to become his hometown´s first world champion boxer. He and his promoter Dan Otter (Three Lions Promotions) are confident he will pull off the upset. Continue reading “Rozicki vows to KO Mikaeljan”

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has called for the purse bid to grant the promotional right of the cruiserweight championship bout between Gilberto Ramirez and Yuniel Dorticos, which will take place on August 27th in Houston, Texas. The minimum amount to obtain the rights to the fight is $200,000 and the purse split will be 75% for the champion Ramirez and 25% for the challenger Dorticos.

On the same day, the auction for the WBA bantamweight world title fight between Muslim Gadzhimagomedov and Leon Harth will be held.

Christian Mbilli 167.4 vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko 167.1
(WBC Continental Americas/WBA International super middleweight titles)

Arslanbek Makhmudov 260 vs. Guido Vianello 245.8

Osleys Iglesias 169.3 vs. Sena Agbeko 168.7
Abdullah Mason 136 vs. Mike Ohan Jr. 136.7
Leila Beaudoin 129.7 vs. Lizbeth Crespo 129.2
Wilkens Mathieu 178 vs. Facundo Nicolas Galovar 180.9
Jahi Tucker 160 vs. Santiago Fernandez 159.1
Thomas Chabot 128.6 vs. Matias Ezequiel Guenemil 128.6
Dzmitry Asanau 136.3 vs. Alexis Camejo 136.4

Venue: Videotron Centre, Quebec City, Canada
Promoter: Top Rank, EOTTM
TV: ESPN