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By Ricardo Ibarra at ringside
Photo: Mike Blair

Former world title challenger Eric Hunter (22-4, 11 KOs) shook the rust off after three years away from the ring, taking a five round technical decision win over journeyman German Meraz (62-57-2, 39 KOs) in a walkout bout on Friday night’s card at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.

Hunter pressed the action from the start, walking his opponent down and popping him with accurate shots. He dropped Meraz in the third round with a left hook but could not follow up after Meraz went into a defensive posture. After an accidental headbutt opened a cut on Meraz in the fifth, the ringside doctor advised referee Joel Scobie to stop the fight at 2:40 of the round, forcing the fight to go to the scorecards. All three judges had the bout for Hunter, with scores of 50-44.

For a complete report and photo gallery of this card, click here.

Terrible news. Hall of Fame boxer Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker was struck by a car and killed Sunday night in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was just 55. According to police, at 10:04 pm they received a call for vehicle/pedestrian accident in the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Baker Road. When officers arrived, they found that Whitaker had been struck by a vehicle. He succumbed to his injuries on the scene. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene. This case remains under investigation.

Whitaker was one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time and was considered the pound-for-pound best during a good portion of the 1990s. His most famous fight was a controversial 1993 draw with fellow ring legend Julio Cesar Chavez, who was 87-0 at the time. Most thought Whitaker deserved the victory. He was a 1984 Olympic gold medalist and won world titles at lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight, compiling a career record of 40-4-1 with 17 KOs.

By David Robinett

Ratcheting up the interest before his showdown against Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) in Las Vegas for the WBA welterweight title, Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) and his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach spoke with reporters on a media conference call this past Thursday. As usual, the Senator from the Philippines and his long-time mentor were low-key but confident about taking on yet another younger opponent looking to score a career-defining win at their expense.

“A lot of people are doubting my ability at the age of 40, so I have something to prove,” observed Pacquiao. “Right now, I’m still hungry and still enjoying this, and still doing my best.” Continue reading “Manny Pacquiao: I have something to prove”

By Ron Jackson

Akani Phuzi retained his WBA Pan African cruiserweight title on a hard-earned majority 12 round point’s decision over the vastly more experienced Willbeforce Shihepo before a packed to the capacity Blairgowrie Recreation Centre on Sunday afternoon. The judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114.

In what was a grueling affair against Shihepo (25-11, 18 KOs), who knew all the tricks of a wily old veteran, he closed down the 25-year-old champion at times and made him work for victory which augurs well for his future career. Continue reading “Phuzi retains WBA Pan African title”

By Héctor Villarreal

World class Panamanians, Bryan “La Roca” De Gracia (25-2-1, 21 KOs) and Luis “El Nica” Concepcion (38-8,27 KOs) stopped Nicaraguan opponents on Saturday night at Gimnasio Los Naranjos in Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama.

De Gracia, currently WBA’s #5 featherweight, dropped veteran Daniel “El General” Diaz (23-9-2, 15 KOs) and caused a severe cut on his left cheek, forcing the visitor to quit at the end of round one.

Felix Moncada (9-10-1, 1 KO) gave tough opposition to former two division world champion Concepcion, until the local caught him with a right hook, which Moncada allegued was a low blow. Referee Armando Tejeira ruled it a legal punch and declared Concepcion the winner by KO at 1:13 in round 4. Continue reading “De Gracia, Concepcion win by KO”

Photos: Emily Harney

In the first ever ticketed event at Encore Boston Harbor, the brand new 2.6 billion dollar resort casino located on Boston’s waterfront, a sold out crowd of 2,300 fans watched hometown hero, Greg Vendetti (22-3-1, 12 KOs) score a shutout unanimous decision over Newark, New Jersey’s Michael Anderson (17-3-1, 12 KOs) to capture the fringe IBA junior middleweight title.

Entering the ring to “The Imperial March” aka Darth Vader’s theme song, Vendetti took a cue from the Sith Lord and began a non stop pressure onslaught that Anderson had no answer for at any point in the 12 round fight. Continue reading “Vendetti shuts out Anderson”

By Miguel Maravilla

WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (34-0, 22 KOs) successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision over Tomoki Kameda (36-3, 20 KOs) Saturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Following his defense, Vargas talked about his win.

“I want to thank God. We came out with the victory thanks to all the hard work. He got desperate and I prevented him from doing anything.” Continue reading “Rey Vargas targets Daniel Roman unification clash”

European supermiddleweight champion Stefan Haertel (18-1) keeps calling out WBA super champion Callum Smith (26-0) in German media.

„I said it before and I‘ll say it again: If I could pick my next opponent it would be Callum Smith“, said Haertel. „Most people may not know but we have a history.“ Haertel claims he beat Smith twice when they were still amateurs. „I went to the Olympics 2012 in London, he didn‘t. I‘m sure that hurts.“ While Haertel may have been the better amateur, Smith has had the better pro career so far, winning the World Boxing Super Series in 2018. Haertel also said that he had almost faced Smith during the tournament. „I signed a contract as back-up for the WBSS in case any fighter got injured or had to pull out for other reasons“, said Haertel. „When Braehmer couldn‘t fight Smith I was offered his spot. But instead of the 750.000 Euros I was guaranteed in the contract, they only wanted to pay 250.000. So I said: ‚No, thank you.‘“ Haertel emphasized that he doesn‘t regret any of the decisions he made during his career: „Everything I did took me to where I am now. And I am pretty happy with who I am and where I stand in life. We‘ll see what happens next.“ Although he wants the Smith fight, Haertel doesn‘t think it will happen anytime soon. „As far as I know my promoter already reached out to Eddie Hearn but he didn‘t even respond“, said Haertel. „I cannot blame him though. From a promoter‘s standpoint I probably wouldn‘t make the fight either. You always want your fighter to win instead of risking to lose.“

Report and photos by Bob Caico at ringside

Ukrainian Lyubomyr Pinchuk (11-1-1) of Pittsburgh won the vacant ABF Continental Cruiserweight title when he scored a majority decision over Johnnie Langston (7-1) of Sarasota, FL in an absolute war at the Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead, PA. The card was promoted by Mike McSorley’s Integrity Fighter Management LLC. Continue reading “Pinchuk, Dovhun victorious”

Super lightweight Gabriel “Gollaz” Valenzuela (17-2-1, 10 KOs) scored a fourth round KO over former top contender Nery ¨Pantera¨ Saguilán (39-12-1, 13 KO) on Saturday night at the Domo Parque Solidaridad in Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico.

A straight right laid out Saguilán :15 into round four. Valenzuela won the FECARBOX super lightweight title. Continue reading “Valenzuela KOs Saguilán in four”

By Rocky Morales at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (34-0, 22KO) retained his title with an unpopular unanimous decision victory over Tomoki Kameda (36-3, 20KO) on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The decision was roundly booed despite it being a largely pro-Vargas crowd in attendance. Vargas played the part of matador with Kameda playing the bull. Kameda charged forward for all twelve rounds and seemingly landed far more power punches and seemed to hurt Vargas on a couple of occasions while Vargas was usually in retreat while flicking his jab. In the final round, during a clinch, Kameda grew frustrated, hit Vargas on the break and was deducted a point. Continue reading “Vargas beats Kameda, retains WBC 122lb title”

Welterweight contender Jamal “Shango” James (26-1, 12 KOs) hammered out a ten round unanimous decision over former world champion Antonio DeMarco (33-8-1, 24 KOs) on Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The bout was a war early on, then James had the edge down the stretch. Scores were 98-92 3x.

In a clash between heavyweight contenders, Gerald “El Gallo Negro” Washington (20-3-1, 13 KOs) scored a spectacular eighth round KO over Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (28-3, 17 KOs). Behind on the cards, Washington leveled Helenius with a massive right hand at 2:32. Helenius was counted out.

Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (27-2-1, 24 KOs) rocked a fourth round KO over Daniel Martz (18-6-1, 15 KOs). Martin dropped Martz twice in round four. Time was 2:03. Continue reading “James, Washington, Martin triumph”

By Rocky Morales and Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Two undefeated, highly ranked and highly regarded fighters lost their 0s on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Super bantamweight Ronny Rios (31-3, 15KO) scored a spectacular upset knockout victory over previously undefeated WBA #3 Diego De La Hoya (21-1, 10KO) to win the NABF and WBA Gold titles. It was an all-action fight, throughout, with both fighters willingly exchanging at close quarters. By the fifth round, Rios was starting to take control with hard hooks, body shots and uppercuts. About a minute into the sixth round, Rios landed a hard right uppercut that floored De La Hoya. De La Hoya would struggle to his feet but then told the referee he could not continue leading the referee to call an end to the bout at 1:17 of the sixth round. It was a career-best victory and a nice rebound for Rios who suffered a knockout loss last year to Azat Hovhannisyan. With the victory, Rios rejuvenated his career and puts himself atop the list for a world title shot.

Venezuelan super featherweight Roger Gutierrez (22-3-1, 14 KOs) scored a huge upset knocking out previously undefeated WBC #2 rated Rocky Hernandez (28-1, 25, KOs) of Mexico City. Gutierrez’s lip was busted seconds into the opening round as Hernandez worked his way inside with chopping left hooks. Keeping his composure, Gutierrez drilled Hernandez with a hard right hand, sending the Mexican to the canvas as he got up staggering forcing the referee Rudy Barragan to stop the fight at 2:39 of the first. Continue reading “Top Contenders Fall in Carson, California”

By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside
Photos: Darryl Cobb, Jr.

It was billed as the long-awaited homecoming for the WBO featherweight contender “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (12-0, 7 KOs) and he did so in dramatic fashion with a decisive third round knockout of former world bantamweight challenger Alberto “Metro” Guevara (27-5, 12 KOs) Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Stevenson looked sharp right from the opening bell with a heavy left hook to the body. Guevera, who took the fight on just eight days notice went on the retreat. Continue reading “Stevenson crushes Guevera in three”

In a grudge match between unbeaten heavyweights, Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois (12-0, 11 KOs) scored a fifth round KO over Nathan Gorman (16-1, 11 KOs) for the vacant British title on Saturday night at the famed O2 Arena in London. Dubois dropped Gorman in round three, but Gorman got up and fought bravely. Dubois floored Gorman again in round five for the count. Time was 2:41.

2016 Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) stepped up in class to take a twelve round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Bryant Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs). It was a tactical fight. Jennings landed the cleaner blows while Joyce was far busier. Scores were 118-108, 117-110, 115-110. Jennings was deducted a point for a low blow by referee Steve Grey in round ten.

British middleweight beltholder Liam Williams (21-2-1, 16 KOs) scored a second round KO over Karim Achour (27-6-3, 4 KOs). Time was 1:51. Achour down twice in round two. Williams claimed the vacant WBC silver middleweight title.

Unbeaten super featherweight Archie Sharp (16-0, 8 KOs) scored a hard fought ten round unanimous decision over Jordan McCorry (18-6-1, 4 KOs) to retain his WBO Euro belt. Scores 98-91 3x. McCorry down in round three.

Unbeaten super flyweight Sunny Edwards (12-0, 4 KOs) outboxed Hiram Gallardo (12-3-2, 4 KOs) over a mostly dull ten rounds. Score was 99-90 across the board. Gallardo down in round two. Edwards picked up the vacant IBF International belt.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Fast-moving and quick-punching, unbeaten Japanese Ken Shiro (16-0, 9 KOs), 107.75, successfully made his sixth defense of the WBC light-flyweight belt when he swept the first three rounds with his hit-and-run tactics and scored a fine TKO victory over top-ranked Filipino Jonathan Taconing (28-4-1, 22 KOs), 108, at 1:00 into the fourth session on Friday in Osaka, Japan.

The baby-faced champ, 27, kept whipping the hard-punching but less accurate Filipino from the start as he made best use of his faster footwork that obviously kept Taconing from connecting vaunted solid southpaw lefts. Taconing occasionally tried to connect with his roundhouse lefts to the shifty champ, who, however, continually made himself a moving target. Continue reading “Full Report: Shiro stops #1 Taconing”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Filipino sharpshooter Joe Noynay (18-2-1, 7 KOs), 129.75, impressively kept his WBO Asia Pacific 130-pound belt as he battered previously unbeaten 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Satoshi Shimizu (8-1, 8 KOs), 129.75, from the outset, dropped him twice in the first round, kept whipping the damaged Japanese and finally halted him at 2:18 of the sixth round in a scheduled twelve rounder on Friday in Osaka, Japan.

The encounter of southpaws took place beneath the WBA middleweight title bout of Rob Brant and Ryota Murata at the Edion Arena Osaka, where people gloomily witnessed an unexpected massacre. Continue reading “Full Report: Noynay halts unbeaten Shimizu”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former champ and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Ryota Murata (15-2, 12 KOs), 159.5, impressively regained his WBA middleweight belt when he caught up with defending titlist and his conqueror Rob Brant (25-2, 17 KOs), 159.25, dropped him with a fusillade of punches and quickly halted him at 2:34 of the second round on Friday in Osaka, Japan.

The 33-year-old Japanese Murata, 2012 Olympic gold medalist in London, pitifully forfeited his belt to top contender Brant by a very unanimous decision (119-109 twice, 118-110) in Las Vegas last October. It’s Rob’s night as Murata couldn’t show his potential aggressiveness and was forced to be defensive with Brant’s incessantly speedy and sharp combinations. In a grudge fight at Murata’s home turf Brant, 28, took the initiative with his opening attack and kept peppering the Japanese peek-a-boo stylist from all angles. Continue reading “Full Report: Murata demolishes Brant”

Unbeaten WBA #13 welterweight Derrieck “Pretty Boy” Cuevas (22-0-1, 14 KOs) hammered out a ten round unanimous decision over Jesus Alberto “Barretero” Beltran (17-3-2, 10 KOs) on Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In the latest edition of the classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico boxing rivalry, Cuevas cruised to a 99-91, 99-91, 98-92 verdict.

By Ricardo Ibarra at ringside
Photos: Mike Blair

In a good heavyweight scrap that capped off Friday night’s ‘ShoBox: The New Generation’ card at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, Jermaine Franklin (19-0, 13 KOs) maintained his undefeated run with a ten round split decision win over tough southpaw Jerry Forrest (25-3, 19 KOs). The bout was a close one, but it was Franklin who worked better behind his jab to land at a higher rate throughout.

The fight quickly erupted into an all-out slugfest at the start of the first round, with both unloading some hellacious shots in close. Franklin, though, began to work off his jab and appeared to gain an edge. Franklin continued to press forward at a measured pace while Forrest looked to counter in close, with the pace seeming to favor Franklin throughout the first five rounds. Continue reading “Heavyweight Jermaine Franklin remains unbeaten”

By Joe Koizumi

WBA female flyweight champion Naoko Fujioka (18-2-1, 7 KOs), 112, barely kept her belt as she was held to a split draw by WBO light-flyweight titlist Tenkai Tsunami (26-12-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, over ten hard-fought rounds on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

The officials’ tallies were as follows: Asao 96-95 for Fujioka, Iida 96-94 for Tenkai, Yoshida 95-95. The referee was Michiaki Someya. All the officials were of the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) with the WBA supervisor Won Kim from Korea. Continue reading “Fujioka draws with Tenkai, barely keeps WBA female 112lb belt”

Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela 137 vs. Nery Saguilan 137
Luis Fernando Villa 109.1 vs. Luis Orozco 109.1
David Picasso 121 vs. Ángel Martínez 121
Yareli Larios 130 vs. Claudia Rangel 130
Jesús Ruiz 126.5 vs. Arturo Zamora 127

Venue: Domo Parque Solidaridad, Tonalá, Jal, MX
Promoter: Clase y Talento, Zanfer, Code Jalisco, Mega Eventos, Gob. Tonalá, Jalisco.
TV: TV Azteca

Photos

By Bob Caico

Lyubomyr Pinchuk 187.8 vs. Johnnie Langston 193.3
Oleg Dovhun 117.1 vs. Vincent Jennings 121.1
Michael Manna 222 vs. Randy Wachacha 252
Latiss Norman 164.5 vs. Darryl Bunting 134.7
Kelvin Smith 133.4 vs. Edward Hatler 134.7
Ryizeemmion Ford 132.2 vs. Shawn Rall 136
Danny Rosenberger 149.2 vs. Justin Johnson 143.7

Venue: Carnegie Music Hall
Promoter: Michael McSorley
Date: Saturday July 13, 2019

By Héctor Villarreal

Female bantamweight Teresa Almengor (2-1-1, 1 KO) predicted a victory by KO on Saturday night when she fights at home in Boquete, Panama, against Nicaraguan Jamileth Vallejos (1-1, 1 KO). The card, promoted by TSP Boxing, Sparta Promotions and Casa de Campeones, features several of the most important names in Panamanian boxing on recent years such as Bryan “La Roca” De Gracia, Edgar Valencia and former World Champion Luis “El Nica” Concepcion.

Teresa Almengor 120.4 vs Jamileth Vallejos 119.8
Luis Concepcion 120.4 vs Felix M. Hernandez 121.6
Norlan Yera 130.8 vs Ivan Trejos 134

Bryan De Gracia 129.2 vs Daniel Diez 133.2
Yaditza Perez 112.4 vs Zuseth Hoythe 110
Edgar Valencia 120.4 vs Gilmer Baules 119
Daniel Lezcano 121.2 vs Fernando Cedeño 120.8
Venue: Gimnasio Los Naranjos, Boquete, Panama
First fight 8 pm.

Prospect and hometown favorite Oscar Duarte (17-1-1, 12 KOs) stopped Nestor Armas (21-5, 20 KOs) of Venezuela at 2:16 of round seven. The fight had good two-way action but Duarte hurt Armas several times throughout the fight. The end came in round seven where Duarte dropped Armas who beat the count but a barrage of punches moments later saw the referee stop the fight.

Lightweight David Alegria (10-2, 6 KOs) upset former two-time world challenger Eduardo Escobedo (34-6, 24 KOs) in the eight round co-feature on Friday night. Alegria dropped Escobedo in round four with a body shot. The official scores were 78-73 all in favor to Algeria for the unanimous decision.

In an excellent six round super lightweight opener, Luis Ramos defeated former world title challenger Victor Zaleta by six round decision. Ramos dropped Zaleta twice in round one. Zaleta stunned Ramos in round five but Ramos stayed on his feet and closed the fight strong. Gutsy effort by Zaleta who had not fought in nearly six years. 57-55, 58-54, 58-54.