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By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Hall of Famer Colonel Bob Sheridan talks to Fightnews.com® about the “Rumble in the Jungle” when Muhammad Ali regained the heavyweight championship by knocking out George Foreman in eight rounds in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974.

Sheridan broadcast the live pay-per-view on closed-circuit television, also known as theatre television, to venues across the world. The fight had a record estimated 50 million viewers on closed-circuit television worldwide, grossing an estimated $100 million in revenue.

In total, including closed-circuit and free television, the fight was watched by an estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide – about a quarter of the world’s 4 billion population in 1974. Continue reading “Colonel Bob Sheridan: “Rumble in the Jungle”

WBO #12 junior middleweight Carlos “Chema” Ocampo (29-1, 19 KOs) scored a second round KO over Iván “Demolisher” Matute (30-4, 25 KOs) on Saturday night at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, BCN, Mexico. A vicious body attack by Ocampo put Matute on the canvas three times in the second round. Official time was 1:52. Matute spent a few minutes on the deck writhing in pain, but eventually got up with an ice pack on his liver.

Judge Dave Sutherland had the bout 114-114 even, while judges Pat Russell and Gerald Ritter had Smith up 115-113, 115-112 respectively.

The three judges unanimously agreed on nine of the twelve rounds, with Smith ahead five rounds to four.

Round one (Vlasov), round four (Smith), round six (Vlasov), round seven (Smith), and round eight (Smith). All three gave Vlasov the ninth and tenth rounds. All three gave Smith the final two rounds, with Ritter giving Smith a 10-8 in round eleven.

Former WBA flyweight world champion Juan Carlos Reveco (40-4, 19 KOs) returned to the ring for the first time in over 3 years. His last appearance was in February 2018 losing in a world title opportunity versus hen world champion Donnie Nietes. The 37-year-old Reveco ground out a dominating but hard-earned unanimous decision victory over local journeyman Jeremias Javier Ulibarre (8-12-1, 1 KO) on Saturday night at the Club Atlético Talleres, Villa Gobernador Galvez, Santa Fe, Argentina. The official scores were 60-55, 60-54, and 60-53.5 all in favor of Reveco. Continue reading “Ex-champ Reveco returns with win in Argentina”

Undefeated WBO #7, IBF #9, WBC #12 welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs) overpowered and knocked out former world champion and IBF #3 rated Sergey Lipinets (16-2-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. A Lipinets slip in round four was incorrectly ruled a knockdown. No mistake about the knockdown in round six, however. A straight left put Lipinets down and out. Time was 2:11. Another dominant and impressive performance by Ennis.

“I’ll always be hard on myself when I look back at my performance,” said Ennis. “My goal is to keep getting better, sharper, faster and stronger so I can become world champion. As long as I keep fighting top guys, I’m happy. I feel like I will be world champion by the end of this year or beginning of next year. Patience is the key though. Continue reading “Ennis KOs Lipinets in six”

The “Common Man” Joe Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KOs) took a hard fought majority decision over Maxim Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) to claim the vacant WBO light heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The lanky awkward Vlasov outworked Smith early and cut Smith over the left eye in round one. That cut troubled Smith the rest of the way. Smith connected with a big right hand in round two, but Vlasov continued to outwork him. Vlasov started bleeding from the mouth in round five. Smith landed some big shots in round seven. Vlasov rebounded well in round eight and had a big round nine as Smith faded. Smith rallied in round eleven. Vlasov went down down but referee Gary Ritter ruled it a punch behind the head. Still, a big round for Smith. Smith also won round twelve. Scores were 114-114, 115-113, 115-112.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Smith. “It was definitely a close, tough fight. I give it to Vlasov. Great fighter. He really put on a great show tonight and toughed it out. I believe that round where I hurt him there… I believe he had his head down, and I should’ve got the knockout. I think I would’ve got the stoppage that {11th} round, but he pulled it off and made it out on his feet. I believe I got the victory tonight because they saw I landed the harder shots. He landed a lot of punches. It was a great fight. Continue reading “Smith edges Vlasov to win WBO LH title”

IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs) retained his title against Jonathan Rodríguez (22-2, 16 KOs) in a slugfest on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Toe-to-toe action for all twelve rounds. Ancajas battered Rodriguez to the canvas with a barrage of punches in round eight. Scores were unanimous for Ancajas 115-112, 116-111, 117-110.

Unbeaten welterweight Eimantas Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator. Stanionis pressed the action and won 115-113, 116-112, 117-111.

Undefeated heavyweight Mike Balogun (17-0, 13 KOs) scored a second round KO over Keith Barr (20-14-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at The Rustica in Vero Beach, Florida. Balogun dropped Barr three times in round two to end it. Time was 2:45.

A wild clash between cruiserweights Johnnie Langston (9-3, 5 KOs) and Demetrius Banks (10-10-1, 3 KOs) ended in a no-contest. Both fighters were down in round one. Banks suffered a leg injury in round three when Langston threw him down from a clinch and the bottom rope snapped.

Unbeaten WBC #11, WBA #11 heavyweight Efe Ajagba (15-0, 12 KOs) explosively knocked Brian “MVP” Howard (15-5, 12 KOs) out cold in round three in the Smith-Vlasov co-feature on Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A massive right hand that sounded like a cannon shot landing on the ear of Howard sent him twisting to the canvas live a pretzel. Time was 1:29.

Unbeaten heavyweight Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (9-0, 9 KOs) scored a second round KO over Jeremiah “The Bullfrog” Karpency (16-3-1, 6 KOs) Anderson dropped Karpency with a body shot in round one. Identical punch in round two put Karpency down for the count. Time was :34. Continue reading “Ajagba, Real Big Baby score early knockouts”

Unbeaten WBA #11, IBF #14 welterweight Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) needed just 80 seconds to defend his WBA Continental title against Samuel Vargas (31-7-2, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London. Benn, the son of former world champion Nigel Benn, jumped on Vargas early on and referee Michael Alexander quickly waved it off. Vargas complained about the stoppage.

WBO middleweight champion Savannah “The Silent Assasin” Marshall (10-0, 8 KOs) scored a third round KO over late sub Maria Lindberg (19-7-2, 10 KOs). Marshall dropped Lindberg in round two, then put her down for the count in round three. Time was 1:11.

“The Baby Face Assassin” Shannon Courtenay (7-1, 3 KOs) won by ten round unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten “Blonde Bomber” Ebanie Bridges (5-1, 2 KOs) in a clash for the vacant WBA women’s bantamweight world title. Bridges’ left eye was closed for the last few rounds. Judges favored the home fighter 97-94, 98-92, 98-92. The bout seemed much closer than that. Continue reading “Benn stops Vargas in one round”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Jack Maris (2-1, 0 KOs) in round one at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia on Saturday. Referee Paul Tapley saved 6’9 Maris from further punishment at 2:50.

“It feels amazing, it feels fantastic to be back,” Huni said. “It is what it is. It’s out of my control. I did all the hard work. There’s no pressure.” Huni is 2019 amateur world championship bronze medalist. Continue reading “Huni victorious, remains unbeaten”

Judges for the WBO light heavyweight world title fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Maxim Vlasov will be David Sutherland (OK), Pat Russell (CA), Gerald Ritter (OK). The referee is Gary Ritter.

Judges for the IBF junior bantamweight world title bout between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonathan Rodriguez will be Tom Paolillo (NY), Tom Schreck (NY), and Don Trella (CT). The referee is David Fields.

Judges for the welterweight clash between Jaron Ennis and Sergey Lipinets are Glenn Feldman (CT), Don Trella (CT), and Fernando Villarreal (CA). The referee is Arthur Mercante.

Judges for the WBA welterweight title eliminator between Eimantas Stanionis and Thomas Dulorme are Tom Carusone (CT), Frank Lombardi (CT), Steve Weisfeld (NJ). The referee is Harvey Dock.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury took to social media to give an update on the big fight that’s taking forever to finalize. The showdown with WBA/IBF/WBO champ Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

“Just got some big news,” said Fury. “Three or four big offers on the table. Interest from Saudi Arabia, my gypsy brothers in Qatar, Uzbekistan, Russia, America, England…there’s some big, big offers on the table. I’m going to go through them on Sunday and then hopefully get this big fight on and let me smash this big dosser, big unless dosser let me say. Cause when I get him, I’m gonna give him that [makes fist], you big dosser.”