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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

It was truly a shocker in terms of an upset result as well as too quick a demolition. WBC#3, IBF#4 ranked OPBF bantamweight champ Keita Kurihara (17-8-1, 15 KOs), 117.75, stunned the crowd at Ariake Arena (established for the previous Tokyo Olympic Games) as he fell three times at the hand of Filipino veteran Froilan Saludar (34-7-1, 23 KOs), 117.5, at just 60 seconds of the first round and yielded his regional belt in a scheduled twelve on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Saludar’s opening overhand right effectively had the champ rubbery legged and had him sprawling to the canvas on three occasions. Gunning for a shot at the WBA bantam belt against compatriot Takuma Inoue, Kurihara might be too nervous and stiff in the opening session, and badly hit the deck time and again.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBO#8, WBC#13, IBF#11 Takeshi Inoue (20-2-2, 12 KOs), 154, sent Thai challenger Thiranan Matsali (27-3, 7 KOs), 152.5, to the deck on four occasions to halt him at 2:02 of the sixth round to retain his WBO Asia Pacific junior middleweight belt on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Having lost only to such formidable rivals as Jaime Munguia and Tim Tszyu both on points, the granite-chinned Inoue caught up with the physically inferior Thailander and displayed his power in annihilating the less powerful and negative challenger.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBO #8 bantam Saul Sanchez (20-2, 12 KOs), 118, US, maintained the pressure against Filipino southpaw counterpuncher RV Deniega (9-1, 6 KOs), 117.25, winning a unanimous verdict (79-73 twice, 78-74) over eight monotonous frames on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Deniega was a disappointment as he might forget to carry his fighting spirit from the Philippines, and continually kept fighting with his back to the ropes. The busy-punching Sanchez took the initiative and steadily piled up points in almost every round.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBO#13 junior flyweight, Filipino hard-puncher Vince Paras (20-2-1, 15 KOs), 111.75, narrowly eked out a split decision (78-74, 77-75, but 75-77 against him) over ex-world challenger Kai Ishizawa (11-3, 10 KOs), 112, in eight close rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Both were hard-punchers with high KO percentage, but they each kept throwing punches to the air and it eventually became a close affair with their less precision.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten feather prospect, speedy southpaw OPBF#12 Kenji Fujita (5-0, 3 KOs), 125.75, whose amateur mark was 153-21, quicky dropped formerly world rated OPBF#8 Filipino Jeo Santisima (22-7, 19 KOs), 126, in the opening session and pounded out a unanimous decision (79-72 twice, 78-73) over eight lopsided rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. Fujita, who entered Teiken Gym after his long amateur career, will zoom up soon.

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Report/Photos by David Finger

The final day of the 36th Annual WBO Congress continued Thursday morning (October 12th) at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Resort and Convention Center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with a cordial introduction of a special guest in IBF president Daryl Peoples. Although the relationship between sanctioning bodies can often be a contentious one, there is little question that both the IBF and WBO are the exception to the rule as both organizations clearly have a very healthy working relationship with each other.

“As Paco said, that man is my brother,” Peoples told the executive committee, “the WBO is our sister organization. Many of you here, most of our membership we share, so that makes it easy to work with the WBO. If there is anything I can do to support this organization, you got it.”

WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel shared the sentiment and offered to assist the IBF with their upcoming convention next year in Puerto Rico.

From there came the most notable part of the Convention, the WBO ratings committee meeting. And although it is common to see fireworks and shakeups at these meetings, this year’s meeting saw several top contenders in a holding pattern as they waited for the results of several big fights later this year. Continue reading “36th Annual WBO Congress Final Day Report”

The World Boxing Association (WBA) ruled that the ruling of the bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, held last August 26, will stand after having thoroughly studied the appeal made by Queensberry Promotions. The bout that took place in Wrocław, Poland, ended with victory for WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also defended his WBO, IBF and IBO belts in that bout.

On September 4, the company representing Dubois emailed the WBA indicating that Queensberry desired to have the outcome of the bout reversed due to the referee’s action for a punch they considered low in the fifth round. Continue reading “WBA upholds Usyk-Dubois decision”

By Miguel Maravilla

Phoenix’s undefeated two-time super middleweight world champion David “El Monstruo” Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) and undefeated two-division champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) from Providence, Rhode Island, talked about their clash for Benavidez’ WBC interim super middleweight title on November 25 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas live on Showtime Pay-Per-View.

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Undefeated two-time super middleweight world champion David “El Monstruo, formerly ” Benavidez and unbeaten two-division champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade squared off at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday as they previewed their showdown for Benavidez’s WBC interim super middleweight title headlining a Showtime PPV on Saturday, November 25 from Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

David Benavidez: “I’m not worried about Canelo Alvarez. I’m worried about Demetrius Andrade. I definitely believe the winner of this fight is the best super middleweight in the world…I’m taking this challenge because I want to shut everybody’s mouth up. When great fighters get put in front of me, the best comes out of me and I become a great fighter myself…I looked into his soul on those two faceoffs. I saw that he was scared but I know that he’s probably going to say the same thing about me.”

Demetrius Andrade: “This is the Super Bowl of the 168-pound division. This is the biggest fight that can be made. The two most avoided fighters. Yes, I haven’t fought the best because the best doesn’t want to fight me. He can have that same claim. But the time is now. This is the fight…I’m looking to conquer the whole super middleweight division. This would be my third weight class. That’s what gives me the right to say I’m the best. This is bigger than Canelo. This is way bigger than that. We can’t just sit back and wait for him. David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade is the biggest fight.”

By David Finger

It is a popular urban myth that if you stumbled upon a group of kids paying a pickup game of baseball in an empty field somewhere in the Dominican Republic, that there would most likely be a major league scout for the Yankees or Rangers sitting on a trash can in the corner to see if he could find himself a future All-Star. Well, for one night in October, the urban myth became a reality, only this time for the sport of boxing. Shaun Boxing Promotions hosted an action packed card with free admission for the attendees of the 36th Annual Congress at the Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. With eight fights in total, and six being for WBO regional belts, it was the perfect opportunity for sixteen young fighters to make a statement in front of some of the most important boxing “scouts” on the planet. From major promoters, to nearly every WBO official, and even undisputed world champion Terrance Crawford, there was no question that this was going to be a great opportunity for all of the young fighters on the card.

And perhaps no young star shined quite as bright as 17-year old prospect Kaipo Gallegos of Las Vegas. Gallegos, an amateur standout, elected to turn pro young and take the Vasyl Lomachenko route, jumping right into the deep end of the pool. In only his second professional fight he fought seventeen fight veteran Misael Vasquez and then followed it up with a bout with Maryl Cabrera, who came into that fight with a 27-7 record. Continue reading “Four fighters win WBO regional belts”

WBO middleweight champion Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) will square off against unbeaten IBF world champion Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs) in a title unification showdown this Saturday at Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. ESPN will air the fight.

Janibek Alimkhanuly: “I expect it to be a very good fight on Saturday night. I will once again show what ‘Qazaq Style’ is…I changed my trainer for this fight. We got all the knowledge that we could from Buddy McGirt. And now we have a new trainer in Brian Viloria. We are doing new workouts and learning new things. We’re also adding things to my style. On Saturday night, you’ll see a new side of me.”

Vincenzo Gualtieri: “I expect to be the winner on Saturday…this fight means everything to me. It’s why I worked so hard in camp. A lot of people underestimate me, but I’m here to prove that I will be successful.”

By David Finger

With only two weeks since his last fight, it may be a little early to be asking “who is next” in regards to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but at the 36th Annual WBO Congress in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic boxing fans and insiders got a strong indication as to who the front runner might be.

Former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) who has not fought for a world title since vacating his 154-pond title in 2019, but who has nonetheless remained a viable contender in both the middleweight and later the super-middleweight division over the last four years, appears to have emerged as the betting favorite to win out on the upcoming Canelo sweepstakes. Continue reading “Canelo vs. Munguia inches closer to reality”

Nearly 1,200 fans converged at the West Warwick Civic Center in Warwick, Rhode Island, for the launch of “The CallOut” reality television series.

The main event was the rematch between Hector “Macho” Camacho, Jr. (59-7-1, 33 KOs), and “Furious” Freddy Curiel (19-8-2, 8 KOs). Camacho had defeated Curiel by way of a 10-round unanimous decision 24 years ago at Trump Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This time, however, Curiel was out to even the score, and he achieved that by securing a six-round split decision victory. This outcome has now set the stage for a possible trilogy. Continue reading “Curiel defeats Camacho, Jr. in rematch”

A super bantamweight clash between former world champions John Riel Casimero (33-4-1, 22 KOs) and Yukinori Oguni (21-2-3, 8 KOs) ended in a technical draw when a head clash early in round four left Oguni unable to continue on Thursday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

In other action, former Tim Tszyu opponent Takeshi Inoue (20-2-2, 12 KOs) stopped Thiranan Matsali (27-3, 7 KOs) in round six of a junior middleweight fight…bantamweight Froilan Saludar (34-7-1, 24 KOs) needed just sixty seconds to demolish Keita Kurihara (17-8-1, 15 KOs) in the first round to claim the OPBF belt…flyweight Vince Paras (20-2-1, 15 KOs) took an eight round split decision against Kai Ishizawa (11-3, 10 KOs) in a clash of former minimumweight world title challengers, SoCal bantamweight Saul “The Beast” Sanchez (20-2, 12 KOs) outpointed previously unbeaten RV Deniega. (9-1, 6 KOs) over eight rounds.

Report/Photos by  David Finger

Day two of the 36th Annual WBO Congress kicked off Tuesday morning (October 10th) at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Resort and Convention Center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with a continuation of the regional vice president’s reports starting with WBO Asia-Pacific and WBO Oriental Vice President Leon Panoncillo’s regional report. Panoncillo is possibly the busiest regional head of any sanctioning organization, also heading the WBO International, WBO China, and WBO Africa in addition to the WBO Asia-Pacific and WBO Oriental. Continue reading “36th Annual WBO Congress Day Two”

Unbeaten WBA #2, WBC #3, IBF #3 super middleweight Erik Bazinyan (31-0, 22 KOs) stopped Canelo’s chief sparring partner Ronald Ellis (18-4-2, 12 KOs) to retain his NABF and NABA titles on Wednesday night at the Casino de Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bazinyan dropped Ellis with two right hands in round six. A wobbly Ellis beat the count, but the bout was halted by the referee. Time was 1:44.

In a female super welterweight rematch, Femke Hermans (17-4, 7 KOs) defeated Mary Spencer (7-2, 5 KOs) again to claim the vacant IBF title. Hermans outworked Spencer to win by majority decision 95-95, 96-94, 97-93.

Other Results:
Christopher Guerrero KO4 Jose “Piston” Lopez (welterweight)
Leila Beaudoin W8 Estrella Valverde (female super featherweight)
Mehmet Unal TKO1 Luca Spadaccini (light heavyweight)
Imam Khataev TKO3 David Benitez (light heavyweight)
Jhon Orobio TKO4 Jesus Solis Reyes (lightweight)
Wilkens Mathieu TKO3 Cesar Lopez Romo (super middleweight)

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has announced at the 36th annual convention from Punta Cana that it will host a referee and judges seminar on Wednesday Oct.25 at the Polideportivo Alexis Arguello in Managua, Nicaragua as part of the activities leading up to the anticipated WBO Nights of Champions card on Friday, October 27th . The show is toppled by the WBO Jr flyweight defense of Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez against challenger Gerardo Zapata of Nicaragua along with multiple regional titles on the undercard and broadcasted live on ESPN+ & ESPN Knockout. Continue reading “WBO announces Oct 25 seminars”

The WBC has confirmed Julio Cesar Martinez as sole flyweight champion after McWilliams Arroyo has declined to fight Martinez consequently vacating his interim title. Martinez and Arroyo were set to meet countless times before their technical draw which resulted from an accidental headbutt and afterward as well. The fight was set for May 5th on the undercard of Canelo vs Ryder, but Arroyo did not accept to fight in Mexico. They were set to meet this coming December as the result of a purse bid and Arroyo will not honor such fight, so he has lost his privileges and interim belt.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee ordered the bout between cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian and his mandatory challenger Yuniel Dorticos. The committee gave a 30-day period to negotiate the bout, which began this Tuesday, October 10, and will end next November 10. Both parties received the formal notification signed by Carlos Chávez, president of the championships committee. If both parties do not reach an agreement or any of them refuses to sign the contract, the WBA may call for a purse bid.

Report/Photos by David Finger

Day one of the 36th Annual WBO Congress kicked off Tuesday morning (October 10th) at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Resort and Convention Center with an introduction of the committee members before splitting off into separate events. For the officials, an ABC referee seminar kicked off at 8:30 while others took part in the WBO executive meeting. The executive meeting was an educational one, with two medical presentations relevant to the sport of boxing. First, Dr. Michael Gonzalez and Doctor Jorge Miranda-Massari, both experts on nutrition, gave a presentation on “Metabolic Correction for Physiological Optimization in Boxing”. Although the title of the session sounded somewhat intimidating to the layperson, Doctors Miranda and Gonzalez had a clear and conversational style that easily broke down the importance of nutrition as well as tips for fighters both pre and post-fight to maximize the impact of good nutrition. From there, Dr. Juan Carlos Devia Ramos presented a presentation on Injuries in Sports, with a heavy emphasis on head and brain injury and the long term impact of brain trauma. Both presentations and their power points are available on the WBO website. Continue reading “36th Annual WBO Congress Day One”

Jeter Promotions returns to The Hall at Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, Maryland on Saturday. This will be the 13th event promoted by Jeter Promotions at the venue located 11 miles from downtown Baltimore.

In the main event, Jaqeem Hutcherson (9-1-1, 0 KOs) battles fan-favorite Brandon Chambers (9-1-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round battle for the UBF All America and UBO Intercontinental super bantamweight titles. This fight is a local showdown between Maryland-based fighters. Continue reading “Boxing back in Hanover, Maryland”

DAZN has picked up the November 11 MarvNation card at the Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. Headlining the event will be Irma “Torbellino” Garcia vs Stephania Silva for the vacant IBF female jr. bantamweight world title. The card will also feature “El Feroz” Fernando Vargas Jr, Miguel Gaona, and Nathan “El Morenito” Rodriguez.

The Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2024.

Inductees are:
Pro Boxer – Otis Griffin
Amateur Boxer – Charles Campbell, Wendell Charleston
Old Timer – Izzy Jannazzo, Battling Bozo Hambright
Manager/Trainer/Promoter – TC Collins, Cheffy Reyna
Support Personnel – Dr. David Williams, Dave Godber

The induction ceremony will take place as part of a live pro fight card in 2024. Details to come

All-action super lightweight Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin (27-1, 23 KOs) returned with a come-from-behind sixth round TKO against Patrick Okine (21-6-2, 18 KOs) on Tuesday night at Sony Hall in New York City. The 37-year-old Seldin pressed the action but showed some ring rust after two years out of the ring. Seldin dropped Okine in round six and got the stoppage with his follow-up barrage. Time was 2:22.

Other Results:
Michael Hughes W6 Nelson Morales (welterweight)
Christina Cruz W6 Josefina Vega (female super flyweight)
Christian Otero W6 Carlos Marrero (super lightweight)

Japanese world champion Takuma Inoue (18-1, 4 KOs) will defend his WBA bantamweight crown against Filipino former world champion Jerwin Ancajas (34-3-2, 23 KOs) on Wednesday, November 15, at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue, the younger brother of pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue, looks to make the first defense of his strap, while Ancajas aims to secure a world title in a second weight class.

In the world championship co-feature, Artem Dalakian (22-0, 15 KOs) puts his WBA flyweight world title on the line against Japanese contender Seigo Yuri Akui (18-2-1, 11 KOs).

Inoue-Ancajas, Dalakian-Akui, and additional undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. in the early morning hours on ESPN+.