Category Archives: The Latest

CANELO DECISIONS SCULL

CANELO ALVAREZ UD12 OVER WILLIAM SCULL
115 – 113, 116-112, 119-109

BADOU JACK MD12 OVER NORAIR MIKAELJAN
114-114, 115-113, 115-113

JAIME MUNGUIA UD12 OVER BRUNO SURACE
116-112, 116-112, 117-111

MARTIN BAKOLE AND EFE AJAGBA fought to a 10-round majority draw.
95-95, 95-95, 96-94 Ajagba.

CANELO – SCULL WEIGHTS

 

CANELO ALVAREZ – 167.1
WILLIAM SCULL – 166.1

BADOU JACK – 200
NORAIR MIKAELJAN – 198.1

MARTIN BAKOLE – 299
EFE AJAGBA – 240

JAIME MUNGUIA – 169.1
BRUNO SURACE – 169.1

(Weights from Fightnews.com)

FATAL FURY NYC FIGHT NIGHT

Fight-by-fight results for Fatal Fury fight card in Times Square:

Ryan Garcia (24-1-1 NC, 21 KOs vs. Rolly Romero (16-2, 13 KOs)
12 Rounds, Welterweights

ROLLY ROMERO UD12 OVER RYAN GARCIA

Rolly Romero dropped Ryan Garcia in round two and went on to outpoint the fading star by scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109. Two of three underwhelming fights on the DAZN Pay-Per-View card produced odd results, as Garcia rival Devin Haney scored an unimpressive win earlier in the night.

Romero jammed up the planned rematch between Garcia and Haney, starting with a pair of left hands that decked the social media star in round two. Garcia came back with competitive rounds but his energy level waned as the fight wore on. By the time the final bell rang, the outcome was fairly clear, barring a nonsensical job from the judges.

At the conclusion of Haney’s UD over Jose Ramirez, most thought his skittish, defensive posture made him vulnerable in a return bout with Garcia. After Garcia’s fight, who knows what’s going on.

RD 1 – Slow night continues, Garcia wins the round behind his steady jab. 10-9 Garcia.

RD 2 – Garcia down from two left hands. Got up and fought back. 10-8 Romero, 19-18 Romero

RD 3 – Slow again, maybe for Ryan, 10-9 Garcia, 28-28.

RD 4 – Slow and tactical. Seems like Ryan could win this fight with his jab. Very cautious since the aftermath of the knockdown. 10-9 Garcia, 38-37 Garcia.

RD 5 -Seems like Garcia wins with the slow pace, Rolly’s chance at victory is fireworks. Another slow round favors Garcia, 10-9 Garcia, 48-46 Garcia.

RD 6 – Close, Ryan’s throwing more power shots now, Rolly is more consistent. 10-9 Romero, 57-56 Garcia.

RD 7 – Garcia got his offense going a little more that round, 10-9 Garcia, 67-65 Garcia.

RD 8 -Tough to score, Ryan controlled the first half, then went inactive. Rolly wins it with more action. 10-9 Romero, 76-75 Garcia.

RD 9 – Easy for Romero, Garcia did just about nothing. 10-9 Romero, 85-85.

RD 10 – Garcia’s got nothing. Not sure what the problem is, there will be plenty of speculation. 10-9 Romero, 95-94 Romero.

RD 11 – Nothing at all from Garcia, 10-9 Romero, 105-103 Romero.

RD 12 – Romero closed it out as Garcia didn’t show any urgency. 10-9 Romero, 115-112 Romero.

DEVIN HANEY UD12 OVER JOSE RAMIREZ

Devin Haney got back in the ring for the first time since his punishing outing against Ryan Garcia and fought an exceedingly cautious fight en route to a 12-round unanimous decision. Official scores were 119-109, 119-109, 118-110. IntheCorner.net scored it 119-110 for Haney.

Devin Haney showed elite foot speed and movement all over the ring but didn’t very often combine it with a meaningful offensive attack. Much was made of his work with Shane Mosely leading up to this fight in an effort to come with more power. When he did throw punches, they were heavy shots but there was no way to see the results of the work in camp. Too few punches landed with very few moments of sustained energy.

Meanwhile, Jose Ramirez couldn’t do a thing with the elusive Haney. Round after round, Ramirez pursued Haney, this way and that, never cutting off the ring and he only landed 40 punches over the 12 rounds per stats shown at the end of the fight.

It’s hard to say what’s next for Devin Haney. He is rumored to have a signed deal for a Ryan Garcia rematch but his chances for success are hard to determine off of this performance.

RD 1 – Almost nothing happened. Haney moving all over the ring, not punching. 10-10.

RD 2 – Haney let his hands go just a bit that round, got some shots in. Ramirez doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to land on him. 10-9 Haney, 20-19 Haney.

RD 3 – Haney still jumping around a lot but he’s getting into a groove. His right hand his landing pretty well on Ramirez. Ramirez plodding along, winding up for big shots that miss. 10-9 Haney, 30-18, Haney.

RD 4 – 10-9 Haney, huge disparity in skills. 40-37 Haney.

RD 5 – Haney is doing a Tank Davis-style wait, wait, wait then explode with power shots. Not really Devin’s game. He’s winning easily but no sure this is what is should look like. 10-9 Haney, 50-46 Haney.

RD 6 – Probably give that one to Ramirez, he pressed and threw more than he has been. He’s cut under the left eye. 10-9 Ramirez, 59-56 Haney.

RD 7 – Slow round but there was an exchange right at the bell where Ramirez landed a left to Haney’s head. We’ll see if he can follow Ryan Garcia’s example. 10-9 Haney, 69-65 Haney.

RD 8 – Back to slow pace, Haney scoring in isolated spots, Ramirez following him around. 10-9 79-74 Haney.

RD 9 – Same story, Ramirez pressed with some urgency but he just can’t get there. Haney’s too slippery. Devin landed a few good solid shots. 10-9 Haney, 89-83 Haney

RD 10 – Same pattern, 10-9 Haney, 99-92 Haney

RD 11 – Well, we know Devin’s in shape. His movement has completely prevented Ramirez from getting anything going. 10-9 Haney, 109-101 Haney.

RD 12 – It ended the way it started. Tough fight to watch. You could have watched the first two rounds and nothing else, it never changed. 10-9 Haney, 119-100 Haney.

TEOFIMO LOPEZ UD12 OVER ARNOLD BARBOZA JR.

Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) outboxed Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-1, 11 KOs) over 12 rounds with a masterful effort in New York City. Official scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110. InTheCorner.net had it 118-110.

Lopez controlled the distance and the pace with excellent footwork and used his hand speed to bedevil Barboza for nearly the entire fight. One big right hand in round six appeared to turn the tide for Barboza but the fight reverted to Lopez’ favor as he got right back into his fight plan.

Barboza never sustained an attack and, in fact, he held back while Lopez executed his plan with very little resistance.

Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) vs.Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-0, 11 )
12 Rounds, WBO Junior Welterweight championship
RD 1 – Tactical start, both took some chances. Nothing sustained yet. 10-9 Lopez.

RD 2 – Still tactical, sporadic punching. Lopez pressing more, nothing of signifcance just yet but power shots are being set up. 10-9 Lopez, 20-18 Lopez.

RD 3 – Close round, could be a Barboza round. Teo’s using movement and leaping in with his shots. Barboza’s countering well. Slight edge to Teo, 10-9 Lopez, 30-27 Lopez.

RD 4 – Good start for Teo, controlling the distance and jumping in to fire off quick shots. Not taking much back. Barboza needs to close the distance, cut off the movement. 10-9 Lopez, 40-36 Lopez.

RD 5 – Good round for Teo, Barboza not firing enough, 10-9 Lopez, 50-45 Lopez.

RD 6 – Barboza drilled him with a right, changed the tempo. 10-9 Barboza, 59-54 Lopez.

RD 7 – Barboza did almost nothing. 10-9 Lopez, 69-63 Lopez.

RD 8 – Barboza still can’t solve the puzzle. Teo controlling the fight with his movement, not getting hit, jumping in with his shots, disrupting Barboza’s timing. 10-9 Lopez, 79-72 Lopez.

RD 9 – Slow pace, not enough from Barboza. Not very entertaining fight at this point, Barboza not able to change the pace. 10-9 Lopez, 89-81 Lopez.

RD 10 – 10-9 Lopez, 99-90 Lopez.

RD 11 – Barboza finally fired and got some business done. Never rocked him but sustained an attack for the first time. 10-9 Barboza, 108-101 Lopez.

RD 12 – 10-9 Lopez, no sell-out effort to save it by Barboza. They were on different levels tonight. 10-9 Lopez, 118-110.

UNDERCARD

Fight 2 – Reito Tsutsumi (Pro Debut vs. Levale Whittington (1-2-1, 1 KO),
6 Rounds, featherweights

Tsutsumi UD6 by scores 60-54 X2, 58-56.

RD1 – Both southpaw, Tsutsumi pressuring. Whittington not backing off, not fighting like an opponent. Tsutsumi has heavy hands and digs the body well. Whittington scoring with rights to the head, both counters and jabs. 10-9 T

RD 2 – More of the same pattern but Tsutsumi staggered him with a left hand. Didn’t follow up with too much urgency. Easy round for Tsutsumi, 10-9, 20-18.

RD 3 – Tsutsumi’s winning all three rounds cleary but Whittington is landing meaningful shots with both hands. 10-9 T, 30-27 T.

RD 4 – Same pattern, Tsutsumi would benefit from throwing more combinations but he’s winning these rounds just attacking the way he his. Whttington had his moments again in the fourth, switched lefty, righty. 10-9 T, 40-36 T.

RD 5 – Tsutsumi came out firing with both hands but didn’t have the power to rally for a knockdown or stoppage, so he backed off a bit. Whittington continued to land, no huge power advantage for Tsutsumi. 10-9 T, 50-45 T.

RD 6 – Good round for Tsutsumi, clear win in the round and the fight. He didn’t have the power to do big damage but he outpunched Whittington over six. 10-9 T, 60-54 T.

Fight 1 – 3-round bout between NYFD and NYPD fighters with headgear. James Gennari of NYFD was given the decision after three action-packed rounds.

FATAL FURY NYC WEIGHTS

RYAN GARCIA – 146.8
ROLLY ROMERO – 146.6

DEVIN HANEY – 143
JOSE RAMIREZ – 143.8

TEOFIMO LOPEZ – 139.6
ARNOLD BARBOZA JR. – 139.8

The DAZN broadcast starts at 5PM ET. The Fatal Fury card can be purchased for $59.99 or can be bundled with Saturday night’s Canelo vs. Scull card for $89.99

GABRIELA FUNDORA STOPS MARILYN BADILLO, CHARLES CONWELL UPSET

Multi-belt flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora stayed unbeaten with a dominant TKO7 over previously unbeaten Marilyn Badillo on Saturday night. Fundora (16-0-1, 8 KOs) floored Badillo in the seventh round and when she got up she indicated she did not want to continue. Official time of the stoppage was 1:44.

In an earlier bout, super welterweight Charles Conwell suffered his first pro defeat, dropping a split decision to Jorge Perez over 12 rounds. Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs) was heavily favored over Perez (33-4-0, 26 KOs) but lost by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 113-115 for Perez.

Fundora came out slowly in the first round but then turned on her attack in round two, peppering the much-shorter Badillo with both hands out of a southpaw stance. Badillo landed some hard left hands on occasion but for the most part was unable to get inside on Fundora and land consistently.

The end came when Badillo went down hard from a left to the head and got up quickly, but told the referee she did not want to continue. Fundora’s power was too much as Badillo took her first defeat.

Conwell suffered the upset after Perez came on in the second half of the fight and neutralized Conwell’s attack. The rangy Perez fired off combinations while Conwell tried to maul his way inside. Perez did more damage by punching around Conwell’s guard and working the body as well as the head. It is now time to regroup for Conwell, who was ranked in the top five at 154 by two sanctioning bodies.

WEIGH IN: JARON ENNIS vs. EIMANTAS STANIONIS

IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis and WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis tipped the scales today for Saturday night’s matchup in Atlantic City, NJ. DAZN is broadcasting.

JARON “BOOTS” ENNIS – 146.4

EIMANTAS STANIONIS – 146.8

Weights: Courtesy Fightnews.com

RICHARD TORREZ JR. OUTPOINT VIANELLO IN FIRST 10-ROUNDER

2021 Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. stepped up to 10-rounders for the first time in his young career and worked hard for a unanimous decision win over Italy’s Guido Vianello on Saturday night at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The heavyweight contest headlined the Top Rank card televised on ESPN Plus.

Torrez Jr. got the nod by scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 97-92, but took a good deal of criticism for the awkward fight that was not pretty to watch. The heavyweights got tangled up numerous times and Vianello had a point deducted for holding in round two after several warnings. At the time of the point deduction, it looked like Torrez Jr.’s aggressive style was going to be a huge problem for Vianello, but over the middle rounds, the Tulare, CA native faced steady adversity for the first time as a pro.

Richard Torrez Jr. came into his first main event at 12-0 with 11 KOs and had mostly run over lesser competition with his all-action attack. But Vianello was a clear step up for the new American hero.

Guido Vianello, a 2016 Olympian himself, entered the ring with a record of 13-2-1 with 11 KOs. Just as importantly, at 6′ 6″, the Italian looked a lot more like the top of the division, in physical stature anyway. His only pro loss coming in was to top-10 contender Efe Ajagba by split decision last year.

So, Torrez Jr. was challenged to step up came away with a comfortable win on the scorecards. The aesthetics drew social media catcalls and the question has to be asked: what does the 25-year old need to do to climb the heavyweight mountain?

It’s a great time to jump into the heavyweight mix as many of the division’s big names are either long in the tooth or, quite honestly, limited in skill. The United States is clamoring for a champion in this glamour division and being an Olympic star is a great place to start.

Richard Torrez Jr. checks many of the boxes that a young heavyweight is measured by. But the bull-rush offense was exposed by Vianello as the taller, heavier fighter diagnosed the flaws and took advantage with some right-hand hammers to the exposed head coming in. The added rounds also showed that Torrez Jr. probably needs to dial it down a bit and plan for the long haul as he appeared to be gassed at points in the second half of the fight.

All reasonable points to be made visible at this stage of any fighter’s career, and not at all impossible to overcome.

How likely is it that Richard Torrez Jr. will improve on his weaknesses and make the climb to the heavyweight elite? This depends on the training and guidance he gets. This was one step up the ladder and he came away with a win. Let’s see how he looks next time out and against what style he is confronted with. He definitely has the drive and the athletic ability to develop into a great fighter.

THURMAN RETURNS WITH TKO3 OVER JARVIS

Keith “One Time” Thurman traveled to Sidney, Australia to get back in the ring for the first time in over two years and scored a TKO3 over Brock Jarvis. Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) floored Jarvis with an uppercut and then followed up with another knockdown that ended the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 2:19.

Jarvis (22-2, 20 KOs) had only lost to Liam Paro in 2022 before this fight and had scored two straight stoppage wins since then.

Thurman, age 35, whose only loss was to Manny Pacquaio in 2019, fought for just the second time since then and shook off the rust quickly. The impressive win sets up a possible fight with Tim Tszyu this summer.

JOET GONZALEZ DECISIONS ARNOLD KHEGAI

Featherweight Joet Gonzalez overcame Arnold Khegai to earn a split decision after 10 hotly contested rounds on Saturday night. Gonzalez (27-4, 15 KOs) overcame a quick start from Khegai and came out on top in an entertaining match that saw both fighters bloodied. The 10-round fight headlined a ProBoxTV card from Long Beach, CA.

Official scores were 97-92 and 96-93 for Gonzalez, 95-94 Kgegai. InTheCorner.net scored it 97-92 for Gonzalez.

Khegai (22-2-1, 14 KOs), ranked #2 by the WBO and #12 by the IBF, got out to a good start with pressure and high volume punching as Gonzalez did not initially take advantage of his edge in reach. In rounds three and four, Gonzalez took control, getting into the right distance and landing power shots while slowing Khegai’s rushes. Khegai started bleeding from the nose in round four.

Round five saw a point deduction from Khegai for holding. In round six, Gonzalez was cut over the right eye and it would bleed the rest of the way.

All the while, the action was was hot with both fighters scoring consistently. Gonzalez had the upper hand, but not by much. Khegai pushed hard down the stretch but came up just short.

Khegai suffered his first pro loss since dropping a decision to Stephen Fulton in his last fight at super bantamweight in 2020. For Gonzalez, he got back in the win column after a decision loss to Luis Alberto Lopez in September. The four losses on Gonzalez’ record are Lopez, Isaac Dogboe, Emanuel Navarette and Shakur Stevenson.

UNDERCARD

Lightweight Luis Torres (21-1, 12 KOs) stopped Nicholas Walters (29-2-1, 22 KOs) after three rounds. Walters’ corner stopped the fight before the start of the fourth.

A 10-round welter weight fight between Jesus Saracho (14-2-2, 11 KOs) and Luis Lopez (16-2-3, 5 KOs) ended in a draw.

NYSAC REVIEW: NO CHANGE FOR ROACH-DAVIS DRAW

By Steven Cummings

The New York State Athletic Commission reviewed  the Lamont Roach – Gervonta Davis fight from last weekend and determined that the result would remain a draw. The NYSAC opted to defer to the judgement of referee Steve Willis, specifically for his actions in round nine.

Davis and Roach fought to a draw, according to the scorecards (114-114, 114-114, 115-113 Davis) in their 12-round WBA lightweight title bout on March 1. But it would have been a decision victory for Roach had Willis ruled a knockdown in round nine. After taking two punches, Davis backed away from Roach and went to one knee, made a motion to Willis, then turned and went to his corner. Davis then stuck his head through the ropes and had his cornerman wipe his face.

The voluntary knee would ordinarily be scored a knockdown, and Willis did start counting. Especially after two punches had just landed prior to Davis taking a knee. Then, however, Willis stopped the count and allowed Davis to go get assistance from his corner.

Knockdown? You bet. DQ for sticking his head out and making contact with his handlers? That would be pushing it, but it wouldn’t have been without merit.

Look, we all know that Gervonta “Tank” Davis carried this promotion. Full stop. He’s not “The Face of Boxing” as he claimed after he made Ryan Garcia quit. But he checks all of the boxes for “A-side” status, as we call it. He draws well and sells pay-per-views while his victories feature explosive knockout power. And when I say he draws well, this show filled up the Barclays Center.

But Lamont Roach brought it, and you would think with this many eyes on the event, the action should have stood on it’s merits. A high-profile event such as this should be under such scrutiny that it would be impossible to have anything interfere with the integrity of the outcome.

No, I’m not new to boxing. Of course we had controversy, right? We all know that in cases such as this, a draw means that the guy that was supposed to win lost. (Pernell Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez, you say?) Only, in some people’s eyes, this is the way to do it where nobody gets hurt. Lamont Roach had the night of his life (maybe, who says he’s not this good all of the time?), his profile went way up, Tank avoided a loss on his record and, best of all, we get to set up a rematch that we know everyone will want to see.

Here’s the problem. Problems, I should say. What if that really was the night of Lamont Roach’s life? What if he rose up like he never will again in his career and completed the mission that no one thought he could. If that’s the case, then to the victor should go the spoils. There’s an entirely different tone to all of the press that Roach is doing this week versus if he was correctly recognized as having pulled off the huge upset. Instead, he is now in the same boat with MLB pitcher Armando Gallaraga who threw a perfect game but wasn’t credited for it because an umpire failed to make the easiest call of his life on the 27th out.

Everybody knows he did it, but he didn’t get credit for it.

No, Roach should be getting the Buster Douglas treatment from when he came back from Tokyo. Who’s to say that Roach won’t get flattened his next time out like Douglas did against Evander Holyfield? But that’s off in the distance, if it even happens, and right here, right now, Lamont Roach should be the toast of the town. Went into Barclays and took the title from Tank. That’s media-circus worthy. The questions Roach should have been answering this past week  were along the lines of “how does it feel?,” or “how did you pull this off?,” or “what was your secret?”

Not “do you feel like you won the fight?”

Scenario number two: Let’s say this is Lamont Roach and a lot of us just never knew that. What if he’s Marvin Hagler getting a draw against Vito Antuofermo before going on to be an all-time legend of the sport? In that case, you can say it all works out and you’ll feel ok about it. But this fight has much different circumstances than Hagler-Antuofermo I.

That was a knockdown, clear as day. I’ll ignore the trip to the corner for the moment, but taking a knee, ESPECIALLY after taking punches is a knockdown. 10-8 round for Roach.

Mathematically, the scorecards that were turned in would have had a different outcome if round nine was scored correctly. “But, can’t the judges score it 10-8 anyway?” Yeah, but they won’t. I don’t even want to start on the point system.

Even if you don’t count Tank going to his corner as surrendering, which I really wouldn’t expect any referee to do, for better or for worse, we have definitive proof that Roach won the fight if you correct the scoring from round nine. Case closed.

Furthermore, despite the fact that video replay review was allowed during this fight, there was technical difficulty with bringing up the video in real time, so that safeguard failed as well.

And now, we have been notified that nothing will be done about it. If I were a social media star, this is the point where I’d say “boxing’s gonna boxing!”