Valero stops Valazquez in 6

WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero (26-0, 26 KOs) retained his title by sixth round TKO against Héctor Velázquez (51-14-2, 35 KOs) on Saturday night at the Polideportivo Jose Maria Vargas in La Guaira, Caracas, Venezuela. Velázquez did not come out for the seventh round. Valero suffered a cut on the bridge of the nose, but that isn’t expected to cause any problems with his scheduled February 6th fight against Antonio DeMarco in Mexico.

Pavlik batters Espino

Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank

Brady Crytzer and Antonio Castro at ringside

WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) scored a brutal fifth round TKO over WBC #3 Miguel Espino (20-3-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Both fighters went right at each other immediately and traded punches non-stop. Espino was deducted a point for a punch after the bell in round one. The war continued through rounds two and three. Pavlik dropped Espino twice in round four and after he sent him to the deck in the fifth, Espino’s corner asked referee Steve Smoger to stop the fight. Time was 1:44.
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In a wildly entertaining bout Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter (33-3, 26 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over 363lb Gabe “Big G” Brown (18-13-4, 12 KOs) at 2:58. Although Peter dominated the action, Brown’s antics won the night as he taunted the former world champion repeatedly. After eating a hard punch, Brown proceeded to stick out his chin and absorb four clean shots only to call for more. After being knocked down in the fourth round, Brown unloaded the classic bolo punch on Peter bringing the crowd to a frenzy. Peter pounced on Brown shortly after and referee Randy Jarvis waved off the contest. Upon leaving the ring Peter returned to the locker room and “Big G” was mobbed at ringside for fan pictures. For more details and photos click here…

Cermeno, Soto victorious

Photo: Rafael Soto/Top Rank/Zanfer

WBA interim bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeno (19-0, 11 KOs) scored an eleventh round KO over Alejandro Valdez (22-4-2, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at the Arena Itson in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. Valdez suffered a cut over his right eye from an unintentional headbutt in round one. Cermeno was credited with two knockdowns of Valdez (both of the flash variety) in round two, and gave him a boxing lesson for most the fight. Cermeno was deducted a point in round eleven for kneeing Valdez, but Cermeno came back to knock out Valdez in the same stanza. Time was 2:40.
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WBC super featherweight champion Humberto Soto (50-7-2, 32 KOs) moved up to lightweight and won a ten round unanimous decision over former titleholder Jesus Chavez (44-7, 30 KOs). Soto dropped Chavez in round one, but Chavez was super aggressive and gave Soto problems. Chavez was deducted a point in round five for throwing Soto through the ropes, and put Soto on the deck for several minutes with a low blow in the sixth. Soto, however, overcame the adversity to win handily 100-87 on all cards. For more details and photos click here…

Rasosina claims heavy belt

Female super middleweight champion Natascha Ragosina (22-0, 12 KOs) won the WIBF women’s heavyweight crown with an eighth round KO over Pamela London (6-4-1, 1 KO) on Saturday at the DIVS Palace for Sports Games in Ekaterinburg, Russia. In other action, middleweight Lukas Konecny (41-3, 20 KOs) outpointed Sergey Khomitski (21-7-1, 8 KOs) over eight rounds. Welterweight Ilian Ares (17-2-1, 8 KOs) also won an eight-rounder against journeyman Sergey Starkov (16-54-2, 2 KOs).

Brähmer retains WBO title

Photo: Eroll Popova

WBO light heavyweight champion Jürgen Brähmer (35-2, 28 KOs) won a bloody and hard fought twelve round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Dmitry Sukhotsky (14-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at the Sport And Kongresshalle in Schwerin, Germany. Hometown favorite Brähmer, making his first defense, rocked Sukhotsky with a big straight left in round two and generally got the better of the exchanges for the first seven rounds. WBO #10 Sukhotsky, connected with the good shots in round eight, possibly the first round he won. The fight was on in the ninth as both fighters landed strong punches with the challenger doing more. Sukhotsky had his chance in round ten as he really worked over Brähmer and almost stopped the champion. Brähmer got a reprieve when referee Michael Ortega halted the action for the ring doctor to look at a deep cut over Brähmer’s eye. Brähmer was able to recover during the pause and Sukhotsky never regained the advantage. Rounds eleven and twelve were good rounds for Brähmer, despite bleeding heavily. Scores were 116-112, 118-110, 116-112.

Photo: Eroll Popova

WBC interim middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (28-0, 10 KOs) retained his belt with a twelve round split decision over previously unbeaten Emanuele Della Rosa (22-1, 7 KOs). Both fighters were cut by an unintentional headbutt in round two, with Della Rosa getting a bad cut over the right eye that bled for the rest of the way. After eight rounds it was known that slick boxing Zbik was ahead on two cards and Della Rosa was ahead on the other card. The bout finished with the same pattern, so the split nod was no surprise. Scores were 116-112, 120-109 Zbik, 115-113 Della Rosa. For more details and photos click here…

Dudchenko stops Zamora

Photo: Rocco Morales

By Rocco Morales

Before a near capacity crowd, Battle in the Ballroom made its final appearance of the year at the Irvine Marriott. In the 6 round light heavyweight main event, Anatoliy Dudchenko, toyed with his over-matched opponent, late substitute Ernesto Zamora, for 5 rounds, beating him up in the process and opening a bad cut over Zamora’s eye. Dudchenko proved to be too fast for Zamora and rather than mixing it up, Dudchenko was happy to land a couple punches at a time and then move out of harm’s way, to the disdain of the crowd in attendance. Zamora, despite being significantly lighter than in his last fight, a heavyweight contest earlier in the year, appeared winded by the third round, making the superior conditioned Dudchenko’s job even easier. For more details and photos click here…

Donaire, Montiel headline 2/13

On Tuesday, Top Rank will announce “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3” taking place February 13 at the Las Vegas Hilton. The four-bout pay-per-view broadcast will feature WBA interim super flyweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) defending his title against top-rated contender Gerson Guerrero (34-8, 26 KOs), WBO bantamweight champion Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel (39-2-2, 29 KOs) facing Top-10 contender Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales (14-0, 8 KOs), former WBA flyweight champion and current No. 1 bantamweight contender Eric “Little Hands of Steel” Morel (41-2, 21 KOs) taking on two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa (54-7-2, 34 KOs) in a 12-round WBO bantamweight title elimination bout, and a 10-round featherweight rumble between world title challengers Mario Santiago (21-1-1, 14 KOs) and Bernabe Concepcion (29-2-1, 17 KOs).

Weights from Rosecroft Raceway

Update: The card scheduled for Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD has been postponed until tomorrow at 8 PM, with the doors opening at 6 PM.

By Gary “Digital” Williams

Here is the scale watch for Saturday’s card (weather permitting) at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD:

Seth Mitchell 244 vs. Zach Page 202.5
Dwayne McRae 252.5 vs. Burnell Stewart 220.5
Maurice Byarm 252.5 vs. Mike Miller 268

The Washington, DC area will be under a winter storm warning beginning at midnight ET on Friday and lasting until 6 AM ET Sunday. Local meterologists are saying the area could get anywhere from 14 to 20 inches of snow. As of this writing, the card is still on for Saturday, as all the boxers who will be on the card are in town. Two bouts were dropped from the card because of travel issues. There is a contingency plan to have the card on Sunday if necessary.

Walters gets past Reyes

Photo: Olivier Monserrat

By Robert Coster, reporting from Haiti

The nine-bout card in Petionville, Haiti was a resounding success as local fans packed the Karibe Convention Center to watch two regional title bouts. For the WBA Fedelatin featherweight title, Nicholas Walters(13-0,10 KOs) of Jamaica won a unanimous but hard fought eleven round decision over rugged Carlos Reyes (13-1,7 KOs). Walters controlled the bull-like rushes of Reyes with crisp counterpunches but did get caught in the eighth round, suffering a flash knockdown. By then, however the Jamaican had built up a solid lead. Reyes desperately tried to turn the tide in the last three rounds but it was too little too late. The victory will now propel Walters in the top 15 of the WBA.

The second title match saw French-Haitian middleweight Jimmy”Pitbull” Colas( 28-6, 12 KOs) delight the local fans with a two round blowout of Dominican Junior Ramos (10-5, 6 KOs). Colas just let Ramos punch himself out in the first round, using an intriguing rope-a-dope tactic then come out in the second round and knock out his spent foe. (more…)

Boxing going strong in Tacoma

Brian Halquist Productions and the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, will start their 14th year of pro boxing on January 9. The main event will feature jr welterweight David “El’ Torrito” Torres (21-1, 13 KOs) vs. Raymundo Beltran (22-4, 14 KOs) in a ten-rounder. Also on the card will be George “Monk” Foreman III (4-0, 4 KOs), son of former three time heavyweight champion George Foreman. Also in action will be local fan favorite Walter “2 Guns” Wright (13-3, 7 KOs), best known for appearing on “The Contender” reality television show, 2008 Olympic alternate David “Thunder” Clark (who is trained by Freddie Roach), 3 time Tacoma Golden Gloves champion Mike Gavronski in his pro debut. (more…)

Zamora outpoint De Busillet

By Enrico “Erik” Crociati

Italian light welterweight star Brunet Zamora (19-0, 8 KOs) won a unanimous decision over French warrior Christophe De Busillet (23-8-2, 11 KOs) Friday night at The Pala Bianchini in Latina, Italy. With the win the Cuban born Zamora defended his WBA Intecontinental Title at 140lbs for the third time. It was not a great fight, much too tactical with both fighters being careful and many of the rounds following a similar pattern. Zamora used his jab beautifully throughout the fight and was aggressor in the last four rounds which proved to be enough for the three judges to award the Italian fighter. The three judges, Jean-Francois Toupin, Pierluigi Poppi and Gudjon Vilhelm scored the bout 116-114, 115-113 and an incredible 119-110 for the ‘Italian Salsero.’ (Fightnews had it 116-113 for Zamora.) (more…)

Boxing Buzz

Former bantamweight contender Z Gorres, who underwent brain surgery after a boxing match on November 13, remains in serious condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Reportedly the left side of Gorres body is paralyzed, he can’t speak and requires a machine to breathe. He communicates by handwriting with his right hand.
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Top Rank has plans for a new Saturday night boxing TV series to run on Fox Sports en Espanol and Fox Sports Net. According to ESPN, there will be 36 dates beginning January 16. More details to come.

Fightwriter: Pavlik-Espino

By Graham Houston

This hasn’t exactly been a year from hell for Kelly Pavlik, but I’m sure the middleweight champion will not remember 2009 with a great deal of warmth. Pavlik entered the year after having suffered his first defeat, and a demoralising one at that, when Bernard Hopkins gave him a boxing lesson. The year didn’t start off too badly as Pavlik pounded Marco Antonio Rubio into defeat on a nine-rounds corner retirement in February. Nothing went right after that. A stubborn staph infection of the left hand led to inactivity and an HBO fight against Paul Williams was postponed, then cancelled. There were also rumours of Pavlik not exactly leading a Spartan lifestyle in his hometown of Youngstown, OH, which the fighter attributes to exaggeration and innuendo, what he calls the pressure of being a big fish in a relatively small pond. On top of all this, there was the suggestion that he used his hand problems to duck Williams. (more…)

Fightwriter: Brähmer-Sukhotsky

By Graham Houston

Jürgen Brähmer will be seeking to close out a highly successful 2009 in style when he defends his WBO interim light-heavyweight title against little-known Dmitriy Sukhotsky, of Russia, in Brähmer’s hometown of Schwerin in northern Germany on Saturday. This has been a terrific year for Brähmer, the one-time bad boy of German boxing whose brushes with the law have been well-chronicled. Beaten on points by Hugo Hernan Garay in a game title bid in November 2008, Brähmer has stopped all three of his opponents this year, and he was punching particularly hard in his last couple of fights as he halted Italy’s Antonio Brancalion in 93 seconds and then hammered the strong, game Polish boxer Aleksy Kuziemski in the 11th, scoring four knockdowns, two of them in the first three rounds. (more…)

Reveco retains WBA belt

WBA interim jr flyweight champion Juan Carlos Reveco (22-1, 12 KOs) retained his belt with a third round KO over Ronald Barrera (26-7-2, 16 KOs) on Friday night at the Estadio La Colonia in Junin, Mendoza, Argentina. Reveco finished Barrera with a left hook to the liver. Barrera is now 0-4 in world title fights.

Green closer to B-Hop bout

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

Danny Green fresh from scoring the biggest upset in 2009 when he stopped boxing legend Roy Jones Jr in one round at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia on December 2nd has now entereted negotiations to fight future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins in 2010. Green talks to Fightnews and tells how has top USA promoter Gary Shaw assisting him in negotiations and how he regards his own team of Justin Manolikos and Angelo Hyder as the best in the boxing business. (more…)

More on Guerrero-Nicklow

Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

While weather on the East Coast wreaked havoc on travel and holiday plans, there were clear skies and the stars were out on ShoBox: The New Generation in Hinckley, Minn. Friday night when Fernando Guerrero, Shawn Porter and Lanard Lane all remained undefeated with impressive knockouts, each in less than four rounds. “These guys are future stars,” said ShoBox: The New Generation expert analyst Steve Farhood, of Guerrero and Porter, who are now 17-0 (14 KOs) and 12-0 (10 KOs), respectively. “Not only are they fun to watch, but I think they have star potential outside the ring as well. They have pleasing personalities, good smiles, they’re good-looking guys, they speak well. I think the American middleweight scene for 2010-2011 is in good hands.” (more…)

Jubatha wins SA feather title

By Ron Jackson

In an exciting slugfest Sabelo Jubatha stopped Luthando Vukuza in the tenth round to win the South African featherweight title in East London on Friday night. A packed Orient Theatre saw Jubatha (57.10 kg) come from behind to back Vukuza (57.05 kg) up against the ropes in the ninth round and land with a left-right combination to jaw that dumped in on the seat of his pants. Vukuza, 22, just managed to beat the count and the referee would have been justified in stopping the fight with only seconds left in the round. It was a shaky Vukuza who came out for the tenth round and it came as no surprise when the challenger landed with a left hook to the jaw that sent him reeling against the ropes and when he turned his back on Jubutha, referee Andile Matika waved the fight off at 1:34 into the round. (more…)

Miracle on 1st Street

Two-time junior featherweight world champion Israel Vazquez, former junior featherweight world champion Daniel Ponce de Leon and world title contender Enrique Ornelas will participate in the 28th Annual Miracle on 1st Street Toy Giveaway today between 10AM-2PM at the Hollenbeck Youth Center (2015 E. First Street) in Los Angeles. The event is presented by The Inner-City Games, Hollenbeck Youth Center and the Oscar de la Hoya Foundation.

WBC 2009 Toy Drive

By Igor Frank

The WBC Legends of Boxing is hosting a toy drive to help underprivileged children during the holiday season this Sunday (December 20th) at 2pm at Rudy’s Baja and Grill in Los Angeles. Live music will be provided by Mariachi Juguers de Jalisco and the Dueto Alanniz. A buffet will be available plus an award ceremony will be hosted. The price of admission is $20 and a toy donation. (more…)

Guerrero stops Nicklow in 4

Unbeaten middleweight Fernando Guerrero (17-0, 14 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Jesse Nicklow (19-2-2, 7 KOs) on Friday night at the Grand Casino Hinckley in Hinckley, Minnesota. Guerrero dropped Nicklow with a right hook early in the fourth. Nicklow fought back gamely, but Guerrero’s attack was too strong and referee Mark Nelson waved it off at 2:09.

In a clash of unbeaten jr middleweights, Shawn “Showtime” Porter (12-0, 10 KOs) was impressive again as he stopped Jamar “Yung Prince” Patterson (8-1, 4 KOs) in round four. Porter dropped Patterson with a big left hook in round four and referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the fight during Porter’s follow-up attack. Time was 1:54.

In a clash of unbeaten welterweights, Lanard Lane (10-0, 7 KOs) scored a second round TKO over Said “The Messenger” El Harrack (8-1, 3 KOs). Lane dropped El Harrack twice in round one, and after Lane rocked El Harrack again in round two, referee Mark Nelson waved it off at 1:38. The stoppage seemed premature.

Kiattaweesuk defeats Verano

Photo: Johnny Chaichotchuang

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

IBF#12 bantamweight Tantong Kiattaweesuk (16-0) chopped down Janrey Verano (16-3-2) of the Philippines in eight action rounds of a scheduled ten round contest at the Krirk University in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday. Verano was down in round two, five, seven and eight from power body shots. In round eight referee Somsak Sirianant crowned Kiattawessuk to save the importation from further punishment. For more details and photos click here…

WBA postpones purse bid

By Gabriel F. Cordero

The WBA has determined to defer for thirty days the purse bid for the cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones and Russian challenger Valery Brudov. The purse bid was scheduled to take place on December 21 at WBA Headquarters in Panama City. Apparently representatives of both boxers requested an extension. Jones won the title in September 2008 and has yet to defend it.

Weights from the Ukraine

Photo: K2 East

Alexey Sukachev

Zaurbek Baysangurov 152.8 vs Frank Shabani 153.2
(WBA Intercontinental junior middleweight title)
Dmitry Nikulin 153.5 vs Abdulaziz Matazimov* 153.8
(WBO European junior middleweight title)
Vitaly Rusal 176.3 vs Abror Oripov 178.8
Sergey Fedchenko 142 vs Sherzodbek Mamajanov 142
Andrey Rudenko 247 vs Avaz Rustamov 235.5
* First weighed-in at 161.2 lbs
** Several more pairs are subjects to an additional weigh-in later
Promoter: K2 East
Venue: Yunost Palace of Sports, Zaporozhye, Ukraine

Weights from Nicaragua

Photo: mpssportimages.com

Cesar Canchila 108 vs Johnreil Casimero 108
Carlos Buitrago 105 vs Edgar Jimenez 105
Hanna Gabriel 147 vs Gabriela Zapata 147
Juan Mercedes 115 vs Evert Briceno 114
Moises Solis 135 vs Santos Martinez 134
Gonzalo Mungia 130 vs Augusto Pinilla 130
Orlando Rizo TBA vs Gustavo Gomez TBA
Henry Maldonado 114 vs Humberto Pena 114
Eduardo Mendoza 136 vs Jairo Martinez 138
Carla Estrada 135 vs Sochiel Barquero 135
Venue: Estadio Nacional Dennis Martinez, Managua, Nicaragua
Promoter: All Star Boxing, Inc., “The New Generation” & Felix “Tuto” Zabala, Jr. in association with Sampson Boxing, Prodesa, Rizzo Boxing, Cuadrilatero, PR Best Boxing & Producciones Deportivas.

Report/gallery: Santa Cruz-Beltran

Ringside by Francisco Salazar
Photography by “Big” Joe Miranda

Famed trainer Teddy Atlas lives by the adage of going to the body and the head will fall. He would have been impressed with Leo Santa Cruz’ performance on Thursday night.

The junior featherweight prospect Santa Cruz worked the body of Juan Jose Beltran, breaking him down to eventually earn a third round stoppage victory before an almost sold-out Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif. . . . Click here for more

Kolodziej crushes Calloway

By Alexey Sukachev

WBC #10, WBA #14 and IBF #15 cruiserweight Pawel Kolodziej followed the path of another world-ranked contender Grigory Drozd by making a punching bag of well-known American journeyman Rob “All-American Prizefighter” Calloway (now 70-11-2, 57 KOs) tonight at MOSiR Hall in Lodz, Poland. IBC champion Kolodziej was just too much for his faded 40-year old challenger, dropping him once in the first, once in the third and two times in the fifth round. Calloway’s corner mercifully stopped this massacre after the end of the sixth round, saving the veteran from more punishment. The Polish fighter is now 24-0 with 13 KOs. (more…)