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The Past Week in Action 4 June 2023: Claressa Shields Successfully Defends Belts Against Maricela Cornejo By Eric Armit PhilBoxing.com Mon, 05 Jun 2023  Highlights: -Claressa Shields outpoints substitute Maricela Cornejo to retain her five middleweight belts. -Fast climbing Japanese hope with the OPBF featherweight title in his third fight -Erik Bazinyan and Steve Claggett win in Montreal -Jonathan Lopez and Fernando Vargas continue unbeaten with victories in Temecula -Edin Puhalo, Alexander Kovrigin and Artur Mann get first round wins in poor matches in Eberbach Cuban heavyweight Jose Larduet gets another easy win but 19-1 Leon Bunn is stopped inn the tenth round by 2-0 Serhat Guler World Title/Major Shows JUNE 3 Detroit, MI, USA: Middle: Claressa Shields (14-0) W PTS 10 Maricela Cornejo (16-6). Super Welter: Andreal Holmes (14-0) W TEC DEC 8 Wendy Toussaint (14-2). Shields vs. Cornejo Shields wins a wide unanimous decision over late substitute Cornejo. In the first Shields quickly forced Cornejo on to the back foot with strong jabs and was looking to finish this one early. She was firing powerful overhand rights that shook Cornejo. Cornejo tried to get her own jab working in the second and landed a good right but Shields was the one doing most of the scoring and almost overpowering Cornejo. Shields continued to fire heavy rights in the third and fourth and put together some hefty combinations. Cornejo lacked the power to keep Shields out. She tried to stand and trade but each time Shields strength and power forced her back on the defensive. Shields connected with a series of heavy rights in the fourth that shook Cornejo but she kept moving, kept firing her jab and landing some rights of her own. Cornejo was cut over her right eye in the fifth and only just survived a torrid seventh as Shields bombarded her with punches and sent her to the ropes with a huge right with the bell coming at just the right time for Cornejo. Shields tried hard to finish the fight over the last three rounds throwing herself into attacks too often being wild with her punches which helped a gutsy Cornejo survive to the last bell. Scores 100-90 twice and 100-89. It was a homecoming fight for Shields who hails from nearby Flint. Her five titles, the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBFederation and WBO were on the line and she will be looking for more big fights. Cornejo came in at nine days’ notice after Hanna Gabriels tested positive for a banned substance, Gabriels had floored Shields in the first round of their fight in 2018 before losing a wide unanimous decision. Cornejo was unprepared and in over her head but she fought hard all the way. Holmes vs. Toussaint Holmes remains unbeaten with a technical decision over Toussaint. This was a close one with Toussaint losing a point for a punch to the back of the head in the fourth. A clash of heads in the eighth saw Toussaint suffer a bad cut over his left eye. It went to the cards with the judges scoring it 77-74 and 76-75 for Holmes and 77-74 for Toussaint so the point deduction cost Haitian-born Toussaint a draw. MAY 31 Tokyo, Japan: Feather: Hayato Tsutsumi (3-0) W PTS 12 Jeo Santisima 22-6). Tsutsumi wins the vacant OPBF title with a one-sided victory over experienced Filipino Santisima. Tsutsumi’s hand speed and movement were too much for Santisima. He slowed the aggressive Filipino with body punches and had him bruised and battered with his left eye almost closed by the end. The judges scored it 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110. Tsutsumi, 23, is being hailed in some circles as Inoue II but lacks the power of Naoya. He was the first Japanese boxer to win a gold medal at the World Youth Championships and although he did not medal at the 2021 World Amateur Championships he did beat Cuban Lazaro Alvarez in the early rounds of the tournament. Santisima was stopped in eleven rounds by Emanuel Navarrete in a challenge for the WBO super bantam belt in 2020 JUNE 1 Montreal, Canada: Super Middle: Erik Bazinyan (30-0) W PTS 10 Jose De Jesus Macias (28-12-4). Super Light Steve Claggett (35-7-2) W TKO 3 Alberto Machado (23-4). Bazinyan vs. Macias Armenian-born Canadian Bazinyan retains the NABA and NABF belts with a unanimous decision over Mexican Macias. The scores were 98-92 twice and 97-93 and although Bazinyan’s edges in height, reach and skill earned him the decision they cover up a couple of scary moments for Bazinyan. He was shaken in the third and only just survived a torrid seventh. He was staggered by a right and then battered around the ring reeling along the ropes and hanging on desperately to the bell. He took control again in the eighth but it was a close run thing. He is rated No 2 by the WBA and WBC and No 3 by the WBO but has yet to face a rated opponent and his No 14 with Box Rec is a better measure at this stage. Widely-travelled Lopez was 3-1-1 in fights in Canada before this loss and that included a fifth round stoppage of Steven Butler who was knocked out in two rounds by Zhanibek Alimkhanuly in a challenge for the WBO middleweight title in May. Claggett vs. Machado Claggett chalks-up his sixth inside the distance win in a row as he stops Puerto Rican Machado in the third round. Claggett connected with some crisp uppercuts in the first before putting Machado down with a chopping left in the second. Machado made it out of the round but a series of punches rounded-off with a left to the body dropped Machado to his hands and knees in the third. He beat the count but was bludgeoned to his knees again and although he got up the referee waived the fight over. Claggett wins the vacant NABF belt. Machado was No 27 with the WBC and Claggett No 33 so the Canadian is due a promotion. At one time Machado held the secondary WBA super-featherweight title and was 21-0 at that time so is now 2-4 in his last 6 with all four losses by KO/TKO. JUNE 2 Rio Cuarto, Argentina: Super Welter: Adrian Sasso (22-3) W TKO 3 Jose Espinoza (12-2). Super Fly: Carla Merino (12-2) W PTS 10 Debora Rengifo (19-11-1). Sasso vs. Espinoza Sasso stops Espinoza in the third. The local fighter made a great start dropping the Venezuelan in the opener. Sasso tried to finish it then but Espinoza survived. Sasso went all-out for the win in the second but left himself wide open and shipped some heavy shots from Espinoza. Sasso took a more sensible approach in the third opening Espinoza up with jabs and banging home a series of hard, accurate shots before driving him to the ropes and after Sasso connected with a series of unanswered punches the referee stopped the fight. Sasso collected the vacant South American and WBC Silver titles with his twelfth win by KO/TKO. He is 15-1 in his last 16 fights. Espinoza represented Venezuela at the 2012 Olympics. The twelve fighters he had beaten had just five wins between them Merino vs. Rengifo Hometown fighter Merino outboxes seasoned Venezuelan Rengifo to win the vacant WBC Silver title. Although a bit cautious at first once Merino started to roll her mobility, height, longer reach and work rate saw her start to hoover up the points. Rengifo’s experience kept her competitive until she faded over the second half of the fight. Scores 97-91 twice and 98-90 Merino already holds the Argentinian and South American titles and has won her last nine contests. Rengifo, 36, is 0-6 in shots at sanctioning body titles Ozoir, France: Super Middle: Hadillah Mohoumadi (24-6-2) W TKO 5 Gregory Trenel (19-11-2). Mohoumadi wins the vacant IBO Mediterranean belt with a fifth round stoppage of Trenel. Seventeenth win by KO/TKO for the 42-year-old Mohoumadi. He was coming off a draw with 19-1 Emre Cukur but was stopped in the first round by Callum Smith in a European title fight back in 2016.Fifth inside the distance loss for “Crazy Frenchy” Trenel. Zukowo, Poland: Super Light: Mateusz Polski (4-0) W PTS 10 Denis Madry (8-8). Heavy: Kacper Meyna (11-1) W TKO 9 Krzys Twardowski (10-5). Polski vs. Madry Former Elite level amateur Polski wins the vacant national title with a unanimous decision over Madry. Polski started well jabbing strongly and scoring well with counters. Madry did better over the third and fourth rounds putting Polski under plenty of pressure. Frome there Polski took charge. He was opening up Madry with jabs and scoring heavily with shots from both hands. Madry slowed but did enough to make some rounds close but Polski never let him get into the fight in any meaningful way and won on scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. Polski,30, was a bronze medallist at both the European Games and European Championships but only turned pro last year. Meyna vs. Twardowski Polish champion Meyna wins the vacant WBC Francophone title with a ninth round stoppage of Twardowski. The slightly taller Twardowski, really a cruiserweight, was giving away 42lbs but was quicker and used that advantage to keep the fight even for six rounds. The strength of Meyna proved decisive and he floored Twardowski with a right just before the bell to end the seventh. Twardowski beat the count and the bell went before Meyna could finish the job. Twardowski recovered but he had previously been warned about low blows and when he landed another he was deducted a point. Meyna ended it in the ninth. He floored Twardowski early and then piled on the punches until the referee made a good stoppage. Sixth win in a row for Meyna. Twardowski had lost tough outings against Richard Riakporhe and Michal Cieslak Temecula, CA, USA: Feather: Jonathan Lopez (12-0) W PTS 10 Eduardo Baez (21-5-2). Super Welter: Fernando Vargas (9-0) W RTD 2 Heber Rondon (20-5). Light Heavy: Lawrence King (13-1) W RTD 6 Marco Reyes (37-10). Bantam: Adelaida Ruiz (14-0-1) W TKO 8 Maria Roman (17-7-1,1ND). Lopez risks an upward leap in quality of opposition and it pays off as he wins a unanimous decision over more experienced Baez. As expected Baez took the fight to Lopez working the body and looking to force Lopez into a brawl. Lopez stayed cool and his accurate countering gave him the edge but he lacked the power to keep Beaz out and had to fight hard in every round. Baez had a good third but suffered a cut in a clash of heads in the fourth and the cut bothered him from there. Lopez began to open a gap over the middle rounds with Baez still piling forward but shipping plenty of punishment from accurate counters. Baez made the seventh and eight close but when in the ninth a left saw Baez dipping at the knees and being held up by the corner padding he was given a count and Lopez boxed his way through the tenth for victory with all three judges carding it 97-92 for Lopez. The 20-year-old Lopez turned pro at 17 having ten of his first eleven fights in Mexico. Beaz lost on a sixth round kayo against Emanuel Navarrete in a challenge for the WBO feather title in August last year and then lost a split decision to 18-1-1 Arnold Khegai in December Vargas vs. Rondon Vargas makes it ten wins by KO/TKO in ten fight as Rondon retires after two rounds citing an arm injury. Late substitute Rondon was an awkward, long-limbed opponent but Vargas scored well to the body in the first. He was also dominating the second when Rondon winced after throwing a punch. The fighting continued to the bell but Rendon did not come out for the third. Southpaw Vargas, the son of Fernando Snr. the former holder of the IBF and secondary WBA belts at light middleweight, has yet to go past the third round for any of his wins. Fifth consecutive inside the distance defeat for Rondon who has failed top last past the third round in any of those losses. King vs. Reyes Tall southpaw King bossed this one from start to finish. He was too quick for a sluggish Reyes landing hard straight lefts in the first with little coming back from Reyes. King continued to find the target with right jabs and lefts in the third and things went further downhill for Reyes in the fourth when a King punch opened a cut over his left eye. Reyes took more punishment over the fifth and sixth and retired before the start of the seventh. Nine wins in a row for the 6’2” King eight of them by KO/TKO. Reyes, 35, was 32-1 at one point in his career but this is his first fight since November 2020 and his fifth loss in a row. Ruiz vs. Roman Ruiz 34, had everything going for her in this one. She was taller, had the harder punch and was six years younger than 40-year-old Roman. There really was no way into the fight for Roman and she took steady punishment in round after round. A heavy right from Ruiz in the sixth saw Roman drop to a knee but Roman made it to the bell. Ruiz connected with some powerful body shots in the seventh. Despite that it looked as though Roman would preserve her record of never losing inside the distance but in the eighth a series of punches had Roman trapped against the ropes taking stick and the referee stopped the fight. In the strange world of female boxing Ruiz is both the WBC interim super fly champion and No 1 with the WBA. Argentinian Roman, a former IBF bantam champion, lost her title to Australian Ebanie Bridges in Leeds in 2022. JUNE 3 Rosario, Argentina: Super Feather: Carlos Alanis (12-0) W KO 6 Marcos Martinez (20-5). Light Heavy: Franco Acosta (13-0-1) DREW 10 Carlos Galvan (20-12-2). Alanis vs. Martinez Alanis overcomes a slow start to stop Martinez in the sixth. Martinez hustled Alanis out of his boxing over the first two rounds but that changed in the third when Alanis shook Martinez badly with a left hook to the body. Martinez recovered but Alanis continued to focus on a body attack and sent Martinez down with another body punch in the sixth and Martinez was unable to beat the count. Alanis wins the vacant Argentinian title and retains the WBO Latino belt. Acosta vs. Galvan Acosta loses his 100% record as he is given a torrid time by Colombian Galvan and needs a strong finish to come away with a debateable draw. Galvan was seven inches shorter than Acosta and piled forward from the start getting past Acosta’s longer reach to work on Acosta’s body. The difference in height was more of a disadvantage than a benefit for Acosta who found it difficult to land his jabs against the bobbing and weaving of Galvan. Acosta looked on the way to defeat until Galvan tired over the late rounds but the visitor still looked unlucky not to get the win. Scores 97-93 for Acosta, 96-94 for Galvan and 95-95. Acosta was defending his WBA Fedelatin belt. Galvan, the Colombian light heavy title holder, has been matched tough including being 0-8 in fights in America, Soultz, France: Middle: Diego Natchoo (26-3-5,1ND) W KO 2 Loris Barberio (9-4-1). Natchoo retains the French title with a second round kayo of challenger Barberio. Second defence of the title in four months for L’indien and his ninth win by KO/TKO. Barberio no real test for Natchoo and he is 2-2-1 in his last 5 fights. Eberbach, Germany: Cruiser: Edin Puhalo (23-1) W KO 3 Siril Makladi (14-3-2). Super Bantam: Alexander Kovrigin (7-0) W KO 1 Piotr Gudel (10-10-1). Heavy: Artur Mann (20-3) W KO 1 Stephane Tchamba (3-15-1). Middle: Bujar Tahiri (14-0) W RTD 3 Michael Obin (5-21-1). Puhalo vs. Makladi Puhalo gets another inside the distance win as Makladi falls apart in the third round. Puhalo was stalking Makladi in the first with Makladi really just pushing out jabs and an occasional right but with no power to the shots. Puhalo was doing much the same occasionally pinning Makladi against the ropes but putting no real snap in his punches. Puhalo upped his pace in the second but so did Makladi who was firing jabs and straight rights with out much power but throwing and landing more than Puhalo and a right hook sent Puhalo back on his heels at the bell. Puhalo pinned Makladi against the ropes in the third and landed a bunch of punches that saw Makladi drop to one knee. He got up but went down twice more and was counted out. The 35-year-old Bosnian has 22 wins by KO/TKO. That says everything about the standard of his opposition but little about Puhalo’s ability. His lone loss came against Montenegrin Dilan Prasovic in 2020 who was knocked out in one round by Isaac Chamberlian one year later. Frenchman Makladi has had a couple of decent performances but this was only his third fight in almost four years. Kovrigin vs. Gudel Kazak Kovrigin,22, wins the German International title with a first round victory over Pole Gudel. Kovrigin showed some nice skills and quick movement looking the most accomplished boxer on the show. He finished in style landing a vicious left hook to the body that sent Gudel down in agony and he was counted out. Fifth victory by KO/TKO for Kovrigin. Sixth loss in a row for Gudel. Mann vs. Tchamba This was laughably easy for Mann. He forced Tchamba back with stiff jabs and scored with a couple of right uppercuts. He then landed a right and a left hook to the body dumping Tchamba face down on the canvas and he was counted out. All done and dusted in 57 seconds. First fight for former IBF title challenger Mann since wide unanimous decision loss to Evgeny Tishchenko in December. Eighth loss in a row for poor Tchamba. Tahiri vs. Obin Tahiri hands out punishment for three rounds and Obin does not come out for the fourth. Obin tried to walk through Tahiri’s punches in the first and had to soak up jabs and hooks without and real success for himself. In the second southpaw Tahiri was circling Obin jabbing then choosing his moment to step inside and bang to the ample body of Obin with Obin too slow to counter. Tahiri hammered Obin with punches throughout the third and the doctor examined Obin at the end of the round with the Swedish-based Ugandan not being able to continue. Eighth inside the distance win for German Tahiri. Obin is now 0-19-1 in his last 20 fights. Hamburg, Germany: Heavy: Jose Larduet (10-0) W TKO 1 Ali Kiydin (16-3). Super Middle: Luca Plantic (6-0) W KO 10 Yusuf Kanguel (22-6-1). Light Heavy: Serhat Guler (3-0) W TKO 10 Leon Bunn (19-2). Light: Dzmitry Asanau (7-0) W TKO 4 Cristian Avila (18-8-1). Heavy: Senad Gashi (25-3,1ND) W KO 1 Hueseyin Akdemir (13-3). Larduet vs. Kiydin Larduet gets another inside the distance win against substandard opposition. The big Cuban was five inches taller and 30lbs heavier. He just kept pounding Kiydin with right hands with Kiydin desperately holding to stay up. He almost saw out the round but after yet another heavy right from Larduet the towel came in from Kiydin’s corner. The 33-year-old Cuban is strong but painfully slow. It will be interesting to see how he goes against a live opponent. Plantic vs. Kanguel Plantic stops a gutsy Kanguel in the tenth round. Kanguel did enough to make a few rounds close but mostly he absorbed a beating and kept going with Plantic winning every round. It looked like going then distance but Plantic trapped Kanguel in a corner and batter him to the floor. Kanguel levered himself to his feet but showed no inclination to continue and the fight was stopped. Plantic was defending the WBC International Silver title for the first time. Second inside the distance loss for 39-year-old Kanguel. Guler vs. Bunn Shock result as Bunn is stopped by Turkey’s Guler in the last round. It was almost all over in the first as Guler floored Bunn twice. Bunn made it out of the round but was wobbled again in the second. Guler also took the third but Bunn had recovered and the middle rounds were close. Bunn was eating into Guler’s early lead but looked shaken again in the eighth. Guler edged the ninth with Bunn needing a stoppage to win but in the tenth Guler connected with a series of hooks and uppercuts sending Bunn crashing to the canvas and the referee immediately stopped the fight. Guler was an Elite level amateur but this was still shock. Bunn was rebuilding after losing his unbeaten record when stopped by Padraig McCrory for the vacant IBO title in October. Asanau vs. Avila Belarusian stops Venezuelan Avila in the fourth. Asanau out boxed Avila in the first and floored him with a left jab. In the second He was driving Avila around the ring with a series of jabs, hooks and uppercuts until Avila suckered him onto a right counter that sent Asanau down. He was not too badly shaken and boxed rings around Avila inn the third before putting him down with a left hook to the body in the fourth. A series of shots sent Avila down again and although he beat the count he was under fire when his corner threw in the towel. Sparkling display from the European Games gold medal winner but not sure he has the power to beat tougher opposition. Gashi vs. Akdemir This poor excuse for a match was over in 44 seconds. The most that the 40-year-old Akdemir managed to was flap his arms a couple of times. As Gashi came forward he landed a body punch and missed with his next punch but Akdemir dropped into a corner and slumped to the canvas. He made it very slowly to his feet timing it to get there as the referee complete the count. Rubbish! Akdemir Tokyo, Japan: Super Feather: Katsuya Yasuda (11-1) W PTS 12 Apichet Petchmanee (15-1). Southpaw Yasuda wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title with a unanimous decision over Thai Petchmanee. Yasuda made a good start edging ahead before a wild fourth round that saw Yasuda floor Petchmanee with a right only for the Thai to get up and drop Yasuda with a right. Yasuda was in front at the half-way mark but had never been past then eighth round before and he tired badly. Petchmanee was eating into Yasuda’s lead and Yasuda continually clinched escaping without a penalty and a frustrated Petchmanee was the one who lost a point for showing his frustration by throwing the clinging Yasuda to the canvas in the last round. Yasuda finished the fight with his face grotesquely swollen but won the unanimous decision on scores of a disgraceful 118-109, 116-111 and 115-113 with Petchmanee unlucky to not get at least a share of the decision. Katy Wroclawskie, Poland: Heavy: Mariusz Wach (37-9) W TKO 5 Jakub Sosinski (8-3-1). Wach proves too big and too heavy for inexperienced Sosinski. Wach had 7 ½” and 38lbs going for him but Sosinski managed to be competitive over the first two rounds with Wach scoring heavily in the third and fourth. Wach dropped Sosinski to his knees early in the fifth. Sosinski got up but was sent down again by a left hook to the body. Sosinski made it to his feet but after Wach landed a couple more hard shots the referee stopped the fight. Wach took this one as a warm-up for his June 16 fight against unbeaten Frazer Clarke. Orebro, Sweden Heavy: Pezhman Selfkhani (15-1) W PTS 8 Awadh Tamim (16-6,2ND). Swede Selfkhani gets a revenge win over Tanzanian Tamim and collects the Swedish title. Tamim had stopped Selfkhani in three rounds in March to win the title but this time Selfkhani won on a unanimous decision. It was a bad tempered rough fight with Selfkhani scoring a knockdown in the sixth round and winning on scores of 80-72, 79-72 and 79-73 but whilst Selfkhani was a good winner the scores looked too wide. Aberdeen, Scotland: Super Welter: Dean Sutherland (15-1) W TKO 7 Brendon Denes (9-4). Local favourite Sutherland gets his second win on his recover programme with a seventh round stoppage of Zimbabwean Denes. Southpaw Sutherland had dominated the action before flooring Denes with a body punch in the seventh and although Denes made it to his feet his corner threw in the towel. Sutherland was stopped in the fifth round by Louis Greene in a fight for the vacant Commonwealth super welterweight title in November but is back on the title trail again. Fourth loss in a row for Denes coming in three different countries. Fight of the week (Significance): etc. will return next week. About the Author 
Born in Scotland, Eric Armit started working with Boxing News magazine in the UK in the late 1960’s initially doing records for their Boxing News Annual and compiling World, European and Commonwealth ratings for the magazine. He wrote his first feature article for Boxing News in 1973 and wrote a “World Scene” weekly column for the magazine from the late 1970’s until 2004. Armit wrote a monthly column for Boxing Digest in the USA and contributed pieces to magazines in Mexico, Italy, Australia, Spain, Argentina and other countries. Armit now writes a Weekly Report covering every major fight around the world and a bi-weekly Snips & Snipes column plus occasional general interest articles with these being taken up by boxing sites around the world. He was a member of the inaugural WBC Ratings Committee and a technical advisor to the EBU Ratings Committee and was consulted by John McCain’s research team when they were drafting the Ali Act. He is a Director and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Boxing Council. Armit has been nominated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame the past two years (2019 and 2020) to which he said, “Being on the list is an unbelievably huge honour.” Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eric Armit.  |
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