A roundup of the past week’s notable boxing results from around the world: Saturday at Carson, Calif.
Timothy Bradley Jr. W12 Jessie Vargas Wins a vacant interim welterweight title Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 115-112 Records: Bradley Jr. (32-1-1, 12 KOs); Vargas (26-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Bradley came into the fight having won four world titles at welterweight and junior welterweight and said in the lead up to the bout that he wanted to win this one so he could get a fifth belt for a very specific reason. His wife, Monica, gave birth to a son three months ago, giving them five kids between their together and hers from a previous relationship. Bradley said he wanted each of them to have a belt to pose with for their Christmas card this year. Mission accomplished but only after a wild ending to a highly entertaining fight.
Bradley, 31, of Palm Springs, California, was 0-1-1 in his two previous fights — having lost in lopsided fashion to Manny Pacquiao in their rematch and gotten a raw deal in an absurd draw with Diego Chaves in December — but looked very good against Vargas for 11-plus rounds. He was fast with his hands and on his feet and sharp with his punches. He had rolled up a nice lead against Vargas, 26, of Las Vegas, a junior welterweight titleholder, who was moving up in weight, when they got the 12th round.
Bradley was in command and was winning in the final round as well when Vargas, in his first fight since hooking up with new trainer Erik Morales, the Mexican legend and future Hall of Famer, about five weeks ago, nailed him with a flush overhand right with 22 seconds left in the fight. Bradley was badly staggered and on Bambi legs, but amazingly did not go down. Vargas landed a couple of more shots as he chased a wobbly Bradley down. When he got to him on the ropes, Bradley tied him up and then a ringside official banged together the clapper to signal there were 10 seconds left in the round. At that point referee Pat Russell, who has been one of boxing’s top officials for many years, intervened and stopped the fight.
The StubHub Center crowd went wild as did Vargas, who thought he had been awarded a knockout victory. He jumped up on top of the ring ropes in celebration while a stunned Bradley looked dazed. The confusion was quickly settled: Russell stopped the fight not to award a KO win to Vargas, 26, of Las Vegas, but because he thought the clapper was actually the bell ending the fight. It went to the scorecards and Bradley was the clear and rightful winner. But Vargas, ineffective for most of the fight, was bitterly disappointed, believing that because he had Bradley so badly hurt that all he needed was one more clean shot. But Russell called the fight with about seven seconds left, denying Vargas the chance to score a knockout. It was an honest mistake, but a bad one.
Vargas quickly called for a rematch and Bradley said he would be open to it. It was an entertaining fight so perhaps they will do it again. Bradley would be an ideal opponent in September for Floyd Mayweather but that’s a hard one to make given that Bradley is with Top Rank and HBO and Mayweather is with Showtime and Al Haymon. Politics aside, Bradley is the most logical and deserving opponent for Mayweather to fight other than Amir Khan. Whatever happens, Bradley is going to have a nice looking Christmas card, by which time he is likely to be a full titleholder rather than an interim one. The reason is because there is a Friday deadline imposed by the WBO on champion Mayweather to pay the sanctioning fee from his May 2 title unification victory against Manny Pacquiao and vacate his two junior middleweight alphabet belts, because the WBO prohibits fighters from holding titles in multiple weight classes as the same time. Mayweather is unlikely to comply. If he doesn’t, he will be stripped and Bradley elevated to the full titleholder.
Oscar Valdez W10 Ruben Tamayo Featherweight Scores: 99-90 (twice), 99-90 Records: Valdez (16-0, 14 KOs); Tamayo (23-6-4, 15 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Valdez, 24, was a 2008 and 2012 Mexican Olympian and is one of boxing’s best prospects. He was on this card all along but when Raymundo Beltran tested positive for a steroid and his junior welterweight co-feature against Humberto Soto was canceled, as was Soto’s fight with replacement Jose Felix Jr. when Soto suffered a knee injury, Valdez’s bout with Tamayo, 26, a southpaw from Mexico, was added to the HBO telecast.
That meant that not only would Valdez make his HBO debut — which was only a matter of time anyway — but that the fight would make some history as the milestone 1,000th bout televised by HBO since it began covering boxing in 1973 when it aired George Foreman winning the heavyweight championship with his knockout of Joe Frazier in their first fight in 1973.
In the end, Valdez-Tamayo will go down as a rather forgettable bout, although it was somewhat entertaining if not thoroughly one-sided. Valdez got in a good workout and went the 10-round distance in his first scheduled fight for that distance. His stamina was good and he dominated the taller but slower and far less skilled Tamayo. The CompuBox punch statistics illustrate just how wildly one-sided the fight was as Valdez landed 236 of 557 punches (42 percent) and Tamayo connected on only 82 of 500 (16 percent).
Tamayo’s one notable moment of the fight came in the first round when he was credited with a lame knockdown. He did connect with a glancing left hand but he also stepped on Valdez’s foot, which seemed to be far more responsible for Valdez hitting the mat than the punch. In the seventh round, repeated low blows cost Tamayo a point. Valdez pressed for a knockout in the final round and landed some vicious head shots that rocked Tamayo, whose right eye was swollen.
Valdez was strong with his right and left hands, showed superb movement and sound defense. He’s a work in progress. Give him another year or so and we could be talking about a featherweight titleholder. Tamayo lost his second fight in a row, having been knocked out in the fifth round challenging Jesus Cuellar for an interim featherweight belt in December. Saturday at Bangkok, Thailand
Amnat Ruenroeng W12 Johnriel Casimero Retains a flyweight title Scores: 116-107, 115-107, 113-112 Records: Ruenroeng (16-0, 5 KOs); Casimero (21-4, 13 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Ruenroeng, 35, of Thailand, made his fourth title defense and it was ugly. Ugly as sin. Do yourself a favor and never search this out on YouTube or anywhere else. You will be scarred for life if you watch. It was basically 12 rounds of fouling and other such nonsense, mostly initiated by Ruenroeng.
Poor Casimero, 25, a former junior flyweight titlist from the Philippines. It was almost as if this was a 2-on-1 fight: Casimero versus Ruenroeng and referee Larry Doggett, who performed hideously and should not be assigned to another world title fight after this misery. Doggett might as well have bought a ticket because he was simply a spectator to the nonstop fouling, takedowns, pushing, wrestling, clinching, you name it — most of which was Ruenroeng’s fault. Doggett never took control or really tried to other than finally docking a point from Ruenroeng for excessive holding in the 11th round. By then it was too little, way too late.
Ruenroeng dropped Casimero with a counter right hand during an exchange in the second round and floored him again in the seventh round from what seemed to be more because of a push as he plowed into him along the ropes than any kind of punch. Casimero was incredulous when Doggett ruled it a knockdown, and he should been — just as he should have been with the entire way this eyesore fight was officiated. Friday at Hidalgo, Texas
Gilberto Ramirez W10 Derek Edwards Super middleweight Scores: 100-90 (three times) Records: Ramirez (32-0, 24 KOs); Edwards (27-5-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Ramirez, a Mexican southpaw who turned 24 last week, remains a work in progress but is on the verge of a world title shot. His performance against Edwards was thoroughly dominant in the truTV-televised main event. He did everything there was to do except to score the knockout, but that is a testament to Edwards’ ridiculous will to stay on his feet, because Ramirez hurt him badly and used him for target practice. Edwards, 35, of Las Vegas, sure had one hard head. Ramirez was sharp as he landed combinations to the head and body almost at will. He had Edwards in desperate trouble during the fourth round, but referee Rafael Ramos surprisingly allowed the beating to continue. Most referees probably would have stopped the fight because Edwards was taking flush head shots that were doing serious damage. He managed to survive but to a severe beating. Was it worth it to make it to the final bell?
In February 2014, Edwards scored a massive upset by knocking out Badou Jack in the first round, and Jack went on to win a 168-pound world title. Since then, Edwards has lost two in a row, to Ramirez and Andre Dirrell.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is hoping to line up Ramirez for a shot at a world title against the winner of the July 18 fourth fight between titlist Arthur Abraham and Robert Stieglitz, but it appears to be a long shot, at least for this year. Ramirez is more likely to return on Sept. 26 to fight on a Top Rank pay-per-view card being planned for Mexico.
Diego Magdaleno TKO7 Jose A. “Chelo” Gonzalez Lightweight Records: Magdaleno (28-1, 12 KOs); Gonzalez (24-2, 19 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: In April 2013, Magdaleno lost a split decision challenging Rocky Martinez for a junior lightweight world title in Macau, China. Now Magdaleno is on the verge of another title shot, having moved up to lightweight and won his first fight in a row by making Gonzalez, 32, of Puerto Rico, flat out quit — again.
It was not the most exciting fight but Magdaleno did what he had to do and was seemingly on the way to victory when he landed a clean and powerful body shot that dropped Gonzalez, who put on an Oscar-worthy acting performance and sold referee Luis Pabon that it was a low blow. Replays showed it was a perfectly legal shot that landed solidly. But Gonzalez refused to continue even after Pabon gave him five minutes to recover. Pabon ruled that it had been an accidental foul — not intentional — so when Gonzalez did not continue after the five-minute recovery time Magdaleno was ruled a knockout winner. He should have just been ruled a KO winner 10 seconds after the punch. In his most notable fight, Gonzalez also quit in May 2013. He traveled to Scotland to challenge then-lightweight titleholder Ricky Burns and was ahead on all three scorecards after nine rounds but quit on his stool, claiming a hand injury. Gonzalez has now quit in his two biggest fights without legitimate reasons.
The win puts Magdaleno in position to possibly challenge for a world title against the winner of the vacant title bout between Terry Flanagan and Jose Zepeda, who meet July 11 in Manchester, England. Friday at Shelton, Wash.
Dominic Wade W10 Sam Soliman Middleweight Scores: 97-93, 95-94 Wade, 96-93 Soliman Records: Wade (18-0, 12 KOs); Soliman (44-13, 18 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: This was a horrible fight, which was not unexpected because Soliman, although one of the more likable people in boxing, simply makes for unwatchable fights because of his awkward, grab-hold-and-maul style. How the heck did he wind up in the main event of a prospect-oriented show such as “ShoBox: The New Generation” anyway? Soliman, 41, of Australia, came into the bout with 506 rounds boxed as a pro, an absurdly high number, and is a former world titleholder. Not exactly prospect material. While Wade, 25, of Washington, D.C., may have gained experience from a fight like this against his most notable opponent, it was sheer agony for any viewer.
Soliman was his usual watchable self and Wade tried to navigate through as best as he could in a close fight filled with fouls and clinches. Soliman’s best offense came when Wade would grab him and Soliman would work on the inside landing uppercuts. Wade’s landed some solid shots but only here and there. He also threw Soliman down to the mat multiple times, perhaps irritated that Soliman continually held. A critical moment of the fight came in the fourth round when Wade landed a left hand against an off-balance Soliman, who went down. Even though the punch was half-hearted at best it still touched Soliman and referee Jack Reiss ruled it a knockdown.
In the end, Wade, the prospect, got the split decision. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Wade landed 74 of 317 (23 percent) and Soliman landed 98 of 450 (22 percent). Wade’s punches were obviously heavier. If you think the result was controversial fine. The fight stunk so badly it’s hard to get emotional about it either way.
Soliman was coming back for his first fight since injuring his right knee and hobbling to a decision loss that cost him his middleweight world title to Jermain Taylor 13 months ago. Soliman had been making his first defense since going to Germany and outpointing the fading Felix Sturm. The loss to Wade cost Soliman a chance at a title eliminator against Eamonn O’Kane for the right to become the mandatory challenger for newly crowned titleholder David Lemieux.
Erickson Lubin KO1 Ayi Bruce Junior middleweight Records: Lubin (11-0, 8 KOs); Bruce (23-10, 15 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Lubin, a 19-year-old southpaw from Orlando, Florida, and a top-quality prospect, blew out Bruce, 28, a Ghana native fighting out of Silver Springs, Maryland. The result should surprise nobody. Bruce dropped to 1-3 in his last four bouts, has been knocked out inside two rounds in two of those losses and is 3-7 in his last 10 fights.
With about a minute left in the first round, Lubin unloaded several punches and Bruce took a knee to stop the incoming. Lubin then strafed him with about a dozen unanswered punches and Bruce again went to a knee. He pitched forward to all fours and referee Ray Corona waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 49 seconds before finishing the count when Bruce told him he was done.
Oscar Rivas KO1 Jason Pettaway Heavyweight Records: Rivas (17-0, 12 KOs); Pettaway (17-3, 10 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Rivas, 28, a native of Colombia living in Montreal and a 2008 Colombian Olympian, had no problems with Pettaway, 35, a club fighter from Huntington, West Virginia. He totally outclassed Pettaway, who lost his second fight in a row by knockout; he was also stopped by top prospect Joseph Parker in the fourth round in March.
Barely a minute into the fight, Rivas cornered Pettaway and dropped him to a knee with a right hand to the body. Then he clubbed him with a wide open left hand to the head while he was already down for a couple of seconds. It was a blatant and dangerous foul and referee certainly would have been correct to disqualify Rivas. Instead, Byrd gave Pettaway five minutes to recover, took two points from Rivas to punish him and gave him a very stern warning. Moments later Pettaway went down again after sopping up big punishment from Rivas, who was fighting outside of Quebec for the first time. Pettaway took a few more shots and then went down again after getting nailed with a left and a right hand, and Byrd waved off the mismatch at 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
Also on the card, lightweight Jamel Herring (12-0, 7 KOs), the 2012 U.S. Olympic team captain, routed journeyman Hector Velasquez (56-26-3, 38 KOs) for an eight-round decision win. Herring was supposed to have been on the Showtime telecast against Mexico’s Oscar Cortes (25-2, 13 KOs) but Cortes was 150.6 pounds at Thursday’s weigh-in for a fight contracted at 135 pounds. So Herring, 29, of Rockville, New York, was bumped off the telecast and faced Velasquez, 40, of Mexico, instead. Friday at Liverpool, England
Callum Smith W12 Christopher Rebrasse Super middleweight Scores: 120-107, 118-110 (twice) Records: Smith (17-0, 12 KOs); Rebrasse (23-4-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Smith, 25, who was fighting in his hometown, scored a dominating victory against Rebrasse, 29, of France, the former European champion, who lost that title to George Groves by similarly lopsided decision last September. He won his next fight and then faced Smith, one of the better up-and-comers in the 168-pound division.
Smith controlled the action from the outset. In the eighth round, Smith hurt Rebrasse with body shots, which slowed his aggression. With a little over a minute left in the 10th round, Smith floored Rebrasse with a left hook to the body. The fight looked like it was over as Rebrasse, down on his knees, spit out his mouthpiece. But he rose at seven and was able to finish the fight. Smith’s career is on the ascent and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said he thinks he can land a world title shot for Smith within the next year.
Rocky Fielding TKO2 Bryan Vera Super middleweight Records: Fielding (21-0, 12 KOs); Vera (23-10, 14 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: England’s Fielding, 27, was fighting in his hometown when he scored his most notable victory in impressive fashion against battle-tested Vera, 33, of Austin, Texas. He was aggressive from the opening bell against the slower Vera. With about 10 seconds left in the first round, Fielding nailed him with a left uppercut that sent him to the mat, but the round ended before either could throw another punch.
Fielding kept the pressure on the second round, eventually knocking Vera down again with another left hand. He beat the count but Fielding stormed to him again, put his punches together and nailed Vera with several shots, including a clean left hook that had him wobbling badly. After that shot, referee Ian John-Lewis had seen enough and stepped in to stop the fight at 1 minute, 39 seconds. It is the biggest win so far for Fielding. For Vera, it was a rough loss, his fourth in a row officially, even though one of them was his heavily disputed first fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Martin Murray KO2 George Beroshvili Super middleweight Records: Murray (30-2-1, 13 KOs); Beroshvili (19-6-2, 12 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: In February, England’s Murray, 32, was dominated in an 11th-round knockout at the hands of middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin, which dropped his record to 0-2-1 in world title bouts, having also lost a close decision in Argentina to Sergio Martinez and fought to a draw with Felix Sturm in Germany.
Following the setback against GGG, Murray signed with promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, moved up to super middleweight and made his return against soft touch Beroshvili, 23, of Georgia (the former Soviet republic). It was easy work for Murray, who could be in line for a world title shot against James DeGale, who also fights for Matchroom Boxing. Murray softened Beroshvili up with body shots and then took him out with a digging left hook to the liver. He went down to a knee and referee Mark Lyson counted him out at 2 minutes, 29 seconds.
Also on the card, cruiserweight Tony Bellew (24-2-1, 15 KOs), 32, fighting in his hometown, won his fourth fight in a row since a knockout loss to light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in November 2013. Bellew, coming off his split decision win against former light heavyweight titlist Nathan Cleverly in their November rematch, knocked out late substitute Ivica Bacurin (22-8-1, 12 KOs), 32, of Croatia, at 1 minute, 12 seconds of the 10th and final round.
