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The Past Week in Action 4 January 2022: Kazuto Ioka Retains WBO belt; Luis Ortiz stops Charles Martin By Eric Armit PhilBoxing.com Thu, 06 Jan 2022  Ioka (L) connects at Fukunaga. Highlights: Kazuto Ioka retains the WBO super flyweight title with points win over Ryoji Fukunaga Luis Ortiz gets off the floor twice to stop Charles Martin in an IBF final eliminator at heavyweight. World Title/Major Shows December 31 Tokyo, Japan: Super Fly: Kazuto Ioka (28-2) W PTS 12 Ryoji Fukunaga (15-5). Ioka retains the WBO title for the fourth time with a unanimous verdict over challenger Fukunaga. Ioka boxed carefully over the first two rounds with Fukunaga not pressing hard enough against the slick boxing of Ioka. Fukunaga did better in the third scoring with southpaw straight lefts and hooks to the body. Ioka was back in control over the fourth and fifth landing strongly with his jab and hard left hooks. Fukunaga tried to force the pace over the sixth and seventh but the accuracy of Ioka’s well-timed punches had blood seeping from Fukunaga’s injured nose. Ioka dominated the eighth landing deft counters and vicious body punches preventing Fukunaga from applying any serious pressure. Ioka outboxed Fukunaga in the ninth eluding most of Fukunaga’s rushing attacks and even when forced to the ropes he was landing well but was unable to put a dent in Fukunaga’s attempts to force the fight. Fukunaga pushed hard over the tenth and eleventh and with Ioka boxing carefully and conservatively Fukunaga did enough to win both rounds. Ioka took the last as he moved plenty and fired accurate shots with Fukunaga unable to maintain the momentum from the previous two rounds as Ioka closed out the fight for a well earned victory. Scores 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113 for Ioka. The 32-year-old Ioka was to have fought IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas in a unification contest but when more severe restrictions were introduce due to the omicron variant of the pandemic Ancajas unable to enter Japan and Fukunaga came in as a substitute at two weeks’ notice. If Ioka showed a little less fire than usual in this fight it was because he did not want to be too adventurous and perhaps jeopardise the Ancajas fight planned for when the restrictions are loosened. Southpaw Fukunaga, a carpenter by trade, had won his last five fights and competed well despite his handicap of such short-notice. January 1 Hollywood, FL, USA: Heavy: Luis Ortiz (33-2,2ND) W TKO 6 Charles Martin (28-3-1). Heavy: Frank Sanchez (20-0,1ND) W PTS 10 Christian Hammer (26-9) Heavy: Jonathan Rice (15-6-1) W PTS 10 Michael Polite Coffee (12-2). Heavy: Ali Eren Demirezen (15-1) W TKO 8Gerald Washington (20-5-1). Light: Frank Martin (15-0) W TKO 4 Romero Duno (24-3). Heavy: Viktor Vykhryst (10-0) W TKO 2 Iago Kiladze (27-6-1). Heavy: Lenier Pero (6-0) W PTS 8 Geovany Bruzon (6-1). Super Feather: Maliek Montgomery (12-0) W TKO 4 Angel Luna (14-9-1). Ortiz vs. Martin Ortiz comes off the floor twice to stop Martin. Ortiz was walking Martin down in the first when Martin dropped to the floor avoiding a couple of jabs but it was correctly ruled a slip. Martin was up quickly and then Ortiz went down under a left to the side of the head. Ortiz did not look too shaken but Martin bombed him with a couple more right before the bell. Martin boxed well in the second. He was circling Ortiz and slotting home quick jabs before rocking Ortiz with a left to the head. Ortiz landed a good left but was not quick enough to build on that. The third again saw Martin moving and jabbing with Ortiz always looking dangerous but not connecting. Ortiz upped his pace in the fourth but Martin kept trying to find him with left crosses. Ortiz continued to advance and ran onto a stiff right jab that sent him down. This time he was hurt but the bell went before Martin could follow up his success. Ortiz stalked Martin through the fifth without really being able to land anything of substance. He was in front 48-45 on two cards and 47-46 on the other but was slowing. Ortiz exploded with a left to the head in the sixth. It stunned Martin who stood unsteadily with his arms at his side gazing blankly out into the crowd and Ortiz drove Martin to the floor with a series of chopping lefts and rights. Martin managed to drag himself to his feet with blood running from his nose. The referee allowed the fight to continue and Ortiz bludgeoned Martin to the floor again. He got up but was also bleeding from the mouth and somewhat dazed and the referee stopped the fight. Ortiz had managed only 45 seconds of action in the last two years (That’s how long it took him to wipe out Alexander Flores in November 2020) but his power won him this one in the end. His inactivity has hurt with his highest ranking being No 4 with the WBC. However Martin was No 2 with the IBF and Ortiz No 7 and the No 1 spot was vacant so with this win Ortiz should be eligible to fill the No 1 spot and become Oleksandr Usyk’s mandatory challenger. Martin has a rebuilding job ahead and it will be an uphill slog. Sanchez vs. Hammer Sanchez eases his way past replacement Hammer. The big Cuban was in charge all the way in this one. He had height and reach over Hammer who never posed a threat. Sanchez was cable to find gaps for his jabs and overhand rights and scored repeatedly with body punches. Hammer kept trying to take the fight to Sanchez rumbling forward behind a high guard and launching crude swings. Despite his dominance Sanchez never really moved through the gears. He hurt Hammer with a series of shots to head and body in the third and with Hammer pinned to the ropes looked to have him in trouble in the ninth but did not seem to be looking for the finish. Hammer was down in the last but it looked more a case of him being wrestled to the floor and he protested the count. Scores 100-89 for Sanchez on the three cards. With the log jam at the top of the heavyweight division Sanchez may have to mark time for much of 2022. Sanchez was to have fought Puerto Rican Carlos Negron and Hammer was on hand in case there were any pull outs in the other heavyweight fights on the show. When Negron tested positive for COVID-19 Romanian-born Hammer switched to face Sanchez. Hammer had been beaten in five rounds by Hughie Fury in October. Rice vs. Coffee Rice beats Coffie again. Last time they met Rice had stopped Coffie in the fifth round of an entertaining punch up. Not so many fireworks this time as the fight had a slow start. Rice edged in front and had a good fourth staggering Coffie with a right but the fight did not really come to life until the middle rounds. Rice outscored Coffie in the fifth and landed heavily in the sixth leaving Coffie with a cut over his left eye and the same optic being affected by a swelling. Rice continued to pile up the points and apart from a spell in the ninth round Coffie, with both the problems with around his left eye and a low work rate, could do nothing to change the outcome. Scores 97-93 twice and 99-91 for Rice. Back-to-back losses to Demsey McKean and Efe Ajagba in 2020 had severely lowered Rice’s standing but now he has two wins over Coffie to cash in on but the results probably say more about an overrated Coffie than resurgent Rice. Demirezen vs. Washington Turkey’s Demirezen overcomes a sluggish start to halt Washington. It was Washington who found his form early scoring well with his jab and outworking Demirezen. Worryingly, although still the most accurate, Washington was already puffing heavily by the third. Demirezen stepped up the pressure and Washington’s output dropped. Washington did enough to keep the fight close but was cut under his right eye and had swellings around both eyes by the end of the sixth. Demirezen handed out serious punishment to Washington in the seventh and after Washington was shaken by a right in the eighth the referee stopped the bout. Olympian Demirezen was outclassed by Efe Ajagba in their July 2019 fight but had scored three wins since then. An 18-0-1 record garnered a shot at Deontay Wilder for the WBC title for Washington in 2017 but after being stopped in five rounds by Wilder he is now 1-4 in his last 5 fights. Martin vs. Duno Martin outboxes Duno for three rounds then floors him twice in the fourth for victory. Slick southpaw boxing from Martin over the first two rounds as he used his faster hands to connect with jabs and straight lefts and employed some slick defensive work to slide away from the aggressive Duno’s attacks. Duno pressed hard in the third but was having problems in pinning down the elusive Martin. Duno landed a good right early in the fourth but then looked to have been knocked down by a left from Martin. The referee decided it was a slip but then Martin walked Duno onto a beautiful counter left that dropped him on his back. He beat the count but two lefts knocked his legs from under him and he went face down on the canvas. He got up but was unsteady and when the eight count was finished the referee decided Duno was finished too. Impressive skills and power from the 26-year-old from Detroit. Duno had lost only one of his last sixteen fights being knocked out in 98 seconds by Ryan Martin in November 2019. Vykhryst vs. Kiladze Vykhryst (his Ukrainian name-Victor Faust German name) stops Kiladze in the second round of a wild slugfest. Just thirty seconds into the fight Vykhryst put Kiladze down heavily with a straight right and a left hook. Kiladze beat the count and Vykhryst stormed forward looking to get a quick win only to walk onto a fierce right counter that sent him teetering across the ring and down by the ropes. Vykhryst was up quickly and as Kiladze drove forward he caught Kiladze with a left hook to put him down for the second time. When Kiladze made it to his feet he staggered Vykhryst with a right and as they just stood and threw punches both were rocked a couple of times. An incredible three minutes of mayhem. Early in the second a left hook from Kiladze sent Vykhryst down on his back. He was up and after the eight count it was mainly Kiladze doing the scoring until he was nailed by a left hook the sent him down on his back. Kiladze got up and was ready to continue but after completing the eight count the referee waived the fight over with a furious Kiladze disgusted by the call. Ukrainian Vykhryst gets his seventh inside the distance win but showed a few faults here that need to be worked on. Kiladze drops to 1-5-1 in his last 7 fights with all 5 losses against world rated opponents and all by KO/TKO. Pero vs. Bruzon In a clash of Cuban heavyweights Pero builds an early lead and then holds off a strong finish from Bruzon to take the unanimous decision on scores of 78-74 twice and 77-75. The 29-year-old southpaw has never faced a fighter in the top 200 of BoxRec’s computerised ratings so has some way to go before proving his pedigree. He was Cuban champion three times and won a gold medal at both the 2011 and 2014 Pan American Games. Bruzon is a former Cuban Youth champion. Montgomery vs. Luna Former double National Golden Gloves champion Montgomery continues to progress under the radar as he halts Luna in four rounds. Now eleven inside the distance wins for Montgomery who lost to Teo Lopez in the US Olympic Trials for the 2016 Olympics. Luna might be getting better-he was knocked out in one round in each of his last two fights. December 24 Moscow, Russia: Super Light: Khariton Agrba (7-0) W TKO 3 Petr Petrov (42-7-2). Feather: Albert Batyrgaziev (5-0) W TKO 4 Franklin Manzanilla (20-8). Light Heavy: Maxim Vlasov (46-4) W PTS 10 Felix Varela (19-4). Agrba vs. Petrov Former Elite level amateur Agrba proves too strong for experienced Petrov. Agrba had Petrov under pressure for two rounds before ending the fight in the third. He twice forced Petrov to the ropes and dropped him with southpaw straight lefts with the referee stopping the fight after the second knockdown. The Georgian-born Russian wins the vacant IBF European title. In the amateurs he was World Universities champion and won a silver medal at the European Games losing to Pat McCormack in the final. Petrov, 38, lost on points to Terry Flanagan in a challenge for the WBO lightweight title in 2017. Batyrgaziev vs. Manzanilla Russian southpaw Batyrgaziev, 23, just could be a champion in the making. He outboxed seasoned pro Manzanilla and then floored Manzanilla twice in the fourth to force the stoppage. All five of Batyrgaziev win have come inside the distance. He collects the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title. At the Tokyo Olympics he reversed two previous losses by beating Cuban star Lazaro Alvarez in the semi-final and then took a 3-2 decision over Duke Ragan in the final becoming the first pro boxer to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Venezuelan Manzanilla lost on points to Rey Vargas for the WBC super bantamweight title in 2019. Vlasov vs. Varela In his first fight since losing a majority decision against Joe Smith Jr for the vacant WBO light-heavyweight title in April Vlasov took a wide points victory over Varela. Despite scoring a knockdown in the second and two more in the fourth Vlasov had to go the full ten rounds for victory with Varela losing a point in the ninth for low punches. Scores 100-86 twice and 99-87. A return with Smith or a shot at Artur Beterbiev-Vlasov will settle for either. Varela, a former WBO interim champion, drops to 1-3 in his last 4 outings. Accra, Ghana: Super Feather: Alfred Lamptey (10-0) W TKO 3 Emmanuel Otoo (3-3). Super Welter: Musah Lawson (6-0) W TKO 1 Victus Kemavor (11-6). Cruiser: Jacob Dickson (8-0) W PTS 12 Stephen Abbey (15-19).Light: Michael Ansah (21-10-2) W TKO 2 Nathaniel Nukpe (13-9-1). : Light: Oto Joseph (15-1) W RTD 1 Abdul Malik Jabir (21-19).Super Light: Kpakpo Allotey W RTD 2 Sanitor Agbenyo (9-2).Light: Maxwell Awuku (48-5-1) W PTS 8 Moses Dodzi (3-9) .Super Light: George Ashie (32-5-1) W KO ? Kofie Ansah (8-37). Lamptey vs. Amatelfio Rising star Lamptey wins the vacant Ghanaian title as he halts Amatelfio in two rounds. Lamptey had Amatelfio hurt at the end of the first with Amatelfio being given a standing count. Lamptey constantly switched guards as he walked Amatelfio down throughout the second and floored him at the start of the third with the fight being stopped. The 19-year-old top prospect gets his eighth inside the distance win making it a good year as he collects his fifth title and was also voted pro boxer of the year by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana. He has talent but it is a very raw talent and the jury is out until he meets better opposition. Otoo was to have fought for the vacant Ghanaian featherweight title on the following night but instead came in as a late substitute for this fight. Lawson vs. Kemavor Lawson is crowned national champion as he beats Kemavor on a first round stoppage. Too easy for Lawson whose six victories have taken less than 15 rounds in total. Poor Kemavor in way over his head. Dickson vs. Abbey Dickson outpoints experienced Abbey to win the vacant Ghanaian title. Dickson floored Abbey in the third but Abbey recovered and downed Dickson in the seventh in a gruelling match with Dickson getting the unanimous verdict on scores of 118-108, 118-110 and 116-110. Dickson’s seven previous wins had been accomplished in less than ten rounds so he more than doubled his previous ring time in this contest but is yet to face an opponent with a positive record. Abbey, 42, was having his first fight since March 2020. Ansah vs. Nukpe Ghanaian lightweight champion Ansah floors Nukpe with body punches in both the first and seconds rounds of a non-title fight to force the stoppage. “One Bullet” has won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss being on a disqualification against Terry Flanagan in October 2019. Six losses in his last 7 for Nukpe. Joseph vs. Jabir Tough little Joseph overpowers seasoned pro Jabir who retires at the end of the opening round. The 29-year-old, 5’4”, Nigerian gets his ninth win by KO/TKO as he rebuilds after having his winning streak broken at 13 (some sources say 16). Jabir, 41, drops to 2-10 in his 12 most recent fights. Allotey vs. Agbenyo Former Ghanaian champion Allotey gets his fourth consecutive second round victory as overmatched Agbenyo bows out after two rounds. Awuku vs. Dodzi Veteran Awuku is given eight rounds of useful work by mediocre Dodzi and takes unanimous decision. Now 38 Awuku was halted in three rounds by Miguel Berchelt in a challenge for the WBC super featherweight title in 2018. Poor Dodzi has registered only one victory in his last ten fights. Ashie vs. Ansah Ashie, 37, a former undefeated Commonwealth champion, levels above Ansah and registers a win his twenty-fourth by KO/TKO. It has been eight years since Ansah won a fight. Lagos, Nigeria: Welter: Rilliwan Babatunde (15-1) W PTS 10 Justice Addy (16-11-1). Cruiser: Idris Afinni (9-3-1) W PTS 10 Michael Godwin (3-2). Light Heavy: Segun Olanrewaju (9-1) W KO 2 David Cusmos (2-3). Babatunde vs. Addy Babatunde retains the WBFederation International title as he floors and outpoints Ghanaian Addy. Babatunde, 25, dominated all the way and won on scores of 100-89 on the three cards. Babatunde suffered his only defeat in July when he lost on points to unbeaten Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov. Seventh loss in a row for Addy. Afinni vs. Godwin In a battle of oldies Afinni, 37, wins the vacant Nigerian title with unanimous verdict over old foe 40-year-old Godwin. When they clashed in September Godwin won on a fourth round kayo. Olanrewaju vs. Cusmos Olanrewaju extends his winning run to six, all by KO/TKO, as he knocks out Cosmos in two rounds to win the vacant national lightweight title. Olanrewaju’s only loss has come against world rated Olan Durodola who also beat Cusmos twice. December 25 Newark, NJ, USA: Welter: Vito Mielnicki (10-1) W TKO 10 Nicolas DeLomba (16-4). : Welter: Kenneth Sims Jr (17-2-1) W PTS 8 Keeshawn Williams (8-1-1). Middle: Joey Spencer (14-0) W TKO 5 Limberth Ponce (18-5). Middle: Yoelvis Garcia (5-0) W TKO 1 Clay Collard (9-5-3). Mielnicki vs. DeLomba “White Magic” Mielnicki gets late stoppage win over DeLomba. Mielnicki used his better skills to outbox the limited DeLomba and shook him badly with a right in the third. He pounded DeLomba with punches but DeLomba survived that crisis. Mielnicki landed another heavy right in the tenth and then pounded on DeLomba with DeLomba’s trainer waiving the referee to stop the fight. The 19-year-old local registers his second win after having losing to 6-2 James Martin in April. Second loss in a row for DeLomba. Sims vs. Williams Four wins in a row for Sims as he outpoints unbeaten Williams. Scores 79-73 twice and 77-75 for Sims. A former US and Police Athletic League gold medal winner Sims stumbled with a 1-2-1 spell but is back on the right path and a past draw with Montana Love looks a good result now. Williams, also a top level amateur at one time, had a seven-bout winning run snapped. Spencer vs. Ponce Spencer racks up another win as he floors and halts Ponce in five rounds. Spencer dominated all the way. He slowly broke down Ponce with body punches then wrapped up victory in the fifth. He staggered Ponce with a left hook and then sent him down hard with a right and the fight was stopped. Tenth quick win for the 21-year-old two-time US Under-17 champion. First time Ponce has failed to last the distance. Gomez vs. Collard Cuban Gomez wipes out Collard in the first round. Gomez dropped Collard early and had him helpless under a hail of punches when the referee stepped in to save Collard. All five of Gomez’s wins have come by KO/TKO, four in the first round. He has had only fight two four round and three six round fights and never met anyone remotely near any ratings but is No 7 with the WBA. Typical WBA chicanery (See Observations) Accra, Ghana: Super Feather: Joshua Wahab (22-0) W TKO 7 Jackson Malinyingi (11-5-1). Welter: Raphael King (14-1-1) W TKO 3 Henry Mensah (0-4). Light Heavy: Ahmed Abdula (4-0) W TKO 2 Issifu Osman (04). Wahab vs. Malinyingi Wahab retains the WBO African title with a seventh round stoppage of a competitive Malinyingi. Wahab made a positive start using his longer reach to score at distance and whacking Malinyingi with some hard body punches. Malinyingi had a good third rocking Wahab with a left hook but Wahab boxed well to sweep the next two rounds. Malinyingi rallied and had Wahab under heavy fire in the sixth and was pressing hard in the seventh. Suddenly Wahab burst into life and bombarded Malinyingi with punches driving him to the canvas. Malinyingi beat the count but was swaying badly and the referee stopped the fight. Fifteenth short route win for the Nigerian “Wealth Machine” who is No 14 with the WBO. Tanzanian “Tyson Kid” Malinyingi did better than expected but suffers his second inside the distance defeat. King vs. Mensah Sixth consecutive victory for King as he scores four knockdowns and halts poor Mensah in the third round. King has twelve wins by KO/TKO with his only loss a split verdict in a bout in Nigeria. Mensah has yet to get past the fourth round in any of his fights. Abdula vs. Osman Promising Abdula gets his third inside the distance victory with stoppage of Osman. The 6’7” tall Abdula had beaten Osman on a first round disqualification in December 2020. Moscow, Russia: Super Welter: Sergei Vorobev (15-1) W PTS 10 Diego Chaves (28-8-1). Vorobev gets his sixth win in a row as he outpoints Chaves. Being taller with the longer reach Vorobev boxed cleverly at distance and landed some hurtful body punches inside but never quite subdued Chaves who fought hard and exerted lots of pressure. Vorobev countered well and was a big winner for two of the judges who scored it 100-90 with the third giving it Vorobev 96-94. Useful win for 27-year-old “Sparrow Junior”. Chaves drops to 2-6 in his last 8 fights. December 26 Accra, Ghana: Light-Fly: Joseph Netty (4-0) W TKO 5 Juma Sule (2-2-2). Middle: Mubarak Abubakar (6-0) W TKO 8 Michael Draku (?). Heavy: Haruna Osumanu (12-3) W RTD 5 Nii Ofei Dodoo (4-1). Middle: Obodai Sai (36-3-1) W RTD 2 Peter Darku (0-2). Middle: Isaac Sowah (19-8-1) DREW 8 Daniel Sowah (21-6-3). Netty vs. Sule Teenager Netty wins the vacant Royal Boxing Organisation (RBO) “world” title with fifth round stoppage of Tanzanian southpaw Sule. The 19-year-old Netty, the Ghanaian champion, gets his fourth inside the distance victory. Sule is No 248 in the world in the BoxRec rankings. The RBO is a sanctioning body based in Luxemburg. Abubakar vs. Darku Abubakar wins the interim Ghanaian title with stoppage of Draku. After six close rounds Abubakar took control and had Darku hurt with a series of body punches when the referee stopped the fight. Osumanu vs. Dodoo Oldie Osumanu wins the vacant national title when Dodoo retires after five rounds with exhaustion. Osumanu just walked through Dodoo’s punches landing hooks and uppercuts and wore Dodoo down. Now 41, Osumanu was stopped in one round by Martin Bakole in September. No information on Dodoo Sai vs. Darku Mismatch sees experienced Sai floor novice in the second with Darku not come out for the third. Former Commonwealth champion Sai is 13-1-1 in his last 15 outings. No information on Darku. Sowah vs. Sowah The unusual occurrence of two brothers fighting each other resulted in a hard-fought close contest with two judges scoring it 76-76 and the third 77-77. Both fighters were having their first fight in over three years. Lucca, Italy: Light: Fateh Benkorichi (11-1-1) W PTS 10 Marvin Demollari (9-3). Benkorichi wins the vacant Italian title with narrow split decision over Demollar5i. Scores 96-94 and 96-95 for Benkorichi and 96-95 for Demollari. Fifth successive victory for former Italian amateur champion Benkorichi who had 92 amateur fights including a win over world rated Michael Magnesi. Albanian-born Demollari had won 6 of his last 7 bouts. December 27 Pec, Kosovo: Cruiser: Armend Xhoxhaj (13-2) W PTS 12 Vaclav Pejsar (18-12). Cruiser: Labinot Xhoxhaj (16-0) W KO 1 Mike Mononen (7-2). Xhoxhaj vs. Pejsar Xhoxhaj wins both the vacant WBFederation and Global Boxing Union belts with decision over Czech Pejsar. Xhoxhaj came close to ending it when he put Pejsar down twice in the eighth with body punches. Pejsar made it to the bell and went the full twelve rounds but never looked like winning a round let alone the fight. Scores 120-105 twice and 120-108. German-based Xhoxhaj was stopped in four rounds by Mateusz Masternak in October. Czech champion Pejsar was coming off three wins in low level six round fights. Xhoxhaj vs. Mononen Swiss-based Kosovon Xhoxhaj picks up the vacant UBO International belt with a first round kayo of Mononen. Xhoxhaj has won 8 of his last 9 fights by KO/TKO over a list of typically low level opponents. Mononen’s 7 wins have come against foes with a total of 8 wins between them and this was his first fight since March 2019. December 28 Rangsit, Thailand: Bantam: Petch CP Freshmart (63-1) W TKO 4 Petchnammung (16-18). Super Fly: Kongfah CP Freshmart (40-1-1) W PTS 6 Kampanart (0-1). Petch vs. Petchnammung Petch hands out a severe beating to a too courageous Petchnammung. Petch dished out so much punishment in the first that it seemed Petchnammung had to fall but he just soaked it up and punched back. It was the same in the second, when Petch connected with seven consecutive head punches, and in the third. In the fourth a right hook to the head saw Petchnammung hit the canvas with a thud. He made it to his feet but after a couple more punches the referee finally stopped the massacre. Petch, birth name Tasana Salapat, previously boxed as Petch Sor Chitpattana. His only loss was against Takuma Inoue in 2018 and this is his sixteenth win since then all against very un-testing opposition. Twelfth inside the distance loss for Petchnammung who needs to be saved from himself. Kongfah vs. Kampanart Just some paid sparring for Kongfah who hardly shifts out of third gear allowing Kampanart to win a couple of rounds on the cards and settling for a points win when Kampanart managed to last the distance. Scores 58-56 from all three officials. Kongfah is 26-0-1 in his last 27 fights but most of his opposition has been dreadful-but not all-as he outpointed Ryoji Fukunaga who lost in a challenge to Kazuto Ioka on December 31. December 29 Berazategui, Argentina: Middle: Amilcar Vidal (14-0) W PTS 10 Martin Bulacio (10-5). Super Welter: Guido Schramm (13-0-1) W PTS 10 Nicolas Veron (8-7-1). Vidal vs. Bulacio Vidal gets highly controversial win over Bulacio to remain unbeaten. After a fairly close few rounds Bulacio took over. He was scoring well with hooks to the head and body and outboxing Vidal. The ninth was Vidal’s best round but Bulacio looked to have done enough to win and he took no chances in the tenth. Somehow the judges scored it to Vidal at 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94. The latter two scores looked a bit overgenerous to Vidal and the 99-91 inexplicable. UruguayanVidal retained the WBC Latino title. He had halted Bulacio in eight rounds in 2019 and in July last year had outpointed Immanuwel Aleem netting him a No 8 rating with the WBA. Bulacio falls to 3-4 in his last seven fights Schramm vs. Veron Schramm gets a very close unanimous decision over Veron with all three judges coming up with scores of 95-93 for Schramm. The two defining moments in the fight came in the first and the fifth. In the opening round a combination from Schramm sent Veron tumbling into the ropes and the referee applied a standing count. Veron landed a punch after the bell ending the fifth round and was deducted a point for that. They both staged strong finishes but those earlier incidents cost Veron dearly. Schramm gets his tenth win in a row and collects the vacant WBC Latino Silver belt. He was returning home after wins in Mexico and the USA. Veron was 4-1 in his previous 5 fights. Fight of the week (Significance): Luis Ortiz stoppage of Charles Martin makes him the mandatory challenger for Olexandr Usyk’s IBF title Fight of the week (Entertainment); it lasted less than two rounds but you would be hard pushed find five such wild minutes in any fight such as the Viktor Vykhryst vs. Iago Kiladze produced. Fighter of the week: Ortiz getting off the floor twice to stop Martin gets my vote Punch of the week: Both Vykhryst and Kiladze landed some powerful bombs but for me the timing and accuracy of the left counter from Frank Martin that put Romero Duno down was close to perfection. Upset of the week: None Prospect watch: Lightweight Frank Martin 15-0 (11) was slick, quick and showed real power Observations Rosette: This goes to the Boards, promoters, managers and fighters from Africa who showed boxing is alive and well over a busy week down there: Ghana had cards on 24, 25 and 26 December including five national title fights. Tanzania also had shows on 24, 25 and 26 with a total of 39 bouts spread over the three shows. There were also shows in Malawi (2), the DRC (Congo) and Cameroon. An encouraging sign of boxing's popularity throughout Africa. Other countries that hosted cards over the last week of 2021 include Taiwan, Vietnam, Kosovo, Serbia, India and Belarus so a very international flavour Red Card: To the WBA-again. They have done boxing a favour by eliminating their interim titles. Perhaps they should be renamed the “Jose Sulaiman” titles. He invented them, he said the WBC was ending them and replacing them with Silver titles and the WBC now has both interim and WBC Silver titles. Anyway back to the WBA. The big heavyweight show in Florida had me looking at the heavyweight ratings. According to the WBA Jonathan Guidry has earned a No 13 rating from them –above Joseph Parker and Tony Yoka! So Mr Guidry must have scored some impressive wins in his 17-0-2 record before suddenly appearing in the WBA’s November ratings. Well his last three results have been: August 2019 Cory Phelps W TKO 2 Phelps record 16-11-1 lost his previous five fights by KO/TKO three in the first round and two in the second November 2019 Aaron Chavers W TKO 3 Chavers 41yo, record 8-9-1 lost his previous six fights five by KO/TKO August 2021 Rodney Moore W PTS 8 Moore 46yo record 20-19-2 coming off losses in two four round fights with one of those two opponents who stopped Moore having a 24-48-1 record And that’s it. After beating Moore and not fighting for three months he is parachuted into the WBA heavyweight ratings at No 13 and that without winning one of their minor titles. Now I wait to hear if Don King is about to hold a press conference saying Guidry will fight Trevor Bryan for the secondary WBA title. Mahmoud Charr might also fear the same as he is threatening to sue the WBA if there is any hold up in the fight he is supposed to have with Bryan. It has the same smell as when King had the WBA parachute Linda Lovelace into their rankings-sorry my mistake I meant Chris Lovejoy. Con artists usually hope to have you so busy watching one hand you miss sleight of hand from the other. I didn’t fall for that. I also looked at the WBA super welterweights where Cuban Yoelvis Gomez in rated No 5. Having been unrated in their October ratings he suddenly popped up at No 6 in their November ratings before edging up to No 5. At the time he popped into the ratings his total record consisted of two four round fights and two six round fights. His victims: August 2019 Manuel Mendez-never had a pro fight September 2020 Elvis Alvarez Garcia-never had a pro fight December 2020 David Rangel 13-8 current Box Rec rating No 437 April 2021 Jesus Pina Najera record 21-4 lost his previous three fights by KO/TKO Box Rec rating No 357 So after just these four six round bouts and without fighting for six months he suddenly jumps into the WBA No 6 spot and without another fight has climbed to No 5!!! Still the WORST BOXING ASSOCIATION More Observations: Names The “westernisation” of East European fighter’s names can cause confusion. Viktor Vykhryst is being changed to Viktor Faust because presumably Vykhryst would just be too difficult for Western European’s to spell but we managed Klitschko and Lomachenko so credit us with some sense and leave it as Vykhryst which is the name under which he won so many gold medals as an amateur (even if I did misspell his name twice when writing this bit). Going in the opposite direction. Thai fighters tend to fight under their sponsor’s name so you get a few boxers using CP-Freshmart, a major convenience store chain which sponsors a number of top Thai boxers, or the name of the gym to which they belong. However if a boxer changes gym or sponsor then their last name changes to reflect that and confusion reigns. Box Rec made a decision to use their real names so: Knockout CP Freshmart becomes Thammanoon Niyomtrong! I think I’ll stick with Knockout CP Freshmart thanks. Vykhryst Going back to Vykhryst I saw one report giving his record as 12-1 and not 9-0. They have arrived at this by treating the four fights Vykhryst had in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) as part of his professional record thereby treating his second round kayo loss suffered against Joe Joyce in 2015 as part of his pro record. That’s a very questionable premise. That strips Vykhryst of his unbeaten status as a pro but it also strips Joyce of his unbeaten tag as he lost to Oleksandr Usyk and Maxim Babanin in the WSB. Others who would lose their unbeaten tag include Josh Taylor, Lawrence Okolie, Stephen Fulton, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Tony Yoka. 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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