|
Philippines, 26 May 2026 |
Home >> News |  |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 25 MAY 2026: Usyk Defeats Verhoeven in Controversial Stoppage; Catterall UD Giyasov; Hiruta Beats Soliman; Sanchez KOs Torrez; Jones Stops Gualtieri By Eric Armit PhilBoxing.com Tue, 26 May 2026  HIGHLIGHTS: -Olek Usyk retains his heavyweight titles with a controversial eleventh round stoppage of Rico Verhoeven -Hamza Sheeraz wins the vacant WBO middleweight title with a kayo of Alem Begic - Jack Catterall wins the vacant WBA welterweight title with a points victory over Shakhram Giyasov -Mizuki Hiruta retains the WBO super fly title as she outpoints Mai Soliman. -Frank Sanchez knocks out previously unbeaten Richard Torrez in two rounds Amari Jones stops former IBF middleweight champion Vincenzo Gualtieri and there are wins for Robin Sirwan Safar and Darius Fulghum -Badien Hasso (WBC International), Ermel Hadribeaj( WBC Silver), Luis Vela (WBC International), Mourad Aliev (WBC International Silver) and Muhamet Qamil (WBC International Silver) win titles in Oberhausen -Jonathan Kagasso outpoints Ramazan Muslimov for the vacant EBU Silver cruiserweight title and Paolo Bologna decisions Federico Schiniuna for the vacant EBU middleweight title. MAJOR SHOWS: MAY 22 SAN JOSE, CA, USA: MIDDLE: AMARI JONES (17-0) W KO 3 VINCENZO GUALTIERI (25-2-1). CRUISER: ROBIN SIRWAN SAFAR (20-0) W PTS 12 YAMIL PERALTA (18-2-1). SUPER MIDDLE: DARIUS FULGHUM ( 15-1-1) W RTD 3 YOANKI URRUTIA (17-3). CRUISER: TRISTAN KALKREUTH (17-1) W KO 3 MARCO CANEDO (8-4-1). SUPER FLY: JOHN RAMIREZ (17-1) W PTS 10 LUCAS FERNANDEZ (14-5-2, 1ND ). MIDDLE: JORDAN PANTHEN (12-2) W KO 3 JEAN RIVERA-PACHECO (10-3).  Jones vs. Gualtiieri JONES dismantles GUALTIERI in three rounds. Jones easily avoided an early attack from Gualtieri and then landed a couple of body punches. It was quickly apparent that Jones had the fastest bands as he pinned Gualtieri against the ropes and scored with jabs and right hooks. Jones continued to control the action in the second scoring with quick, punches and dancing way from Gualtieri’s lunging attacks. Jones upper the pressure walking forward firing jabs and hooks to the body. In the third Jones sent Gualtieri stumbling across the ring and into a corner with a right. He bombarded Gualtieri with punches and Gualtieri dropped to one knee hanging halfway out through the ropes. He got up but after the eight count Jones hurt him with a left to the body and then a left to the head that had Gualtieri sliding sideways to the canvas. Gualtieri got up as far as kneeling non the canvas but the referee took a close look at Gualtieri then waived the fight over. Jones, 24, has now won 8 of his last 9 fights inside the distance. He was No 3 with the IBF and Gualtieri No 4 so with this win over another rated opponent Jones can fill the vacant No 1 spot and possibly face No 2 Etinosa Olha for the vacant title. Former IBF champion Gualtieri lops his title in a unifier against WBO champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly in 2023 but had won his last 4 bouts. As the IBF’s No. 4-ranked contender and with the belt sitting vacant, he is now next in line to meet the winner of the Etinosa Oliha-Aaron McKenna that should be staged this summer.  Safar vs. Peralta Sweden’s SAFAR wins a split decision mover PERALTA. I the first there was plenty of pressure from Safar coming forward behind his jab with Peralta boxing on the back foot and countering well enough to take the round. Early in the second Safar stood still right in front of Peralta and was dropped by a short right. Sirwan was up quickly and after the eight count again came forward putting Peralta under presser bur it was a 10-8 round and put Peralta 3 points up. Safar was driving forward over the third but Peralta was scoring with his jabs and occasional rights and looked to have taken that round as well. Safar began to fight his way out of a hole over the middle rounds, He was relentless with his pressure and began to eat into Peralta’s lead. Despite the second round knockdown Peralta did not have the power to keep Safar off and ashough he was finding the target with his counters Safar was winning the rounds and by the end of the ninth it looked even. Safar was not closing Peralta down effectively and Peralta looked to have edged the tenth. Safar picked up the pace again in the eleventh but Peralta was boxing with skill on the retreat and landed the cleaner punches and despite a huge effort for me Peralta edged the last. The judges scored it 116-114 and 114-113 for Safar and 115-112 for Peralta. Safar wins the vacant WBC Silver title. Sarwan was No 12 with the WBC and Peralta No 2 so Sarwan can expect a considerable improvement in his rating. Peralta has no luck in close fights. He lost a decision to Ryan Rozicki in 2022 in Rozicki’s home territory for the WBC International title but Rozicki made it clear he felt Peralta was the winner. The WBC “overturned “ the result to a No Decision but that was ignored and the original result is still considered valid. In 2024 they fought again in Nova Scotia and the fight ended as a majority draw Fulghum vs. Urrutia FULGHUM beats a reluctant URRUTIA on a third round retirement, Fulghum spent the first two rounds coming forward behind his jab and chasing down a constantly retreating southpaw Urrutia who hardly threw a punch. The ones be did throw landed behind the ear of Fulghum and the referee deducted a point for that at the start of the third. Fulghum cornered Urrutia late in the round and the Cuban dropped to a knee under a series of punches. The bell went as Urrutia got up and he did not come out for the fourth. A much needed win for Fulghum after losing close points decision against Bektemir Melikuziev and a draw with David Stevens. Urrutia showed nothing. Kalkreuth vs. Canedo KALKREUTH overcomes a shaky fourth to crush CANEDO in the sixth. A lively first round saw both fighters rocked. After that Kalkreuth used nhis reach and 6’5” height to outbox the limited Canedo over the second and third. There was a scare for Kalkreuth as he was on shaky legs in the fourth. Kalkreuth used that as a wake-up call and had Canedo wobbling in the fifth. Kalkreuth ended it in some style in the sixth. A thunderous right sent Canedo crashing face-first to the floor. He made it to his feet but after the eight count a left and a right drove Canedo to the canvas again and the referee stopped the fight. Ninth win for Kalkreuth since suffering a shock moss against journeyman Demetrius Banks in 2021. Canedo lasted just 44 seconds against Richard Torrez in 2022. Ramirez vs. Fernandez RAMIREZ gets wide unanimous verdict against Argentinian FERNANDEZ. Scorers 98-92 twice and 99-91. Fourth consecutive victory for Ramirez since losing to David Jimenez in a fight for the WBA interim title in 2024. Fernandez, the Argentinian No 7, lost to South African Gideon Buthelezi for the IBO belt in 2018 and came in as late substitute. Panthen vs. Rivera-Pacheco PANTHEN gets back in nthe winners enclosure as he stops RIVERA-PACHECO in the third to break a two-bout losing run. Panthen wins the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title with his tenth inside the distance victory. Puerto Ruican Rivera-Pacheco had won his last two fights. MAY 23 GIZA, EGYPT: HEAVY: OLEKSANDR USYK (25-0) W TKO 11 RICO VERHOEVEN (1-1). SUPER MIDDLE: HAMZA SHEERAZ (23-0-1) W KO 2 ALEM BEGIC (29-1-1). WELTER: JACK CATTERALL (33-2) W PTS 12 SHAKHRAM GIYASOV (17-1). HEAVY FRANK SANCHEZ (26-1) W KO 2 RICHARD TORREZ (14-1. SUPER FLY: MIZUKI HIRUTA (11-0) W PTS 10 MAI SOLIMAN (10-2). LIGHT HEAVY: BENJAMIN TANI (10-1) W TKO 4 DANIEL LAPIN 13-1).  Usyk vs. Verhoeven USYK needs a late stoppage to beat the very tough VERHOEVEN. It was Verhoeven who made the better start in a low scoring first round. He was full of confidence connecting with an overhand right to the head and a solid right to the body with Usyk short with his jabs. Usyk was more active in the second landing with straight lefts and uppercuts. Verhoeven was using his 25 lbs weight edge and height to bully Usyk and scoring to the body. Verhoeven’s head down brawling style was making it hard for Usyk to find the target with jabs and the champion was being forced onto the back foot. Usyk had a big fourth as he crashed home an uppercut that shook Verhoeven and then drove him around the ring but Verhoeven banged back with a couple of shots before the bell. Usyk had the better of the exchanges at the start of the fifth but Verhoeven finished the round strongly to make it close. In the sixth Verhoeven built on the good finish to the fifth and this time he pressed hard making Usyk back up and finding the target with some hard hooks from both hands. Verhoeven was on top and he shook Usyk with a left hook in the seventh and landed a series of rights to the head in the eighth only for Usyk to bang back late in the round to have the edge. At that point under the open scoring system an unusual reckoning had the fight even at 76-76 on all three cards and each judge had scored every round exactly the same. Verhoeven scored heavily at the start of the ninth and then used his weight to bully Usyk around the ring. There was more urgency in Usyk’s work in the tenth. Verhoeven attacked early but then Usyk exploded with punches landing time and again with head punches driving a stumbling Verhoeven around the ring. In the eleventh as Verhoeven came forward Usyk connected with a series of punches and then a tremendous head-snapping right uppercut that had Verhoeven pitching forward and down on his knees half way out of the ring. Verhoeven was up at five and when the count reached eight he got some precious seconds of relief as he had lost his mouthguard and that had to be reinserted. When the action resumed Usyk landed ten unanswered powerful head shots and the referee came in and stopped the fight. The time given for the stoppage was 2:59 of the round and there were protests that it was a too early a stoppage. There were criticism over the referee stopping the night with only a second to go in thew eleventh but a referee has enough on his plate without having to be a timekeeper as well and with the noise level at the dramatic events it is not difficult to understand that he might have missed the ten second buzzer. The scores at the end of the tenth had Verhoeven up 96-94 on one card with the other two reading 95-95. If the fight had gone into the twelfth round the 10-8 in the eleventh would have had Usyk in front 105-103 on two cards and 104-104 on the third leaving Verhoeven needing to win the last round 10-8 to get a draw-not likely in his condition at the end of the eleventh. Usyk won and retained the WBA, WBC and IBF titles (the IBF only agreed their title was on the line shortly before the fight). Verhoeven performed beyond any expectation and is hoping for a return fight but whether the sanctioning bodies would allow that is questionable and Agit Kabayel has a good claim to be up next for Usyk..  Sheeraz vs. Begic SHEERAZ wins the vacant WBO title with a second round kayo of a hapless BEGIC. From the start the 6’3” Sheeraz used his longer reach to put German Begic on the back foot and that was the pattern for this mismatch. Begic hardly threw a punch and rarely ventured far from the ropes. Sheeraz kept firing jabs and left hooks to the head and body of Begic who was only looking to survive. It was clear that this was not going to last long. In the second Begic came forward throwing a couple of hooks but without power or conviction. Sheeraz again used his jab and a stream of left hooks to have Begic retreating along the ropes from corner to corner. He was unloading on the cowering Begic with heavy hooks from both hands. A left hook to the body had Begic crouching down with his gloves touching the canvas and then dropped to his knees and was counted out. Sheeraz becomes a champion at the second attempt having drawn with Carlos Adames for the WBC title in February 2025. Despite his impressive looking record Begic was pitiful for a fighter fighting for a world title. Her owed his rating to winning the WBO Europoean title and had been largely inactive with only one fight in the last twenty months  Catterall vs. Giyasov CATTERALL floors and outpoints unbeaten GIYASOV to win the suddenly vacant WBA welterweight title. Both fighters prodded out jabs at the start of the fight and Giyasov connected with a right to Catterall’s shoulder which caused Catterall to stumble. Later in the round Catterall sent a left through Giyazov’s guard and Giyasov went down. He was up quickly but after the count Catterall piled in and landed a couple more lefts. Giyasov did not seem to have an answer to Catterall’s southpaw stance and Giyasov’s hesitant approach saw Catterall take the second and third rounds. Giyasov finally began to throw rights and put Catterall under pressure in the fourth. Catterall responded by taking control behind his jab in the fifth landing a series of straight lefts and then two more that had Giyasov stumbling back and holding. Catterall was finding gaps for his jabs in the sixth and had Giyasov’s nose bleeding. Catterall swept the seventh and eighth as Giyasov had still not found a way to counter Catterall’s southpaw stance. He rarely fired jabs and his guard was being pierced by right jabs and long lefts. Giyasov tried to assert some pressure in the ninth but counter lefts and right jabs from Catterall again had him backing off. Giyasov was down in the tenth but it was ruled a slip. Statistics showed that Giyasov had landed only 19 jabs to the 85 landed by Catterall which told the story of the fight up to that point. Giyasov had some success in the eleventh as he did a better job of closing Catterall down. Too little too late as Giyasov could not find a spark to ignite a desperate last effort as Catterall continued to dominate the action with his right jabs and he lifted his arms in triumph at the final bell. Catterall won on scores of 119-108, 118-109 and a too close 116-111. Catterall wins a world title at the third attempt having lost controversially at super lightweight when challenging Josh Taylor for the IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO belts in 2022 and on a split decision against Arnold Barboza for the WBO interim title in February last year. Giyasov was a disappointment. After the first round knockdown he was never in the fight and Catterall outclassed him.  Sanchez vs. Torrez SANCHEZ demolishes previously unbeaten TORREZ in two rounds in an IBF eliminator. Southpaw Torrez was conceding minor difference in height and reach but Sanchez was the heaviest puncher be had faced. Torrez followed his standard practice of coming forward looking to get inside and he managed that well enough to take the opening round. A busy Torrez continued to come forward in the second but an overhand right to the head from Sanchez had him retreating. Torrez bent over as he came forward looking to get under Sanchez’s punches but he ducked onto a solid right to the head that him sent down flat on his back. He struggled to get up but stumbled and fell back to the canvas and was counted out. Cuban Sanchez, 33, was No 3 with the IBF and Torrez 4 and with spots 1 and 2 vacant Sanchez becomes the mandatory challenger to Usyk. Shocking loss for Torrez as he was well positioned if Usyk decided to retire. Torrez is only 26 and can be rebuilt but there are questions to be asked and answered after such a crushing defeat, Hiruta vs. Soliman Southpaw HIRUTA makes a seventh defence of her WBO title as she outclasses a willing SOLIMAN. The good news for Egyptian-born Australian Soliman was that she had the crowd with her the bad news was that she was facing Hiruta. The champion boxed superbly from the opening round to the last with Soliman unable to match the speed, accuracy and work rate of the Japanese star. Soliman did connect with some hard rights but she had to soak up plenty of punishment in every round. A couple of the Australian’s rights got through in the eighth and she might have edged the round but Hiruta finished strongly taking the ninth and tenth to win on scores of 98-92 twice and 99-91. Soliman had won her last 9 fights, 4 of them inside the distance but was outclassed. Hiruta has yet to be tested by any of her challengers winning every fight either inside the distance or on wide decisions such as in this fight. In fact no challenger has won more than two rounds against her. She boxed for the Japanese Self Defence Forces and was All Japan champion at both flyweight and featherweight and fought in the World Championships and turned professional after failing to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was reported that just 5 hours after she left the Self Defence Force she dyed her hair red then changed it to her signature pink. Tani vs. Lapin Unfancied TRANI bludgeons unbeaten LAPIN to defeat in four rounds. The 6’6” Polish-born Ukrainian Lapin tried to use his right jab to keep Trani out but the 6” smaller Trani worked his way inside bobbing and weaving behind a high guard. Lapin fed Trani lots of counters but there was not much power in the punches and Trani was able to score with hooks and straight shots from both hands. Trani hunted the retreating Lapin over the third. He kept the Ukrainian trapped against the ropes for long periods ignoring Lapin’s counters and scoring with clubbing shots as Lapin began to fall apart. A left and a right dropped Lapin at the start of the fourth. He beat the count but a right hook to the body sent him down again. He arose but after the count a savage attack from Tani floored him and the referee just waived the fight over. There was nothing in Trani’s record to indicate he was a danger. He was a preliminary fighter 4 and 6 rounds and just one 8 round and with only two inside the distance wins but now he holds the IBF Inter-Continental and WBO International titles so will be rated by both of those organisations. Lapin was No 4 with the WBA and No 5 with the IBF due to holding the two titles he lost and on the level of his previous opposition it was ridiculous to be rated that highly. MAY 22 PANAMA CITY, PANAMA: FLY: TUBERGEN MARTINEZ (7-0) W TKO 8 ANGEL BETHANCOURT (8-1-1). SUPER FLY: CARLOS RODRIGUEZ (8-0-2) W PTS 10 LEROY ESTRADA (19-6). SUPER FEATHER: RICARDO BLANDON (20-6, 1ND) W TKO 6 WILLIAM VARGAS (9-7-1). Martinez vs. Bethancourt Colombian MARTINEZ halts Panamanian BETHANCOURT in the eighth to collected the vacant WBO Latino title. Former amateur star Martinez was far quicker and more skilful than the local fighter and lead from the start. Bethancourt slowly faded and was down in the seventh. He made it to the end of the round but when he tried to walk through Martinez punches in the eighth he was caught by a series of rights and was defenceless against the ropes when the fight was stopped. All seven of Martinez’s wins have come by KO/TKO Martinez, 34, was an Olympic silver medallist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and scored wins over Oscar Collazo and Gamal Yafai as an amateur. Panamanian champion Bethancourt was in over his head. Rodriguez vs. Estrada RODRIGUEZ continues unbeaten as he takes a split decision over experienced southpaw ESTRADA. Former national super fly champion Rodriguez won on scores of 98-92 and 97-93 to 96-94 for Estrada. First ten round fight for Rodriguez. Estrada lost to Wanheng (Chayaphon Moonsri) for the WBC minimum title in 2018. Blandon vs. Vargas Nicaraguan BLANDON stops VARGAS in the sixth. Blandon dropped Vargas in the second. He applied relentless pressure even after he suffered a cut on his right cheekbone from a headbutt in the third round and the referee stepped in to save Vargas in the sixth. GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, ITALY: LIGHT HEAVY: LUCA D’ORTENZI (21-4) W TKO 11 ROBERT PARZECZEWSKI (35-3). D’Ortenzi vs. Parzeczewski D’ORTENZI wins the vacant European title with an eleventh round stoppage of Pole PARZECZEWSKI. Over the first four rounds Parzeczewski seemed to build a small lead as he was busier and used clever footwork to frustrate D’Ortenzi’s attacks. From the fifth as D’Ortenzi increased the pressure Parzeczewski showed signs of flagging and took steady punishment over the seventh and eighth. Although the younger man Parzeczewski spent more and more time against the ropes unable to keep D’Ortenzi out. A right floored Parzeczewski in the eleventh and although he made it to his feet D’Ortenzi pinned him against the ropes and blasted away until the referee stopped the fight. Late success for D’Ortenzi champion of Europe at 38. Parzeczewski had won his last 10 fights. PHILADELPHIA/PA, USA: LIGHT: TEVIN FARMER (34-9-1) W KO 2 YONFREZ PAREJO (24-9-1). SUPER FEATHER: JASON SOSA (25-4-4) W PTS 8 EMMANUEL MORALES (10-9). Farmer vs. Parejo FARMER shows he is not ready to put away the gloves as he scores a second round kayo of Venezuelan PAREJO. After dominating the first Farmer finished the job in the second. A powerful left stopped the advancing Parejo in his tracks and sent him back to the ropes. Farmer stepped forward and connected with another left that had Parejo dropping to one knee and he was counted out. Now 35, Farmer had suffered defeat in each of his last four fights against class opposition in Ray Muratalla, William Zepeda-twice-and Floyd Schofield. Parejo, 39, lost in WBA title fights against Ryan Burnett and Brandon Figueroa. Sosa vs. Morales Former WBA super feather champion SOSA continues his comeback with a unanimous decision over Puerto Rican MORALES. Sosa’s experience saw him overcome the 4” edge in height and longer reach of Morales. Scores 79-73 twice and 80-72. Sosa, 38, was out for almost six years after losing to Miguel Berchelt for the WBC super-feather title in 2019. MAY 23 BUENOS AIRES: ARGENTINA: HEAVY: WALTER CRUCCE (9-0) W TKO 1 ESTEBAN JUAREZ (6-9-1).SUPER LIGHT: SILIO VILTE (15-0) W PTS 10 JORGE BATALLA (13-7-1). Crucce vs. Juarez CRUCCE scores two knockdowns and stops JUAREZ in the first round to win the vacant Argentinian title. A horribly obese Juarez (313 lbs) was 90 lbs heavier than the 223 lbs Crucce and Crucce found him an easy target. A series of head punches floored Juarez but he made it to his feet. Crucce moved in and another barrage of punches sent Juarez down again and the fight was stopped All nine of Crucce’s wins have come inside the distance. At just 20 years and 255 days old, Crucce becomes the youngest ever Argentinian heavyweight champion beating the record previously held by Oscar Bonavena. He is the son of Walter Javier Crucce who was South American lightweight champion Vilte vs. Batalla VILTE decisions Mexican BATALLA. Vilte dominated this one from the first bell to the last easily outpointing the poor visitor. A frustrated Batalla lost two points in the tenth for punches to the back of the head. Scores 100-88 on all three cards. Southpaw Vilte, the Argentinian champion, wins the WBC Latino title. BERLIN, GERMANY: WELTER: VOLKAN GOKCEK ( 19-0, 1 ND) W TKO 9 AKIHIRO KONDO (37-14-3). This was a slow-paced fight. Both relied heavily on their jab with Gokcek showing occasional variety with straight rights and hooks into the body but there was little sustained action. The pace quickened in the eighth and again Gokcek targeted Kondo’s body. He was driving home body shots in the ninth with Kondo barely able to counter and the towel came in from Kondo’s corner. Gokcek was making the first defence of the Global Boxing Council title. former IBF super light challenger Kondo, 41, turned professional in 2006 but was having his first fight for 15 months. OBERHAUSEN, GERMANY: LIGHT HEAVY: BADIEN HASSO (23-0) W KO 1 VICTOR CORREA (11-1). SUPER WELTER: ERMEL HADRIBEAJ (23-0-1,1 ND) W PTS 12 BAKARY SAMAKE (19-1). SUPER LIGHT: LUIS VELA (7-0) W PTS 8 OUSSAMA KEBDANI (10-2). HEAVY: MOURAD ALIEV (15-1) W PTS 8 RAPHAEL AKPEJIORI (19-3). SUPER FEATHER: MUHAMET QAMILI (18-1-1) W PTS 8 ALESSANGEL MAYORA (18-2). Hasso vs. Correa Iraqui-born HASSO ends this one in quick time. He was just too strong for limited Mexican CORREA. Near the end of the first round he pinned Correa in a corner and unloaded punces. Correa just could not escape and a left to the body sent him down and he was counted out. Hasson wins the vacant WBC International title with his twelfth inside the distance victory. Correa, 19, suffered a reversal of fortune as he had won his last three fights in the first round. Hadribeaj vs. Samake HADRIBEAJ wins the WBC Silver title with a very close unanimous decision over title holder SAMAKE. Hadribeaj was first into action darting forward behind his right jab to land lefts and looked quicker than Samake. The second saw Samake jabbing strongly and knocking Hadribeaj off balance with a right. Samake continued to jab strongly over the third and fourth as he worked steadily. Hadribeaj was using plenty of movement but only working in short bursts although doing enough to make the rounds close. There were some fierce exchanges in the fourth with both having some success and Hadribeaj showed a small cut over his right eye from a clash of heads. There was plenty of two-way action over the middle rounds with Samake looking to set a fast pace and box and Hadribeaj looking to turn the fight into a brawl. After eight rounds Hadribeaj was in front 77-75 on two cards with the third reading 76-76. Samake seemed to close the points gap and move ahead by winning the ninth and tenth but with the rounds so close the fight could go either way. Both fighters were tired from the pace and Samake’s work was ragged over the eleventh but he had more left in the tank and for me landed the better punches in the last. The judges scored it 115-113 twice and 116-112 for Hadribeaj. Vela vs. Kebdani Italian VELA takes unanimous decision over German champion KEBDANI to win the vacant WBC International title. Impressive performance from Vela who showed some neat skills’. He was particularly effective when he put together fast combinations. It turned it into a brawl late and Kebdani was given a count when he stumbled under a Vela attack and touched to canvas with his gloves. Vela won on scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72. Aliev vs. Akpejiori ALIEV wins the vacant WBC Silver title as he outpoints Nigerian AKPEJIORI in a clash of giants. The 6’7 ½” French Olympian boxed mainly on the retreat as the 6’8” Akpejiori tried to use his longer reach to dominate. Unfortunately there was no power in the Nigerian’s jab and his footwork was stiff and stilted. It was an ugly fight at times as their styles did not mix well and they both tired early. What clean work there was came from southpaw Aliev and in the eighth a frustrated referee, who had been too lenient, deducted a point from both boxers for holding. Aliev won on scores of 78-71, 78-72 and 78-73. Aliev had lost on points against Labinot Xhoxhaj for both this same WBC title and the European title in June last year. Akpejiori had won inside the distance in 18 of his 19 victories but was knocked out by Stephen Shaw in 33 seconds in April last year. Qamili vs. Mayora Albanian QAMILI outboxes’ Venezuelan MAYORA. Southpaws Qamili, 25, showed some sharp skills. He was too quick for Mayora jabbing strongly and accurately switching his attacks from head to body and keeping Mayora on the back foot. He was comfortable as orthodox or southpaw and although Mayora had some success Qamili was a good winner on scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. He collects the vacant WBC International Silver title. Qamili’s loss came in the WBC featherweight Grand Prix final against unbeaten Brandon Mosqueda. Mayora had won his last 4 bouts. MILAN, ITALY: CRUISER: JONATHAN KOGASSO (19-0) W PTS 12 RAMAZAN MUSLIMOV (10-1). MIDDLE: PAOLO BOLOGNA (14-0-2) W PTS 12 FEDERICO SCHININA (12-5). SUPER WELTER: VALERIO MANTOVANI (7-1) W PTS 8 MAXIM PRODAN (25-3-1) W. SUPER MIDDLE: YASSIN HERMI (16-3-1) W PTS 8 JOSHUA NMOMAH (14-4). LIGHT HEAVY: MOHAMED ELMAGHRABY (15-0) W PTS 8 VINCENZO LIZZI (4-1). Kogasso vs. Muslimov KOGASSO wins the vacant EBU Silver title as he outpoints Ukrainian MUSLIMOV. The Ukrainian made the better start finding the target with jabs and straight rights. Kogasso was pacing himself and began to roll after rocking Muslimov with a right in the fourth. Kogasso came out of his shell then and there were plenty of heated exchanges with Kogasso dominating and Muslimov fading. Kogasso stayed strong over the closing rounds and was a good winner. All three judges scored it 116-112 for Kogasso. The DRC-born Italian now needs to up the quality of his opposition to crash the world ratings. Muslimov, a good level amateur, needs some more experience. Bologna vs. Schinina In another fight for a European Silver title former undefeated Italian champion BOLOGNA decisions fellow-countryman SCHININA. Bologna’s strength is his defensive ability and despite an aggressive start Schinina was never able to pin Bologna down often enough to seriously threaten Bologna’s control. A clash of heads saw Bologna cut over his right eye and Schinina never stopped driving forward and had some success as Bologna slowed but he shook Schinina late in the fight with a right and boxed his way through the twelfth to win on scores of 116-112 twice and 116-111. Good win for Bologna. He was No 28 in the EBU ratings but as a Silver champion will move up. Schinina came in as a substitute for Davis Morello who had been Silver champion. Mantovani vs. Prodan In the best fight of the night MANTOVANI outpoints more experienced PRODAN. Mantovani took a couple of rounds to warm up but then they went to war. Mantovani had the better skills but chose to fight on Prodan’s terms and they went toe-to-toe for the remaining six rounds. Mantovani showed strength and more variety in his work and just earned the decision. No scores available. Mantovani will be hoping this win gets him a shot at the new national champion Francesco Magri who scored a win over Mantovani in July last year. Prodan had a six-bout winning streak snapped. Hermi vs. Nmomah Italian southpaw HERMI proves too quick and too busy for Nigerian NMOMAH over eight rounds. Nmomah took the fight to Hermi in the first but Hermi’s power made those bad tactics for Nmomah and his work rate dropped as Hermi took control. No scores given but Hermi won the unanimous decision. This was Hermi’s first fight for a year and he will be hoping to land a fourth shot at the domestic title being 0-3-1 in previous attempts. Elmaghraby vs. Lizzi Egyptian ELMAGHRABY is gifted va win over former Elite level amateur LIZZY. The 6’2” Elmaghraby was taller with a longer reach but was just too slow and could not match the work rate or accuracy of Lizzy who seemed to win every round. Despite that appearance the judges somehow gave Elmaghraby the decision which was loudly booed by the audience. This was an eliminator for the Italian title so presumably Elmaghraby will get the title shot. Lizzi was twice Italian amateur champion and competed at the European and World championships. FIGHT OF THE WEEK (Significance). Usyk vs. Verhoeven FIGHT OF THE WEEK :(Entertainment): Usyk vs. Verhoevenwas CLOSEW until the finish FIGHTER OF THE WEEK: Jack Catterall for finally getting the recognition he deserves as he outclasses unbeaten Giyasov to win the WBA title* PUNCH OF THE WEEK: The right from Tristan Kalkreuth that put Marco Canedo down on his face was spectacular but the short hook from Frank Sanchez that finished Richard Torrez gets my vote. UPSET OF THE WEEK: French boxer Benjamin Tani was given no chance against unbeaten and world top 5 rated Daniel Lapin but crushed Lapin in four rounds. ONE TO WATCH: No one stood out this week OBSERVATION: *It was good to see Catterall and Sheeraz winning world titles but as usual there was some sanctioning body shenanigans involved. Shortly before the show in Giza the WBA suddenly elevated welterweight champion Rolando Romero to Super champion so that Catterall vs. Giyasov could be for their vacant title. Romero-the Super champion-has to fight Catterall within 180 days . So if there is a super champion how can Catterall be the champion? Is he only what the WBA have always called their Regular champion? Alem Begic fighting for a world title was a joke. He owed his rating as No 4 to winning the WBO European title in June 2024. The guy he beat was not in the ratings. He had two fights against unrated fighter’s with the last being a win over a guy with a 10-0 record. He was then inactive for 13 months before fighting Sheeraz. The fight was a massacred but if you do poor ratings you are going to get poor title fights. Don’t get me started on Michael Eifert the No 1 with the IBF who fights Dimitrii Bivol this week. He has been rated No 1 by the IBF since March 2023 and in the three years since then has had just one six round fight-in 2024- but is still No 1. Bad boys IBF-but then the WBA have slipped Eifert in their ratings at No 6. Almost two years without a fight but hey the WBA loves sanctioning fees so much that all of their rating criteria gets buried. !! 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.  |
|
|
PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general. Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com |
PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
developed and maintained by dong secuya © 2026 philboxing.com. |
