There was thunder heard across the light heavyweight division Saturday night as Adonis Stevenson produced the biggest shock of the year by belting out Chad Dawson in short order at Montreal's Bell Centre.

It wasn't much of a first round as both fighters took measure of the other man until Stevenson absolutely nailed Dawson with a pinpoint counter left.

Chad Dawson went down hard but amazingly beat the count. He was, however, in no shape to continue and the contest was waved off at 1:16 of the initial frame.

No one had expected Stevenson

This changes the light heavyweight division as Dawson was one of the top men on the weight class and Stevenson had previously campaigned at super middle.

Adonis Stevenson, 21-1 (19), has now picked up consecutive KO victories over his last eight appearances and annexes the WBC light heavyweight title.

Dawson drops to 31-3 (17) having lost his last two bouts and will have to return to the drawing board. More...

A nice welter clash headlines an interesting bill at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA this Saturday with Marcos Rene Maidana and Josesito Lopez squaring off for the WBA Intercontinental strap.

Also scheduled is a light middle scrap between Erislandy Lara and Alfredo Angulo for the Interim WBA crown and a USBA light middle title contest between Demetrius Hopkins and Jermell Charlo.

Argentine body-puncher and former WBA light welter beltholder Maidana, 33-3 (30), is coming off two straight victories since losing to current IBF welter king Devon Alexander in February, 2012 and should be ready for a real tear-up again Lopez.

Lopez, 30-5 (18), will be looking to get back to the form that saw him take apart ex-WBC welter strapholder Victor Ortiz a year ago for the WBC silver 147 pound title. More...

The light welterweight division was shaken up last night as Lucas Martin Matthysse destroyed Lamont Peterson in short order at Atlantic City's famed Boardwalk hall.

Neither Matthysse's WBC Interim crown or Peterson's WBA belt were on the line but that failed to make an impression on the fighters, who went at it full bore from the opening bell.

The first frame saw Matthysse pressing hard, lunging in with lefts, rights and body jabs, which mostly missed, sometimes wildly. Peterson kept on the move, maintaining distance with his jab. In the closing seconds, the Washington DC native slowed down for just a second and was caught with sharp right at the bell. More...

The action this weekend is at Atlantic City's famed Boardwalk Hall as Devon Alexander put his IBF welter title at risk and Lucas Matthysse lays his WBC Interim light welter belt on the line.

Alexander, 24-1 (13), meets unheralded Englishman Lee Purdy, 20-3-1 (13), while Matthysse, 33-2 (31), squares off with Lamont Peterson, 31-1-1 (16).

Southpaw Alexander, ex-WBC/IBF light welter king, is enjoying a new lease on life since heading up to 147 pounds, where he outpointed Randall Bailey this past October to cage the IBF bauble. More...

It was skill against will, brain vs. brawn, strategy contending with game; the rapier meets the cutlass.

Floyd Mayweather Jr delivered a superb performance last night, taking away any advantage Robert Guerrero may have brought to the table at Mayweather's home away from home, the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, while maximizing the weapons from his own amazing arsenal.

The build up to this contest, for the WBC welterweight belt, took place over a great deal of time as Guerrero had been campaigning for the opportunity to face Mayweather for the last year and a half.

The forceful manner in which Guerrero had dealt with his previous welterweight appearances, Andre Berto and Selcuk Aydin, coupled with the now 36 year old Mayweather getting hit much more than usual when he faced Miguel Cotto last year, led some to consider Mayweather vulnerable.

Perhaps even Mayweather himself, as he returned his father, who's primary focus is defense, to the trainer's seat in his camp while Floyd made statements in the media in the days leading up to the fight that he had trained harder for this fight than any other....etc.

Additionally, Floyd had previously had a bit of trouble with a few southpaws in his career and well, perhaps lefty Guerrero was coming along with the right tools at the right time? More...

Danny Garcia walked out of Brooklyn's Barclays Center bloodied and humbled but still a world champion as the Philadelphia light welter got past former two-weight world titlist Zab Judah after a hard-fought bout.

Widely perceived as well past his best before the fight, southpaw Judah managed to turn back the clock for large parts of the contest, hurting Garcia in the tenth and eleventh rounds but was unable to better his work in the crucial 12th round.

For "Super Judah" this late round resurgence was remarkable as many had predicted the 35 year old ex-Unified welterweight world champion would have been disposed of by that point.

Judah's rally came after he was nailed in the eighth by Garcia, hitting the deck but drawing on the experience of 18 previous world title bouts, was able to regroup.

The New Yorker had been doing well prior to the knockdown, having started the process of breaking Garcia's control by the middle rounds.

The champion was starting to slow down after a busy effort on the early frames, hurting Judah, 42-8 (29), in the fourth with powerful right hands.

This after an uneventful initial round that saw the combatants study each other, taking notes on reactions and counter moves. More...

Gigantic English heavyweight Tyson Fury made a successful stateside debut last at New York's Madison Square Garden, knocking out ex-cruiserweight world champ Steve Cunningham to capture the #2 spot in the IBF rankings.

But it certainly wasn't easy for the Manchester traveler.

Fury found himself outboxed in the first round, made to look a bit clumsy by the far more skilled Cunningham, and responded by yelling at the American from the center of the ring and even pushing Cunningham after the bell rang to end the initial frame.

The visitor took his aggression one step further, chasing Cunningham and eating a huge right hand for his trouble. The punch caught Fury by surprise, belting the Englishman on the forehead, sending him down hard on the canvas.

Fury lay on the floor in total disbelief but managed to haul himself up and beat the count. Cunningham was able to plant further hard rights on his adversary but could not repeat his success as Fury survived the round.

From that point on, Fury became stronger, stalking Cunningham behind a high guard and tossing hard shots whenever he got close enough. There was plenty of wrestling and roughhouse tactics in the ensuing clinches, with Fury losing a point for extracurricular use of his head. More...

Nine months after pulling off a massive, albeit controversial, upset of Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley returns to action this evening, where in the first defense of his WBO welter belt, he'll meet challenger Ruslan Provodnikov at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

Could Bradley be heading for a letdown? Will Provodnikov turn the tables on Bradley and pull off a massive upset?

Unlikely, yes, but did you ever predict that Bradley would unseat Pacquiao?

Bradley first burst onto the world scene as a light welter, going on the road in 2008 to upset WBC titlist Junior Witter in England, making six defenses over the next three years and picking up the WBO crown in the process.

The Californian made a side trip to welterweight in 2010, testing the waters in a winning venture against previously unbeaten Luis Carlos Abregu but it was Bradley's bold challenge of Pacquiao in June, 2012 that proved to be the real star turn in an already successful career. More...

The Old Master returns to the ring tonight as seemingly ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins steps through the ropes to challenge reigning IBF Light Heavyweight king Tavoris Cloud at New York's Barclay's Center.

One more time Hopkins will try to vanquish not only the calendar and his opponent, but the legion of doubters who have written him off repeatedly as over the hill since his mega-fight with Felix Trinidad in 2001.

It is hard to believe that Hopkins, 52-6-2 (32), is 48 years of age, the oldest man to ever win a world title, but Tavoris Cloud, 24-0 (19), has vowed to help Father Time bring "The Executioner" back down to reality.

At stake is Cloud's IBF crown, which the 31 year old won by defeating Clinton Woods in 2009, and if Hopkins is successful, it will be his 22nd world title fight victory.

However, a closer look at the record of Hopkins reveals that he's had a rough time of it over the last three years since defeating Roy Jones Jr in a rematch, going 1-1-1 with one No Contest over his last four appearances.

Since Hopkins lost his world middleweight title to Jermain Taylor eight years ago and moved up to the light heavy division, his fortunes can be tied to whether or not he can keep his fights at a slow pace. More...

IBF light welter ruler Lamont Peterson managed to put a troubled past behind him on Friday night, retaining his belt at Washington DC's Armory in an intriguing test against challenger Kendall Holt.

It had been 15 months since Peterson had last tread on the canvas under the bright lights, a controversial split decision over Amir Khan to capture the IBF crown. Things got worse for the Washington DC native when he reportedly failed a medical test leading up to the Khan rematch and he hadn't been seen in the ring since.

Holt had also ridden a rocky road over the last few years, coming down hard from his career best year of 2008, losing to the WBO light welter strap to Timothy Bradley in 2009, then going 3-2 over his next five contests, losing two important bouts to Kaiser Mabuza and Danny Garcia.

At stake on Friday was Peterson's world title, marking the first time Holt had been back on the world stage in almost four years and the 31 year old had vowed to dethrone Peterson on the strength of a right hand that had previously gunned down the likes of Ricardo Torres, David Diaz and Julio Diaz.

One thing Holt would need to pull off an upset over Peterson would be distance to throw his bombs, and space was the one thing that the reigning champion would almost certainly set out to deny Holt. More...

It's hard to believe that Bernard Hopkins is still lacing up the gloves at 48 years of age but even more remarkable is that the Philadelphian is engaging in a world title fight against one of the top men in the division, Tavoris Cloud.

The pair square off on March 19 at Brooklyn's gleaming new Barclay's Center where they will argue over Cloud's IBF Light Heavyweight strap.

Will this be the final entry in the long and winding resume of Hopkins or will it breathe new life into the career of the most accomplished fighter of the last 20 years?

Age vs. youth, strength against craft, knowledge pitted against sheer will; it's all here.

"The Executioner" has been been picking his spots well ever since losing his world middleweight title in 2005 to Jermain Taylor, navigating a 10 fight course at light heavyweight that has seen Hopkins, 52-6-2 (32), go 6-2-1-1NC while picking up the WBC and IBO belts against a top line of competition.

The hard-punching Cloud has held the title since 2009, when he outfought England's Clinton Woods for the vacant crown and has since made four succsessful defenses, but the most recent, a controversial split decision verdict a year ago over former WBA ruler Gabriel Campillo, has clearly given Hopkins hope that the Florida slugger is vulnerable.

Hopkins' endless supply of crafty veteran moves finally failed to turn the tide against the taller, quicker and far younger Chad Dawson a year ago when the two tangled in a rematch for the WBC title, but the more compact style and smaller stature of Cloud could prove susceptible to the wiles of Hopkins. More...

Boxing has produced yet another controversial decision as local super featherweight Rances Barthelemy was awarded a unanimous decision verdict over Arash Usmanee on Friday night at Magic City Casino in Miami, FL.

Both fighters came into the contest with undefeated professional records following sterling amateur careers but Cuban born Miami resident Barthelemy held the edge of fighting at home.

The stakes were high from the outset, as this was an IBF title eliminator for the number two spot and the amazingly tall Barthelemy started out well, keeping his distance from Usmanee and using his height advantage to carry the early rounds behind a hard jab and whipping lead left hook.

By the middle rounds, Afghanistan born Montreal resident Usmanee began to time his rival and Barthelemy could no longer keep his foe at a distance as the jabs and hooks that kept Usmanee off in the early frames were missing the mark.

Bathelemy's great height and long arms were now a disadvantage as Usmanee started outboxing the Cuban and ripping hurtful shots to the body.

Usmanee's success continued until the ninth when he began to slow down and Barthelemy was able to control the distance and action between the fighters over the next two rounds. More...

Ex-WBO super featherweight champ Adrien Broner made a successful jump up to the lightweight division on Saturday evening, taking apart the top man of the division, Antonio DeMarco, and taking the Mexican's WBC 135 pound title at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Broner leveraged his edge in speed, accuracy and surprisingly, power, to batter DeMarco in rounds four through seven before capping off his impressive performance with a shattering left uppercut in the eighth that was one punch too many for the champion, who was counted out after taking a knee at 1:49 of the round.

DeMarco won the first round on activity as Broner was in study mode but by the second frame, the challenger from Cincinnati had thrown away the textbooks and set about to schooling his much taller southpaw adversary.

DeMarco generally wins fights by standing right in front of opponents and outfighting them but was unable to make an adjustment to this form when it became obvious that Broner was far too quick and accurate for this approach.

Broner was able to take the punches that DeMarco did land but most of the champion's successes did not land flush due the the challenger's fast reaction time.

Round after round featured Broner weaving a masterful blend of fluid offense and defense that took the sting out of DeMarco's lethal punches and turned the Tijuana man into a visibly beaten fighter.

By the middle rounds, DeMarco began to show the effects of the torrent of leather he'd absorbed but showed a tremendous heart as he never stopped trying to get to grips with his antagonist. More...

Big fight night this evening at Staples Center in Los Angeles with two of the world's top super bantams, Abner Mares and Anselmo Moreno, facing off for the WBC belt.

Mares, 24-0-1 (13), holds the WBC crown after moving up from a two bout reign as IBF bantam titlist, battering veteran Eric Morel for 12 rounds in April to capture the vacant 122 pound belt.

Southpaw Moreno, 33-1-1 (12), will be making his maiden voyage at super bantam, moving up from bantam after 10 defenses of the WBA strap.

This fight should be an exciting match but also has the potential to be a sloppy affair given Mares' willingness to hit opponents anywhere from the knees on up and Moreno's very awkward lefty style.

Mares will likely show an aggressive approach in the early rounds, coming forward and throwing everything but the kitchen sink but Moreno's superb parry and thrust style of counter-offensive could make the Mexican become more selective as the bout goes into the middle rounds.

If Moreno can discourage Mares from mounting a continuous 12 round high volume attack, we could well see the champion outboxed and outpointed but if Mares can get Moreno on the run and prevent the Panamanian from going on the offensive, he should keep the WBC title.

There are two more world title bouts on tap, with IBF bantam boss Leo Santa Cruz and WBO light heavy king Nathan Cleverly in action. More...

Tonight sees the christening of a new venue in Brooklyn, New York with the light welter rematch between WBC/WBA champ Danny Garcia and Eric Morales headlining the bill at the Barclays Center.

At this time, it's still unknown if Garcia vs. Morales 2 will take place as Morales has reportedly tested positive for a banned substance, which could torpedo this much awaited rematch unless follow-up tests indicate anything different.

Both fighters made weight yesterday, which Morales was unable to do for their previous pairing, won on scores of 118-109, 117-110 and 116-112 by Garcia, who added Morales' WBC crown to his own WBA bauble this past March.

That clash was much closer than the scores indicate, but the now 36 year old Morales was waning in the second half of the bout, as 24 year old Garcia, 24-0 (15), simply had more in the tank.

And that is what Morales, 52-8 (36), if really facing in this rematch: the fight against Father Time, an opponent with a nearly undefeated record.

Also, Morales is now fighting at least two weight classes above his former prime, when he terrorized the divisions between super bantam and super feather, winning six world titles between 1997-2004.

As proven by Amir Khan before he unwisely decided to slug it out, Garcia can clearly be outboxed but that isn't the style of Morales, who also would unlikely be able to stick and move for 12 rounds against a much bigger, stronger and younger opponent.

If the bout comes off, Garcia will likely win another points verdict or perhaps stop the old Mexican legend but the huge fighting heart of Morales can never truly be counted out. More...