© Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions

Last night at San Jose's HP Pavilion, local man Robert Guerrero overcame both opponent Selcuk Aydin and a jump of two weight classes to win the vacant Interim WBC welterweight title.

A former world champ at featherweight and super feather as well as an Interim lightweight beltholder, Guerrero shook off over a year of inactivity and got right to work

once the bell rang to commence combat last evening.

After a long, grudge-filled pre-fight buildup to the fight, Guerrero and Turkey's Aydin went directly at each other, swapping hard punches that saw Aydin winging right hand bombs while Guerrero threw leather from both hands. More...

© Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions

Former two-weight champion Robert Guerrero jumps up two divisions tonight in order to face big-punching Turkish welter Selcuk Aydin for the vacant Interim WBC title at HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA.

This interesting clash pits hard-nosed southpaw boxer Guerrero against Aydin, a stand-up European style slugger and features so many variables that it's difficult to envision how this will turn out.

When checking the respective records of the combatants, it's plain to see that Guerrero, 29-1-1-2 NC (18), has faced the higher caliber of opposition than Aydin, 23-0 (17) and the Californian has had six world title bouts, going 5-0 with one No Contest, while his Turkish counterpart has engaged in no world title opportunities.

Guerrero has defeated the likes of Malcolm Klaasen, Martin Honorio, Joel Casamayor, Eric Aiken, Vincente Escobedo, Jason Litzau and Spend Abazi while most recently turning back Michael Katsidis in April of last year. More...

He may have lost the WBO super feather title Friday on the scales, but local hero Adrien Broner stamped his entry into the lightweight division with an authoritative fifth round battering of Vincente Escobedo at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH.

Unable to make the super feather limit by more than three pounds the day before the fight, Broner announced that would be campaigning in the 135 pound class from now on, while Escobedo showed professionalism coming in right on target at 130 pounds.

Once the bell rang at US Bank Arena, Broner showed his Floyd Mayweather Jr-like stance and style, patiently walking down Escobedo, who displayed a crisp form, working behind the jab to try and keep the heavier man at a distance.

Escobedo did well in the early rounds, getting in a few jabs and the odd glancing power shot while Broner was content to pick off or slip most his rival's efforts, jabbing to the body while unleashing the occasional swift counter shot.

As the rounds wore on, Broner began to get closer and Escobedo made the mistake of trying to hold his ground, attempting to match the former champion punch for punch.

By the fourth, Broner started to rip hard shots from both hands to Escobedo's sides, softening up the Californian while forcing him to lower his hands on defense.

The fifth saw Broner become much more business-like, putting his rival under a hail leather as the punches flew with remarkable speed and accuracy with Escobedo sustaining a nosebleed. More...

Tonight at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH, local hero Adrien Broner throws his WBO super feather belt up for grabs when he faces the challenge posed by California's Vincente Escobedo.

Just 22 years of age, the fast handed Broner, 23-0 (19), will look to retain the WBO strap for the second time since annexing the vacant title in November with a third round KO of Vincente Martin Rodriguez.

Most recently, "The Problem" was in the ring against previously undefeated Eloy Perez in February, handling the Washington man's challenge with little difficulty before ending matters in the fourth.

Additionally, Broner has racked up good wins against Jason Litzau and William Kickett and has really one had one difficult contest, a disputed unanimous decision over hard-hitting former WBO super bantam boss Daniel Ponce De Leon in March, 2003.

The team of challenger Escobedo, 26-3 (15), will no doubt have studied the Ponce De Leon fight and it is an interesting scenario to see if their charge can pull off a similar performance.

Escobedo did not have the same smooth rise through the ranks as did Broner, as the West Coast man slipped on a banana peel just a year and a half into his career with a split decision loss to Darling Jimenez in 2006. More...

An upset in the light welter division took place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Saturday night as WBC champ Danny Garcia belted out WBA king Amir Khan over the course of an action packed four rounds.

After a long and volatile pre-fight build up, Khan was in no mood to box and the Englishman went right after Garcia, zipping in left jabs to set up punishing right hands that caught Garcia repeatedly.

The pattern continued in the second and while Garcia showed a good chin to take the fire from Khan, it was very clear that there was no way the American could hope to win a boxing match with the WBA champion.

Perhaps concerned that his best punches weren't hurting Garcia, Khan made a crucial error in the third as he tried to better his work. The Bolton man continued to strafe Garcia with both hands but started to remain standing in front of the less experienced boxer from Philadelphia, trying to force a KO.

This resulted in Khan being there to hit when Garcia started swinging wild haymakers, one of which, a counter left, caught Khan heavily on the jaw.

Khan never saw the punch coming and went down hard on the floor. He beat the count and survived the final seconds of the round but Khan was barely in control of his legs as he teetered around the ring. More...

Last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, super bantamweight Nonito Donaire added another title to his trophy cabinet by winning the IBF belt from Jeffrey Mathebula.

Donaire came into the contest bearing the WBO 122 pound trophy after capturing world titles at bantam super fly and flyweight while Mathebula, who had previously lost a controversial split decision to Cellestino Caballero for the WBA and IBF crowns in 2009, won the IBF strap four months ago with a split decision over Takalani N'dlovu.

At 5'11, Mathebula towered over 5'5 Donaire, who appeared to be at least two weight divisions smaller than the amazingly tall South African.

Once the bell rang, Donaire displayed an uncanny ability to erase that height differential by leaping inside and launching quick overhand shots that showed a clear edge in quickness for the Filipino boxer.

After getting caught with a few of these lightning quick shots, Mathebula discovered that his best weapon would be the jab and the 33 year old from Brakpan began to use the punch in earnest.

As long as he used his own jab, Donaire was effective in navigating the distance Mathebula tried to maintain but to often the California resident tried to land his shots with no precursor. More...

Headlining an action packed bill last night at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, IBF light middleweight king Cornelius Bundrage proved age is just a number as he once again stopped former two-weight world champ Cory Spinks.

39 year old Bundrage clawed his way up from obscurity and through a hail of losses from 2005 to 2008 to grab the IBF belt from Spinks two years ago, stubbing out the

popular St. Louis fixture in the fifth round before going onto avenge a loss against Sechew Powell last year.

Standing just 5'6 tall, Bundrage quickly made up his height disadvantage against Spinks by flooring the southpaw with a pinpoint right hand in the first round. Spinks beat the count but it was clear that the 34 year old was many years separated from his formerly lightning quick reflexes.

Spinks changed tactics and bit down hard in the next round, staying in the pocket against the stronger champion while producing surprising results.

The challenger proved to still have the faster hands as managed to beat Bundrage to the punch on the inside, lambasting the champion's midsection before taking advantage of defensive openings.

This approach paid dividends until a Bundrage uppercut in the fourth shattered the control Spinks had achieved, with the challenger taking a more cautious route in the fifth. More...

The Staples Center in Los Angeles was the site of two upsets last night as veteran Josesito Lopez made ex-titlist Victor Ortiz throw in the towel at welterweight and Lucas Matthysse outslugged former multi-weight champion Humberto Soto at light welter.

For southpaw Ortiz, this appearance was supposed to be a warm-up contest prior to stepping up to light middle to face WBC kingpin Saul Alvarez but Lopez, who was coming up from light welter, failed to play his intended part as the opponent.

Both fighters were coming off losses as Ortiz was making a comeback from the much publicized Floyd Mayweather fight debacle while Lopez, who had never previously faced world class competition, was returning from a setback against Jessie Vargas.

Although at a decided disadvantage in terms of experience and size, not to mention his late replacement status into the bout, Lopez proved from the first round that he had an edge over Ortiz in the heart department as well as the ability to take a shot.

Ortiz hammered Lopez early but could dissuade the local man from his continued efforts to gain revenge for every punch Ortiz landed.

Lopez continued to soak up the punishment and never stopped trying, connecting on hard counter shots and refusing to bend against the stronger former WBC welterweight titlist. More...

A curious event took place last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV as WBO welterweight king Manny Pacquiao found himself in the unusual position of having a close points decision go against him following 12 rounds of combat with challenger Timothy Bradley.

The decision of ringside judges to award Bradley a 115-113, 115-113, 113-115 split decision immediately brought to mind Pacquiao winning his own controversial verdicts in bouts two and three in a trio of bouts against arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

The outcome of all three of the Pacquiao fights mentioned above certainly raise no shortage of questions about Boxing in general and its long acquaintance with issue of fairness.

In a sport, the winner is supposed to be the competitor who emerges victorious. Many sports have clear-cut methods of determining who won, such as a photo finish in horse racing, while in Boxing the method of determining a winner is much blurrier as it is the opinion of three judges that produces the final result.

Can Boxing still be considered a "sport" if the "winner" selected by those judges is, on more than the rare occasion, obviously not the competitor who has produced the superior performance?

Perhaps the massive drop fan interest in Boxing over the last 50 years, and the lack of major media coverage that is the result of such a decline in viewership, provides the ultimate answer to that question.

Yes, Bradley waged a very good fight, giving Pacquiao a far more difficult time than most had expected and yes, some of the rounds were difficult to score given the awkward, volatile nature of the clash but Pacquiao landed more punches in all but a handful of rounds and they were harder, more accurate shots that at times clearly shook Bradley.

There is already talk of a rematch in November and that offers Boxing the chance to start with a clean slate; let's hope that opportunity isn't wasted.

After all, if people are given a sport played on a level playing field, they'll generally watch it.

One of the year's most awaited fights takes place this Saturday as Manny Pacquiao puts his WBO welter crown in danger against the challenge of WBO light welter titlist Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.

This is a very interesting bout as Bradley has proven himself to be a world class fighter, probably the best at light welter right now, while Pacquiao is a modern day great but the Filipino icon is also nearing the end of his career.

And that's what makes this clash very special as it is clearly a warm-up bout for "Pac Man" prior to facing Floyd Mayweather Jr, a super fight that will undoubtedly occur in the very near future.

But only if Pacquiao defeats Bradley.

Bradley has been campaigning to face Pacquiao for quite some time now and while the former WBC and current WBO 140 pound boss has turned back the likes of Devon Alexander, Lamont Peterson, Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, Joel Casamayor, Nate Campbell and Luis Carlos Abregu over the last four years, facing Pacquiao is a completely different story.

However, Pacquiao has never been in the ring with a fighter like Bradley, who can either become a hell-bent for leather aggressive fighter or a crafty, quick-handed boxer, depending on the punching power and boxing ability of the opponent in front of him. More...

Two aging boxers were in high stakes action against much younger opponents last night at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA but experienced very different results from each other.

After a long, grudge-filled media build up, 43 year old IBO cruiserweight champion Antonio Tarver met 29 year old Nigerian challenger Lateef Kayode in an interesting matchup pitting the younger slugger against the older, skilled boxer.

NABA titlist Kayode immediately fought against type, surprisingly allowing the left-handed Tarver to take the lead and fighting defensively off the back foot. This tactical change threw the champion and allowed Kaoyde to build up an early lead as the African outpaced a careful Tarver, going to the body and landing right hand counters.

Tarver kept Kayode guessing with lead right hooks and body work of his own along with the occasional straight left but the champion was simply being outworked.

After the fifth, Tarver produced a much needed change of approach, suddenly becoming aggressive and employing combinations. This came at the perfect time as Kayode seemed winded from his high activity early rounds and was no longer as mobile.

Tarver began to time Kayode perfectly in the seventh, nailing the challenger with full-blooded straight left hands that at times clearly hurt Kayode over the next three rounds, but the younger man never went down.

Kayode got his second wind in the 11th but couldn't regain control of the bout but did have a better final round than Tarver, which likely cost the champion the victory as scores of 115-113, 113-115 and 114-114 produced a Draw, allowing the American to retain his title for the first time. More...

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Floyd Mayweather Jr and Miguel Cotto engaged in a thrilling battle last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and when the dust finally settled after 12 rounds, the WBA light middleweight title had a new owner.

Cotto came out aggressive, displaying from the start that he knew he wasn't going to outbox Mayweather and set about pressuring the five division champion behind the jab.

Mayweather showed his remarkable footwork and quick reflexes in dealing with this approach from Cotto, making his rival miss and dishing out jabs to the pit of the stomach but the Puerto Rican icon did get in a few shots. More...

Chad Dawson won the WBC light heavyweight title from Bernard Hopkins on Saturday, lasting through 12 grueling rounds of a rematch at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

From the start, ageless wonder Hopkins managed to do the one thing that would give him a chance to defeat his faster, stronger, taller 29 year old southpaw challenger; control the pace of the bout.

At 47, Hopkins has to fight at a very measured pace if he is to go for 12 long rounds and he managed to do this against Dawson, who isn't exactly a whirlwind of energy himself, by never letting the challenger get comfortable.

Hopkins used his educated footwork to evade Dawson's advances and circle until he could leap in with a trademark lead right hands and then grab Dawson in a clinch.

This led to a lot of non-action, wrestling and mauling on the inside but it did make it difficult for Dawson to use his advantages, exactly the intentions of Hopkins. More...

On Saturday night at El Paso, TX's Don Haskins Center, Abner Mares punched his way into the super bantam ranks with a strong performance against veteran Eric Morel, capturing the vacant WBC belt.

Having left the bantamweight ranks, where he had held the IBF, IBO and WBC Silver crowns, Mares faced a sharp operator in Morel, who had previously held the WBA flyweight title.

But at age 36, Morel no longer had the speed to contend with the youth and strength of 26 year old Mares, who started off with a punishing body assault that had Morel looking for answers.

As the rounds wore on it was obvious that Mares couldn't be stopped despite Morel's best efforts but the former world champ showed a lot of toughness and even managed to mount a spirited attempt to turn things around in the championship frames.

After 12 rounds were completed, Mares walked away with the WBC title on scores of 120-107, 119-109, 119-109, improving to 24-0-1 (13); Morel loses only for the third time in a long career, standing now at 46-3 (23).

On the undercard, WBA bantam supremo Anselmo Moreno also used a searing body attack to spearhead his offensive against challenger David De La Mora. More...

Tonight, the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, TX will host a double world title fight bill featuring Abner Mares and Anselmo Moreno.

Mares, 23-0-1 (13), heads up to super bantam following his two-bout reign as IBF bantam champ and will be facing seasoned campaigner Eric Morel, 46-2 (23), for the vacant WBC 122 pound crown.

The 26 year old Mexican is coming off consecutive bouts against Yhonny Perez, Vic Darchinyan and two with Joseph Agbeko, the first of which was riddled with low-blow controversy while the second was a sweep by Mares.

Morel is ten years older than Mares and the veteran of eight world title clashes from his reign as WBA flyweight king from 2000 to 2003.

Since losing that belt to Lorenzo Parra in 2003, Morel has only received a chance at the big time on one occasion, losing a WBA super fly title clash to Martin Castillo in 2005.

After sitting out three years following that contest, Morel has strung together a streak of 11 wins, mostly against less than world class competition aside from 40 year old Gerry Penalosa, whom Morel defeated in 2010 for the Interim WBO bantam strap. More...