Last night at the Royal National Hotel in London, JJ Ojuederie, 10-3-1 (2), picked up the biggest win of his career, as well as the British Southern Area Light Heavyweight title, with a ten round points verdict over Andrew Lowe, 16-4 (1).
Ojuederie had a tough start to his career, going 1-3-1 over his first four bouts before pulling off eight straight victories to force a showdown with Lowe for the Southern Area crown.
The 28 year old from Watford must keep on winning if he is to challenge for the English or British crowns, held by veteran rivals Peter Haymer and Tony Oakey, respectively.
Ex-British Super Middle and WBU Light Heavy Champ Matthew Barney, 25-6-1 (6), was also on the bill and won his fourth on the bounce by outpointing former Ghanian/West African Super Middle titlist Ayitey Powers, 13-13-1 (9), in an six round rematch. More…
European Light Welter Champ Colin Lynes went to Pala Ruffini in Torino, Italy to defend his crown against former titlist and two-time world title challenger Gianluca Branco last night but the wily 37 year old Italian proved to have too much experience for the Londoner, who was relived of his title via split decision in the headlining bout of a big Friday night show.
Lynes used his youth advantage to start off well and even canvassed the seasoned ex-champ in the second frame but expended too much energy in the process and was outfought in the middle and later periods of the contest.
Branco, who gave Arturo Gatti a tough fight in a failed bid for the WBC belt four years ago, convinced two of the three judges of his superiority, but just, as they both turned in a 114-113 card in his favor while the third judge had it 115-113 for Lynes. More…
It was shock-city last night for European Cruiserweight Champion Johny Jensen as the Dane was hammered in a single round by challenger Jean Marc Monrose at the Palais des Sports in Marseilles, France.
Monrose, 24-1 (15), got off to a fast start and reeled off a series of left hooks that shook Jensen badly before the Frenchman canvassed the champion with uppercuts. Jensen, 23-1-2 (10), made ot to his feet in time but was unable to defend himself from a barrage by Monrose and the bout was called off at 1:30 of the first.
The 26 year old Marseilles based Monrose wins his 24th fight in a row to become the new European Cruiserweight king while Jensen tastes the sting of defeat for the first time in his seven year professional career.
Another reigning European Champ bit the dust last night when Italy’s Andrea Sarritzu was stopped in a rematch with France’s Bernard Inom at Pala Santoru in Sassari on the Mediterranean island of Sardegna.
The flyweights went at it hot and heavy until Inom nailed Sarritzu to the floor in the fourth but the champion beat the count and the action resumed. It was a torrid affair until the eighth frame when Inom again hit paydirt and levelled Sarritzu before stopping the Italian shortly afterward. More…
There are three European title fights taking place across the continent tonight and we start off at Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium where that country’s top boxer, Jackson Osei Bonsu, meets undefeated Ukrainian Viktor Plotnikov over twelve rounds.
Born in Ghana, the 27 year old Bonsu, 27-1 (23), nicknamed “Sugar The Ball Brains”, won the European Welterweight title last year with an eight round KO of French Champion Nordine Mouchi and has since stopped Cristian De Martinis and Mouchi again before posting a rare twelve round appearance in defeating another Frenchman, Brice Faradji, this past January.
Bonsu has the reputation as one of the top pound for pound sluggers in the world today and will hold a massive advantage when he defends against Plotnikov, 19-0 (9), who has never fought outside of his native Ukraine.
Plotnikov has seen the competition stepped up over his last three appearances and has risen to the occasion by winning the IBF Eastern European/Central Asian and GBU belts against the likes of Eugenio Monteiro, Carlos Donquiz and Marat Khuzeev but Bonsu represents a much higher grade of opposition and Plotnikov must pull off a performance of a lifetime if he is to walk away with the European crown.
In neighboring France, European Cruiserweight king Johny Jensen will be making his maiden defense when he meets local hero Jean Marc Monrose at the Palais des Sport in Marseille. More…
All in all, it was a pretty good Saturday night and we start off south of the border with a big card in Queretaro, Mexico where at the Plaza de Toros Juriquilla, light middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., 36-0-1 (29), continued his meteoric rise with a ninth round KO of Italy’s 154 lb titlist Tobia Guiseppe Loriga, 24-1-1 (6).
The Italian started aggressively but a patient Chavez scored with effective counters and floored the visitor in the second frame. The European fought his way out of trouble and resumed the pressure but didn’t have enough power to interrupt the flow of Chavez, who continued to reduce Loriga’s energy with carefully selected hurtful counters.
Once he had worn his rival down, Chavez began to go on the offensive and was extracting a heavy toll on Loriga before straining an ankle in the seventh. Despite the injury, Chavez nailed Loriga with a full-blooded right hand that had the Italian Champion taking a much needed knee as he was counted out at 1:47 of the ninth frame. More…
Big time Continental action this weekend and we start off with bouts that carried world title implications!
On a big card at Sala Polivalenta, in Bucharest, Romania, Montreal based Romanian Adrian Diaconu, 25-0 (15), had his hands full with previously undefeated American slugger Chris Henry, 21-1 (17), but won the Interim WBC Light Heavyweight title after 12 difficult rounds.
Despite his short, 5 foot 9 inch stature, “The Shark” Diaconu displayed the arguably sharper boxing skills but the 6 foot tall Houston native Henry just kept coming forward, throwing heavy punches.
Employing punishing counter combinations, Diaconu built an early lead but Henry began to connect with a useful uppercut and soon the adopted Montreal man was running out of gas, repeatedly grabbing the legs of Henry in a crouch to gain both a breather and a respite from his rival’s constant punches.
Diaconu rallied in the eighth and ninth frames but Henry regained his wind in the tenth and the two fought the last three frames in competitive fashion. More…
Last night at London’s historic York Hall, Ryan Rhodes kept his unbeaten streak at light middle intact by knocking out reigning British titleholder Gary Woolcombe in nine rounds on a Frank Maloney promotion.
31 year old Rhodes regained the British title despite not having actually fought at 12 stone/154 lb since 1997!
Against Woolcombe, the long experience of the tricky Sheffield southpaw came to the fore. In the early rounds, Rhodes lay back and was content to let Woolcombe set the tone, choosing his spots carefully and hammering the British champion with educated counter shots that Woolcombe rarely saw coming.
As Woolcombe started to run out of gas midway throughout the bout, Rhodes began to go on the offensive and scored effectively with power shots that had the Londoner in some difficulty.
Woolcombe was floored in the sixth but the big hearted 25 year old beat the count and managed to box on until he was caught with a perfect right hook to the temple in the ninth round was counted out. More…
Aside from the higher profile action we’ve covered on SaddoBoxing already, there were some important fights across the globe this Saturday.
Going alphabetically by county this time, we kick off things at The Supporter’s Club in Cessnock, Australia where hometown hero Ben Crampton, 21-1-1 (10), bounced back from his defeat at the hands of “Dazzing” Darren Barker for the Commonwealth Middleweight crown last November by securing the vacant IBO Asia Pacific Super Middle belt with a second round KO of Thai battler Plaisakda Singwancha, 35-15 (29).
At the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenberg, Germany, European Middleweight Champion Sebastian Sylvester, 29-2 (14), picked up the biggest win of his career by dramatically stopping former middleweight and light middle world champion Javier Castillejo, 62-8 (43), in the twelfth and final round. This may be the end of a long and proud career for the Spaniard, who was dominated by Sylvester from the sixth frame onward. More…
Britain’s golden boy, Commonwealth Lightweight Champ Amir Khan, was back in the ring last night, facing Denmark’s Martin Kristjansen for the WBO Intercontinental crown in a bout that also served as an official WBO Title Eliminator at Bolton Arena in Bolton, England.
Fresh off a solid points victory over former IBF/IBO Super Feather titlist Gary St. Clair in February, the 21 year old starlet had a perfect opportunity in the form of Kristjansen as the light punching 30 year old Dane didn’t have the artillery to trouble Khan.
Khan’s handspeed and sharp skills were in evidence, proving too much for his brave but outgunned rival, who was canvassed repeatedly in the seventh before the bout was stopped as a result.
The “Bolton Wonder” improves to 17-0 (13) while Kristjansen suffers his first stoppage loss and stands at 19-2-3 (5). More…
Light welter prospect Paul McCloskey took and important step last night by claiming victory over former WBC Lightweight Champion Cesar Bazan at the Leisure Complex in Letterkenny.
Despite his great experience, Bazan is no longer the fighter he once was in the late 1990’s and was made to order for the Ulster prospect, who rattled off many southpaw combinations on the way to sweeping the card of the referee Emile Tiedt 100-91 after ten rounds. More…
There were two good cards last night in Scotland with several of the top men in the country in action. At the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, ex-Commonwealth Lightweight king and European Union Super Feather titlist Willie Limond returned to the ring for the first time since losing to Amir Khan last July.
Local hero Limond, 29-2 (8), took on the always tough Martin Watson, 14-5-1 (6), of Coatbridge and outfoxed the former Celtic Champ to win a wide points verdict 119-109, 119-111 and 118-110 and capture the vacant IBO Intercontinental Lightweight belt.
At the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen, Lee McAllister, 26-1 (5), won his 19th straight and retained the WBU Lightweight strap with a decision victory over steel chinned Romanian Mihaita Mutu, 22-12-2 (9), after twelve rounds. More…
The Zenith Kulturhalle in Munich was the site of a good German card last night as Sinan Samil Sam, 30-4 (16), defended his WBC Mediterranean Heavyweight title with a second round stoppage of Yugoslav veteran Ratko Draskovic, 28-7-2 (16).
Sam won his third in a row following a WBC heavyweight title eliminator loss to Oliver McCall last year and the busy Hamburg man is looking to regain the European title he held from 2002-3.
Ex-WBC Super Middle titlist Markus Beyer, 35-3-1 (13), made his much anticipated ring return with a good eight round points win over Russian middleweight Murat Mahmudov, 16-4 (8). More…
The Idraetshal in Odense saw a big Danish show last night with veteran Lolenga Mock, 28-11-1 (12), annexing the vacant European Union Super Middleweight title by posting a close split decision over Italy’s Mouhamed Ali Nidaye, 13-1 (8).
Mock, born in Zaire but now residing in Aarhus, had held the title previously and is famous in Europe for having canvassed current world cruiserweight champion David Haye with a single shot during a loss in 2003.
Local cruiser prospect Ander Hugger, 10-0 (5), got the biggest win of his career with a hard fought 12 round verdict against ex-world title challenger Louis Azille, 19-5-2 (15) to cage the vacant IBA International crown.
The was some women’s action on the show as well with light welter Vinni Skovgaard, 6-0 (3), dramatically stopping Belgium’s Zelda Tekin, 4-2 (3), in the tenth and final frame to capture the WBC International Female belt.
Buckle up ‘cos we’re off on a massive two day trip around the world in this special weekend round-up! We’ll start on Saturday in and kick things off at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar-Es-Salam, Tanzania where it was a battle royale to see just who would walk away with middleweight bragging rights of this beautiful East African country.
The bout was scheduled for 12 full rounds but Hassan “Red Bull” Matmula, 14-7 (9), never saw his way to the finish as local hero Francis Cheka, 14-5-1 (9), dropped Matmula in the ninth before knocking out his foe in the tenth session.
Matmula came into the contest as the reigning Pugilistic Syndicate of Tanzania (PST) Middleweight Champion after also having secured that organization’s light middleweight crown in his previous outing.
He brought bags of experience to the table, having won or contended competitively for a dizzying array of regional belts at welter, light middle and middle.
Since turning pro in 2000, Matmula had shared the ring with quality opponents as Bradley Pryce, Kuvanych Toygonbayev and Fatai Onikeke.
But Cheka also brought a varied and eventful resume to the contest, having scrapped three times with Tanzanian legend Rashid “Snakeboy” Matmula and emerging victorious on two occasions. Cheka’s biggest fight was a fifth round stoppage loss to future IBF Super Middle title challenger Robert Stieglitz, who was 25-0 at the time, in 2005 but the 25 year old has also competitively faced two of England’s brightest stars at 168 lb, Paul Smith and Geard Ajetovic. More…
In a battle of ex-heavyweight champions looking for another crack at world honors, former WBA titlist Nikolay Valuev won that organization’s official eliminator by outfighting past WBO beltholder Serguei Lyakhovich over twelve rounds at Neurmberg Arena in Nuremberg, Germany.
At 7 feet tall and weighing 321 pounds, Valuev proved simply too big for Lyakhovich to get a grip on and the big Russian pumped out a pole-like jab to keep the 6 foot 4 Belarus man right where he wanted him.
Lyakhovich showed a sturdy chin to take many flush Valuev right hands but was never a danger to the former WBA ruler and it was no surprise when Valuev was awarded the 120-107, 120-108 (twice) decision.
Valuev moves to 48-1 (34) and into the mandatory challenger position of the man who took his WBA title, Ruslan Chagaev. Lyakhovich, 23-3 (14), loses his second bout in a row but will likely move into another title fight in the near future after a few stay busy bouts. More…
On Saturday, March 22, WBA Light Welter Champion Gavin Rees is set to make the first defense of his crown when he faces German based Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik at the International Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
While this bout isn’t quite up to the anticipation level of the Haye vs. Maccarinelli contest that we profiled in part one of this series, it is a legitimate world title clash and the winner will likely face Ricky Hatton in the fall of this year.
In his most recent appearance, Welshman Rees, 27-0 (13), jumped out of nowhere to win the WBA belt with a sound thrashing of Souleymane M’baye in July of last year at the International Arena.
The decided underdog in that matchup, Rees overcame the much more experienced M’baye with a high volume attack that never really let the Frenchman into the scrap.
While Rees has been making waves in calling out Hatton in the press, the 27 year old is defending his belt against a far more appropriate opponent for this point in his career.
30 year old Kotelnik, 28-2-1 (12), has held a variety of regional titles at 140 lb but has always been beaten back when the stakes have risen to world class level. More…
By all accounts, 2007 was a pretty good year for British boxing but it all fell apart at the end when Ricky Hatton was KO’d by Floyd Mayweather and a ring post in early December.
Amazingly enough, the first half of 2008 is shaping up to be an even bigger year and in this review we take a look at world title bouts involving British fighters during that time period.
We kick things off with a big, hammer-fisted bang as two of the world’s top pound for pound punchers tangle on March 8 at the 02 Arena in London; David Haye vs. Enzo Maccarinelli for the WBA, WBC and WBO Cruiserweight titles.
Will this fight go the distance? How can it? The Hayemaker and Big Mac have been taking shots at each other through the press for what seems like years now and with three world title on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
But the real motivator here is bragging rights to the title of Best Cruiserweight in Britain as Haye and Maccarinelli are the last men standing in what used to be a five man race for that mythical belt before Johnny Nelson and Carl Thompson retired and Mark Hobson was belted out by Maccarinelli.
Once the bell rings on March 8, Haye will likely dictate the pace behind his cannon-like jab but things probably won’t come to a boil until the WBA/WBC Champ begins to tire after four or five frames and is forced to stand and trade with the Welsh WBO Champ. More…
Tony Oakey finally got his chance to even the score against nemesis Peter Haymer last night at London’s historic York Hall and the British Light Heavyweight Champion grabbed the opportunity with both hands, knocking out the English titlist with a riveting left hook in the ninth round on a Frank Maloney promotion.
Much shorter than the six foot one inch Haymer, Oakey worked all night to get on the inside of the local man and displayed an impressive activity rate for a stocky 32 year old into his tenth year as a professional.
Haymer tried to keep Oakey on the outside with a long jab and pick off the relocated Londoner on the way in when Oakey got past it but “The Daddy” wasn’t able to maintain a favorable distance.
Oakey’s graft began to pay off in spades in the middle rounds as Haymer’s resolve started to crack under a storm of looping right hands and the champion’s two handed assault of short punches at close range. More…
Frank Maloney Promotions stages a sure-fire barn burner tonight at York Hall as British Light Heavyweight Champion Tony Oakey and nemesis Peter Haymer come to grips in a bad blood grudge match two years in the making.
Oakey, 24-2-1 (6), came out on the losing end at the same venue, falling short by one point to lift the English title from the taller Haymer, 17-4-1 (5), on an unusual sweltering night in the Capital in June, 2005, and the Portsmouth battler hasn’t forgotten the perceived injustice since.
Fuelled by the setback, Oakey went on a tear by reeling off five straight wins including a masterful twelfth and final round dismantling of Steve Spartacus in May of last year to capture the vacant British title. More…
Last night at the Burg-Waechter Castello in Dusseldorf, Germany, Ruslan Chagaev made the first defense of his WBA Heavyweight title by outpointing Commonwealth champion Matt Skelton over twelve rounds.
But Chagaev, 24-0-1 (17), certainly didn’t have it easy as the bull-like Skelton first used his underrated boxing skills before beginning to exert his more familiar high pressure style upon the Hamburg based champion.
While Skelton’s roughhouse style was effective at times, he was never able to surmount the younger man’s faster-handed southpaw stance and also earned a point deduction in the eighth round for holding and hitting.
The burly British heavyweight continued to back the champion up but by the final round, Skelton’s 40 years wore heavily upon him and he was thoroughly outboxed in the 12th by the champion, who took home a 117-111 and 117-110 (twice) decision. More…
