Aside from Miguel Cotto's WBA title defense against Joshua Clottey on Saturday, there were a few good shows in America on Friday night.

Former WBA light welter Diosbelys Hurtado, 42-3-1 (25), won a 12 round unanimous decision over Manuel Garnica, 25-11 (13), in defense of the WBO Latino strap and Cuban heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis, 14-0 (10), rubbed out Dominique Alexander, 18-7-1 (9), in the first round.

At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, ex-WBA super bantam boss Bones Adams, 44-6-4 (20), returned to the ring after a year on the sidelines to stop Alex "Ali" Baba, 26-16-1 (19), in the eighth stanza.

At the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA, ex-featherweight world champion Robert Guerrero, 24-1-1 (17), made his lightweight debut by stopping former USBA titlist Efren Hinojosa, 30-6-1 (17), in the eighth frame of a ten rounder. More...

Fight fans have seen the scenario set up a million times; a young undefeated prospect with a possible world title bout looming on the horizon faces off against a widely unknown opponent trying to make a name for himself with a career boosting victory.

What plays out depends largely on the strength and focus of the men inside the ring.

Tonight, at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, this scenario has once again peeked its head as the hard punching, undefeated WBC #3 ranked featherweight Juan Carlos Burgos, 21-0 (15), puts his WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) title on the line against Russian Vyacheslav Gusev, 16-1 (3).

Burgos comes from a fighting family. His uncle Victor Burgos was the IBF Junior Flyweight titlist whose career tragically ended at the hands of Vic Darchinyan in 2007.

It is the same heart and drive that his uncle showed in the ring, alongside devastating power in both hands, that has landed Juan Carlos in the mix at the top of the featherweight division and has many boxing insiders pegging him as world champion caliber.

His last bout in February helped him to solidify his position among the top in the featherweight division as he stopped Fernando Lizarraga, 16-7-1 (12), in just two rounds. Burgos has recently been clamoring for a shot a WBC featherweight champion Takahiro Aoh, 17-1-1 (8,) but he first must focus on the challenger in front of him on Friday night. More...

WBO Welterweight Champion Paul Williams stepped up to light middle and caged the vacant WBO belt by stopping former three time 154 pound world titlist Verno Phillips in the eighth round at Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, CA in the highest profile bout in America this weekend.

Williams overcame a bad cut from a headclash early on and used his massive height and reach advantage to good effect, keeping the much older Phillips at bay with hard shots to the body and head.

It was the constant body shots which seemed to take their toll on the former champion as he began to slow down later in the bout but Phillips also didn't have the power to trouble his far taller opponent despite not having much difficulty in hitting Williams when he did throw punches.

By the eighth round, Phillips was getting hurt and the bout was called to a halt before the ninth frame could begin to keep the 39 year old from further damage.

Williams wins the WBO Light Middle title, improving to 36-1 (27), while Phillips drops to 42-11-1 (21) after a brave performance in what could be the last big fight of his long career. More...

Leading up to tonight's big showdown between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, there were a few good cards across the states last night and we start this report with the amazing comeback of Antonio Diaz, 43-5-1 (29), who came off a three year hiatus to overcome Felix Flores, 22-7 (16), by majority decision to annex the vacant WBO Latino Light Middleweight title at the Civic Centre in Kissimmee, Florida.

33 year old Diaz challenged unsuccessfully for two world titles at welterweight, losing to Shane Mosley and Margarito, but held wins over Corey Spinks, Mickey Ward, Emmanuel Augustus, Omar Weis and Ivan Robinson among others by the time of his most recent bout, a fifth round TKO over welterweight Roberto Ortega in August, 2005.

32 year old Flores, who also bid twice unsuccessfully for world titles, losing to DeMarcus Corley and Sharmba Mitchell, was coming off consecutive competitive losses to contenders Joshua Clottey and Cosme Rivera.

Against Flores last night, Californian Diaz gritted out a tough win over his Puerto Rican opponent, perhaps being the fresher man after such a long time out of the ring, and finds himself with exciting new career possibilities in the light middleweight division.

City Center in Saratoga Springs, New York was the site of middleweight prospect James McGirt, Jr, 19-1 (9), winning the biggest fight of his career, a ten round decision over contender Raymond Joval, 37-5 (16).

Those in attendance at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas witnessed Jesus Soto Karass, 21-3-3 (15), winning the vacant NABF Welterweight crown by stopping Chicago hard man David Estrada, 22-5 (13), in the eighth frame. More...