World Boxing Round-up.

This weeks report kicks off on Sunday 5, when we saw a mega bill in the cherry blossom town of Osaka, Japan with thirty fighters competing in fifteen bouts, ten of which were at bantamweight or below. In a mild upset at light welterweight, Thai import

Pongpetch Muangsurin (5-12) knocked out local hero Kenryo Matsumoto. The lanky Japanese boxer was 31-1-2 until March, but has now dropped two in a row. On the same night in Brazil, Claudinei Lacerda moved to 4-0 (3) with a stoppage of Jose Claudio Da Silva whose record now stands at an impressive 0-26. Da Silva’s ranking stands at 1007 out of 1046 according to Boxrec. This means that there are thirty-nine guys he can theoretically beat. There is always hope. Twenty-one-year-old Scotsman John Simpson got back to winning ways after his losing bid for the British featherweight title last November, with a third round win over Polish import Dariusz Snarski. Simpson, managed by Tommy Gilmour (along with twenty-nine other fighters), improves to 31-2, with both losses coming on points.

If it happened in the boxing world during the last week, it is certainly in this article. Join us for the definitive look at the last seven days of the fight game, only at SaddoBoxing.com.

Back in Brazil, heavyweight sensation Luciano Zolyone recorded his nineteenth win in twenty fights (one draw). This was his eighteenth knockout, but a closer look at his opponent’s record reveals that fifteen of his bouts have come against boxers without a single win amongst them! I have a feeling that Zolyone is fighting guys managed by Jose Claudio Da Silva’s team.

At the Sycuan Casino outside of San Diego, Julio Diaz returned from his beating against Jose Luis Castillo to score a sixty-six second knockout of Marco Angel Perez. Still only twenty-five, Diaz can come back to perform at championship level again in the lightweight division, especially with both Corrales and Castillo moving up to light welterweight. On the same bill, Delvin Rodriguez decked Chris Henry of Barbados four times on route to a second round win while ex-WBO bantamweight champion Mauricio “Nanara” Martinez of Panama upped his winning streak to nine to move to 28-5-1. He now gets a shot at his old title but has to travel to Thailand to try to dethrone the very able Ratanachai Sor Vorapin in August.

Freddie Ladd dropped a ten round decision in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee to FORTY-FIVE-year-old Lester Yarbrough, losing for the tenth time in a row. Ladd was once 44-1 but should now consider another career. Fair play to fellow Tennessean Yarbrough, who scored his first win since 1990 and has been in with at least two dozen world-class opponents.

Australia’s miserable run in title fights continued when Anthony “The Man” Mundine was out-pointed by Denmark’s Viking Warrior, Mikkel Kessler, in a bid to regain his old WBA super middleweight title. Judge Henk Meijers, a fellow Dane, deserves to be locked up with Schapelle Corby for his ridiculous 120-108 scoring for his kinsman in a fight that was competitive, if not close. Kessler is now 36-0 (27) and is in the super middleweight sweepstakes in a division that is finally heating up. With Joe Calzaghe and Jeff Lacy slated to meet later this year maybe the Dane could tempt Markus Beyer into a unification fight with the winners to face off. And maybe I could tempt Salma Hayek and Halle Berry into a night of fun at my local Howard Johnson. Mundine joins Danny Green, Paul Briggs and Kostya Tszyu as recent losers in title bouts although the Aussies still have Robbie Peden and Vic Darchinyan as IBF champions. Plus, they are the best pound-for-pound sportsmen in the world so they should keep their chins up. My next beer is dedicated to the Aussies!

On the under-card, lightweight hope Michael “Rocky” Katsidis scored his fifteenth knockout in seventeen fights (all wins). “Rocky” has yet to fight anyone decent but at twenty-four, he still has plenty of time to come good and pay back some of that money he shelled out to the promotional company that came up with his highly original nickname. Former amateur champion Danny “Boy” Wither scored his eighth win on the trot and I guarantee that Wither will be fighting for a major title within three years, so remember the name. Brother Jamie scored his second win on the same card to keep former fighter Jimmy Brown’s sons in the undefeated ranks.

Into the lions den went Esham Pickering to defend his European super bantamweight belt against undefeated Miguel “Vudu” Mallon. “Vudu” had recorded twenty-four wins since turning professional in 1999 and had a rowdy, and often hostile, crowd cheering him on but “Brown Sugar” took over from the halfway stage and stopped the brave Spaniard in the tenth round with an overhand right. Pickering has rebounded well after being stopped in seventy-two seconds by the aforementioned Mauricio Martinez in December 2000 and promoter Jess Harding is looking for a world title shot after his charge improved to 28-3.

After twelve months out, Sydney Olympic Gold Medalist Audley “A-Force” Harrison returned to out-jab and wear down Robert Davis in seven rounds in beautiful Temecula, Southern California. While his career has been a disappointing one so far Harrison could still make waves in the lackluster heavyweight scene, but needs to improve his opposition and keep fighting every couple of months to force his name into the public eye. Harrison now stands at 18-0 (13) while Davis drops to 31-7. On the same bill, Kirk “Manboobs” Johnson scored a good win over Yanqui Diaz with a fifth round technical decision after a clash of heads caused a cut on the unfortunate Cuban. Johnson, a thirty-two-year-old Canadian decked Diaz three times and hopes to regain the top-ten status he held before his pathetic showing against Vitali Klitschko eighteen months ago. Diaz needs to regroup after his second straight loss this year after a great 2004. Malcolm “Showstopper” Tann (no relation) moved to 16-1 with an eight round decision over Derek “The One Man Riot” Bryant, and could possibly be matched up with Harrison somewhere down the line. Bryant deserves something for having the best nickname on the bill. Alas, life doesn’t reward the ones who are most worthy otherwise I’d be a millionaire. Two more heavyweight bouts saw Travis Walker and Rafael Butler progress to 11-0 (9) and 11-1 (8) respectively.

In Manhattan, Dimitriy “Star of David” Salita proved too much for hard punching Louis “Downtown” Brown, forcing the ringside doctor to stop the fight after the eighth round. This fight was a significant step up in class for Brown whose fourteen wins were against fighters with a combined 58-115-10 record, and forty of those wins were by Verdell Smith (40-40-2)! Salita, a twenty-three-year-old light welterweight from Odessa but now based in Brooklyn, has scored thirteen knockouts in his twenty-two wins against no defeats. Ehinomen “Hino” Ehikhamenor (interviewed elsewhere on this site) was forced to go the distance when John Douglas lasted the six scheduled rounds.

Jose Armando Santa Cruz now has as many fights as he has letters in his name when he beat Ernesto Zavala in four to win the NABF interim lightweight title (I don’t know what that is either). Cruz is definitely one to watch in the very exciting 130 to 140-pound section. Kelly Pavlik also won in booming fight town Chicago, with an easy first round stoppage of Daniel Neal. Pavlik is so pale you can see through him but he can punch as he now has twenty-two knockouts in twenty-five wins – twenty within three rounds!

Son of the original “Hitman” Thomas, Ronald “The Motor City Cobra” Hearns scored his fourth knockout in six wins to remain unbeaten in his professional career. This writer would like to see him matched against fellow unbeaten super middleweight, James McGirt for the WBSaddo Nipper Title. Emanuel Steward is hoping he has better luck with the second Hearns than he did with blowout hope Octavio Lara.

Perennial contender Shannon Briggs won for the forty-second time (against four losses) with his annihilation of unbeaten African Abraham Okine. In a thirteen-year career, this is the first time that Briggs has faced an unbeaten fighter! Shannon “The Cannon” looks great against second tier competitors but has always fallen short at the top level, although he staggered all time great Lennox Lewis in his only title bout, back in 1998. The thirty-three-year-old now has thirty-six knockouts. Also in Verona, “Sugar” Ray Narh won for the fifteenth time in sixteen bouts (fourteen by the early route) with a first round knockout of Daniel Logan. Narhs’ only loss was a first round stoppage to Kyrgyzstan’s Almazbek Raiymkulov, aka “Kid Diamond.”

Main Event’s bantamweight hope Raul Martinez got his ninth win in thirteen months as a professional when he out-scored tough Mexican Benito Abraham. Martinez will be a world champion one day. You can bet on it. Ex-professional fighter John David Jackson saw another of his fighters’ win when Victor Gutierrez won his third bout in a row. Jackson was a classy stylist at middleweight in the 1980’s-90’s and was unbeaten in his first thirty-two bouts before running into the Argentinian “Locomotora,” Jorge Castro. He is building a nice reputation as a trainer and will soon be joining Buddy McGirt and Freddie Roach in the next generation of championship trainers.

Down in Argentina, fighter turned manager/trainer Bruno Ruben Godoy, celebrated another win by his protege/family when Pablo recorded his tenth win with a decision victory. The next generation of Godoys are now a combined 33-8-2.

Big punching welterweight Jackson Osei Bonsu, of Belgium, scored his seventeenth stoppage (in nineteen wins) when he beat Hungarian Janos Petrovics in four. The twenty-four-year-old was born in Ghana but now resides in the beer capital of the world (Belgium has more beer per person than any other country – I LOVE BELGIUM) and his nickname must have been chosen by an eager participant as he is known as “Sugar the Ball Brains.” His only loss was a tenth round knockout in a fight for the Belgian welterweight title against Frenchman Abdelhakim Mehidi – a bout in which Mehidi couldn’t claim the belt due to his nationality! Look out for this young man to make waves in the resurgent welterweight division in the next few years. On the same bill, Carmelo Ballone beat the decent Hungarian veteran, Robert Isaszegi, also in four to win the EEC bantamweight belt and move up to 16-1-1. The forty-year-old Magyar lost for the first time in his first bout out of Hungary and slips to 18-1.

A big bill in Germany saw Sinan Samil Sam win his twenty-sixth bout (two losses) when he survived a last round knockdown to outpoint Ugandan Peter Okhello. The Japanese based African puncher can return home heartened by his sterling defeat against a top twenty contender. Also in Kempten, Paulo Vidoz caused a BIG upset when he won the vacant European heavyweight belt by outscoring local hero Timo Hoffmann, decking the huge German in round six. The Italian has had a disappointing professional career after an excellent unpaid stint, but this win puts the late sub into the money category, although I feel that a well-paid rematch in Germany is the most likely outcome. The second Abraham brother, Alexander, is now 14-0-1 (12) after outscoring Frenchman Majid Ben Driss. While not as good as his sibling Arthur (who fights England’s Howard Eastman next month), the German/Armenian will probably fight for the light middleweight title before the end of 2006.

Scottish welterweight hope Kevin Anderson beat import Vladimir Borovski to go to 14-0 (9), while light welterweight Steven McGuire moved to 4-0 (2). Both fighters are managed by Tommy “I Manage Everyone’ Gilmour. Mike Reid won on the same bill. That’s funny to some of us.

Boxing in Hungary owes big debt to Istvan “Koko” Kovacs as they now have several boxers on the cusp of world title challenges, no doubt inspired by that featherweight artist. Last night in Nyíradony, three Nagy boys remained unbeaten as middleweight József improved to 10-0 (all by stoppage), super featherweight Janos went to 22-0 (14) and Zsolt, also 130-pounds and just twenty-years-old, won his eighth fight. Light middleweight Attila “Viper” Kovacs is now 13-1, as is cruiserweight Oliver Rubin and the unfortunately named Stefan Stanko lost to the fortunately named Laszlo Papp. If you don’t know who the original Papp was, look him up.

Buster Keaton lost for the first time in five years when he retired after four rounds against Krzysztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk of Poland in a bout for the WBC youth cruiserweight Title. How the thirty-three-year-old Brit, a twelve-year veteran, is eligible to fight for a “Youth” title is something only the WBC can answer! Diablo (I ain’t spelling Wlodarczyk again) is now 32-1 (25) and will replace Dariusz Michalczewski as the next great Polack. On the same card, Tomasz “The Bull” Bonin won for the thirtieth time against a solitary defeat against “Fraudley” Harrison.

On the final showing of the Mike Tyson circus, Sharmba Mitchell won his debut at welterweight versus Chris “The Mechanic” Smith when a cut forced the fight to go to the scorecards after only five rounds. “Little Big Man” Mitchell was up comfortably in front of his hometown fans. Laila Ali also won another “fight” but will get no respect here until she fights the formidable Ann Wolfe of Texas. Jeff Fenech trained Aussie flyweight Hussein Hussein came back from his war against Jorge Arce in March to beat Evaristo Primero in ten.

Three Ukrainians and a London based, Russian born, Jewish Israeli won on a Las Vegas card when Roman Greenberg, Yuri Barashian, Vyacheslav Uzelkov and Viktor Zinovyev all won. The fearsome foursome all fight again in Monaco next month and have a combined 48-2 record (both losses belong to Barashian). Heavyweight Greenberg is said to be the fastest big guy since Ali and is definitely a name to watch.

In Washington state, Julio “The Cuban Lover” Garcia won his first fight in two years, and went to 26-4-2, when he beat Marcos Primera over ten, while lightweight Sean “Pit Bull” Plessis improved to 12-2 (3). Why Ricky Hatton is not called Ricky “The Manc Lover” Hatton, I’ll never know. Maybe Lee Steele has the copyright!

Madison Square Garden saw Puerto Rican demigod Miguel Cotto redress his last reversal when Mohamad Abdulaev retired after nine rounds of war due to impaired vision. The Uzbekistani had beaten Bob Arum’s favorite son in the first round of the Sydney Olympics by a score of 17-7. Cotto is now 24-0 (20) and Arum would love to match him against Oscar de la Hoya at welterweight. I love Oscar but think that this would be an easy night’s work for the young Puerto Rican, but if Arum wants to shell out $5m+ I can see this fight happening in September. Stay tuned. Joel Casamayor and “Kid Diamond” drew in a good fight at lightweight. Casamayor has fought nothing but top-level fighters in the last forty-months, with his eight opponents bringing a collective 236-14-3 record against him – and six of those losses belong to Jose Luis Castillo, whom the Cuban lost a very narrow decision to in December! Irish middleweight John Duddy went the distance for the first time when out-pointing tough Nebraskan, Patrick Thompson. The twenty-five-year-old Duddy is now 10-0 (9) and will be glad to have heard the final bell in his learning process.

Fighter of the week for me is split between Joel Casamayor (for consistently fighting toughies) and Miguel Angel Cotto who should now be enjoying himself at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. Puerto Rico is a beautiful island with stunning women, cold beer and some of the best boxers in history.What more could you ask for? Happy Puerto Rico Day everyone.

Jonny Townsend can be reached at taansend@yahoo.com