World Friday Night Boxing Roundup

Aside from the Ricardo Mayorga vs. Fernando Vargas bout in Los Angeles, there was a good bit of action across the globe last night and we start in the land Down Under.

At the Croatian Club in the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl, the Australian middleweight title was defended by reigning champion Junior Talipeau, 9-0 (2), who posted a fairly close ten round points win over a very competitive Peter Mitreveski, Jr., 17-5-1 (7).

Local man Mitreveski towered over the stocky New Zealand based champion but lost a point in the first and that margin would prove significant as the challenger fell short on the cards, 96-95, 96-94 and 97-92.

Up north on the Gold Coast, a charity show was held at the Brisbane Convention Center with 20 year old light welter Leonardo “Lenny Zappa” Zappavinga, 12-0 (9), of Sydney staying on track by dropping Ariel Omongos, 4-12 (3), twice in the fourth to win at 2:03 of that round.

There was a high profile domestic matchup at the Fashion Mart in Kobe, Japan, as defending Japanese Bantamweight titlist Masayuki Mitani, 21-2 (10), rebounded off a last round stoppage loss for the OPBF crown in August by holding off former WBC title challenger Teppei Kikui, 21-7 (4), of Yokohama to post a 99-93 and 98-92 (twice) unanimous verdict.

Heading west, the action in Ekatrinburg, Russia was at Casino Vodoley where Andrey Isaev, 16-1 (6), of Minsk, Belarus won his fourth bout in a row to annex the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight belt via ninth round stoppage of Thai veteran and PABA titlist Saohin Srithai Condo, 51-14 (34).

Over the course of Condo’s fifteen year pro career, the Nontaburi man had twice contended for the WBA Bantamweight title and just a year ago lost a competitive decision to future WBC Feather kingpin Jorge Linares. Condo had not been stopped since 1994 prior to last nights loss to Isaev.

Next we take a big left turn and hit Potchefstroom, South Africa where at the Tlokwe Banquet Hall, Johannesburg based domestic super bantam boss Oscar “Golden Boy” Chauke, 23-4-2 (7), caged the vacant WBF trophy with a fifth round finishing of hammer-fisted WBF International Feather titlist Wonga “The Bomber” Mhlana, 12-2 (12).

On the undercard, WBF Light Flyweight Champ Muvhuso “Hands of Thunder” Nedzanani, 20-1-3 (12), outclassed Colombian import John Alberto Molina, 24-7-3 (17), over twelve rounds to retain his title for the first time via marks of 120-110, 119-109 and 119-110.

Crossing the Mediterranean at Gibraltar, we next head to the Palacio de los Desportes in Andoain, Spain where former two time world title challenger Kofi Jantuah, 31-3-1 (20), of Ghana drew with EBA titlist Rueben “El Destructor” Diaz, 12-1-2 (7), over the vacant IBF Intercontinental Light Middle strap.

We finish this week’s Friday results with a trip to sunny California, where ex-WBC Welter Champ Carlos Baldomir, 44-11-6 (13), bounced back from world title fight losses to Vernon Forrest and Floyd Mayweather to win an unexpectedly close call against Chicago based Luciano “El Gallo Bravo” Perez, 15-7-1 (13), over ten rounds at light middleweight by majority decision with scores of 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93.

Also on the bill, Filipino lightweight southpaw Bobby Pacquiao, 28-13-3 (13), came off consecutive losses to Humberto Soto and Hector Velazquez to stop Fernando “El Pillo” Trejo, 30-13-4 (18), in the fourth when the Mexican could no longer continue due to injury.