Saturday Night Roundup

There were some good small hall bouts last night across the globe, so come along as we dive right in!

In the southern US city of Louisville, Kentucky, legendary three weight world champion Sumya Anani once again came up short against the woman who brought the brilliant career of “The Island Girl” smashing down just two months ago, Terri Blair. It’s unclear whether or not southpaw Blair, 8-10-2 (5), has finally hit her stride after a career of disappointments against such elite boxers as Mary Joe Sanders, Jessica Rackoczy, Kara Ro, Hollie Holm and Kelli Cofer but she definitely has Anani’s number.

Anani, now 25-3-1 (10), came into this rematch looking to show that Blair’s tenth round stoppage in March was an anomaly on a resume that boasts the scalps of Christy Martin, Lisa Holewyne, Belinda Laracuente, Jane Couch, Liz Mueller and so many others. And for most of the fight last night in Louisville, Anani did just that until she walked into a Blair southpaw left that dropped her heavily on the canvas. Anani got up but Blair would not be denied and pummeled the ex-champion, forcing referee Robert Dixon to call a halt to the bout at 1:59 on the ninth round. Terri Blair retains the WIBA Welterweight title.

In Daytona Beach, Florida, former USBA Middleweight titlist Daniel Edouard dropped down a division and got past David Toribio over the course of eight rounds at light middle. Edouard, 17-1-2 (9), successfully comes back from a third round stoppage loss at the hands of Jermain Taylor over a year ago. Also on the bill, ex-world light heavyweight title challenger Derrick Harmon, 25-6 (12), stopped journeyman Vincent Harris in the sixth in a cruiserweight contest.

Heading across the Atlantic to South Africa, domestic super feather champ Ali Funeka, 25-2-1 (21), moved up to lightweight and knocked out Dexter Delada in the second round to annex the vacant WBC International belt. Funeka will now be on the short list to contend for the full WBC belt.

Taking another big trip, we continue East to land in Kerikeri, New Zealand where Mohamed Azzaoui stayed undefeated at 16-0-2 (12) with a twelve round points win over durable war horse Sean Sullivan. Azzaoui retains his PABA Cruiserweight crown while on the same card, Peter Kariuki Ngateri kept his PABA Super Middle belt with a fourth round stoppage over novice Paz Viejo.

Making a full global circle, we’re now back in the Americas but this time way, way south from where we started this journey as Fernando David Saucedo, retains his domestic lightweight title in Buenos Aires, Argentina with a unanimous decision over Diego Martin Alzugaray.