World Weekend Boxing Roundup: Crawford, Mathysse, Fonfara, Mathews

Lots of big fights last evening and we kick off this report in the US, at University Of Texas Arena in Arlington where the vacant WBO light welter belt was at stake.

Facing off were former WBO lightweight king Terence Crawford and NABF/NABO light welter strapholder Thomas Dulorme in an intriguing matchup.

Crawford was making his first appearance at 140 pounds after no longer being able to make the lightweight limit while Dulorme had moved down from the welterweight class last year.

The question was could Crawford make the jump in to a new division against a top opponent in an event of the highest profile? That answer proved to be an emphatic “yes”.

Once the bell rang, Dulorme was aggressive, using his size advantage to pressure Crawford behind a series of overhand rights, most of which completely missed the target.

Crawford was patient, content to use his reaction-based defense and quick footwork to avoid the vast majority of Dulorme’s efforts while studying the lanky Puerto Rican.

Gradually, Crawford began to time his adversary and the former lightweight champ’s counters were accurate and effective. Dulorme continued to try and solve the switch-hitting style of Crawford but without much success.

By the sixth round, Crawford had Dulorme figured out and moved in for the kill as a flush right cross to the jaw dropped Dulorme hard to the canvas.

Dulorme made it back to his feet but his rubbery legs could not move him away from the predatory follow-up attack mounted by Crawford, who produced two more knockdowns, finishing the fight at 1:51 of the sixth.

Crawford, 26-0 (18), is now the man to beat at light welter and should be in for a series of big fights against the leading lights at 140 pounds. Dulorme drops to 22-2 (14).

One of the opponents Crawford could face in the near future was also fighting last night, as ex-Interim world champion Lucas Martin Matthysse, 37-3 (34), won a barn burner against former world champion Ruslan Provodnikov, 24-4 (17), at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY.

In what was expected to be a total phone booth slugfest from start to finish, Matthysse showed unexpected boxing skill during the first half of the contest, keeping Provodnikov at bay with sharp combinations and quick movement.

Provodinkov was showing signs of the punishment he was receiving as early as the second round, as his reddened face turned into a bleeding mess by the middle rounds.

The Russian showed great grit and determination however, fighting with a bad gash above his left eye and finally catching up to the elusive Argentine and forcing closer quarters combat.

After dominating the early rounds, the heavy-handed Matthysse found himself tired and getting hit with big shots from a faster-handed opponent who simply refused to back down, despite getting nailed with shots that very few previous Matthysse opponents had been able to survive.

But Matthysse found enough moments of success to keep Provodnikov from completely taking control of the fight, which was awarded to “La Machina” by majority decision on scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-113.

Both men’s careers will likely see a boost as a result of this pairing but Provodnikov must incorporate head movement into his strategy if he is to once again regain world champion status.

Heading now to America’s west coast, there was an interesting light heavyweight clash at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA.

Ex-WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, notorious for previously having difficulty making weight at super middle against Bryan Vera, fought former world title challenger Andrzej Fonfara at a catchweight of 172 pounds.

Chavez, who turned pro as a super featherweight, was clearly the smaller man against the taller Fonfara, who turned pro as a welterweight, but the son of all-time Mexican great Julio Cesar Chavez chose to go toe to toe with Fonfara from the start.

The style Chavez chose was to simply put his head on that of Fonfara’s and throw left hands to the body and right hands upstairs. This had some success but Fonfara proved to be the more skilled boxer, jumping back to gain some distance and ripping off effective combinations.

There was a good bit of wrestling and Chavez’s constant complaining to referee Jerry Cantu paid off when Fonfara lost a point, with no previous warnings, for use of the shoulder in the seventh round.

Chavez proved to be resilient with a good chin but by the eight round, he was tiring and getting rocked. In the ninth, Fonfara nailed Chavez to the canvas with a massive left hook to the jaw.

Chavez made it back up and finished the round but failed to come out for the tenth frame.

Fonfara wins the biggest fight of his career, improving to 27-3 (16), while Chavez drops to 48-2-1 (32).

On the undercard, Moises Flores, 23-0 (16) defeated Oscar Escandon, 24-2 (16), for the Interim WBA super bantam title by split decision on scores of 116-112, 116-112 for Flores and 115-113 for Escandon.

Jumping across the pond, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, lightweight Derry Mathews, 38-9-2 (20), finally hit the big time with a 115-112, 114-112, 114-112 UD against Canada’s Tony Luis, 19-3 (7), for the Interim WBA title.

Luis was aggressive from the start, coming forward and focusing on the body of the local man but Mathews was the more accurate fighter, finding the head of the visitor on many occasions.

By the middle rounds the action started to get a bit rough and both fighters lost a point in the eighth.

On Thursday, WBC bantamweight king Shinsuke Yamanaka, 22-0-2 (16), KO’d challenger Diego Ricardo Santillan, 23-1 (15), at 0:36 of the seventh round at the Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan.

Tokyo based southpaw Yamanaka dropped Santillan in the sixth round before the knockout and has now defended his WBC belt seven consecutive times since winning it against Christian Esquivel in 2011.