World Weekend Roundup: Abraham, Frampton, Cuenca, Quigg

In one of the biggest Saturday evenings in Boxing this year, an amazing six world titles were contested last night.

We kick things off with the a double bill at The Arena in Manchester, England where WBA super bantam “regular” champion Scott Quigg turned the tide of his contest against Kiko Martinez with just one punch.

Former world titlist Martinez was handling Quigg with no problems in the first round, backing up and battering the local man with a high volume of punches.

Quigg became more active in the second, throwing some body shots but hit paydirt with a short uppercut on the inside that staggered the Spaniard. As Martinez reeled across the ring, Quigg gave chase, unleashing a fusillade of shots that dropped the challenger.

Martinez beat the count but was soon down again and while he beat the count a second time, was judged to be in no condition to continue.

Quigg moves to 31-0-2 (23) while Martinez falls to 32-6 (24).

In the other world title clash on the bill, WBA lightweight beltholder Darlys Perez, 32-1-1 (20), was held to a controversial draw by local hero Anthony Crolla, 29-4-3 (11).

It was a close fight that could have gone either way but with Perez losing two points for low blows, many at ringside expected Crolla to take the scorecards, which were announced as 116-111 for Crolla and two even at 113-113.

There were also two world title bouts at the Don Haskins Arena in the American city of El Paso, Texas.

IBF super bantam king Carl Frampton, 21-0 (14), had to dig deep against lanky Mexican challenger Alejandro Gonzalez Jr, 25-2-2 (15), who had the Irishman down twice in the first round.

The initial knockdown appeared to be a slip but the second was from a short punch Gonzalez drilled into Frampton, who wasn’t hurt and went on to win every other round.

But Frampton, who showed superb boxing skill throughout, did have his hands full at times as the taller Gonzalez had his moments.

The vacant IBF super fly crown was on offer in El Paso and Puerto Rican southpaw McJoe Arroyo, 17-0 (8), outfought Filipino opponent Arthur Villanueva, 27-1 (14), in a very competitive contest that ended early in the tenth round when the ringside doctor declared Villanueva unable to continue from a cut above his eye.

At Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany, super middleweights Arthur Abraham, 43-4 (29), and Robert Stieglitz, 47-5-1 (27), battled it out for a fourth time.

WBO champion Abraham improved his record against his rival to 3-1, stopping Stieglitz at 1:14 in the sixth frame after a contentious contest that saw the challenger throw nearly every shot with full force.

This approach from Stieglitz caused Abraham to respond in kind, the difference being the champion employed better defense. The end came in the sixth when Abraham connected fully with one of his bombs and Stieglitz collapsed in a heap.

There was even world title action in China as the Cotai Area was the place to be in star-studded Macao, with Argentina’s Cesar Rene Cuenca, 48-0 (2), quietly sneaking up on Rocky Marciano’s longstanding 49-0 record in the sport.

The cagey southpaw dropped China’s Ik Yang, 19-1 (14), in the first but had to climb off the floor himself in the fifth round. Cuenca was in control most of the way and Yang’s case wasn’t helped when he lost a point in the final frame.

Cueca won the vacant IBF super lightweight title by sweeping the cards by margins of 117-108, 116-109 and 115-110.

Perhaps Floyd Mayweather Jr and Cuenca, both now standing at 48-0, should fight at a catchweight between welter and light welter to see who can tie Marciano’s mark?