(Photo Credit: Nabeel Ahmad/Premier Boxing Champions) The scene was set for the 2012 U.S. Olympian and Team Captain Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring to take his career to the next level on this Fourth of July weekend but it wasn’t meant to be for the former U.S. Marine, who did two tours of duty in Iraq. The two-time world title challenger Denis Shafikov punished Herring before his corner stopped the one-sided bout 36 seconds into the tenth and final round after Shafikov crushed Herring with two consecutive powerful left hooks that badly staggered him.
James Stillerman
Manfredo, Jr. and Biosse Battle to a Draw
The former IBO middleweight titleholder, Peter ‘The Pride of Providence’ Manfredo, Jr.’s comeback fight after being out of the ring for three years, didn’t go as planned as he had settled for a eight round draw against Vladine Biosse in a good back and forth super middleweight bout. Manfredo, Jr. received one scorecard 78-74, Biosse the other 77-75, and the third was 76-76.
Who’s the Best Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World?
Now that the former pound-for-pound undisputed best pugilist in the world, Floyd Mayweather has retired following his victory over Andre Berto last September, the search begins for who’ll replace him as the best fighter in boxing. There are many deserving boxers such as Roman Gonzalez, Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, among others, that have exceptional credentials and significant victories that make them worthy to be considered the best fighter in the world. The boxer; however, that stands out above everyone else as the best pound-for-pound pugilist in the world is Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.
Toka Kahn-Clary’s Incredible Story of Growing Up and How Boxing Saved His Life
The undefeated rising super featherweight prospect Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (18-0-1 NC, 12 KOs) has faced more trials and tribulations by the age of 13 than most individuals face in an entire lifetime, nevertheless with the help of boxing, he has persevered through those difficult challenges and gotten off to an extremely successful start to his professional career.
Ormond dominated Jimenez, captured the lightweight IBF Intercontinental Belt
Stephen “The Rock” Ormond crushed Marcos Leonardo Jimenez over ten one-side rounds, en route to unanimous decision victory, 100-90 on all three scorecards in the main event. Ormond with the victory, obtained the vacant lightweight IBF intercontinental title and upped his record to 21-2, 11 KOs. He has won four in a row while Jimenez dropped to 21-7, 14 KOs.
Ormond pressed the action and connected on whatever he wanted, especially in the last couple of rounds. He landed several extremely powerful combinations on Jimenez throughout this fight that badly staggered him and it appeared that he would knockout Jimenez, but Jimenez somehow hung in there and didn’t go down. Jimenez deserved a great deal of credit for not getting knocked down from all the punishment that he absorbed from Ormond’s punches. Jimenez; however, was unable to sustain any effective offensive output to turn this fight around.
Kovalev crushed Pascal en route to a 7th round TKO
The undefeated WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight champion of the world Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev promised before the bout to severely punish Jean Pascal and he did just that for seven one-sided rounds after which Pascal’s trainer Freddie Roach mercifully stopped the bout and saved Pascal from taking anymore unnecessary punishment. Kovalev retained his world titles with the seventh round technical knockout victory and improved to 29-0-1, 26 KOs while Pascal dropped to 30-4-1, 17 KOs, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Demetrius Andrade Is Back
Former WBO super welterweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade returned to the ring in October for the first time in 16 months and scored a second round technical knockout against the former South American champion Dario Fabian Pucheta. Andrade kept his undefeated record intact (22-0, 15 KOs) with a dominating performance and with the victory, claimed the vacant WBO and WBA International super welterweight titles.
Tyson Fury – Wladimir Klitschko: Upset Of The Year
Tyson Fury scored the biggest upset of the year as he dethroned Wladimir Klitschko’s dominate ten-year reign as the best fighter in the heavyweight division, en route to a twelve round, unanimous decision by two scores of 115-112 and one score of 116-111, at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, in front of 55,000 mostly pro-Klitschko fans. Fury improved to 25-0, 18 KOs and with the victory, gained the IBO, WBA, IBF, and WBO world title belts. Klitschko dropped to 64-4, 53 KOs and lost for the first time in 23 bouts – a streak that has spanned over eleven and a half years.
Randall Bailey is Back!
Former three-time, two-division world champion Randall “The Knock Out King” Bailey (46-8, 39 KOs) will look to collect another world title with the help of his new promoter, South Korean-based AK Promotions. Bailey’s climb to the top of the welterweight division continued in the right direction on Sunday at the Sunhak Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea, as he scored a devastating seventh-round knockout victory over Shusaku Fujinaka from a powerful left hook. At the time of the stoppage, he was ahead on all three scorecards, 86-84.
Popular New England Fighter: Danny O’Connor
One of the most popular New England pugilists, Danny O’Connor delighted hundreds of loud passionate hometown Boston fans in his last outing with a dominating fifth round technical knockout victory over Chris Gilbert in May. O’Connor knockdown Gilbert five times after which referee, Leo Gerstel stopped the bout with 1:04 left in the round. O’Connor, with the win, improved his record to 26-2, 10 KOs and received the vacant New England welterweight title.
“I’m happy with my performance against Gilbert and I’m especially proud of myself for the way I handled all the challenges that led up to this bout with [Paulie] Malignaggi being hurt [cut over his left eyelid during sparring] and then having to change my opponent on one week notice,” said O’Connor. “I’m still working on getting better each and every day and I’ve a great deal more to accomplish.”