Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs) won the vacant IBF light heavyweight title last Saturday night against a reluctant Enrico Koelling (23-2, 6 KOs) by a late 12th round knockout in front of a large crowd of booing boxing fans at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Jeff Sorby
Results: Liam Smith defeats Liam Williams by controversial decision
Liam “Beefy” Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs) defeated Liam Williams (16-2-1, 11 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision on Saturday night in a WBO 154 lb. title eliminator in their rematch at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England.
Results: Bivol destroys Broadhurst; Kabayel & Quigg win
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) looked great in smashing Trent Broadhurst (20-2, 12 KOs) by a 1st round knockout on Saturday night in the Russian fighter’s first defense of his title at the Salle Medecin in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Televised by HBO Boxing, Bivol landed a straight right hand to the chin of Broadhurst in the finals seconds of round 1 to score a 1st round knockout. A bleeding a badly hurt Broadhurst stayed down on his back a long time before he finally got back to his feet.
Deontay Wilder smashes Bermane Stiverne – Results
Like everyone expected, WBC heavyweight Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) made easy work of #1 WBC mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne (25-3-1, 21 KOs) in stopping him in the 1st round on Saturday night in front of a big crowd of boxing fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight was televised by Showtime Championship Boxing.
Results: Whyte defeats Helenius
Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) labored to a 12 round unanimous decision over Robert Helenius (25-2, 16 KOs) to win the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
This was supposed to be a showcase fight for the 29-year-old Whyte. Instead, it turned out to be showcase of how technically flawed Whyte still is at this point in his career. Helenius, 33, highlighted the fact that Whyte cannot cut off the ring against an opponent that uses movement. Whyte also showed that he was unable to put his punches together in a sustained combination form.
Results: Braehmer defeats Brant
Juergen Braehmer (49-3, 35 KOs) proved that he still has a lot left in the tank on Friday night in handing Rob “Bravo” Brant (22-1, 15 KOs) his first loss of his career in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament at the Sport-und- Kongresshalle in Schwerin, Germany.
Results: Burnett defeats Zhakiyanov
In a big unification match, IBF World bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett (18-0, 9 KOs) came out ahead of Zhanat Zhakiyanov (27-2, 18 KOs) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in scores that seemed far too wide for the fight that transpired inside the ring at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Results: Groves KOs Cox in 4th!
WBA Super World super middleweight champion George Groves successfully defended his title on Saturday night in stopping unbeaten Jamie Cox in the 4th round in the World Boxing Super Series tournament quarterfinals at the SSE Arena in Wembley, UK. Groves knocked Cox down with a right to the body in round 4. Cox was too hurt to get up.
Results: Lara defeats Gausha
In the walk out fight of the night, WBA Super World junior middleweight champion Erislandy “American Dream” Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs) defeated the previously undefeated #6 WBA Terrell Gausha (20-1, 9 KOs) in what looked like a glorified sparring match on Saturday night on the Jermell Charlo vs. Erickson Lubin card on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Results: Santa Cruz stops Avalos; Mares beats Gutierrez
In card filled with two terrible mismatches, WBA Super World featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) defeated his voluntary challenger/fringe contender Chris Avalos (27-6, 20 KOs) by an 8th round knockout on Saturday night in a fight televised by Premier Boxing Champions on Fox from the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Santa Cruz was hitting Avalos at will in round 8 when the fight was halted by the referee Thomas Taylor. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:34 of the round.