Boxing results from all major fights worldwide
Featherweight world champions Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares were both victorious in their Premier Boxing Champions on FOX and FOX Deportes fights Saturday night from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and officially set up a world championship rematch between the two popular southern California champions in early 2018.
“I want Abner Mares,” said Santa Cruz. “I said if we both win; we’re going to fight. I’m ready to fight him in Los Angeles in the beginning of next year.”
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.
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.
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.
Ismael Barroso (20-1-2, 19 KOs) demonstrated power in both hands as he landed a devastating liver shot to stop Fidel “The Atrisco Kid” Maldonado, Jr. (24-4-1, 19 KOs) in the sixth round of a scheduled 10-round super lightweight fight in the main event of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Besides dropping his opponent with a fight-finishing body punch, Barroso also landed a series of left hands to drop the Albuquerque, New Mexico native in the third round as well. The fight was a tactical battle between two southpaws, but the native of El Tigre, Venezuela was too powerful for Maldonado, Jr. to handle.
Anthony Crolla (32-6-3, 13 KOs) got back on the winning track on Saturday in beating Ricky Burns (41-7-1, 14 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in a fight that was a lot closer than the scorecards handed down by the 3 judges at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
As many expected, Chris Eubank Jr. (26-1, 20 KOs) had an easy time destroying an over-matched Avni Yildirim (16-1, 10 KOs) in stopping him in the 3rd round on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart, Germany.
Last night in Edinburgh, Scotland 33 year old Sam Sexton won the vacant British heavyweight title with a grueling 12 round points win over Scottish hero Gary Cornish. After 12 at times exciting, at times messy rounds, Sexton of Norwich prevailed by scores of 116-113, 116-114 and 115-114.
Christian “Chimpa” Gonzalez (18-1, 15 KOs) confirmed yet again that he is one of the best and brightest prospects of the exclusive Golden Boy Promotions stable with a hard-earned eight-round unanimous decision victory against former WBC Super Featherweight Champion Gamaliel “El Platano” Diaz (40-18-3, 19 KOs) of Michoacan, Mexico in the main event of the latest edition of LA FIGHT CLUB at the Belasco Theater in Downtown Los Angeles and televised live nationally on Estrella TV’s Boxeo Estelar. The charismatic knockout artist of Buena Park, Calif. won with scores of 79-72, 79-72 and 76-75 in a tough fight held in the super lightweight division.
Mohegan Sun’s Rising Stars Boxing Series presented by Main Events completed its third successful installment tonight at the Arena at Mohegan Sun. In the main event, Rising Stars’ middleweight prospect Vaughn Alexander dazzled fans with a heart-stopping battle against local fan-favorite Elvin Ayala. The bout started slow with both competitors feeling each other out. In the fifth round, Alexander began to turn on the heat. In the seventh, Alexander refused to let a bloody broken nose slow him down. He ignored the hometown cheers for Ayala and sent Ayala to the canvas in brutal fashion. The referee stopped the contest at 1:42 of round seven.