Rumble, Young Men, Rumble: Vargas And Salido Go To War

Rumble, Young Men, Rumble: Vargas And Salido Go To War

This article isn’t quite what I had intended to write earlier in the week.

Initially, I had wanted to write about last night’s clash for the WBC 130lb championship that pitted the undefeated title-holder Francisco “Bandido” Vargas and the grizzled, battle-hardened Orlando “Siri” Salido. It was a match-up between two Mexican fighters with some measure of skill and an abundance of will; and I knew that all hell would break loose the moment one of them managed to land a good punch. It carried the promise of excitement and intensity, and it elicited a sense of anticipation in me that I hadn’t felt about a boxing match in quite some time.

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Beterbiev crushes Maderna

Beterbiev crushes Maderna

(Photo Credit: Dave Nadkarni/Premier Boxing Champions) MONTREAL (June 4) – As the world mourns the loss of Muhammad Ali, Saturday night’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN and ESPN Deportes telecast began with a “Ceremonial 10-Count” in memory of “The Greatest” and continued to pay tribute to him throughout the telecast that was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between hard-hitting Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev against Argentina’s Ezequiel Maderna.

The 31-year-old Beterbiev (10-0, 10 KOs), who fights out of Montreal, returned to the ring after an almost year-long layoff following shoulder surgery. Now seven months removed from the procedure, Beterbiev looked sharp from the opening bell as he threw straight right hands and body shots effectively to start the fight.

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Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido fight to 12-round draw

Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido fight to 12-round draw

(Photo Credit: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions) LOS ANGELES (June 4, 2016) -WBC Super Featherweight World Champion Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) retained his title against former three-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-4, 30 KOs, 1 NC) after going the distance in a 12-round blood bath before a nearly sold-out, raucous crowd of 7,378 at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. and televised live on HBO® Boxing AfterDark.

Salido and Vargas exchanged heavy blows in the first round, with Salido getting the better of Vargas in a flurry of punches late in the round. Round four saw Vargas injured, with blood pouring from a cut on his eye obtained by a head butt. The war continued on and brought the crowd to their feet in round six, where Vargas held Salido against the ropes several times with a flurry of punches. The warriors didn’t stop and kept the pressure on each other until round 12, which saw Vargas and Salido laying into one another relentlessly until the bell.

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Vargas-Salido post fight quotes

Vargas-Salido post fight quotes

(Photo Credit: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions) StubHub Center, Carson, California

Francisco Vargas draw 12 Orlando Salido

“I feel really good about this decision,” said Vargas. “I knew coming in that I was going to be facing a very tough opponent; however I didn’t expect for him to head butt me and give me so many cuts to the face. Overall, I’m happy I was able to face this skilled warrior.”

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Liam Smith stops Predrag Radosevic

Liam Smith stops Predrag Radosevic

WBO junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) made his case that he deserves a big money fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez tonight in crushing challenger Predrag Radosevic (30-2, 11 KO) in the 2nd round in their fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Smith used powerful body shots to hurt and stop Radosevic in the 2nd round.

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Richar Abril wins on Broadway Boxing

Richar Abril wins on Broadway Boxing

On Friday night, DiBella Entertainment returned to Resorts World Casino New York City with another action-packed nine-bout card for the latest installment of its popular “Broadway Boxing” series, proudly sponsored by Nissan of Queens.

The evening concluded with a slugfest featuring female fighters Alicia Napoleon, 153½, of Lindenhurst, NY, and Latasha Burton, 162, of New Orleans, LA, facing off in a rematch scheduled for eight rounds. There were plenty of shifts in momentum with each taking control at times while dishing out heavy artillery. Napoleon began applying pressure from the outset but Burton soon found a home for her straight right counter.

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Ronny Rios, Ochoa win LA Fight Club bouts

Ronny Rios, Ochoa win LA Fight Club bouts

Golden Boy Promotions kicked off the summer with a sold out stacked undercard of top talents, including WBC Silver Featherweight champion Ronny Rios and the first ever female fighters on this edition of LA FIGHT CLUB. Golden Boy fighter Jesus “Renuente” Soto Karass was in attendance to witness all of the action. Fans were able to tune in to this fight frenzy broadcast live on Estrella TV and streaming live simultaneously on Ring TV, estrellaTV.com and on YouTube via Fenomeno Studios.

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Barthelemy defeats Bey

Barthelemy defeats Bey

Undefeated lightweight world champion Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (25-0, 13 KOs) defeated former world champion Mickey “The Spirit” Bey (22-2-1, 10 KOs) by split decision (117-110, 116-111, 110-117) in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike Friday night at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Following an exciting first round in which Barthelemy backed Bey up at the bell, round two came to a close with similar fireworks in the form of an accidental head butt. In the commotion, a stunned Barthelemy stumbled to the canvas and referee Sam Burgos ruled it an official knockdown, making it the first of Barthelemy’s career.

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Tony Bellew KOs Illunga Makabu in 3rd!

Tony Bellew KOs Illunga Makabu in 3rd!

Underdog Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) came into tonight’s fight against #1 WBC Illunga Makabu (19-2, 19 KOs) as a slight underdog, but he came out the champion and the new WBC cruiserweight belt holder after stopping the South African in the 3rd round at the Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool, UK.

Things weren’t looking good for the 33-year-old Bellew initially after he got greedy in the 1st round and was put on his backside by a scorching left hand to the head from Makabu. Bellew regrouped well in the 2nd and 3rd round to come back to dominate and stop the 28-year-old Makabu. In the final sequence in the 3rd, Bellew landed a hard right to the head of Makabu that caused his legs to shudder slightly.

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Bellew defeats Makabu; Price and Smith win – results

Bellew defeats Makabu; Price and Smith win - results

Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) picked up the WBC cruiserweight title tonight with an easier than expected 3rd round knockout win over Ilunga Makabu (19-2, 18 KOs) at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England. Bellew went in the underdog but he showed that the oddsmakers had been wrong in installing the 28-year-old Makabu the favorite.

Bellew took Makabu out in the third round with some hard shots to the head after backing him up against the ropes. Makabu went down hard and was unable to continue.

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