Former cruiserweight world title challenger Mark Prince continued his comeback on Saturday night when he demolished Latvian Olegs LopajevsĀ in the first round at a lively Acourtier event at the legendary York Hall venue in East London.
Although the event was less high profile than the shows in Glasgow, Germany and the US which all had world title fights, the evening was packed with all the boxing related drama you could wish for.
Seasoned pro Mark Prince was the headline act and he showed real class when he took centre stage. The Londoner, who has called his comeback the ‘Return Of The Prince’, was actually taking part in his second bout after being absent from the ring for 14 years.
WBC Siler super middleweight champion James DeGale (18-1, 12 KO’s) stayed in line for a world title shot against WBC 168 lb champion Sakio Bika by defeated Gevorg Khatchikian (20-1, 8 KO’s) by an 11th round TKO last Saturday night at the City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom.
DeGale knocked Khatchikian down a couple of times in the 11th round with body shots. Referee Mark Green then decided that Khatchikian had taken enough punishment so he stopped the bout at 2:58 of the round.
DeGale boxed beautifully through most of the fight. However, his habit of keeping his hands down by his sides led to DeGale getting nailed with a lot of hard right hands from Khatchikian. In the 5th round, DeGale got caught with a tremendous right hand from Khatchikian. DeGale backed up like he was hurt, and he took punishment for the remainder of the round.
Using his considerable size and power advantage, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KO’s) pounded out a hard-earned 12 round unanimous decision tonight over Brian Vera (23-8, 14 KO’s) at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. Chavez Jr. hit Vera with some shots that would have likely knocked out 90% of the super middleweights in the division, but Vera showed an incredible chin and great heart in taking the shots.
Just by hanging around, Vera was able to punish Chavez Jr. with less powerful shots and he had his face looking like he was the loser tonight instead of the winner.
The final judges scores were 114-113, 117-110, 117-110. There’s no question that Chavez Jr. deserved the decision this time around, but it’s too bad that he was given what many boxing fans saw as a gift decision over Vera last September in their previous fight. But Vera got a rematch out of that fight anyway, so it worked out about the same as him getting a win.
WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (46-4, 26 KO’s) failed to pace himself tonight in running out of gas in the 2nd part of his rubber match against Arthur Abraham (39-4, 28 KO’s) in losing a 12 round split decision at the GETEC Arena, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Stieglitz unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on Abraham in the first four rounds of action going for broke to get a stoppage. But when Abraham was still there after the 4th round, Stieglitz had no answers in what to do to try and win the fight.
Abraham knocked Stieglitz down in the 12th round. Before the knockdown, Stieglitz had been wobbled from a right hand from Abraham. It looked like for a second there that he might make it out of the round without going down, but Stieglitz took another big shot and that caused him to hit the canvas.
Undefeated super middleweight JāLeon Love dominated en route to a 10th-round TKO over Vladine Biosse on Fridayās ShoBox: The New Generation.
In the co-featured bouts, Derek Edwards upset previously undefeated Badou Jack and rising Mayweather Promotions star Christopher Pearson defeated Lanardo Tyner in an 8-round middleweight bout.
The eveningās promoter, 10-time World Champion Floyd āMoneyā Mayweather, was ringside at Turning Stone Resort and Casino and interviewed by SHOWTIME Sports analyst Steve Farhood for the first time since Mayweather announced his next opponentāMarcos “El Chino” Maidana.
Former three time world champion, Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson once again went on the road to his opponents` backyard and fought on only two weeks notice, as he dominated Velasquez before he turned up his offensive prowess in the fourth round and punished him before a powerful overhand right sent Velasquez to the ropes, promoting his trainer, Roland Estrada to stop the bout at 1:59 in the round, giving Johnson the technical knockout victory.
“Home Sweet Home” was presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
“I wasn`t please with my performance because my timing was off and I wasn`t as sharp as I wanted because I didn`t have any sparring for this bout; however, I demonstrated good defense and power and more importantly I obtained the victory,” said Johnson.”
Anybody who watched Matchroomās āFighting Prideā show live on Sky Sports last night had witnessed something special; the fight fans that were present at Hullās Ice Arena are truly the lucky ones for the event was one that will not be forgotten anytime soon.
On paper the evening looked promising with a few intriguing match-ups but nobody could possibly have been expecting the drama and excitement that ran through pretty much the whole of the four hour broadcast.
There is one fighter who featured on the bill whom I want to pay particular attention to but first I will briefly run through the eveningās action.
The first bout was a contest for the British super-bantamweight title, vacated by Kid Galahad as he seeks European honours, between Gavin McDonnell and Leigh Wood. Alongside such boxers as Kell Brook and Kid Galahad, real name Abdul Barry Awad, Wood fights out of the Ingle Gym and exhibits the slippery and awkward style that the gym is famed for.
Hank Lundy may now finally get his shot at a world title.
Lundy once again traveled on the road and scored an impressive unanimous decision over previously once-beaten Angelo Santana in Fridayās main event of ShoBox: The New Generation at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio
Santana (14-2, 11 KOs), once considered a canāt-miss prospect, was coming off a surprising knockout loss in his last bout and was taking what many considered to be a risky move in facing a veteran opponent. Lundy (23-3-1, 11 KOs) proved to be too much for the Cuban-born lightweight. He established himself as the aggressor and exposed his opponent as a limited fighter as Santana faded in the middle rounds.
The much anticipated Boxcino 2014 kicked off at the Edgewater Casino with a rousing beginning as Chris Rudd, Petr Petrov, Miguel Gonzalez and Fernando Carcamo all advanced to the semi-final round in the lightweight division on March 28th at the 4 Bears Casino in Newtown, North Dakota.
Chris Rudd opened the tournament with a “Drawbreaker” decision over Yakubu Amidu.
Both guys landed tremendous power shots with Amidu getting better in the second but Rudd came back the next round. In round four it became a war of attrition with Amidu landing with Rudd on the ropes. It was a nip and tuck fight down the stretch and when the scores were announced it was ruled a draw on the scorecards.