Juan Carlos Gomez kept his word when returning to the cruiserweight division with a bang on Friday night in Dachau, Germany.
“The Black Panther” seemed to feel very comfortable back at 200 lbs. landing nice combinations at will against an overmatched Adnan Buharalija from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gomez dropped his opponent with a nice left hook at the end of round one and followed up in the second flooring Buharalija again. Only seconds before the end of round two the referee stepped in to stop the one-sided fight to save Buharalija from further punishment.
“I said it – and I did it! “The Black Panther” is back! This was only the first step on my way back to the world championship. I will take back what’s mine. I will be cruiserweight champion of the world again!”, said Gomez smiling and celebrating with his fans.
IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KO’s) became the oldest fighter in history to defend a world title, breaking his own record by defeating European challenger Karo Murat (25-2-1, 15 KO’s). The 48-year-old “Executioner” turned “Alien” out-worked and out-brawled his 30-year-old challenger and won via clear unanimous decision in front of his hometown crowd at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The fight, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Caesars Atlantic City, headlined an entertaining three-fight SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING event.
Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (30-0, 21 KO’s) remained undefeated and retained his WBO Middleweight title by defeating “King”Gabriel Rosado via technical knockout. The fight was stopped at 40 seconds of the tenth round by the referee on the advice of the doctor due to a deep cut on Rosado’s left eyelid.
If there was any question whether Arthur Abraham (38-4, 28 KO’s) is shot and needs to retire it was answered tonight with his awful to watch 12 round unanimous decision win over Giovanni De Carolis (20-5, 10 KO’s) at the EWE-Arena, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. Abraham was unable to cut off the ring and handle the little bit of movement from De Carolis during the action. I didn’t see any improvement in Abraham’s game whatsoever from his defeat to Robert Stieglitz.
Making his first defense of his IBF light heavyweight title champion Bernard Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KO’s) defeated Karo Murat (25-2-1m 15 KO’s) by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. The final judges scores were 117-110, 119-108, 119-108. Hopkins took a lot of shots in the fight and it was a lot of back and forth action between them. This was easily the most exciting Hopkins fight in quite some time.
ORANGE, Calif. (Oct. 19, 2013) – Super bantamweight Enrique Quevedo cruised to a unanimous decision upset victory over San Diego-native Christopher Martin in the 8-round main event of Friday’s Thompson Boxing Promotions fight card at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.
Erik Skoglund (18-0, 9 KOs) is the new EU Light Heavyweight Champion after an impressive points victory over Danish veteran Lolenga Mock (31-14-1, 12 KOs). The 22-year-old Swede stamped his authority on the battle early but found himself on the receiving end of a huge right from Mock in the third. However, he proved his chin as he beat the standing count and regained composure. He dominated the rest of the fight, working cleverly behind his jab and throwing well-timed combinations. The scores were 118-110, 116-112 and 117-110. “I am proud of Erik,” promoter Nisse Sauerland said. “That was a great win against a very strong opponent. Erik really proved his class tonight. There are great times ahead, for him as well as for Swedish boxing.”
Ruslan Provodnikov scored a spectacular late round stoppage against Mike Alvarado tonight. It was something else. Provodnikov really looked up to the task. He was just brutal and relentless, and like a hungry shark hunting beneath shadowy waters, Provodnikov always seemed carried by forward momentum. A savage and consistent barrage of sharp hooks, crisp rights, and wicked body shots ultimately led to Alvarado’s demise. Provodnikov’s offense was running on all cylinders, and the surprisingly vicious outcome here helps to provide boxing fans with some new perspective for a couple of things.