By Rob Smith: Former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev (37-7, 28 KO’s) didn’t look half bad in defeating Owen Beck (29-12, 20 KO’s) by a 3rd round TKO on Sunday night at the Sports Palace in Moscow, Russia. Maskaev put Beck down three times in the fight in stopping him in the 3rd round at 2:59.
Beck was knocked down once in the 1st and twice more in the 2nd round from big shots from Maskaev. The finisher came from a short right hand from Maskaev that put Beck down. To Beck’s credit, he did make it back to his feet but he was unable to stand without swaying from side to side and then caused the referee Viktor Panin to stop the fight.
Maskaev hadn’t fought since being stopped in the 1st round by Nagy Aguilera in December 2009. That’s a long time to go in between fighting for someone Maskaev’s age, but he looked good.
It’s unclear how far Maskaev can go in the division. He’ll have to be matched carefully for him to be able to get a title shot, because I have a feeling if they put Maskaev in with someone of decent quality, he’ll get stopped again.
By Paul Strauss: When has hall of fame announcer Michael Buffer ever needed a second try to announce the winner of a fight? It just doesn’t happen. But, happen it did at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA. The main event of NBC’s Saturday afternoon telecast featured a rematch of Tomasz Adamek and Steve “USS” Cunningham. The result was first announced as a split decision draw. Hold the phone! Michael Buffer hadn’t relinquished the microphone yet. The iconic announcer seemed confused as he was informed there had been a mistake. A mistake? That’s putting it lightly. This was a staggering screw up.
By Michael Collins: Tomasz Adamek (48-2, 29 KO’s) fought well enough to lose by four rounds tonight against Steve Cunningham (25-5, 12 KO’s) in their IBF heavyweight eliminator for the #2 spot, but instead of losing the fight, Adamek was given a HIGHLY controversial 12 round split decision at the Sands Casino Resort, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 

Photos by Tom Casino/SHOWTIME and Esther Lin/SHOWTIME — Professional boxing returned to the CBS Television Network on Saturday afternoon for the first time in 15 years. In SHOWTIME Sports presentation of “SHOWTIME BOXING on CBS,” unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz capped a spectacular year by retaining his International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Bantamweight Championship with an exciting and closely contested 12-round unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Alberto Guevara, live on CBS from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
By Bill Phanco, Photo: Chris Farina – Top Tank — In a dreadful mismatch, WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) totally annihilated a smaller and older Jorge Arce (61-7-2, 46 KO’s) in stopping him in the 3rd round in front of a large crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Arce was down three times in the fight and put out of his misery with a hard left hook in the 3rd round that knocked him out.
Pictures: Photo Wende — WBO Super-Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham ends the year with a bang. Abraham proved that he is back at the top after defeating Mehdi Bouadla by TKO in round eight in Nuremberg, Germany on Saturday night. The 7.000 fans in attendance witnessed a great performance by the titlist, who presented them with an early Christmas gift.