Juan Diaz Triumphant in Comeback

04/15/201304/14/2013 Marc Livitz

Web-P4133638 By Marc Livitz at ringside in Corpus Christi, Texas, photo gallery by Adrian Hernandez – Juan Diaz scored a sixth round TKO victory over Hernando “Pipino” Cuevas, Jr. tonight at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Diaz (36(18)-4) had taken a respite of sorts from the ring. The Houston, TX boxer last fought in July of 2010 in a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez. He lost a sound unanimous decision and the result was a far cry from his initial meeting with Marquez in February of 2009.

Although Diaz was knocked out in the ninth round, their battle in front of Diaz’s home crowd in Houston garnered “Fight of the Year” Honors. In between his two meetings with “Dinamita” Marquez, “Baby Bull” Diaz went one up and one down with Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi, who many felt was robbed of a victory in their first meeting in Houston. Tonight, Diaz faced off with the son of former WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas, Sr.

Rigondeaux dominates Donaire

04/14/201304/13/2013 Bill Phanco

WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) proved to be too fast, too skilled and too talented for WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Radio City Music Hall, in New York, New York, USA.

The judges scored the fight 114-113, 115-112, 116-111. The fight wasn’t nearly as close as the two judges that nearly had Donaire winning. Those scores were pretty sad and scary because you have to wonder what fight where those judges watching. I only had Donaire winning 10th round and that was because he nailed Rigondeaux with a left hand when the two were in close in a clinch.

Donaire wrestled out of it and hit Rigondeaux when he wasn’t expecting a shot while he was standing straight up. Let’s be honest: that was the way Donaire could knock Rigondeaux down because he was too slow and missing all night long with his shots. Rigondeaux got up from the knockdown and immediately resumed schooling Donaire and making him look really, really bad.

Cecilia Braekhus defeats St. John

04/14/201304/13/2013 Jeff Sorby

Photo: Wende — 45-year-old Mia St John (47-13-2, 18 KO’s) looked like a spectator from the crowd that had mistakenly walked into the ring tonight against WBA/WBO/WBC female welterweight Cecilia Braekhus (22-0, 6 KO’s) at the Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark. Braekhus nailed St. John at will in every until the fight was halted in the 3rd after St. John was staggered by the ropes from a storm of heavy shots from Braekhus.

This fight resembled someone getting attacked by a swarm of angry bees because St. John was just covering up and cowering for much of the fight. When she did throw punches back, she was pushing her shots and looking both weak and slow. I’d seen her fight years ago when she was younger and a little faster, but tonight the 45-year-old St. John looked and fought her age.

The difference in talent between the two was startling. St. John was no match from the start and I was surprised she made it out of the 1st round because she was getting hit cleanly with nonstop punches, especially near the end of the round when Braekhus trapped her against the ropes and unloaded on her.

Shiming defeats Valenzuela, fails to impress; Estrada beats Viloria in upset

04/07/201304/06/2013 Jeff Sorby

Light flyweight Zou Shiming (1-0) got his career off to a good start with a four round unanimous decision on Saturday night in beating Valenzuela (2-2-1, 1 KO’s) by a four unanimous decision in a fight that was pretty much one-sided from start to finish at the Cotai Arena, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Shiming used his jab and fast hands to land at will against the more limited Valenzuela. Zou had Valenzuela hurt from a left hand in the 2nd, but he didn’t have the power to add to it. The judges scored the fight 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36.

Valenzuela was getting to Shiming in the 3rd round and it wasn’t impressive stuff by Shiming despite the fact that he was still landing more. Valenzuela wasn’t bothered by his shots for the most part other than that one left hand he was clipped with in the 2nd.

Australian Boxing: Jarrod Fletcher Stops Randy Suico in Five

04/08/201304/06/2013 Srithar Visuasam

On Friday night at the Grand Star Receptions, Altona North, Victoria, Australia, in the six fight card hosted by Adam Wilcock’s Fight Card Promotions, WBA #5 middleweight Jarrod ‘Left Jab’ Fletcher took on former world title challenger, Filipino, Randy Suico in a defence of his PABA middleweight title.

Mike Alvarado Gets Revenge – Bet on Rios 3rd Time Around

03/31/201303/31/2013 Paul Strauss

Mike Alvarado did the tough job that was needed to come away with a decision, but he took a terrible beating along the way at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. His decision win was a tribute to his courage and ability to keep on keeping on, avoiding the many kayo shots coming his way, which allowed him to come away with a decision. But, if there’s a third fight, don’t bet on him being able to do it again.
The physical appearance of the winner and loser during the post fight interview chaos made one wonder how Alvarado pulled it off. His face was a bloody pulp, and Rios was still bouncing around like the Energizer Bunny. Rios definitely took plenty of hard shots too, but the damage was much less evident on his kisser or his post fight demeanor.

It’s doubtful whether Rios was being totally truthful when telling HBO announcer Max Kellerman he hadn’t been rocked by his conqueror, but it was also true he wasn’t shook enough to lessen the “dangerous when wet” sign that should have be pinned on his back. Once Rios works up a sweat, watch out! Even as the end approached, viewers knew he could still end it at any time. His shots were still full of power, and whistling on straight, short pathways. Unfortunately for him, they were just barely missing, and Alvarado was bouncing side to side enough to keep Rios from throwing the combinations he really desired.

Golovkin vs Ishida: Triple G destroys Ishida in Three

04/01/201303/31/2013 Joseph Herron

Live from Salle Des Etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco, current WBA and IBO Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23 KOs) needed just a little over eight minutes to hand the usually durable Nobuhiro Ishida (24-9-2, 9 KOs) his first knock-out loss in 35 professional bouts.

Triple G’s 23rd knock-out as a prizefighter occurred only nine weeks after his previous stoppage victory over Junior Middleweight contender Gabriel Rosado, which happened on January 19th in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

A surprisingly aggressive Ishida claimed his spot in the center of the ring and attempted to dictate the pace of the action by working his long, rangy jab in round one. Ishida held his own during the first three minutes of the contest, while the incumbent champ circled the tall Japanese fighter to find openings for his own jab and straight right hand. Both men landed good shots and showed their respective beards in the opening stanza.

Alvarado defeats Rios; Crawford decisions Prescott in boring fight

03/31/201303/30/2013 Bill Phanco

In a big upset, Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) defeated former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 115-113 and 114-113.

Rios started off well with his heavy pressure and was able to force Alvarado to brawl with him despite the fact that Alvarado was constantly moving in the first three rounds.

In the 2nd round, Rios staggered Alvarado badly with a hard jab. Alvarado’s legs went to jelly briefly, but he was able to hold onto Rios long enough to clear his head. Rios landed several big shots before the round ended, but to his credit Alvarado was able to take them and stay upright. Rios should emptied his arsenal in that round because Alvarado was able to take control of the fight from the 3rd round on and dominate with his movement and hard right hands to the head.