Porter rushed Malignaggi right from the opening bell and opened up a cut on Malignaggi’s cheek in the first round. In the second round, Malignaggi was clearly hurt by a leaping left hook from the champion.
Boxing’s elder statesman, Hopkins was calm and confident throughout the fight, enforcing ring generalship against Shumenov who was never able to figure out a game plan to score. Shumenov, who is self-trained, threw very few combinations, and did not press the pace. Hopkins, on the other hand, dazzled with his timing, counterpunching and, at times, showmanship. In the 11th round, Hopkins landed a short right hand that sent Shumenov to the canvas for the fifth time in his career.
49-year-old IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KO’s) completed the first part of his goal of unifying all of the 175lb titles by beating arguably the weakest link among the champions in beating WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov (14-2, 9 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision tonight in their unification bout at the DC Armory in Washington, DC.
The judges scores were 116-111, 116-111 for Hopkins and 114-113 for Shumenov. The judge that scored it for Shumenov must have been focusing on his greater work rate and ignoring the cleaner landing shots from Hopkins. It seemed like a clear cut win for Hopkins tonight. He knocked Shumenov down with a right hand in the 11th, and continued to dominate him in the 12th. Shumenov didn’t have the hand speed or the defensive skills to compete with Hopkins, and he ended up getting badly out-boxed in this fight.
“This was a great night of boxing,” said AWE President Charles Herring.
“Scott Quigg has been introduced to the American boxing fans on our network and he has established himself as one of the great 122 pound fighters in the world. The Crolla – Murray matchup was as advertised. We enjoy giving the boxing fans the most bang for their buck with these great shows and we look forward to continuing to provide the best boxing content out there.”
From the outset Murray came out hard and fast as expected and Crolla had to dig deep so as not to be overwhelmed. The pace was a hot one straight away and Murray’s vicious and relentless body work was proving effective. Crolla countered well, though, and he landed the cleaner work upstairs. Crolla did look like he was perhaps tiring by the 4th and 5th-round but Murray’s right eye was swelling noticeably.
Dropping “The Atomic Spider” with a cracking left hook to the jaw towards the end of the opening round, Quigg looked to have the fight all won. Munyai, a late replacement challenger, showed real heart in beating the count and seeing the round out. The end was not far away however. A thudding right hand to the head put the taller man down in the 2nd, and the follow-up barrage gave referee Howard Foster no option but to dive in and wave the fight off. The time was one-minute and 56-seconds.
By Justin Jones – Fort Washington, DC — Mike “Indeed” Reed hasn’t been as fortunate as some of his peers when it comes to getting signed by a major or even local promotional outfit upon turning pro, but that hasn’t stopped the standout DMV prospect from obtaining his piece of the “attention pie.”
Reed, a Waldorf, MD native, is similar to a small town star who is trying to catch the eye of his big time college coach for a walk-on opportunity, or a free agent trying to secure a new lucrative and long-term contract with a new team. Some would call Reed’s workman-like approach of fighting every couple of months against the likes of other unbeaten competition, or at the very least fighters with the same or more fights under their belt –unlike some of the built up fighters you see today– the “hard way.”
By Paul “Paparazzi“ Jones & Justin Jones
Published: April 19, 2014
Eastsideboxing.com surveyed fighters, media members, and fans to get their opinions on the winner of Hopkins vs. Shumenov:
“I always say Bernard [Hopkins], a master technician in the ring. A guy that looks like he can do it for 50 more years because he hasn’t had any big wars. He takes care of himself. He takes care of his body. So, I think he can do it again….Most importantly, he can [box] for the next 5 or 10 years because he’s not a guy that started his career like a lot of people at age 5, 10, and 11. His career started at a late time so, for him boxing, he’s a 20 year-old kid now.”
Mike Reed (photo by Justin Jones / ESB) improved his undefeated record to 9-0 (6 KOs) when he took on game opponent Regino Canales in the main event at Rosecroft Raceway Friday Night Fights. The contest was halted by the referee at the end of the fourth when ringside physicians decided it was unsafe for Canales to answer the bell for the fifth round. Shortly after the bout was stopped Regino collapsed in the ring and seemed to have seizure like symptoms. He was taken out the ring on a stretcher and evaluated at Prince Georges County Hospital. I am glad to report that he was treated and released this morning.
Mike stayed behind his high guard and worked his way in with the jab. He was throwing bombs from both hands that connected to the head and body of Canales. Mike dropped Canales in the third round from a combination of punches ending with a right hook. Mike’s defense was on display as well as he made Canales fall to the canvas from missing a wild right hand.
MONROEVILLE, Pa. (April 19, 2014) – Rod Salka put on a boxing clinic for Alexei Collado in Friday’s ShoBox: The New Generation main event. And then he stated his case for a world title shot. Salka was the more intelligent and effective fighter from the opening bell, pounding the body and utilizing his superior movement in an impressive 10-round unanimous decision victory (96-94, 96-93, 96-93) over the previously undefeated Collado at the Monroeville Convention Center in Monroeville, Pa., just down the road from his hometown of Bunola, Pa.
The naturally bigger fighter, Salka scored a third-round knockdown and essentially kept Collado at bay, limiting him to looping, clubbing right hands that rarely landed.