Huge Photo Gallery: Lara Retains Title; Charlo Twins Make Boxing History

05/22/201605/22/2016 Showtime Boxing

On a night Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara successfully defended his WBA Super Welterweight Championship with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan, undefeated brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo, of Houston, became the first twins in boxing history to hold world titles in the same weight class.

Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) retained his IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over former world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) of Las Cruces, N.M., in the second of three world title fights on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Lara defeats Martirosyan in dull fight

05/22/201605/22/2016 Jeff Sorby

With the help of a blown call from referee Vic Drakulich, WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (23-2-2, 13 KO) was able to beat Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The referee Drakulich ruled that a shot on the belt-line of Lara was considered a low blow in the 11th.

Jermall Charlo defeats Austin Trout

05/22/201605/21/2016 Jeff Sorby

IBF junior middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) was fortunate to hold onto his IBF title tonight in his title defense against challenger Austin Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charlo, 26, won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 115-113, 116-112, 116-112.

The fight was close enough to be scored a draw. Charlo fell apart in the second half of the contest in tiring out and getting basically swept by Trout in the last five rounds. Trout fought well enough to win the 1st round. If you do the math, Trout should have been given a draw. However, he was the B-side in this fight and Charlo the A-side. For Trout to have won the fight, he would have needed to really give Charlo a pounding rather than fighting him to a standstill like he did tonight.

Jermell Charlo stops John Jackson, wins WBC title

05/22/201605/21/2016 Jeff Sorby

#2 WBC John Jackson’s chin betrayed him once again with him getting stopped in the 8th round by #1 WBC Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 KOs) on Saturday night in their fight for the vacant WBC light middleweight title at the Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC) in Las Vegas. Jackson was in control of the fighting going into the 8th round.

Haye stops Gjergjaj in 2nd round

05/22/201605/21/2016 Rob Smith

David Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) scored his second straight early knockout in his comeback in stopping fringe contender Arnold Gjergjaj (29-1, 21 KOs) in the 2nd round on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England. Haye had the 31-year-old Gjergjaj up and down on the canvas like he was playing with a yoyo.

Denis Lebedev destroys Victor Emilio Ramirez

05/22/201605/21/2016 Jeff Sorby

IBF cruiserweight title holder Victor Emilio Ramirez (22-3-1, 17 KOs) was no match for WBA cruiserweight world champion Denis Lebedev (29-1, 22 KOs) on Saturday night in folding in just two rounds in their long awaited unification fight in the main event at the Khodnyka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia.

Lebedev flattened the 32-year-old Ramirez in the 2nd round. Lebedev then finished Ramirez off with a flurry of shots that had the Argentinian turning his back to the Russian fighter at one point before it was halted. The fight was stopped at 1:57 of the round by referee Steve Smoger. Ramirez is a good fighter. He’s just not a world champion level fighter, and that was shown clearly tonight by Lebedev.

Shannon Briggs stops Emilio Ezequiel Zarate in 1st round KO!

05/22/201605/21/2016 Rob Smith

Heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) showed that he can still punch with massive power in taking out journeyman Emilio Zarate (20-17-3, 11 KOs) in the 1st round with a perfectly placed left hook to the body. Zarate, 34, dropped to the canvas after getting hit by Briggs’ powerful body shot and he stayed down in agony until the fight was halted by the referee at 2:22 of the round.

Joseph Parker out-points Carlos Takam, becomes IBF mandatory for Joshua

05/21/201605/21/2016 James Slater

Earlier today in New Zealand unbeaten heavyweight prospect Joseph Parker kept his perfect record and made the transition to genuine contender with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over experienced Cameroonian Carlos Takam. Parker triumphed by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Now 19-0(16) the man from Auckland earned a shot at IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua. Takam, who came to fight but was just not busy enough, falls to 33-3-1(25).

Parker V Takam a war! Round by round!

05/21/201605/21/2016 Eugene Carnachan

Ringside, Vofafone, Vector Arena, Manukau, Auckland City. Pro Joseph Parker (18-0-0) crowd in unanimity. There maybe the odd Frenchman or Cameroonian out there supporting Carlos Takam (33-2-1) but not evident. A sea of Parker supporters from end to end. People out in droves to watch the home town hero, Parker having grown up a 10 minutes down the road.

Takam ring walk – he looks pumped both emotionally and physically. Compact man with a set of biceps like bowling balls.

Cruiserweight Wars: Dorticos stops Kalenga

05/22/201605/21/2016 Ivan Ivanov

This week’s schedule is packed so tight with cruiserweight bouts that some good ones will probably be overlooked. Tonight’s card in Moscow which was supposed to be headlined by the heavyweight showdown between Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin will go on with three cruiserweight bouts now headlined by Denis Lebedev. Beibut Shumenov will fight Junior Wright in Las Vegas with the WBA title at stake. There were two other interesting fights in the same weight class preceding the mainstream shows that deserve to be mentioned and were well worth watching.