What next for two of the heavyweights who were in action last night: Luis Ortiz and Tony Thompson? Ortiz, the Cuban southpaw who is a claimant of the WBA title, will move on to a summer fight with Alexander Ustinov, a fight that is part of the WBA tournament designed to crown just one man as their heavyweight ruler (Lucas Browne of Australia becoming the latest claimant thanks to his thrilling stoppage win over Ruslan Chagaev yesterday).
Two bouts from the WBA heavyweight tournament took place on Saturday night as Luis Ortiz (25-0) amicably mowed down Tony Thompson (40-7) while Lucas Browne (24-0) beat the odds and an eight count to stop Ruslan Chagaev (34-3-1), claimed the WBA title and emerged as the first ever Australian heavyweight champion.
Tyson Fury travelled to Germany to challenge heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko last November, and now, as we await the rematch, it has been reported how new champ Fury might get home advantage in the sequel. According to an exclusive in The Manchester Evening News, the Manchster Arena in the city has emerged as one of the frontrunners to host the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbAS3tJLRM
Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito returned to action for the first time in four years last night, and in his homeland and there was a huge, 10,000 crowd on hand to see what the former champ had left. With Mexican legends Julio Cesar Chavez (doing commentary for TV) and Marco Antonio Barrera watching from ringside, the 37-year-old showed he still has heart and courage, but little else.
The DC Armory was alive with action as Luis Ortiz continued his charge on the heavyweight division against rugged veteran Tony Thompson.
Early action saw local favorite Damon Allen (9-0, 4 KOs) dominate a game Angel Aispuro. He landed to the body and head at will, but Aispuro was defiant. At times, he gave Allen a right or left to the head to think about. However, Aispuro took a heap of punishment that culminated with a serious cut to his right ear. Referee Billy Johnson called it 2:17 into the sixth round.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) Julian Williams secured the IBF’s No. 1 position at 154 pounds and called out Junior Middleweight World Champion Jermall Charlo after an impressive seventh-round TKO of Italian Marcello Matano Saturday on SHOWTIME from Sands Bethlehem Events Center in Bethlehem, Pa.
The undefeated Philadelphia native put on a clinic, breaking down his opponent from the opening bell until referee Gary Rosato stepped in to protect a defenseless Matano (16-2, 5 KOs) at 2:24 of the seventh. Williams (23-0-1, 14 KOs) utilized a steady diet of combos, jabs and body shots in the middle rounds to weaken Matano and set up the big shots to close the show in the seventh. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://s.sho.com/1QzbBBb
(Photo Credit: Tom Hogan-HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) and Sadam “World Kid” Ali (22-1, 13 KOs) squared off in the co-main event for the WBO Welterweight world championship. Both fighters landed big power shots throughout the first half of the fight, but at the end of the eighth round, Vargas caught Ali with an overhand right that dropped the previously undefeated fighter. Ali made it out of the round but was still on shaky legs in the ninth, and Vargas continued to apply pressure until the referee jumped in and stopped the fight toward the end of the round.
In a surprisingly entertaining heavyweight battle, Australian slugger Lucas Browne scored a big upset win in stopping defending WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev in the 10th-round in Grozny, Russia. Browne, who had been wobbled in the 5th and heavily decked himself in the 6th, came back to pull out a right hand from nowhere which dropped the durable if aging Chagaev in round-ten.
Tonight in Grozny, Russia on the Chagaev-Browne card, Kazakhstan-born German based heavyweight Edmund Gerber scored an impressive yet at the same time somewhat predictable 2nd-round KO over the experienced and well-travelled Brian Minto.
Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) showed that he’s not someone you take lightly at any point in his fights, as he came back late in this fight to stop WBA “regular” heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (34-3-1, 21 KOs) by a 10th round knockout to win his WBA belt at the Colosseum Sport Hall in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.
Chagaev, 37, showed little respect for Browne’s punching power in the fight. He was constantly putting pressure on the bigger, stronger and slightly younger 36-year-old Browne. Chagaev made a mistake of backing Browne to the corner in the 10th, resulting in the big Australian reaching back and hammering him with a huge right hand that sent Chagaev straight to the canvas. The punch was so power that even when Chagaev got to his feet, he was unsteady unable to protect himself or fight back. Referee Stanley Christodoulou wasn’t going to take any chances by letting the fight continue.