As Advertised: Juanma Lopez and Daniel Ponce de Leon give us a mini-classic (but a controversial ending tarnishes things)

Going into the rematch fight, we knew super-featherweights Juan Manuel Lopez and Daniel Ponce de Leon would exchange bombs in a can’t miss fight. And last night in “Juanma’s” homeland of Puerto Rico, on a card that was headlined by Danny Garcia’s controversial points win over a determined Mauricio Herrera, we saw a blisteringly exciting battle that was, unfortunately, tarnished somewhat by yet more controversy; this controversy coming by way of a premature stoppage.

Back in 2008, a new star burst onto the world stage down at super-bantamweight, as Lopez iced defending WBO boss De Leon inside a round. A lot has happened to both power punching fighters since, and last night the rematch, up at 130-pounds, was largely seen as the last roll of the dice for both men, Lopez especially. Many experts, including Lopez’ former promoter Bob Arum, openly called for Juanma’s retirement after his TKO loss to Mikey Garcia last year. De Leon, who is the older man by three years at 33, was also looked at as a fine fighter who had seen better days, yet he was deemed to have had more left than his fellow southpaw.

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Danny Garcia defeats Mauricio Herrera; Deontay Wilder dazzles with first-round knockout over Malik Scott

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (March 16, 2014) – Unified Super Lightweight World Champion

Danny “Swift” Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) defeated Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (20-4, 7 KOs) via a majority decision to remain undefeated on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.

Garcia established himself in the first round, landing the bigger punches against Herrera. But it was quickly clear that the challenger wasn’t going to let Garcia off easy, peppering the champion with strong shots to his body and head.By the end of round four, Garcia’s corner, specifically his father and trainer, Angel Garcia, could be heard telling the champion urgently to step-up his game and take control. Herrera, of Riverside, Calif., pressed on and proved himself as a worthy opponent with both fighters exchanging vicious shots throughout the extremely close match.

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29 Year Old Sensation “Czar” Glazkov Defeats Veteran Tomasz Adamek

(Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events) Bethlehem, PA: “Czar” Glazkov did what only two out of 51 men before him managed to do – defeat veteran brawler Tomasz “Goral” Adamek. In a twelve round unanimous decision the 29 year-old Olympic Bronze Medalist from Lugansk, Ukraine (17-0-1, 11 KOs) remains undefeated as he upsets the 37 year-old veteran from Gilowice, Poland, Tomasz “Goral” Adamek (49-3-0, 29 KOs) to win the NABF North American Heavyweight Title and secure the #2 position in the IBF.

Two judges scored the bout 117-111 and one judge scored the bout 116-110. Glazkov landed an amazing 37% (212 of 580) of his shots on the veteran Adamek, who landed only 21% (161 of 761). Czar said, “I would like to thank Main Events and Kathy Duva for giving me this opportunity and taking me to this road. I also want to thank Tomasz Adamek for taking this bout and giving me this opportunity. He was risking more than I did. Tomasz was not a guy who was backing up, he was coming forward. It was a very good bout.”

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Bellew defeats Brudov; Brook stops Robles

Making his first fight at cruiserweight, Tony Bellew (21-2, 13 KO’s) was able to stop former WBA interim cruiserweight champion Valery Brudov (41-5, 28 KO’s) in the 12th round tonight to win the vacant WBO International cruiserweight title at the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, UK. Bellew showed good power in dropping Brudov three times in the fight.

In the 12th, Bellew caught the 37-year-old Brudov with a perfectly timed left hook to the head that dropped him on his backside. Brudov tried to get up, but he was far too hurt and the fight was immediately stopped. Bellew also knocked Brudov down once in the 2nd round and another time in the 6th.

Bellew will need to improve dramatically if he’s going to go anywhere in the division. Brudov was an old small guy without a ton of power, and there are much better contenders in the division than this guy and Bellew had major problems against him.

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Garcia decisions Herrera; Lopez halts De Leon; Wilder destroys Scott

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) In a very close fight that was difficult to score, WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia 28-0, 16 KO’s) defeated the hard as nails challenger Mauricio Herrera (20-4, 7 KO’s) by a 12 round majority decision tonight at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. It was not a good performance from Garcia, because he failed to make adjustments to Herrera’s fighting style and he got picked apart in the last half of the fight.

I personally scored the fight for Herrera by four rounds, but Garcia getting the decision makes sense because of the venue. Herrera wasn’t going to win this fight without knocking Garcia out to doing something spectacular like knocking Garcia down 3-4 times. The judges scored it 114-114, 116-112, 116-112.

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Glazkov decisions Adamek; Chilemba defeats Grachev

Photo: Rich Graessle/Main Events — Tomasz Adamek (49-3, 29 KO’s) ran out of luck tonight in his dream of fighting for another heavyweight world title, as the younger and stronger Vyacheslav Glazkov (17-0-1, 11 KO’s) pounded out a 12 round unanimous decision tonight in beating Adamek in front of his own fans at the Sands Casino Resort, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Adamek took a beating in the fight and ended up with a right eye that was nearly swollen closed courtesy of the hard jabs that Glazkov was hitting him with all night.

Glazkov used his jab and power shots to beat up Adamek and build up a big deal. Adamek rallied in the last four rounds, but he was too far behind for him to make up the difference. The judges scored the fight 117-110, 117-111, 116-112.

Adamek did a lot of good things in the fight like using constant movement to keep from getting hit. However, Glazkov did a great job of cutting off the ring and nailing Adamek with big right hand shots to the head. He had Adamek hurt on more than one occasion in rounds 7-9.

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Boxing 411: “Danny Garcia vs. Mauricio Herrera” video preview and pre-fight analysis

Tonight from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, universally recognized Junior Welterweight Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (27-0, 16 KOs) will defend his titles against 140 pound contender Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (20-3, 7 KOs) in a twelve round scheduled bout, slated to be broadcast on Showtime Championship Boxing with a start time of 9PM EST/6PM PST.

The championship bout could surprise a lot of people who aren‘t expecting a competitive contest. Fighters who move well and use the entire ring effectively will often give Danny Garcia problems. If the incumbent title holder isn‘t taking this fight as seriously as he should, he could have a very difficult and frustrating night in front of the Puerto Rican faithful.

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Boxing 411: “Deontay Wilder vs. Malik Scott” video preview and pre-fight analysis

American prospects Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KOs) and Malik Scott (36-1-1, 13 KOs) will square off in this superb “must win” for both competing fighters, which is scheduled to be televised in the opening bout of the Showtime Championship Boxing broadcast with a start time of 9PM EST/PST.

The highly anticipated showdown will take place at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and is scheduled for twelve rounds.

Although the explosive favorite from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ostensibly has everything fight fans look for in a potential Heavyweight Champion, the 28 year old former Olympian has never been tested as a professional and has only been taken past the third round three times.

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Deontay Wilder could steal the show on Saturday’s Showtime card

While Golden Boy Promotions has relegated unbeaten heavyweight Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s) to that of an undercard fight on the card headlined by a fight between WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia and Mauricio Herrera, Deontay could steal the show if he’s able to blast his opponent Malik Scott (36-1-1, 13 KO’s) within the first four rounds.

The fight will be taking place at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, in Puerto Rico. Garcia is the guy that Golden Boy is setting up for a possible fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September of this year. For this reason, they’ve picked out a guy that basically has no chance of beating him in Herrera, and the fight is likely to be a situation where Garcia does whatever he wants to until the fight is either halted or he wins by a lopsided decision.

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Garcia 139.75, Herrera 139.25: Weights

WBA light welterweight champion Danny Garcia made weight on Friday for his title defense against Mauricio Herrera on Saturday night in Puerto Rico. Garcia is hoping to impress the Puerto Rican fans, many of which won’t be coming to the fight to see him.

They’ll be coming to see the undercard match-up between Juan Manuel Lopez and Daniel Ponce De Leon. Golden Boy Promotions chose Herrera for Garcia to fight in order to give Garcia a better chance of looking good than if he were to face someone that he’d have to struggle a little to beat. The idea here is to try and turn Danny into another Miguel Cotto type of attraction in Puerto Rico.

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