Tagoe beats Ashie to win WBA International title

Tagoe beats Ashie to win WBA International title By Prince Dornu-Leiku – Emmanuel Tagoe lived up to his word by claiming a majority decision victory over compatriot George Ashie as their much trumpeted ‘Clash of Kings’ headliner finally came to a head Saturday night in Accra.

Tagoe, famously called Game Boy had gone into the fight telling anyone who cared to listen that he was going to defeat his big local rival through a points decision and how true his words came alive as the verdict was read after twelve pulsating rounds in which neither boxer could break the foe.

In the end, 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 the three judges had their scorecards tallying in favour of Tagoe who claimed the vacant WBA International Lightweight belt as a result. The crafty GameBoy who entered the ring carried aloft in a palanquin amid carrying a sword like a king, was crowned king and improved his record to 19-1, 8 KOs whilst condemning the amiable Ashie to the fourth defeat of his 28 fight career.

“First of all, I thank God for giving me this victory. I also thank BabyJet Promotions because I’ve wanted this fight for more than six years to prove that I’m the best in the country but never got it. So we thank God that thanks to BabyJet, we have seen the best,” a very satisfied Tagoe told Ghanaian journalists at the unprecedented press conference immediately after the fight at the Accra Stadium Media Centre early hours of Sunday morning.

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Mares has too much Giddyup for Moreno

by Paul Strauss: Super bantamweight Abner Mares 25 (KO 13)-0-1 literally ran after southpaw Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno 33 (KO 12)-2-1 Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA . He was determined to keep, for the most part, Moreno from getting set and displaying his masterful boxing skills. It’s one thing for a boxer to say he’s going to pressure his opponent and get him out of his game plan. It’s another to actually carry it out, and to such an extent that one judge thought the fight was a shutout.

That judge, James Jen-Kin, was in the minority. Most, including ringside commentators Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood and guest Paulie Malignaggi, all thought Moreno, who hasn’t been beaten in ten years, had managed to keep the fight much closer, despite being knocked down in the fifth and penalized a point in the eleventh for pulling Mares’ head down. The usually calm Bernstein got a little frustrated with what he thought were unfair tactics by Mares. Specifically, he felt Mares was deliberately lowering his head, bull rushing Moreno, and letting go with low-blows. Others chimed in that Moreno was pulling Mares’ head down; hence, the low blows. In fact, as previously mentioned, Moreno was the one who got penalized for doing so.

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Martirosyan-Lara ruled a technical draw; Garcia stops Barros

By Rob Smith: Vanes Martirosyan (32-0-1, 20 KO’s) and Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO’s) will have to do it again after fighting to 9 round technical draw in their WBC 154 pound eliminator bout on Saturday night at the Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The fight was stopped in the 9th round when Martirosyan suffered a nasty cut over his left eye when he banged heads with the 29-year-old Lara, causing the fight to be stopped and go to the judges cards.

The final scores were 86-85 for Martirosyan, 87-84 for Lara and 86-86 even. Without a winner in the fight there still isn’t a mandatory challenger to face WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez next year. Unless the World Boxing Council has another option, Lara and Martirosyan will have to fight again so that a mandatory can be determined to face Alvarez.

Martirosyan fought well and took the action to Lara. Had the fight continued to the finish it’s possible that Martirosyan might have been able to pull out a win. However, we’ll never know now.

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Hopkins to fight on March 9th, Cleverly a possibility

By Rob Smith: 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) is scheduled to retire to the ring on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and his opponent is rumored to be WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (25-0, 12 KO’s).

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Mares Defeats Moreno in an Exciting Clash

(Photo: Showtime) By Michael Montero: The crowd at Staples Center was pumped for the main event, cheering local favorite Abner Mares as he faced off against Anselmo Moreno, the crafty veteran from Panama. Mares, originally of Mexico but now living in Hawaiian Gardens, California, was making the first defense of his WBC 122 pound title. Moreno, the former longtime bantamweight titlist, had moved up in weight for a crack at a title in a second division.

The match started with a lot of mauling, as both fighters tackled their opponent to the canvas at one point in the opening round. Some rough stuff was inevitable due to styles. Moreno, a southpaw, tried to use movement and stay on the outside, but Mares would charge forward and bull his opponent into the ropes, where he’d tee off. This was the pattern during the early rounds, as Mares appeared to land the harder punches.

In the fourth round, Mares landed a hard shot below the belt, prompting Moreno to hunch over and take a knee. The partisan Mexican-American crowd at the Staples Center didn’t like it, but it was a clear low blow. Undeterred, Mares continued to grind to the body, but Moreno would occasionally stand his ground and land his own thudding head shots. At the end of the fifth, Mares hurt and dropped the Panamanian with a vicious combination. He made it to his feet at the count of nine, but was in big trouble and appeared to be saved by the bell.

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Wach should take a long break to recover from loss to Wladimir

By Kevin Chittenden: Heavyweight Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KO’s) should take a long break from boxing to recover from the one-sided 12 round beating he took from IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) last Saturday night in Hamburg, Germany. Wach was hit a reported 425 times by Wladimir in the fight with 115 of them being hard right hands to the head and the other 310 coming from powerful jabs.

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Klitschko Outpoints Wach; Helenius Beats Williams

By Michael Collins: In a fight that was somewhat interesting to watch during portions of the action, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) defeated a way out of his depth Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The only round you could possibly give to the 32-year-old Wach was the 5th when he landed a good hand to the head of Wladimir after backing him up agaisnt the ropes.

Wach unloaded everything but the kitchen sink on Wladimir trying to get him out of there. Unfortunately for Wach, he missed on pretty much every punch he threw. Had he landed at least one of the dozen punches he threw he might have been able to drop Wladimir. After that brief moment in the fight, it was Wladimir from then as he upped his workrate and punished the Pole with jabs and right hands to the head.

The 8th round was one where you can argue that the referee should have stopped the fight because Wladimir smacked Wach around the ring at will and it was pretty hard to watch because of all the punishment that Wach absorbed.

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Fans Witness Woefully Premature 2nd-Round Stoppage As Ovill McKenzie Stops Enzo Maccarinelli

By James Slater: Tonight in Liverpool, fans were settling into a fight that might well have developed into a most memorable slugfest. Instead, after the wholly unsatisfactory stoppage that took place in the 2nd-round, fans were left with an unforgettable TKO – one of the most shockingly premature you could wish to name.

Big-hitting Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli, he of the notoriously shaky chin, the recent failed drugs test and the run of bad luck as far as impressive performances go, was “saved from further punishment” by the usually more than capable Ian John-Lewis when he was pulled out in the 2nd of his battle with reigning Commonwealth light-heavy champ Ovill McKenzie. Stuck on the ropes “Big Macc” may have been at the time of the most controversial stoppage you will likely see all year, yet the former WBO cruiser king had just landed a right uppercut, was anticipating the blows coming from “The Upsetter,” and was, as he later stated in no uncertain terms, “riding the storm.”

McKenzie, the same age at 32, had got through with a notable right hand upstairs, followed by an even more noticeable left hand to the head, but John-Lewis’ decision to dive in was immediately judged to have been a result of “panic” (commentator John Rawling’s apt description). The fans instantly booed, Maccarinelli was outraged and the potential cracker was reduced to another black eye for boxing.

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Gary Russell Jr. annihilates Roberto Castaneda in 3 rounds

By Joseph Herron: If we learned anything tonight at the Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino in Indio, California, Gary Russell Jr. (21-0, 13 KOs) is one bad dude and will more than likely become a world champion at either 126 or 130 pounds in 2013.

The talented Mr. Russell capped off a very special Olympic edition of “ShoBox: The Next Generation”, which featured the pro debut of five members of the 2012 American Olympic squad of the London Summer Games.

In an obvious “KO of the Year” candidate, the Featherweight sensation destroyed the valiant but outclassed Roberto Castaneda (20-3-1, 15 KOs) in just three rounds with a perfectly timed right hook to the jaw of the scheduled ten round main event of the evening.

The 2008 Olympian took his time breaking down his man, while dominating the action with sharp, crisp punches. Gary showed his class by frustrating Castaneda with speed and precision. He threw lightning fast combinations which scored to the body and head, and ultimately set up the finishing blow that landed in the third and final round.

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Vanes Martirosyan vs. Erislandy Lara: Head to Head

By Joseph Herron — Tonight from the Wynn Las Vegas, HBO Boxing After Dark will broadcast one of the more impactful Junior Middleweight bouts we’ve seen in quite some time.

With an official start time of 9:45PM EST/PST (delayed on the west coast), undefeated Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KOs) will square off against Cuban exile Erislandy Lara (17-1-1, 11 KOs) for the opportunity to face current WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez sometime in 2013.

Although the superb match-up is finally happening tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada, this battle has been brewing for quite some time. At yesterday’s official weigh-in, tempers flared, and both men got physical while posing for the various media members in attendance.

Erlislandy’s trainer Ronnie Shields had the best seat in the house during last night’s brief altercation between both competing fighters, and he gave Eastsideboxing.com his unique take on what transpired.

“This is what happened. Both fighters were asked to come together and pose for the media and fight fans in attendance,” recollects veteran trainer Ronnie Shields. “Vanes started saying something in English to my fighter, which he didn’t understand. Then Erislandy started saying something in Spanish to Vanes, which he didn’t understand either.”

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