Mexico City – December 21, 2004 – Hopkins-Eastman Purse Offer: The purse offer for middleweight world champion Bernard Hopkins’ mandatory title defense against Howard Eastman of Great Britain was held today in the WBC offices in Mexico City. Golden Boy Promotions of the United States won with a bid of $4,261,000. Promoter Mick Hennessy of Great Britain bid $4,001,000, Top Rank, Inc., of the United States bid $1,801,000, and Don King Productions of the United States bid $1,511,000
From WBC President Jose Sulaiman: “I would like all of the members of the World Boxing Council to join me in extending our deepest sympathy to our very dear friend, Dick Flaherty, whose wife Roe passed away on the morning of December 19. Dick is one of the best ring officials in the world, and we wish for the Almighty to give him and his family prompt resignation to such a deep sorrow. Visitation will be held at the Cartwright Funeral Home, located at 845 Washington Street in Braintree, Massachusetts, from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M. on Tuesday, December 21. Funeral Mass will be held at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, December 22, at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, located at 854 Washington Street in Braintree.
“I would also like to send, on behalf of all the members of the WBC, the very best wishes to all of our boxing community to spend a very merry Christmas in the company of your families. We hope that the spirit of the birth of our Jesus Christ – peace, love, and good will – covers your homes, and that the new year will bring for all prosperity, happiness, and a devotion to struggle for peace in the world for the future of generations to come, and for the betterment of the sport of our love.”
Upcoming World Championship Fights:
January 3, 2005 – Tokyo, Japan – Super Flyweight World Championship
Champion Katsushige Kawashima (27-3, 18 KOs, Yokohama, Japan) vs
Jose Navarro (WBC No. 1, 21-0, 9 KOs, Los Angeles, California)
January 29, 2005 – Atlantic City, New Jersey – Super Lightweight World Championship
Champion Arturo Gatti (38-6, 29 KOs, Jersey City, New Jersey) vs
James Leija (WBC No. 3, 47-6-2, 19 KOs, San Antonio, Texas)
January 29, 2005 – Osaka, Japan – Flyweight World Championship
Champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (54-2, 28 KOs, Nakhon Ratchaseema, Thailand) vs
Noriyuki Komatsu (WBC No. 10, 19-1-5, 8 KOs, Osaka, Japan)
January 30, 2005 – Seoul Korea – Featherweight World Championship
Champion Injin Chi (29-2-1, 18 KOs, Seoul, Korea) vs
Tommy Browne (WBC No. 20, 17-2-1, 7 KOs, New South Wales, Australia)
World Championship Results:
December 11, 2004 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Heavyweight World Championship
Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs, Kiev, Ukraine/Los Angeles, California) TKO8 Danny Williams (32-4, 27 KOs, London, England)
Klitschko made his first defense of the title with a devastating performance at Mandalay Bay. Williams gave a courageous effort, but Klitschko dominated the fight and scored knockdowns in the first, third, and seventh rounds. Klitschko scored another knockdown in the eighth – Williams was up at the count of eight, but referee Jay Nady stopped the fight at 1:26. After seven rounds, Klitschko led by scores of 70-60, 70-60, 70-59.
December 18, 2004 – Bayreuth, Germany – Super Middleweight World Championship
Champion Markus Beyer (31-2, 12 KOs, Cologne, Germany) W12 Yoshinori Nishizawa (26-14-5, 14 KOs, Tokyo, Japan)
Three-time super middleweight world champion Beyer made his fifth successful defense of the title with a unanimous decision win against Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation champion Nishizawa at Oberfrankenhalle. Beyer scored a knockdown in the first round, but Nishizawa came back and knocked down Beyer in the second. Beyer dominated most of the fight with accurate counterpunching, and won by scores of 116-111, 117-111, 118-109. The referee was John Keane.
Also on the card, Pietro Aurino, 31-2, 14 KOs, of Italy, won the vacant WBC International light heavyweight title with a technical decision win against Joseph Marwa of Tanzania. Marwa was cut by an accidental clash of heads in the first round, and Aurino was penalized one point under WBC rules. The cut worsened as the rounds progressed, and referee Daniel Van De Wiele stopped the fight on the injury at 1:28 of the eighth round. Aurino led by scores of 79-72 on all three scorecards.
December 18, 2004 – Tokyo, Japan – Strawweight World Championship
Isaac Bustos (24-6-3, 13 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico) TKO4 Eagle Kyowa (13-1, 5 KOs, Tokyo, Japan Bustos took the title with a TKO win when defending champion Kyowa could not continue due to an injury. Kyowa boxed effectively, but dislocated his right shoulder in the third round. Early in the fourth, he turned his back to the challenger in resignation, and referee Toby Gibson stopped the fight at 0:19. After three rounds, Kyowa led by scores of 29-28 on all three scorecards.