by Per Ake Persson – Panamanian Guillermo Jones stopped Firat Arslan in the tenth round to win the WBA cruiserweight title. Arslan was never down but took a bad beating, had a busted nose and a badly injured lip. Jones scored almost at will with sharp uppercuts from both hands. Once Arslan had figured out how to block some punches Jones switched stance and nailed the champion from a different angle.. Arslan, as strong and brave as they come, tried hard, had some success but was overall beaten to the punch time and time again. After nine it was scored 88-83, 89-92 and 86-85 for Jones, who finally opened up in the tenth. Arslan had by then survived a number of inspections from the ringside physician and referee Luis Pabon had nothing left and it was finally stopped. Pabon and/or the doctor could well have stepped in a lot sooner.
Cuban heavy Juan Carlos Gomez did a number on Ukrainian Vladimir Virchis and the “Black Panther” clearly outscored “the Hunter”. Virchis was down in the third and never got close to Gomez despite advantages in height, weight and strenght. It was scored 117-110, 117-109 and 115-111. Gomez had a point deducted in the tenth for repeated low blows. Juan Carlos is a natural, an exellent boxer and that will take him a long way among the heavyweights.
Denis Inkin won the vacant WBO supermiddle title with a unanimous decision over Fulgencio Zuniga. It was scored 118-110, 116-112 and 117- 111. Zuniga worked very hard but was seldom effective while Inkin had more quality in his fewer punches.
Russian cruiser Aleksander Alekseev retained the WBO I/C title and showed again what a prospect he is in stopping veteran Rob Calloway in the third. Calloway was rocked in first and down twice before it was stopped.
Nicaraguan jr light Rene Gonzales opened the show at the Color Line Arena with an impressive first round stoppage of decent Frenchman Mohamed Benbiou.
Lukas Wilaschek outscored Frenchman Laurent Goury over eight and may now take on Robert Stieglitz for the WBC Int?l title November 22 in Rostock.
Gomez Outpoints Virchis
Juan Carlos Gomez is the new no. 1 contender for the WBC heavyweight champion title. “The Black Panther” clearly outboxed Vladimir Virchis at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg knocking down “The Hunter” in the fifth to take home a unanimous decision win. “I told everybody before that it’s Showtime!” stated Gomez. “I beat Virchis and more importantly I beat Klaus-Peter Kohl and Universum. Now I will go on to finally fulfill my great dream of becoming heavyweight champion of the world!” After beating Virchis Gomez is the mandatory challenger for the winner of October 11th clash between Vitali Klitschko and reigning WBC champion Samuel Peter. “I would prefer to take on Vitali but I will beat whoever comes my way”, adds Gomez.