Welcome to another Tuesday edition of the "Weekend Recap". Monday was a holiday, so I took the day off... Check out last week's recaps here.
----------------------------
2013-01-18 Town Hall, Walsall, West Midlands, United Kingdom
BoxNation
Frankie Gavin TKO7 Jason Welborn
Gavin made fairly easy work of the local fighter Welborn. Welborn, the former BBBofC Midlands Area welterweight champion, hadn't lost a fight since 2006 but had yet to face anyone near the quality of Gavin. Welborn certainly tried, but his efforts were futile. The BBBofC British welterweight champion Gavin reeled Welborn in and picked him apart. The highlight of the fight for Welborn was a good straight right in the 4th round. Apart from that shot, Gavin was mostly able to slip Welborn's punches with ease. By the 6th round Gavin had turned up the heat and was beginning to noticeably mark up Welborn. Then after a sneaky left hook to the body in round 7 (out of Gavin's southpaw stance) Welborn took a knee. Welborn beat the count but was unable to recover. Gavin rallied and was in the process of dropping Welborn again before the referee stepped in. There was no argument to be made that ref Ian John-Lewis called it off early this night.
Gavin, now 15-0 with 11 knockouts, is arguably the best welterweight in the UK outside of Kell Brook. However, I'm sure Denton Vassell and Lee Purdy would beg to differ. We'll get to learn more about Purdy when he fights Carson Jones in a few months.
Martin Gethin TKO9 Ben Murphy [BBBofC British lightweight title]
Chris Keane TKO3 Shane McPhilbin [BBBofC Midlands Area cruiserweight title]
Grant Cunningham PTS6 Mitch Mitchell
Mark McKray TKO1 Tom Shaw
McKray may be in the process of his own little Cinderella story.
----------------------------
2013-01-18 Centro Sportivo Tordiquinto, Rome, Lazio, Italy
Sportitalia2
Mario Pisanti UD10 Emiliano Salvini
Pisanti didn't have the easiest time out boxing Salvini off the back foot, but he got the job done. Despite only a year difference in age, Salvini had over twice the amount of pro fight experience against better opposition. Salvini applied a lot of pressure but it was mostly ineffective. He made himself very easy to hit but Pisanti's punches didn't seem to bother him...at all. However, because Salvini couldn't land anything big either, Pisanti clearly deserved the decision.
Although the battle tested Emiliano Salvini hadn't beaten an opponent with a winning record since 2009, this fight was somehow for the vacant Italy featherweight title. Thus Pisanti is the new champion and his record improves to 12-1-1.
Giovanni De Carolis TKO1 Zoltan Kiss Jr
----------------------------
2013-01-18 Arizona Event Center, Mesa, Arizona, USA
Rising promoter Michelle Rosado put on her first GFL.TV live broadcast dubbed "Mayhem in Mesa" at a sold out new venue. The ATG Radio team provided commentary.
Jose Marrufo UD6 David Yanez (60-54, 60-54, 60-54)
In the main event of the evening Arizona native Marrufo (2-2) was dominant in victory over Nevada's Yanez (2-4-1). The fight started with Marrufo winging wild bombs recklessly and it ended the same way. Yanez was stunned a bit in round 2 and Marrufo was cut. Marrufo continued to go for broke in rounds 3, 4, 5, and 6 and had Yanez in trouble a few times. Yet Yanez just kept coming back for more. Regardless, Yanez wasn't able to offer much offensively at all until the war known as the final round. But by then it was too little, too late. Marrufo pitched a shutout.
Emilio Colon Garcia MD4 Jesus Pacheco
Garcia, 6-0-1, was the clear favorite going in against the 0-1 Pacheco, but the fight sure didn't look that way. Through 3 rounds the fight easily could have been a shutout in either direction. Garcia landed the biggest shots but Pacheco let his hands go more, punching in combination. I thought the 4th was a fairly clear round for "Milo Time" Garcia as Pacheco stopped letting his hands go. The tabulated scores were 38-38, 40-36, and 39-37 all for Milo, all realistic.
Arlo Argueta UD4 Marcos Diaz
Diaz, who took the fight on 2 days' notice, also took a knee in round 3 after a left hook to the body. Diaz started the fight lively but was worn out by the 3rd round. He showed heart to last the distance but just wasn't conditioned to give himself a chance to win.
Consequently Argueta improved his record to 5-0, which includes a win over the main event headliner Marrufo. However, Michelle Rosado informed me that Argueta-Marrufo was very controversial and she's been working on making a rematch.
Bobby Lopez D4 Victor Arreola
This all-out war easily could have gone either way. Both light heavyweight prospects gave it everything they had. Arreola was the bigger puncher and applied the most pressure but Lopez took the shots well and was able to lay more leather on Arreola. Both fighters thought they won but ultimately they had to settle for a draw. 40-36 Arreola and 38-38 (x2) were the official scores. The shutout scorecard surprised the commentary team, but it seemed perfectly reasonable to me.
Ms. Rosado told me after the fight that Lopez had the flu and nearly pulled out beforehand. She thought he was going to pass out in the locker room. All things considered, the kid showed amazing heart. So far, this was the best fight I've seen in 2013.
Brandon Riddell TKO1 Eric McNorris
In short, McNorris was over matched and quit... This was the only true mismatch shown on GFL all night, and they got it out of the way in the very beginning. That being said, you can only match someone making their pro debut (Riddell) so tough.
----------------------------
2013-01-18 Club Ciclista Juninense, Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Argentina's DirecTV Sports
Fernando Angulo SD12 Juan Manuel Bonanni (113-115, 116-110, 118-108)
Bonanni won the opening round pretty much just on coming forward. Not much of anything actually happened. Not much more happened in the 2nd round but I gave it to Angulo for landing 2 good counter punches. Angulo continued to counter in the 3rd but also began to lead more. Angulo would go on to drop Bonanni in round 4 with an overhand right, but because Bonanni held on and slowly fell to the floor as Angulo pulled away the hometown referee ruled it a slip. Bonanni got back up with shaky legs, proving the knockdown was legit, but the ref actually went over and warned Angulo for roughhousing... DirecTV scored the round 10-8 Angulo regardless, as the official judges should have done as well.
The 5th was another thin round but only Angulo was able to really land anything (most notably toward the end). Round 6 saw the fight turn from a tactical battle into a war. It was a swing round for sure but DirecTV and I felt Angulo deserved to win. The pace slowed back down in the 7th and it was business as usual with Angulo picking Bonanni apart. Angulo was simply more accurate and the bigger puncher. Consequently Angulo dropped Bonanni again in the 8th round with a left uppercut. This time the referee actually acknowledged it. Angulo however was a bit dirty and hit Bonanni again while he was down (although it is sometimes difficult to tell if a man has taken a knee yet in the heat of the moment).
Surprisingly, Bonanni came back in the 9th and gave a good account down the stretch of the round through some violent exchanges. Still, even that round I thought Angulo won although DirecTV gave it to Bonanni. Bonanni did more holding in the 10th than throwing effective punches. Angulo took the round down the stretch clearly in my eyes on far superior accuracy. Honestly I was shocked to see DirecTV give it to Bonanni. Fortunately it was only the first round I thought they scored poorly. In round 11 Angulo went back to out boxing and out punching Bonanni and DirecTV acknowledged as much. Shortly into the 12th an overhand right dropped Bonanni again, this time putting him on his butt. Bonnani pounded the mat in frustration and basically resigned that the fight was lost unless he scored a knockout. Bonanni courageously actually went for broke too, but just wasn't fast or strong enough to get the job done. Oddly enough Angulo actually gave willingly went to war in the final stretches and gave Bonnani the chance to land a fight changing hayemaker. I figure Angulo just isn't used to winning or expected to get screwed.
To my dismay, Angulo nearly was screwed. I scored the fight 119-106 Angulo. This was not a close fight. In no universe did Bonanni arguably win this fight 115-113. How did local judge Carlos Villegas even arrive at that card, purely from a mathematical standpoint? Let's assume the round with the knockdown that the referee ignored was only scored 10-9 Angulo and the ones with the official knockdowns were 10-8 Angulo. Bonnani would have to earn 10 points in EVERY OTHER ROUND to get to 115. Meanwhile Angulo would also have to earn 10 points in another 2 rounds (meaning there would be 2 even rounds). So Señor Villegas probably had this fight 7-3-2 Bonnani. You'll be hard pressed to find a crappier scorecard this year.
In any event the right man still won and Angulo is now the interim WBC Latino and interim South American welterweight champion with a record of 25 wins and 9 losses. You may remember Angulo from fighting Lenny Zappa on Showtime with the IBO world lightweight title on the line. Angulo lost a questionable decision that night. You also may remember Bonanni from his 2010 fight of the year candidate with Gumersindo Lucas Carrasco. Ironically, Bonanni lost a questionable decision that night as well.
Mateo Damian Veron MD6 Abel Nicolas Adriel II
Ricardo Walter Arano UD4 Damian Ariel Guzman
----------------------------
2013-01-19 Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Sky Sports (UK) / WealthTV (USA) televised the third installment of the welterweight Prizefighter tournament and featured undefeated bantamweight prospect Khalid Yafai in a bout preceding the tournament final.
Feature Fight: Khalid Yafai RTD4 Gonzalo Garcia
Garcia was durable during the fight, but apparently quit due to exhaustion after the 4th round. Yafai hurt his hand during camp for this fight, and it showed a bit in his performance. It doesn't appear Yafai has any more to learn at this level, even though this was only his 7th pro fight.
Quarter Final 1: Mark Thompson TD3 Rob Hunt
Although the bout ended on a cut due to a clash of heads, the referee immediately raised Thompson's hands. It was obvious who was ahead but the scorecards should have been announced.
Quarter Final 2: Dale Evans UD3 Sam Eggington
Good fight; mixed crowd reaction to decision.
Quarter Final 3: Chad Gaynor TKO1 Calum Cooper
Cooper took a tremendous beating but was never taken off his feet. Amazing action both ways, but Gaynor did the vast majority of the damage.
Quarter Final 4: Glenn Foot TKO2 Steven Pearce
Pearce down early in round 2, foot rallied, and the ref stepped in.
Semi Final 1: Dale Evans UD3 Mark Thompson
Evans faded down the stretch.
Semi Final 2: Glenn Foot UD3 Chad Gaynor
Foot started out swinging for the fences while Gaynor bobbed and weaved under the shots. Eventually Gaynor stood up and boxed with Foot. Foot edged the 1st round on work rate and power. The 2nd round was very thin but Gaynor landed the punch of the round when he rocked Foot back to the ropes in the early going. Foot's work rate kept up in the last round and won him the fight on every card.
Final: Glenn Foot SD3 Dale Evans
Foot showed he had cleverness to go along with the activity and power he had on display in the preliminary fights. Foot was hurt in the last round by a left hook to the body, but it was too little, too late for Evans.
----------------------------
2013-01-19 Convention Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Omega Presents - UStream PPV
Caleb Truax UD10 Matt Vanda (99-92, 97-93, 96-94)
Matt Vanda fought the final fight of his career in front of his hometown fans. Unfortunately for him, Truax was just too busy and too skilled to overcome. Vanda certainly can't box as well as Jermain Taylor, but he sure can take a punch better than him (You may recall Taylor was nearly taken out by Truax in 2012). Throughout much of the bout Truax was able to force Vanda backward by pounding him with power shots. But Vanda did have his moments, like the tail end of the 7th when he landed a 1-2 combination while Truax was against the ropes, or the early part of the 8th when he mounted a mini rally, or especially the 9th when he managed to get Truax in a bit of trouble. However, all of that only managed to produce 1 winning round on my scorecard (although I can understand all of the official cards). Nonetheless, it was still a good that I didn't regret watching.
With the victory Truax improves his record to 21-1-1 and is rumored to land a big fight next. Vanda on the other hand will retire with a record of 44-15. I will most remember Vanda for his battles with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the first of which he arguably won. One of his most entertaining bouts came against the other world champion on his resume: Yori Boy Campas.
Charles Meier MD8? Travis Perzynski
The announced scores actually reflected either a split or unanimous decision, but it was announced as a majority (75-76, 76-74, 76-74). Somehow the ringside commentators missed this entirely. Afterward, Meier announced that this may have been his final fight.
Michael Faulk TKO1 Jon Schmidt
Mohammed Kayongo UD6 Gilbert Venegas
----------------------------
2013-01-19 Club Social y Deportivo, Santa Clara, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TyC
Roberto Feliciano Bolonti RTD7/TKO8 Franco Raul Sanchez
Coming off his second career defeat (where he gave Tony Bellew a scare) Bolonti opted to avenge his first defeat to Sanchez. Since their original meeting (a 4 rounder back in 2006) the career trajectories of Bolonti and Sanchez have been quite different. Bolonti went on to win 26 straight while Sanchez's record was spotty at best. Sanchez still had his moments in this rematch, particularly with a head snapping jab in the 4th round and a 1-2-3-2 combination in the 6th round, but Bolonti ultimately proved to be a different animal than what Sanchez saw the first time around.
Toward the end of the 6th round Sanchez dropped to both knees after an extremely delayed reaction to a left hook to the body. Sanchez got back up but was dropped again soon after with a few more left hooks. Sanchez, perhaps sensing it was now or never, came out guns blazing in the 7th but was unable to turn the tide. Bolonti then dropped Sanchez again with a left hook to the body followed by a right hook to the head. Sanchez would get up and finish the round, but never came out of his corner for the next. The way Sanchez responded to body shots (which did not appear devastating) suggested he wasn't in the best of shape.
With the victory Bolonti successfully defended his WBC Latino light heavyweight title and advanced his record to 31-2. Sanchez dropped to 16-10-2. Bolonti is still rated in the WBC top 15 and could very well be used as a stepping stone for another promising up and comer in the not too distant future.
----------------------------
2013-01-19 Centro de Convenciones, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
Televisa broadcasted the event "live" with Abner Mares as part of the commentary team.
Sergio Thompson TKO5? Moises Castro
For a fighter that lost 10 of his last 12 contests, I was rather impressed with how well Castro performed. That being said, he was still shut out prior to being stopped on a cut in the 5th round (although he did drop Thompson after the bell sounded to end round 3, which was correctly not scored). Castro seemingly complained about a headbutt 45 seconds into round 5 but was dismissed by the referee. Thompson used the opportunity to rally and about a minute later the fight was stopped for the doctor to check a cut outside of Castro's left eye. The cut was well outside the eye and the bleeding could not seriously impact Castro's vision, but the referee stopped the fight anyways. If the cut was from a headbutt the fight should have went to the cards, but apparently it was from a phantom punch...
In any event, Thompson easily retained his WBC International Silver super featherweight title. Four fights after destroying Jorge Linares in 2 rounds, I expected more from Golden Boy. Thompson is a good fighter. It's time to give him more competitive fights.
Robinson Castellanos TKO1 Edgar Ramirez
In the WBC's infinite wisdom they stripped Castellanos of his WBC Silver featherweight title after 5 defenses to let Jayson Velez fight for it against Salvador Sanchez-II. This apparently was merely a ruse to get Velez a shot at the "Gold" title against Ponce De Leon. Thus Castellanos was able to win his Silver title back by dispatching Ramirez in less than 1 round. Ramirez was initially dropped by a jab and later finished off by a right hand. Ramirez beat the count each time but was ruled unfit to continue after the 2nd knockdown.
After starting his career with 8 wins and 9 losses, Castellanos has yet to lose again and now has 17 wins. In the post-fight interview Castellanos was looking forward to challenging Ponce De Leon for the "Gold" title but made no mention of Velez. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't even know who Velez was... In interviews leading up to this bout it didn't appear that he was even aware of his temporary title absence. Would anyone be surprised if the WBC never told him?
Deontay Wilder TKO2 Matthew Greer
27 wins. 27 knockouts. The streak continues.
Ivan Morales TKO1 Patricio Camacho
Camacho tried to get up but the referee waved this off immediately. I seriously doubt Camacho could have beat the count, much less continue. A southpaw right hook was all she wrote. Morales, at only 21 years of age, is now 20-0 with 13 knockouts. Expect to see more of him down the line.
----------------------------
Three fights advanced #QuitCounter2013 to 8 total this weekend. I'm keeping track of every fight I watch from this year where someone quits. I saw far too many people quit last year and I want to get a better sense of how soft the athletes in this sport are becoming.
2013-01-05 Reyes Sanchez RTD5/TKO6 Ramiro Alcaraz
2013-01-11 Brandon Holmes TKO4 Javier Esparza
2013-01-11 Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym TKO4 Noli Morales
2013-01-12 Hector Alfredo Avila RTD6/TKO7 Emilio Ezequiel Zarate
2013-01-12 Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda RTD3/TKO4 Sergio Alejandro Blanco
2013-01-18 Brandon Riddell TKO1 Eric McNorris
2013-01-19 Khalid Yafai RTD4 Gonzalo Garcia
2013-01-19 Roberto Feliciano Bolonti RTD7/TKO8 Franco Raul Sanchez
----------------------------
If a bout is not mentioned which took place on one of the above cards it’s most likely because I haven’t got around to watching it yet. In the event that I do watch such a bout at a later time it’s still unlikely I will update this recap. My recaps will be posted on Mondays and/or Wednesdays, devoted to cards that most casual American boxing fans haven’t seen or heard of. For available footage of the previously reported bouts follow @sweetboxing on twitter. You may also email the author of this piece at rgbivins@gmail.com.