(Northjersey.Com) NEW YORK — A sellout crowd of 5,142 predominantly Puerto Rican fight fans came to The WaMU Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to cheer the island’s fastest-rising boxing star, Juan Manuel Lopez.
They had to have left more impressed with the fellow undefeated featherweight champion Lopez is expected to fight sometime later this year. Yuriorkis Gamboa gave Lopez something to think about, too, by brutalizing Rogers Mtagwa en route to a spectacular second-round knockout win on the undercard.
Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18 KOs, one no card) nearly knocked out an exhausted Lopez late in their thrilling 122-pound title fight Oct. 10 at The Theater, but Gamboa’s mesmerizing hand speed and impressive power were entirely too much for the Philadelphia-based fighter from Tanzania. Referee Steve Smoger stopped their scheduled 12-round fight for the Cuban-born Gamboa’s World Boxing Association 126-pound crown 2:35 into the second round, once Mtagwa hit the canvas a third time.
Waipahu boxer Brian Viloria relinquished his International Boxing Federation light flyweight world championship in an upset loss to Colombia’s Carlos Tamara last night in the Philippines.
Tamara defeated Viloria via 12th round TKO.
Media outlets in the Philippines reported that Viloria collapsed in his locker room after the bout, and was rushed to a hospital. GMA News in the Philippines was reporting that Viloria was conscious and in stable condition late last night.
The world championship bout was scheduled for 12 rounds at the Cuneta Astrodome in Manila.
Amir Kahn once again showed why a lot of boxing insiders believe he has the talent and power to become a future star.
Kahn (22-1, 16 KOs) needed but 76 seconds to destroy Dmitiry Salita (30-1-1, 16 KOs). Kahn quickly dropped Salita with a quick right hand to open up the bout. Moments later, Kahn dropped his opponent again with a barrage of punches. The end came after Kahn dropped Salita for a third time. Referee Luis Pabon felt Salita was in no condition to continue.
On the undercard, Kevin Mitchell (30-0, 22 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decison over Breidis Prescott (21-2, 18 KOs), the man that handed Kahn his lone loss. Mitchell outboxed Prescott via scores of 119-110, 118-111, 117-111.
Other Notable Undercard Bouts
John Simpson (21-6, 9 KOs) TKO 7 Stevie Bell (18-2-2, 5 KOs)
Enzo Maccarinelli (30,-4, 23 KOs) KO 1 Kirstian Jaksi (6-13-4, 0 KOs)
(By Erik Killin @ Ringside) – Matt Godfrey survived a first round knockdown to narrowly defeat hometown favorite Michael Simms via majority decision. Scores were 96-93, 95-93, and 94-94. Simms dropped Godfrey with a short right in round one. Godfrey came back in round two mostly due to Simms’ inactivity. Godfrey doubled up on his jab and outworked Simms in the middle rounds. Had Simms picked up the pace late, he may have gotten a majority draw. I scored it 96-93 for Godfrey. With the victory, Godfrey improves to 20-1.
On the undercard, Undefeated lightweight Stan “The Man” Martyniouk improved to (7-0) beating previously undefeated Jorge Marquez (3-1) via unanimous decision. Martyniouk started out the fight boxing and showing his technical advantage over the tough Marquez. Marquez came back in round two, evening the fight with a solid inside game. Stan won rounds three and four with his punching accuracy. Martyniouk was the faster fighter, landing some good counters and combos in round five. Marquez came on strong in round six taking the fight to Stan staying on him until the final bell. I scored it 58-56, Martyniouk.
Local light heavyweights Otis Griffin and Ernesto Castaneda squared off in a crowd pleasing six round bout. Griffin was busy in round one throwing good combos and left hooks to the body. Castaneda came back winning round two with his aggression. Castaneda appeared to win rounds three and four with his work rate. Griffin stayed inside fighting Castaneda’s fight. Griffin, who seemingly appeared to be fighting the wrong fight, dropped Castaneda with a combo in the final round to score a come from behind knockout at 1:02 of round number six. Griffin improves to 20-6-2 while Castaneda drops to 11-8-1.
In the opener, undefeated welterweight Geraldo Lopez of Vaccaville moved his record to 4-0 beating Whittier’s Ivan Diaz (1-3) via majority decision. Lopez survived a late surge by Diaz in round four to take the close fight.
The Red Lion hotel showcased its new outdoor multipurpose resort and entertainment venue Saturday. Announced crowd was 810.
Blues artist Otis Taylor held two concerts inside at JB’s lounge.
(By Datyon Morinaga, Honolulu Adviser) - Waipahu’s Brian Viloria walked out of the Blaisdell Center Arena last night with his IBF world championship belt, his health, and the admiration of thousands of boxing fans in Hawaii.
The only thing he missed on his checklist was a knockout of Mexico’s Jesus Iribe.
Viloria successfully defended his IBF light flyweight world title with a unanimous decision over Iribe in the main event of the “Island Assault” boxing card.
A crowd of around 3,000 watched Viloria improve to 26-2, including 4-0 in Hawaii.
Iribe, who was ranked No. 15 by the IBF, dropped to 15-6-5.
“Jesus came to fight, man,” Viloria said. “I told you guys from the start he was no walkover. He brought his A game. Luckily, I brought my A game and we got to put on a great show.”
(By Santos A. Perez, Miami Herald) - Juan Urango saw Randall Bailey while lying on the canvas, his title reign in jeopardy.
Barely beating referee Tommy Kimmons’ 10-count, Urango reached his feet and eventually made Bailey a frequent canvas visitor.
Urango dropped Bailey twice in the ninth round and again in the 10th and successfully defended his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title Friday at Seminole Hard Rock Live.
Instead of wilting from Bailey’s sixth-round scoring knockdown, Urango became stronger and gradually wore down Bailey. The punishment forced Bailey’s trainer John David Jackson to spare his fighter from additional harm. Jackson stepped into the ring apron and forced Kimmons to stop the fight at 1:51 of the round.
“He caught me with a good shot but I fought with all my heart,” Urango said. “I started hitting him to the body and that’s what helped me get the victory.”
(Skysports.com) - The Californian boxer, who has also held the IBF title at featherweight, was never in trouble against the defending champion.
Guerrero, who knocked out the mouth piece of his opponent in the sixth round, did have to deal with a cut near his left eye after an accidental clash of heads.
Klassen, competing for the first time outside his native South Africa, lost out in his first defence of the belt he won only four months ago.
(AP) – LAS VEGAS — Nonito Donaire unanimously outpointed Rafael Concepcion on Saturday night to take the WBA interim title in his super flyweight debut.
Donaire, the 26-year-old Filipino star who vacated his IBF flyweight title to move up in weight, improved to 22-1 with his 21st consecutive victory. Judge Max De Luca scored the fight 117-111, Duane Ford had it 115-113, and Jerry Roth called it 116-112.
“I’m here to give honor to my country,” said Donaire, cheered on by a large Filipino crowd at the Hard Rock. “We are great fighters. I came here to represent and fight with all of my heart.”
Donaire used a potent jab to cut open a gash under Concepcion’s left eye midway through the second round.
“The cut really bothered me in the first few rounds, but I got used to it,” Concepcion said. “This fight was a marathon and I was here to run the entire race.
“I was expecting a fight from a real Filipino fighter, not a runner. He didn’t want to fight. He wanted to run. … I knew he was a great fighter, a great technician. If he would have had a warriors’ heart, we would have exchanged more.”
(By Tim Smith, New York Daily News) – BILOXI, Miss. – Roy Jones Jr. toyed with Jeff Lacy for the first four rounds and then punished him for six more before Lacy’s corner mercifully stopped the bout after the 10th round Saturday night. Jones scored a TKO victory in the light-heavyweight match before a sparse crowd at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Lacy (25-3, 17 KOs) didn’t provide enough of a challenge to test Jones, so how much mileage the 40-year-old former undisputed 175-pound champion actually will get from the match is questionable. For Lacy, a former super middleweight champion, this was probably the end of the road.
WBO Junior Welterweight Champion, Timothy Bradley (25-0, 12 KOs), looked to be the superior fighter through two rounds before a clash of heads opened up a gash over Nate Campbell’s (33-6-1, 25 KOs) left eye in the third. The referee didn’t motion a ruling that the cut had been caused from an accidental clash of heads as Campbell complained the cut was indeed a result of a butt. All the while, Bradley continued to put the heat on a fighter visibly affected by the unfortunate turn of events.
At the end of the third round, while in his corner, Campbell complained that he couldn’t see from the left eye. The bout was soon stopped after Campbell repeatedly stated he couldn’t continue.
Initially, the match’s ruling seemed to be up in the air. If the referee deems the cut a result of a clash of heads, the match is ruled a “No Contest.” If the referee deems the cut was a result of a punch, Bradley wins the match via TKO. Despite replays indicating the cut had come as a result of a headbutt, referee David Mendoza stuck to his initial TKO ruling. In the post-fight interview, Mendoza asserted his belief that he saw the cut appear after Bradley had landed a punch.
On this night, Bradley retained his title in controversial fashion, but it’s still possible that the victory could be overturned to a “No Contest.” Whether or not that happens, one thing is for sure, Campbell deserves an immediate rematch to clear up all controversy.
Witter/Alexander
In the co-feature bout, Devon Alexander (19-0, 12 KOs) was awared an eight round TKO after former champion, Junior Witter (37-3-2, 22 KOs), refused to come out for the ninth citing an injury. With the victory, Alexander captured the vacant WBC Welterweight title.
Alexander was in control for most the bout as he managed to hurt Witter several times. Witter made the bout sloppy and applied excessive holding tactics as he tired. A pattern appeared to be set as Alexander looked well on his way towards winning the bout via decision prior to Witter throwing in the towel.
