By Derek Bonnett A word to the wise: if you want a judge to score the blood in boxing, try yellow gloves. In the Sweet Science a blemish or two can mean a world of experience for a world-title challenger. Making his second attempt to win a world crown , Ryosuke Iwasa looked past his stoppage defeats to Shinsuke Yamanaka and Lee Haskins, and focused solely on dethroning his fellow countryman Yukinori Oguni at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.
By Derek Bonnett Many boxing fans came to the Stub Hub Arena in Carson, California hoping to see redemption or justification for Roman Gonzalez following his controversial loss at Madison Square Garden back in March. Instead, boxing fans were treated to an emphatic display of punching power from Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in his effort to retain his WBC 115 super flyweight title.
By Derek Bonnett Twenty-two year old Mexican, Luis "Pantera" Nery crashed Shinsuke Yamanaka’s bantamweight world title reign with a devastating performance that just may lead the dethroned champion toward retirement like his countryman Takashi Uchiyama and Takashi Miura last month. The challenger traveled from Tijuana, Mexico to Shimazu Arena in Kyoto, Japan.
By Derek Bonnett Vasyl Lomachenko put his WBO 130-pound title on the line against Miguel Marriaga at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA. The match-up, shown live on ESPN without a premium price tag, did little to inspire the imagination, but it did conjure my recollection of another boxer I had not thought of in some time: Jimmy Garcia.
By Derek Bonnett The world’s top two light heavyweights Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev clashed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino and Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada for a genuine super fight rematch scheduled for twelve rounds. The first bout produced an excellent twelve round display of boxing ability from both men and sparked great controversy following Ward receiving a unanimous decision by a single point. The rematch produced even more, but, instead of poor judging, referee Tony W
By Derek Bonnett Adonis Stevenson put his light heavyweight title on the line in a rematch with Poland’s Andrej Fonfara at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In their first encounter, Stevenson walked away with a competitive decision victory. The rematch ended more swiftly if not too hastily, but Virgil Hunter, Fonfara’s trainer had seen enough.
By Derek Bonnett At Sports Palace in Rostov-na- Donu, Russia, big punching Dmitry Kudryashov met Olanrewaju Durodola in a rematch of their 2015 fight of the year. The two round war, which saw Kudryashov losing his unbeaten record by stoppage promised fireworks in the rematch and the two big punching cruiserweights delivered another great war.
By Derek Bonnett Just one day after a huge triple header featuring Ryota Murata, Ken Shiro, and Daigo Higa in world championship bouts, both Naoya Inoue and Akira Yaegashi put their respective world titles on the line at the very same Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Today’s action was brief by comparison, but another shock wave was sent throughout the light flyweight division and one of boxing’s best lived up to his moniker.
By Derek Bonnett Two Japanese boxers captured their first world championships as a professional at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan this morning, May 20. A third fell victim to poor scoring. Ryota Murata overcame a slow start to seemingly capture a middleweight strap with a decision over Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam. However, the judges favored N’Dam controversially. Daigo Higa dropped Mexico’s Juan Hernandez six times throughout the six rounds contested to claim a flyweight
By Derek Bonnett In other Japanese action, Japanese Wonder Kid, Kosei Tanaka, put his light flyweight title on the line against little known Angel Acosta at Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. Tanaka was making the first defense of his title against the Puerto Rican challenger. The two boxers let it all hang out for twelve action packed rounds which saw the champion retaining his title, but the challenger had plenty of room to gripe with the final scores.
By Derek Bonnett Kazuto Ioka placed his WBA flyweight title on the line at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan against Noknoi Sitthiprasert in a twelve round contest. Ioka, nephew of the great Hiroki Ioka, set a workman-like pace moving his shots to the body and head of his challenger. What started as taps to the body with a jab evolved into Ioka’s preferred combo of a sinking hook to the body followed by an uppercut through the guard of the Thai-boxer.
Marlon Tapales may have lost his WBO bantamweight title to the scales after having to drop a reported ten pounds in the final days of preparation, but he and Shohei Omori put on a heated performance. Tapales, running on fumes from the start, fought with a look of desperation as if unaware how far his gas tank could take him.
By Derek Bonnett The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, fast becoming one of boxing’s hottest venues, played host to a world class double-header featuring Shawn Porter in the main event against Andre Berto in a twelve round welterweight bout. The two former world champions at welterweight vied for a crack at unified champion Keith Thurman in this title eliminator. In the co-feature, Jermell Charlo put his light middleweight title on the line against, first time world title challenger,
By Derek Bonnett Underneath the Berto-Porter clash at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York, Jermall Charlo defended his version of the 154-pound title with a scintillating one punch KO over Charles Hatley on Showtime. The two Texan rivals matched up well on paper, but it would be the defending champion who turned in a career-defining performance away from home.
By Derek Bonnett HBO’s visits to MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill was the network’s first visit to Maryland, USA for boxing purposes, but fans can know with a certainty that the talent showcases in the ring with not be seen for the last time. The triple-header featured the sport’s top three Ukrainian talents, arguably, in trio of standout performances against game, world class opposition with titles, contention, and Pound for Pound ramifications on the line. As one Ukrainian
By Derek Bonnett from Ringside Live boxing, always maintaining a consistent presence in New England, returned to Worcester, Massachusetts at The Palladium. The card was presented by Rivera Promotions Entertainment and was highlighted by the ring return of Connecticut lightweight Matt Remillard. Also from the Constitution State, junior welterweight hopeful Mykquan Williams continued his march up the prospect ladder. The eleven-bout card, ably announced by Massachusetts’s own John Vena, featured
By Derek Bonnett Former three-time world champion Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico kept his hopes alive for one last major fight with a third round stoppage Francisco Contreras at Gimnasio Municipal de Jose Neri Santos in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
By Derek Bonnett at The Garden The main event between Gennady Golovkin and Danny Jacobs pit the two best middleweight in the world against one another at Madison Square Garden. Although a New York native, Jacobs hardly held the hometown edge as Golovkin fans came out in masses to support the visiting champion. The tension at MSG was high following Roman Gonzalez’ upset loss to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, but the main event at hand had fans ready for another thrilling ride.
By Derek Bonnett from The Garden Fighting for the first time since his epic battle with Carlos Cuadras and the loss of his trainer Arnulfo Obando, Roman Gonzalez took on big hitting former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai at Madison Square Garden. The twelve round super flyweight bout energized the crowd at MSG as soon as the pre-fight introductions. Gonzalez was making the first defense of his title since defeating Carlos Cuadras in September 2016. The fans at MSG were treated to an early
By Derek Bonnett at The Garden Former 115-pound champion Carlos Cuadras took on former title challenger David Carmona at Madison Square underneath Roman Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin. Cuadras, in fact, had not fought since his decision loss to Gonzalez in September 2016. The two contenders squared off in a super flyweight bout devised to keep Cuadras as a viable rematch challenger for Gonzalez.