The 860 universe

[Thomas Hearns]

Aladdin Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2000-06-16

WBA JWW CHAMPIONSHIP
Zab Judah 13-0-0 (8) KO1 Devon Alexander 12-1-2 (4)
Undefeated star Zab Judah only needed less than a round to konck Alexander out.
Alexander knowed that his only form to win this fight was outworking Judah, so he started the fight on a very active way. Judah expected his opportunity as a counterpuncher and finally after Alexander failed with a winging left , Judah landed a solid punch under Alexander’s ribcage and floored him for the ten count.

Also on the undercard:

JWW: Darryl Tyson 3-10-0 (2) UD10 Ray Oliveira 4-10-1 (2)
HW: Jersey Joe Walcott 11-1-2 (4) UD10 Kirk Johnson 8-7-0 (3)
JMW: Nino Benvenuti 13-3-0 (5) TKO2 Yuri Foreman 7-8-1 (2)
FW: Vuyani Bungu 5-10-0 (2) UD10 Rico Ramos 5-9-0 (1)
MW: Shinji Takehara 6-8-0 (5) UD10 Reggie Johnson 3-9-1 (1)
LW: Gabriel Ruelas 4-10-1 (1) UD10 Ricardo Silva 3-10-1 (2)
HW: Lamon Brewster 11-6-0 (5) TKO4 Peter McNeely 0-13-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

Betostadium Arena, Bernal, Argentina, 2000-06-16

IBF JWW CHAMPIONSHIP
Marcos Rene Maidana 14-4-1 (6) TKO7 Sharmba Mitchell 12-4-0 (5)
On a classic fight between a boxer and a puncher Marcos Maidana’s power showed to be too much to hold to Sharmba Mitchell.
On the first round Mitchell outboxed Maidana to win the stanza, the second round had more action with Miadana having the best part, the argentine continued his momentum winning the third round in which both fighters were hurt.
Mitchell edged the fourth round landing more punches than Miadana but the argentine landed the best blow: a straight right that shook Mitchell.
Mitchell still was in control on the fifth round and clearly won it but again Maidana hurt him near the end of the round.
More of the same on the sixth round with Mitchell clearly outboxing Maidana but again a great hook by the argentine hurt Mitchell.
Mitchell seemed to be in control but every time that Maidana landed a big punch he hurt Sharmba.
On the seventh round a straight right by Maidana really hurt Mitchell and from this moment Shramba only tried to cover up and retreat. Maidana landed several power punches until landing a violent cross that made Mitchell stumble and the referee stopped the fight.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 58-56 and 59-56 for Mitchell and 57-57.

Also on the undercard:

SHW: Lawrence Clay-Bey 5-6-1 (5) KO8 David Bostice 1-7-1 (1)
JWW: Hector Camacho Jr 4-6-0 (1) UD10 Francisco Bojado 9-5-0 (4)
CW: Marco Huck 8-5-0 (6) TKO3 Tom Sharkey 8-8-1 (5)
FW: Salvador Sanchez 13-3-0 (9) UD10 Guty Espadas Jr 7-7-0 (2)
HW: Monte Barrett 9-6-1 (5) UD10 Vaughn Bean 3-10-1 (2)
FLY: Rocky Gattellari 7-4-0 (1) UD10 Carlos Salazar 7-5-2 (1)
FW: Juan Manuel Lopez 4-4-2 (4) UD10 Daniel Zaragoza 5-9-0 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2000-06-16

WBO JWW CHAMPIONSHIP
Aaron Pryor 13-1-0 (10) KO8 Bruno Arcari 10-2-0 (6)
Bruno Acari gave Aaron Pryor a very tough fight for seven rounds until being killed on the eight one.
Pryor clearly won the first round and he mantained the momentum on the second in which he also landed a big straight right that made Acari stumble.
Acari rallied and won the following two rounds but Pryor hurt him at the end of both stanzas.
On the fifth round Pryor regained the control of the fight and he deepened his dominance on a one-sided sixth round.
Acari was more aggressive and edged the seventh round but again a straight right by Pryor hurt him. At this stage of the fight it was clear that Pryor could take Acari’s best punches but Pryor hurt Acari every time he landed the straight right.
Thirty seconds into the eighth round Pryor connected a violent shot under Acari’s ribacage and dropped him for a three count. A winded Acari continued fighting but a minute later was again on the floor (this time for good) courtesy of a lighting straight right by Pryor.
At the time of the stoppage the scorcards were 68-66 and 67-66 (x2) for the champion Pryor.

Also on the undercard:

CW: Vincenzo Cantatore 4-9-1 (2) TKO3 Akim Taffer 2-10-1 (2)
JWW: Steve Forbes 1-7-1 (0) MDraw10 Antonio Diaz 7-14-0 (2)
SMW: Jeff Lacy 3-9-0 (1) KO4 Maselino Masoe 9-6-1 (7)
LHW: Thomas Ulrich 5-5-0 (3) KO2 Len Hutchins 3-8-2 (0)
MW: Hugo Corro 2-8-1 (0) UD10 Jorge Heiland 4-8-0 (1)
CW: Jean-Marc Mormeck 8-5-1 (4) TKO8 Carlos DeLeon 4-7-1 (1)
HW: Jimmy Young 11-5-1 (2) SD10 Zora Folley 7-5-1 (3)

[Thomas Hearns]

Freeman Colisseum, United States, 2000-06-20

WBC LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Benny Leonard 13-0-0 (6) UD12 Joe Gans 11-2-1 (3)
Benny Leonard retained his title on a very competitive fight against Joe Gans. Leonard took an early lead on the scorecards on the first half of the fight and then he could hold off a late charge by Gans.
Gans started the fight winning the first round but the Leonard used his outstanding boxing skills to win the following five rounds of the fight.
Gans had a big seventh round and the eighth stanza was an even one. Leonard edged the ninth stanza but Gans answered edging the tenth one.
Again Leonard took the control on the eleventh round and finally Gans won a one-sided last round.
Gans did a great fight beeing always competitive and for moments outboxing Leonard but it was not enough for him to earn the victory. My scorecard was 116-113 for Leonard the offical scorecards were 116-113 116-114 and 115-114 all for the undefeated champion Benny Leonard.

Also on the ubdercard:

WW: Joshua Clottey 3-8-3 (1) MDraw10 Andrew Lewis 6-7-1 (4)
FLY: Jake Matlala 8-9-0 (1) MD10 Jose Carita Lopez 3-10-3 (1)
WW: Walter Matthysse 2-12-0 (2) TKO6 Jose Antonio Rivera 8-9-0 (3)
FLY: Ivan Calderon 11-4-0 (0) TKO9 Irene Pacheco 6-7-0 (5)
LW: Ken Buchanan 11-5-0 (1) UD10 Efren Hinojosa 0-11-0 (0)
FW: Azumah Nelson 11-6-1 (5) TKO7 In-Jin Chi 2-8-0 (2)
HW: Tommy Burns 7-3-3 (2) TKO9 Alex Stewart 8-8-1 (5)

[Thomas Hearns]

El Paso Convention Center, El Paso, TX, United States, 2000-06-23

WBA LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Joe Brown 13-1-0 (4) MDraw12 Jose Luis Castillo 9-0-1 (6)
On a very even and changing fight between this two lightweight superstars
Joe Browncould retian his title when the fight was ruled a draw.
Neither of the boxers had the total control for a long time and the result of the fight was always into doubt.
The challenger Castillo started better winning the first two round but Brown reacted winning the following three rounds on a big form and also shaking Castillo several times.
On the sixth round the pace slow down but Brown edged the stanza with little effort.
But Castillo reacted and won rounds seven and eight convincingly.
From the ninth round to the end of the fight all the stanzas were actionless and very competitive and difficult to rate with Brown edging the ninth and eleventh rounds and Castillo the tenth and the last ones. My scorecard was 114-114 and the official scorecards were 114-114 (x2) and 115-114 for Castillo.

Also on the undercard:

HW: Joe Mesi 6-7-0 (4) KO8 Randall Cobb 1-10-0 (1)
SHW: Robert Helenius 6-6-0 (6) UD10 Alexander Povetkin 8-2-0 (4)
BW: Jorge Elicer Julio 4-11-0 (2) UD10 Gaby Canizales 6-9-0 (2)
LHW: Donny Lalonde 10-7-0 (6) UD10 Georges Carpentier 9-4-0 (2)
MW: Stanley Ketchel 10-1-0 (8) TKO9 Sergio Mora 3-10-1 (0)
JLW: Hector Camacho 9-0-0 (4) UD10 Miguel Garcia 3-8-2 (3)
FW: Fashan 3K Battery 8-6-1 (1) UD10 Wilfredo Vazquez 4-12-1 (3)

[Thomas Hearns]

Hartford Sheraton, Hartford, CT, United States, 2000-06-27

IBF LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Pernell Whitaker 14-0-0 (4) SD12 Julio Diaz 12-1-0 (8)
Pernell Whitaker retained his world title with much more trouble than expected.
Diaz did a very good fight but under no circunstances he won the fight, without doubt Whitaker was the clear winner.
Whitaker started winning the first round and then he gave a clinic of boxing to Diaz on the second round.
Diaz appeared on the fight winning an action packed third round in which he hurt Whitaker with a strong right cross.
Whitaker regained the control winning the fourth round but Diaz answered winning the following two ones to evened the fight.
Whitaker edged the seventh round and then with more confidence he clearly won rounds eight and nine.
Diaz didn’t gave up and won the tenth round, the eleventh was an even one and finally Whitaker won a one-sided last round in which Diaz didn’t land a clean punch.
My scorecard was 116-113 for Whitaker and the official scorecards were 116-113 and 117-112 for Whitaker and 115-114 for Diaz.

Also on the undercard:

WW: Simon Brown 12-3-1 (6) KO4 Walter Crucce 1-15-1 (1)
HW: Axel Schultz 11-6-0 (1) UD10 Max Baer 12-4-0 (7)
MW: Laszlo Papp 9-1-1 (5) SD10 Bennie Briscoe 10-5-1 (4)
HW: Gary Mason 5-5-0 (2) UD10 Cliff Etienne 2-12-0 (1)
MW: Jermain Taylor 5-3-1 (3) KO2 Kelly Pavlik 8-3-2 (6)
JLW: Phillip N'Dou 5-6-0 (3) TKO6 Johnatan Barros 5-7-1 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Braves Field, Boston, MA, United States, 2000-06-30

WBO LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Ike Williams 13-3-0 (8) DQ3 Roberto Duran 13-1-1 (10)
On a very polemic fight Ike Williams won the WBO Lightweight crown when Roberto Duran was disqualified for a blatant low blow on the third round. At the time of the stoppage Duran was the clear dominator of the fight.
The first round had a lot of action with both fighters trying to atack but with Duran clearly having the best part hurting Williams several times.
The second round was also very exciting with Duran in control but with Williams doing it better. The highlight of the round was an uppercut by Duran that cut Williams on the inside of his right eyebrow.
On the third round Duran was again in control and made Williams stumble with a great hook.
With his eye cut and swollen Williams looked one punch to go and Duran landed a powerfull and great….low blow and the referee immediately disqualified him facing the angry protests of the Panamanian camp. At the time of the stoppage Duran was leading by 20-18 in all three scorecards.

Also on the undercard:

HW: Michael Dokes 5-8-3 (3) UD10 Carl Williams 8-4-0 (2)
JLW: Kennedy McKinney 6-4-1 (2) SD10 Luisito Espinoza 0-12-1 (0)
BW: Hector Sanchez 3-11-1 (1) UD10 Pedro Decima 6-9-1 (2)
FLY: Luis Ibarra 2-9-0 (0) MDraw10 Humberto Gonzales 7-3-1 (4)
JMW: Miguel Castellini 6-8-2 (2) KO9 Tony Ayala 12-2-0 (7)
JLW: Cesar Soto 9-7-1 (5) TKO9 John-John Molina 9-4-0 (6)

[EricKarl]

Echoes of Duran / Buchannon but with a dsq

[Thomas Hearns]

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, United States, 2000-06-02

SHW Non Title fight
#9 Wladimir Klitschko 11-2-0 (10) KO2 #10 Nicolay Valuev 8-7-1 (7)
Wladimir Klistchko destroyed fellow top-ten ranked Nicolas Valuev on only two rounds.
On the first round Valuev started aggressive and tried to corner Klistchko but the ucranian clearly outlanded him. The only moment for Valuev on the round was seconds before the bell rang when he landed a combination downstairs-upstairs and made Wlad retreat.
On the seconds round Valuev did it a bit better for the first minute but then Wlad connected a big right cross followed by a vicious hook and put the giant Valuev to sleep for the ten count.
After the fight Wladimir protested that all four champions are avoiding him.

Also on the undercard:

FLY: Omar Narvaez 9-4-0 (5) KO8 Peter Mathebula 4-11-0 (1)
SHW: Lisandro Diaz 1-9-0 (0) TKO7 Julius Francis 0-12-0 (0)
LW: Harold Brazier 5-10-0 (2) UD10 Jesse James Leija 4-9-0 (1)
SMW: Juan Carlos Gimenez 5-9-1 (3) UD10 Darrin Van Horn 4-6-1 (1)
BW: Jiro Watanabe 6-7-0 (2) TKO9 Mauricio Pastrana 4-9-1 (2)
HW: David Tua 8-5-0 (8) UD10 Jesse Ferguson 4-12-1 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

MW Non title fight
#32 Carlos Monzon 10-3-1 (4) KO7 #57 Edison Miranda 7-11-0 (4)
Former title challenger Carlos Monzon continued his journey to return to the mix after being disqualified in his fight against fellow argentine Hecor Velazco.
In front of him was hard hitter but skill-limited Edison Miranda.
Miranda edged the first round with the highlight of a straight right that stunned Monzon. On the second round Monzon took the control of the fight winning a one-sided round and hurting Miranda with his right hooks.
Surprisingly Miranda regained the control of the fight on the third round and he almost dropped Monzon with a crushing right. After that Monzon recovered well and he also hurt Miranda with a big cross.
Monzon was again in total control of the fight winning one-sided rounds four and five.
On the sixth round Miranda didn’t land any clean punches and Monzon easily outboxed him.
On the seventh a round a totally confident Monzon went for the kill and after punishing Miranda for almost all the round the argentine dropped him for good with a quick barrage of punches seconds before the bell rang.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 58-56 (x2) and 59-55 for Monzon.

Also on the undercard:

FLY: Juanito Rubillar 5-9-0 (0) UD10 Mario DeMarco 5-12-0 (3)
JWW: Frankie Randall 10-4-0 (4) KO6 Juan Carlos Villarreal 1-13-0 (1)
WW: Kendall Holt 10-6-1 (6) Draw10 Saul Alvarez 8-4-1 (4)
LHW: Mike Gibbons 6-2-1 (0) UD10 Daniel Judah 3-12-0 (0)
HW: Sonny Liston 13-1-0 (11) KO1 Charley Mitchell 0-13-0 (0)
FW: George Dixon 12-4-1 (3) UD10 Israel Vazquez 3-7-1 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Convention Hall, Camden, NJ, United States, 2000-06-09

HW Non Title Fight
#25 George Foreman 12-4-0 (9) UD10 #45 Chris Byrd 7-6-0 (1)
On a fight between a boxer and a hard-puncher Byrd knew that his only chance to win was outboxing and outworking Foreman and that was exactly what he did on the first round but when Foreman landed his devastating right cross the difference of power was on clear evidence.
On the following two rounds Foreman took the total control, Byrd tried to stay on the outside but the crosses and straight rights by Foreman did a lot of damage.
On the fourth round Byrd did it better and landed some good punches but Foreman still edged the round.
On the fifth round a short clean cross by Foreman sent Byrd to the canvas for an eighth count. Byrd got up and survived (with some difficults) the rest of the round.
Foreman continued his dominance on the sixth round, the seventh was more even but a great right hook by Foreman that hurt Byrd gave him the round again.
On the eighth round Foreman looked a bit tired and slow and a rejuvenated Byrd clearly won the round but near the end of the stanza Foreman landed a body shot that wobbled Byrd.
Foreman easy controlled an actionless ninth round, both fighters seemed to be tired and the pace slowed back a lot.
On the last round Foreman tried to finish the fight inside the distance and battered Byrd all the round until dropped him with a solid hook. Byrd got up at five and Foreman was too tired to finish him. My scorecard was 98-90 for Foreman and the official scorecards were 98-90 and 99-89 (x2) for big George.

Also on the undercard:

FW: Sergio Palma 12-2-5 (1) SD10 Naseem Hamed 9-6-1 (4)
JMW: Robert Hines 8-9-0 (2) Tech UD6 Carlos Bojorquez 2-8-1 (0)
LHW: Matthew Saad Muhammad 7-3-1 (4) KO9 Alex Hilton 2-14-0 (0)
BW: Carlos Zarate 12-3-1 (8) TKO4 Cruz Carbajal 3-11-1 (2)
SHW: Tyson Fury 6-7-0 (3) MD10 Ross Purity 1-12-1 (0)
SMW: Vincenzo Nardiello 4-7-0 (3) UD10 Mikkel Kessler 11-3-1 (9)

[Thomas Hearns]

Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM, United States, 2000-06-11

FW: Non Title Fight
#11 Kevin Kelley 10-4-0 (6) SD10 #25 Jeff Fenech 6-3-1 (3)
On a very competitive fight between two top featherweights Kevin Kelley edged Jeff Fenech by a split but righteous split decision.
Kelly started dominating the first two rounds, Fenech answered winning the third one but Kelly regained the control of the fight winning the following two rounds.
With half the way behind Kelly had a clear advantagge.
Fenech won the sixth and seventh rounds trying to start a rally and the eighth round was a close and difficult to rate stanza. Finally Kelly won the ninth round and Fenech won the last one. My scorecard was 96-95 for Kelly , the official scorecards were 96-95 (x2) for Kelly and 97-94 for Fenech.

Also on the undercard:

MW: Bert Schenk 4-9-1 (3) UD10 Julio Chavez Jr. 4-10-0 (3)
MW: Billy Papke 11-4-0 (4) UD10 Juan Roldan 2-11-0 (1)
HW: Buster Douglas 2-9-1 (0) TKO5 Al Lewis 7-7-1 (1)
JMW: Bronco McKart 3-12-0 (1) KO3 Verdell Smith 0-13-0 (0)
SHW: Gonzalo Basile 1-10-0 (0) UD10 Danny Williams 7-9-1 (4)
LHW: Antonio Tarver 9-5-0 (8) KO2 Richard Grant 2-11-1 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS

WBC #2 LENNOX LEWIS 14-0-0 (10) VS #6 HASIM RAHMAN 14-4-0 (11)

WBA #1 HENRY AKINWANDE 15-1-1 (6) VS #11 TRAVIS WALKER 9-4-0 (5)

IBF #3 VITALY KLISTCHKO 16-0-0 (10) VS #8 OLDANIER SOLIS 6-4-0 (2)

WBO #4 IKE IBEABUCHI 15-1-1 (8) VS #7 RIDDICK BOWE 13-2-1 (7)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

WBC #1 NIGEL BENN 16-4-0 (9) VS #6 STANLEY KETCHELL 11-1-0 (9)

WBA #4 MARVIN HAGLER 15-0-0 (7) VS #9 LAZLO PAPP 10-1-1 (5)

IBF #5 BERNARD HOPKINS 11-2-1 (2) VS #7 FULGENCIO OBELMEGIAS 11-6-0 (4)

WBO #2 MICHAEL NUNN 13-1-0 (4) VS #8 JACK DEMPSEY NP 13-0-1 (3)

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHTS

WBC #3 WINKY WRIGHT 11-2-0 (4) VS #14 ALFREDO ANGULO 9-3-1 (6)

WBA #5 JOHN MUGABI 11-4-2 (11) VS #10 TERRY NORRIS 12-3-1 (6)

IBF #4 RODNEY JONES 6-4-3 (3) VS #11 MIKE MCCALLUM 13-0-0 (6)

WBO #1 SERGIO MARTINEZ 14-1-1 (8) VS #12 MIGUEL CASTELLINI 7-8-2 (3)

FEATHERWEIGHTS

WBC #1 ALEXIS ARGUELLO 12-2-0 (7) VS #12 AZUMAH NELSON 12-6-1 (6)

WBA #3 WILLIE PEPP 13-0-0 (4) VS #7 JOAN GUZMAN 12-5-0 (6)

IBF #4 HENRY ARMSTRONG 15-1-1 (13) VS #8 EUSEBIO PEDROZA 13-2-3 (6)

WBO # 2 SANDY SADDLER 12-3-0 (8) VS #5 LORIS STECCA 6-7-0 (3)

BANTAMWEIGHTS

WBC #2 MANNY PACQUIAO 15-2-0 (11) VS #11 GUTY ESPADAS 9-6-1 (1)

WBA #10 SUNG KIL MOON 14-3-0 (7) VS #15 ROCKY JUAREZ 7-6-4 (3)

IBF #1 WILFREDO GOMEZ 10-1-0 (7) VS #13 GENARO GARCIA 4-8-1 (2)

WBO #8 JOHNY COULON 13-3-2 (2) VS #14 ABE ATTEL 14-2-1 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, United Kingdom, 2000-07-01

WBC SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Lennox Lewis 14-0-0 (10) TKO4 Hasim Rahman 14-4-0 (11)
Second defense for the undefeated top Super heavyweight Champion this time against hard hitter Hasim Rahman.
Lewis easily controlled the first round outboxing and outlanded Rahman, the second round was more even but with Lewis still in command.
The third round was one-sided for Lewis , he rocked Rahman a pair of times and he also cut Rahman above his left eye with a straight right.
On the fourth round Rahman was finding his pace for the first time on the fight and there was back and forth action until Lewis connected a big left-right combination and reopened Rahman cut and the referee decided to stop (too early) the fight.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecrds were 30-27 (x2) and 29-28 for the champion Lewis.

Aloso on the undercard:

MW: Rocky Graziano 7-5-0 (5) UD12 Edison Miranda 7-12-0 (4)
JLW: Cassius Baloyi 0-9-2 (0) SD12 Carl Greaves 3-14-1 (0)
MW: Sergio Mora 3-11-1 (0) SD12 Vito Antuofermo 4-6-2 (2)
FW: Agapito Sanchez 1-12-0 (1) TKO6 Fashan 3K Battery 9-6-1 (1)
SMW: Andre Ward 16-3-0 (5) UD12 Otis Grant 8-9-4 (2)
LHW: Bob Foster 8-3-0 (6) TKO10 David Veeder 2-14-0 (1)
HW: Donovan Ruddock 5-10-0 (3) KO3 Joe Mesi 7-7-0 (5)

[Thomas Hearns]

Bowlers, United Kingdom, 2000-07-02

WBA SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Travis Walker 9-4-0 (5) KO5 Henry Akinwande 15-1-1 (6)
On a very huge upset Travis Walker destroyed Henry Akinwande on five rounds to win the WBA Super Heavyweights crown.
Akinwande climbed to the ring on very poor shape, thinking more on an October blockbuster fight against Wlad Klitschko than on the fight against Walker.
Walker edged an actionless first round but Akinwande took the control on the second stanza using his reach to outbox Walker from the outside. Akinwande also stunned Walker with a winging right near the end of the round.
But on the third round a pasive Akinwande allowed Walker to control the round. An uppercut by Walker stopped Akinwande cold on the middle stages of the round.
The fourth round was a violent action-packed round with both fighters exchanging brutal uppercuts from the inside. Akinwande landed more punches but Walker connected more power blows.
Finally on the fifth round and when nothing was happened a terrible cross by Walker put Akinwande to sleep for the ten count. A brutal one-hand KO that gave Walker the world title. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 39-37 (x2) for Walker and 38-38.

Also on the undercard:

HW: James Corbett 11-3-0 (3) SD12 Adilson Rodrigues 7-5-1 (3)
FLY: Prudencio Cardona 4-6-2 (1) TKO7 Pascual Perez 15-1-1 (8)
JLW: Hector Camacho 10-0-0 (4) KO8 Nate Campbell 6-10-1 (2)
SHW: Tyson Fury 7-7-0 (3) KO5 Julius Francis 0-13-0 (0)
FW: Kid Chocolate 10-7-1 (4) KO11 Ruben Condori 1-12-0 (0)
CW: Krzysztof Wlodarczyk 2-10-0 (2) TKO4 Louis Azille 7-7-2 (4)
JWW: David Kamau 3-12-1 (0) KO1 Kelson Pinto 1-7-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

Nurnberg Racetrack, Nurnberg, Germany, 2000-07-04

IBF SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Vitali Klitschko 16-0-0 (10) UD12 Oldanier Solis 6-4-0 (2)
With much more trouble than was expected Vitaly Klitschko retained his title and his undefeated record with a laborious unanimous decision win against Oldanier Solis.
Vitaly dominated a first round with poor action and in which Solis didn’t connected any clean punches. Solis edged the second round with the highlight of a quick combination that shook Vitaly.
The Ucranian regained the control on the third round and he connected his terrible right cross for the first time hurting Solis.
Solis edged a back and forth fourth round in which both fighters were hurt. Klitschko had a big round on the fifth one when he controlled the actions and also hurt Solis with a sweet right uppercut.
The sixth was an actioless anticlimatic round that Solis edged only for being the aggressor.
Vitaly edged the seventh round but again Solis was the dominator on the eight round. At this stage the fight was deadly even and Solis had some swelling on his left eye.
Klitschko had his best round on the ninth one totally outboxing Solis hitting him and not allowing the cuban to land any clean punches. Vitaly mantained his momentum edging the following round.
Solis won the elventh round and he needed a great final but he couldn’t did it becouse Klitschko controlled the last stanza.
My scorecard was 115-113 for Klitschko and the official scorecards were 115-113 (x2) and 117-111 for the champion Vitaly.

Also on the undercard:

HW: Gerry Cooney 6-8-0 (5) UD12 Eliecer Castillo 3-6-2 (1)
CW: Teofilo Stevenson 10-5-0 (5) KO1 Akim Taffer 2-11-1 (2)
BW: Carlos Zarate 13-3-1 (9) KO8 Mbulelo Botile 2-9-1 (1)
HW: Jerry Quarry 10-4-0 (6) KO2 Tony Ross 2-10-0 (1)
LW: Miguel Angel Gonzalez 8-8-0 (5) KO2 Fabian Tejeda 6-8-2 (4)
LW: Julien Lorcy 3-13-1 (1) KO4 Levander Johnson 2-10-1 (1)
WW: Cory Spinks 10-4-1 (2) UD12 Diego Chaves 4-7-0 (3)

[Thomas Hearns]

York Hall, Bethnal Green, United Kingdom, 2000-07-05

WBO SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Riddick Bowe 13-2-1 (7) TKO9 Ike Ibeabuchi 15-1-1 (8)
On the most expected and competitive of the four Super Heavyweights title fights Riddick Bowe won the WBO crown from Ike Ibeabuchi.
The now former champion Ibeabuchi was trying to avenge his career’s only lost so now Riddick Bowe beat Ike two times (the first was by UD10) and he is the only man who beat the Nigerian fighter.
Ike Ibeabuchi started the fight on fire and completelly domintated the first round he also hurt Bowe with two consecutive uppercuts.
The second round had a lot of action with Ibeabuchi staggering Bowe a pair of times but with Bowe landing a winging right that hurt Ibeabuchi near the end of the round.
On the third round the fighters continued exchanging blows with Bowe having the best part using his uppercut as his best weapon.
On the fourth round a big right cross by Bowe sent Ibebauchi down for a seven count, the nigerian got up and then he covered up to survive taking lot of punishment in the way.
Surprisingly Ibeabuchi looked recovered on the fifth round and he landed the best punch of the round a big cross that shook Bowe.
The sixth round had lot of back and forth action with Ibeabuchi controlling the first half of the round and Bowe trying to rally throwing bombs on the second half.
Bowe controlled a violent round seventh with both fighters being hurt again. Ibeabuchi was hurt several times on this round but near the end of the stanza he landed a straight right that shook Bowe.
Ibeabuchi had a big eighth round in which he hurt Bowe with a great hook early on the round and then he battered the american for the rest of the stanza.
But on the ninth round the fight changed again and an aggressive Bowe battered Ibeabuchi until connected a straight right and sent the nigerian to the canvas. Ibeabuchi got up at eighth but looking too bad and less than a minute later Bowe landed a shot under Ike’s ribcage and sent him to the canvas again. Brave Ibeabuchi got up again but the referee didn’t allow him to continue fighting putting and end to this epic fight.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 76-75 (x2) and 77-74 for the new champion Bowe.

Also on the undercard:

FLY: Juanito Rubillar 6-9-0 (0) UD12 Rocky Gattellari 8-4-0 (1)
HW: Bert Cooper 3-14-0 (2) TKO9 George Arias 1-14-0 (1)
JWW: Miguel Angel Cotto 12-4-0 (8) TKO11 Vivian Harris 7-4-0 (4)
WW: Donald Curry 9-4-1 (7) TKO5 Harold Weston 5-3-0 (3)
WW: Ike Quartey 8-3-0 (4) UD12 Ramon LaCruz 6-9-0 (1)
LHW: Dick Tiger 9-4-0 (2) UD12 Silvio Branco 2-9-0 (0)
JMW: Raul Marquez 8-8-3 (4) TKO6 Dana Rosenblatt 4-6-1 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Kingsway Leisure Centre, United Kingdom, 2000-07-07

WBC MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Stanley Ketchel 11-1-0 (9) KO6 Nigel Benn 16-4-0 (9)
On a violent affaire Stanley Ketchel won the WBC Middleweight Title from Nigel Benn
that was doing his first title defense.
The fight statrted with fast pace with both fighters exchanging blows and with Ketchel hurting Benn several times but with Benn also putting Ketchel on trouble with his right hook.
On the second round the champion Benn took the control hurting Ketchel specially with his right hook. Ketchel finished the round with a big cut on his nose.
The third round was an even one and the pace of the fight slowed a bit.
The fourth round had back and forth action with Benn having the best part for most of the round but with Ketchel connecting the best punch of the round a hard uppercut that stopped Benn cold seconds before the bell rang.
The fifth round had again great action with Benn controlling the first half of the round and with Ketchel rallying on the second part and almost dropping Benn with a violent left right combination followed by a big right uppercut near the end of the round.
On the sixth round Ketchel came out aggressive and had the total control of the fight for the first time on the fight, he battered Benn for near two minutes unltil landing a right uppercut followed by a hook that sent Benn to the canvas for the ten count.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 48-47 and 50-46 for Benn and 48-48.

Also on the undercard:

HW: Sam McVey 18-2-0 (9) TKO9 Oliver McCall 6-4-2 (1)
MW: James Toney 9-7-0 (4) UD12 Tony Licata 3-10-0 (0)
LHW: Jeff Harding 7-8-0 (3) UD12 John Conteh 9-3-1 (3)
WW: Gustav Eder 7-4-1 (2) TKO6 Vernon Forrest 6-4-2 (2)
CW: Marco Huck 9-5-0 (7) TKO9 Pat Lawlor 2-14-0 (2)
FW: Julio Pablo Chacon 1-10-0 (0) MD12 Vuyani Bungu 6-10-0 (2)
SMW: Mikkel Kessler 11-4-1 (9) MD12 Darrin Van Horn 4-7-1 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, United States, 2000-07-09

WBA MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Marvin Hagler 15-0-0 (7) KO4 Laszlo Papp 10-1-1 (5)
The best middleweight of the world at this moment, Marvin Hagler, destroyed top contrender Lazlo Papp to defend his title for the second time.
The fight started with a bit pasive Hagler that was outlanded by Papp on the first round but on the second round Marvin caught his pace and clearly won the stanza.
Papp again controlled the third stanza and aslo put Hagler in some trouble with his hook. Hagler landed some good blows but was outworked by Papp.
But on the fourth round Hagler came aggressive and decided to finish this complex fight, Marvin connected a left hook followed by a right uppercut and hurt Papp that never recovered. Hagler patiently looked for the definition landing a big straight right in the way and finally putting Papp to sleep for the ten count with a strong left cross. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 29-28 (x2) for Hagler and 29-28 for Papp.

Also on the undercard:

JMW: Wilfredo Rivera 2-18-0 (0) KO5 Mamadou Thiam 3-9-2 (2)
LW: Eduardo Morales 6-9-1 (2) KO4 Juan Polo Perez 1-9-0 (1)
LHW: Zsolt Erdei 8-6-1 (4) Draw12 Bruno Girard 5-12-1 (1)
CW: Ralf Rocchigiani 2-10-0 (1) TKO11 Bash Ali 10-7-1 (5)
JWW: Wilfred Benitez 14-4-0 (10) KO7 Hector Camacho Jr 5-6-0 (1)
MW: Vinny Pazienza 6-7-1 (1) KO3 Mickey Walker 15-3-1 (12)
LHW: Darius Michalczewski 10-2-0 (7) TKO6 Peter Venancio 1-12-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

Motor City Arena, Detroit, MI, United States, 2000-07-10

IBF MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Bernard Hopkins 11-2-1 (2) UD12 Fulgencio Obelmejias 11-6-0 (4)
Bernard Hopkins succesfuly defended his title for the second time with a dominant unanimous decision win against Fulgencio Obelmejias.
Hopkins starting the fight on a dominating form and he dropped Obelmejias with a clean cross near the end of the first round. Obelmejias barely beat the count getting up at nine and the bell finally saved him.
Hopkins continued his momentum winning the second round convincingly. Obelmejias did it better on the third round and edged the stanza. But Hopkins regained the control of the fight winning the following four stanzas on a one-sided way and also putting Obelmejias in trouble a few times.
Obelmejias tried a warm reaction edging the eighth round and having his best round on the ninth one.
Obelmejias also controlled most of the tenth round but Hopkins rallied to win it on the final thirty seconds.
Then Hopkins won a one-sided eleventh round and also won the last round to earn a huge victory.
My scorecard was 117-110 for Hopkins and the official scorecards were 117-110 (x2) and 116-111 for the champion Hopkins.

Also on the scorecards:

SMW: David Reid 2-8-1 (0) TKO11 Danny Green 4-7-1 (3)
HW: Cedric Boswell 1-8-1 (1) TKO11 Jesse Ferguson 4-13-1 (2)
MW: Roy Jones Jr 16-2-0 (11) UD12 Juan Meza 3-13-0 (2)
BW: Gerry Penalosa 4-6-2 (2) UD12 Adonis Rivas 3-6-2 (1)
WW: Carlos Baldomir 5-9-1 (0) MDraw12 Walter Crucce 1-16-1 (1)
WW: Kid Gavilan 7-7-0 (2) UD12 Aaron Davis 4-4-0 (2)
MW: Gennady Golovkin 4-9-1 (2) KO12 Daniel Jacobs 4-10-1 (2)