hamed's uni

[hamed2]

Amir Khan hoped to start 2023 with a bang and a 2nd defense of his title following his impressive 1st one last May (11th round KO) but Maurice Hooker didn't play along. Khan's hand speed & power were on display dropping Hooker in the 9th with a quick hook & then twice more in the 11th (barrage & combo) but the determined Texan just kept coming & in the 12th walked down Amir finally dropping an exhausted champ with a R cross just as the ref stepped in to stop the fight at 2:53 of the round.

Despite the 3 KD's, Khan was only up by 1 on 2 of the cards: 101-105 & 103-104 twice.

Hooker lead PL - 278 (30%) to 247 (28%)

Hooker is now 3-0 (2 KO's) @ WW & Amir falls to 10-2 with 9 KO's.

[hamed2]

In his most impressive performance since winning the title from Margarito last year, Chris Pearson dropped tough Brit, Liam Smith, 5 times on his way to a relatively easy 3rd title defense - the fight stopped 12 seconds into the 14th due to a cut over Liam's right eye (which was also swelling at the orange level).

Cards read 124-118, 124-117, 127-116 all for Chris who's now 11-1-1 with 5 KOs.

Liam falls to 12-2 with 7 KO's. Liam's other loss was by decision to Julian Williams in Smith's bid for the IBF belt.

[hamed2]

Finally able to make his 1st title defense since taking the title in 2021 from Sakio Bika via a 5th round TKO, Artur Beterbiev wasted little time in destroying Lolenga Mock (from Congo) in Denmark with an uppercut at the end of the 1st round.

Artur was up 58 to 6 in PL with a 69% to 19% advantage in punch accuracy.

He moves to 14-0 with 12 KO's.

[hamed2]

Making his 2nd title defense in Puerto Rico, big punching Alberto Machado dropped Hector Luis Garcia in the 2nd for a 2 count.

Hector learned his lesson & from that point forward was much more cautious & appeared to outbox the dangerous champ. Then in the 10th, Hector suffered a severe cut over his right eye which angered the challenger & he landed a 1 punch KO left cross right on the button ending matters at 2:37 of the round!

2 of the cards had Alberto up: 87-83, 86-85 & 84-86.

Hector had the edge in PL: 203 (28%) to 180 (25%)

[djday45]

Still following well done!

[hamed2]

Originally Posted by djday45

Still following well done!

Thank you kind sir!

[hamed2]

When 2 fighters that nobody wants to fight have few good options, it can set up some pretty good fights.

Case in point Antonio Margarito wanting to take a tougher fight instead of just a stay busy fight agreed to fight to equally fearsome - Jarrett Hurd.

Even though Tony is 12 years older, he pressed the action & looked to take over in the middle rounds of the fight in front of a frenzied crowd in Mexico.
The cards reflected the fight the fans saw: 118-109 & 117-110 twice for AM.

In the 12th a right cross dropped Hurd & was forced to take a standing 8 count under NABF rules. Afterwards Hurd said he'd never been hit so hard & it almost felt like Antonio had metal in his gloves.

AM dominated PL as well: 282 (25%) to 186 (42%).

Tony is now 24-4 with 21 Ko's & Hurd drops to 7-3 with 3 Ko's.

[hamed2]

In what was potentially his last shot at a world title, Detroit's Tony Harrison made the most of it coming to Brazil to face the crafty WBO JMW champ - Patrick Teixeria making his 8th title defense.

The 2 wasted no time in trading blows, no feeling out process probably due to the heated words & verbal shots Tony took both at Pat & Brazil in general leading up to the fight.

In the 4th Tony stepped up the pressure & forced the ref to step in at 2:51 of the round.

Tony's now 14-3 (12 KO's) & Pat is 9-2-1 (6 KO's).

All 3 cards had Tony up 29-28 & he also was ahead in PL as well: 117 (24%) to 104 (38%).

[hamed2]

Making his 1st title defense of his WBO CW belt, Ryad Merhy was finally able to end the fight at 2:38 of the 14th when he lit up David Light with a vicious uppercut. Ryad had David down once in the 3rd & twice in the 13th.

Ryad up on the cards 127-116, 127- 117 & 126-117.

Meanwhile in nearby Australia, Brit sensation Lawrence Okolie moved to 3-0 (all KO's) with a 2nd round right cross blowout of Nick Lantouris - Nick had gone 10 rounds with big puncher Ilunga Makabu in Nick's last fight.

Okolie wanted to send a message to both WBA champ (Anthony Mundine) & the WBO champ by coming Down Under to display his fearsome power.

[hamed2]

Caleb Plant decided the 10-0 (all KO's) David Benavidez did not deserve a title shot for his WBC belt so he went to Switzerland to defend his IBF belt against Celso Neves (making his pro debut) out of Portugal in his adopted country.

In a rather boring fight, Plant won a UD in rather unimpressive fashion - 147-141, 146-142 & 145-142. Plant is now 10-0 with 4 KO's & made his 4th title defense.

Meanwhile in Reno, The Mexican Monster, David Benavidez, destroyed Peru's David Zegarra with a 3rd round KO with a vicious combo at 2:04 of the round to win the now vacant WBC belt. Benavidez dropped Zegarra earlier in the 3rd with a body shot & count of 4.

Benavidez now 11-0 with 11 KO's.

[hamed2]

Aussie star Tim Tszyu showed he might be more than just a big name due to his father as he fought a tough fight against a hard man from Ghana (Raphael King) winning a UD across the board - 144-140 & 145-140 twice.

In the 8th round King almost stopped Tim scoring 27 PL points but Tszyu won all 5 of the final rounds on 2 of the cards & 4 of the 5 on the 3rd to pull out the UD.

Tim lead 322 (21%) to 249 (23%) in PL to move to 7-0 with 6 KO's.

[hamed2]

Bulgarian superstar, Kirkor Kirkorov, gave Jeremiah Nakathila all he wanted before the champ ended the fight at 2:05 of the 10th with a combo. Kirkor also hit the deck in the 8th for a 2 count from another combo.

Meanwhile in Italy, WBO JLW champ, Shakur Stevenson, put on quite a boxing display in a UD (149-136 all 3 cards) against Alfredo Raininger.

Shakur landed 564 punches at a whopping 58% connect rate to only 186 (17%) for the Italian challenger.

It was Shakur's 2nd title defense & he's now 4-0 with 1 KO @ 130.

[hamed2]

Longtime champ Matthew Macklin appears to have eased up in training for his 10th title defense of his 2nd reign as champ because he had trouble making the weight & looked soft at the weigh in. That turned out to be a mistake against the bomber from Uruguay - Amilcar Vidal.

Vidal dropped the champ 4 times in the fight (8th, 11th, 12th, 13th) - the 1st 3 with combos & the last with a cross. Mack bravely got up every time but everyone in Manchester Hall knew what the cards would indicate when read: 148-134, 148-133 & 146-135 all for the new champ - Vidal.

After the fight Vidal said he enjoyed giving Mack the beating & said he'd like to give WBC champ - Danny Dignum, a similar beatdown.

[hamed2]

Former WBA LW champ, Tank Davis, made his comeback after breaking his hand and losing his title in January with a 9th round rib shot KO of Hungarian - Laszlo Bognar.

Tank looked more cautious than usual boxing more to make sure his hand would hold up.

Meanwhile in Namibia, WBO LW champ Ryan Garcia thought IBO JWW champ, Julius Indongo, was getting a little long in the tooth & potentially easy pickings. Julius had other ideas & started to really put it on Ryan in the 4th until a combo dropped the champ at the end of the round for a 1 count. Julius was able to return the favor & drop Ryan later in the fight & cruised to a UD - 144-139 & 145-138 twice.

[hamed2]

Having won the WBO belt earlier this year with a 4th round destruction of long time champ, Patrick Teixeria in Brazil, Tony agreed to venture even further south to Argentina & try for the WBA belt - held by Brian Castano.

Looked like a short night when Tony caught Brain with a hard right cross in the 1st but Brian got up after a count of 8. Tony appeared in control until Brian unloaded a right cross that ended matters at 2:57 of the 8th.

Tony was up on the cards: 67-66 & 68-64 twice but Brian held the PL edge: 152 (23%) to 138 (24%).

Brian is now 11-0 & Tony's 14-4 with 12 KO's. Tony's actually a year younger than Brian but with his numerous hard losses & tough fights actually seems older.

[hamed2]

In a total shocker, Ireland's Tommy Leary defended his WBA belt & took Devin Haney's WBC strap by MD - 143-142, 142-142, 145-139.

Haney dropped Leary in the 6th for a 5 count with a combo but in the 8th a cross sent Devin to the canvas for an 8 count. Haney was obviously hurt & struggled to hang on for that & the next round.

PL were almost even: Leary 361 (23%) to 364 (33%) for Haney.

Many thought Leary only took this fight to cash in after taking the WBA belt from Tank Davis due to a 5th round TKO where Tank broke his hand.

[hamed2]

After losing his WBC CW belt earlier this year to Jack Massey due to a cut, Tony Bellew was more than happy to get a shot at the vacant IBO belt vs. hotshot newcomer - Lawrence Okolie. The IBO stripped Mike Perez of the belt due to inaction & his winning the IBF title.

So in a fight between 2 huge punches, it went the distance & to the scorecards with Okolie winning a SD - 144-141, 141-144, 145-140. Okolie appeared to control the fight with his hard & frequent jab & PL 349 (34%) to 257 (22%).

Okolie now 4-0 with 3 KO's & Tony 15-2 with 15 KO's.

WBO champ Ryad Merhy basically picked up a paycheck with a 1 punch uppercut 2nd round KO of Julien Perriaux in France for the 2nd defense of his title.

And Chris Billam-Smith moved to 2-0 with a 4th round KO.

[hamed2]

IBO champ Julius Indongo had just made a title defense against Amir Khan on April 30th - 15UD & decided to have a quick turnaround against (he hoped) a rusty former champ in Josh Taylor. Josh last fought in Feb of 2022 & early on Julius looked much sharper until the 3rd when the rust started to fall off as Josh found his rhythm.

As the fight wore on, the champ started to show his age & looked 40 as Josh took over & the ref had seen enough at 2:12 of the 7th with Josh up 30-0 in PL.

The cards read 59-56 & 58-57 twice for Josh & he also had the PL edge 260 (40%) to 156 (61%)

Josh is now 6-1 (6 KO's) his only loss due to a cut when he lost his IBF belt.

Indongo's now 14-3.

[hamed2]

Jaime Munguia looked rested & sharp as he knocked out Raphael King with a huge left hook at 2:22 of the 5th.

Jaime wanted King as a gauge because earlier this year King lasted 15 hard rounds & lost by UD to Tim Tszyu.

It was Jaime's 3rd title defense & is now 14-0 with 13 KO's.

[hamed2]

WBC & IBF champ, Chris Pearson, agreed to come to Argentina to take on WBA/WBO champ, Brian C. Castano.

In an evenly matched fight that had brief moments of all action, Chris Pearson takes all 4 belts back to the US with a 15UD - 142-141, 144-141 & 143-142.

In the 10th Castano was having the better of it & starting to walk down Chris, going for the kill but got dropped by a Pearson counter. Then an overhand left dropped Brain again.

Then in the 13th, a quick right hook drops Castano again. Chris used Brian's aggressive nature against him, much as he did against Margarito when he took the WBC title years ago.

PL were close 337 to 330 for Pearson but he was much more accurate at 42% to only 24% for Brain.

Pearson is now 13-1-1 with 6 KO's & Castano suffers his 1st loss, 11-1 with 7 KO's.