The 860 universe

[Thomas Hearns]

HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, United States, 2000-03-22

IBF LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Pernell Whitaker 13-0-0 (3) TKO12 Freddie Welsh 12-2-3 (5)
The fight was a very tough test for the favourite Whitaker, Welsh had a very competitive performance and was dominating the fight on the early rounds, but Whitaker could rally and won the fight.Whitaker started the fight winning an actionless first round but after an even second round and for the surprise of the public Welsh took the control for the following three rounds. Whitaker reappeared on the fight winning the sixth round and also cutting Welsh under his right eye with a nice hook. Whitaker continued his momentum on the following round dropping Welsh with a strong cross. Welsh got up at nine to receive a real beating for the rest of the round. On the eighth round Welsh seemed to be recovered and edged the stanza. The ninth round was for Whitaker and from this point he took the control of the fight for good. Whitaker easily won rounds ten and eleven and on the last round he tried to finish the fight inside the distnce, Welsh looked totally spent but wanted to finish the fight on his feet.
On this last stanza “Sweat Pea” dropped Welsh with a shot under his ribcage, Welsh got up but only to be floored again this time by a wild overhand right. Welsh got up again but he looked rather unsteady. Whitaker landed another great uppercut and Welsh stumble to the ropes and the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 106-103 and 105-104 for Whitaker and 105-103 for Welsh. (I had it 106-103 for Whitaker)


Also on the undercard:

JWW: Ricky Hatton 12-5-1 (7) SD10 Gene Hatcher 5-8-0 (2)
HW: Chuck Wepner 1-10-0 (0) KO3 Fres Oquendo 4-7-1 (3)
HW: Pinklon Thomas 9-7-0 (4) TKO9 Buster Douglas 2-8-1 (0)
FLY: Fernando Montiel 7-7-2 (5) TKO4 Brahim Asloum 4-7-1 (1)
FW: Eusebio Pedroza 11-2-2 (5) UD10 Israel Vazquez 3-6-1 (2)
FW: Celestino Caballero 4-8-0 (1) KO4 Juan Malvarez 5-5-1 (3)
WW: Cory Spinks 7-3-1 (1) UD10 Joel Julio 6-4-0 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Municipal Gymnasium, Colon, Panama, 2000-03-25

WBO LW CHAMPIONSHIP
Roberto Duran 12-1-1 (10) UD12 Carlos Ortiz 11-2-0 (3)
It was perhaps the most intriguing of the four fights for the lightweight belts, a real 50-50 fight. Duran won the first two rounds of the fight but Ortiz answered winning the following two. Duran regained the control of the fight on rounds five and six but Ortiz won the seventh round putting himself again in the clash. Duran won a one-sided eighth round but Ortiz was winning the ninth one when Duran landed a big left-right combination and dropped him but the bell saved Ortiz. After that Duran took the total control of the fight and easily won the last three rounds against a tired Ortiz. My scorecard was 117-111, the official scorecards were 117-110 (x2) and 116-111 all for Duran.

Also on the undercard:

SHW: Jorge Luis Gonzalez 9-4-0 (4) KO6 Robert Helenius 5-5-0 (5)
CW: Mohammed Benguesmia 2-9-0 (1) TKO10 Pietro Aurino 5-9-0 (3)
LHW: Len Hutchins 2-8-2 (0) UD10 Guillermo Jones 1-8-1 (0)
SMW: Vitali Kopitko 3-10-1 (0) UD10 Anthony Mundine 5-5-1 (1)
LW: Fabian Tejeda 4-8-2 (3) UD10 Ivan Robinson 3-11-1 (1)
BW: Silence Mabuza 3-11-0 (2) MD10 Abner Mares 5-5-1 (1)
MW: Carl Olson 4-8-1 (0) UD10 Daniel Sclarandi 0-12-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

Braves Field, Boston, MA, United States, 2000-03-28

WBA SMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Andre Dirrell 7-2-3 (2) SD12 Mads Larsen 6-5-2 (3)
This fight is a rematch of the last month draw between this two fighters, this time we have a winner but the fight was so even like their first meeting.
Larsen started on fire winning the first three rounds of the fight, the second and third ones on a very one-sided form. But Dirrell reacted winning the following three rounds to even the fight. Larsen edged a boring actionless seventh round and continued his mometum winning the eighth round convincingly. Dirrel edged an actionfilled ninth round and the tenth stanza was a very even one. Larsen won the elventh round clearly and also hurt Dirrel on this round with a crushing hook but near the end of the round the referee deducted a point from him by holding and hitting, this was one of the keys of the final result. Dirrell clearly won the last round to put the final result into complete doubt. My scorecard was: 114-114 but the official scorecards were 114-113 (x2) for Dirrell and 114-113 for Larsen.

Also on the undercard:

HW: Randall Cobb 0-9-0 (0) KO2 Alex Stewart 7-7-1 (4)
MW: Nigel Benn 14-4-0 (8) TKO4 Rubin Carter 8-10-0 (5)
FW: Naseem Hamed 7-6-1 (3) KO8 Leo Cruz 4-7-1 (2)
SMW: Robin Reid 7-4-0 (3) UD10 Bryant Brannon 4-8-0 (3)
CW: Louis Azille 6-7-2 (3) KO7 Akim Taffer 2-8-1 (2)
HW: Jerry Quarry 9-4-0 (5) KO6 Chris Byrd 7-5-0 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Stadio de Beisbol, Mexico, 2000-03-31

WBO FLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Miguel Canto 9-1-2 (1) UD12 Pascual Perez 13-0-1 (6)
On this rematch and thanks to a strong finish Miguel Canto put an end to the undefeated record of Pascual Perez to win the WBO Flyweight Title.
Canto won the first round but Perez answered winning the following two stanzas convincingly. Canto totally dominated the fourth round and the fifth one was an even round.
The sixth round was for Canto but Perez answered winning the seventh. At that point the fight was very, very even. But after that Canto won the following three rounds to take a winning lead on the scorecards. Perez put his best effort and edged an actionpacked eleventh round but Canto won the last round to secure his victory. My scorecard was 116-113 for Canto , the official scorecards were 117-113 and 115-114 (x2) for Canto.

Also on the undercard:

FLY: Irene Pacheco 5-6-0 (5) UD10 Zolani Petelo 5-3-0 (2)
LHW: Chad Dawson 7-8-0 (3) TKO4 Matthew Saad Muhammad 7-2-1 (4)
JWW: Arturo Gatti 7-6-0 (5) KO10 Rafael Ruelas 0-6-2 (0)
SMW: Syd Vanderpool 7-5-0 (4) MD10 Anthony Hanshaw 8-7-0 (4)
BW: Genaro Garcia 2-8-1 (1) TKO2 Rafael Marquez 7-4-0 (6)
MW: Billy Papke 10-4-0 (4) UD10 Sebastian Zbik 3-12-1 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

All the champions after the first ever title fights, only one title (WBA LHW) is still vacant.



SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS

WBC LENNOX LEWIS 13-0-0 (9)
WBA HENRY AKINWANDE 14-1-1 (5)
IBF LARRY DONALD 9-3-0 (1)
WBO BRIAN NIELSEN 10-3-3 (4)

HEAVYWEIGHTS

WBC LARRY HOLMES 11-1-0 (2)
WBA MIKE TYSON 14-2-0 (10)
IBF JOE FRAZIER 17-0-0 (12)
WBO JAMES JEFFRIES 16-3-1 (10)

CRUISERWEIGHT

WBC EVANDER HOLYFIELD 16-1-0 (15)
WBA FLOYD PATTERSON 14-1-0 (9)
IBF SAM LANGFORD 12-2-1 (10)
WBO JUAN C. GOMEZ 14-1-0 (8)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

WBC HENRY MASKE 13-2-1 (2)
WBA VACANT*
IBF EZZARD CHARLES 15-0-0 (12)
WBO GENE TUNNEY 14-0-0 (7)

*Joe Choynski and Jack Dillon will fight a rematch for the vacant WBA Title next month.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS

WBC LUCIAN BUTE 14-0-0 (4)
WBA ANDRE DIRRELL 8-2-3 (2)
IBF JOE CALZAGHE 13-2-0 (6)
WBO CHRIS EUBANK 12-1-2 (1)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

WBC PANAMA JOE GANS 11-1-1 (5)
WBA MARVIN HAGLER 14-0-0 (6)
IBF BERNARD HOPKINS 10-2-1 (2)
WBO JAMES TONEY 8-5-0 (3)


JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHTS

WBC JORGE CASTRO 11-2-0 (7)
WBA TONY AYALA 12-1-0 (7)
IBF AYUB KALULE 11-1-0 (4)
WBO SERGIO MARTINEZ 13-1-1 (8)

WELTERWEIGHTS

WBC RAY LEONARD 11-3-1 (6)
WBA THOMAS HEARNS 14-2-0 (9)
IBF RAY ROBINSON 12-0-1 (9)
WBO LUIS COLLAZO 13-6-1 (7)

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHTS

WBC WILFRED BEITEZ 14-3-0 (10)
WBA ZAB JUDAH 13-0-0 (8)
IBF MARCOS MAIDANA 14-4-1 (6)
WBO AARON PRYOR 13-1-0 (10)

LIGHTWEIGHTS

WBC BENNY LEONARD 13-0-0 (6)
WBA JOE BROWN 13-1-0 (4)
IBF PERNELL WHITAKER 14-0-0 (4)
WBO ROBERTO DURAN 13-1-1 (10)

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS

WBC JULIO C. CHAVEZ 14-1-0 (11)
WBA OSCAR DE LA HOYA 14-3-0 (5)
IBF BEN VILLAFLOR 13-3-0 (9)
WBO RAFAEL LIMON 12-2-1 (6)

FEATHERWEIGHTS

WBC ALEXIS ARGUELLO 11-2-0 (6)
WBA WILLIE PEPP 12-0-0 (4)
IBF HENRY ARMSTRONG 14-1-1 (12)
WBO SANDY SADDLER 11-3-0 (8)


BANTAMWEIGHTS

WBC ERIK MORALES 13-1-0 (10)
WBA CARLOS ZARATE 12-1-1 (8)
IBF RUBEN OLIVARES 13-2-0 (119
WBO MARCO A. BARRERA 10-3-2 (4)

FLYWEIGHTS

WBC MICHAEL CARBAJAL 13-0-1 (7)
WBA YOKO GUSHIKEN 11-1-0 (6)
IBF JAKE MATLALA 8-8-0 (1)
WBO MIGUEL CANTO 10-1-2 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

SHW

WBC #2 Lennox Lewis 13-0-0 (9) vs #8 Nicolai Valuev 8-6-1 (7)

WBA #1 Henry Akinwande 14-1-1 (5) vs #9 Jorge L. Gonzalez 10-4-0 (5)

IBF #5 Larry Donald 9-3-0 (1) vs #3 Vitaly Klitstchko15-0-0 (9)

WBO #4 Brian Nielsen 10-3-3 (4) vs #6 Ike Ibeabuchi 14-1-1 (7)

MW

WBC #5 Panama Joe Gans 11-1-1 (5) vs #6 Nigel Benn 15-4-0 (9)

WBA #1 Marvin Hagler 14-0-0 (6) vs #7 Mickey Walker 15-2-1 (12)

IBF #2 Bernard Hopkins 10-2-1 (2) vs #8 Hector Velazco 4-11-0 (0)

WBO #3 James Toney 8-5-0 (3) vs Michael Nunn 12-1-0 (4)

JMW

WBC #4 Jorge Castro 11-2-0 (7) vs #6 Winky Wright 10-2-0 (3)

WBA #5 Tony Ayala 12-1-0 (7) vs #10 John Mugabi 10-4-2 (10)

IBF #1 Ayub Kalule 11-1-0 (4) vs #8 Rodney Jones 5-4-3 (2)

WBO #2 Sergio Martinez vs #3 Lupe Aquino 9-6-2 (4)

FW

WBC #1 Alexis Arguello 11-2-0 (6) vs #8 Salvador Sanchez 13-2-0 (9)

WBA #3 Willie Pep 12-0-0 (4) vs #6 Young Griffo 11-5-0 (2)

IBF #4 Henry Armstrong 14-1-1 (12) vs #11 Juan M. Marquez 13-3-0 (2)

WBO #2 Sandy Saddler 11-3-0 (8) vs #7 Johny Tapia 9-5-0 (2)

BW

WBC #1 Erik Morales 13-1-0 (10) vs #3 Manny Pacquiao 14-2-0 (11)

WBA #5 Carlos Zarate 12-1-1 (8) vs #6 Sung Kill Moon 13-3-0 (6)

IBF #2 Ruben Olivares 13-2-0 (11) vs #7 Wilfredo Gomez 9-1-0 (6)

WBO #4 Marco A. Barrera 10-3-2 (4) vs #10 Johny Coulon 12-3-2 (2)

*** # is the "The Ring's Ranking" position.

[Thomas Hearns]

WBC SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Lennox Lewis 13-0-0 (9) KO4 Nicolay Valuev 8-6-1 (7)
On an outstanding performance WBC Super Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis demolished the overmatched challenger Nicolay Valuev.
Lewis started the fight fast dropping Valuev with a perfect right cross a minute into the fight.
Valuev got up at four looking confused an Lewis punished him until the end of th round.
Lewis won the second round convincingly, on this round Valuev landed his only few clean punches of the fight.
On the third round Lewis pressed the accelerator again and dropped Valuev with a perfect cross to the head. Valuev got up again and managed to survive the rest of the round taking a lot of punishment.
On the fourth round a clean left right combination by Lewis dropped Valuev for the third time on the fight. Valuev got up again but only to be floored one more (and last) time with a combination of blows to the body and the head by Lewis, this time the russian stayed on the canvas for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 30-24 (x39 for the champion Lewis.

Also on the undercard:

SMW: Steve Collins 9-0-2 (2) Draw10 Otis Grant 7-8-3 (2)
HW: Peter Jackson 14-2-0 (4) UD10 Marion Wilson 2-12-0 (1)
LHW: Michael Spinks 7-3-0 (5) KO7 Donny Lalonde 10-6-0 (6)
LW: Esteban DeJesus 5-5-0 (1) UD10 Vicente Mosquera 2-6-2 (0)
HW: Sam McVey 17-2-0 (8) TKO1 Donovan Ruddock 5-9-0 (3)
MW: Roy Jones Jr 15-2-0 (10) TKO9 Sergio Mora 3-9-1 (0)
JLW: Tontcho Tontchev 5-9-1 (2) UD10 Javier Alvarez 4-11-1 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

The Copley Recreation Centre, Stalybridge, Tameside, United Kingdom, 2000-04-02

WBA SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Henry Akinwande 14-1-1 (5) KO4 Jorge Luis Gonzalez 10-4-0 (5)
On a short and violent fight Henry Akinwande retained his WBA Super Heavyweigth Title
against the dangerous cuban giant Jorge Gonzalez.
The cuban started the fight on his usual way going straight to Akinwande and he hurt the englishman with a big uppercut followed by a cross at the middle stages of the first round.
On the second round Akinwande managed to outbox Gonzalez and he won the round, but the referee deducted a point from him by a low blow. On this round Gonzalez landed only a smashing cross but again Akinwande seemed to be hurt by that punch.
Finally on the third round Akinwande took the total control of the fight hitting Gonzalez and not allowing the cuban to land a single clean punch.
On the fourth round Gonzalez was very aggressive again and landed some good punches until Akinwande connected a devastating right hook (big counterpunch!) and dropped the cuban for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 29-27 for Akinwande and 28-28 (x2).


Also on the undercard:

MW: Kelly Pavlik 6-3-2 (5) UD10 Jorge Sclarandi 1-10-0 (0)
SMW: Anthony Mundine 5-6-1 (1) UD10 Robert Stieglitz 6-7-0 (2)
SHW: Fabio Moli 3-7-0 (1) UD10 Julius Francis 0-10-0 (0)
LHW: Antonio Tarver 8-5-0 (7) KO9 Georges Carpentier 8-3-0 (1)
SMW: Anthony Hanshaw 8-8-0 (4) KO3 Fabian Chancalay 2-12-0 (1)
MW: Jorge Vaca 4-6-1 (2) UD10 Julio Chavez Jr. 4-9-0 (3)
WW: Ramon Campas 9-5-3 (8) TKO6 Antonio Margarito 6-1-1 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Lawlor Events Center, Reno, NV, United States, 2000-04-04

IBF SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Vitali Klitschko 15-0-0 (9) KO9 Larry Donald 9-3-0 (1)*
Vitaly Klistchko won the IBF SHW championship with a dominant performance against now former champ Larry Donald. Klitschko was the big favourite to win the fight and all the experts agreed that Donald’s only chance was trying to outbox the ucranian fighter.
But it was impossible, Klitschko is a hard puncher but is also a good boxer and he dominated on a big form every round of the fight. After controlled the first four rounds (third and fourth ones on a very one sided form) Vitaly dorpped Donald for the first time on the fifth round with a wicked hook to the head. Donald got up and the bell saved him. Klitschko used Donald as a punching bag on the sixth round and on the seventh one Donald tried to be more aggressive but Vitaly beating him to the punch. The eighth round was similar to the seventh with Donald trying and Klitschko connecting. Finally on the ninth round a strong left-right combination by Klitschko put Donald to sleep for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 80-71 (x2) and 79-72 for the new champion Vitaly.

Also on the undercard:

JLW: Diego Corrales 15-2-0 (8) UD10 Bobby Vanzie 4-8-1 (1)
FLY: Carlos Eluaiza 5-11-0 (2) UD10 Peter Mathebula 3-10-0 (1)
JMW: Miguel Angel Arroyo 0-10-0 (0) MD10 Alex Bunema 1-9-1 (0)
LW: Jose Luis Castillo 8-0-1 (5) TKO3 Ricardo Silva 3-9-1 (2)
CW: Carl Thompson 9-7-0 (5) UD10 Enzo Maccarinelli 2-13-0 (2)
HW: Michael Dokes 4-8-3 (3) UD10 Randall Cobb 1-9-0 (1)
HW: Ken Norton 10-4-0 (8) TKO7 Francesco Damiani 4-5-1 (2)



* On green when we have a new champion.
*On blue when the champion made a succesful defense.

[Thomas Hearns]

Falkoner Center, Frederiksberg, Denmark, 2000-04-05

WBO SHW CHAMPIONSHIP
Ike Ibeabuchi 14-1-1 (7) TKO2 Brian Nielsen 10-3-3 (4)
Ike Ibeabuchi travelled to Denmark to win the WBO SHW title on Nielsen’s home.
Nielsen did a very good first round landed more than Ibeabuchi on an action packed first round in which both fighters seemed to be hurt one time.
On the second round Ibeabuchi came very aggressive and landed several power blows, a big uppercut made Nielsen stumbled, a hard left by the african following by a straight right staggered Nielsen again. Finally after a furious exchange with Ibeabuchi clearly having the best part the referee decided (to quickly?) to stop the fight facing the protests of the danish crowd.

Also on the undercard:

WW: Ariel Chaves 3-12-0 (0) TKO8 Victor Ortiz 8-5-1 (4)
LHW: Steve Little 7-4-2 (0) Tech MDraw6 Jorge Salgado 2-12-0 (1)
JWW: Juan Martin Coggi 10-5-0 (3) TKO4 Gene Hatcher 5-9-0 (2)
LW: Joe Gans 9-2-1 (1) TKO1 Roque Cassiani 0-15-0 (0)
LW: Jose Luis Ramirez 7-5-3 (5) KO5 Angel Manfredy 7-4-2 (1)
SMW: Andre Ward 15-2-0 (5) UD10 Joe Gatti 2-6-3 (1)
LHW: Victor Cordoba 6-9-0 (2) TKO9 Clinton Woods 6-7-0 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Miami Arena, Miami, FL, United States, 2000-04-06

WBC MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Nigel Benn 15-4-0 (9) UD12 Panama Joe Gans 11-1-1 (5)
Nigel Benn scored an upset victory against Panama Joe Gans, this last one also became world champion after surprisingly defeated Carlos Monzon.
Gans started controlling the fight outboxing Benn on the first round. But on the second and third rounds Benn power dominated the action, on those rounds the englishman hurt his rival several times. The fourth and fifth rounds were more even ones with no fighter establishing clear advantages. On the sixth round Gans put some ice to the fight and contol the stanza using his boxing skills, no great action on this round. But on the seventh round Benn power appeared again and he hurt Gans two separated times, one with a straight right , the other with a big cross, Benn continued his momentum edging the eighth round and clerly winning the ninth one in which Gans did really nothing.
The last three rounds were competitive and without great action Gans won rounds ten and twelve and Benn won the eleventh one. My scorecard like all three official scorecards were was 116-113 for the new champion Nigel Benn.

Also on the undercard:

SHW: Andrew Golota 15-6-1 (10) UD10 Oldanier Solis 5-3-0 (1)
MW: Stanley Ketchel 8-1-0 (6) TKO5 Rubin Carter 8-11-0 (5)
WW: Simon Brown 11-2-1 (5) TKO6 James Page 3-12-1 (2)
LHW: Bob Foster 6-2-0 (4) TKO4 Fabrice Tiozzo 5-9-1 (2)
MW: Robert Allen 5-8-0 (4) SD10 Jean-Claude Bouttier 7-7-0 (2)
MW: Gene Fullmer 7-5-1 (1) TKO7 Fulgencio Zuniga 4-6-0 (3)
FLY: Everardo Morales 2-8-0 (1) MDraw10 Prudencio Cardona 3-5-1 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 2000-04-08

WBA MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Marvin Hagler 14-0-0 (6) KO6 Mickey Walker 15-2-1 (12)
It was expected to be a very tough test for the champion Marvin Hagler, Walker is a very dangerous hard puncher. But Marvin Hagler perhaps the best middleweight on the world totally controlled the fight until putting Walker out on the sixth round.
On the first round Walker landed a hard cross and stopped Hagler cold , but then Marvin controlled the pace of the fight hurting Walker with a big uppercut first and then with a wicked hook. On the second round Hagler again stunned Walker several times with his hooks.
The third round was more even but Hagler also controlled it and connected the best punch of the round a tremendous uppercut to Walker’s chin. Hagler also dominated the fourth round and the referee deducted a point from Walker by rabbit punch this stanza. Seeing the fight escaping from him Walker tried to be more aggressive on the sixth round and went punch per punch with Hagler, Marvin landed the bigger blows but Walker landed more allowing him to edge the stanza. On the sixth round Walker tried the same tactic but this time Hagler was merciless and he dropped Walker with two successive body shots. Walker got up at eigth on bad shape and Hagler went for the kill. Hagler landed a big combination to the head and when Walker raised his hands Marvin connected a big shot to the body and dropped Walker for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 49-45 (x2) and 49-46 for Hagler.

Also on the undercard:

JLW: Kennedy McKinney 5-4-1 (2) UD10 Juan Cabrera 7-10-1 (3)
HW: Joe Bugner 5-6-1 (1) UD10 James Braddock 5-5-0 (3)
SHW: Wladimir Klitschko 10-2-0 (9) TKO6 Michael Grant 1-6-0 (0)
WW: Vernon Forrest 5-4-2 (2) UD10 Rube Ferns 12-4-2 (4)
HW: Oliver McCall 6-4-1 (1) Draw10 Tony Tucker 6-8-0 (1)
HW: Rocky Marciano 12-0-0 (11) TKO4 Reinaldo Snipes 6-4-0 (3)
WW: Paddy Duffy 3-9-0 (1) UD10 Walter Matthysse 2-10-0 (2)

[Thomas Hearns]

Harrahs Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2000-04-09

IBF MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Bernard Hopkins 10-2-1 (2) UD12 Hector Velazco 4-11-0 (0)
Many people asked why Hector Velazco an average boxer would fight for a World Title and the answer to this question is becouse he surprisingly won (by DQ6) a big fight against Carlos Monzon. Most of the experts thought that this fight would be a real mismatch and that it only last two or three rounds. But Hector Velazco made a fight of it for nine rounds after Hopkins secured his victory on the last three rounds of the fight.
As it was expected the fight started with Hopkins in total control, but Velazco answered dominated the second round. Hopkins won the third round but the following two were even and difficult to rate ones. Perhaps Hopkins had a very slim edge in both rounds. Hopkins seemed to put the things on their place when he domintated rounds six and seven, but again Velazco surprised everyone when he convincingly won rounds eight and nine. On the tenth round Hopkins connected a great uppercut and dropped Velazco for a five count. Velazco continued fighting but he never was the same, Hopkins controlled the rest of the round and continued his momentum winning a boring actionless eleventh round. On the last round Hopkins finally decided to atack and dropped Velazco for the second time on the fight with a great cross, Velazco got up but only to be floored again by a big hook by Hopkins. The brave argentine regained his feet and survived the rest of the round until the final bell. My scorecard was 117-108 for Hopkins and the official scorcards were 116-108 and 117-108 (x2) for Hopkins.

Also on the undercard:

JMW: Mamadou Thiam 2-9-1 (1) KO5 Davide Ciarlante 2-14-0 (1)
JMW: Mike McCallum 11-0-0 (5) UD10 Robert Hines 8-7-0 (2)
JLW: Bobby Chacon 14-6-0 (10) TKO10 Calvin Grove 8-11-2 (2)
FW: Loris Stecca 4-7-0 (2) KO9 Paulie Ayala 8-2-2 (2)
JLW: Jose Miguel Coto 10-3-0 (4) UD10 Tom Johnson 4-12-0 (0)
BW: Thanomchit Sukothai 7-7-0 (3) UD10 Rafael Marquez 7-5-0 (6)
MW: Sumbu Kalambay 7-3-1 (1) UD10 Keith Holmes 4-6-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, United States, 2000-04-10

WBO MW CHAMPIONSHIP
Michael Nunn 12-1-0 (4) SD12 James Toney 8-5-0 (3)
On a really competitive fight Michael Nunn won the WBO middleweight title from James Toney, a knockdown scored on the eighth round by the challenger was one of the keys for his victory. Nunn started the first round outboxing Toney, the champion didn’t land any clean punch this round. On the second round Toney started to fight but Nunn was still a bit better than him. On the third round the champion showed his ability and completelly outboxed Nunn. The fourth round was the best of the fight at that moment with both fighters boxing nicely and landed some power shots to made an even stanza. The fifth round was as good as the fourth one but Toney was a bit better than Nunn. On the sixth round Nunn outboxed Toney from the outside. The seventh round was again an actionpacked one with both fighters hurting the other one time but with Toney having the best part. The eighth round was totally onesided for Nunn, he also dropped Toney with a wicked uppercut to the head. Toney barely beat the count getting up at nine and finally survived the round taking some more punishment in the way. Toney seemed to react on the ninth round and edged the stanza. Nunn convincingly won the tenth round but Toney answered edging the eleventh round. The last round seemed to be an important one and Nunn was dominated most of it but near the end of the round a desperate Toney landed a terrible straight right to Nunn’s head and stopped him cold but he couldn’t follow up the action and the fight came to its end. My scorecard was 115-112 for Nunn, the official scorecards were 117-110 and 115-113 for Nunn and 114-113 for Toney.

Also on the undercard:

JWW: Floyd Mayweather Sr 5-9-0 (1) UD10 Miguel Angel Campanino 10-8-1 (2)
FLY: Fernando Montiel 8-7-2 (6) TKO1 Danny Romero 8-4-0 (5)
WW: Hercules Kyvelos 1-12-0 (0) UD10 Dixie Kid 5-6-0 (1)
BW: Mauricio Pastrana 3-9-0 (1) KO4 Silence Mabuza 4-11-0 (2)
FLY: Luis Ibarra 1-9-0 (0) SD10 Mario DeMarco 5-11-0 (3)
JMW: Laurent Boudouani 5-6-2 (4) UD10 Wilfredo Rivera 2-17-0 (0)

[Thomas Hearns]

Estadio Norte, Rosario, Argentina, 2000-04-12

WBC JMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Winky Wright 10-2-0 (3) TKO5 Jorge Castro 11-2-0 (7)
Ronald Wright won the WBC junior middleweight title when the referee didn´t allowed Jorge Castro to continue fighting on the fifth round due to a nasty cut on the inside of his left eyebrow.
Wright dominated the fight from the first round and on this same round he cut Castro’s eye with a straight right, Winky also almost dropped Castro with a smashing uppercut. On the second round Wright continued his momentum and again hurt Castro this time with a combination to the body and the head of the argentine. On the third round Castro change his strategy and went decided to the atack and he hurt Winky with a right cross, the round was competitive but Castro won it. On the fourth round Wright regained the control and he mantained the momentum on the fifth round until a big straight left reopened Castro’s cut and the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorcards were 39-37 for Wright and 38-38 (x2).

Also on the undercard:

JMW: Ahmet Dottuev 7-4-0 (3) UD10 Keith Mullings 4-8-0 (0)
WW: Cory Spinks 8-3-1 (1) TKO6 Gustav Eder 6-3-1 (1)
FW: Kid Chocolate 8-7-1 (3) TKO6 Leo Cruz 4-8-1 (2)
LHW: Merqui Sosa 7-7-0 (4) KO3 Alex Hilton 2-13-0 (0)
LHW: Jean Pascal 7-1-0 (2) KO2 Guillermo Jones 1-9-1 (0)
SHW: Shannon Briggs 7-6-0 (6) KO9 Tyson Fury 6-6-0 (3)

[Thomas Hearns]

Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2000-04-14

JMW WBA CHAMPIONSHIP
John Mugabi 10-4-2 (10) KO6 Tony Ayala 12-1-0 (7)
On the best title fight of this universe John Mugabi miraculously won the the WBA junior middlewieght title knocking out the champion Tony Ayala.
The fight started with an aggressive Ayala dropping Mugabi with a quick barrage of punches a minute into the fight. Mugabi got up at eight but he looked totally confused. Ayala went directly to him and dropped Mugabi again this time with a short clean right uppercut. Mugabi got up again and Ayala tried to finish the job. He threw big blows but failed to find the target and Mugabi survived the round. The second round started and Mugabi wasn’t totally rcovered, Ayala pressured and connected another uppercut and floored Mugabi for the third time on the fight. Mugabi got up again and then he barely survived the round taking some more punishment in the way. At the beginning of the third round with Ayala atacking Mugabi landed a straight right followed by a big hook and hurt Ayala for the first time on the fight, then the african continued dominating the stanza. Ayala seemed to regained the control on the fourth round but some power shots by Mugabi at the middle stages of the round turn around the things and Mugabi convincingly won the stanza. At this moment the african already knows that he could hurt Ayala too. But on the fifth round Ayala seemed to put the things in their place and easily controlled the stanza and almost flooring Mugabi with a combination “downstairs-upstairs” that made the african stumble. On the sixth round Mugabi went straight to Ayala and he hurt Tony with a right cross followed by an uppercut and a straight right, Ayala looked shaken by that blows, Mugabi continued atacking and landed a winging left Ayala only backpedalled and tried to cover up but Mugabi was too confident and atacked without fear landing a solid cross that made Ayala stumble. Mugabi followed it up with a three punch combo and finally killed a defenseless Ayala with a wicked right hook and Ayala collapsed to the canvas for the ten count. What a incredible fight!
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 48-44 (x2) ad 48-45 for Ayala.

Also on the undercard:

CW: Ossie Ocasio 4-8-1 (0) UD10 Alexander Gurov 9-5-0 (4)
HW: Axel Schultz 10-6-0 (1) UD10 Ron Stander 2-8-0 (2)
JWW: Francisco Bojado 8-5-0 (4) UD10 Antonio Diaz 7-13-0 (2)
JWW: Hugo Hernandez 2-8-0 (0) UD10 Ray Oliveira 4-9-1 (2)
HW: Fres Oquendo 4-8-1 (3) UD10 Kirk Johnson 8-6-0 (3)
LW: Ray Mancini 3-7-0 (3) UD10 Ken Buchanan 11-4-0 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 2000-04-15

JMW IBF CHAMPIONSHIP
Rodney Jones 5-4-3 (2) TKO11 Ayub Kalule 11-1-0 (4)
On a enormous upset Rodney Jones won the Junior Middleweight title from Ayub Kalule by a controversial TKO11 on cuts. Some expert expected that the smoothing boxing of Jones would make Kalule not looking so good but nobody expected Jones to won the fight and the title.
Kalule won and entertaining actionfilled first round, but on the second round came the first surprise when Jones landed a big right hook and dropped Kalule for a four count, when he got up Kalule looked more surprised than hurt and he finished the round atacking and landing some good blows. After that Kalule easily controlled rounds three and four. But Jones answered winning round five convincingly. The sixth round had back and forth action with both fighters seemed to be hurt one time and with Jones edging the stanza.
Kalule won the seventh round and also hurt Jones with a strong cross, but a nice uppercut by Jones cut Kalule on the outside of his right eyebrow. Kalule had a big eighth round and he also dropped Jones with a solid straight right near the end of the round. Jones got up as the bell sounded. But on the ninth round Jones looked recovered and won the stanza. Kalule dominated the tenth round and was easily controlling the eleventh one when a big cross by Jones reopened Kalule’s cut and the referee decided to stop the fight facing the anger protests of Kalule’s camp. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 95-93(x2) for Kalule and 95-94 for Jones (Mine was 95-93 for Kalule)

Also on the undercard:

LHW: Frank Tate 1-9-1 (0) UD10 Daniel Judah 3-11-0 (0)
CW: Vassily Jirov 11-0-0 (10) UD10 Dario Matteoni 1-8-1 (1)
HW: Tony Tubbs 8-5-1 (4) MD10 Sonny Liston 13-0-0 (11)*
SMW: Mario Veit 4-6-1 (2) UD10 Reginaldo Andrade 2-7-2 (1)
LW: Eduardo Morales 5-9-1 (2) Tech MD6 Jose Luis Lopez 4-5-1 (1)
FW: Naseem Hamed 8-6-1 (4) UD10 In-Jin Chi 2-7-0 (2)

* Giant upset Liston will low to the mid thirties in the rankings, great victory for Tubbs.

[Thomas Hearns]

Luna Park, Buenes Aires, Argentina, 2000-04-16

WBO JMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Sergio Martinez 13-1-1 (8) UD12 Lupe Aquino 9-6-2 (4)
This fight was a rematch on their first meeting Martinez destroyed Aquino in only one round. Before this rematch the mexican Aquino claimed that the first time Martinez caught him cold with a big left and then all was over, and that this time the things would be different.
An the reality gave him the reason all was different this time Martinez punished him for twelve rounds and gave to him a masterfull clinic of boxing.
Martinez won every round of the fight on a big form punishing Aquino and on some rounds like the third , the fourth and the eleventh ones didn’t allowed Aquino to land a single punch.
The referee deducted a point from Martinez on the eleventh round by a low blow.
On the last stanza Martinez tried to finish his exhibition inside the distance and dropped Aquino with a vicious left-right combination. When Aquino got up Martinez threw all that he had but couldn’t finish the brave but overmatched mexican. My scorecard was 119-107 for Martinez , the official scorecards were 119-107 and 118-108 (x29 for the champion Martinez.

Also on the undercard:

JWW: Vince Phillips 5-5-0 (3) MD10 Steve Forbes 1-6-1 (0)
SHW: Hasim Rahman 12-4-0 (9) TKO7 Lawrence Clay-Bey 5-5-1 (5)
JWW: Lucas Martin Matthyse 4-4-0 (3) UD10 Alberto Cortes 5-9-1 (1)
JLW: Manuel Medina 4-3-0 (0) UD10 Miguel Garcia 3-7-2 (3)
SHW: Oleg Maskaev 5-5-1 (4) TKO10 Sherman Williams 5-9-1 (2)
MW: Iran Barkley 4-5-1 (2) UD10 Felix Sturm 5-4-1 (1)

[Thomas Hearns]

Estadio Denis Martinez, Nicaragua, 2000-04-18

WBC FW CHAMPIONSHIP
Alexis Arguello 11-2-0 (6) KO10 Salvador Sanchez 13-2-0 (9)
On one of the most expected title fights of this month Alexis Arguello scored an spectacular KO10 win against high regarded mexican Salvador Sanchez.
A minute into the fight a devastating hook by Arguello dropped Sanchez for an eight count. The Mexican got up looking hurt and Arguello tried to finish the job and he almost did it when he connected a big straight right near the end of the round. Sanchez survived but took a lot of punishment this round. On the second round Sanchez seemed to be recovered and edged an entertaining round, Sanchez continued his momentum winning the third round convincingly.
Arguello regained the control of the fight on the fourth round and the fifth stanza was the best of the fight with the pair exhchanging blows all the round, Arguello landed a bit more but Sanchez landed the best power shots to edge the round. After that Arguello took the control of the fight for the following three rounds, with the highlight of a big hook that hurt Sanchez at the end of the seventh round. Sanchez finished the eight round with a big swelling around his right eye.
Seeing the fight very complicated Sanchez launched a furious atack on the ninth round to convincingly win the stanza. A big hook by Sanchez almost dropped Arguello. In spite of being superated the nicaraguan landed some good punches of his own. The tenth round started with lot of action with both fighters landing good blows with a slim edge for Sanchez until Arguello connected a wild overhand right an put Sanchez to sleep for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecars were 86-85 and 87-83 for Arguello and 85-85.

Also on the undercard:

SW: Danny Williams 6-9-1 (3) KO3 Eric Esch 1-14-0 (1)
JWW: Omar Weis 3-10-0 (0) UD10 Patrizio Oliva 5-7-1 (0)
JLW: Genaro Hernandez 6-3-0 (3) MD10 Floyd Mayweather Jr 11-2-0 (8)*
WW: Joshua Clottey 2-7-3 (1) UD10 Saul Alvarez 7-3-1 (4)
FW: Johnny Kilbane 9-4-0 (1) UD10 Danny Lopez 5-4-1 (4)
CW: Bash Ali 9-6-1 (5) SD10 David Haye 8-5-0 (4)


*An other loss for Floyd, he remained undefeated for his first ten fights but then he lost three of his last four fights , against De La Hoya, Rafael Limon (for the WBO JLW Title) and now against Hernandez.

[Thomas Hearns]

Excalibur, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2000-04-19

WBA FW CHAMPIONSHIP
Willie Pep 12-0-0 (4) UD12 Young Griffo 11-5-0 (2)
Dominant win for Pep, the elusive boxing style of Griffo was expected to give Pep some problems, but Pep had little trouble to dominate the fight.
Pep took the control for the first three rounds of the fight, after that Griffo had his best moment on the bout when he convincingly won the fourth round and could evened the fifth one.
Pep edged the sixth round and regained the control of the fight wining all the rounds of the second half of the bout. Pep convincingly won every round from the six to the twelve (some on a one sided form like rounds seven and ten) but never went for the KO, he was happy scoring points and outboxing Griffo. My scorecard was 119-110 for Pep the official scorecards were 118-111 119-110 and 117-112 for Pep.

Also on the undercard

FLY: Horacio Acavallo 5-5-2 (1) KO10 Irene Pacheco 6-6-0 (5)
HW: John L Sullivan 8-6-2 (7) TKO2 Henry Tillman 2-7-2 (0)
CW: Andrew Maynard 2-9-0 (2) TKO5 Anaclet Wamba 7-3-3 (3)
CW: O'Neil Bell 3-7-0 (1) KO1 Akim Taffer 2-9-1 (2)
MW: Carmen Basilio 10-2-2 (3) UD10 Peter Manfredo, Jr. 1-10-0 (1)
HW: DaVarryl Williamson 4-3-1 (1) TKO8 Eddie Chambers 6-4-1 (1)