Super Middleweight Universe -second try-

[Thomas Hearns]

Surprises on Germany!

Thomas Oosthuizen edges Sven Ottke!

Southafrican super middleweight champion #40 Thomas Oosthuizen 30-3-0 (19) scored a razor cut and debatable split decision victory against previously undefeated #28 Sven Ottke 24-0-0 (9).
The fighters split the first four rounds of the fight the first and the fourth for Oosthuizen and second and third ones for Ottke.
The fight continued with the same tonic with the fighters alternating on the dominance and without big blows or big emotions, it was more like a chess game than a fight.
Ottke won the fifth round, Oosthuizen dominated the following two but Ottke regained the control on the eight round.
Entering on the last two rounds the fight seemed to be deadly even, on the ninth stanza Ottke had one of his best rounds of the fight clearly outboxing Oosthuizen. Finally the last round had even action with both fighters connecting hard blows.
The scorecards were 96-95 (x2) for Oosthuizen and 96-95 for Ottke. (Fightnews card: 96-95 for Ottke).

Gabriel Hernandez upsets Mikkel Kessler!

Dominican #77 Gabriel Hernandez 23-4-1 (7) scored a convincing victory against #37 Mikkel Kessler 23-4-1 (7).
Kessler controlled the first round of the fight but after that Hernandez surprisingly dominated the actions in most of the following five stanzas. Hernadez was far for being spectacular but he did more than Kessler on most of this rounds.
Kessler had great rounds seven and eight in which he put Hernandez ont trouble several times with crosses and hard straight rights. Hernandez stopped Kessler rally edging the ninth stanza and finally the Dominaican had his best round of the fight on the last one in which he clearly outlanded Kessler and almost dropped him with a hard uppercut near the end of the round. The scorecards were 96-95 98-93 for Hernandez and 95-95. (Fightnews card 97-94 for Hernandez).

[Thomas Hearns]

Michalczewski destroyed Kinchen for first succesful title defense!

Undefeated #2 Darius Michalczewski 29-0-0 (26) scored a TKO6 victory against #21 James Kinchen 26-1-0 (22) to succesfuly defend his WBC super middleweight crown for the first time.
The fighters started the actions at an accelerated pace from the first round with both landing big but with Michalczewski more solid than Kinchen. A hard uppercut by the champion swelled Kinchen’s left eye.
On the second round Kinchen connected a pair of good blows and went to the inside but Michalczewski received him with a hard uppercut to the chin and dropped the challenger for a five count.
On the third round Michalczewski punished Kinchen combining hard body shots with some violent right crosses at the end of the round Kinchen’s left eye was almost close.
On the fourth round the champion forced the inside and hurt Kinchen with hard uppercuts and hooks.
On the following stanza Kinchen attemped to answer the fire but with a great uppercut to Kinchen’s chin as a highlight Michalczewski won the round.
On the sixth stanza Michalczewski dropped Kinchen again with a hard uppercut, Kinchen got up at nine on very bad shape and then the champion connected punch after punch without answer until the referee stopped the uneven fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 50-44 (x2) and 49-45 for the champion.

Rocchigiani edged Murray!

On the co-feature event of the night #68Graziano Rocchigiani 25-2-1 (18) scored a slim split decision win against english #79 Martin Murray 21-3-0 (10).
The pair split the first wo rounds the first for Rocchigiani and the second for Murray.
On the third round Rocchigiani took the control of the fight with the fourth round even.
All this rounds had very even action without a clear dominator.
On rounds five and six Murray rose his workrate to clear outland Rocchigiani.
The German reacted winning rounds seven, eight and nine on a row, the ninth one on big form, Murray finished this round with a bit of swelling under his left eye.
The last round had little action but with Murray landing a bit more than Rocchigiani.
The scorecards were 97-95 and 96-95 for Rocchigiani and 97-94 for Murray. (Fighnews card 96-95 for Rocchigiani).

[Thomas Hearns]

Chavez Jr. rallied to retain the Mexican SMW Title!

#57 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. 26-5-0 (15) succesfully defended his Mexican SMW title against tough #130 Jesus Gallardo 15-3-0 (13) scoring a laborious unanimous decision win.
Gallardo controlled the first two rounds of the fight but Chavez Jr. seemed to react on the third stanza and continued his momentum on the following round also hurting Gallardo with a hard left to the chin.
On the fifth round Gallardo put Chavez Jr. on trouble with an uppercut to clearly win the round and on the sixth he dropped Chavez Jr. with a wild overhand right.
Gallardo continued easily dominating the actions on the seventh round.
But on the eight round Chavez Jr. turn the fight on his favor for good when he dropped Gallardo with a hook to the head, Gallardo got up but he never was the same.
Chavez Jr. edged the ninth round and the tenth one had even action, but the champion closed the fight on great form winning a one-sided eleventh round and finally dropping Gallardo again on the last round of the fight this time with a hard hook. Gallardo got up again but then he only tried to survive until the end of the fight. The scorecards were 115-111 (x2) and 114-112 for Chavez Jr. (Fightnews card: 114-112 fro Chavez Jr.).

On the co-feature fight #113 Marco Antonio Periban 27-5-0 (18) scored a KO5 victory against #140 Librado Andrade 20-5-0 (14) and now he wants a rematch with the SMW Mexican champion Julio Chavez Jr. who beats him early on this year.
Andrade dominated the actions on the first two rounds but Periban reacted on the third one. All this rounds had great back and forth action at the Mexican fighters style.
By round four Periban was in total control of the fight and dropped Andrade with a barrage of punches. Andrade got up and survived the round but on the following stanza Periban dropped him again and for good with a lethal body shot. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 38-37 (x2) and 39-36 for Periban.

[Thomas Hearns]

Joppy climbed from the canvas to stop Starie!

Attemping to redirect his career after losing against Roy Jones Jr on his last fight #42 William Joppy 26-3-0 (17) travelled to England to face local #50 David Starie 18-4-0 (13).
The fight was rather competitive fot the first six rounds, with each fighter winning three rounds.
On the seventh stanza Starie landed a vicious cross and dropped Joppy for a four count, after the american got up Starie looked for the final punch but failed to find it.
But on the eighth round the fight had a dramatic turn when Joppy connected a great shot under Starie’s ribcage and dropped him for the ten count.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 67-65 (x2) for Starie and 66-66.

Froch loses his third fight on a row!
An undertrained #71 Carl Froch 29-2-0 (23) dropped his third consecutive fight this time by unanimous decision against #80 Howard Eastman 23-3-0 (19).
Froch dominated a hard first round in which there was great action on the inside distance and Eastman finished this stanza bleeding from his left eye.
Eastman took the control of the fight on rounds two and three clearly outlanded Froch, but Carl reacted winning the following round.
By round five it seemed that Froch energy had gone and Eastman easily dominated the action outworking a tired Froch for the following five rounds.
On the last round Froch put some heart and attmeped to bull Eastman, he won this round but not the fight.
The scorecards were 97-93 97-94 and 96-94 for Eastman. (Fightnews card 97-93 for Eastman).

[Thomas Hearns]

1 Montell Griffin 29-1-1 (17) IBF 1Defense
2 Darius Michalczewski 30-0-0 (27) 1 Defense
3 Steve Collins 28-1-1 (14) EBU & BBBoC
4 Chad Dawson 25-1-0 (20) WBO
5 Joe Calzaghe 28-1-0 (11)
6 Kelly Pavlik 29-2-0 (21) IBO Tournament Finalist
7 Bernard Hopkins 28-2-0 (21)
8 Andre Ward 31-0-1 (15) USBA
9 Jermain Taylor 31-0-0 (21) WBA
10 Don Lalonde 26-3-0 (16) NABF
11 Nigel Benn 29-1-0 (29)
12 Glencoffe Johnson 30-2-1 (18)
13 Roy Jones Jr 33-0-0 (28) NABA
14 Felix Trinidad 28-1-0 (24) FECARBOX
15 James Toney 29-1-0 (21)
16 Felix Sturm 22-4-0 (2) German
17 Eric Lucas 26-0-1 (6) NABO & Canadian
18 Frank Liles 30-0-1 (21)
19 Charles Brewer 28-2-0 (21)
20 Kardy Balzay 29-3-0 (21) IBO Tournament Finalist
21 Antony Mundine 29-4-1 (17) OPBF & Australian
22 James Kinchen 26-2-0 (22)
23 Tavoris Cloud 31-0-0 (27)
24 Sergio Martinez 31-0-0 (23) FESUBOX
25 Marcus Beyer 23-1-0 (7)
26 Iran Barkley 25-6-0 (20)
27 Jeff Lacy 30-2-1 (24)
28 Ray Leonard 23-2-0 (14)
29 Gerald McClelland 24-1-0 (22)
30 Fulgencio Obelmejias 27-3-0 (19)

Other World Champions
54 Thomas Tate 20-1-3 (16) WBU

[Thomas Hearns]

Breaking News

On August 4 at the Convention Hall on Miami Beach, USBA SMW champion #7 Andre Ward 31-0-1 (15) will defend his crown against hard hitter #30 Gerlad McClelland 24-1-0 (22). If Ward wins the fight he will be very near of a title chance.

IBF super-middleweight champion #1 Montell Griffin 29-1-1 (17) will defend his title for the second time against OPFB and Australian champion #21 Antony Mundine 23-4-1 (17) on August 10 on Caesars Palace Atlantic City.

On August 27 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino WBO SMW champion #5 Chad Dawson 25-1-0 (20) will face #26 Marcus Beyer 29-1-0 (7) on his first title defense

[Thomas Hearns]

Thomas Tate stops John Mugabi and retains his WBU SBW Title!

WBU super middleweight champion #54 Thomas Tate 20-1-3 (16) scored a spectacular KO7 victory against hard hitter african #81 John Mugabi 21-2-0 (15). Tate not only retained his title he also won respect with this victory.
Mugabi started the fight on good form putting Tate on trouble with a cross and then with a hook and an uppercut from the inside.
Mugabi continued his momentum winning the second round too. On the third round Tate changed his strategy and started to answer the fire, Mugabi connected a hard hook and a big straight right to the head but Tate outlanded him to make the round an even affaire.
On the fourth round with Mugabi coming forward Tate connected a big straight right to his chin and dropped the african, that quickly got up more surprised than hurt.
The fifth round was all for Tate, with a hard hook he opened a cut on the left eyelid of the african and then the champion dropped Mugabi with a great body shot.
On the sixth round the fight had big back and forth action with the fighters exchanging big uppercuts on the inside. Mugabi had the upperhand on this round and Tate ended the stanza with a bit of swelling under his eyes.
Early on the seventh round a big uppercut by Tate seemed to leave Mugabi without senses and out on his feet, seeing this situation Tate went for the definition and punished Mugabi with both hands until connecting a hard one-two combination and dropped the african for good.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 57-55 (x2) and 58-55 for the champion Tate.

[Thomas Hearns]

Hopkins dodged a bullet and escapes with a draw against Little!

#7 Bernard Hopkins 28-2-0 (21) couldn’t redirect his career after his two losses against IBF champion Montell Griffin and only scored a hard fought draw against always complicated #33 Steve Little 24-4-0 (3).
Only fifty seconds into the fight a hard barrage of punches by Little dropped Hopkins for a six count. Hopkins got up and survived the rest of the round without great trouble.
On the following three rounds Hopkins showed a big reaction also winning rounds three and four on a one-sided form.
But again on the fifth round Little caught Hopkins with a combination of left jab and a hard straight right to the chin and dropped Bernard for the second time on the fight. Hopkins got up and the bell saved him.
Hopkins dominated the sixth round, the seventh had poor and even action and again Hopkins was in control on rounds eight and nine outboxing Little from the outside.
On the last round Hopkins seemed to be tired and Little won this stanza without a great effort.
The scorecards were 94-94 (x2) and 95-93 for Little. (Fightnews card: 95-94 for Hopkins)

Barkley outpoints Czyz on a thrilling fight!

A big rally on the late rounds allowed #26 Iran Barkley 25-6-0 (20) to turn the things on his favor and defeated strong #41 Bobby Czyz 26-2-1 (16).
Czyz started the fight on fire dropping Barkley late on the round with a hard body shot. Bobby continued his momentum dominating an actionless second round. Barkley seemed to react a bit on the third stanza but Czyz regained the control of the fight on the fourth round winning it convincingly and also hurting Barkely with a hard combination near the end of the round.
Czyz also edged an action-packed fifth round to end the first half of the fight with a good lead on the scorecards.
On the sixth round a hard uppercut by Barkley dropped Czyz and started to turn the fight on Iran’s favor. Barkley missed a lot on the seventh round and Czyz won it with a pair of counterpunches.
On the eight round Czyz landed a pair of hard crosses but Barkley clearly outlanded him showing that he had more fuel left on the tank.
The last two rounds were all for Barkley that easily dominated a tired Czyz.
The scorecards were 95-93 (x2) and 96-92 for Barkley. (Fightnews card: 94-94).

[Thomas Hearns]

Golovkin dominated Williams to win the inaugural IBA SMW Title!

#77 Gennady Golovkin 19-3-1 (17) scores a convincingly unanimous decision win against #85 Paul Williams to win the fringe IBA super middleweight crown.
The first four rounds of the bout had good an even action, with Williams edging the first three rounds and Golovkin edging the fourth one.
But from the fifth round to the seventh one Golovkin had the total control of the fight, his physical strength was too much to hold for Willimas. Golovkin constantly forced the inside and hurt Williams with hooks and uppercuts.
On the eighth round Williams evened the actions a bit using his own uppercut to hurt Golovkin but on rounds nine and ten Gennady was again the total dominator of the actions.
Williams connected a pair of hard straight rights on the eleventh round and made Golovkin stumbled backwards, Pual went after him but Golovkin answered the fire and dropped Williams with a hard cross to the chin. Williams got up but he was totally spent.
On the last round Golovkin punished Williams until the final bell sounded.
The scorecards were 117-110 117-110 and 117-112 for the now champion Gennady Golovkin. (Fightnews card : 117-110 for Golovkin).

Lucian Bute easily defeats mauro Galvano to retain EBA SMW crown!

#83 Lucian Bute 30-1-0 (27) scored a huge unanimous decsion win against italian challenger #127 Mauro Galvano 21-3-0 (8) and retained his European crown for the first time.
Galvano made a fight of it for the first four rounds of the fight and after this period he seemed to have a small edge.
But form the fifth round to the end Bute totally outclassed the italian to win all this eight rounds on a row.
The scorecards were 118-111 (x2) and 119-109 for Bute. (Fightnews card: 118-111 for Bute)
The name of Lucian Bute sounds as a posible rival of IBA champion Gennady Golovkin on his first title defense.

[Thomas Hearns]

Henry Wharton totally dominates Nathan Cleverly!

On an great performance former WBU title challenger #83 Henry Wharton 22-2-0 (19) scored a onesided unanimous decision win against #48 Nathan Cleverly 24-4-0 (14).
Wharton managed to did the neccesary to win the four first rounds that had competiitve action. On rounds five and sixth Wharton deepened his dominance also hurting Cleverly with his uppercuts more than a time.
On the seventh round Cleverly reacted and won it on a convincing way but it was only a mirage, on the following round Wharton regained the control of the fight for good.
On the last round Wharton attmped to finish the fight inside the distance and dropped Cleverly three times but finally Nathan survived the storm and finished the fight on his feet. The scorecards were 99-88 (x3) for Wharton. (Fightnews card 99-88 for Cleverly).

On the undercard of this fight Robin Reid 25-3-1 (19) scored a convincing unanimous decision victory agianst tough irish Brian Magee 25-4-1 (21) dropping his rival three times on the way. The scorecards were 96-91 (x2) and 96-92 for Reid.

On another fight of this card Roberto Duran 25-4-0 (9) dropped Antony Andrews two times on his way of a clear unanimous decision win by scorecards of 96-91 (x2) and 96-92.

[Thomas Hearns]

Tony Thornton wins the inaugural WBF SMW crown!

# 118 Tony Thornton 20-4-1 (13) scored a TUD10 victory aginst #116 Murray Sutherland 22-2-1 (15) to win the fringe WBF super-middleweight crown. The referee had to stop the fight on the ten round and went to the scorecards due to a nasty cut on the inside of Thornton's right eyebrow that was opened by an accidental head-butt on the fourth round and reopened several times across the fight.
This was a rematch fight on the first meeting the fight ended on a draw and the title continued vacant.
The first three rounds of the fight had very even action. On the fourth round Sutherland was in control of the fight but Thornton edged the sixth one.
On the seventh round Sutherland regained the control of the fight but again Thornton edged the following stanza. At this stage the fight was very even but Sutherland won his rounds on a more convincing way.
The eight round was the first that Thornton won convincingly founding the mark for his right crosses several times. The ninth round had close action but with Thornton a bit better.
On the tenth round Sutherland comes forward decidedly and with a great uppercut reopened Thornton cut an the referee halted the actions and went to the scorecards that unanimously gave the fight to Thornton by 87-86 87-85 and 88-84. (Fightnews card: 87-86 for Thornton).

[Thomas Hearns]

Jerry Elliot outpoints Sakio Bika to win ABU SMW title!

Nigerian #103 Jerry Elliot 23-5-1 (11) scored a convincing victory against #163 Sakio Bika 16-9-2 (10) to win the African Super-middleweight crown. In spite of the difference between the fighters along the bout one judge saw the fight even.
The fighters split the first two rounds but after that Bika won the third stanza on a big form also dropping Elliot with a hard uppercut.
Elliot recovered on good form and won the following two rounds on a convincing way but on the sixth round Bika came back and won the stanza with the highlight of a hard hook to Elliot’s head.
On the seventh round the fighters exchanged big blows until Elliot connected a hard one-two combination and dropped Bika for a short count.
Eight and ninth rounds had very poor action the first was even and on the second Elliot was a bit better.
The action returned on round ten whith Elliot totally dominating the stanza and also dropping Bika two more times, the first with a quick combination and the second with a hard hook to the head.
Elliot continued his momentum on the eleventh round and on the final round both fighters put his last effort and exchanged blows on even terms. The scorecards were 116-110 (x2) for Elliot and someway 113-113. (Fightnews card: 116-110 for Elliot).
Now Elliot’s name sound as the first challenger for WBF champion Tony Thornton.

[Thomas Hearns]

Shutout win for Leonard against Lacy!

#28 Sugar Ray Leonard 23-2-0 (14) put on a clinic of boxing to defeat fomer IBO Super 8 competitor #27 Jeff Lacy 30-2-1 (24). Leonard won every round of the fight on the three scordecards.
Leonard showed all his speed and boxing skills against an overmatched Lacy. It was expected to be a competitive fight but Leonard talent was too much to hold for Lacy. Leonard came of two difficult fights against Khalid Jones and Steve Little but with this boxing exhibition he washed his image and appeared again as a serius title contender.
Leonard had outstanding perforrmances on rounds three, six ,seven and nine all in which he punished Lacy without allowing his rival to connect any clean punches.
The scorecards were 100-90 (x3) (Fightnews card 100-90).

[Thomas Hearns]

Kelly Pavlik wins the IBO Super 8 Tournament!

The highly expected fight between #6 Kelly Pavlik 29-2-0 (21) and #19 Kardy Balzay 29-3-0 (21) for the vacant IBO super-middleweight crown, ended early when Balzay couldn’t continue fighting on the fifth round due to a nasty gash on his right eyebrow.
At the time of the stoppage the fight was quite open, the scorecards were 39-39 (x2) and 39-38 for Pavlik and the fight recently was arming.
The first round was all for Balzay that put Pavlik on trouble with a hard right cross and again with a hard left to the chin.
On the second round a strong uppercut by Pavlik opened the cut that was the key of the match. The round had even action but Balzay was very concerned about his cut.
On the following round Pavlik totally dominated the actions and reopened Balzay’s cut with his jab.
On the fourth round Balzay accelerated his pace and hurt Pavlik with a hard right cross and with a hook to the body. Pavlik also connected good counterpunches on this round.
On the fifth round we had even action until Pavlik connected an uppercut and reopened Balzay’s cut one more time and the referee stopped the actions.

McCallum is Pavlik’s mandatory challenger!

Jamaican #57 Mike McCallum 29-2-0 (21) scored a unanimous decision win against Russian super-middleweight champion #35 Dennis Inkin 23-2-2 (19) to win the IBO Super 4 Tournament that determined the first rival of the IBO champion Kelly Pavlik.
McCallum had a great start dropping Inkin two minutes into the fight with a lighting straight right. Inkin got up and McCallum connected another great straight right, and a killer hook to the head but the Russian survived the storm.
On the second round the fight had back and forth action with both fighters landing big but with Inkin clearly having the upperhand also hurting McCallum with a cross.
On round three the fight changed again and McCallum regained the control on big form but Inkin was again the dominator on the fourth stanza. McCallum won the fifth round with some of his trademark bodyshots but one more time the Russian champion recovered on the following stanza. On this sixth stanza the referee deducted a point from McCallum by holding and hitting. Entering on the second part of the fight it was deadly even.
McCallum dominated the seventh round and started to turn the fight on his favor, Inkin finished this round with his left eye almost close.
The Jamaican continued punishing Inkin on the eight stanza and on the ninth he dropped the russian with a tremendous cross to the chin. The Russian got up survived the round and had enough courage to win the last stanza. The scorecards were 95-92 (x2) and 96-91 for McCallum. (Fightnews card: 95-92 for McCallum).

[Thomas Hearns]

1 Montell Griffin 29-1-1 (17) IBF 1 defense
2 Darius Michalczewski 30-0-0 (27) WBC 1 defense
3 Kelly Pavlik 30-2-0 (22) IBO
4 Steve Collins 28-1-1 (14) EBU & BBBoC
5 Chad Dawson 25-1-0 (20) WBO
6 Joe Calzaghe 28-1-0 (11)
7 Andre Ward 31-0-1 (15) USBA
8 Jermain Taylor 31-0-0 (21) WBA
9 Don Lalonde 26-3-0 (16) NABF
10 Nigel Benn 29-1-0 (29)
11 Glenn Johnson 30-2-1 (18)
12 Roy Jones Jr. 33-0-0 (28) NABA
13 Felix Trinidad 28-1-0 (24) FECARBOX
14 Bernard Hopkins 26-2-1 (21)
15 James Toney 29-1-0 (21)
16 Felix Sturm 22-4-0 (2) German
17 Eric Lucas 26-0-1 (6) NABO & Canadian
18 Frank Liles 31-0-1 (21)
19 Ray Leonard 24-2-0 (14)
20 Charles Brewer 28-2-0 (21)
21 Antony Mundine 23-4-1 (17) OPFB & Australia
22 James Kinchen 26-2-0 (22)
23 Kardy Balzay 29-4-0 (21)
24 Tvoris Cloud 31-0-0 (27)
25 Sergio Martinez 31-0-0 (23) FESUBOX
26 Marcus Beyer 23-1-0 (7)
27 Iran Barkley 26-6-0 (20)
28 Steve Little 24-4-1 (3)
29 Lucian Bute 31-1-0 (27) EBA
30 Gerald McClelland 24-1-0 (22)

Other world champions

55 Thomas Tate 21-1-3 (17) WBU 1 defense
77 Gennady Golovkin 20-3-1 (17) IBA
116 Tony Thornton 21-4-1 (13) WBF

[Thomas Hearns]

Collins outpoints Tiozzo and retained the EBU SMW Title!

#3 Steve Collins 28-1-1 (14) scored a more difficult than expected unanimous decsion victory against #33 Christophe Tiozzo 16-5-0 (9) to retain his European Super-middleweight crown for the first time.
For the first six rounds the fight had intense and even action with both fighters landing on big form and fighting on even terms. On the seventh round for the first time one of the fighters had a clear dominance over the other with Collins clearly outlanding Tiozzo. But the frenchman recovered on good form on the following round. Collins had a little edge on rounds nine and ten and the elventh one had even action. Entering on the last round it seemed that Collins was winning by a narrow margin. On this last stanza Collins dropped Tiozzo with a great uppercut and won the round on a big form to secure his victory and retain his title.
The scorecards were 117-112 115-114 116-113 for the champion Collins.
Steve Collins is a posible name for the next defense of the WBC champion Darius Michalczewski.

[Thomas Hearns]

Andre Ward stops Gerald McCleland and retains his USBA SMW crown!

Undefeated USBA super-middleweight champion #7 Andre Ward 31-0-1 (15) scored an impresive TKO9 victory against hard-hitter #30 Gerald McCleland 24-1-0 (22).
For the first three rounds of the bout Ward did the perfect fight hitting McCleland without being hit. In those rounds the difference of speed and boxing skills was clear.
On the fourth round Ward continued dominating the actions but McClelland started to find the mark for his power-blows.
Fifth and sixth rounds were the best of McCleland on the fight shortening the distances and connecting his hard uppercuts several times. In spite of this Ward’s jab was closing McCleland lefte eye.
On the sixth round Ward started to stick and move again landing good combinations and some hard crosses to regain the control of the fight.
On the seventh round Ward gave a boxing exhibition punishing McCleland for all the round and finally dropping him with a quick barrage of punches. McCleland got up and the round ended saving him but not for much time.
On the following round it was clear that McCleland was out on his feet and Ward connected punch after punch until the referee stopped the uneven fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 78-73 77-73 and 78-72 for Andre Ward.

[Thomas Hearns]

Montell Griffin retains his IBF SMW title on an incredible fight!

IBF super-middleweight champion #1 Montell Griffin 29-1-1 (17) retained his title for the second time scoring a quick DQ1 win against OPFB and Australian SMW champion #21 Antony Mundine 23-4-1 (17).
The bizzare figth ended only after 24 seconds of action when Mundine connected a huge and intentional head-butt to the chin of Griffin making the champion collapsed to the canvas.
The referee rules the foul to be blatant and immediately disqualified Mundine.

James Toney defeats Jean Pascal!

On the undercard of the title fight we had a great bout between two top super-middleweights: #15 James Toney 29-1-0 (21) scored a convincing unanimous decision win against #38 Jean Pascal 28-1-1 (22).
Toney dominated the first two rounds of the fight using his hooks as his best weapon and also connecting some winging rights to Pascal’s head.
On the following two rounds Pascal was more aggressive and pressured Toney landing some good combinations to win both stanzas.
On the fifth round the fight had even back and forth action with Pascal connecting a big uppercut and a hard left and Toney countering with a violent straight right.
On rounds six and seven Toney regained the control of the fight also hurting Pascal with a hook late on the seventh.
On round eighth Pascal showed that he was still on the fight putting Toney on trouble with a hook and with a left-right combination.
Toney dominated most of the ninth round hurting Pascal with an uppercut but on the last seconds Pascal connected a big straight right that made Toney stumble backwards.
On the last round there was little action but with Toney a bit better than Pascal.
The scorecards were 97-93 (x2) and 100-93 for Toney. (Fightnews card: 97-94 for Toney).
With this victory Toney redirect his career after his disqualification loss against Eric Lucas.

[Thomas Hearns]

Sturm easily outpoints Brazilian Mauricio Amaral!

German super-middleweight champion #16 Felix Sturm 22-4-0 (2) scored a convincing unanimous decision win against #36 Mauricio Amaral 24-5-2 (20).
Sturm showed a very good performance with his usual style of fighting from the outside minimizing the risks.
Sturm won the first three rounds on a solid way, attacking behind his jab and putting Amaral on trouble with some good hooks.
On rounds four, five and six Amaral attemped to go to the inside and the bout was fought on even terms.
On rounds seven and eight Sturm froze the bout fighting on the outside and frustrating Amaral. A hard cross by Sturm was the highlight of this period.
Amaral edged the ninth round ending it with a sharp combination and finally the last round had even action but with Amaral connecting the strongest punches.
The scorecards were 98-93 99-92 and 99-93 for Sturm. (Fightnews card: 99-94 for Sturm).

On the co-feature fight of this card Arthur Abraham returned to victory after three consecutive losses, scoring a slim unanimous decision win against Fredric Sellier 16-8-0 (6). After a very close fight Abraham secured his victory scoring a knockdown on the last round. (Scorecards: 95-94 (x2) and 96-93 for Abraham).

On another fight on this night Mario Veit 28-2-1 (15) scored a good unanimous decision win against Danilo Haussler 24-4-1 (6) dropping Haussler two times in his way to victory. (Scorecards: 97-93, 96-94 and 95-94 for Veit).
After the fight Veit expressed his desire to fight Felix Sturm for the German SMW crown.

[Thomas Hearns]

Michael Nunn beats Danny Green!

#116 Michael Nunn 20-3-0 (13) scored a malority decision win against local hero #90 Danny Green 22-5-1 (20) to rediredt a bit his career.
For the first three rounds Nunn quickness and boxing skills were to much to hold for Danny Green that only sporadically find the mark for his trademark bombs.
On the fourth and fifth rounds Green evened the actions a bit but Nunn still clearly outlanded him to win both stanzas.
The best of Green came on round six and specially on round seven when he started to find the mark for his power right cross and also connected some great hooks.
On the seventh round Green attmeped to continue his rally and went all for the attack but Nunn answered the fire clearly outlanding the aussie.
Green edged the ninth round that had very poor action but finally Nunn won the last round to secure his victory. The scorecards were 97-93 and 96-94 for Nunn and somehow 95-95. (Fightnews card: 97-93 for Nunn).

On the undercard of this fight #161 Peter Quillin 22-6-1 (17) scored a spectacular KO7 victory against #106 Daniel Geale 20-5-1 (11).
Geale seemed to be in control of the fight winning five of the first six rounds but on the seventh stanza Qullin came like a storm and with a hard left-right combination left Geale out on his feet and then with a lighting straight right to the chin Quillin put the aussie to sleep for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 59-55 for Geale (the most accurate) and 55-55 (x2).