The Gold League

[Thomas Hearns]

Plages Gaston Deferre, France, 2012-12-04

Round 6

Johann Duhaupas 0-4-0 vs Manuel Charr 1-3-0
Duhaupas edged the first round but after that Charr took the control of the fight for the following four rounds, havnig great rounds on the second and fifth stanzas.
Duhaupas won the last round and also hurt Charr with a hook but it was too late for him.
My scorcecard was 58-56 for Charr and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Charr and 57-57 so Manuel Charr is the winner by majority decision and he still has a little chance to pass to the second round.

Dennis Lebedev 3-1-0 (2) vs Pawel Kolodziej 1-3-0
Kolodziej knew that it was his last chance, so he came decided and won the first round convincingly, Lebedev connected the stronger blows but the Polish connected more.
On the second round the things changed and Lebedev was the clear dominator hurting Kolodziej with his straight right.
Lebedev mantained his momentum edging the third round too.
On the fourth round Kolodziej reacted and shook the Russian a pair of times. Lebedev finish the round with a bit of swelling under his right eye.
The Polish had his best round on the fifth one, putting Lebedev on trouble with his right cross and with some good body work.
The final round was a violent affiare with both figters being hurt at different stages of the round and with Lebedev winning it with a great right hook that froze Kolodziej seconds before the final bell. My scorecard was 57-57. The official scorecards were 58-56 for Kolodziej and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Antonio Tarver 4-0-0 (2) vs Frans Botha 3-2-0 (1)
Tarver dominated the fight from the beggining, early on the first round he connected a big uppercut to Botha’s chin and almost dropped the Southafrican. Then he continued dominating the round, Botha connected some blows of his own but was overcome by Tarver.
On the second round all was for Tarver, he rocked Botha early on the round with a left hook to the head and he put the Southafrican on trouble again with a straight left seconds until the final bell. Botha finished the round with some swelling under his left eye.
On the following round Tarver connected a violent left hook to Botha’s chin and dropped him for an eight count. After Botha got up Tarver continued punishing him unitl connecting another left hook that sent Botha to the floor again, the brave Southafrican got up again but on very bad shape and the referee didn’t allow him to continue fighting so Antonio Tarver was the winner by TKO3.
With this win Tarver secured for himself the first position on this group and Botha is almost eliminated form the tournament.

Standings

A.Tarver 10
D.Lebedev 7
T.Bidenko 6
F.Botha 6
M.Charr 4
P.Kolowziej 3
J.Duhaupas 0

Next Fights –January 2013-

J.Duhaupas Vs P. Kolodziej
M. Charr Vs T.Bidenko
A.Tarver Vs D.Lebedev

[Thomas Hearns]

Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM, United States, 2013-01-04

Round 7

Johann Duhaupas 0-5-0 vs Pawel Kolodziej 1-3-1
Kolodziej won a competitve first round but then Duhaupas answered winning the second on a great form but the referee deducted a point from him due to a low blow. The fight continued changing and the Polish won the third round. Both rounds four and fifth were even and difficult to rate ones.
Finally Kolodziej won an actionless last round to secure his victory on this lackluster fight.
My scorecard was 59-56 for Kolodjiej, the official scorecards were 58-55 and 59-55 (x2) for the winner by unanimous decision Pawel Kolodziej.

Manuel Charr 2-3-0 vs Taras Bidenko 3-2-0
The first round was very even for the first half but on the bottom half Bidenko connected a pair of great quick combinations to win the stanza.
The second round was rather competitive but again Bidenko closed it better connecting a strong uppercut to Charr’s chin to take the round.
The fight continued on the same way on the third round, with Charr better on the first half but with Bidenko closed the round stronger.
On the fourth round there was poor action but Bidenko was the only man to attemp something. Charr was totally pasive.
The fifth round was a close affaire that could be ruled for either fighter. The last round was very anticlimathic with very poor action but with Bidenko winning it.
My scorecard was 60-55 for Bidenko, the official scorecards were 60-54 and 58-56 for Bidenko and someway 57-57, so Bidenko was the winner by majority decision.
With this victory Bidenko secured his pass to the second round, depending the result of Lebedev he could be second or third on the group standings.

Antonio Tarver 5-0-0 (3) vs Dennis Lebedev 3-1-1 (2)
With most of the things defined on the group, the best two fighters of it faced eachother.
Tarver wanted to finish the group undefeated like Wlad Klitschko on the Group 1 and Lebedev needed a victory to pass Bidenko on the standings table and finished second.
The first round started with a lot of action with both fighters connecting good power blows, Lebedev hurt Tarver with two separatd hooks, but Tarver put Lebedev on trouble with one hook of his own. The round was for Lebedev by a slim margin.
Early on the second round Tarver landed a left-right combination that stopped Lebedev and then he continued outboxing the Russian to win the round convincingly. The round hadn’t the same accelerated pace as the first one.
Tarver continued in control,on the third round and with his trademark left hook was causing a lot of trouble for the Russian.
The fourth round had ninety seconds without clean punches, but on the bottom half Lebedev connected some blows to win a slow round.
On the fifth round Tarver seemed to regain the control of the fight combinating bodywork with head snapping left uppercuts, but then he failed with a one-two combnation and Lebedev found the space to connect a violent shot under Tarver’s ribcage and sent him to the canvas for the ten count. So the final result was Lebedev by KO5, a really amazing victory for the Russian.

Final Standings

A.Tarver 10 -Record 5-1-0 (3)-
D.Lebedev 9 -Record 4-1-1 (3)-
T.Bidenko 8 -Record 4-2-0-
F.Botha 6 -Record 3-3-0 (1)-
P.Kolodziej 5 -Record 2-3-1-
M.Charr 4 -Record 2-4-0-
J.Duhaupas 0 -Record 0-0-6-

Tarver, Lebedev and Bidenko passed to the next tournament stage.

[Thomas Hearns]

As it was expected Antonio Tarver won the group, he performed very good on his first five fights (outstanding against Botha) but finally he was surprisingly Knocked out by Lebedev with a great body shot on a very even fight at that moment. But at 43 Tarver showed that he is still good enough to fight everyone.

Dennis Lebedev had the highlight of beating Tarver but he also had a totally unexpected defeat against Manuel Charr. Finally he didn't had problems to pass to the second round and he could be a force on this touranment.

Taras Bidenko was the pleasant surprise of this group, he was not one of the candidates to pass to the second round but his victories against Kolodziej and Frans Botha put him on the second round. He was clearly overcome by the two top fighters of the group: Tarver and Lebedev.

Frans Botha looked very well at 43, he only was overmatched by Tarver, then he always was competitive and he showed that he still could punch hard. Two slim decisions defeats against Lebedev and Bidenko privated him to pass to the second round.

Previously undefeated Pawel Kolodziej was the great decepcion of the group, he was expected to be the third man on the second round with Tarver and Lebedev but he only finished fifth with a victory against Manuel Charr as a highlight.

Manuel Charr had as an only highlight an upset victory against Dennis Lebedev but then he didn't show the neccessary level to be a real contender to pass to the second round.

Johann Duhaupas: Record 0-6-0. Not much to say about him.


COMING UP : MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT GROUP 1

[Thomas Hearns]

Entries

Andre Ward
Sam Soliman
Fulgencio Zuniga
Karo Murat
Cornelius White
Gennady Martirosyan
Osumanu Adama

*Note on the Middleweight and Welterweight Tournaments the first four of each group pass to the second round

Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2012-07-05

Round 1

Cornelius White vs Karo Murat
The first two rounds were very similar with Murat dominating the first half and with White rallying on the second part of the round to win both stanzas.
On the third round Murat recovered and edged the round, he continued his momentum winning the fourth round too but again by a narrow margin.
On the fifth round White regained the control and won a competitive round. All the rounds were very close and without any remarkable power blows.
Finally White clearly dominated the last round to win a fight in which he wasn’t the favourite.
My scorecard was 58-56 for White. The official scorecards were 58-56 and 58-57 for White and 58-56 for Murat so the winner by split decision was Cornelius White.

Gennady Martirosyan vs Fulgencio Zuniga
The fight started with Martirosyan connecting a smashing cross that made Zuniga retreat , then Zuniga connected and uppercut and followed it with another more violent one and sent Martirosyan to the canvas. Gennady got up but thirty seconds later Zuniga put him to sleep for the ten count with a wild overhand right. The official result was Zuniga by KO1.

Osumanu Adama vs Sam Soliman
In front of his people Australian Fulgencio Zuniga faced little known african Osumanu Adama.
The first round had not a lot of action but Adama was the busier man of the pair and he won the round. Adama also edged the second round to the surprise of the australians present in the stadium.
Soliman seemed to react, clearly winning the third round but again Adama edged the following round. A confident Adama outlanded Soliman on the fifth round to take a good lead on the fight. On the last round Soliman was a beaten man and Adama simply outboxed him to win the stanza and the fight. My scorecard was 59-55 for Adama and the official scorecards were 59-55 and 58-56 for Adama and a localist 57-57. So Adama was the winner by majority decision on a great upset!

Standings

F.Zuniga 2
C.White 2
O.Odama 2
K.Murat 0
S.Soliman 0
G.Martirosyan 0
A.Ward –

Next Fights –August 2012-

K.Murat Vs F.Zuniga
C.White Vs S.Soliman
A.Ward Vs O.Adama

[Thomas Hearns]

El Campin, Bogota, Colombia, 2012-08-05

Round 2

Karo Murat 0-1-0 vs Fulgencio Zuniga 1-0-0 (1)
Karo Murat came of an unexpected defeat against Cornelius White, Fulgencio Zuniga of an overwhelming KO1 win against Martirosyan.
Murat started the fight at an accelerated pace winning the first round on great form an also hurting Zuniga with a body shot followed by a straight right to the head.
On the second round Zuniga turn the things and he was the aggressor and he hurt Murat with a straight right and again with a solid hook. Murat finished the round with a cut on his right eyebrow.
The pair split the following two rounds, the third for Murat and the fourth for Zuniga.
On the fifth round Zuniga connected a solid cross that shook his rival, but Murat clearly outworked him to win the round.
Zuniga knew that he needed something special on the last round to win the fight and that was exactly what he did when he dropped Murat with a combination of blows to the body and the head. Murat got up and Zuniga had time to connect a terrible right cross and a big uppercut from the inside that made Murat stumble but the asian finished the fight on his feet. My scorecard and the three judges ones were the same: 57-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Fulgencio Zuniga.

Cornelius White 1-0-0 vs Sam Soliman 0-1-0
The fight started with a very cold first round in which Soliman was the more effective of the pair. The second round had a bit more of action and it was evenly fought.
On the third round White producted the first situation of dominance on the fight winning the third round on a big form and putting Soliman in trouble with a combination followed with a pair of straight rights at the middle stages of the round.
White mantained his momentum edging the fourth round, the pace of the fight was decreasing again. Soliman won a slow fifth round in which he was the only man to land some significant punches. The last round had almost no action with White being the better of the pair on a real yawn feast. My scorecard was 58-57 for White and the official ones were 58-57 for White and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Andre Ward 0-0-0 vs Osumanu Adama 1-0-0
Osumanu Adama came of a great upset win against one of the candidates to pass to the second round:Sam Soliman and now he faced the main favourtite to win the group: Andre Ward.
From the first round Ward showed that he was too classy for Adama winning the round on a one-sided form and putting Adama in trouble with a straight right followed by a smashing hook. On the second round Ward again rocked Adama with another straight right to the head and then he controlled the round without major trouble.
On the third round Ward outboxed Adama landing a lot of punches and not allowing Adama to connect any clean punches.
The fourth round was very similar with Ward in control landing at his own and with Adama having all sort of trouble to find the target for his blows. Adama finished the round with some swelling under the left eye.
On the fifth round Adama did it better but Ward still easily won the round.
On the last round Ward gave an exhibition of boxing and he almost dropped Adama near the end of the round with a great right hook. Adama finished the fight with his left eye almost closed.
My scorecard was the same as the three officicial ones: 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Andre Ward.

Standings

F.Zuniga 4
C.White 3
A.Ward 2
O.Adama 2
S.Soliman 1
K.Murat 0
G.Martirosyan 0

Next Fights –September 2012-

F.Zuniga Vs S.Soliman
C.White Vs O.Adama
A.Ward Vs G.Martirosyan

[Thomas Hearns]

Fenway Park, Boston, MA, United States, 2012-09-06

Round 3

Cornelius White 1-0-1 vs Osumanu Adama 1-1-0
White started the fight edging a cold first round, but then he continued his momentum winning the following two rounds with authority.
Adama seemed to react winning the fourth round convincingly but White regained the control on the following round. Early on the sixth round White connected a great cross to Adama’s chin and dropped him for the ten count. White was the winner by KO6, at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 49-46 and 48-47 (x2) for White.

Fulgencio Zuniga 2-0-0 (1) vs Sam Soliman 0-1-1
The first round of the fight was evenly fought until Zuniga connected a big hook to Soliman’s midsection near the end of the round to take the stanza.
On the second round Soliman landed just a bit more than Zuniga and edged the stanza.
Soliman took the control from the beginning of the third round and he also dropped Zuniga with a perfect right uppercut. Zuniga got up and managed to stay out of risk until the final of the round. Soliman mantained his momentum winning a competitive fourth round.
Zuniga hurt Soliman early on the fifth round and managed to control the first half of the round then Soliman rallied to almost even the stanza.
On the last round Soliman fought from the outside and Zuniga was desesperated to land one savior blow and he almost did it when he made Soliman stumble with a hard uppercut that was his only significant hit in all the round. My scorecard was 58-55 for Soliman, the official scorecards were 58-56 and 58-55 for Soliman and 57-57, so Soliman was the winner by majority decision.

Andre Ward 1-0-0 vs Gennady Martirosyan 0-1-0
Martirosyan started the fight on good form edging the first round but on the second stanza Ward took the control of the fight clearly outlanded Martirosyan.
On the third round a right cross by Ward dropped Martirosyan for a six count. After getting up Martirosyan managed to cover up and survive the rest of the round.
The fourth round started with the referee deducting a point to Ward due to holding and hitting but Ward continued in control and dropped Martirosyan with another right cross. This time Martirosyan got up but then he took a lot of punishment until the round ended.
Martirosyan put his last effort on the fifth round and went to the punch per punch with Ward both fighters exchanged some brutal combinations, and Martirosyan closed the round with a great straight left that shook Ward to edge the round.
On the last round Martirosyan looked tired and he had a cut in his right eyebrow and Ward easily dominated the stanza hitting Gennady at his own to secure his victory. My scorecard was 57-54 for Ward and the official ones were 57-54 (x2) and 58-53 all for the winner by unanimous decision Andre Ward.

Standings

C.White 5
A.Ward 4
F.Zuniga 4
S.Soliman 3
O.Adama 2
K.Murat 0
G.Martirosyan 0

Next Fights –October 2012-

K.Murat Vs G.Martirosyan
F.Zuniga Vs O.Adama
A.Ward Vs C.White

[Thomas Hearns]

Bagdag Cafe, Bagdag, Iraq, 2012-10-05

Round 4

Karo Murat 0-2-0 vs Gennady Martirosyan 0-2-0
The only two winless fighters of the group faced eachother, both needed a win to maintain some chances of passing to the second round.
The fight started with an even first round, Murat put Martirosyan on trouble with a violent hook but Martirosyan landed more punches than him.
Martirosyan controlled the second round and won the third one on a great form.
The fourth round was an even affaire, on the fifth round Martirosyan hurt Murat with a hook and then continued dominating the stanza to win it easily.
The last round was very even until Murat landed a big body shot that sent Martirosyan to the canvas a second before the final bell rang.
My scorecard was 58-57 for Martirosyan and the official scorecards were 58-56 for Martirosyan and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Fulgencio Zuniga 2-1-0 (1) vs Osumanu Adama 1-2-0
Adama started the fight better dominating the fight for the first two minutes and he also shook Zuniga with a straigth right but on the last minute Zuniga turn the things hurting Adama with a violent right hook followed by a strong cross.
On the second round Zuniga started controlling the action but Adama connected a violent left-right combination and dropped Zuniga for the ten count. The offical result was Adama by KO2. This is the second upset win by Adama on the tournament.

Andre Ward 2-0-0 vs Cornelius White 2-0-1
The only two undefeated fighters of the group faced each other, Cornelius White is the great surprise of this group after the three first fights and Andre Ward is the clear favourite to win the group.
Ninety seconds into the first round Ward connected a great shot under White’s ribcage and dropped him for a seven count. After White got up Ward went for the definition and it came forty seconds later when Ward connected another great body shot and dropped White for the ten count. The official result was Ward by KO1.

Standings

A.Ward 6
C.White 5
F.Zuniga 4
O.Adama 4
S.Soliman 3
K.Murat 1
G.Martirosyan 1

Next Fights –November 2012-

S.Soliman Vs G.Martirosyan
F.Zuniga Vs C.White
A.Ward Vs K.Murat

[Thomas Hearns]

Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia, 2012-11-05

Round 5

Sam Soliman 1-1-1 vs Gennady Martirosyan 0-2-1
Martirosyan started the fight better winning the first round convincingly, but after that Soliman took the control of the fight winning the following three rounds and seemed to have the fight in his hands. But strangely Soliman seemed to run out of fuel on the last two rounds allowing Martirosyan to win both rounds with little. Specially on the last round Soliman did nothing. My scorecard was 57-57 and the official scorecards were 58-56 for Soliman and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Fulgencio Zuniga 2-2-0 (1) vs Cornelius White 2-1-1 (1)
The fight started with low pace on the first two rounds but with Zuniga connecting a few power blows to win both stanzas.
On the third round Zuniga totally outlanded White, the highlight of the round was a brutal exchange in which Zuniga connected a great hook and White ansewered with a strong uppercut his only positive hit on the round.
On the following two rounds all was for Zuniga, White finished the fifth stanza with a cut above his right eyebrow.
On the last round Zuniga attemped to finish the fight inside the distance and he dropped White with a left-right combination. After White got up Zuniga followed up the action and dropped White again with a strong right uppercut. White got up again and then ran for his life and he could listen the final bell on his feet. My scorecard was 60-52 for Zuniga and the official scorecards were 60-52 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Fulgencio Zuniga.
For White this is his second consecutive lost after being undefeated on his first three tournament fights.

Andre Ward 3-0-0 (1) vs Karo Murat 0-2-1
The fight started on an spectacular form with Murat landing a violent cross and Ward answering with two power uppercuts from the inside. After that Murat managed to land more to win the stanza. Murat continued his good moment winning the second round that has low pace compared with the first one.
Ward edged a back and forth third round to put himself on the fight. A right smashing hook by Ward that rocked Murat was the highlight of the round.
Ward also edged the fourth round in which he hurt Murat with a hook and again with an uppercut, the asian also answered with a strong straight left that stopped Ward cold.
The fifth round had poor action but Ward was the only man to land some significant blows.
On the last round Ward connected a crushing uppercut that made Murat stumbling backward but Murat answered with a straight right that shook Ward. Finally Ward edged the last round too and in my scorecard he won by 58-56. The official scorecards were 58-56 and 59-55 for Ward and 58-56 for Murat, so Ward was the winner by split decision.

Standings

A.Ward 8
F.Zuniga 6
C.White 5
O.Adama 4
S.Soliman 4
G.Martirosyan 2
K.Murat 1

Next Fights –December 2012-

O.Adama Vs G.Martirosyan
S.Soliman Vs K.Murat
A.Ward Vs F.Zuniga

[Thomas Hearns]

Nueva Circa, Caracas, Venezuela, 2012-12-06

Round 6

Sam Soliman 1-1-2 vs Karo Murat 0-3-1
Murat strated the fight on a good form winning the first round convincinglyy and also edging the second one. But then Soliman rallied and took the control of the fight on the last four rounds to totally turn the things. My scorecard was 58-56 for Soliman and the official ones were 58-56 58-57 and 59-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Sam Soliman. With this victory the aussie mantains his chances to pass to the second round.

Osamanu Adama 2-2-0 (1) vs Gennady Martirosyan 0-2-2
On a very competitive fight Gennady Martirostyan surprised Osumanu Adama to still had a hope to pass to the second round on the other hand the african had almost secured his pass to the second round with a victory and now his picture is more difficult.
Martirosyan won an action less first round, the following two stanzas were very even.
Again Martirosyan edged the fourth round and he mantained his momentum winning the fifth round convincingly. Adama attemped to rally on the final round and he won it in good form but it wasn’t enough for him to turn the final result. My scorecard was 59-57 for Martirosyan and the offical scorecards were 58-57 and 59-57 (x2) for the winner by unanimous decision Gennady Martirosyan.

Andre Ward 4-0-0 (1) vs Fulgencio Zuniga 3-2-0 (1)
The two best fighters of the group at the moment faced eachother on a highly expected fight.
Ward easily controlled the first round in which he hurt Zuniga with a brutal hook. On the second round Zuniga did it better but Ward still edged the stanza, putting Zuniga on trouble again with a good combination. The third round had a lot of action but again with Ward taking the best part hurting Zuniga a pair of times with his uppercuts from the inside.
Ward started the fourth round in command hurting Zuniga with a strong cross, but then Zuniga rallied to edge the round. The southamercian also edged a low fifth round to put himself in the contest. The last round hadn’t great action with Ward controlling the first two minutes and Zuniga trying to rally on the final minute. In my view Ward won the round and the fight by 58-56 but the official scorecards were 58-57 for Ward and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Standings

A.Ward 9
F.Zuniga 7
S.Soliman 6
C.White 5
O.Adama 4
G.Martirosyan 4
K.Murat 1

Next Fights –January 2013-

O. Adama Vs K.Murat
A.Ward Vs S. Soliman
G.Martirosyan Vs C.White

[Thomas Hearns]

HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, United States, 2013-01-05

Round 7

Osamanu Adama 2-3-0 (1) vs Karo Murat 0-4-1
Osumanu Adama the man who had upset wins against Soliman and Zuniga faced an eliminated Karo Murat needing a victory to have chances to continue on the tournament.
The fight started well for the african that clearly won the first round.
The second round was an even affaire and on the third stanza Adama was in control again rocking Murat a pair of times. After an even fourth round Murat seemed to react winning the fifth round on a great form hurting Adama with a right cross in the way. Murat mantained his momentum and also won the last round of the fight to put the result into doubt.
My scorecard was 58-58 and the official ones were 58-57 (x2) for Murat and 57-57 so Murat was the winner by majority decision and Adama is out of the tournament!

Andre Ward 4-0-1(1) vs Sam Soliman 2-1-2
On the first three rounds of the fight Andre Ward gave a boxing lesson to the aussie Sam Soliman, totally outboxing and outlanding him and hurting him using his straight rights, his crosses and some uppercuts from the inside. Soliman finished the third round bleeding from his mouth.
On the fourth round Soliman started to react, Ward still hurt him with a great uppercut but the aussie outlanded him. Soliman also won the fifth round, Ward seemed to get tired and the aussie took advantage of the situation.
But when the fight seemed to complicated for him Ward had a great final round hitting Soliman without being hit to secure his victroy. My scorecard was 58-56 for Ward and the offical ones were 58-56 (x2) and 59-55 for the winner by unanimous decision Andre Ward.

Gennady Martirosyan 1-2-2 vs Cornelius White 2-2-1 (1)
The result of this fight determined the fourth qualified for the second round, Martirosyan needed a win to continue on the tournament White only needed a draw.
Martirosyan had a dreamed beginning of the fight dropping White with a perfect hook less than two minutes into the fight. After getting up White survived the rest of the round without major trouble.
The second round was very even, a great uppercut by White was the best punch of the round.
White took the control of the fight on the third round and he continued his momentum on the following round and he seemed to be in conditions to overtake his bad start.
The fifth round was an even affaire and the final round appeared to be crucial on the result of the fight. Martirosyan managed to outbox and outland White on the last round to win the round, the fight and secured his pass to the second round. My scorecard was 58-57 for Martirosyan, the official scorecards were 58-57 (x2) and 59-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Gennady Martirosyan.
Incredible Cornelius White is out of the tournament after staying undefeat (two wins and a draw) on the first three fights of the group.

Final Standings

A.Ward 11 -Record 5-0-1 (1)-
F.Zuniga 7 -Record 3-2-1 (1)-
S.Soliman 6 -Record 2-2-2-
G.Martirosyan 6 -Record 2-2-2-
C.White 5 -Record 2-3-1 (1)
O.Adama 4 -Record 2-4-0 (1)
K.Murat 3 -Record 1-4-1-

Ward, Zuniga, Soliman and Martirosyan passed to the second stage of the tournament.

[Thomas Hearns]

As it was expected Andre Ward was the clear dominator of this group, he won it undefeated with five wins and a ploemic draw against Zuniga (I think he won this fight). Ward seemed to be one of the candidates to win the middleweight tournament.

Two veterans Fulgencio Zuniga and Sam Soliman also passed to the second round but no without trouble. At 34 and 38 respectively they showed their validity.

Gennady Martirosyan was the greatful surprise of this group, nobody expected him to pass to the second round but he could overcome a bad start to finally won his last two fight and qulified.

Karo Murat was the great deception of the group, most indicated him as the best of the young fighters of this group but he finished on the last palce with only one win.

Osumanu Adama, an unknown african fighter, performed better than it was expected upsetting both vetreans Zuniga and Soliman. Then he came short on the fights against Martirosyan and Murat when the qualification was very near.

Cornelius White was the other young boxer indicated to fight for the pass to the second round and he strated the tournament on fire but after his shocking KO1 loss against Andre Ward he never was the same.

COMING UP WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT GROUP 1

[Thomas Hearns]

Koiner Eisstadion, Cologne, Germany, 2012-07-05

Round 1

Mike Arnaoutis vs Kendall Holt
Holt strated the fight with an outsanding first round hurting the greekman with a straight right and with a great uppercut and totally outlanded him.
On the second round there wasn’t a lot of action but Holt still won it. On the third round Arnaoutis attemped a reaction and edged the round.
Holt power appeared again on the fourth round when with a violent cross made Arnaoutis stumble. Near the end of the round Holt hurt Arnaoutis again with a strong straight left.
Holt continued hurting Arnaoutis every time he landed a power blow on the fifth round it was a great uppercut to the greek’s chin from the inside that shook Arnaoutis. But on the other hand Holt finished this round with a cut on the outside of his left eyebrow caused by an a left jab by Arnaoutis.
Finally Holt edged an anticlimathic final round. My scorecard was 59-55 for Holt. The offical scorecards were 59-55 (x2) and 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Kendall Holt.

Ali Funeka vs Lamont Peterson
Peterson clearly controlled the first round of the fight, but after that Funeka had a great second round, hurting Perterson with a right uppercut and not allowing Peterson to land a single punch. Funeka continued his good momentum winning a back and forth third round. Peterson regained the control of the fight on the fourth round in which he clearly outlanded Funeka and he also connected his best punch on the night a great straight right that sttoped Funeka cold.
The fifth round was a very even affaire and the whole fight was deadly even at this point.
The final round was rather competive until the final minute in which Funeka connected an uppercut and went to the inside but Peterson answered with a series of violent uppercuts of his own to finally won the round. My scorecard was 58-57 for Peterson but the judges saw it different: 59-56 for Peterson and 58-57(x2) for Funeka. So Ali Funeka was the winner by split decision ona great upset.

Gianluca Branco vs Junior Witter
On the last fight of the night two veterans faced, and Junior Witter proved to be the best of the pair.
On the first round Witter dropped Branco with a great body shot. When Branco got up he was ok. And he finished the round connecting some punches of his own.
Witter edged the second round but Branco cut him above the right eyebrow with a violent uppercut.
Then Witter completelly dominated the following two rounds, on the fourth one he made Branco stumble with a strong right hook.
Branco recovered a bit edging the fifth round but finally Witter gave Branco a beating on the last stanza to round off a great performance. My scorecard was 59-54 for Witter and the official ones were 59-54 58-55 and 60-53 for the winner by unanimous decision Junior Witter.

Standings

K.Holt 2
J.Witter 2
A.Funeka 2
L.Peterson 0
M.Arnaoutis 0
G.Branco 0
M.Cotto -

Next Fights –August 2012-

M.Cotto Vs G.Branco
M.Arnaoutis Vs J.Witter
K. Holt Vs L.Peterson

[Thomas Hearns]

Casino di Campione, Lecco, Lombardia, Italy, 2012-08-05

Round 2

Kendall Holt 1-0-0 (1) vs Lamont Peterson 0-1-0
Kenadall Holt came of destruying Mike Aranoutis, Lamont Peterson came of being surprisingly defeated by Ali Funeka and he needed a win urgently.
The fight started terrible for Peterson becouse thirty seconds into the fight he was on the canvas courtesy of a great body shot by Holt. Peterson managed to survive the rest of the round but before it he was rocked again by great uppercut by Holt.
On th second round Peterson seemed to react hurting Holt a pair of times to totally dominated the round.
The third round had great action with Holt hurting Peterson with an uppercut at the middle stages of the round but with Peterson rallying and connecting an uppercut following but a straight right seconds before the bell rang to finally win the round.
Peterson continued in control on the fourth round hurting Holt again this time with a great hook. The last two rounds were very competitive ones but Peterson edged both of them to secure a great victory for him. My scorecard was 58-55 for Peterson and all the official scorecards were the same 58-55 for Peterson.

Mike Arnaoutis 0-1-0 vs Junior Witter 1-0-0
Witter had a perfect first round hitting Arnaoutis without being hit. But after that Arnoutis took the control of the fight for the following two rounds.
Witter won an actionless fourth round and then continued his momentum edging the following round. Arnaoutis needed to win the last round if he wanted to have chances to win the fight but Witter easily controlled it and secured his victory.
My scorecard was 58-56 for Witter and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Witter and 57-57 so Witter was the winner by majority decision.

Miguel Angel Cotto 0-0-0 vs Gianluca Branco 0-1-0
Miguel Cotto showed that he was too classy for veteran italian Gianluca Branco.
Cotto started the fight in total control from the first round hurting Branco a pair of times with his straight rights. On the second round Branco was more competitive but Cotto still won it and he put Branco in trouble with a right hook followed by a straight left.
Cotto continued easily dominating the fight on the third round, the highlight was a great hook early on the round that made the water fly off Branco's head.
The fourth round was totally one-sided for Cotto, the Boricua almost dropped Branco with a hook near the end of the round.
Branco was having his best round on the fifth one but seconds before the bell rang Cotto connected a quick combination and sent Branco to the canvas.
On the final round Cotto dropped the Italian again with another great combination and after he got up Cotto attemped to finish the fight inside the distance but Branco survived. My scorecard like the three official ones were 60-52 for the winner by unanimous decision Miguel Cotto.

Standings

J. Witter 4
L.Peterson 2
K.Holt 2
M.Cotto 2
A.Funeka 2
M.Arnaoutis 0
G.Branco 0

Next Fights –September 2012-

M.Cotto Vs A.Funeka
M.Arnaoutis Vs G.Branco
L.Peterson Vs J.Witter

[Thomas Hearns]

Bowlers, United Kingdom, 2012-09-06

Round 3

Mike Arnaoutis 0-2-0 vs Gianluca Branco 0-2-0
The pair of winless fighters of this group faced on a very competitive fight.
Branco started the fight better winning the first round, a strong uppercut by the Italian was the highlight of the round. But on the second round the things turned and Arnaoutis totally outboxed Branco. The Italian failed to find the target for his power blows on this round.
Then Branco easily dominated the third round but Arnaoutis answered winning the fourth round convincingly. At this time the fight hadn’t a clear dominator.
Arnaoutis continued in control on the fifth round so Branco needed something special to win the fight and that was exactly what he did dropping Arnaoutis on the last round with a great body shot. After Arnaoutis got up he attemped to react and he finished the fight exchanging blows with Branco. My scorecard the same as the three official ones were 57-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Gianluca Branco.

Lamont Peterson 1-1-0 vs Junior Witter 2-0-0
On perhaps the most expected fight of this round Lamont Peterson faced the standings leader Junior Witter.
Using his jab and landing a big straight right Lamont Peterson won a close first round. The second round had poor action but again a straight right by Peterson rocked Witter to gave the American this round too.
Witter reacted on the third round and put Peterson in trouble with a strong cross. Witter continued his good moment winning an actionless fourth round. Peterson connected a great cross this round but then he was to passive and allowed Witter to steal the round.
Witter was dominating the fifth round and he seemed to turn the fight on his favor when suddenly Peterson connected a great left-right combination and dropped Witter for a six count. Witter got up and the round was over.
On the final round a confident Peterson clearly outlanded Witter to win the round and the fight. My scorecard was 58-56 for Peterson and the official scorecards were 58-55 (x2) and 57-56 all for the winner by unanimous decision Lamont Peterson.

Miguel Angel Cotto 1-0-0 vs Ali Funeka 1-0-0
Both fighters came from winning their first fights, Funeka gave a big surprise defeating Lamont Peterson and was ready for another shot.
Cotto easily controlled the first round but the African reacted on the second round, this stanza had a great end with Cotto feinting downstairs and connecting upstairs and with a hurt Funeka answering with a strong cross tha made Cotto retreat.
Cotto regained the control of the fight on the third round but Funeka edged the fourth one to evened the fight again. Funeka ended the round with a cut on the inside of his right eyebrow producted by an accidental head butt.
Cotto had his best round on the fifth one hurting Funeka and reopened the cut with a hard cross.
On the last round Cotto connected a great uppercut and reopened Funeka’s cut for the third time forcing the referee to stop the action, so the fight went to the scorecards.
My scorecard like the three official ones were 48-47 for the winner by Technical unanimous decision Miguel Cotto.

Standings

M.Cotto 4
L.Peterson 4
J.Witter 4
K.Holt 2
G.Branco 2
A.Funeka 2
M.Arnaoutis 0

Next Fights –October 2012-

M.Cotto Vs M.Arnaoutis
K.Holt Vs A.Funeka
L.Peterson Vs G.Branco

[Thomas Hearns]

Harrahs Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2012-10-06

Round 4

Lamont Peterson 2-1-0 vs Gianluca Branco 1-2-0
The fight started with Branco in control against a passive Peterson, but the Amercian turn the things and easily dominated the second round hurting Peterson with a great cross near the end of the round. Peterson continued in control on the third round and again put Branco in trouble with a smashing cross followed by a quick three punches barrage.
The fourth round had violent back and forth action with Branco taking the best part. Peterson finished this round with some major swelling under his left eye.
On the fifth round Peterson hit Branco with a strong cross but Branco managed to outland him and won the round. Branco finished this round with a cut outside his right eyebrow.
Finally Branco won the last round in which Peterson failed to land any clean punches. My scorecard was 58-56 for Branco. The offcial scorecards were 58-56 (x2) and 59-55 for the winner by unanimous decision Gianluca Branco. Great hit by the Italian!
Kendall Holt 1-1-0 vs Ali Funeka 1-1-0
Holt won a competitive first round, and then he dropped Funeka with a solid left-right combination a minute into the second round. The African got up and tried to survive but Holt connected punch after punch until the referee decided to stop the uneven fight.
So Kendall Holt was the winner by KO2.

Miguel Angel Cotto 2-0-0 vs Mike Arnaoutis 0-3-0
Mike Arnaoutis edged the first round and managed to won the second one too, taking an unexpected lead after two rounds.
Cotto won and actionless third round and then he totlally controlled the fourth stanza in which Arnaoutis did nothing.
The greekman woke up and won a very slow fifth round putting himself in the doors of an upsetting victory but finally Cotto won a one-sided last round to evened the fight.
Very cold fight, my scorecard was 57-57. The official scorecards were 57-57 (x2) and 58-56 for Cotto. So the fight was declared a majority draw.

Standings

M.Cotto 5
J.Witter 4
K.Holt 4
L.Peterson 4
G.Branco 4
A.Funeka 2
M.Arnaoutis 1

Next fights –November 2012-

M.Cotto Vs K.Holt
L:Peterson Vs M.Arnaoutis
J.Witter Vs A.Funeka

[Thomas Hearns]

Carnival City - Big Top Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2012-11-05

Round 5

Junior Witter 2-1-0 vs Ali Funeka 1-2-0
Witter started the fight in good form winning the first round but after that Funeka seemed to take the control of the fight winning the following two stanzas.
Funeka was also winning the fourth round when Witter connected a big counterpunch and dropped him for a four count. Funeka got up and survivied the round but the fight changed at this point. Witter edged the fifth round in which Funeka put his last effort. On the last round Witter dropped Funeka again with a strong combination. After the African got up Witter attemped to finish the fight inside the distance but failed. My scorecard was 58-54 for Witter and the official scorecards were 59-53 58-54 and 57-55 for the winner by unanimous decision Junior Witter.

Lamont Peterson 2-2-0 vs Mike Arnaoutis 0-3-1
Arnaoutis started the fight in good form winning an action packed first round on a convincing way, but it was all, after that Lamont Peterson took the total control of the fight.
On the second round Peterson hurt Arnaoutis with a pair of hooks to clearly won the round. On the third round the pace slowed a bit but again Peterson was the best of the pair.
The fourth round had back and forth action with Peterson landing the best punches but the American finished the round with a cut on the inside of his right eyebrow.
The fifth round was again dominated by Peterson putting Arnaoutis in trouble with a right hook.
The last round was a close affaire until Peterson connected a hook to Arnaoutis chin and dropped him a second before the final bell. My scorecard was 59-54 for Peterson and the official ones were 59-54 (x2) and 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Lamont Peterson.

Miguel Angel Cotto 2-0-1 vs Kendall Holt 2-1-0
Holt started the fight on fire clearly outlanded Cotto to win the first round convincingly. But the only significant punch by Cotto, a straight right, seemed to hurt Holt.
Thirty seconds into the second round Cotto connected a great combination and down went Holt. After Kendall got up Cotto hurt him again with a brutal left and with another sharp combination but Holt refused to fall.
The third round had terrible back and forth action with Cotto punishing Holt for two minutes but with Holt reacting fiercely on the final minute. Both fighters were hurt on this round.
On the fourth round Cotto landed a great hook and a pair of violent combinations and the referee decided to stop the fight when Holt was still answering the punches. Stoping the fight didn’t seem to be a good decision. Cotto was the winner by TKO4 at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 29-27 (x3) for Cotto.

Standings

M.Cotto 7
J.Witter 6
L.Peterson 6
K.Holt 4
G.Branco 4
A.Funeka 2
M.Arnaoutis 1

Next Fights –December 2012-

M.Cotto Vs L. Peterson
J.Witter Vs K.Holt
G.Branco Vs A.Funeka

[Thomas Hearns]

Crosley Field, Cincinnati, OH, United States, 2012-12-06

Round 6

Gianluca Branco 2-2-0 vs Ali Funeka 1-3-0
Branco dominated the first round but Funeka answered winning the second round on a big form and also hurting the Italian with a great cross.
Branco regained the control on the third round and he continued dominating on the following two rounds. A desesperated Funeka launched a final attack on the last round and dropped Branco with a shot under his ribcage but Branco got up a survived the few remainder seconds. My scorecard was 57-56 for Branco. The official scorecards were 57-56 for Funeka and 57-56 (x2) for Branco so the Italian was the winner by split decision. With this victory Branco had great chances to pass to the second round.

Junior Witter 3-1-0 vs Kendall Holt 2-2-0 (1)
Witter came to fight very aggressive landing a pair of violent combinations and at the one minut mark he connected a big body shot and dropped Holt for an eight count. Holt got up but thirty seconds later Witter dorpped him again this time with a brutal cross. This time Holt barely beat the count getting up at nine but in bad shape. Witter launched the final attack and dropped Holt with a combination of blows to the body and the head. This time Holt stayed on the canvas for the ten count. Spectacular KO1 win for Witter that is on the second round!

Miguel Angel Cotto 3-0-1 vs Lamont Peterson 3-2-0
The pair split the first two rounds the first for Cotto, the second for Peterson. The third round was the best of the fight with back and forth action and with both fighters landing power blows. Peterson landed a bit more to win the stanza. Peterson continued his momentum winning a slow fourth round. At this stages Peterson had a good lead on the scorecards but he seemed to ran out of fuel and Cotto outworked him on the fifth round the boricua also hurt Peterson with a pair of uppercuts.
On the last round Cotto attacked a spent Peterson and he almost dropped him with a sharp combination near the end of the round. My scorecard was 57-57. The official scorecards were 58-56 for Peterson and 57-57 (x2) so the fight was declared a majority draw.
With this result both fighters passed to the second round.

Standings

J.Witter 8
M.Cotto 8
L.Peterson 7
G.Branco 6
K.Holt 4
A.Funeka 2
M.Arnaoutis 1

Next Fights –January 2013-

M.Cotto Vs J.Witter*
G.BrancoVs K.Holt**
A.Funeka Vs M.Arnaoutis

*Cotto and Witter will fight to determinate who is the group winner.

**Branco and Holt will fight for the remainder four passage to the second round. Holt has to win if he wants to pass to the second round, Branco is qualified with a draw.

[Thomas Hearns]

Panathinakos Stadium, Athens, Greece, 2013-01-06

Round 7

Ali Funeka 1-4-0 vs Mike Arnaoutis 0-4-1
The two worse fighters of the group faced attemping to avoid the last place on the group standings. After an even first round, Funeka dropped Arnaoutis on the second stanza with a straight right. The Greekman got up and survivied the round. Arnaoutis recovered well and won the following two rounds. The fifth round was an even affaire but Funeka edged it with a strong combination near the end of the round. Arnaoutis won the last round but it wasn’t enough for him to win the fight. My scorecard was 57-57 but the judges saw it: 58-56 and 59-55 for Funeka and 57-57 so Funeka is the winner by majority decision.

Gianluca Branco 3-2-0 vs Kendall Holt 2-3-0 (1)
Holt edged a cold first round and then the second round was an even affaire. The third round was the best of the fight with some brutal exchanges and with both fighters being hurt at different moments. Holt landed more power blows but Branco outlanded him to win the round.
The fourth round was very slow with the only highlight of a violent right cross to Branco’s head by Holt that gave him the round.
Holt won a competitive fifth round and seemed to be near of a victory. On the last round Holt punished Branco until connecting a great uppercut and dropped him for a nine count. After getting up Branco looked very bad and Holt dropped him again with a devastating cross this time for the ten count. Kendall Holt won by KO6 and passed to the second round. Bad luck for the veteran Branco.

Miguel Angel Cotto 3-0-2 (1) vs Junior Witter 4-0-1 (1)
Finally Junior Witter and Miguel Angel Cotto fought to determine the winner of the group.
Cotto won the first round convincingly clearly outworking Witter and hurting him with a crushing cross. The second round had back and forth action , Witter was more active this round but Cotto still outlanded him and again Miguel hurt him with a hook and with a straight right.
A smashing uppercut and another straight right by Cotto were the highlights of the third round again won by the boricua. On the fourth round Cotto punished Witter until connecting a wicked cross and dropped the englishman.Witter got up and survived the round. Cotto fought masterfuly for this four rounds but then he seemed to get tired and allowed Witter to recover.
On the fifth round after an even first minute Witter took the control and hurt Cotto with a straight right followed by an uppercut from the inside. The referee deducted a point from Witter on this round by rabbit punching.
On the sixth round Witter continued dominating and again rocked Cotto with a great combination. Witter tried to finished the fight but Cotto answered with a great cross that stopped the englishman cold and this was all the fight came to its end. My scorecard was 58-54 for Cotto and the offcial scorecards were 58-54 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Miguel Cotto.

Standings

M.Cotto 10 -Record 4-0-2 (1)-
J.Witter 8 -Record 4-2-0 (1)-
L.Peterson 7 -Record 3-2-1-
K.Holt 6 -Record 3-3-0 (2)-
G.Branco 6 -Record 3-3-0-
A.Funeka 4 -Record 2-4-0-
M.Arnaoutis 1 -Record 0-5-1-

Cotto, Witter, Peterson and Holt passed to the tournament second round.

Sorry: This is the Welterweight Group 1 -not Group 2 as it says on the heading-

[Thomas Hearns]

A very logic group , as it was expected Miguel Cotto was the winner of the group, but he had more trouble than expected drawing two fights against little regarded Arnaoutis and fellow top fighter Lamont Peterson.

Junior Witter performed better than it was expected, being second on the group standings, he won all the fights against lower oppsition and he destroyed Kendall Holt finally he was defeated by the two top fighters of the group Cotto and Peterson.

Lamont Peterson was expected to be the main rival of Cotto but he suffered to upset losses against Ali Funeka and Gianluca Branco. On the other hand he performed very good against top rivals, defeating Holt and Witter and drawing against Cotto.

Kendall Holt was very near of being eliminated of the tournament but he could beat Gianluca Branco to earn the last spot on the second round. He suffered a terrible KO1 loss against Junior Witter.

At 41 Gianluca Branco was very near of being the great surprise of the group, he beat lacklusters Funeka and Arnaoutis and he had an outstanding win against Lamont Peterosn but he came short against Holt when he only needed a draw to pass to the second round.

Ali Funeka left the tournament with a surprising victory against Lamont Peterson and nothing more.

The greekman Mike Arnaoutis left the tournament winless and with a draw with Miguel Cotto as his only highligh.

[Thomas Hearns]

Entry List

Oldanier Solis
Fres Oquendo
Mariusz Wach
Jovo Pudar
Alexander Ustinov
Johnathon Banks
Konstantin Airich

Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia, 2012-07-07

Round 1

Alexander Ustinov vs Jovo Pudar
Pudar started the fight in complete control and after domintaing Ustinov for all the round he connected a great uppercut a second before the bell rang and dropped the russian. The referee also deducted a point from Ustinov due to a low blow.
The second round had vey slow pace and Ustinov connected the only significant blow of the round a violent cross that stunned Pudar.
Ustinov also edged the third round too again another right cross by the russian put Pudar in trouble.
On the fourth round Ustinov connected a strong uppercut that seemed to hurt Pudar but he didn’t follow up the action and allowed Pudar to edge another cold round.
The fifth round was very similar Ustinov connected the best punch of the round a big hook that rocked Pudar but Jovo landed more to again edge the round.
On the last round Ustinov was the total dominator of the fight hurting Pudar again with an uppercut seconds before the final bell. Very slow fight, my scorecard was 57-55 for Pudar.The official scorecards were 57-55 (x2)for Pudar and 57-57 so Pudar was the winner by majority decision.

Johnathon Banks vs Mariusz Wach
Banks clearly dominated the first round also hurting Wach with a devastating cross near the end of the round.
Wach reacted winning the second round and pusnishing Banks on the third one in which he also dropped the american with a quick combination near the end of the round.
Banks reacted on a great form winning the following two rounds and putting himself again in the contest but finally Wach won a onesided final round to secured his victory. My scorecard was 57-56 for Wach and the official ones were 57-56 (x2) and 58-55 for the winner by unanimous decision Mariusz Wach.

Konstantin Airich vs Fres Oquendo
Airich came to fight very aggressive and totally dominated Oquendo on the first round. A strong left-right classic combination shook Oquendo near the end of the round
Oquendo attemped to react on the second round hurting Airich with an uppercut but Airich reacted and dropped Oquendo with a quick combination. After Oquendo got up Airich punished him until the final bell.
On the third round a concerned Oquendo found a space to connect a violent upercut and dropped Airich for a five count. After getting up Airich managed to survive the round without receiving more power blows.
With Airich in complete control of the fourth round Oquendo connected a great uppercut and dropped Airich again. After the German got up Oquendo almost dropped him again with a crushing cross to the head. Airich edged a slower fifth round the fighters seemed to get tired after four rounds of war. Finally the last round was an even and actionless affaire but in spite of this it was a great fight. My scorecard was 56-56 and the official ones were 56-55 (x2) for Oquendo and 56-56 so Fres Oquendo was the winner by majority decision.

Standings

F.Oquendo 2
J.Pudar 2
M.Wach 2
A.Ustinov 0
K.Airich 0
J.Banks 0
O.Solis –
Next Fights –August 2012-

O. Solis Vs K.Airich
A.Ustinov Vs F.Oquendo
J.Pudar Vs M.Wach