The Gold League

[Thomas Hearns]

Boston Garden, Boston, MA, United States, 2012-12-08

Round 6

Will Rosinsky 1-3-0 vs Omar Sheika 2-2-0
Omar Sheika started dominating the first round but after that Rosinsky won the following two rounds on a convincing way and he also edged a cold fourth round.
Sheika reacted winning the fifth round and hurting Rosinsky with a hook early on the round.
The last stanza was an even affaire in which Rosinsky connected a big cross that made Sheika retreat but Sheika recovered well outlanded Rosinsky. My scorecard was 58-57 for Rosinsky and the official ones were 58-57 (x2) and 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Will Rosinsky. With this victory Rosinsky still has chances to pass to the second stage. In spite of the defeat Sheika has his chances too.

Mikkel Kessler 3-0-1 (1) vs Marco Antonio Rubio 1-3-0
Rubio connected a big uppercut early on the fight and Kessler seemed to feel it, so Rubio continued attacking and he connected a big cross to the head and another great uppercut that shook Kessler to end a great first round.
Early on the second round Kessler connected a hard combination followed by a hard cross and Rubio was visible hurt. Kessler continued his attack and he connected another great cross that rocked Rubio and then he continued dominating the round against a confused and defensive Rubio that finished the round with some swelling under his right eye.
On the third round Kessler continued in total control of the fight, the fourth round was an even affaire and had a slower pace than the others.
On the fifth round Kessler regained the control of the fight and he hurt Rubio again with a hard cross to win a big round.
On the last round Rubio was totally spent but he still connected a pair of power blows but Kessler was too much for him and easily outworked Rubio also hurting him with an uppercut followed by a solid hook, Rubio stumbled but refused to fall. My scorecard was 59-56 for Kessler and the official ones were 59-56 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Mikkel Kessler.

Arthur Abraham 4-0-0 (2) vs Hugo Garay 2-2-1
Garay edged a very competitive first round but on the second round Abraham was the dominator hurting Garay with a devastating hook near the end of the round. Garay again edged the third round, Abraham connected a great straight left that seemed to hurt Garay but then he did nothing and allowed Garay to outwork him.
Abraham edged Garay on the fourth round , again Garay was landing more punches when a great uppercut by Abraham made the argentinean stumble.
Garay won the fifth round and at this point he seemed to be winning the fight that had very poor action.
On the last round Abraham was more aggressive and he put Garay on trouble several times to win his best round on the fight. My scorecard was 57-57 and the judges ones were 58-56 and 59-55 for Abraham and 57-57 so Abraham was the winner by majority decision.

Standings

A.Abraham 10
M.Kessler 9
H.Garay 5
W.Rosinsky 4
O.Sheika 4
M.Rubio 2
J.Alcine 2

Next Fights –January 2013-

A.Abraham Vs M.Kessler
W.Rosisnski Vs M.Rubio
O.Shieka Vs J.Alcine

[Thomas Hearns]

Olympia Stadion, Berlin, Germany, 2013-01-08

Round 7

Omar Sheika 2-3-0 vs Joachim Alcine 1-4-0 (1)
The pair split the first four rounds of the fight, first and third for Alcine and second and fourth for Sheika. The fifth round was the best of the fight with back and forth competitive action and with both fighters in trouble on different parts of the round Alcine connected some strong uppercuts that snapped Sheika’s head but Omar’s superior workrate gave him the round by a narrow margin. On the last round Sheika again outlanded Alcine to win the round and the fight. My scorecard was 58-56 for Sheika and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Sheika and 57-57 so Sheika was the winner by majority decision and with this win he passed to the second stage of the tournament.

Will Rosinsky 2-3-0 vs Marco Antonio Rubio 1-4-0
This fight determined the last man who passed to the second stage of the tournament, Will Rosinsky needed a win to qualify on other way Hugo Garay is the fouth qualified on this group.
Rubio edged the first round but then Rosinsky won the second round convincingly and won a one-sided third round.
Rubio reacted winning the fourth round in which he hurt Rosinsky with a sharp combination.
Rubio continued dominating on the fifth round hurting Rosinsky two times one with an uppercut the other with a hard hook. The last round had poor action but Rubio edged it to win the fight. My scorecard was 58-56 for Rubio and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Rubio and 58-56 for Rosinsky so Rubio was the winner by split decision. With this result Rosinky is out of the tournament.

Arthur Abraham 5-0-0 (2) vs Mikkel Kessler 4-0-1 (1)
The best two fighters of this group fought to determine the winner of it.
Kessler won a first round with lot of action, at the middle stages of the round Abraham connected a hard straight right but Kessler answered with a quick three punshes combo. Near the end of the round Kessler connected a great uppercut that made Abraham stumbled backwards but the bell saved him.
On the second round the things changed and Abraham was the dominator with the highlight of a violent straight right that made Kessler retreat.
On the third round Kessler regained the control of the fight, he hurt Abraham with a cross early on the round and again with an uppercut near the end of it. Abraham attemped to answer but was overcome by Kessler.
On the fourth round Abraham showed his power and with a violent combination to the head he dropped Kessler for a nine count. Kessler got up on bad shape and covered up to survive the round taking a lot of punishment on the way.
Abraham continued in control on the following round hurting Kessler with a pair of crosses and with a straight right. Kessler answered with some punches of his own but it wasn’t enough. On the last round Abraham connected a strong cross and put Kessler on trouble again but unexpectedly the Danish had a great reaction an he battered Abraham for the rest of the round to turn the things again on this great fight. My scorecard was 57-56 for Abraham and the official ones were 57-56 (x2) for Abraham and 57-56 for Kessler so Abraham was the winner by split decision.

Standings

A.Abraham 12 -Record 6-0-0 (2)-
M.Kessler 9 -Record 4-1-1 (1)-
O.Sheika 6 -Record 3-3-0-
H.Garay 5 -Record 2-3-1-
M.A.Rubio 4 -Record 2-4-0-
W.Rosinsky 4 -Record 2-4-0-
J.Alcine 2 -Record 1-5-1-

Abraham,Kessler, Sheika and Garay passed to the following stage of the tournament.

[Thomas Hearns]

As it was expected Arthur Abraham was the winner of the group, he finished it undefeated winning all his fights. Abraham showed that he is one of the big candidates to reach the finals of this tournament.

Mikkel Kessler had a great performance, and only lost his undefeated record on the last fight against Arthur Abraham by a very narrow split decision on the best fight of the group. Kessler will be a strong rival for everyone.

Omar Sheika at 35 and with twelve fights lost in his record didn't appear as one of the candidates to pass to the second round. But he managed to upset Hugo Garay and Marco Antnio Rubio and finally defeated Joachim Alcine to qualified. The dark part was a lackluster performance against Will Rosinsky and that he was clearly overcame by the two best fighters of the group Abraham and Kessler.

Hugo Garay started his participation with two consecutive losses but then he recovered to pass to the second round with only five points. The positive aspect was that he did very good fights against Abraham (LMD6) and Kessler (MDRAW6)

Marco Antonio Rubio was the great deception of this group , the only highlight of his participation was a victory against Hugo Garay. He had good moments on all his fights but he seemed to run out of gas.

Will Rosinsky was very near of giving a major surprise passing to the second round he beat J.Alcine and O. Sheika but finally he came short on the definitve fight against Marco Rubio in case of a victory he would pass to the second stage.

Joachim Alcine started the tournament destroying Marco Antonio Rubio but then he lost five consecutive fights to finish seventh on the standings table.

[Thomas Hearns]

Entry List

Paul Williams
Michael Katsidis
Paul Malignaggi
Vanes Martirosyan
Joshua Clottey
Vernon Paris
Hugo Soto

Arena Progreso, Saltillo, Mexico, 2012-07-10

Round 1

Joshua Clottey vs Vanes Martirosyan
The fight started with a marvelous back and forth first round with Clottey hurting Martirosyan early on the round and Martiroyan putting Clottey on trouble at the middle stages but finally Clottey rallied to win the round. Martirosyan finished the stanza with a gash under his left eye.
The second round continued with good action but this time Martirosyan won the round the highlight was a straight right to Clottey’s head at the middle stages of the round.
Martirosyan dominated the first two minutes of the third round until Clottey connected a great hook that stunned Martirosyan to even the round.
Clottey won the following two rounds,in both were back and forth action but with Clottey outlanding Martirosyan.
Clottey started dominating the last round but Martirosyan rallied to win it. My scorecard was 58-57 for Clottey and the official ones were 59-55 and 58-57 for Clottey and 57-57 so Clottey was the winner by majority decision of this very good fight.

Vernon Paris vs Paul Malignaggi
Paris connected a good uppercut early on the first round and then he continued dominating the rest of the round. Maliggnagi reacted winning the second round of the fight.
The third round had very poor action but Paris was the only who connected any significant punches on this stanza.
Malignaggi reacted winning the following two rounds convincingly but finally Paris edged a very slow last round. My scorecard was 57-57 and the official ones were 57-57 (x3) so this awful fight was declared a draw.


Humberto Soto vs Michael Katsidis
Michael Katsidis started the fight at an accelerated pace hurting Soto with both hands and almost dropping him with a strong hook near the end of the round.
Early on the second round Katsidis dropped Soto with a strong hook and after Soto got up he attemped to finish the fight and he alomost did it with a great hook to Soto’s midsection seconds before the bell rang.
On the third round the action slowed , Katsidis still edged the round but Soto put him in trouble for the first time on the fight with a hook.
Soto came to life on the fourth round totally dominating Katsidis and using his hooks as his favourite weapon. The Aussie finished the round with a cut on the left eyelid.
Katsidis regained the control on the fifth round hurting Soto with a great left-right combination at the middle stages of the round.
On the last round Katsidis dropped Soto again with a sharp combination, the barve Mexican got up and managed to survive the rest of the round in spite of receiving a lot of punishment in the way. My scorecard was 59-53 for Katsidis and the offcial ones were 59-53(x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Michael Katsidis.

Standings

M.Katsidis 2
J.Clottey 2
P.Malignaggi 1
V.Paris 1
H.Soto 0
V.Martirosyan 0
P.Williams –

Next Fights –August 2012-

P.Williams Vs H.Soto
J.Clottey Vs M.Katsidis
V.Martirosyan Vs P. Malignaggi

[Thomas Hearns]

Hammond Civic Center, Hammond, IN, United States, 2012-08-10

Round 2

Vanes Martirosyan 0-1-0 vs Paul Malignaggi 0-0-1
Malignaggi had a great first round totally outlanded Martirosyan to win the round on a onesided form. But on the second round the things changed dramatically and Martirosyan won a big round hurting Malignaggi with a strong hook at the middle stages of the round.
Malignaggi failed to land a single punch on this round.
Malignaggi regained the control on the third round outboxing his rival but again Martirosyan was in control on the following round hurting Malignaggi a pair of times.
Finally Malignaggi took the control on the last two rounds using his better boxing skills. My scorecard was 58-56 for Malignaggi but the judges saw it 58-56 for Malignaggi, 58-56 for Martirosyan and 57-57 so the fight was declared a draw.

Joshua Clottey 1-0-0 vs Michael Katsidis 1-0-0
Katsidis won the first three rounds on a row and seemed to be in total control of the fight. He also hurt Clottey on the second round with a strong cross.
But on the fourth round Clottey started a big rally winning this round on a very convincing way. Clottey continued dominating the fight on the fifth round in which he almost dropped Katsidis with a three punches combo near the end of the round.
On the last round Clottey was again in control and won the stanza to even the fight.
My scorecard was 57-57 and the official ones were 57-57 (x2) and somehow 59-55 for Katsidis so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Paul Williams 0-0-0 vs Humberto Soto 0-1-0
Great outing for Paul Williams scoring a shutout win against Humberto Soto. In spite of visiting the canvas on the first round courtesy of a quick barrage of punches by Williams, Soto was a competitive rival for Williams on the first three rounds of the fight, but on the second half of the fight Williams gave Soto a real beating
Williams also won the last two rounds on a totally one-sided form with a spent Soto hardly connecting a punch. Soto finished the fight with a major swelling under his left eye.
My scorecard was the same as the three offical ones 59-53 for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Williams.

Standings

M.Katsidis 3
J.Clottey 3
P.Williams 2
P.Malignaggi 2
V.Paris 1
V.Martirosyan 1
H.Soto 0

Next Fights –September 2012-

P.Williams Vs V.Paris
J.Clottey Vs H.Soto
P.Malignaggi Vs M.Katsidis

[Thomas Hearns]

Banyule Nets Stadium, Melbourne, Australia, 2012-09-09

Round 3

Paul Malignaggi 0-0-2 vs Michael Katsidis 1-0-1
Maliganggi was in control for most of the first round until Katsidis connected a great combination near the end of the round to edge it.
Malignaggi recovered winning an actionless second round but on the third round Katsidis punished Paul and dropped him for an eight count near the end of the round with a straight right.
Katsidis continued in control winning a onesided fourth round, Malignaggi seemed to be still confused.
But on the final two rounds a renewed Paul Malignaggi clearly outboxed a tiring Katsidis to win both rounds on a one-sided form. My scorecard was 57-56 for Katsisis. The official scorecards were 57-56 (x2) for Katsidis and 57-56 for Malignaggi so Katsidis was the winner by split decision.

Joshua Clottey 1-0-1 vs Humberto Soto 0-2-0
Very cometitive fight with at list three rounds too difficult to rate. Clottey edged a first round
in which Soto connected the best punches but Clottey connected more. The second round was clearly for Soto but Clottey ansewered dominating the third round. The Mexican regained the control of the fight on the fourth round and then Clottey won the fifth round by a narrow margin. The last round was a very even affaire. My scorecard was 58-57 for Clottey and the official ones were 58-57 (x2) for Clottey and 58-57 for Soto so Clottey was the winner by split decision.

Paul Williams 1-0-0 vs Vernon Paris 0-0-1
Another great fight by Paul Williams again winning each round of the fight and looking outstanding on several rounds. After hurting Paris on the first round with a combination followed by a strong uppercut, Williams gave a real beating to Paris on a onesided second round. The third round was the slower of the fight but Williams recovered his pace on the fourth one. Paris finished this round with his right eye almost closed.
Williams easily dominated the fifth round and he launched his final attack on the last round but Paris could survive and finished the fight on his feet but on very bad shape. My scorecard was 60-54 for Williams and the official ones were 60-53 (x2) and 59-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Williams.

Standings

M.Katsidis 5
J.Clottey 5
P.Williams 4
P.Malignaggi 2
V.Martirosyan 1
V.Paris 1
H.Soto 0

Next Fights –October 2012-

P.Williams Vs J.Clottey
V.Martirosyan Vs V.Paris
P.Malignaggi Vs H.Soto

[Thomas Hearns]

Dubois Arena, Essen, Germany, 2012-10-10

Round 4

Paul Malignaggi 0-1-2 vs Humberto Soto 0-3-0
The fighters split the first two rounds the first for Soto, the second for Malignaggi but after that all was for Soto.
Suprisingly the Mexican won the following four rounds on a row to score a huge upset and to put Malignaggi near of his elimination from the tournament. Of the last four rounds only the fourth one was competitive the others were one-sided for Soto. My scorecard was 59-55 for Soto and the official ones were 59-55 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Humberto Soto.

Vanes Martirosyan 0-1-1 vs Vernon Paris 0-1-1
After two action-packed and competitive first rounds, Martirosyan took the control of the fight on the third round and never looked back. Martirosyan won the third, fourth and fifth rounds on a onesided form and on the last round he dropped Paris with a quick barrage of punches but failed to finish the fight inside the distance. My scorecard was 60-54 for Martirosyan and the official ones were 60-54 (x2) and 59-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Vanes Martirosyan.

Paul Williams 2-0-0 vs Joshua Clottey 2-0-1
Another shutout victory for Paul Williams to put an end to the undefeated record of Joshua Clottey on the tournament.
Williams dominated the first two action-packed rounds using his uppecuts to hurt Clottey.
On the third round the pace slowed a bit but Williams continued in control.
On the fourth round Williams increased his workrate and gave Clottey a beating, again the uppercut was his best punch. Clottey finished this round with some swelling under his right eye.
Williams again dominated the fifth round clearly outlanded Clottey. The last round was the best for Clottey but Williams still edged it. My scorecard like the three judges ones were 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Williams.

Standings

P.Williams 6
M.Katsidis 5
J.Clottey 5
V.Martirosyan 3
H.Soto 2
P.Malignaggi 2
V.Paris 1

Next Fights –November 2012-

P.Williams Vs V.Martirosyan
P.Malignaggi Vs J.Clottey
M.Katsidis Vs V.Paris

[Thomas Hearns]

Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2012-11-09

Round 5

Michael Katsidis 2-0-1 vs Vernon Paris 0-2-1
Katsidis won the first round but Paris answered winning a one-sided second round in which he almost dropped Katsidis with a crushing right to the jaw. Katsidis regained the control winning the following two rounds but Paris put himself again in the contest winning the fifth round. Finally Katsidis won an actionless sixth round in which the only highlight was a big cross by Katsidis that stopped Paris cold. My scorecard was 58-56 for Katsidis and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Katsidis and 58-56 for Paris so Katsidis was the winner by split decision.

Paul Malignaggi 0-2-2 vs Joshua Clottey 2-1-1
On his best fight on the tournament finally Paul Malignaggi recovered his memory and won a fight. Malignaggi outboxed Clottey for all the sixth rounds of the fight. The highlight of the fight for Malignaggi was a one-sided fifth round. Clottey connected his only great punch on the final seconds of the fight when he made Malginaggi stumble with a quick hook. My scorecard was 60-54 for Malignaggi and the official ones were 60-54 59-55 and 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Malignaggi.

Paul Williams 3-0-0 vs Vanes Martirosyan 1-1-1
On the first round Paul Williams dropped Vanes Martirosyan with a strong left-right combination. After he got up Williams punished him until the bell rang. Williams continued his domination of Martirosyan for the following three rounds and he seemed to be in the way of another shutout win.
But the things change and Martirosyan convincingly won the fifth round. On the sixth round a confident Martirosyan attacked Williams and also hurt him with a sharp combination to win a big round. My scorecard was 58-55 for Williams and the official scorecards were 58-55 (x2) and 59-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Williams.

Standings

P.Williams 8
M.Katsidis 7
J.Clottey 5
P.Malginaggi 4
V.Martirosyan 3
H.Soto 2
V.Paris 1

Next Fights –December 2012-

P.Williams Vs P.Malignaggi
M.Katsidis Vs V.Martirosyan
H.Soto Vs V.Paris

[Thomas Hearns]

Luxor, Las Vegas, NV, United States, 2012-12-10

Round 6

Humberto Soto 1-3-0 vs Vernon Paris 0-3-1
After three rounds of boxing the fight was very even: Soto won the first round, the second was a very close stanza and the third was for Paris.
But then Soto clearly won the following two stanzas also hurting Paris with an uppercut on the fifth round. The last round was a very even one. My scorecard was 59-57 for Soto and the official ones were 59-57 (x2) for Soto and 58-56 for Paris, so Soto was the winner by split decision and he still had chances to pass to the second round.

Michael Katsidis 3-0-1 vs Vanes Martirosyan 1-2-1
The pair split the first two rounds, the first one for Katsidis and the second for Martirosyan.
On the third round and with Martirosyan in control Katsidis connected a quick barrage of punches and dropped Martirosyan near the end of the round.
Martirosyan seemed to react winning a cold fourth round.
But Katsidis was the total dominator on the fifth round that he won on a one-sided form hurting Vanes several times. And finally on the last round he dropped Martirosyan again with a left-right combination to the head. Martirosyan got up and Katsidis punished him without answer until the referee stopped the fight. So Katsidis was the winner by TKO6, at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 48-45 (x2) and 50-43 for Katsidis.

Paul Williams 4-0-0 vs Paul Malignaggi 1-2-2
Malinaggi won the first two rounds of the fight, Williams edged the third one and the fourth was an even affaire. The fifth round had great action Malignaggi hurt Williams with an uppercut but Willimas reacted and won the round outlanded him.
The last round had poor action but Williams was a bit better than Malignaggi to take the round. For the first time on the tournament Willams didn’t look dominant on a fight, the elusive style of Malignaggi complicated him a lot. My scorecard was 58-57 for Williams and the official ones were 58-58 (x2) and 58-57 for Williams so the fight was declared a majority draw.

Standings

M.Katsidis 9
P.Williams 9
J.Clottey 5
P.Malignaggi 5
H.Soto 4
V.Martirosyan 3
V.Paris 1

Next fights –January 2013-

P.Williams Vs M.Katsidis
H.Soto Vs V.Martirosyan
V.Paris Vs J.Clottey

[Thomas Hearns]

Durban City Hall, Durban, South Africa, 2013-01-10

Round 7

Vernon Paris 0-4-1 vs Joshua Clottey 2-2-1
Clottey needed a win against the eliminated Vernon Paris to ensure his pass to the second stage of the tournament.
Paris won the first three rounds of the fight also hurting Clottey on the first round with an uppercut and on the second with a strong hook.
On the fourth round the action was back and forth but Paris was still the dominator hurting Clottey again this time with a strong straight right.
Clottey was on a very difficult situation but the things changed when he connected a combination to the body and the head of Paris and dropped him for an eight count.
Paris got up but thirty seconds later Clottey dropped him again with a great combination. Paris got up again but Clottey connected punch after punch until the referee stopped the fight. So Clottey was the winner by TKO5. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 40-36 and 39-37 (x2) for Paris.

Humberto Soto 2-3-0 vs Vanes Martirosyan 1-3-1
Humberto Soto and Vanes Martirosyan fought to define the fourth and last qualified boxer to the second round of the tournament.
Soto edged a first round that had great back and forth action and a lot of power blows with both fighters being hurt at different stages of the round. Soto finished the round with some swelling under his right eye.
On the second round Martirosyan answered winning another round with great action.
Soto won a big third round but Martirosyan won the fourth one on the same way so after four rounds the fight was very even and had beautiful action.
Martirosyan edged a bit slower fifth round but he finished the round bleeding from a cut in his forehead.
On the last round Martirosyan connected a wild overhand round and dropped Soto for a six count. Soto got up and Martirosyan punished him until the final bell. My scorecard was 58-55 for Martirosyan. And the official ones were 58-55 (x2) and 57-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Vanes Martirosyan.

Paul Williams 4-0-1 vs Michael Katsidis 4-0-1 (1)
Michael Katsidis and Paul Williams faced to determine the winner of the group.
Williams landed a strong uppercut early on the first round that seemed to hurt Katsidis, and then he continued dominating the round and also put the aussie on trouble again with a three punch combo near the end of the round.
Williams edged the second round outlanded his rival, but Katsisdis connected a big hook near the end of the round and stopped Williams cold.
Katsisids started to turn the things winning a one-sided third round in which he rocked Williams with a tremendous left.
Katsidis continued his momentum winning the fourth round too, putting Williams on trouble with a pair of combinations.
Williams regained the control of fight on the fifth round in which he connected a great hook followed by a cross to the head and almost dropped Katsidis.
On the last round Katsidis attacked and landed some blows but Williams couterpunched on big form until connecting a violent body shot that dropped Katsidis, the aussie got up at three and the final bell rang. Great fight between the best two fighters of this group.
My scorecard was 58-55 for Williams and the official ones were 58-55 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Paul Williams.

Final Standings

P.Williams 11 -Record 5-0-1-
M.Katsidis 9 -Record 4-1-1-
J.Clottey 7 -Record 3-2-1 (1)-
V.Martirosyan 5 -Record 2-3-1-
P.Malignaggi 5 -Record 1-2-3-
H.Soto 4 -Record 2-4-0-
V.Paris 1 -Record 0-5-1-

Williams, Katsidis, Clottey and Martirosyan qualified to the second stage.

Note: Both Martirosyan and Malignaggi had 5 points and they fought to a draw on their fight but Martirosyan scored 2 wins on the torunament against one of Malignaggi.

[Thomas Hearns]

Paul Williams was the big winner of this competitive group, he scored dominating wins against five of his six rivals. Katsidis and Martirosyan gave some trouble to him but he finally overcame both of them. Paul Malignaggi with his elusive boxing style could lower Williams workrate and fought with him to a draw, on a fight that perhaps Williams won.

Michael Katsidis performed better than expected winning four fights and tying with Joshua Clottey on a fight he had totally dominated on the first three rounds. He also gave a very good fight to Paul Williams.

Joshua Clottey won two of the first three fights and tied with Michael Katsidis mounting a big rally on the last three rounds. Then he had two awful performances against Malignaggi and Williams and finally he scored an spectacular TKO5 win against Vernon Paris on a fight in which he was behind in all three scorecards.

Vanes Martirosyan won the fights that he needed to win (Soto and Paris) and he also tied against Paul Malignaggi. Then he lost to the other top fighters of the group but giving good fights to all of them.

Paul Malignaggi was the great deception of the group, a real tie-Artist, Malignaggi fought to a draw on three of his six fights (I think he was robbed against Martirosyan but he was favoured against Williams). He lost a close split decision to Katsidis and was surprisingly defeated by Humberto Soto.
He gave a very intelligent fight to Paul Williams but it wasn't enough to qualified.

Humberto Soto beat Vernon Paris and scored an upset win against Malignaggi but he came short on the decisive fight against Martirosyan.
He was clearly overcame by Williams and Katsidis.

Vernon Paris started good with a draw agains Malignaggi but then he lost his following five fights on a row. He gave a very good fight to Joshua Clottey.

[Thomas Hearns]

Entry List

David Haye
Monte Barrett
Vassily Jirov
Kali Meehan
Timur Ibragimov
Andrej Wawrzyk
Travis Walker

Collingwood Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2012-07-10

Round 1

Timur Ibragimov vs Vassily Jirov
Vassily Jirov returned to the ring after a four years break, and faced Timur Ibragimov. The fight was very slow on the first four rounds but Jirov took an advantegge of 3-1 rounds on this period. The last two rounds had a bit more action with Ibragimov winning the fifth round and with Jirov having his best round on the sixth one also hurting Ibragimov a pair of times. My scorecard was 58-56 for Jirov and the official ones were 58-56 58-57 and 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Vassily Jirov.

Andrej Wawrzyk vs Kali Meehan
The veteran aussie Kali Meehan easily controlled the first two rounds of the fight but then Wawrzyk rallied and won the following two rounds to even the fight.
On the fifth round Meehan gave the Polish a real beating and put him near of the KO.
On the final round Meehan dropped Wawrzyk with an uppercut, The Polish got up but less than a minute later a cross by Meehan dropped him agin. This time Wawrzyk got up at four but visible hurt. The referee allowed him to continue and Meehan dropped him one last time with a shot under his ribacage, this time the Polish stayed on the canvas for the ten count so Meehan was the winner by KO6.
At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 48-46(x3) for Meehan.

Travis Walker vs Monte Barrett
Barrett dominated the first two rounds of the fight but on the third round Walker connected a big shot under Barrett’s ribcage and dropped him for a two count. After getting up Barrett managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of the round.
Barrett recovered in good form and convincingly won the following two rounds, the last round was very even until Walker connected a big straight right and Barrett seemed to feel it but Walker couldn’t land any other clean punch until the final bell. My scorecard was 57-56 for Barrett and the official ones were 57-56 (x2) for Barrett and 57-56 for Walker so Barrett was the winner by split decision.

Standings

K.Meehan 2
M.Barrett 2
V.Jirov 2
T.Walker 0
T.Ibragimov 0
A.Wawrzyk 0
D.Haye –

Next Fights –August 2012-

D.Haye vs T.Walker
T.Ibragimov Vs M.Barrett
V.Jirov Vs K.Meehan

[Thomas Hearns]

Wythenshawe Forum, Wythenshawe Manchester, United Kingdom, 2012-07-11

Round 2

Vassily Jirov 1-0-0 vs Kali Meehan 1-0-0 (1)
Jirov dominated the first round of the fight, but near the end of it Meehan connected a straight right and opened a cut outside Jirov’s left eyebrow.
But form the second round Meehan took the control of the fight for good, winning a one-sided second round and then he continued his momentum winning the following two competitive rounds. On the fifth round Jirov was doing it well when Meehan connected a great barrage of punches and dropped him for a five count to turn the things. Jirov got up and survivied the round. The referee deducted a point from Meehan on this round by holding and hitting. Meehan also dominated the last round hurting Jirov a pair of times to score a big win. My scorecard was 58-54 for Meehan and the official ones were 58-54 (x3) for the winner by unanimous decision Kali Meeehan.

Timur Ibragimov 0-1-0 vs Monte Barrett 1-0-0
The pair split the first two rounds, the first for Ibragimov and the second for Barrett both rounds had very poor action. After that Barrett convincingly won the following two rounds but Ibragimov put himself again on the contest winning the fifth round.
The final round was very competitive but Barrett landed a bit more than Ibragimov to ensured his victory. My scorecard was 58-56 for Barrett and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) for Barrett and 57-57 so Barrett was the winner by majority decision.

David Haye 0-0-0 vs Travis Walker 0-1-0
David Haye destroyed Travis Walker in less than three minutes. Early on the round Haye connected a great combination and dropped Walker for the first time. Walker got up but thirty seconds later a great hook to the head by Haye dropped him again. Brave Walker regained his feet again but twenty seconds later an uppercut by Haye sent him to the canvas for the third time on the fight. Incredibly Walker refused to stay on the canvas but Haye was merciless with him and dropped him with a vicious uppercut to the chin this time for good. David Haye was the winner by KO1.

Standings

K.Mehaan 4
M.Barrett 4
D.Haye 2
V.Jirov 2
T.Walker 0
T.Ibragimov 0
A.Wawrzyk 0

Next Fights –September 2012-

D.Haye Vs A.Wawrzyk
T.Ibragimov Vs T.Walker
K.Meehan Vs M,Barrett

[Thomas Hearns]

Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States, 2012-09-11

Round 3

Timur Ibragimov 0-2-0 vs Travis Walker 0-2-0
Ibragimov dominated the first round using his better boxing skills against a passive Walker.
The second round had poor action but Wlaker landed a bit more than Ibragimov.
But on the following two rounds Walker started to find the target for his power blows and won both rounds convincingly. The right hook to the head was his best weapon.
The fifth round was totally one-sided for Walker that almost dropped Ibragimov with an uppercut. Ibragimov finished this round with a cut outside his right eye. On the last round Ibragimov put his last effort and went punch per punch with Walker making a great action-packed round that Wlaker won by a narrow margin.
My scorecard was 59-55 for Walker and the official ones were 59-55 (x2) and 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Travis Walker.


David Haye 1-0-0 (1) vs Andrej Wawrzyk 0-1-0
The first round was very even and without great action but on the second round Haye took the control of the fight winning it easily. On the following round Haye dropped Wawrzyk three times but failed to finish the fight inside the distance. It was incrdible that Wawrzyk survived this round. Wawrzyk went punch per punch with Haye on the fourth round , the englishman won the round but Wawrzyk connected some good punches too.
On the fifth round Haye did nothing and allowed Wawrzyk to won the round with little effort.
The last round was an anticlimatic actionless even round. My scorecard was 59-54 for Haye and the official ones were 58-53 (x2) and 60-51 for the winner by unanimous decision David Haye.

Kali Meehan 2-0-0 (1) vs Monte Barrett 2-0-0
The first two fighters on the standings table faced on this great bout.
Meehan edged a first round with very poor action and on the second round he dropped Barrett with a great hook to his head. Barrett got up and survived the round.
Barrett reacted on good form winning the third round on a one-sided way hurting Meehan with a sharp combination.
The fourth round were very even until Meehan connected a hard combination and dropped Barrett for the ten count. Meehan was the winner by KO4.

Standings

K.Meehan 6
D.Haye 4
M.Barrett 4
V.Jirov 2
T.Walker 2
T.Ibragimov 0
A.Wawrzyk 0

Next Fights –October 2012-

D.Haye Vs T.Ibragimov
V.Jirov Vs A.Wawrzyk
K.Meehan Vs T.Walker

[Thomas Hearns]

Dynamo Kiev , Kiev, Ukraine, 2012-10-11

Round 4

Vassily Jirov 1-1-0 vs Andrej Wawrzyk 0-2-0
Jirov easily dominated the fight for five one-sided rounds, putting Wawrzyk on all sort of trouble several times.
The Polish attemped a desesperated reaction on the last round and it was the only moment that the fight had back and forth action. My scorecard was 59-55 for Jirov and the official ones were 59-55 (x2) and 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision Vassily Jirov.

Kali Meehan 3-0-0 (2) vs Travis Walker 1-2-0
Walker controlled an actionless first round but on the second round Meehan dropped him with a strong cross, Walker got up and survived the round without any major trouble.
On the third round the fight changed dramatically when Walker dropped Meehan with a strong uppercut. After Meehan got up Walker looked for the definition and he almost earned it when he connected a hard cross to Meehan’s head near the end of the round.
On the following two rounds Meehan regained the control of the fight winning both rounds on a dominant way and hurting Walker more than one time.
On the last round Meehan connected short clean cross to Walker’s jaw and dropped him for the ten count. So Meehan was the winner by KO6 at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 47-46 (x3) for Meehan.

David Haye 2-0-0 (1) vs Timur Ibragimov 0-3-0
Haye dropped Ibragimov with a violent shot under his ribcage at the two minutes mark of the first round. Ibragimov got up but he received a lot of power shots until the bell rang.
Haye won the second round on a one-sided form, Ibragimov failed to connect a single clean punch on this round. The third round had little action and was an even affaire.
On the fourth round Haye was dominant again hurting Ibragimov with a great left to the head.
On the fifth round Ibragimov was in control for the first time on the fight but it lasted little becouse Haye again punished him on the final round. My scorecard was 59-55 for Haye and the official ones were 59-55 58-56 and 58-55 for the winner by unanimous decsion David Haye.

Standings

K.Meehan 8
D.Haye 6
V.Jirov 4
M.Barrett 4
T.Walker 2
S.Ibragimov 0
A.Wawrzyk 0

Next Fights –November 2012-

D.Haye Vs V.Jirov
K.Meehan Vs T.Ibragimov
M.Barrett Vs A.Wawrzyk

[Thomas Hearns]

HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, United States, 2012-11-11

Round 5

Monte Barrett 2-1-0 vs Andrej Wawrzyk 0-3-0
After an even first round, on the second stanza Barrett dropped Wawrzyk with a strong combination , the Polish got up at nine and then he managed to survive the round.
The third round was another even one but after that Barrett won the last three stanzas on a convicning way. My scorecard was 60-55 for Barrett and the official ones were 60-55 (x2) and 59-56 for the winner by unanmous decision Monte Barrett.

Kali Meehan 4-0-0 (3) vs Timur Ibragimov 0-4-0
Timur Ibragimov scored a big upset victory against the standings’ leader Kali Meehan. The pair split the first two rounds, the first for Timur and the second for Kali. The third round was the best of the fight with viloent back and forth action and with both fighers on trouble. Meehan won this round by a narrow margin.
But suprisingly Ibragimov did the neccesary to win the last three rounds of the fight. My scorecard was 58-56 for Ibragimov and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) and 59-55 for the winner by unanimous decision Timur Ibragimov.

David Haye 3-0-0 (1) vs Vassily Jirov 2-1-0
The pair split the first four rounds of the fight, Jirov convincingly won the first round and also edged the third one and Haye dominated the second and fourth ones. All this rounds had great action with both fighters landing power blows and with brutals exchanges of uppercuts from the inside. The fifth round was very even until a straight right by Haye seemed to stop Jirov cold to give him the round. The final round had brutal action with Jirov attacking and Haye counterpunching on big form to finally win the round. My scorecard was 58-56 for Haye and the official ones were 58-56 and 59-55 for Haye and 57-57, so Haye was the winner by majority decision.

Standings

D.Haye 8
K.Meehan 8
M.Barrett 6
V.Jirov 4
T.Walker 2
T.Ibragimov 2
A.Wawrzyk 0

Next fights –December 2012-

D.Haye vs K.Meehan
M.Barrett Vs V.Jirov
T:Walker Vs A.Wawrzyk

[Thomas Hearns]

Stoczniowiec Olivia Arena, Poland, 2012-12-10

Round 6

Travis Walker 1-3-0 vs Andrej Wawrzyk 0-4-0
Wawrzyk started the fight winning the first round convincingly but Walker answered winning the second round on a dominant way. But after that Wawrzyk won the following two rounds outlanded Walker. The Amercian attemped a reaction edging the fifth round but finally Wawrzyk easily win the last round of the fight. My scorecard like the three official ones were 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Andrej Wawrzyk. With this defeat Walker is out of the tounament.

Monte Barrett 3-1-0 vs Vassily Jirov 2-2-0
On a really defining fight, Vassily Jirov scored a close victroy against Monte Barrett.
Jirov clearly won the first round and continued dominating the fight on an action packed back and forth second round. The third round had great action too but this time Barrett won the round by a narrow margin.
After that Jirov edged two very close rounds that were the key of the final result. Barrett won the last round but it wasn’t enough to turn the things.
My scorecard was 58-56 for Jirov and the official ones were 58-56 and 59-55 for Jirov and 57-57 so Jirov was the winner by majority decision.

David Haye 4-0-0 (1) vs Kali Meehan 4-1-0 (3)
The best two fighters of this group faced to determine the winner of it. David Haye started in control of the fight for the first four rounds taking a winning lead on the scorecards. His highlight was on the third round when with a violent left followed by a right cross almost dropped Meehan.
The Aussie woke up on the last two rounds and easily dominated both of them. He also put Haye on trouble on the fifth round with a great left-right combination to the head, but he started his rally too late to win the fight. My scorecard was 58-56 for haye and the official ones were 58-56 (x2) and 59-55 for the winner by unanimous decision David Haye.

Standings

D.Haye 10
K.Meehan 8
V.Jirov 6
M.Barrett 6
T.Walker 2
T.Ibragimov 2
A.Wawrzyk 2

Next fights –January 2013-

D.Haye Vs M.Barrett.
T.Walker Vs V.Jirov.
A.Wawrzyk Vs T.Ibragimov

[Thomas Hearns]

Cardiff Castle, Cardiff Cardiff, United Kingdom, 2013-01-11

Round 7

Andrej Wawrzyk 1-4-0 vs Timur Ibragimov 1-4-0
Ibragimov won the first round of the fight and also edged the second to take an early lead on the scorecards but the Polish Wawrzyk won the third round on a one-sided form and edged the fourth one to even the fight. Ibragimov ragained the control winning the fifth round. On the last round Wawrzyk was dominating until Ibragimov landed a solid cross and dropped Wawrzyk seconds before the final bell. My scorecard was 58-55 for Ibragimov and the official ones were 58-55 (x3) for the winner by unaniomus decision Timur Ibragimov.

David Haye 5-0-0 (1) vs Monte Barrett 3-2-0
Monte Barrett needed a victory against the best fighter of the group, David Haye to put some pressure to Vassily Jirov in his fight against Travis Walker. Barrett and Jirov were disputing the third and last spot on the second stage of the tournament.
Barrett clearly won the first round and also edged the second one to take an early lead on the scorecards. On the third round Haye was the dominator and hurt Barrett several times with uppercuts and crosses.
On the fourth round Barrett connected a huge cross to Haye’s head a dropped him for a seven count. Haye got up on good shape and he also finished the round shaking Barrett with a great combination.
Barret continued in control on the fifth round winning it by a huge margin. On the last round a desesperated Haye attemped to save his undefeated record and punished Barrett for three minutes but the American survived the storm.
My scorecard was 58-55 for Barrett and the official ones were 58-55 (x3) for the winner by unannimous decision Monte Barrett.

Travis Walker 1-4-0 vs Vassily Jirov 3-2-0
As usual Jirov started at accelerated pace to win the first round but after that Walker won the following two rounds on a convnicing way. Jirov clearly outlanded Walker to win a violent fourth round and to even the fight.
But finally Walker easily dominated the last two rounds to surprisingly win the fight.My scorecard was the same as the three official ones 58-56 for the winner by unanimous decision Travis Walker. With this defeat Vassily Jirov was out of the tournament.

Final Standings

D.Haye 10 -Record 5-1-0 (1)-
K.Meehan 8 -Record 4-2-0 (3)-
M.Barrett 8 -Record 4-2-0-
V.Jirov 6 -Record 3-3-0-
T.Walker 4 -Record 2-4-0-
T.Ibragimov 4 -Record 2-4-0-
A.Wawrzyk 2 -Record 1-5-0-

Haye, Meehan and Barrett pass to the tournament’s second stage.

[Thomas Hearns]

Entries

Ola Afolabi
Samuel Peter
Robert Helenius
Albert Sosnowski
Tor Hamer
Brian Minto
Carlos Takam

Wythenshawe Forum, Wythenshawe Manchester, United Kingdom, 2012-07-11

Round 1

Tor Hamer vs Albert Sosnowski
After an even first round, Tor Hamer edged the following two rounds that had very poor action.
But finally the Polish Sosnowski reacted in great form and convincinlgy won the last three rounds of the fight on a row. My scorecard was 58-57 for Sosnowski and the official ones were 58-57 (x2) for Sosnowski and 57-57 so Sosnowski was the winner by majority decision.

Brian Minto vs Robert Helenius
After two evenly fought first rounds, Robert Helenius took the control of the fight on the thrid round hurting Minto a pair of times. On the fourth round a perferct left-right combination by Helenius dropped Minto for a seven count. After Minto got up Helenius launched the final attack and dropped him for good with a quick barrage of punches. Helenius was the winner by KO4 and at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 29-28 (x2) and 30-27 for Minto so Helenius was on a complicated situation.

Carlos Takam vs Samuel Peter
The first round had practically no-action but with Takam a bit better than Peter. But on the second round Peter connected a great uppercut from the inside and dropped Takam for the ten count, this was the only significant punch of the Nigerian on the whole fight. So Peter was the winner by KO2.

Standings

S.Peter 2
R.Helenius 2
A.Sosnowski 2
B.Minto 0
T.Hamer 0
C.Takam 0
O.Afolabi 0

Next Fights –August 2012-

O.Afolabi Vs C.Takam
T.Hamer Vs S.Peter
A.Sosnowski Vs R.Helenius

[Thomas Hearns]

Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2012-08-11

Round 2

Albert Sosnowski 1-0-0 vs Robert Helenius 1-0-0 (1)
Twenty six seconds into the fight Robert Helenius connected a great hook to Sosnowski’s chin and dropped him for the the ten count on the only action of the fight. So Robert Helenius scored an spectacular KO1 win.

Tor Hamer 0-1-0 vs Samuel Peter 1-0-0 (1)
Sam Peter rocked Tor Hamer for al the first round until connecting a perfect hook to his chin and dropped Hamer for a seven count seconds before the bell rang.
Peter continued in control on the second round, but Hamer attemped a reaction winning the third and fourth round against a Peter that only wanted to find the final punch.
But on the fifth round the things changed again and Peter was the brutal dominator of the round, he punished Hamer until connecting an uppercut that let Hamer out on his feet and then he followed up with a violent left-right combination that put Hamer to sleep for the ten count.


Ola Afolabi 0-0-0 vs Carlos Takam 0-1-0
Ola Afolabi dominated the first three back and forth rounds. Takam was game on every round but Afolabi outlanded him giving an interesting show.
On the fourth round Afolabi slowed tha pace a bit and allowed Takam to win the stanza.
On the fifth round Afolabi dropped Takam with a quick barrage of punches. Takam barely beat the count getting up at nine but Afolabi dropped him again with a nice uppercut to his chin. Again Takam got up and survived the rest of the round.
On the last round brave Takam went punch per punch with Afolabi but was clearly outlanded and finally Afolabi connected punch after punch until the referee stopped the uneven fight. Ola Afolabi was the winner by TKO6, at the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 49-43 (x2) and 48-45 for Ola Afolabi.

Standings

S.Peter 4
R.Helenius 4
O.Afolabi 2
A.Sosnowski 2
T.Hamer 0
B.Minto 0
C.Takam 0

Next Fights –September 2012-

O.Afolabi Vs B.Minto
T.Hamer Vs C.Takam
R.Helenius Vs S.Peter