Super Middleweight Universe -second try-

[Thomas Hearns]

Brewer upsets Leonard to win WBA SMW crown!

#8 Charles Brewer 29-2-2 (22) scored a convincing unanimous decision win against, now former, WBA super-middleweight champion #2 Sugar Ray Leonard 26-2-0 (16). Leonard, fans and odds favourite, was making his second title defense.
Brewer showed his ambitions from the start winning two of the first three rounds using his hooks and uppercuts from the inside to complicate Leonard.
The champion only showed some of his skills on the second round in which he could outbox Brewer.
Round four and five had very little remarkable punches but Brewer still did the things better than Leonard. On the sixth round Brewer deepened his dominance hitting Leonard and not allowing him to land any clean punches.
On rounds seven and eight Leonard seemed to wake up and with quick combinations and some right crosses he put Brewer on some trouble.
On the ninth round Leonard attmeped to continue with his reaction but Brewer caught him with a hard uppercut to the chin and sent the champion to the canvas for a five count. Leonard got up and Brewer punished him until the end of the round. On the following round Brewer continued in control hitting Leonard at his own. On the eleventh round Leonard put his last effort and hit Brewer several times with the highlight of a hard cross near the end of the round but finally Brewer easily dominated the last round to secure his victory and the title. The scorecards were 116-111 (x3) for Brewer. (Fightnews card: 116-111).

On the co-feature fight KO-artist #72 Julian Jackson 19-0-0 (19) destroyed fringe #73 Berry Butler 22-6-1 (7) on only two rounds.
Butler did it well on the first round avoiding Jackson’s power blows and connecting a hard uppercut of his own but early on the second round there was a exchange of big hooks both landed but Jackson power made the difference after that Jackson connected a another hook, a hard left-right combination and a pair of devastating uppercuts that let Butler out on his feet forcing the referee to stop the fight.

[Thomas Hearns]

Chris Eubank outpoints Mike McCallum!

#31 Chris Eubank 26-3-1 (7) scored the biggest win of his career against former IBO champion #7 Mike McCallum 31-3-0 (22).
For the first six rounds Eubanks did the perfect fight outboxing McCallum and suprising him with sporadic hard straight rights from the outside and uppercuts form the inside. On the first three rounds Eubanks looked outstanding and totally dominated the fight, on rounds from four to six the englishman slowed his pace but still did the neccesary to win the rounds.
Finally Mccallum reacted a bit and edged the seventh round and then convincingly won rounds eight and nine against a very defensive Eubank. The last round had little action but Eubank connected the only remarkable punches. The scorecards gave Eubank the unanimous decision win by 97-93 97-94 and 99-92. (Fightnews card: 97-94 for Eubank).

On the undercard #44 Gabriel Hernandez 26-4-1 (7) scored a polemic majority decision win against #62 Robin Reid 28-3-1 (19). The fight was very compeitive for the first seven rounds with both fighters alternated on the dominance with a slide edge for Hernandez. On the eight round Reid hurt Hernandez a pair of times to convincingly won the stanza and then he continued his rally winning the last two rounds. This final effort seemed to be enough for Reed to win the fight but the judges saw it 96-95 and 96-97 for Hernandez and 95-95. (Fightnews card: 96-94 for Reid).

[Thomas Hearns]

Felix Trinidad retained IBO crown tying with Karoly Balzsay!

#3 Felix Trinidad 31-1-0 (25) retained his IBO super-middleweight title for the first time with a hard fought draw against #7 Karoly Balzsay 31-4-0 (22) that failed for the second time to win this crown.
The fighters split the first four rounds, the first and the fourth for Trinidad, second and third ones for Balzsay. On rounds from five to seven Trinidad was the clear dominator of the fight connecting some hard trademark left hooks to Balzsay’s chin. Trinidad also edged the following round but Balzsay stole the momentum winning a hard action-packed ninth round in which the challenger started to find the mark for his straight right.
Balzsay continued dominating on the tenth round and the referee deducted a point from Trinidad due to a low blow making it a great round for the challenger.
Trinidad gave his last effort and on the elventh round and won a round that had back and forth action but after that he looked very tired. The last round was all for Balzsay that hit a totally defensive Trinidad. The scorecards were 114-113 for Trinidad, 114-114 and an unpresentable 119-108 for Balzsay. (Fightnews card: 114-113 for Trinidad).

On the co-feature fight raising prospect #79 Antonio Tarver 20-0-0 (18) scored a dramatic KO5 victory against hard-hitter #49 Edison Miranda 24-8-1 (19).
Miranda pressured the action from the start and with a quick straight right he dropped Tarver for a three count. Tarver got up and survived the rest of the round. On the second round a hard hook by Miranda dropped Tarver again, the Cuban got up visible stunned and Miranda dropped him again with a storm of blows. Tarver got up at eight on bad shape but the bell saved him.
On the third round Tarver landed more punches but again Miranda stunned him with a hard cross. Miranda also dominated the fourth round putting Tarver on trouble several times.
On the fifth round with everyone waiting the definition on Miranda’s favor Tarver connected a big body shot from no-where and dropped Miranda for the ten count. At the time of the stoppage Miranda was far ahead on the scorecards: 39-34 (x3).

[Thomas Hearns]

#79 Daniel Jacobs 20-0-0 (14) scored a KO8 win against #128 Ronald Wright 23-8-1 (6). Jacobs dropped Wright on the fourth round and for good on the tenth one. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 67-65 (x3).

#88 John Mugabi 23-4-0 (17) scored a majority decsion win against #119 Vinie Curto 22-6-2 (5). The scorecrads were 98-93 97-93 and 95-95.

#92 Ray Close 24-4-1 (8) defeated #111 Mads Lardsen 25-7-0 (20) by majority decision with scorecards of 97-93 (x2) and 95-95.

#159 Vinnie Pazzienza 26-7-0 (20) scored a razor cut split decision win against #157 Dimitri Sartison 24-5-1 (14). The scorecards were 96-95 and 97-94 for Pazzienza and 96-95 for Sartison.

[Thomas Hearns]

1 Montell Griffin 32-1-1 (18) IBF 4 defenses
2 Felix Trinidad 31-1-1 (25) IBO 1 defense
3 Ray Leonard 26-3-0 (16)
4 Darius Michalczewski 32-1-0 (29)
5 Nigel Benn 32-1-0 (30) WBC 2 defenses
6 Charles Brewer 30-2-2 (22) WBA
7 Kardy Balzsay 31-4-1 (22)
8 Thomas Oosthuizen 32-4-1 (19)
9 Chad Dawson 27-2-0 (20)
10 Bernard Hopkins 31-2-1 (21)
11 Tavoris Cloud 34-1-0 (28)
12 James Toney 32-1-0 (22)
13 Eric Lucas 27-2-1 (6)
14 Marcus Beyer 25-2-0 (8)
15 Andre Ward 33-1-1 (16)
16 Chris Eubank 27-3-1 (7)
17 Roy Jones Jr. 35-1-0 (28)
18 Mario Veit 31-2-1 (15) WBO
19 Lucian Bute 33-1-0 (27)
20 Frank Liles 32-1-1 (23)

Other Champions

22 Eric Regan 26-7-0 (13) WBU 1 defense
34 Vincenzo Nardiello 27-4-1 (25) IBO 1 defense
65 Tony Thornton 23-4-1 (14) WBF 2 defenses

[Thomas Hearns]

Lucian Bute stops Gerald McClellan!

#19 Lucian Bute 33-1-0 (27) did another big step to a title chance when he defeated #30 Gerald McClellan 25-3-0 (23) by TKO5.
Bute dominated the first two rounds of the fight on a big way, on the thrid round McClellan landed some punches but Bute still outlanded him.
On the fourth round Bute gave McClelland a real beating, a big left early on the round and a hard uppercut to the chin were his highlights on this stanza.
On the fifth round Bute dropped McClelland with a combination first to the body and then to the chin, Gerald got up at two but Bute dropped him again a minute later with a huge uppercut to the chin. McClelland got up at eight on unsteady legs and the referee didn’t allow him to continue fighting. Bute was well ahead on all three scorecards (49-45 (x3).

On the co-feature fight #71 Merqui Sosa 24-2-0 (19) defeated #50 Mauricio Amaral 25-7-2 (21) by majority decision. Sosa dominated the early rounds of the fight using some quick combinations. On the middle stages of the fight Amaral reacted and connected some huge blows with both hands. By the end of the sixth round the fight was very even. Sosa took his second wind and won rounds from seven to nine on a row also hurting Amaral on the eight stanza with a pair of crosses. Finally Amaral looked for the KO on the last round and he made Sosa stubmled backwards with a cross and he hurt him again with a huge hook to the head seconds before the final bell. The scorecards were 97-93 and 96-94 for Sosa and 95-95. (Fightnews card: 96-94 for Sosa).

[Thomas Hearns]

Otis Grant stops Eric Regan and wins WBU SMW Title!

#29 Otis Grant 25-3-1 (19) scored a TKO9 victory against, now former, WBU super-middleweight champion #22 Eric Regan 26-7-0 (13).
The challenger edged the first round but the champion Regan reacted winning the following two rounds on a convicncing way. On the fourth round Grant dropped Regan with a hard straight right. Regan got up quickly but Grant continued punishing him until the end of the round.
Grant continued dominating on the following round but Regan hurt him a pair of times with quick combinations on the following round. Grant regained the control on the seventh round and then he had a dominant eighth one. On the ninth round Grant dropped Regan with a vicious hook, Regan got up at three but Grant was merciless and punished him until the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage Grant was leading by 77-74 on two scorecards and 76-75 on the other.

On the co-feature fight #46 Thomas Hearns 29-2-1 (26) destroyed #47 Miguel Angel Arroyo 22-5-1 (11) on three rounds to score his second consecutive victory after a three winless streak. Hearns dominated the fight from the start and at the two minutes mark of the first round he dropped Arroyo with a hard cross. Arroyo got up and Hearns continued punishing him for the rest of the round. On the second round there were some brutal exchanges with Hearns clearly having the upperhand. On the third round Hearns dropped Arroyo with a jab followed by a right cross to the chin. Arroyo got up at three but Hearns didn’t let him escape and he connected punch after punch without any answer by Arroyo until the referee stopped the fight. At this time all three scorecards were 20-17 for Hearns.

[Thomas Hearns]

Ward defeats Calzaghe!

#16 Andre Ward 33-1-1 (16) scored a TKO8 –on cuts- victory against former WBO champion #32 Joe Calzaghe 29-3-0 (11).
Calzaghe outworked Ward on the first round, Ward edged the second round also shaking Calzaghe with a well timed uppercut to the chin. With the highlight of a quick hook to the chin, Ward continued dominating on the third round. On the fourth stanza Ward opened a nasty cut on the bridge of Calzaghe's nose with a pair of consecutive jabs. Ward also edged the following round but Calzaghe reacted a bit winning a slow sixth round and continued his momentum winning the seventh round too.
On the eighth round Ward put his jab on action again and reopened the cut and the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 67-66 (x3) for Ward.

On the co-feture fight fight #50 Christophe Tiozzo 17-7-0 (9) defeated #44 Julio Chavez Jr. 28-6-1 (16) by TKO9. The fight was stopped by the referee due to a cut on Chavez Jr forehead produced by an uppercut by Tiozzo on the sixth round and reopened a pair of times until the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage Chavez was leading on all three scorecards 77-74 78-73 and 76-74 and he also has dropped Tiozzo two times, one on the second round with a body shot and the other on the third one with a hook to the head. Tiozzo could steal some of the middle stage rounds and he was competitive but didn’t seemed to be on a position to challenge for the victory until the stoppage.

[Thomas Hearns]

Kinchen destroyed Barkley!

#31 James Kinchen 27-4-0 (22) scored an overwhelming KO2 victory against #34 Iran Barkley 26-8-0 (20). Kinchen dropped Barkely early on the first round with a body shot. Barkley got up at seven but he never recovered. On the second round Kinchen connected a strong left-right combination and dropped Barkley for the second time. Barkley got up but Kinchen dropped him again with a quick barrage of punches. With great heart Barkley got up for the third time but this time Kinchen put him to sleep for the ten count with a hard right cross to the chin.

On the undercard of this fight #71 Adonis Stevenson 25-5-0 (18) scored an important victory against odds favourite #58 Willaim Joppy 28-5-0 (19). Joppy dominated the first round but Stevenson dropped him on the second one with a body shot and then continued dominating for the following two rounds. Joppy reacted and won rounds five and six outlanding Stevenson that in spite of this managed to connect some hard hooks on this rounds. Stevenson regained the control of the fight on the following two rounds also hurting Joppy with a hard cross on the seventh stanza. Joppy won the ninth round hurting Stevenson with an uppercut on the way and the final round had no-remarkable action. The scorecards were 96-93 and 95-94 (x2) for Stevenson. (Fighnews card: 96-94 for Stevenson).

[Thomas Hearns]

Tate stops Nardiello and wins IBA Title!

Former WBU super-middleweight champion #28 Thomas Tate 22-2-3 (18) stopped now former champion #33 Vincenzo Nardiello 27-4-1 (25) to win the IBA crown and to be the first man to regain a (fringe) portion of the SMW division title.
Nardiello dominated the first two rounds of the fight but Tate took the control on the third hurting the Italian with an uppercut late on the round. The fourth round had great back and forth action with Tate edging it with the highlight of a hard cross to the Italian’s head.
On the fifth round again both fighters landed big, Tate with crosses and Nardiello with good quick combinations. On the sixth round Nardiello dropped Tate with vicious uppercut, Tate got up and managed to stay out of risk for the rest of the round. The pace slowed on the seventh round in which Tate landed more punches than Nardiello. On the eighth round Tate connected a body hook and followed it with an uppercut to the chin and dropped Nardiello for a five count. After the Italian got up Tate continued his attack and dropped him again with a wild overhand right. Nardiello got up again but a series of hooks by Tate left him on unsteady legs and the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 67-66 for Tate and 66-66 (x2).

On the co-feature fight #51 Sumbu Kalambay 28-4-2 (12) scored a UD10 victory against former title challenger #59 Antony Mundine 23-7-1 (17).
Kalambay dominated the first stanza but Mundine reacted winning the following two rounds.
Kalambay regained the control on the fourth round and then he turn the fight definitely on his favor when he dropped Mundine on the fifth and again on the sixth round both times with uppercuts. From this moment the fight was all for Kalmabay that won three of the last four rounds to secure his convincing victory. The scroecards were 97-92 and 96-92 (x2) for Kalambay. (Fightnews card: 97-91 for Kalambay).

[Thomas Hearns]

#106 Winky Wright 23-9-1 (6) defeats #97 Manny Siaca 22-10-0 (17) by unanimous decision. Wright also dropped Siaca on the last round. The scorecards were 97-92 96-93 and 98-91 for Winky.

#95 Lindell Holmes 22-6-2 (12) scored a UD10 win against #123 Victor Cordoba 23-10-2 (16) by scorecards of 98-94 97-96 and 97-95.

#94 Enrique Ornellas 27-7-2 (12) scored an upset KO5 win against #89 John Mugabi 22-4-0 (17). Ornellas dropped Mugabi on the first round and two times on the fifth one the last for good. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 38-37 (x3) for Ornellas.

[Thomas Hearns]

1 Montell Griffin 32-1-1 (18) IBF 4 defenses
2 Felix Trinidad 31-1-1 (25) IBO 1 defense
3 Ray Leonard 26-3-0 (16)
4 Darius Michalczewski 32-1-0 (29) WBC 2 defenses
5 Nigel Benn 32-1-0 (30)
6 Charles Brewer 30-2-2 (22) WBA
7 Karoly Balzsay 31-4-1 (22)
8 Lucian Bute 34-1-0 (20)
9 Thomas Oosthuizen 32-4-1 (19)
10 Chad Dawson 27-2-0 (20)
11 Bernard Hopkins 31-2-1 (21)
12 Andre Ward 34-1-1 (17)
13 Tavoris Cloud 34-1-0 (28)
14 James Toney 32-1-0 (22)
15 Eric Lucas 27-2-1 (6)
16 Marcus Beyer 25-2-0 (8)
17 Chris Eubank 27-3-1 (7)
18 Roy Jones Jr 35-1-0 (28)
19 Mario Veit 31-2-1 (15) WBO
20 Frank Liles 32-1-1 (23)

Other champions

21 Otis Grant 26-3-1 (20) WBU
24 Thomas Tate 23-2-3 (19) IBA
68 Tony Thornton 23-4-1 (14) WBF 2 defenses

[Thomas Hearns]

Draw between Oosthuizen and Lalonde!

Two former title challengers #9 Thomas Oosthuizen 32-4-1 (19) and #29 Don Lalonde 27-5-0 (16) fought to a draw. After the ten rounds the southafrican Oosthuizen seemed to have a little edge but the judges didn’t saw it on this way.
Oosthuizen dominated the first two rounds the second one on a very one-sided form. Lalonde reacted winning the third stanza but Oosthuizen regained the control on the fourth one. After an even and awful fifth round, Oosthuizen edged the sixth round and seemed to have the fight under his control. Working to the body Lalonde had his best round on the seventh stanza but Oosthuizen put his jab to work on the following round to maintain the Canadian at bay. On the last two rounds Lalonde made a short rally and that allowed him to escape with the draw.
The scorecards were 96-96, 97-94 for Oosthuizen and 97-94 for Lalonde(!?). (Fightnews card: 96-95 for Oosthuizen).

On the co-feature fight #79 James DeGale 28-4-0 (16) scored a TKO9 victory against fellow engishman #50 George Groves 23-6-2 (16). DeGale dropped Groves on the first round with a perfect hook to the head. Groves got up but DeGale continued dominating the fight for the following four rounds. On rounds sixth and seventh Groves evened the actions a bit but on the eighth round DeGale regained the control of the fight. On the ninth round DeGale dropped Groves two times (both with body blows) and after Groves got up from the second fall DeGale punished him until the referee stopped the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 79-73 (x3) for DeGale.

[Thomas Hearns]

Montell Griffin defeats James Toney and retains IBF SMW Title!

On one of the most expected fights of this period #1 Montell Griffin 32-1-1 (18) scored a majority decision win against #14 James Toney 32-1-0 (22) to succesfully defend his IBF super-middleweight crown for the fifth time.
Toney dominated the early rounds of the fight but a big rally by Griffin on the last five rounds allowed him to escape with the deserved victory.
Round 1: With well timed crosses and straight rights Toney dominated the stanza.
Round 2: Close round, Toney connected a hard uppercut but Griffin landed more punches.
Round 3: Griffin edged a round with a lot of clinch and few real action.
Round 4: One sided for Toney that scored with some quick combinations.
Round 5: Even round Griffin scored with a hard cross but Toney connected more punches.
Round 6: Action packed round Toney domianted most of it with uppercuts and hooks from the inside.
Round 7: Another close round Griffin dominated the first half and Toney rallied on the bottom half.
Round 8: Griffin outworked Toney behind his jab. Very good round for Griffin.
Round 9: Back and forth action, duel of uppercuts from the inside. Griffin connected more.
Round 10: Huge round the best of the fight both fighters connected on big form with Griffin a bit better than Toney.
Round 11: The pace slowed, no big punches but Griffin connected more punches than Toney.
Round 12: Griffin edged the last round and seemed to secure his victory.
The scorecards were 115-113 (x2) for Griffin and 114-114. (Fightnews card: 116-113 for Griffin).

On the co-feature fight #62 Jeff Lacy 30-5-1 (24) scored a convincing UD10 victory against average #80 Scott Pemberton 19-3-2 (15).
Pemberton surprised Lacy with a big first round but on the second one Lacy punished Pemberton until dropped him with an uppercut on the last second of the round. Lacy continued dominating until the six round in which Pemberton reapeared on the fight. The seventh round was even and Pemberton won the eighth one in which the referee deducted a point from Lacy due to rabbit punching. On the ninth round Lacy easily dominating the action and finally on the last round he dropped Pemberton two times but he failed to finish the fight inside the distance. The scorecards were 96-90 (x2) and 95-91 for Lacy. (Fightnews card: 96-90 for Lacy).

[Thomas Hearns]

Rubin Williams defeats Tony Thornton to win fringe WBF crown!

#40 Rubin Williams 26-4-1 (5) scored split decision win against, now former, WBF super-middleweight champion #68 Tony Thornton 23-4-1 (14) that was attemping to make his third succesful title defense.
After and even first round Thornton dominated the second one outworking Williams but the challenger dropped Thornton on the third round with a great body shot.
Thornton reacted on the following two rounds easily dominating the actions and also putting Williams on trouble with some hard hooks.
On rounds six and seven Thornton did nothing and allowed Williams to win both rounds with little effort. On the eighth round the champion seemed to catch his second wind and clearly outlanded Williams but on the following round the challenger edged the champion again.
Thornton easily dominated the tenth round but again he got passive on the last two rounds and allowed the challenger to dominate both stanzas. The scorecards were 116-111 and 115-112 for Williams and 115-113 for Thornton. (Fightnews card: 115-112 for Williams).

On the undercard of this fight #37 Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez 32-2-0 (23) scored a dominant unanimous decision win against #34 Howard Eastman 26-4-0 (19). From the start it was obvious that Martinez was too speedy and too classy for Eastman. Martinez dominated the first six rounds of the fight some on a solid form and on others Eastman gave some opposition.
On the seventh round Martinez connected a huge uppercut and dropped Eastman for a short count. After Eastman got up Martinez went for the kill and dropped him again with a wild overhand left. Eastman got up at six and the bell saved him. The pace slowed on the eight round with Martinez a bit tired and Eastman looking spent. On the ninth round Eastman won his only stanza of the fight but Martinez closed the fight dominating the last stanza. The losided scorecards were 98-89 (x3). (Fightnews card: 99-88 for Martinez).

[Thomas Hearns]

The Fifth Great Boxing Governing Body

On an effort to build a recognized boxing Governing Body, the IBO, IBA,WBU and WBF will join forces and will unificated their titles running a four men tournament with there four super-middleweight champions.
On November WBU champion Otis Grant 26-3-1 (20) will face IBA champion Thomas Tate 23-2-3 (19) and on December IBO champion and odds favourite to win the tournament Felix Trinidad 31-1-1 (25) will fight against WBF champion Rubin Williams 27-4-1 (5).
The winners will measure forces probably on March of 1991 to determine the winner of the tournament and the unificated champion.
The four governing bodies are studiyng to made a permanent union with a new name or mantaining the name of one of the fourth funding Organizations, most likely the one which its champion wins the tournament.

[Thomas Hearns]

Lucas disqualified against Johnson!

#15 Eric Lucas 27-2-1 (6) lost his bout against former WBA champion #28 Glencoffe Johnson 31-3-2 (19) by disqualification on the third round due to a blatant low blow that ended with Johnson on the cansvas and with the referee quickly stopping the actions.
At that moment Lucas was domianting the fight winning the first two rounds on a convincing way and was ahead on all three judges scorecards by 20-18.

On the co-feature fight #45 Fulgencio Obelmejias 29-4-0 (20) scored a TKO3 victory against frenchman #76 Bruno Girard 23-7-1 (4). For Obelmejias it was his third consecutive win after a dark period on his career.
The first round was even with almost no remarkable action. Early on the second round a jab by Obelmejias opened a bad cut on the bridge of Girard's nose. Obelmejias continued dominating the rest of the stanza easily. On the third round Obelmejias connected a geat hook and then he continued using his jab to reopened Girard’s cut and the referee stopped the fight.

[Thomas Hearns]

Pascal defeats Beyer!

#35 Jean Pascal 30-2-1 (24) scored a an important victory agaisnt former WBO title holder #16 Marcus Beyer 25-2-0 (8) to put himself on the route to a title chance. The fight was very even and could be ruled for eithr fighter.
The pair split the first four rounds, the first and the third ones for Beyer and second and fourth ones for Pascal.
Then Pascal won an action packed fifth round and mantained his momentum on the following stanza. By the round number seven the pace pf the fight slowed dramatically but Pascal still won this round to take a good lead on the scorecards. Beyer won an awful eighth round and then managed to mount a rally on the last two stanzas to put the result into doubt.
The scorecards were 96-94 and 97-93 for Pascal and 96-95 for Beyer. (Fightnews card: 95-95).

On the co-feature fight #41 In Chul Baek 24-6-0 (22) defeated #77 Antwun Echols 24-6-1 (20) when Echols was unable to continue fighting on the ninth round due to a right hand injured.
Using his hard crosses Baek dominated the first round but on the second round Echols went to the inside an punished Baek with uppercuts. On the third round Baek punished Echols mostly with hard straight rights. Then Echols dominated the following two rounds but his rally ended when Baek dropped him on the sixth stanza with a cross to the chin. Echols got up and survived but he took a defensive posture from that point. Baek won the following round but Echols still landed some good counters. On the eight round Baek easily dominated Echols finally on the ninth round Echols landed a straight right to Baek’s forehead and injured his hand and the referee had to stop the fight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 77-74 (x3) for Baek.

[Thomas Hearns]

#93 Paul Williams 26-6-0 (20) scored a TKO10 victory against #97 Ray Close 25-4-1 (8) The fight ended due to a cut above Close right eight. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 87-84 and 86-85 for Williams and 87-84 for Close.

#98 John David Jackson 17-0-1 (7) defeated #158 Vinnie Curto 22-7-2 (5) by unanimous decsion. Curto was down on rounds sixth and ninth. The scorecards were 97-92 95-93 and 95-94 for Jackson.

On a big war Carl Froch 30-5-1 (23) scored a KO7 victory against Rudy Markussen 24-8-3 (15). Markussen dropped Froch on the third round but Froch dropped him on the fourth stanza and two times on the seventh one the last for good. At the time of the stoppage the scorecards were 58-55 (x3) for Froch.

#108 John Mugabi 24-5-0 (17) defeated #52 Ali Enebatti 27-7-0 (17) by TKO6. Mugabi dropped Enebatti three times on the sixth round before the referee stopped the uneven fight. At the time of the stoppage Mugabi was leading on all three scorecards by 49-46 and 48-47 (x2).

[Thomas Hearns]

1 Montell Griffin 33-1-1 (18) IBF 5 defenses
2 Felix Trinidad 31-1-1 (25) IBO 1 defense
3 Ray Leonard 26-3-0 (16)
4 Darius Michalczewski 32-1-0 (29)
5 Nigel Benn 32-1-0 (30) WBC 2 defenses
6 Charles Brewer 30-2-2 (22) WBA
7 Thomas Oosthuizen 32-4-2 (19)
8 Karoly Balzsay 31-4-1 (22)
9 Lucian Bute 34-1-0 (28)
10 Chad Dawson 27-2-0 (20)
11 Bernard Hopkins 31-2-1 (21)
12 Andre Ward 34-1-1 (17)
13 Tavoris Cloud 34-1-0 (28)
14 Chris Eubank 27-3-1 (7)
15 Jean Pascal 31-2-1 (24)
16 Marcus Beyer 25-3-0 (8)
17 Roy Jones Jr. 35-1-0 (28)
18 Mario Veit 31-2-1 (15) WBO
19 Frank Liles 32-1-1 (23)
20 Otis Grant 26-3-1 (20) WBU
21 Mike McCallum 31-4-0 (22)
22 Steve Collins 29-3-1 (14)
23 Thomas Tate 23-2-3 (19) IBA
24 Gabriel Hernandez 27-4-1 (7)
25 James Toney 32-2-0 (22)

Other champion

27 Rubin Williams 27-4-1 (5) WBF