hamed's uni

[hamed2]

Former SMW champ, Iran Barkley, dropped down to MW to take on Germany's Felix Sturm.

Sturm's boxing ability made it look easy, despite the 15 majority decision win: 147-139, 146-140 & for some reason, 1 judge saw it 143 all.

Sturm landed 50% of his punches - (424 total) to 219 (18%) for Iran.

It was Sturm's 3rd title defense & improves to 29-2 (5 KO's) & Iran's 1st loss @ 160 - now 2-1 (2 KO's).

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Making his 2nd title defense, Grzegorz Proksa came to England to fight against former WBA champ, Frank Grant.

Proksa, the Pole Puncher, really showed his power dropping Grant a total of 3 times over 13 rounds before the American ref (Frank Cappuccino) had enough & DQ'd Proksa for holding & hitting - his 3rd warning for some violation in the fight.

Proksa had a 355 (26%) to 186 (20%) edge & also was up on the cards: 116-108 & 115-108 with the 2 American judges while the British judge had the fight closer @ 114-110 for Proksa.

Even though Grant is the new champ, he might need some time off based on the beating he took.

[hamed2]

Rather than make another defense @ 140, Adrien Broner decided to vacate his 140 lb title to concentrate on 147.

That opened the door for Jessie Vargas to face hot prospect - Amir Iman.

Surprisingly, Vargas came into the fight soft around the middle but was able to absorb the early round bombs of the big punching Iman. As the fight wore on, Vargas was able to outbox Amir & a flash 1 count combo dropped Iman @ the end of the 10th.

In the end, Vargas won a 15MD 144-140, 145-139 & 142-142 to claim the vacant belt.

Vargas also out punched Iman: 422 (32%) to 270 (23%).

[hamed2]

Making his 1st title defense of his British MW belt, Chris Eubank Jr. turned up the heat/pressure in the 8th & 9th rounds when a hard hook sent the tougher than expected, Eamonn O'Kane to the deck for an 8 count. At that point Chris just kept punching until the ref stepped in @ 2:50 of the 9th.

It's a good thing Chris felt the fight was slipping away & stepped on the gas going for the KO, @ the time of the stoppage, O'Kane was up 78-75 on all 3 cards.

[hamed2]

Continuing his tour through Europe, George Groves stopped in Italy to face the dangerous boxer/puncher - Mohamed Ali Ndiaye - orginally from Senegal.

Groves appeared in control & a hook in the 9th sent Ali to the canvas. In the 13th, an uppercut from Groves sent the challenger to the canvas once more. Then a Groves combo did the trick once again. GG infuriated Italians when he waved to Ali as he went down a 2nd time in the 13th. Ali rose but the ref stepped in @ 2:56 to stop the fight.

Groves was in command on the cards, 118-109 & 117-110 twice & up on PL 333 (32%) to 192 (19%).

GG is now 18-0, 15 KO's & Ali's 4-1, 2 KO's.

[hamed2]

Travis Simms tried to add one more big notch to his belt after stopping Miguel Cotto in the 14th round in his last (13th) title defense - this time against former WBO champ, Manny Pacquiao. Some thought time had caught up with Manny, not looking as sharp lately & losing his belt by decision to Sechew Powell.

The time off served him well as his speed & timing gave Simms fits all night as Manny cruised to a UD: 146-138, 147-139 & 145-140. Manny also dropped Simms with a hard, fast left cross @ the end of a round for the lone KD of the bout. Manny doubled up Simms 480 to 240 & made Travis look 7 years older & much slower. Manny also landed an astounding 61% of his punches to only 15% for the once fearsome Simms - who'd also beaten Canelo by decision in one defense.

Manny is now 5-1-1 @ 154, while Simms is 25-3-2.

[hamed2]

Coming to Japan, Roman Gonzalez hoped for a better ending than the last time he fought for a title against a Japanese fighter when Katsunari Takayama knocked Roman out in the 12th with a combo (for the WBA Straw title) - a fight RG was leading on the judge's cards.

Make that 0-2 as Koki Kameda literally dominated Roman for 10 rounds until a hook, uppercut combo ended the night. Roman's left eye was virtually shut & purple when the upper landed.

Koki was up 88-83 on all 3 cards, overwhelmed RG in PL: 387 to 129 & landed an incredible 55% of his punches to only 16% for Roman.

Koki's now 9-0 (all KO's) @ 112.

[hamed2]

In a stunner, Mads Larsen took the IBO SMW belt from Carl Froch via a 15 UD - 144-139 & 143-139 twice. 2 KD's in the 9th helped propel Mads to his 2nd world title - he lost his IBF belt due to eye swelling years ago.

Carl tried to rally down the stretch, dropping the Dane with a right cross for a 3 count in the 14th but it wasn't enough to sway the judges. Froch won the PL battle 289 (34%) to 225 (25%) & makes the 2nd time Froch lost a fight but still landed more punches than his foe - his loss to Hearns by decision the other time.

Mads improves to 18-1-1 & Froch is 26-2.

[hamed2]

In what appeared to just be a formality for bigger fights later this year, James DeGale came to France to fight Chris Rebrasse for the interim WBO SMW belt.

Chris came into the bout 3-0, no KO's but a light, diversionary right cross followed by a crushing left uppercut @ 1:52 knocked DeGale out in the 4th round.

James came into the fight 16-1 (one SD loss early in his career). DeGale appeared to hurt his hand in the 1st but will now have to rebound from this crushing defeat!

DeGale lead on 2 of the cards (30-27) while the 3rd had the Frenchman up 30-29. Chris lead PL 104 (55%) to 70 (12%).

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To prove he's a true world champ, Canelo came to Japan to make his 2nd defense of his WBO JMW belt against American, Charlie Ota.

The bout simply served as a tune up as Canelo dropped Ota 4 times in the fight before the ref stepped in @ 2:56 of the 13th.

Canelo well ahead on PL: 385 (35%) to 171 (22%) & on the judge's cards:

118-105, 115-109 & 117-106.

It was Charlie's 1st loss, now 6-1, 4 KO's.

[hamed2]

Guillermo Jones was making the 4th defense of his belt against the big punching, Dmitry Kudryashov. Jones came into the bout 19-0 & was expected to be too experienced but it appeared his war with Marco Huck in hist last defense (a 14th round TKO) took a lot out of Jones.

Jones dropped Dmitry twice in the fight - including the 1st round but aside from that, was unable to do much the rest of the night - just unwilling or unable to pull the trigger. As a result, the younger DK won a close but 15UD: 143-140 twice & 142-141.

DK also win the PL battle: 328 (45%) to 250 (25%).

[hamed2]

Making his 1st title defense in Germany, Yoan Pablo Hernandez expected an easy defense since winning the belt by UD over Kelvin Davis.

It turned out to be anything but easy as Vitaliy Rusal knocked Yoan out with a vicious hook in the 3rd round.

Meanwhile in Italy, Herbie Hide made the 3rd defense of his WBC CW belt with a 1 punch right cross KO of a pretty durable Mirko Larghetti @ 1:11 of the 13th.

Early on it looked like Hide would blow the Italian out as he dropped him in both the 1st & 3rd but Mirko found his legs & made a fight of it until getting caught.

Cards were 115-111 twice & 115-112 with PL 300 (31%) to 228 (33%).

Hide's now 15-0, 14 KO's & was a CW champ able to defend his belt after the IBO, WBA & IBF champs all lost their belts within the past couple of weeks.

[hamed2]

Making his 6th defense, George Groves never looked better as he destroyed domestic rival James Cook with a 4th round TKO - 2:36.

Some observers thought Cook could give the champ a run for his money but a Groves left hook in the 2nd put Cook on the canvas & a 2nd one in the 4th made this a quick & easy defense. Groves usually takes out his opponents late.

George is now 19-0 with 16 KO's.

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Making his 1st defense, William Poole (better known as Bill the Butcher) talked a lot of trash to Charles Martin.

Poole, an infamous gang leader from NYC in the 1800's, had zero respect for Martin & let him know it in the build up to the fight. In the 2nd round, a hard uppercut sent Martin to the canvas. In the 4th, a left cross from Charles sent Poole to the mat as well.

As the fight wore on, the combo of size, strength & skill proved to be too much for the champ & another left cross sent Poole to the deck once again - this time he was unable to beat the count.

At the time of the stoppage, Martin was up on 2 of the cards: 88-82 & 87-83 while the judge from Panama had the fight even @ 86.

Martin was up on the PL count as well: 294 (39%) to 180 (34%).

[hamed2]

Making his 1st defense, Dmitry Pirog chose former IBF champ, Wayne Alexander. The Brit lost his last fight last Fall via an 8th round KO to GGG in another title bid.

Knowing this might be his last chance @ the world level, Wayne came on strong in the 1st 2 rounds but appeared to slow down in the 3rd. In the 4th, a Pirog body shot ended matters @ 2:18 of the round.

Pirog landed an incredible 69% of his punches (120) to 73 or 31% from Wayne.

Pirog is now 12-0 (11 KO's) & hopes for a big fight in the Fall.

Alexander is now 24-10-1.

[hamed2]

Update on my stacked & loaded MW division, the current champs are:

WBC: Fernando Guerrero - won title from GGG due to a cut

WBA: Felix Sturm - won vacant belt over Jermain Taylor via a close decision

IBF: Jarrod Fletcher - took title from Eubank Jr. by close decision

IBF interim: Errol Christie, a 1 punch 1st round KO of Sergey Khomitsky gave him a portion of the belt.

WBO - Anthony Mundine won title by decision over Francisco Castillejo

IBO: Frank Grant, late round cut TKO over Proksa, a fight Proksa was dominating

IBO interim: Pirog won title in Holland with a UD over Ray Joval

[hamed2]

IBO champ, Ray Mancini, agreed to come to London to face Ajose - the IBF champ.

Ray was viewed as a fringe champ, past his prime while Ajose surprised many by winning the vacant title in a close decision over huge puncher - Lucas Matthysse. Ajose 1st defense was against Chris Algieri & won by 12th round cut TKO - a fight Chris was leading on all 3 cards.

Ray appeared to control the early rounds but a body shot in the 9th dropped Mancini for a count of 9. Ray was lucky to beat the count!

In the 11th, Mancini returned the favor with a quick left hook that dropped Ajose for a flash KD & count of 2.

In the end, it appeared like Ray had done enough to win but 2 of the judges had the fight dead even @ 141 each - overruling the judge that had Ray up 144-139 on his card.

PL was close too - 285 (17%) to 283 (22%) with Ray having the slight edge.

[hamed2]

Making his 5th defense, Errol Christie planned to fight the real life loser between De Carolis & Zeuge. Since those 2 ended in a draw, Peter Manfredo was shipped to London instead. Coming in, he had an impressive record of 12-0 @ 168.

The 1st 4 rounds were uneventful but in the 5th, Errol turned up the heat & 2 uppercut KD's dropped Peter & the ref stepped in @ 2:51.

Errol is now 9-1-1 with 7 KO's.

He might be the most talented 2 rated fighter I've encountered in the game.

[hamed2]

With Danny Garcia moving to 147, hot prospect Terrance Crawford (9-0, 9 KO's) faced off with seasoned vet & former WBA champ, Mike Arnaoutis (20-3-1, 9 KO's).

TC started fast, dominating the early rounds & sending Mike to the canvas in the 2nd. By the 5th, Mike appeared to take back control. Terrance would have a big round & ease off the next.

In the 12th, TC dropped Mike again & late in the round, a quick crushing hook ended Mike's night.

Judges had it: 106-101, 107-100 & 108-99 all for Crawford. TC also had the PL edge: 469 (42%) to 224 ( 23%).

[hamed2]

Wayne McCullough proved to be a durable champ, making 6 defenses of his title. He knocked out tough Japanese challenger, Takahiro Aoh in 2 rounds,in a fight Wayne was trailing, Yuriorkis Gamboa was DQ'd in the 12th for another defense. Wayne also blew out Gary Russell with a 1st round TKO & in June of 2015, Wayne knocked out Miguel Marriaga @ 2:14 of the 14th with a huge right cross. A fight only 1 judge had Wayne leading (125-122, the other 2 had it 122 all.)

In the rugged Jamaican, Nicholas Walters, Wayne ran into another level of fighter. The younger Axeman would not go away, dropping Wayne for a 3 count early but in the 6th, a hard right cross sent Walters to the deck for a count of 9. In the 9th, a combo dropped the champ again & one more combo ended Wayne's reign @ 2:56 of the round.