arstyle27
Supporter
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Hopkins deserved the W.
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aepps20 wrote:
sammietheboss wrote:
Wow I called it early fishy this is crazy
Sure did my dude. That first "knock down" was BS.
yo that's why boxers don't fight anywhere else except USA yo this was a robbery where is the loot sack for real
%$%%**# disgusting.Originally Posted by Mycoldyourdone
http://twitter.com/chrismannixsi
Golden Boy execs are flying around here trying to get answers. I'm going to presser, will report info as I get it.
13 minutes ago via web
Could a judge have changed his mind and flipped it mid-fight? Sure. But white out is an odd method to do it.
14 minutes ago via web
From what it looks--repeat, looks--like the changes cost Hopkins. But we don't know the source of the whiteout yet. Officials investigating
23 minutes ago via web
There is also white out on the first round on the Belgian's card. If that was corrected, Hopkins would have lost his card. But won on two.
24 minutes ago via web
What I'm seeing, someone whited out the eighth round in Canadian judge card. Bernard would have won the fight
25 minutes ago via web
Controversy: There is white out on two spots on the official scorecard. Looking at original now.
28 minutes ago via web
Originally Posted by DontStepOnMyShoes
BHop one of the greatest to ever do it, sad to see him get played like this.
[table][tr][th=""]Saturday at Quebec City[/th][/tr][tr][td]Light heavyweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Pascal, 26-1-1, 16 KOs; Hopkins, 51-5-2, 32 KOs
Jean Pascal D12 Bernard Hopkins
Retains world light heavyweight title
Scores: 114-112 Hopkins, 114-114, 113-113
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Rafael's remark: When a guy goes to the home turf of a popular, ticket-selling champion and comes out with a draw you know what that usually means? It usually means challenger deserved to win. That's the case with Hopkins, the Philadelphia throwback fighter who turned in a supreme effort in one of the most exciting fights of his long and storied career. The former longtime middleweight champ and former light heavyweight champ was seeking to become the oldest man in boxing history to win a major title. George Foreman regained the heavyweight championship at 45 years, 10 months in 1994 when he knocked out Michael Moorer. Hopkins turns 46 on Jan. 15 and deserved the decision, but didn't get it. Was it highway robbery? No. But he did more than enough to overcome flash knockdowns in the first and third rounds to dominate virtually the entire rest of the fight, a stunning performance against a 27-year-old champion in his prime.
Pascal, of Montreal, had virtually all of the sold-out crowd of 16,500 on cheering wildly for him, but they couldn't help him deal with Hopkins, who has forgotten more boxing than most fighters ever know. Pascal got credit for a knockdown late in the first round when he cuffed Hopkins behind the head with a right hand. A cleaner right hand dropped Hopkins late in the third round, but he was not hurt either time he went down. Actually, Hopkins did well enough in the first round that it would be fine to score it 10-9 for Pascal even with the knockdown. But starting in the fourth round and for almost every round for the rest of the fight, except maybe the 10th, Hopkins was fairly dominant. He hammered Pascal to the body, had him in retreat and, by the middle rounds, the champion looked winded and out of gas. Hopkins had a big eighth round and dazed Pascal with a right hand in the ninth. It was stunning to see the old man easily outworking the younger man. He was more active, more accurate and beating him to the punch round after round in one of his more offensive-minded performances in many years, and one that was light years better than the lackluster performance in a horrible April rematch with rival Roy Jones Jr. that had some calling for him to retire.
Sensing it was probably close on the cards, they went for broke in a tremendous all-action 12th round, one of the most exciting rounds Hopkins has probably ever fought in. In the end, Pascal kept his title on a majority draw, denying Hopkins of the historical accomplishment he deserved. Despite that, Hopkins showed he still has something left in his massive tank.
There was talk of a rematch immediately after the fight, although Hopkins said he would not consider fighting again in Canada, where he feels he was robbed. In an amazing coincidence, the last time Hopkins fought outside of the United States was when he went to Segundo Mercado's hometown of Quito, Ecuador, to challenge for a vacant middleweight belt. Hopkins was dropped for the only other two times in his career and got a draw in a fight he deserved to win. And that was Dec. 17, 1994 -- almost exactly 16 years to the day the same thing happened in Quebec City. Pascal, who made his fourth title defense, had pulled an upset of Chad Dawson in August. But after this interim fight against Hopkins, Pascal owes Dawson a rematch. It will be interesting to see what happens, because a rematch with Hopkins is most likely worth much more than a rematch with Dawson. Whatever happens, Hopkins can hold his head high. We all saw the fight know he deserved the victory.
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[td][/td]Welterweight[tr][td]Records: Malignaggi, 28-4, 6 KOs; Lozada, 36-7-1, 29 KOs
Paulie Malignaggi TKO6 Michael Lozada
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Rafael's remark: Former junior welterweight titlist Malignaggi, 30, of Brooklyn. N.Y., is looking to get his career back on track. After being stopped by Amir Khan in the 11th round of a one-sided title bout in May, Malignaggi had a nasty breakup with promoter Lou DiBella, signed with Golden Boy and moved up to welterweight, where he debuted against Mexico's Lozada, 27, who became a rare Malignaggi knockout victim. In fact, Malignaggi hadn't had a knockout since his 14th pro fight, a sixth-round stoppage of Kevin Watts in 2003. Malignaggi took his time getting going and by the sixth he had Lozada frustrated. Lozada was docked a point for trying to lift Malignaggi up during the round and then referee Jean-Guy Brousseau moved in for the stoppage at 2 minutes, 33 seconds with Lozada taking shots in a corner. Nice rebound for Malignaggi, who figures to land another meaningful fight sooner than later. Whether he can rise to the occasion, however, remains to be seen.
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[td][/td]Super middleweight[tr][td]Records: Jacobs, 21-1, 18 KOs; Orta, 7-14-2, 4 KOs
Daniel Jacobs TKO5 Jessie Orta
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Rafael's remark: In July, Jacobs, the 2009 ESPN.com prospect of the year, was a big favorite to defeat unheralded Dmitry Pirog of Russia, whom he had been lined up to face for a vacant middleweight belt. However, Pirog pulled the upset when he flattened Jacobs with a big right hand and knocked him out in the fifth round. With this fight, Jacobs, 23, began his road back from that crushing defeat. Golden Boy still has high hopes for Jacobs, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and it should. But there are still things for him to learn and facing a journeyman such as Dallas' Orta, 29, was just the first step. Jacobs, of course, was expected to win, which he did. But he also became the first man to stop Orta in his 14 defeats when his corner threw in the towel late in the fifth round.
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[td][/td]Super middleweight[tr][td]Records: Quillin, 22-0, 16 KOs; Desjardins, 7-19-4, 3 KOs
Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin KO1 Martin Desjardins
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Rafael's remark: Brooklyn, N.Y., prospect Quillin's biggest issue has been his health. Quillin, 27, had fought just once since September 2008 because of various injuries until returning against Montreal's Desjardins, 31, a soft opponent he got rid of in 2 minutes, 53 seconds. With Golden Boy reaching agreement to put on regular shows in Brooklyn when the Barclays Center opens, it has been signing New York-area fighters, which is why it recently signed Quillin. Despite all of his losses, Desjardins was stopped for only the third time, going down on a right hand at 2 minutes, 53 seconds. He was also stopped by journeyman Jason Naugler and light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal.
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[td][/td]Heavyweight[tr][td]Records: Fury, 13-0, 9 KOs; Page, 21-33-2, 7 KOs
Tyson Fury W8 Zack Page
Scores: 80-72 (three times)
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Rafael's remark: Fury, 22, of England, has received tons of hype across the pond. He looks the part of heavyweight contender because he is 6-foot-9, 268 pounds, but he has a long way to go before anyone will consider him a serious heavyweight. However, if he's going to have a chance, it may be now because he has hooked up with trainer Emanuel Steward, who is one of the best. Steward had him in camp with heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko and that can only help the youngster. After several opponent changes, Warren, Ohio, journeyman Page, 37, took the fight on a couple of days' notice and, as usual went the distance. Page has only been stopped twice and not in more than four years. However, Fury, making his North American debut, won via shutout and dropped Page (who was giving up 56 pounds) to 1-6 in his last seven fights.
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[table][tr][th=""]Saturday at Berlin, Germany[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Cruiserweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Huck, 31-1, 23 KOs; Lebedev, 21-1, 16 KOs
Marco Huck W12 Denis Lebedev
Retains a cruiserweight title
Scores: 115-113 (twice) Huck, 116-112 Lebedev
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Rafael's remark: On paper, this mandatory defense figured to be a really good fight and it was just that. Germany's Huck, 26, who made his fifth defense, and Russia's Lebedev, 31, are both hard hitters with aggressive styles. They put on a crowd-pleasing action fight that was awfully close. They both landed an assortment of big shots. Huck's face was marked up and he had swelling around his right eye when it was over. He also said he suffered a cracked rib in the fourth round and that "whenever I threw a punch [after that] it hurt like being stuck with a knife. But I hung in there and showed my big heart." And Lebedev was cut under his right eye and also over his left eye in the ninth round. Lebedev pressured Huck throughout while Huck, although not as aggressive, seemed to land the bigger shots. It was a bit of a hard fight to score. If you thought Lebedev won, that is reasonable. But Huck shaded it on a close decision, which should not surprise anyone considering he was fighting at home. Despite the defeat, Lebedev showed he is a worthy contender who should get another title shot in the future.
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[td][/td]Cruiserweight[tr][td]Records: Hernandez, 23-1, 12 KOs; Ismailov, 18-4-1, 13 KOs
Yoan Pablo Hernandez KO1 Ali Ismailov
Title eliminator
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Rafael's remark: Hernandez, 26, was a standout amateur in Cuba before defecting to Germany and rising through the cruiserweight ranks. Now, he's on the doorstep of a title opportunity after blowing out Ismailov, 36, of Ukraine. With the win, he becomes a mandatory challenger for one of the laughable WBA's two titleholders, Guillermo Jones or interim titlist Steve Herelius. With the way the WBA operates who knows which guy he's actually the mandatory for. But Hernandez did what he was supposed to do. He controlled Ismailov with his jab and landed a couple of solid shots before landing a flush straight left to the chin. Ismailov took a few steps back after impact and fell into the ropes before falling between them and onto the ring apron while referee Jean-Louis Legland counted him out at 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Ismailov dropped to 3-3 in his last six, including a KO loss to Denis Lebedev (who lost to cruiserweight titlist in the main event) and split decision loss to then-cruiserweight titleholder Victor Emilio Ramirez in May 2009.
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[td][/td]Heavyweight[tr][td]Records: Povetkin, 21-0, 15 KOs; Firtha, 19-8-1, 8 KOs
Alexander Povetkin W10 Nicolai Firtha
Scores: 100-90, 99-91, 98-92
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Rafael's remark: Povetkin was a 2004 Russian Olympic gold medalist and rose quickly as a pro, beating such quality opponents as Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd and Larry Donald to become Wladimir Klitschko's mandatory challenger. But injuries, delays and a change of trainers put the fight off several times. Most recently, they were supposed to meet in September, but Teddy Atlas, now Povetkin's trainer, persuaded him to pass up the shot (and career-high $2 million-plus payday) to continue to hone his skills in order to be better prepared for an eventual title shot. But Povetkin didn't look all that good against Firtha, 31, a journeyman from Akron, Ohio. It actually looks like Povetkin has regressed from when he defeated Chambers in a career-best win in a January 2008 title eliminator. Although Povetkin won handily (despite saying he injured his right hand), Firtha was competitive. He hit Povetkin far more than he should have and had a nice uppercut working. Firtha's three-fight winning streak ended, but he dropped to 3-4 in his last seven. Povetkin just didn't look dynamic or impressive, especially considering he was fighting a guy who was knocked out by Tye Fields in June 2008. The way Povetkin looked, he wouldn't last five rounds with Klitschko.
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[table][tr][th=""]Saturday at Tijuana, Mexico[/th][/tr][tr][td]Junior welterweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Morales, 51-6, 35 KOs; Lorenzo, 35-9, 16 KOs
Erik Morales W12 Francisco Lorenzo
Scores: 116-111, 115-112, 114-113
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Rafael's remark: Morales, 34, the Mexican star and former three-division champion (122, 126 and 130) was fighting for the third time this year since ending a 2½-year retirement in March. He was supposed to meet former junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios, but Barrios' legal issues prevented him from getting the proper paperwork to leave Argentina. So Lorenzo, 39, of Dominican Republic, took the fight on a couple of days' notice and gave a credible performance against the faded Morales. Morales hopes to challenge lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez in his next fight (perhaps April 16 if Marquez doesn't get the fight with Manny Pacquiao he wants) in an attempt to become the first Mexican to win a title in four weight classes, and it's a fight Golden Boy (which promotes Marquez and is close to Morales), hopes to make. It would be a big fight in Mexico, or even in Las Vegas, but it's hard to see Morales as a serious threat, especially after a lackluster showing against Lorenzo. Morales hasn't looked good in his comeback and this was just another example. He did score a knockdown in the fifth round (although Lorenzo wasn't hurt) and they traded regularly during the crowd-pleasing fight, but was it enough to make you think Morales could beat Marquez? Certainly not.
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[table][tr][th=""]Saturday at Buenos Aires[/th][/tr][tr][td]Junior flyweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Lazarte, 48-9-2, 18 KOs; Solis, 32-2-3, 21 KOs
Luis Lazarte D12 Ulises "Archie" Solis
Retains a junior flyweight title
Scores: 117-109 Solis, 113-113 (twice)
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Rafael's remark: Lazarte, 39, who was fighting in his hometown, escaped with a ridiculous majority draw against Solis, 29, the former titleholder from Mexico. Lazarte lost this fight. Even the Argentina broadcasters on TyC, which televised the bout, had Solis winning. In May, Lazarte became a feel-good story when he claimed a 108-pound belt from Carlos Tamara in his sixth attempt to win a world title, doing so in front of his hometown fans. Making his second defense, Lazarte fought a ragged, dirty fight against Solis. He literally tried to bite Solis' neck during a clinch late in the third round, but referee Max Parker missed it. He could have been disqualified right then. And Lazarte also repeatedly hit Solis behind the head throughout the fight, a dangerous and unacceptable foul he committed constantly. Parker did deduct points from him in the fourth and 10th rounds for the infraction, but it wasn't enough. Parker could have easily taken more points or disqualified him. Between the attempted bite and the flagrant fouling he's lucky he didn't get DQ'd. Lazarte also tried to grab and hold, blatantly hit Solis low and nearly threw him out of the ring at the end of the fifth round. Solis tried to maintain his poise and press the action and make it a real fight and had success landing the cleaner, legitimate blows. But two of the judges absurdly had it even, which, considering the point penalties, seems simply unrealistic because Lazarte didn't do much at all to consistently win rounds unless you can win rounds hitting a guy behind the head. The Solis camp was rightfully disgusted not only with the decision, but with the dirty tactics and said it will ask the IBF to order a rematch.
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[table][tr][th=""]Saturday at Campeche, Mexico[/th][/tr][tr][td]Junior featherweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Arce, 56-6-2, 43 KOs; Ramos, 16-11-1, 8 KOs
Jorge Arce TKO1 Adolfo Ramos
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Rafael's remark: Arce, 31, the popular Mexican action fighter and former junior flyweight and junior bantamweight titlist (plus longtime interim flyweight titleholder), is now fighting at junior featherweight. There has been some conversation about him challenging junior featherweight titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in 2011, which would be a nice Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry match. So Arce continues to get used to the new weight class, fighting as a junior featherweight for the third time in row and having an easy time with Colombia's Ramos, 31. Arce, who went 4-0-1 this year in a busy schedule, did not break a sweat, handing him his third loss in his last four bouts in the final "Top Rank Live" card of the year. A flush straight right hand from Arce dropped Ramos to his knees in the center of the ring midway trough the round. Then Arce sprinted across the ring to engage him again. He was all over Ramos, eventually pinning him in a corner and unleashing about a dozen unanswered punches until the referee called it off at 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
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[td][/td]Junior flyweight[tr][td]Records: Garcia, 15-1-1, 8 KOs; Soto, 15-7-1, 6 KOs
Ramon Garcia W12 Omar Soto
Retains a junior flyweight title
Scores: 120-106, 119-107, 118-108
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Rafael's remark: If you can figure out the situation with the WBO's junior flyweight title, you deserve a boxing doctorate degree. Let's try to figure it out. Giovani Segura won the title from Ivan Calderon in August and then gave it up to campaign at flyweight. So Garcia was moved from his interim position to the full titleholder. When he was injured and unable to defend in September, the WBO approved Jesus Geles against Soto for the interim belt at its annual convention. Geles outpointed Soto to win the vacant interim belt. Now, according to the WBO's web site, Segura is back as titleholder and Garcia and Geles are both listed as interim titleholders. So the WBO now seems to have two interim titleholders who both defeated Soto in their most recent bouts. It's almost more insane than the WBA's typical nonsense. In any event, Garcia was supposed to fight Panama's Carlos Melo, but he dropped out and Puerto Rico's Soto, 28, the apparent designated interim title challenger, filled in. Garcia won easily, dropping Soto in the fourth round (looked more like a push) and 10th round (body shot) and cruising to the decision. Soto lost his third in a row and fourth of five.
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[table][tr][th=""]Friday at Miami[/th][/tr][tr][td]Heavyweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Solis, 17-0, 12 KOs; Austin, 28-5-4, 18 KOs
Odlanier Solis W-DQ10 Ray Austin
Title eliminator
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Rafael's remark: This fight was to see who would be the next opponent to be knocked out by heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko. Odlanier Solis, come on down! By winning the eliminator, Solis gets to be the next guy for Klitschko to demolish when they meet in a mandatory fight, which is slated for March. Solis, 30, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist who defected and now is based in Miami, was the big favorite against Cleveland journeyman Austin, 40. Solis, although once again not in top condition, was quicker and threw more combinations against the lumbering Austin, who was once knocked out in the second round of a title fight by Wladimir Klitschko. He had done nothing to warrant that shot or to be in this title eliminator. Solis hadn't really either, but at least he comes with a massive amateur background and obvious skills. Solis backed Austin up throughout the fight and dropped him in the fifth round when he put together a sustained flurry. There was still more than a minute left in the round, but Solis couldn't finish him. In the 10th round, Solis cleaned up on Austin, who was holding on to keep himself from going down and basically out on his feet. Referee Tommy Kimmons docked a point from Austin for the excessive holding. Eventually, the fighters got tied up and nearly tumbled over the ropes. When they got themselves situated back in the ring, Austin clocked the defenseless Solis before Kimmons ordered the fight to resume, prompting him to disqualify Austin for the foul with one second left in the round. Solis seemed to be in full control of the fight and had hurt Austin multiple times, but a look at the scorecards after the DQ saw that it was a draw after 10 rounds (in Florida judges score the partial round) with Solis up 88-82 on one card, Austin ahead 86-84 on one and the third even at 85-85. Not a great fight, but what did you expect? Incidentally, it didn't get done until the last minute, but promoter Don King worked something out for the card to be televised on Miami-based Spanish language network Mega TV. Would have been nice had it been done ahead of time so people interested could have known about it since that network is on DirecTV.
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[td][/td]Light heavyweight[tr][td]Records: Cloud, 22-0, 18 KOs; Zuniga, 24-5-1, 21 KOs
Tavoris Cloud W12 Fulgencio Zuniga
Retains a light heavyweight title
Scores: 118-108, 117-109 (twice)
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Rafael's remark: Cloud, 28, of Tallahassee, won his belt in August 2009 and made his first defense on HBO in August by outpointing Glen Johnson in a terrific fight. For his second defense, he faced the smaller Zuniga, 33, of Colombia, who had already lost three previous title shots (one at junior middleweight and two at super middleweight). It was a bit of a surprise that Cloud, who has a reputation for strong power, didn't stop Zuniga, although he dropped him in the fifth round on a right hand and again in the 12th round, although that one was questionable. Zuniga protested it and claimed it was from a head butt although it was more of a push than anything. Still, Cloud was in control throughout the bout despite fighting with a cut over his left eye for the second half of the fight. Cloud was busy and rolled to the lopsided decision, but hardly made the sort of statement he probably had hoped to make.
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[td][/td]Super middleweight[tr][td]Records: Mayorga, 29-7-1, 23 KOs; Walker, 19-6-2, 12 KOs
Ricardo Mayorga TKO9 Michael Walker
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Rafael's remark: The last time the chain-smoking, trash-talking Nicaraguan wild man Mayorga, 37, was in the ring when Shane Mosley knocked him out in the 12th round 27 months ago. Making his return, the former welterweight champ and junior middleweight titlist was matched with Chicago journeyman Walker, 32, and handed him his fifth consecutive loss. Mayorga was obviously rusty and Walker was in the fight, but then Mayorga's power took over. After eating a series of shots early in the ninth, Walker took a knee. Mayorga, never the most sportsmanlike guy, kept punching and was docked a point by referee Tommy Kimmons for the foul. Deductions be damned, Mayorga went after him and Kimmons stopped it at 1 minute, 9 seconds during his follow-up attack. It was Mayorga's first victory since outpointing Fernando Vargas in 2007 and sending him into retirement.
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[table][tr][th=""]Friday at San Diego[/th][/tr][tr][td]Junior lightweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Rios, 13-0, 6 KOs; Landeros, 20-17-1, 9 KOs
Ronny Rios W8 Adolfo Landeros
Scores: 80-72 (three times)
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Rafael's remark: There were such high hopes when Golden Boy was able to get Telefutura to bring back the weekly "Solo Boxeo Tecate," but main events such as this are the reason it's hard to get too pumped up for the show. Rios, 20, of Santa Ana, Calif., is a good prospect working his way up the ladder, there was no purpose for this fight to be televised as a main event. Seriously, how many times do we need to see Landeros utterly outclassed on television? It's a joke. Landeros was game, as usual, but never had any real chance to win or even be all that competitive. Rios won every round as Landeros, 31, of Mexico, lost his seventh fight in a row, ninth of his last 10 and 11th of 13. He's not television material. Stop wasting our time.
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[td][/td]Featherweight[tr][td]Records: Martin, 21-0-2, 6 KOs; Herrera, 22-14, 15 KOs
Christopher Martin W8 Yogli Herrera
Scores: 80-72 (twice), 78-74
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Rafael's remark: Yet another pointless Telefutura fight as Martin, 24, a prospect from Chula Vista, Calif., scored a relatively easy win in front of his hometown fans against Herrera, 28, a Miami resident originally from Colombia. Like with Adolfo Landers, the loser of the main event, Herrera is not television material at all anymore. He lost his 11th fight in a row. When he's on one side of the ring, you know the result. Although Herrera gave his best and was at least more competitive than Landeros in the main event, he wasn't going to win, even against a Martin who didn't seem at his best. Nonetheless, Martin closed out a strong year in which he went 5-0 and upset prospect Chris Avalos in August.
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[table][tr][th=""]Thursday at Astana, Kazakhstan[/th][/tr][tr][td]Middleweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Golovkin, 20-0, 17 KOs; Tapia, 14-3-1, 10 KOs
Gennady Golovkin KO3 Nilson Julio Tapia
Retains a middleweight title
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Rafael's remark: Golovkin, 28, was a 2004 Olympic silver medalist for Kazakhstan and has emerged as an excellent up-and-coming middleweight. But this whole belt thing is so silly. In August, he won one of the WBA's vacant interim belts with a first-round knockout of unqualified Milton Nunez and then was suddenly elevated to the WBA's full titlist when it made long-reigning titleholder Felix Sturm was made the ridiculous "super champion." And let's not forget that also lurking out there with a cheap black and gold leather strap is interim titlist Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, meaning the WBA crowns three guys as its middleweight champion. In reality, the legitimate 160-pound king is Sergio Martinez and Golovkin should be considered a quality contender. He's good fighter with a bright future and had an easy night with Tapia, 25, of Colombia. He was cruising along through two rounds and ended matters in the third when he caught Tapia with a nice left upstairs followed by a left to the body. Tapia dropped to all four wincing in pain and was counted out while still on all fours gasping for air.
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[table][tr][th=""]Thursday at New York[/th][/tr][tr][td]Welterweight[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Salita, 32-1-1, 17 KOs; Wayka, 16-10-1, 8 KOs
Dmitriy Salita TKO3 James Wayka
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Rafael's remark: Last December, the Ukraine-born, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Salita, 28, got a mandatory title shot against junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan, even though his status as a mandatory challenger was ludicrous. Salita didn't belong in the same ring with Khan and got knocked down three times en route to being knocked out in 76 seconds. After a nine-month break, Salita returned for an easy win in September and notched his second win in a row as he took out Wayka with no problem. Salita was supposed to face former junior lightweight titlist Mike Anchondo, but illness forced him to withdraw and Minnesota's Wayka, 31, replaced him on short notice. Salita ran right through, dropping Wayka twice in the second round and twice more in the third for the predictable blowout.
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