A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at El Paso, Texas
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. TKO7 Andy Lee
Middleweight
Retains a middleweight title
Records: Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs); Lee (28-2, 20 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The maturation of Chavez continued with this victory -- the best of his career -- in his third title defense. Chavez, 26, the son of Mexican legend and Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., has beaten some solid opponents, including Sebastian Zbik to win a belt in June 2011 and Marco Antonio Rubio in a February defense. But Lee, in the view of many, was a grade better than those guys and many gave him an excellent chance to dethrone Chavez. That could be why Chavez seemed to take this fight more seriously than others. For a change, there was no drama surrounding his effort to make the 160-pound weight limit. Before the Rubio fight, for example, he had to cut about 16 pounds in the final three days to make weight. This time, Chavez weighed in at 159 and seemingly did not struggle to get there as he had in past fights, and he did it this time without strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who was fired and replaced by Luis Cornejo.
Top Rank's Bob Arum, Chavez's promoter, had previously talked about matching Chavez with Lee but twice decided against it because of his southpaw style. But when England's Martin Murray, the original opponent, dropped out because of a visa issue due to his past criminal record a couple of months ago, Lee, 28, finally got the shot because he was an opponent HBO was happy to put on.
Lee, a 2004 Irish Olympian who now lives in Detroit with his Hall of Fame trainer, Emanuel Steward, sure came to fight. This was the biggest opportunity of his career and he got off to a strong start, displaying a strong straight left hand and solid jab. It was a highly entertaining fight as the boxers exchanged a lot of clean, hard punches. The fourth round was nothing but action. Although Lee opened an early lead, Chavez, with a great chin and a thudding body attack, was always in the fight. He came on slowly but surely, and Lee began to break down.
Despite complaining to trainer Freddie Roach about leg cramps after the fifth round, Chavez was still relentless in his attack. The body shots were taking their toll and in the seventh round, he finally broke Lee. After taking several body shots, Lee backed into a corner and Chavez pounced. He landed several clean shots, including a flush right hand and a left hook. Lee nearly went down while Chavez continued to tee off until referee Laurence Cole intervened at the perfect time to end the fight at 2 minutes, 21 seconds as the pro Chavez crowd of 13,476 went wild. (By the way, considering that Top Rank touted that it expected a crowd of maybe 40,000 when the fight was made at the Sun Bowl, the crowd has to be considered a major disappointment. It was less than Chavez's fight with Rubio.)
Lee was ahead 58-56 on all three scorecards after the sixth round, but Chavez's pressure was impressive as was his chin. For the fight, he landed 116 of 252 shots (46 percent) while Lee landed 121 of 420 punches (29 percent). Lee was certainly busier, but he just did not have the same kind of thunder on his blows that Chavez's more damaging punches did.
With Lee vanquished, Top Rank's Bob Arum announced that Chavez would, at long last, face lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez -- who has been calling out Chavez for more than a year -- on Sept. 15 on HBO PPV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Chavez was already talking smack, saying after the fight, "I'm going to knock him out and shut his mouth."
Rival Golden Boy Promotions has already announced that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Mexico's other big star besides Chavez, will defend his junior middleweight belt against Victor Ortiz on Sept. 15 -- Mexican Independence Day -- on Showtime PPV at the MGM Grand, about a mile down the street from the Thomas & Mack Center. It's all posturing right now. It would be stupid for the promoters, the fighters (who share in pay-per-view revenue) and the networks to counter program each other with two attractive fights that target the same audience. On Sept. 15, no matter what the sides say right now, it is highly unlikely that there will be two major pay-per-view shows on the same date in the same city. The question is which side will blink?
Miguel Vazquez W10 Daniel Attah
Junior welterweight
Scores: 100-90 (three times)
Records: Vazquez (31-3, 13 KOs); Attah (26-11-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vazquez, 25, of Mexico, won a vacant lightweight world title by outpointing Ji-Hoon Kim in August 2010 and has made three defenses. But in an effort to remain active, even when a defense is not available to him, Vazquez took the second nontitle bout of his reign. He came in at 137 pounds to face Attah, 35, a native of Nigeria living in Washington, D.C., and rolled to the victory. At one time, Attah was a decent contender, but that was many years ago. He lost his only world title fight via clear decision to then-unified junior lightweight titleholder Acelino "Popo" Freitas in 2002. He had nothing to offer Vazquez, who outpunched and outboxed Attah, whose one remaining attribute seems to be a good chin. Vazquez banged him into the corner in the second round and was teeing off on him. It was a scene repeated over and over during the fight. He landed a lot of combinations while Attah could do little more than cover up and hope for the best. Vazquez won without his usual trainer in the corner. He is trained in Mexico by disgraced Javier Capetillo (he of Antonio Margarito loaded hand wrap fame), who does not have a license to work corners in the United States. Thankfully. Attah lost his fourth fight in a row and dropped to 2-8 in his last 10.
Robert Marroquin KO2 Arturo Santiago
Featherweight
Records: Marroquin (22-1, 15 KOs); Santiago (7-7-1, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Marroquin, 22, of Dallas, was a red-hot prospect until suffering a bloody split decision 10-round decision loss to Frankie Leal in April 2011. Although some have soured on Marroquin's potential in the wake of the defeat, he remains an intriguing prospect as he won his third in a row since the defeat. Marroquin blitzed Santiago, 22, of Puerto Rico. He dropped the overmatched Santiago three times in the first round and then dropped him against in the second round to finish him at 1 minute, 32 seconds.
Saturday at Newark, N.J.
Tomasz Adamek W12 Eddie Chambers
Heavyweight
Scores: 119-109, 116-112 (twice)
Records: Adamek (46-2, 28 KOs); Chambers (36-3, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: There were no world titles, no promises of a world title shot and no big paydays in this fight. It was just two legitimate heavyweight contenders willing to face each other in a good match on paper that turned out to be a very good and competitive fight in the ring in what was the most significant fight so far on NBC Sports Net's new Main Events-promoted "Fight Night" series.
Adamek, 35, of native of Poland living in Jersey City (and a big draw at Newark's Prudential Center thanks for the large Polish community), is the former cruiserweight world champion and former light heavyweight titleholder. He got a title shot in September 2011, was destroyed in 10 lopsided rounds by Vitali Klitschko and bounced back for an easy win on March 24. Chambers, 30, of Philadelphia, also had a title shot. His came in March 2010 and he was dominated by Wladimir Klitschko for the entire fight before being knocked out cold with five seconds left. Chambers was out of the ring for 11 months, returned for a win and then was out for another 16 months until facing Adamek, who was a career heavy 225 pounds while Chambers was a stunningly light 202 pounds, the lowest of his career (which makes you wonder he doesn't just drop two more pounds and fight as a cruiserweight, where he could absolutely win a title).
Adamek, the overwhelming crowd favorite, was clearly the heavier puncher while Chambers was quicker with his hands and on his feet. Chambers suffered a left biceps injury in the first round, which was obvious when after throwing a punch he looked down at his arm and grimaced. Chambers said after the fight that he thought he tore it. It didn't seem all that bad at first as Chambers outboxed Adamek during the first few rounds. But the arm seemed to bother Chambers more as the fight moved along. He basically stopped throwing left hands while Adamek continued to keep up the pressure and landed some solid right hands. Chambers was still able to move well on his feet, which frustrated Adamek at times. But when Adamek did land, he was definitely the heavier hitter. It was a competitive fight but Adamek's cleaner punching in the second half combined with Chambers' reduced output, probably because of the injury, gave Adamek the close decision. The 116-112 scorecards were certainly reasonable but the 119-109 card turned in by Alan Rubenstein was ludicrous. Chambers deserved much, much better that that. The loss is a setback for Chambers, as is the injury. Adamek, however, is back in the groove with two wins in a row and a big fan base that will help him bring money to the table for any significant fight.
Bryant Jennings W10 Steve Collins
Featherweight
Scores: 100-89 (three times)
Records: Jennings (14-0, 6 KOs); Collins (25-2, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Jennings, 27, of Philadelphia, continued to make a name for himself as one of the rare American heavyweight prospects to keep an eye on with a shutout against Collins, an untested 28-year-old from Houston. The win was Jennings' third impressive one in a row, all of which came with national television exposure on NBC Sports Net's "Fight Night." Previously, Jennings came into a Jan. 21 fight on short notice and outpointed previously undefeated Maurice Byarm in a unanimous decision in an entertaining fight. Jennings came right back on March 24 and scored the biggest win of his career, a ninth-round knockout of former titleholder Sergei Liakhovich. This time it was a domination of Collins. While it wasn't the sort of crowd-pleaser like the other bouts, Jennings got his work in and soundly schooled Collins in every facet of the game. The highlight came in the fourth round when Jennings cracked Collins with an uppercut that sent him into the ropes. Since they were responsible for holding Collins up, referee Lindsey Page properly ruled a knockdown. Jennings put his punches together and rocked Collins at other points in the fight, but he was able to stay upright on his way to the shutout loss. Another solid win for Jennings, who has only been a pro since February 2010 and remains a work in progress -- but also a prospect to keep an eye on.
Saturday at Manchester, England
Scott Quigg Tech. Draw 3 Rendall Munroe
Junior featherweight
An interim junior featherweight title remains vacant
Records: Quigg (24-0-1, 17 KOs); Munroe (24-2-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What a big disappointment this was. Just when the fight was starting to heat up, it ended just as quickly when Quigg and Munroe, British countryman, clashed heads in the third round as they were both looking to throw a punch. Munroe wound up with a horrific and jagged gash horizontally across his right eyebrow. The cut was pouring blood and after the gruesome wound was examined by the ringside doctor, referee Howard John Foster rightly stopped the fight just 43 seconds into the round. Promoter Ricky Hatton and the fighters called for a rematch, which we will probably see down the road, although the cut is going to keep Munroe out of action for awhile, so expect to see Quigg, the 23-year-old British champion and one of the country's hottest prospects, defend that title before facing Munroe, 32, again. Munroe, a former European champion, had one previous world title opportunity, but lost a lopsided decision to Toshiaki Nishioka in Japan in October 2010. The title Munroe and Quigg were fighting for was one of the silly unnecessary WBA interim belts, a complete waste of time in this division since Guillermo Rigondeaux holds the full title and just defended it in spectacular fashion on the June 9 Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. undercard by dropping Teon Kennedy five times en route a fifth-round knockout.
Sergey Rabchenko TKO7 Ryan Rhodes
Junior middleweight
Wins vacant European junior middleweight title
Records: Rabchenko (21-0, 16 KOs); Rhodes (46-6, 31 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Rhodes, 35, of England, found a late-career renaissance in recent years before he was knocked down and pummeled by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a 12th-round knockout loss challenging for Alvarez's 154-pound world title in June 2011. Rhodes rebounded for an eight-round decision win in November to put him in position to face Rabchenko, 26, of Belarus, for the European title Rhodes once held. It was a good fight but Rabchenko, a bit too young and powerful, seemed to be in control, although Rhodes hurt him with a right hand in the third round. But however the fight looked on the scorecards, Rabchenko, with former junior welterweight champion (and now promoter of the card) Ricky Hatton in his corner, scored did not leave it to the judges. Instead, he landed a clean left hand to the Rhodes' body, dropping him immediately. Rhodes, whose face was also a bit marked up, barely made it to his feet but he was in position to go on and referee Adrio Zannoni called it off a 2 minutes, 54 seconds. As soon as the fight was waived off, Rhodes went back down to the canvas in pain and laid down flat on his back. When he finally shook it off, Rhodes said it was the best body shot he had ever been hit with and that he intends to continue to fight. Rabchenko looks like an emerging contender and might be able to make some noise in a good division if he gets the opportunity.
Martin Murray W10 Karim Achour
Middleweight
Score: 98-93
Records: Murray (24-0-1, 10 KOs); Achour (13-3-2, 2 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December, Murray, 29, of England, got a shot at titleholder Felix Sturm and fought him to a draw on Sturm's turf in Germany in a highly competitive fight -- even though Sturm looked like he actually deserved the decision in his hometown. Regardless, Murray fought well enough that he was offered another world title fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. They were supposed to fight in El Paso, Texas on the same night as this fight. But Murray ultimately had to drop out of the fight because he was not going to get his visa in time due to his past criminal history. So Murray instead wound up fighting the obscure Achour instead for a lot less money and a lot less stakes. Murray, however, put in his work and outboxed Achour to get the decision, which was only scored by referee Steve Gray, as it is done in British nontitle bouts. Achour, 25, of France, saw a seven-fight winning streak come to an end.
Saturday at McAllen, Texas
Carlos Molina W10 Marcos Jimenez
Lightweight
Scores: 99-91, 97-93, 96-94
Records: Molina (17-0-1, 7 KOs); Jimenez (18-4, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Molina, 26, of Rosemead, Calif., and Jimenez, 26, of the Dominican Republic, put on a solid scrap in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Molina has long been considered a decent prospect although he stumbled slightly last August in an eight-round draw with novice pro Juan Montiel. Molina, however, has now won three bouts in a row. He was busier than Jimenez and got the better of the action, much of which took place on the inside. It was a give-and-take fight with a lot of seemingly close rounds. Molina deservedly got the decision, although the 99-91 scorecard seemed out of line. Jimenez has now lost two consecutive fights. In his last bout, he was stopped in the fifth round by junior lightweight contender Diego Magdaleno.
Thursday at New York
Thomas Dulorme TKO7 Alberto Herrera
Welterweight
Records: Dulorme (15-0, 12 KOs); Herrera (8-7-1, 5 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Dulorme, 22, of Puerto Rico, is one of the top prospects in boxing. He's a dynamic offensive fighter with a lot of charisma who reminds many of a young Felix Trinidad. Fighting on co-promoter Lou DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" series, Dulorme was matched soft and took it to tough-as-nails Herrera throughout the fight. Dulorme unloaded everything on him, but Herrera showed a good chin. Finally, after taking a beating, referee Harvey Dock called off the fight after seven rounds on the advice of the ringside physician. While Dulorme continues to move up the ladder -- and likely will appear on HBO this fall -- Herrera, 30, of Riverside, Calif., lost his fourth fight in a row and dropped to 1-7 in his last eight.
Will Rosinsky W8 Aaron Pryor Jr.
Super middleweight
Scores: 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74
Records: Rosinsky (16-1, 9 KOs); Pryor Jr. (16-6, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Little did anyone know how important this win for Rosinsky would turn out to be. The day after the fight, Rosinsky was offered (and accepted) an opportunity to be on HBO against former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik in a 10-round super middleweight bout that will open the July 7 telecast headlined by the junior featherweight title unification match between Nonito Donaire and Jeffrey Mathebula. Rosinsky, 27, of Ozone Park, N.Y., was a standout amateur who won his second fight in a row since losing a decision to hot prospect Edwin Rodriguez in October. Rosinsky landed a lot of combinations to Pryor's head and body and outworked him throughout the bout. Pryor, 34, of Cincinnati and the son of Hall of Famer Aaron Pryor Sr., lost his third fight in a row and for the fourth time in his last five.