- Nov 26, 2012
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not anymore man
in boxing you don't age in years , you age by punches received .......
you cant just break compubox records and expected to keep boxing
at a high level
Official 2013 Boxing Thread: Year is over, please lock.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
- Start date
- Status
in boxing you don't age in years , you age by punches received .......
you cant just break compubox records and expected to keep boxing
at a high level
- Jul 22, 2012
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this^ that's why guys like Mayweather and Hopkins have lasted so long. They know how to avoid a lot of punishment. They're fights might be boring sometimes but they are smart fighters and that's why both will be Hall of Famers.
- Mar 15, 2013
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I Get It. Makes Since; I Humbly Stand Corrected.
Im Just The Competitive Type That Very Lightly Believes In Limitations'
He Look Like **** Yesterday, And If He Cant Do Any Better I Hope He Considers Retirement.
- Sep 1, 2004
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i like Garcia, he has a bright future in boxing, but he shouldn't get a free pass for missing weight and then after the fight they said he would still fight at 126 and not move up. ya ok
- Jul 26, 2012
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His weight in between fights, maybe...but a nobody? Vargas was a decorated amateur.
He was rushed into that fight with Trinidad...and I'm still of the belief that he was starting to come on had Trinidad not tattooed him repeatedly with low blows.
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- Jul 22, 2012
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What is Top Rank gonna do match him up with Donaire at 126 lbs? Donaire said he wants a rematch with Rigondeaux first before he moves up but I think he should just move up and face Garcia.
- Nov 26, 2012
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welp this is not the nba thread
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- Nov 26, 2012
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double lmao
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- Apr 4, 2003
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Donaire would have to get another trainer then if this pushes through
- Jul 22, 2012
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I think he should anyways. Garcia trained him by phone for his fight vs Rigondeaux.
- Nov 26, 2012
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- Apr 4, 2003
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True. And he is good friends with Ward as well. Hunter might get him to start boxing again. Enough with this head hunting with just the left hook crap.I think he should anyways. Garcia trained him by phone for his fight vs Rigondeaux.I think he should hire Virgil Hunter as his trainer. Both live in Northern Cali too and it wouldn't hurt Donaire to be training with guys like Khan and Ward. Also did you guys see how good Hunter had Angulo looking before his orbital bone was broken? Hunter is the real deal. This fight needs to be made.
- Sep 28, 2003
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In case you didn't know, Angulo had a rehydration clause for Lara which did not apply to Angulo. Lara could mot weigh more than 164 on fight night, Angulo came in at 175. Lara also complained that the ring was too small, and facors Angulos style. That's probably the reason Angulo was able to drop Lara. GB and Richard Schaeffer wanted Angulo to win, probably to set him up for future fights with Canelo and Mayweather. You can even tell after the fight that he was upset, he threw Lara under the bus saying he's not marketable.
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- Mar 6, 2004
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Not to beat a dead horse, but this is why we need a governing body. We don't even have a uniform ring size. Now your saying they were trying to predetermined the outcome for future fights? WWE status right there.
- Mar 6, 2004
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- Nov 8, 2004
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JuanMa needs to ride off into the sunset and start collecting paychecks taking out tomato cans in Bayamón.
100% agree.
I know he gave it his all against Salido but that Mtagwa fight stole everything from JML.
- Feb 25, 2010
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- Sep 4, 2006
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More respect to Lara for pulling the victory out with the cards stacked against him. Damn shame what GBP tried to pull with Lara.
I wonder what Al Haymon has to say about this?
I wonder what Al Haymon has to say about this?
- Jul 22, 2012
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All those guys are in on it. It's just a favor Golden Boy will owe Haymon down the road with one of his other fighters.
- Sep 1, 2004
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we blasted arum for saying the samething about rigo tho
lara,rigo and gamboa have the same problems
lara,rigo and gamboa have the same problems
- Feb 17, 2013
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I hate to say it but man, does JML even train in a gym? He looked terrible. Not taking anything away from Mikey, he did the job fairly easy. Lopez looked 2-3 steps behind Mikey. His reaction time is so slow and his punches were just everywhere at some points. Lopez needs to call it a career. A lot of people talking about Paulie/Broner fight but I'm excited to see Banks/Mitchell rematch. Banks put Mitchell out early, very suspect chin. Can't wait to see Banks test it again.
- Sep 28, 2003
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Trout and Lara should just fight each other as an eliminator for Canelo. Both are the only Haymon fighters who haven't been spoonfed.
Weekend wrap up.
A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Dallas
Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia TKO4 Juan Manuel Lopez
A featherweight title remains vacant
Records: Garcia (32-0, 27 KOs); Lopez (33-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What a mess this whole fight was. To begin with, few gave Lopez any real chance to win it. He has a great name, but he is not the fighter he once was -- or even close to it. The Puerto Rican star is only 29, but he's a very old 29 (and turns 30 on June 30). And although he won world titles at junior featherweight and featherweight, and consistently has been one of boxing's most exciting fighters for the past several years, the wars have taken a serious toll, culminating with a pair of knockout losses in world title bouts to Orlando Salido in 2011 and 2012. Following an 11-month layoff after the second knockout loss to Salido (because of a suspension for the remarks he made accusing the referee of stopping the fight because he wagered on it), Lopez returned for a pair of soft-touch wins in February and April and didn't look particularly good in either one of them.
Garcia, meanwhile, is probably not even in his prime yet, is an extremely versatile and poised fighter with good technical skills and power. He is also one of boxing's most clinical finishers. If he hurts you, you're gone. Adding to the notion that this would be a wipeout was the fact that Garcia, 25, of Oxnard, Calif., had won his 126-pound world title in dominant fashion in January by routing Salido, whom he knocked down four times in a lopsided eighth-round technical decision.
Then, if you put the mismatch aspect of things aside, Garcia -- typically as professional as any fighter in the sport -- missed weight. He was 128 pounds at the Friday weigh-in and was stripped of his title. To his credit, he tried to lose it. HBO cameras even caught him vomiting after the weigh-in. Still, it's a black mark on his career to have lost a world title on the scale. He wound up paying Lopez $150,000 out of his purse in order to preserve the fight, but with only Lopez eligible to win the title.
Still, Lopez, a southpaw, had no real chance to do that. He looked positively woeful from the opening bell before an announced crowd of 5,605 at the American Airlines Center, a venue that could host more boxing events after the relative success of this card (a gate of about $250,000).
Lopez's balance is gone, his legs looked terrible, he was unsteady and had no head movement. and he was wild with his punches. Meanwhile, Garcia showed no ill effects from the weight situation. He was fast and strong, moved well and threw hard, straight punches. He easily won the first round and then dropped Lopez to his rear end with a clean right hand on the chin with 50 seconds left in the second round. By the third round, Lopez's left eye was swelling and he looked like he was about to go down after every shot that hit him.
Finally, in the fourth round, with Lopez swinging wildly and wobbling like a drunken sailor, Garcia hammered him with a pair of right hands and then a left on the chin to send him down flat on his back. Lopez got up at the count of six, but he was glassy-eyed and unsteady, and referee Rafael Ramos rightfully stopped the massacre at 1 minute, 34 seconds.
This is a career-killing loss for Lopez. He may continue to fight, but it likely kicks dirt on his time fighting in major televised world title bouts. He had a helluva run and should be saluted for the many great fights he had.
Garcia says he still is thinking about trying to make 126 pounds, but for what reason? There are no big fights for him in the weight class right now and he obviously has a really hard time making weight, if he even can make it. At junior lightweight, there's a fight that could easily be made that Top Rank has talked about putting together: Garcia against 130-pound titlist Roman "Rocky" Martinez, who is tight with Lopez and was standing in the ring with him before the fight. That would be a pretty good fight -- certainly a more competitive one than this Garcia-Lopez debacle.
Terence Crawford TKO6 Alejandro Sanabria
Lightweights
Records: Crawford (21-0, 16 KOs); Sanabria (34-2-1, 25 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Crawford, 25, of Omaha, Neb., burst on the world stage on March 30 when, as a late replacement for injured junior welterweight titlist Khabib Allakhverdiev, he easily outboxed power puncher Breidis Prescott. Crawford, who returned to lightweight, where he is more comfortable, was brought back quickly for this showcase fight against the unknown Sanabria, a 26-year-old from Mexico fighting outside of his home country for the first time. Frankly, it was a gruesome mismatch that generated no buzz in the lead-up to the card and played out as expected.
Crawford, who has excellent speed and skills, ran roughshod over Sanabria. Crawford pounded Sanabria to the body and landed a lot of counter right hands to the head, too, while Sanabria landed only a handful of decent punches in the entire fight before getting stopped. Crawford was in total control when he dropped Sanabria with a lead left hook to the head early in the sixth round. Sanabria rolled over and made it to his feet, but he was wobbly, and referee Laurence Cole properly stopped the fight 17 seconds into the round.
It was another excellent performance from Crawford, but let's not get too carried away. It's hard to give him all that much credit for a victory that came against an unknown fighter with a résumé devoid of any remotely notable opposition. Crawford looks like he has the talent to win a title and perhaps dominate the very thin 135-pound division -- especially with titleholder Adrien Broner leaving the weight class to move up -- but nobody should put too much stock in a victory that was about as pre-ordained as it could be.
Oscar Valdez TKO2 Gil Garcia
Featherweights
Records: Valdez (6-0, 5 KOs); Garcia (5-5-1, 1 KO)
Rafael's remarks: Valdez, 22, a 2008 and 2012 Mexican Olympian, now is one of professional boxing's top prospects. He probably gets better work in the gym during his sparring sessions than he did against Garcia, 26, of Houston, who absorbed a lot of punishment during this brief fight. Valdez displayed excellent hand speed and power and then dropped Garcia with a big right hand on the chin during an exchange in the second round. Garcia survived the knockdown, but Valdez was all over him when the fight resumed. Valdez unleashed a sustained flurry of more than a dozen blows, many of which connected, before referee Laurence Cole stepped in at 2 minutes, 32 seconds to save a defenseless Garcia. Valdez looks like he is going to move very quickly and be an exciting fighter to watch make his way up the ladder.
Matvey Korbov KO3 Ossie Duran
Middleweights
Records: Korbov (20-0, 12 KOs); Duran (27-11-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: When Korobov, 30, of Russia, came out of the 2008 Olympics, he was viewed as a can't-miss elite prospect after a star-studded amateur career. But he had nose problems, went through multiple trainer changes and took an 11-month layoff in 2011 and 2012. Korobov just never really seemed to get going. But the way he fought against Duran, 36, of Peterson, N.J., might be the start of the roll he and his team had hoped he could get on.
Now, Duran is no world-beater, but he is a very experienced pro who has faced a number of quality opponents. And despite all of his losses, Duran had never been stopped -- until Korobov wrecked him. Late in the second round, Korobov, a southpaw, dropped Duran with a quick three-punch combination, a left to the body followed by a right and left upstairs. In the third round, Korobov dropped him to all fours, this time for good, with a left to the body at 51 seconds.
If Korobov can gain some momentum from this win -- the best of his career -- there are plenty of good fights in a deep middleweight division that he might fit into.
Mikael Zewski W8 Damian Frias
Welterweights
Scores: 77-74 (three times)
Records: Zewski (20-0, 15 KOs); Frias (19-8-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Zewski, 24, is a good-looking prospect from the boxing hotbed of Quebec, which means you eventually may see him draw big, enthusiastic crowds in Montreal -- just as we've seen from the likes of Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal and Adonis Stevenson. Although Frias, 36, of Miami, lost his fourth fight in a row and has become just an opponent, this was a perfect developmental fight for Zewski. Frias, who has never been knocked out, pushed the prospect past six rounds for the first time. Undoubtedly, Zewski gained valuable rounds and experience against Frias, who was outgunned but never stopped trying in this entertaining fight.
Zewski looked like he might have a chance to end it early when he scored a first-round knockdown, dropping Frias with a body shot. Zewski dominated the first half of the fight, but he was clearly tiring in the second half, when Frias made some inroads -- though never enough to put Zewski in any real danger. Zewski found a second wind in the eighth round, which was a tremendous back-and-forth frame of action. Frias fought his rear end off in the final round and gave Zewski a bloody nose, but Zewski was fine with standing and banging with him down the stretch. It was a great effort from both guys and the kind of experience Zewski needed as he makes his way up the ladder.
Vanes Martirosyan TKO2 Ryan Davis
Junior middleweights
Records: Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs); Davis (24-11-3, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Martirosyan, 27, who was coming off a messy ninth-round technical draw with fellow 154-pound contender Erislandy Lara in a November title elimination bout, elected not to pursue a rematch that was ordered by the sanctioning body. Instead, Martirosyan was scheduled to fight April 6 in Macau, China against Argentine tough guy Javier Francisco Maciel. However, while training for the bout, Martirosyan, a native of Armenia living in Glendale, Calif., fractured his right thumb and had to withdraw. With the thumb healed, Martirosyan made his return against Davis, 34, of Granite City, Ill., in a get-busy fight.
It came as no surprise that Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, blew him out. Trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, Martirosyan began putting combinations together late in the first round and was in control. In the second round, Martirosyan put Davis away. A minute into the round, he backed Davis into the ropes with a right hand, then floored him with another powerful right. Davis tried to fight back but was utterly outgunned. Martirosyan eventually dropped him to a knee with another right upside his head. Davis showed heart to get to his feet, but his corner threw in the towel and the fight was stopped at 2 minutes, 1 second.
Martirosyan did what he was supposed to do against a club-level opponent. After nine years and 34 fights as a pro, it's time for Martirosyan to make his move.
Friday at Bethlehem, Pa.
Bryant Jennings TKO6 Andrey Fedosov
Heavyweights
Records: Jennings (17-0, 9 KOs); Fedosov (24-3, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2012, Jennings, 28, of Philadelphia, had a breakout year in which he went from an unknown to a rising contender mentioned as a possible future challenger for champion Wladimir Klitschko. He won five fights, four of which gave him tremendous exposure on nationally televised cards. Coming off a six-month layoff (the longest of his career) and returning to headline another TV card in his first bout of 2013, Jennings continued to shine.
Jennings pounded on Fedosov, whose eye swelled and was cut to the point that the ringside doctor advised referee Steve Smoger to call an end to the action fight while Fedosov was on his stool after the sixth round. The faster and stronger Jennings staggered Fedosov in the third round, and although Fedosov made the match competitive, Jennings never appeared to be in any serious danger. Jennings continued to wear down Fedosov and bang on the eye until the fight was stopped.
Los Angeles-based Fedosov, 27, of Russia, lost a 12-round split decision to long-faded former contender Lance Whitaker in June 2010, but had won three bouts in a row before running into Jennings. You can bet Jennings will continue to be mentioned as a possible Klitschko opponent. Klitschko has been desperate to find a solid American contender to face in the United States because he would like to make his first fight in America since easily outpointing Sultan Ibragimov in a 2008 title unification fight at New York's Madison Square Garden. If Klitschko beats Alexander Povetkin this fall and Jennings keeps winning, he just might get the shot.
Sergey Kovalev TKO3 Cornelius White
Light heavyweight title eliminator
Records: Kovalev (21-0-1, 19 KOs); White (21-2, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: No shocker here. Kovalev has looked like a killer in recent fights, and many tab him as a sure-fire future titleholder. White, on the other hand, has never been all that impressive and got waxed in one round by fringe super middleweight contender Donovan George in 2011. Although White, 31, of Houston, had won five fights in a row since that defeat, Kovalev, 30, of Russia, is a whole different ballgame compared to the kind of opponents he has been fighting. Kovalev also has faced few top opponents, but in his previous fight he met one and destroyed him for his most impressive victory, a third-round destruction of former world titleholder Gabriel Campillo in January.
Kovalev and White were meeting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for titleholder Bernard Hopkins, and that man is now Kovalev after he steamrolled White, whose ability to take a punch isn't very good. Kovalev battered White in the first two rounds, keeping a stiff jab in his face and landing many power shots as well. He finished White by dropping him three times in the third round, forcing referee Gary Rosato to call off the fight after the third knockdown, from a left hand, at 1 minute, 42 seconds. How one-sided was this fight? Kovalev landed more punches (93) than White threw (92).
When the blowout was over, Kovalev said, "I want to fight Bernard Hopkins because he is a legend of boxing. It was good news that Hopkins and Karo Murat fell out. C'mon and fight. I'm ready. Are you ready?" Hopkins' defense against mandatory challenger Murat was scheduled for July 13 but was canceled last week because Germany's Murat couldn't get a visa to enter the United States. That means Kovalev is entitled to the next mandatory shot at Hopkins.
However, there's a good chance that Kovalev will instead wind up challenging Nathan Cleverly of Wales on Aug. 17 for his version of the 175-pound title. The Kovalev and Cleverly camps are in discussions and contracts have been exchanged. Whatever Kovalev does next, he is always interesting to watch. Can you imagine the fireworks if he ever faced champion Adonis Stevenson?
Ray Narh W10 Ronald Cruz
Welterweights
Scores: 100-90, 98-92, 96-94
Records: Narh (26-2, 21 KOs); Cruz (17-2, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The 26-year-old Cruz, from Bethlehem, Pa., had the home crowd cheering for him and was the clear favorite, but for the second fight in a row he lost a surprising decision. In September, also in Bethlehem, he lost a split verdict to Antwone Smith. This time there was no debate, as he was soundly outboxed by Ghana native Ray Narh, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., in an even more surprising result.
The previous time Narh fought came more than two years ago, when he quit against Mike Alvarado after three rounds in May 2011 on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley pay-per-view undercard. Narh was much busier than the lethargic Cruz, who looked awful -- with the exception of a solid third round. That frame aside, Narh kept a steady jab on Cruz and won going away.
Friday at West Orange, N.J.
Juan Carlos Payano KO7 Jundy Maraon
Bantamweights
Records: Payano (14-0, 8 KOs); Maraon (15-1-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Payano, 28, was a 2004 and 2008 Olympian for the Dominican Republic. Although he has moved a bit slowly through the pro ranks, he has immense experience -- to the tune of 523 amateur fights. That is a monstrous amount. This was a tough battle of unbeaten southpaws that ended with Payano scoring a spectacular knockout of Maraon, a 28-year-old from the Philippines, who trains in San Leandro, Calif., under Nonito Donaire Sr. (the estranged father of 2012 fighter of the year Nonito Donaire).
Payano suffered a cut in the corner of his right eye in the first round from an accidental head-butt and then Maraon nailed him with a left hand to the head and a right to the body to knock him down moments before the end of the third round. But Payano got back in the fight and ended it suddenly in the seventh round when he caught Maraon with two clean left hands that knocked him down hard -- half Maraon's body was under the bottom ring rope -- prompting referee Randy Neumann counted him out at 39 seconds. A good knockout to end a good fight.
Yenfiel Vicente TKO4 Jorge Diaz
Junior featherweights
Records: Vicente (25-1-2, 17 KOs); Diaz (17-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vicente, 26, of the Dominican Republic, now lives in Miami, but this was only his second fight in America. In his first bout in the U.S., in August 2012, he got knocked down and lost a 10-round decision to one-time prospect Chris Avalos. But on Friday it was Vicente, with Micky Ward as part of his corner, doing the knocking down as he took out crowd favorite Diaz, 25, of New Brunswick, N.J., in the biggest win of his career.
This was an all-action bout from the outset as the fighters exchanged clean punches in the opening round and got the crowd into it. Vicente wound up missing weight for the fight by a pound after losing about 12 pounds in the week leading up to the bout, but Diaz got $750 extra to allow the fight to go on. Vicente certainly didn't look like a drained fighter. After three blazing rounds of two-way action, Vicente nailed Diaz with a flush right uppercut and flattened him in the fourth. Amazingly, Diaz beat the count and was allowed to continue, but he had nothing left. Vicente clipped him with a few more shots, including another right uppercut, before referee Benji Esteves stepped in to stop it at 2 minutes, 2 seconds. Good fight, good stoppage.
Saturday at Dallas
Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia TKO4 Juan Manuel Lopez
A featherweight title remains vacant
Records: Garcia (32-0, 27 KOs); Lopez (33-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What a mess this whole fight was. To begin with, few gave Lopez any real chance to win it. He has a great name, but he is not the fighter he once was -- or even close to it. The Puerto Rican star is only 29, but he's a very old 29 (and turns 30 on June 30). And although he won world titles at junior featherweight and featherweight, and consistently has been one of boxing's most exciting fighters for the past several years, the wars have taken a serious toll, culminating with a pair of knockout losses in world title bouts to Orlando Salido in 2011 and 2012. Following an 11-month layoff after the second knockout loss to Salido (because of a suspension for the remarks he made accusing the referee of stopping the fight because he wagered on it), Lopez returned for a pair of soft-touch wins in February and April and didn't look particularly good in either one of them.
Garcia, meanwhile, is probably not even in his prime yet, is an extremely versatile and poised fighter with good technical skills and power. He is also one of boxing's most clinical finishers. If he hurts you, you're gone. Adding to the notion that this would be a wipeout was the fact that Garcia, 25, of Oxnard, Calif., had won his 126-pound world title in dominant fashion in January by routing Salido, whom he knocked down four times in a lopsided eighth-round technical decision.
Then, if you put the mismatch aspect of things aside, Garcia -- typically as professional as any fighter in the sport -- missed weight. He was 128 pounds at the Friday weigh-in and was stripped of his title. To his credit, he tried to lose it. HBO cameras even caught him vomiting after the weigh-in. Still, it's a black mark on his career to have lost a world title on the scale. He wound up paying Lopez $150,000 out of his purse in order to preserve the fight, but with only Lopez eligible to win the title.
Still, Lopez, a southpaw, had no real chance to do that. He looked positively woeful from the opening bell before an announced crowd of 5,605 at the American Airlines Center, a venue that could host more boxing events after the relative success of this card (a gate of about $250,000).
Lopez's balance is gone, his legs looked terrible, he was unsteady and had no head movement. and he was wild with his punches. Meanwhile, Garcia showed no ill effects from the weight situation. He was fast and strong, moved well and threw hard, straight punches. He easily won the first round and then dropped Lopez to his rear end with a clean right hand on the chin with 50 seconds left in the second round. By the third round, Lopez's left eye was swelling and he looked like he was about to go down after every shot that hit him.
Finally, in the fourth round, with Lopez swinging wildly and wobbling like a drunken sailor, Garcia hammered him with a pair of right hands and then a left on the chin to send him down flat on his back. Lopez got up at the count of six, but he was glassy-eyed and unsteady, and referee Rafael Ramos rightfully stopped the massacre at 1 minute, 34 seconds.
This is a career-killing loss for Lopez. He may continue to fight, but it likely kicks dirt on his time fighting in major televised world title bouts. He had a helluva run and should be saluted for the many great fights he had.
Garcia says he still is thinking about trying to make 126 pounds, but for what reason? There are no big fights for him in the weight class right now and he obviously has a really hard time making weight, if he even can make it. At junior lightweight, there's a fight that could easily be made that Top Rank has talked about putting together: Garcia against 130-pound titlist Roman "Rocky" Martinez, who is tight with Lopez and was standing in the ring with him before the fight. That would be a pretty good fight -- certainly a more competitive one than this Garcia-Lopez debacle.
Terence Crawford TKO6 Alejandro Sanabria
Lightweights
Records: Crawford (21-0, 16 KOs); Sanabria (34-2-1, 25 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Crawford, 25, of Omaha, Neb., burst on the world stage on March 30 when, as a late replacement for injured junior welterweight titlist Khabib Allakhverdiev, he easily outboxed power puncher Breidis Prescott. Crawford, who returned to lightweight, where he is more comfortable, was brought back quickly for this showcase fight against the unknown Sanabria, a 26-year-old from Mexico fighting outside of his home country for the first time. Frankly, it was a gruesome mismatch that generated no buzz in the lead-up to the card and played out as expected.
Crawford, who has excellent speed and skills, ran roughshod over Sanabria. Crawford pounded Sanabria to the body and landed a lot of counter right hands to the head, too, while Sanabria landed only a handful of decent punches in the entire fight before getting stopped. Crawford was in total control when he dropped Sanabria with a lead left hook to the head early in the sixth round. Sanabria rolled over and made it to his feet, but he was wobbly, and referee Laurence Cole properly stopped the fight 17 seconds into the round.
It was another excellent performance from Crawford, but let's not get too carried away. It's hard to give him all that much credit for a victory that came against an unknown fighter with a résumé devoid of any remotely notable opposition. Crawford looks like he has the talent to win a title and perhaps dominate the very thin 135-pound division -- especially with titleholder Adrien Broner leaving the weight class to move up -- but nobody should put too much stock in a victory that was about as pre-ordained as it could be.
Oscar Valdez TKO2 Gil Garcia
Featherweights
Records: Valdez (6-0, 5 KOs); Garcia (5-5-1, 1 KO)
Rafael's remarks: Valdez, 22, a 2008 and 2012 Mexican Olympian, now is one of professional boxing's top prospects. He probably gets better work in the gym during his sparring sessions than he did against Garcia, 26, of Houston, who absorbed a lot of punishment during this brief fight. Valdez displayed excellent hand speed and power and then dropped Garcia with a big right hand on the chin during an exchange in the second round. Garcia survived the knockdown, but Valdez was all over him when the fight resumed. Valdez unleashed a sustained flurry of more than a dozen blows, many of which connected, before referee Laurence Cole stepped in at 2 minutes, 32 seconds to save a defenseless Garcia. Valdez looks like he is going to move very quickly and be an exciting fighter to watch make his way up the ladder.
Matvey Korbov KO3 Ossie Duran
Middleweights
Records: Korbov (20-0, 12 KOs); Duran (27-11-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: When Korobov, 30, of Russia, came out of the 2008 Olympics, he was viewed as a can't-miss elite prospect after a star-studded amateur career. But he had nose problems, went through multiple trainer changes and took an 11-month layoff in 2011 and 2012. Korobov just never really seemed to get going. But the way he fought against Duran, 36, of Peterson, N.J., might be the start of the roll he and his team had hoped he could get on.
Now, Duran is no world-beater, but he is a very experienced pro who has faced a number of quality opponents. And despite all of his losses, Duran had never been stopped -- until Korobov wrecked him. Late in the second round, Korobov, a southpaw, dropped Duran with a quick three-punch combination, a left to the body followed by a right and left upstairs. In the third round, Korobov dropped him to all fours, this time for good, with a left to the body at 51 seconds.
If Korobov can gain some momentum from this win -- the best of his career -- there are plenty of good fights in a deep middleweight division that he might fit into.
Mikael Zewski W8 Damian Frias
Welterweights
Scores: 77-74 (three times)
Records: Zewski (20-0, 15 KOs); Frias (19-8-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Zewski, 24, is a good-looking prospect from the boxing hotbed of Quebec, which means you eventually may see him draw big, enthusiastic crowds in Montreal -- just as we've seen from the likes of Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal and Adonis Stevenson. Although Frias, 36, of Miami, lost his fourth fight in a row and has become just an opponent, this was a perfect developmental fight for Zewski. Frias, who has never been knocked out, pushed the prospect past six rounds for the first time. Undoubtedly, Zewski gained valuable rounds and experience against Frias, who was outgunned but never stopped trying in this entertaining fight.
Zewski looked like he might have a chance to end it early when he scored a first-round knockdown, dropping Frias with a body shot. Zewski dominated the first half of the fight, but he was clearly tiring in the second half, when Frias made some inroads -- though never enough to put Zewski in any real danger. Zewski found a second wind in the eighth round, which was a tremendous back-and-forth frame of action. Frias fought his rear end off in the final round and gave Zewski a bloody nose, but Zewski was fine with standing and banging with him down the stretch. It was a great effort from both guys and the kind of experience Zewski needed as he makes his way up the ladder.
Vanes Martirosyan TKO2 Ryan Davis
Junior middleweights
Records: Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs); Davis (24-11-3, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Martirosyan, 27, who was coming off a messy ninth-round technical draw with fellow 154-pound contender Erislandy Lara in a November title elimination bout, elected not to pursue a rematch that was ordered by the sanctioning body. Instead, Martirosyan was scheduled to fight April 6 in Macau, China against Argentine tough guy Javier Francisco Maciel. However, while training for the bout, Martirosyan, a native of Armenia living in Glendale, Calif., fractured his right thumb and had to withdraw. With the thumb healed, Martirosyan made his return against Davis, 34, of Granite City, Ill., in a get-busy fight.
It came as no surprise that Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, blew him out. Trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, Martirosyan began putting combinations together late in the first round and was in control. In the second round, Martirosyan put Davis away. A minute into the round, he backed Davis into the ropes with a right hand, then floored him with another powerful right. Davis tried to fight back but was utterly outgunned. Martirosyan eventually dropped him to a knee with another right upside his head. Davis showed heart to get to his feet, but his corner threw in the towel and the fight was stopped at 2 minutes, 1 second.
Martirosyan did what he was supposed to do against a club-level opponent. After nine years and 34 fights as a pro, it's time for Martirosyan to make his move.
Friday at Bethlehem, Pa.
Bryant Jennings TKO6 Andrey Fedosov
Heavyweights
Records: Jennings (17-0, 9 KOs); Fedosov (24-3, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2012, Jennings, 28, of Philadelphia, had a breakout year in which he went from an unknown to a rising contender mentioned as a possible future challenger for champion Wladimir Klitschko. He won five fights, four of which gave him tremendous exposure on nationally televised cards. Coming off a six-month layoff (the longest of his career) and returning to headline another TV card in his first bout of 2013, Jennings continued to shine.
Jennings pounded on Fedosov, whose eye swelled and was cut to the point that the ringside doctor advised referee Steve Smoger to call an end to the action fight while Fedosov was on his stool after the sixth round. The faster and stronger Jennings staggered Fedosov in the third round, and although Fedosov made the match competitive, Jennings never appeared to be in any serious danger. Jennings continued to wear down Fedosov and bang on the eye until the fight was stopped.
Los Angeles-based Fedosov, 27, of Russia, lost a 12-round split decision to long-faded former contender Lance Whitaker in June 2010, but had won three bouts in a row before running into Jennings. You can bet Jennings will continue to be mentioned as a possible Klitschko opponent. Klitschko has been desperate to find a solid American contender to face in the United States because he would like to make his first fight in America since easily outpointing Sultan Ibragimov in a 2008 title unification fight at New York's Madison Square Garden. If Klitschko beats Alexander Povetkin this fall and Jennings keeps winning, he just might get the shot.
Sergey Kovalev TKO3 Cornelius White
Light heavyweight title eliminator
Records: Kovalev (21-0-1, 19 KOs); White (21-2, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: No shocker here. Kovalev has looked like a killer in recent fights, and many tab him as a sure-fire future titleholder. White, on the other hand, has never been all that impressive and got waxed in one round by fringe super middleweight contender Donovan George in 2011. Although White, 31, of Houston, had won five fights in a row since that defeat, Kovalev, 30, of Russia, is a whole different ballgame compared to the kind of opponents he has been fighting. Kovalev also has faced few top opponents, but in his previous fight he met one and destroyed him for his most impressive victory, a third-round destruction of former world titleholder Gabriel Campillo in January.
Kovalev and White were meeting for the right to become the mandatory challenger for titleholder Bernard Hopkins, and that man is now Kovalev after he steamrolled White, whose ability to take a punch isn't very good. Kovalev battered White in the first two rounds, keeping a stiff jab in his face and landing many power shots as well. He finished White by dropping him three times in the third round, forcing referee Gary Rosato to call off the fight after the third knockdown, from a left hand, at 1 minute, 42 seconds. How one-sided was this fight? Kovalev landed more punches (93) than White threw (92).
When the blowout was over, Kovalev said, "I want to fight Bernard Hopkins because he is a legend of boxing. It was good news that Hopkins and Karo Murat fell out. C'mon and fight. I'm ready. Are you ready?" Hopkins' defense against mandatory challenger Murat was scheduled for July 13 but was canceled last week because Germany's Murat couldn't get a visa to enter the United States. That means Kovalev is entitled to the next mandatory shot at Hopkins.
However, there's a good chance that Kovalev will instead wind up challenging Nathan Cleverly of Wales on Aug. 17 for his version of the 175-pound title. The Kovalev and Cleverly camps are in discussions and contracts have been exchanged. Whatever Kovalev does next, he is always interesting to watch. Can you imagine the fireworks if he ever faced champion Adonis Stevenson?
Ray Narh W10 Ronald Cruz
Welterweights
Scores: 100-90, 98-92, 96-94
Records: Narh (26-2, 21 KOs); Cruz (17-2, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The 26-year-old Cruz, from Bethlehem, Pa., had the home crowd cheering for him and was the clear favorite, but for the second fight in a row he lost a surprising decision. In September, also in Bethlehem, he lost a split verdict to Antwone Smith. This time there was no debate, as he was soundly outboxed by Ghana native Ray Narh, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., in an even more surprising result.
The previous time Narh fought came more than two years ago, when he quit against Mike Alvarado after three rounds in May 2011 on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley pay-per-view undercard. Narh was much busier than the lethargic Cruz, who looked awful -- with the exception of a solid third round. That frame aside, Narh kept a steady jab on Cruz and won going away.
Friday at West Orange, N.J.
Juan Carlos Payano KO7 Jundy Maraon
Bantamweights
Records: Payano (14-0, 8 KOs); Maraon (15-1-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Payano, 28, was a 2004 and 2008 Olympian for the Dominican Republic. Although he has moved a bit slowly through the pro ranks, he has immense experience -- to the tune of 523 amateur fights. That is a monstrous amount. This was a tough battle of unbeaten southpaws that ended with Payano scoring a spectacular knockout of Maraon, a 28-year-old from the Philippines, who trains in San Leandro, Calif., under Nonito Donaire Sr. (the estranged father of 2012 fighter of the year Nonito Donaire).
Payano suffered a cut in the corner of his right eye in the first round from an accidental head-butt and then Maraon nailed him with a left hand to the head and a right to the body to knock him down moments before the end of the third round. But Payano got back in the fight and ended it suddenly in the seventh round when he caught Maraon with two clean left hands that knocked him down hard -- half Maraon's body was under the bottom ring rope -- prompting referee Randy Neumann counted him out at 39 seconds. A good knockout to end a good fight.
Yenfiel Vicente TKO4 Jorge Diaz
Junior featherweights
Records: Vicente (25-1-2, 17 KOs); Diaz (17-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vicente, 26, of the Dominican Republic, now lives in Miami, but this was only his second fight in America. In his first bout in the U.S., in August 2012, he got knocked down and lost a 10-round decision to one-time prospect Chris Avalos. But on Friday it was Vicente, with Micky Ward as part of his corner, doing the knocking down as he took out crowd favorite Diaz, 25, of New Brunswick, N.J., in the biggest win of his career.
This was an all-action bout from the outset as the fighters exchanged clean punches in the opening round and got the crowd into it. Vicente wound up missing weight for the fight by a pound after losing about 12 pounds in the week leading up to the bout, but Diaz got $750 extra to allow the fight to go on. Vicente certainly didn't look like a drained fighter. After three blazing rounds of two-way action, Vicente nailed Diaz with a flush right uppercut and flattened him in the fourth. Amazingly, Diaz beat the count and was allowed to continue, but he had nothing left. Vicente clipped him with a few more shots, including another right uppercut, before referee Benji Esteves stepped in to stop it at 2 minutes, 2 seconds. Good fight, good stoppage.
- Mar 6, 2004
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I too am looking forward to Banks/Mitchell. I liked Mitchell. Hopefully he can avenge his L
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