A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Monterrey, Mexico
Francisco Rodriguez Jr. W12 Katsunari Takayama
Unifies two strawweight titles
Scores: 119-108, 116-111, 115-112
Records: Rodriguez Jr. (15-2, 10 KOs); Takayama (27-7, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: With all due respect to Terence Crawford-Yuriorkis Gamboa and Lucas Matthysse-John Molina Jr., we have a new leader in the clubhouse for 2014 fight of the year honors. This rare strawweight unification bout between Rodriguez, 21, of Mexico, and Takayama, 31, of Japan, was something special -- an all-out war that was as intense and action-packed as anything we've seen in quite some time.
Rodriguez, making his first title defense, and Takayama, making his third, unified titles in the 105-pound division, the smallest in boxing, but they provided heavyweight action all the way in front of some 10,000 cheering fans at the Arena Monterrey. Although Akira Yaegashi's 10th-round knockout of Pornsawan Porpramook to win a world title in the 2011 fight of the year remains the greatest fight in the history of the strawweight division, which was created in 1987, this one is not far behind.
From the opening bell they sprinted toward each other and never stopped trying to crush each other in search and destroy style.
After Takayama seemed to get the better of the action in the first two rounds (despite being cut over his left eye), Rodriguez scored a knockdown inside the first minute of the third round when he connected with a left hook to the body that sent Takayama sprawling to the mat, but seemingly not badly hurt. He popped up quickly and the combat resumed in what was a breathtaking battle of attrition.
They never stopped punching and took turns rocking each other round after round in an extremely intense shootout. Some rounds were basically like one long extended exchange. The entire fight was basically like one long exchange save for the minute rest period between rounds. It was tiring just to watch them as they stood head-to-head and chest-to-chest and pounded away, including at the end of the sixth round, which had amazing action. That is just one of the many examples of moments of pure glory for fight fans. Even in the final round, they were still fighting at 100 mph in what is a surefire round of the year candidate. Just ridiculous, non-stop action. The heart and conditioning of both of these men was something to behold.
Referee Samuel Viruet had very little to do because there were basically no clinches during a fight that American fans were fortunate to have televised on godsend network beIn Sports Espanol. It was an extremely close fight that Rodriguez deserved to win, especially because of the knockdown. But the 119-108 scorecard turned in by John Madfis was ridiculous. There is no possible way Rodriguez won 11 of the rounds. Regardless, this was an absolutely fantastic fight that you must find on YouTube if you have not seen it yet.
Saturday at Brooklyn, N.Y.
Danny Garcia KO2 Rod Salka
Welterweight
Records: Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs); Salka (19-4, 3 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: On a card on which the blue corner went 9-0 and the favorite lost maybe five of the 42 total rounds boxed on show, the main event was the worst offender of this epic night of utterly predictable mismatches. As expected, Garcia, the junior welterweight world champion, plowed through Salka with ease. Don't blame Salka, 31, of Bunola, Pennsylvania, for this disaster. What's he supposed to do, turn down a career payday of $125,000? And you can't really blame Garcia, 28, of Philadelphia, either. He got free money to the tune of $700,000 (which equates to $14,000 for each of the 50 punches he landed in the fight). It's just a shame that anyone wasted their time tuning in or bought a ticket to the Barclays Center to watch mismatch after mismatch. And the same goes for the New York State Athletic Commission for sanctioning such sewage.
The main event was such a grotesque mismatch even the WBC and WBA, the sanctioning organizations that take so much rightful heat for their indefensible actions, did the right thing for a change and refused to approve this fight as a Garcia title defense because Salka, a lightweight with no remote resume to warrant a world title shot, was so massively unqualified. So after the bout was announced as world title fight, Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime had to downgrade the mismatch to a nontitle 10-rounder and the maximum weight was raised to 142 pounds.
Garcia, coming off his lucky majority decision win against Mauricio Herrera on March 15, looked like King Kong against Salka, easily winning the first round and blasting Salka out in the second round. Garcia dropped Salka three times in the round and battered him. The first two knockdowns came on powerful rights hands and third one came on a flush left hook to the jaw that flattened Salka, prompting referee Steve Willis to immediately wave off the fight at 2 minutes, 31 seconds -- just as Salka trainer Paul Spadafora (the former lightweight titlist) was throwing in the towel. In less than six minutes, Salka took a severe beating and could have been seriously hurt on the knockout. It's shame this fight was made.
With Garcia winning and 140-pound titleholder Lamont Peterson winning his own mismatch in the co-feature, the stage is set for them to square off in a unification fight, which is the match that should have happened Saturday night. It's a good fight and one with some fan and media demand but it just seems as though it won't actually come off. If it doesn't that would make their two bouts on this card even more unfortunate that they took place.
Lamont Peterson TKO10 Edgar Santana
Retains a junior welterweight title
Records: Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs); Santana (30-4, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Although the nadir of this woeful card top-to-bottom was the disgraceful Danny Garcia-Rod Salka main event, Peterson's third title defense against no-hoper Santana win the co-feature as similarly offensive and pointless. However, at least Garcia-Salka was not approved to be a Garcia title defense. The same can't be said for Peterson-Santana, even though Santana, 35, of New York, had never done a thing to deserve to fight for a world title.
But there he was in a world title fight getting bludgeoned for 10 totally one-sided rounds as Peterson, 30, of Washington, D.C., battered him with ease and got $400,000 for his time. Santana earned $75,000 to take a shellacking.
Peterson looked very sharp. His jab was stiff and strong, he used both hands well, landed many hard uppercuts and did major damage with a brutal body attack that was sustained throughout the fight. Santana will be feeling those body shots for a while.
After doling out round after round of punishment, it was more of the same in the 10th round. As Santana continued to take head shots, referee Pete Santiago finally called off the fight at 2 minutes, 48 seconds when the ringside doctor got on the ring apron to signal for him to stop it.
Peterson got in some rounds and Santana took a beating but must be given respect for his heart and ability to take punishment and not quit.
Ideally, Peterson will move on to a unification showdown with Garcia, but while Peterson has been asking for the fight, it just does not sound like it will happen based on the comments from both fighters after their bouts. If Al Haymon, who represents both fighters, wants to make the fight it probably could done very easily. The problem is that nobody believes Haymon wants to make it.
Daniel Jacobs TKO5 Jarrod Fletcher
Wins a vacant middleweight title
Records: Jacobs (28-1, 25 KOs); Fletcher (18-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Let's get this out of the way immediately: The belt Jacobs won is bogus. It is a WBA "regular" title and one of three it gives out in the same weight class. Middleweight is now the sixth division in which it has three titleholders (with more to come). At middleweight, Gennady Golovkin is its top titleholder (and he crushed Daniel Geale on July 26), Dmitry Chudinov holds the interim belt (and he defended it just hours before this fight) and Jacobs claimed the regular title. What the WBA does is an absolute farce and insult to all boxing fans.
That said, Jacobs couldn't care less. For him, this is a major accomplishment given where he was less than three years ago, when he was hospitalized with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that left him with a tumor wrapped around his spine, and things did not look good. But Jacobs, who calls himself the "Miracle Man" for good reason, survived the near-death experience and was eventually able to resume his career in late 2012 after 19 months out of the ring. In the sixth fight of his comeback, Jacobs, 27, of Brooklyn, brutalized Fletcher, 30, of Australia, in a one-sided fight to claim the secondary title in front of his friends, family and fans. It was quite an emotional moment for him when you consider everything Jacobs (the 2009 ESPN.com prospect of the year) has been through.
Jacobs overwhelmed Fletcher, dropping him with a clean left hook in the first round and smashing him around the ring for most of the frame. Jacobs was pounding him with both hands to the head and body. Referee Michael Griffin would have been well within his rights to stop the fight in the opening round but he gave Fletcher every opportunity to survive.
Jacobs didn't let the big first round get him out of his game plan. He took his time and continued to wear Fletcher down, mainly nailing him with left hands and body shots. Fletcher began to show some signs of life in the fifth round but Jacobs nipped that in the bud when he floored him with a right hand. Fletcher, a 2008 Olympian, beat the count but took huge punishment thereafter until Griffin stopped the fight at 2 minutes, 58 seconds on advice of the ringside doctor, who had gotten on the ring apron.
As poor of an opponent as Fletcher was, Jacobs' victory could pave the way to a very interesting fight with fellow titleholder and Brooklynite "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin. He and Jacobs are pals but Jacobs called him out after the fight. That would be an excellent match and one that would probably draw a good crowd to the Barclays Center. The only question is will their adviser, Al Haymon, be willing to make the fight?
Saturday at Bethlehem, Pa.
Vyacheslav "Czar" Glazkov W10 Derric Rossy
Heavyweight
Scores: 98-92, 96-94, 95-95
Records: Glazkov (18-0-1, 11 KOs); Rossy (29-9, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: With former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes ringside, Glazkov and Rossy made him proud by putting on a highly entertaining and competitive heavyweight fight.
A month ago, Glazkov, 29, of Ukraine, and his wife and daughter left behind the violence of their hometown due to the conflict with Russia and relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Glazkov began working with a new trainer in John David Jackson, who also trains his stablemate, light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev. Glazkov was also coming off his biggest win, a decision against longtime contender Tomasz Adamek that pushed him into the No. 2 position of an alphabet organization's rankings and closer to a mandatory shot against champion Wladimir Klitschko.
So, Glazkov, a 008 Olympic bronze medalist, was the huge favorite, but Rossy, 34, of Medford, New York, didn't get the script. He fought his rear end off and had every reason to be disappointed in the scores, especially the ludicrous 98-92 card turned by Pierre Benoist, who has a history of silly scorecards. It was a close fight all the way but Rossy seemed to get out to a big lead by winning the first four or five rounds. His jab was powerful and effective and he rocked Glazkov with a tremendous right uppercut in the third round. He was letting his combinations go while Glazkov was landing just one punch at a time.
Glazkov picked things up in the second half of the fight but Rossy was still outworking him. Glazkov closed strong, however, especially in the 10th round, when he landed combinations and a hard right hand that had Rossy in a bit of trouble in the final 30 seconds.
According to CompuBox, Rossy landed 184 of 738 punches (25 percent) and Glazkov connected on 159 of 400 (40 percent). The fight could have gone either way, but Benoist's card sticks out like a sore thumb. Props to Rossy for turning in one of his best performances despite the loss. Glazkov escaped with the victory and stayed on track for a title shot, but there are clearly some things for he and Jackson to work on.
Joseph Parker TKO3 Keith Thompson
Heavyweight
Records: Parker (10-0, 9 KOs); Thompson (7-3, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: There are not a lot of heavyweight prospects to get excited about but the 6-foot-2, 228-pound Parker, 22, of New Zealand is one of them. He has a good amateur background, has been moving along nicely against decent opposition and has good fundamentals. His jab is a powerful weapon and he has very good hand speed and power. He also seems to have the kind of killer instinct you want to see in a heavyweight.
Fighting in the United States for the second time, and just 35 days after disposing of battle-tested veteran Brian Minto in seven dominant rounds, Parker made his American television debut against Keith Thompson, 33, of Birmingham, Alabama, and routed him (as expected). Parker began to pour it on in the second round and then destroyed him in the third round. Parker dropped Thompson with a nasty right uppercut-left-to-the-head combination and then hammered him with a variety of punches, finally sending him to the mat again with a right hand, and referee David Franciosi called off the fight without a count at 2 minutes, 41 seconds. It was just the kind of impressive performance that was expected.
Parker's team, including trainer Kevin Barry, have him on an accelerated pace and will keep him busy. Parker is expected back in the ring Oct. 16 in New Zealand against experienced journeyman Sherman Williams with another fight also likely in December.
Saturday at Sevastopol, Russia
Dmitry Chudinov TKO3 Mehdi Bouadla
Retains an interim middleweight title
Records: Chudinov (14-0-2, 9 KOs); Bouadla (30-6, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Two weeks after Gennady Golovkin defended his so-called WBA "super" title, and on the same day that Daniel Jacobs won the organization's ridiculous "regular" middleweight title, Chudinov, 27, of Russia, absurdly defended the interim version of the title in a fight that took place outdoors in a wild scene in the Crimea, the region of Ukraine recently annexed by Russia.
Chudinov, defending his trinket for the second time and brought to the ring riding in a tank amid explosions, powered his way to an easy victory over Bouadla, 32, of France, who had previously been crushed the two times he stepped up his competition level, getting blitzed by Mikkel Kessler in the sixth round in 2011 and knocked out in the eighth round challenging Arthur Abraham for his super middleweight belt in 2012.
Chudinov dropped Bouadla five times total in the fight, beginning with a left hook to the body with 20 seconds left in the first round. Twice in the second round, Bouadla went to a knee for knockdowns during Chudinov barrages. And in the third round, Chudinov again dropped him to a knee under heavy fire and followed by flooring him for the fifth time with a right hand, causing referee Ingo Barrabas to step in and stop the bout without a count at 1 minute, 15 seconds. It was a totally one-sided fight for a fighter with a totally unnecessary title and a boisterous crowd that loved every minute of it.
Saturday at Glendale, Calif.
Jose Felix Jr. TKO6 Alejandro Rodriguez
Lightweight
Records: Felix Jr. (27-1-1, 22 KOs); Rodriguez (21-15-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: On April 12, Felix, 22, of Mexico, got the biggest opportunity of his career when he challenged Bryan Vasquez for an interim junior lightweight title on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. II undercard. Felix lost a competitive decision and made his return against Rodriguez, 26, of Mexico.
Felix dominated the action. His jab was superb and was the key to keeping Rodriguez where he wanted him. In the fourth round, he gave Rodriguez a bloody nose and visibly hurt him with a left hook to the body. Felix was still dominating in the sixth round of their UniMas-televised main event when Rodriguez suddenly turned away from the fight because of a hand injury, causing referee Raul Caiz Sr. to call off the fight at 1 minute, 41 seconds. It was dominating victory for Felix despite the anti-climactic ending.
Also on the card, 2012 Brazilian Olympic silver medalist Esquiva Falcao (4-0, 2 KO), 24, a southpaw, dropped Tennessee's Malcolm Terry (6-4, 6 KOs) in the first round of their middleweight fight and knocked him out at 43 seconds of the second round of their scheduled six-round bout. Two-time Olympian Egidijus Kavaliauskas (7-0, 6 KOs), 26, of Lithuania, rolled past Benjamin Whitaker (7-1, 2 KOs), 30, of San Antonio, dropping him twice in the second round and again to get the knockout at 47 seconds of the fifth round.
Friday at Fallon, Nev.
Willie Nelson W10 Luis Grajeda
Junior middleweight
Scores: 98-92 (three times)
Records: Nelson (23-1-1, 13 KOs); Grajeda (17-3-2, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Nelson, 27, of Youngstown, Ohio, was the clear winner of the ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" main event, but he had his troubles getting there as he was rocked multiple times. Nelson was fighting for the second time since left elbow surgery cost him a year. He returned in June for a first-round knockout of Darryl Cunningham on the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez undercard but had a lot tougher fight against Grajeda, 27, of Mexico.
The taller and longer Nelson put those attributes to good use for most of the fight as he used his long jab to keep Grajeda in check. But when Nelson got careless, the powerful Grajeda took advantage. Grajeda rocked him with an overhand right in the third round while they were brawling. Nelson was back in control soon after that situation and was doing as he pleased. But in the eighth round, Grajeda struck again, connecting with a wide open right uppercut that turned Nelson's legs to jelly and sent him falling into the ropes. Grajeda connected on a few more punches in the sequence and Nelson was in major trouble. But he survived to make it to the bell and then made it through the 10th round to win the fight that he mostly dominated as he put himself in position for a bigger fight.
Zhang Zhilei KO1 Curtis Lee Tate
Heavyweight
Records: Zhilei (1-0, 1 KO); Tate (6-5, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The heavily hyped pro debut of Zhang, 31, a 2008 Chinese Olympic silver medalist and southpaw, was a farce. It took all of 17 seconds for Zhang to record the knockout victory courtesy of a big shot ... to the shoulder? Yes, the shoulder. Tate, 30, of Memphis, took a pair of left hands off the shoulder and then flopped to the mat face first in exaggerated fashion in what looked many believed looked like a tank job. Referee Jay Nady did not help matter by immediately calling off the fight from punches that didn't really land. Tate was not hurt at all and had jumped up as soon as he went down, but Nady had already stopped the fight, leaving a stench over the whole affair. Zhang may have a bright future but this was a bad way to get things rolling.
Friday at Pittsburgh
Sammy Vasquez Jr. TKO9 James Stevenson
Welterweight
Records: Vasquez Jr. (16-0, 15 KOs); Stevenson (21-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vasquez, 28, a southpaw from Monessen, Pennsylvania, thrilled his hometown crowd in yet another action fight that he has been involved in. He and Stevenson, 31, of Baltimore, put on a helluva fight, getting Vasquez promoter Mike Tyson, who was sitting in with the Fox Sports 1 commentary team, all excited during the broadcast.
Given how sensational the Monte Meza Clay-Alan Herrera co-feature was, Vasquez and Stevenson had a tough act to follow but managed to put on a fight almost as good. Stevenson was stepping up in class of opponent against Vazquez and up to the task for most of the fight. It took a couple of rounds for the action to heat up but once it did, there was no letting up.
Vasquez, a southpaw, hurt Stevenson in the third round and the battle was on. They took turns exchanging heavy shots. There was fantastic action and a cheering crowd. Vasquez, as TV-friendly a fighter as there is, appeared to be winning the rounds, but there was no quit in Stevenson. The action was hot and heavy in the fifth round, especially in the last 30 seconds when Vasquez had Stevenson hurt in a corner and was eyeing a stoppage before Stevenson all of sudden cracked Vasquez with flush right hand. There was crazy back-and-forth action in the sixth round and then, with Stevenson, who was bleeding from his mouth and nose, taking a pounding and fading in the eighth round, he went down from exhaustion, and referee Ernie Sharif ruled a knockdown. Stevenson survived the final minute of the round, but he was spent. Vasquez was battering him early in the ninth round when Sharif stepped in to call it off 25 seconds into the round. It was a terrific fight.
Monte Meza Clay TKO10 Alan Herrera
Junior welterweight
Records: Meza Clay (36-3, 22 KOs); Herrera (32-7, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This was an exceptional fight-of-the-year caliber fight. Meza Clay, 33, the crowd favorite from Rankin, Pennsylvania, and Herrera, 24, of Mexico, turned in an unexpectedly sensational fight as they fought toe-to-toe in a tremendously exciting brawl with neither man giving an inch through the extremely fast-paced fight.
Meza Clay applied ridiculous pressure as his crowd went wild throughout the bout. In the sixth round, Meza Clay dropped Herrera with an overhand right-left hand combination, but Herrera was not badly hurt. It was caused more by the relentless pressure from Meza Clay than any particular punch. Herrera rallied late in the round, however, as he finally forced Meza Clay to go backward briefly. It was a tremendous round.
Meza Clay was pulling away in the middle rounds largely because of his non-stop punching, but Herrera came back to badly rock Meza Clay with a huge right hand with 30 seconds left in the ninth round. Meza Clay retreated to the ropes and Herrera was all over him. Meza Clay was in massive trouble but continued to punch as they closed the round in an extended and hellacious exchange in a round of the year candidate.
It was more of the same in the 10th and final round but with Meza Clay unloading numerous head shots. With Herrera finally beginning to wilt, referee Rick Steigerwald jumped in at 2 minutes after Meza Clay connected on one final right hand that rocked Herrera, who was cut over his right eye. What an absolutely fantastic fight as Meza Clay won his eighth fight in a row following back-to-back losses in 2009 and Herrera lost his third in a row.
Ievegen Khytrov TKO1 Willie Fortune
Middleweight
Records: Khytrov (6-0, 6 KOs); Fortune (17-2, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Khytrov, 25, of Ukraine -- and now living in New York -- was a 2011 world amateur champion and looks like a serious pro prospect. He needed just 30 seconds to demolish Fortune, 33, of Detroit, who had gone the eight-round distance in a loss to Tureano Johnson last year. Khytrov practically sprinted out of his corner when the fight began and immediately began dropping bombs on Fortune. He hurt him with a couple of right hands and left hooks and had him on the ropes right away. He hit with probably a dozen shots and Fortune never knew what hit him. He went down from all the incoming and although he beat the count, referee Ernie Sharif did not like how he looked and waved off the fight for a good stoppage. Khytrov looks like a beast.
Also on the card, 19-year-old junior middleweight super prospect Erickson Lubin (7-0, 6 KOs), a southpaw from Orlando, Florida, blitzed Francisco Javier Reza (12-9, 9 KOs), 29, of Mexico, stopping him at the end of the first round, his fifth consecutive loss (fourth by knockout).
