A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Tijuana, Mexico
Orlando Salido KO11 Terdsak Kokietgym
Wins a vacant interim junior lightweight title
Records: Salido (42-12-2, 29 KOs); Kokietgym (53-5-1, 33 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Fight of the year alert! This was an absolutely sensational fight that featured nonstop action, seven total knockdowns (Salido was down three times and Kokietgym four times), both fighters showing huge hearts and a definite knockout of the year candidate to cap off the sheer mayhem. On paper this did figure to be a good fight, as most of Salido's usually are, but nobody could have predicted this kind of jump-out-of-your-seat action. Kokietgym has also been in his share of good fights, although he has lost whenever he has stepped up in competition. His losses all have come in meaningful fights against quality opponents: a decision to Joan Guzman in a 2005 featherweight title eliminator, a seventh-round knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez in a 2006 interim featherweight title bout, a decision to then-featherweight titlist Steven Luevano in 2008 and a decision challenging then-junior lightweight titlist Takahiro Ao in 2012. Before getting drilled by Salido, Kokietgym had won seven in a row since the loss to Ao.
This fight was made because an interim title was on the line, one that actually made a bit of sense for the WBO to approve because its junior lightweight titleholder, Mikey Garcia, is inactive. He has not fought since January because of a misguided lawsuit against promoter Top Rank and almost certainly will not fight again this year. So everyone should thank Garcia, who ironically called the fight for the American broadcast on beIN Sports Español, for this gem.
The fight started super fast and never let up. They came out banging, and each hit the deck in the opening round. Salido, 33, of Mexico, went down just 40 seconds into the fight when Kokietgym, 33, of Thailand, landed a right hand on his chin. Later, Salido got credit for a knockdown from referee Eddie Claudio when Kokietgym went down from a right hand below the belt. It was clearly low, but Claudio blew the call.
They continued to trade knockdowns in a wild fight. In the second round, Salido got dropped to his rear end just before the round ended when Kokietgym connected with a left hand to his chin. Kokietgym got knocked down to his butt in the fourth round on a right hand to the body. It was Salido's turn to hit the mat again in the fifth round when Kokietgym, who was getting hammered during an exchange, caught Salido with a counter left hand to the chin just seconds into the round. Kokietgym hit the mat yet again in the seventh round when Salido caught him along the ropes with a right hand and a series of lefts.
From the seventh round until the brutal knockout, Salido, a former three-time featherweight titleholder (who had been stripped of a belt before his last fight in March for failing to make weight for a defense against Vasyl Lomachenko), took over the fight. Despite Salido's dominance in the later rounds, it was still an action-packed slugfest that had the crowd cheering.
Salido, who appeared to get stronger as the fight moved along, came out with bad intentions in the 11th round and ended the fight with a vicious four-punch combination for a spectacular knockout. He badly hurt Kokietgym with a right hand and followed immediately with a massive left uppercut, another right to the head and a window-dressing left hand to drop Kokietgym hard on his back. Claudio did not bother to count, calling off the fight 16 seconds into the round. It was a sensational ending to an epic fight that will definitely be in the fight of the year conversation come December.
Javier Mendoza W12 Ramon Garcia Hirales
Wins a vacant junior flyweight title
Scores: 116-109, 115-110 (twice)
Records: Mendoza (22-2-1, 18 KOs); Hirales (20-5-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Perhaps this battle was not on the same level as the incredible Orlando Salido-Terdsak Kokietgym main event, but it was also a terrific action fight, as Mendoza, a 23-year-old southpaw fighting in his hometown, and Hirales, 32, also a southpaw and a former junior flyweight titleholder, put on one hell of a show.
They were vying for the 108-pound title belt that John Riel Casimero vacated on the scale when he failed to make weight for a defense against Moises Fuentes in May, and they gave it every ounce of energy they had in a tremendous fight. Mendoza and Hirales came out blasting from the opening bell and kept a very fast pace throughout the fight, which featured a punishing body attack from both fighters and Hirales getting knocked down twice on body shots.
As each targeted the body, sometimes their punches strayed low. Mendoza was warned for a low blow in the fourth round as referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. gave Hirales time to recover. In the fifth round, Mendoza was applying extreme pressure when he landed a legal right hand to the body and dropped Hirales to a knee in the final 30 seconds of the round. Mendoza opened a cut over Hirales' left eye in the sixth round, which featured a fantastic two-way exchange in the final seconds of the round.
Hirales, meanwhile, nailed Mendoza with a left hand below the belt in the eighth round, and he went down. Ramirez, who had issued previous warnings, took a point from Hirales for the foul. Mendoza scored the second knockdown with 40 seconds left in the 10th round on a left hand to the body.
They continued to battle toe-to-toe until the final bell, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd for their much-appreciated efforts. Mendoza, who had never been past the seventh round, was the deserved winner as he celebrated with his hometown fans. Hirales's four-fight winning streak ended with his first defeat since a 2012 knockout loss challenging then-junior flyweight titlist (and current flyweight champion) Roman Gonzalez.
Saturday at London
George Groves W12 Christopher Rebrasse
Title eliminator and wins European super middleweight title
Scores: 118-110 (twice), 117-111
Records: Groves (20-2, 15 KOs); Rebrasse (22-3-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Groves looked good bouncing back from two knockout losses in a row challenging super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch. In November 2013, Froch stopped Groves in the ninth round during a highly controversial stoppage in a fight Groves was winning handily. In the May 31 rematch -- in front of some 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London -- Groves got cleanly knocked out in the eighth round.
Making his return, Groves, 26, fighting in his hometown, got a shot at Rebrasse's European title, and the bout was an official elimination fight for the right to become the mandatory challenger for world titleholder Anthony Dirrell.
Rebrasse, 28, of France, was making his first European title defense and fighting outside of his home country for the fourth time in his past five fights. He put up a game effort but Groves outclassed him, winning in dominant fashion. Groves dished out a ton of punches but Rebrasse took them all, including many hard right hands. He obviously has a good chin because Groves hit him with some bombs. Rebrasse had a few good moments later in the fight, including in the eighth round, but Groves was never in any trouble. For a one-sided fight, it was quite action-packed.
Considering the hard knockout loss Groves suffered in the rematch with Froch, this was an excellent fight for him to bounce back in. He was strong, got the job done, claimed the European title and put himself in position to challenge Dirrell next year.
On the undercard, lightweight prospect Luke Campbell (8-0, 6 KOs), 26, a 2012 British Olympic gold medalist, knocked out Krzysztof Szot (18-16-1, 5 KOs), 36, of Poland, in the seventh round of their scheduled eight-rounder. Szot has lost seven in a row and 12 of his past 13.
Saturday at Guamuchil, Mexico
Carlos Cuadras Tech. Draw 4 Jose Salgado
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Records: Cuadras (30-0-1, 24 KOs); Salgado (34-2-2, 27 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This is two fights in a row in which accidental head butts have ended things prematurely. Cuadras, 26, of Mexico, won his title on May 31 in Mexico City, taking a unanimous eighth-round technical decision against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand when Cuadras suffered a cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt and was unable to continue.
He was making his first defense against Salgado, 25, of Mexico, and this time it was an accidental head butt that left Salgado cut and unable to continue in the fourth round. Because four rounds had not been completed, the fight was declared a technical draw. In the United States, the fight would have been called a no-decision.
The fight had been a pretty good action fight with both guys landing solid right hands and mixing it up until the fourth round, when an accidental head butt left Salgado with a cut on his left eyelid that was extremely bloody. With the cut pouring blood and Salgado's face covered with it, referee Jay Nady called timeout to have the ringside doctor examine Salgado. He determined that Salgado could not continue, and Nady waved off the fight with 31 seconds left in the fourth round.
Saturday at Mashantucket, Conn.
Thabiso Mchunu W10 Garrett Wilson
Cruiserweight
Scores: 99-90, 98-91, 96-93
Records: Mchunu (17-1, 11 KOs); Wilson (13-8-1, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: You'd think a rare fight on network television, NBC in this case, as part of its about-to-expire deal with Main Events, would result in a higher-profile matchup than a somewhat meaningless bout between Mchunu, a solid contender, and Wilson, a game fighter who gives his all but who is not going anywhere.
The result was exactly as expected, as Mchunu, a 26-year-old southpaw from South Africa, outclassed Wilson, 32, of Philadelphia, in a decent fight. Mchunu got the better of most of the exchanges and was also quicker than Wilson. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. deducted a point from Mchunu for holding in the 10th round.
In the end, it was a rout for Mchunu, who landed 105 of 195 punches (54 percent), according to CompuBox, while Wilson connected on just 54 of 231 (23 percent).
Wilson lost his third fight in a row, although his previous fight was at heavyweight as he filled in on two days' notice to face Vyacheslav "Czar" Glazkov in November to save the NBC card. Mchunu wants a world title shot and called out titleholder Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland.
Karl Dargan TKO5 Angino Perez
Lightweight
Records: Dargan (17-0, 9 KOs); Perez (16-6, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The rap on the talented Dargan, 29, of Philadelphia, is that he isn't aggressive enough, especially considering the low level of opposition he has been matched with. But he perhaps began to change that perception of him with an entertaining performance against Perez, 31, of the Dominican Republic.
Although Dargan was giving up about five inches in height and seven inches in reach, it did not dissuade him from staying close to Perez and fighting. It worked against him early in the third round, when Perez dropped him with an overhand right -- and then stupidly continued to throw punches even when it was clear as day that Dargan was down. Referee Michael Ortega stunningly did not warn Perez about the blatant foul. Dargan, down for the first time in his career, however, did not seem badly hurt. Although Perez appeared to be slightly ahead going into the fifth round because of the knockdown, Dargan rendered that irrelevant. He landed a flush right uppercut that dropped Perez in the first minute of the round and then, during the ensuing exchange, nailed him with an overhand right that dropped Perez face-first into Ortega, who broke his fall as he landed. Ortega did not bother to count and waved off the fight at 1 minute, 32 seconds.
Dargan, who had to overcome some adversity, dominated the CompuBox statistics, landing 71 of 170 blows (42 percent), while the busier Perez connected on just 38 of 230 (17 percent).
Saturday at Phoenix
Konstantin Ponomarev W10 Cosme Rivera
Welterweight
Scores: 100-90 (twice), 98-92
Records: Ponomarev (25-0, 12 KOs); Rivera (37-19-3, 25 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ponomarev, 21, of Russia, got his first American television exposure in the main event of the "Solo Boxeo" card on UniMas and rolled to a lopsided win against Rivera, 38, of Mexico, a former world title challenger way, way beyond his best days.
They fought a fairly fast-paced fight, but Ponomarev, who switched between right-handed and left-handed stances, was much quicker and more accurate with his punches. Although he put up a good effort, Rivera looked lost against him, and it showed in the scorecards.
The undercard also included a pair of Robert Garcia-trained Olympians. Welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas (8-0, 7 KOs), 26, a two-time Olympian from Lithuania, dropped Eduardo Flores (19-15-3, 13 KOs), 28, of Ecuador, three times in a first-round knockout, and light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk (3-0, 2 KOs), 27, a bronze medalist for Ukraine at the 2012 Olympics, knocked out Lamont Williams (5-6-1, 2 KOs), 38, of Sacramento, California, at 1 minute, 38 seconds of the fifth round.
In another undercard bout, Marchristopher Adkins (3-1, 1 KO), 29, of Dallas, upset Shane Mosley Jr. (2-1, 2 KOs), 23, of Pomona, California. Adkins won a split decision, as two judges scored it for him 39-37 and the third judge had it 39-37 for Mosley, the son of the former three-division champion.
Saturday at Helsinki, Finland
Richar Abril W12 Edis Tatli
Retains a lightweight title
Scores: 117-111, 116-112, 114-114
Records: Abril (19-3-1, 8 KOs); Tatli (23-1, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Abril, 32, who is from Cuba and living in Miami, made his annual ring appearance by fighting in the town of Tatli, 27, a native of Kosovo living in Finland. Abril fought just once in 2012 (when he was outright robbed in a decision loss to then-lightweight titlist Brandon Rios), once in 2013 (a sleep-inducing title defense against Sharif Bogere) and now had his second defense against Tatli, an obscure fighter with questionable credentials.
But given how television-unfriendly Abril is, his only opportunity probably was to go overseas because American network wants anything to do with him. That decision was proven correct because, once again, it was another brutally boring performance, as the defensive-oriented Abril pecked, poked and clinched his way to the majority decision. Tatli won a few of the early rounds, but Abril was pretty much in control by the seventh round in a fight filled with holding, lunging, staring, missed punches and not much else. If Abril wants back onto American television, this was not a fight that will help his cause.
Friday at Villa Maria, Argentina
Omar Narvaez W12 Felipe Orucuta
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Scores: 116-112 (twice), 114-114
Records: Narvaez (43-1-2, 23 KOs); Orucuta (29-3, 24 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In May 2013, Narvaez escaped with his title by winning a split decision against Orucuta, 28, of Mexico. Orucuta won his next two fights and was installed as Narvaez's mandatory challenger. So they met for the second time in Argentina, Narvaez's home country, and it was close again. But Narvaez, 39, emerged with a majority decision to retain his title for the 11th time.
The fight was quite similar to their first encounter as Narvaez, a southpaw, was able to exploit Orucuta's defensive deficiencies enough to score more often in a fight that had moments of excitement. If there were any doubts that Narvaez could be in trouble on the scorecard -- it wouldn't be unreasonable to have the fight even after 10 rounds -- he turned it up a notch down the stretch to clearly win the final two rounds. He was impressive in the 12th round, as he smacked around Orucuta, who had suffered a cut over his left eye in the eighth round.
Narvaez, who made 16 successful defenses when he held a flyweight title from 2002 to 2009, moved to 28-1-1 in world title bouts with his only loss coming in a disgraceful non-effort against Nonito Donaire in New York. In that fight, Narvaez had moved up to junior featherweight to challenge for his world title in 2011.
.. wonder if he's still smoking newports before he gets in the ring 
