By John J. Raspanti: Looking out of sorts at times, undisputed light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) retained his titles Monday night with a wide 12 round unanimous decision over game Issac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) at the DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
The scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 118-109.
Kovalev, 33, pursued Chilemba in the opening rounds. He popped his powerful jab to the body. Chilemba occasionally countered with left hooks. Kovalev let
Nine world champions, a ground-breaking promoter, a talented writer, and a father-son team make up the 2016 class of The West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame Banquet of Champions.
Bobby Chacon, Mike Weaver, Lucia Riker, Israel Vazquez, Tony “The Tiger” Lopez, Henry Armstrong, Armando Ramos, Jerry Quarry, Fidel LaBarba, Genaro Hernandez, Aileen Eaton, Jose Sulaiman, his son Maurcio, and William O’Neill will be inducted September 25 at the Garland Hotel Event Center in North H
By John J. Raspanti: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) knocked out overmatched WBO junior lightweight titleholder Rocky Martinez (29-3-3, 18 KOs) in Round five at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. last Saturday night.
With the victory, Lomachenko, in only his seventh professional bout, becomes the fastest fighter to capture world titles in two divisions.
The 28-year-old southpaw opened the fight by popping Martinez with stinging jabs.
Slugger John Molina Jr. (29-6, 23 KOs) boxed and punched his way to a hard-fought 12 round unanimous decision over former WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-5, 18 KOs) Saturday night at the Turning Point Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Molina Jr. had mentioned boxing more in the weeks leading up to the bout. Not many experts believed him. He entered the fight a substantial
By John J. Raspanti: Three months ago in Legionowo, Poland, heavyweight Mike Mollo knocked out favored Karzysztof Zimnoch in barely two minutes. The Polish faithful were stunned. They expected to see, Zimnoch, who entered the bout undefeated, to defeat the American. Instead, Chicago-native Mollo (21-5, 13 KOs) hurt Zimnoch with a chilling inside hook. The punch left the Polish prospect rubbery-legged and languishing on the ropes--like a man in quicksand...
By John J. Raspanti: Revenge is best served cold. Former welterweight champion Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) was icy in knocking out Victor Ortiz (31-6-2, 24 KOs) in round four Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA. Berto, 32, came out jabbing in the opening stanza. Ortiz surprised many, including Berto, by boxing from the outside. By the end of the round, Ortiz, 29, was bleeding from his hairline courtesy of an accidental head butt. Ortiz circled to his right in round two...
By John J. Raspanti: When defending WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham arrived in Las Vegas last week, he expected to be a big favorite to win on April 9. Makes sense. During his 16-year career, Abraham has swapped punches with most of the best fighters in his division, including former champions Carl Froch and Andre Ward. Instead Abraham learned his opponent, unheralded youngster Gilberto Ramirez, was favored by most to defeat him...
By John J. Raspanti: Former four-division world champion Adrien “The Problem Child” Broner (32-2, 24 KOs), who lost his junior welterweight title on the scale for the second time in four years, scored a ninth round TKO over Ashley “The Treasure” Theophane (39-7-1, 11 KOs) on Friday night at the D.C. Armory in Washington, DC. Saturday night. In round one, Theophane pressed Broner, but the weight-challenged former champion fought back effectively--using his jab and combinations. Rounds two and
By John J. Raspanti: At 36, Darnell Boone knows his days as a professional fighter are numbered. He’s toiled away for 12 years--in faraway places, and with the odds against him. Boone has battled injuries, mediocre management, and lack of support in his corner. But still he goes on, recently winning four of his last five matches. In 2014, he stopped favored Dionisio Miranda. A few months ago he took on undefeated Phillip Jackson Benson in Pennsylvania. Boone was nothing more than an
By John J. Raspanti: IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton captured the WBA title by winning 12 split decision over previously undefeated Scott Quigg at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England Saturday night. Scores were 115-113 Quigg, and 116-112 (twice) for Frampton. Maxboxing had Frampton winning the fight by a 116-112 tally. The match didn’t come close to living up to pre-fight expectations. The opening round was respectful. Frampton fired jabs--while Quigg watched and
By John J. Raspanti: At 29, Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor with barely a hundred bucks in the bank and a pregnant wife. It was 1975 and he had just seen the Muhammad Ali/Chuck Wepner fight. Something had clicked. Living off caffeine and ambition, Stallone took just three days to write a screenplay that he would eventually title “Rocky.” MGM Studios liked his writing but not him. They offered the unemployed Stallone two hundred thousand dollars, to not play the lead. The studio
By John J. Raspanti: Former undisputed super middleweight titleholder Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) will face hard-hitting light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) March 26th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.Ward, 31, was last seen in the ring eight months ago dispatching over-matched Englishman Paul Smith in nine one-sided rounds. The bout was Ward’s first since early 2014, following an extended legal battle with his promoter, the late Dan Goossen. Ward was scheduled...