There’s been a lot of exciting boxing action across the globe over the past month, especially with the World Boxing Super Series back in the swing of things. Let’s recap the major bouts in case you missed anything. We’ll start off with last weekend’s tilts since they’re still fresh in fans’ minds.
After weeks of trash talking WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder of the USA and England’s Tyson Fury finally had the chance to settle their differences. The two squared off in front of over 17,600 fans in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 1st and battled to a dramatic 12-round draw.
The scores were 115-111 Wilder, 114-112 Fury and 113-113. Fury impressed many fans with his boxing skills, but he was dropped in the ninth and 12th rounds. Wilder’s record goes to 40-0-1 with 39 Ko’s while Fury stands at 27-0-1 with 19 Ko’s.
It looks like a rematch is in the cards and it will probably favour Wilder since he now knows what to expect. Fury doesn’t appear to have the power or chin to be classified as elite boxer, but does own remarkable recuperative powers as most men wouldn’t have made it to their feet after his 12th-round knockdown.
There were also some good bouts on the undercard as IBO/WBA/IBF Junior Middleweight Titleholder Jarrett Hurd improved to 23-0 with 16 Ko’s by stopping Jason Welborn of England who’s now 24-7 with 7 Ko’s. Hurd dropped Welborn with a body shot in the fourth round of a pretty exciting affair up till then.
Fans may see Hurd tangle with WBC Champ Jermell Charlo in the future if Charlo can get past Tony Harrison on December 22nd.
Heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz of Cuba moved to 30-1 with 26 Ko’s after stopping American journeyman Travis Kauffman in the 10th and final stanza. It was the second straight victory for the hard-hitting Ortiz after Wilder stopped him in 10 thrilling rounds back in March.
Ortiz is hoping to land a rematch with Wilder or a shot at WBA/IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champ Anthony Joshua of England while Kauffman slips to 32-3 with 23 Ko’s.
Heavyweight Joe Joyce of England remains perfect at 7-0 with 7 Ko’s demolishing American Joe Hanks with a left hook in the first round of their bout to send Hanks to 23-3 with 15 Ko’s.
Joyce won the silver medal as a super heavyweight at the 2016 Olympics and is trying to climb the ratings. He’ll need to do it quickly though as he’s 33 years old.
Robert Guerrero improved to 34-6-1 with 19 Ko’s when he stopped Adam Mate of Hungary in the second round. Mate falls to 28-13 with 9 Ko’s. Guerrero also dropped him in the first round for his first win in his past four contests.
On a sad note, former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson of Haiti was rushed to hospital after being knocked out by mandatory challenger Oleksandr Gvozdyk of Ukraine in the 11th round of their title bout in Quebec City, Canada. Hopefully all is well with him.
Gvozdyk caught Stevenson with several unanswered blows to take the crown and remain undefeated at 16-0 with 13 Ko’s. The 41-year-old Stevenson’s career is now over at 29-2-1 with 24 Ko’s and will hopefully fully recover from his injuries.
There was a big domestic showdown in Brisbane, Australia on Nov. 30th when former WBO Welterweight Champ Jeff Horn (19-1-1 with 13 Ko’s ) knocked out former junior middleweight and super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine in just 96 seconds with a left hook.
It was Horn’s first fight since being stopped by Terence Crawford and losing his title in nine rounds earlier this year. The 43-year-old Mundine is 48-9 with 28 Ko’s and announced his retirement after the fight.
On Nov. 29th WBA Minimumweight Titleholder Knockout CP Freshmart of Thailand remained unbeaten at 19-0 with 7 Ko’s with a unanimous decision against former champion Byron Rojas, who falls to 25-4-3 with 11 Ko’s. It was the sixth defence for Freshmart.
WBA Light Heavyweight boss Dmitry Bivol is now 15-0 with 11 Ko’s following his unanimous decision victory over 36-year-old former champion Jean Pascal of Haiti in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Nov. 24th. Pascal falls to 33-6-1 with 20 Ko’s.
Bivol could try to unify the titles against the other 175 lb champions; WBC champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk, IBF boss Artur Beterbiev and WBO king Eleider Alvarez.
Thirty-nine-year-old WBA Cruiserweight Champion Denis Lebedev upped his record to 32-2 with 23 Ko’s with a 12-round unanimous decision over American Mike Wilson in Monte Carlo.
Wilson is now 19-1 with 8 Ko’s following his first defeat. On the undercard, WBA Super Flyweight Champion and former 2008 Olympian Khalid Yafai of England remained unbeaten at 25-0 with 15 Ko’s by scoring a unanimous decision against Israel Gonzalez, who falls to 23-3 with 10 Ko’s.
On Nov. 17th Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller of America entered the ring weighing 315 lbs and improved to 23-0-1 with 20 Ko’s by stopping Bogdan Dinu in the fourth round in Mulvane, Kansas. It was Dinu’s first loss and he’s now 18-1 with 14 Ko’s.
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, WBO Junior Welterweight Champ Maurice Hooker stopped hometown boxer Alex Saucedo in the seventh round. Hooker had to get up from the canvas in the second round and he’s now 25-0-3 with 17 Ko’s while Saucedo lost for the first time and falls to 28-1 with 18 Ko’s. Hooker had won the crown in his previous bout with a decision over former champ Terry Flanagan.
On the same card, former IBF Super Bantamweight champ Jonathan Guzman went the distance for the first time in his career with a 10-round unanimous decision against Roberto Castaneda on Nov. 16th. It was Guzman’s first fight in two years and he’s now 23-1 with 22 Ko’s while Castaneda falls to 23-11-1 with 16 Ko’s.
Over in Tokyo, Japan on Nov. 12th local hero Tomoki Kameda went to 36-2 with 20 Ko’s and won the vacant interim WBC Super Bantamweight Title with a unanimous decision over Abigail Medina of Spain, who’s now 19-4-2 with 10 KO’s.
A couple of former world champions were in action in Miami Beach, Florida on Nov. 10th when former Olympic Champion Yuriorkis Gamboa of Cuba raised his record to 29–2 with 17 Ko’s with a 10-round unanimous decision against Miguel Beltran Jr of Mexico in a lightweight tilt. Beltran is now 33-7 with 22 Ko’s. Gamboa decked Beltran at the end of the first round, but couldn’t finish him.
On the same card, former world champ Juan Lopez moved to 36-6 with 32 Ko’s after a 10-round unanimous decision against Cristian Mino, who drops to 19-3 with 12 Ko’s. Lopez decked Mino twice during the third round and once in the fourth and sixth. There’s now word that Gamboa and Lopez will meet in March of 2019.
In the World Boxing Super Series on Nov. 10Th, the WBO Interim Cruiserweight Title was on the line and former world champ Krzysztof Glowacki of Poland took it with a unanimous decision over Maksim Vlasov of Russia.
Glowacki, who decked his opponent in round three, goes to 31-1 with 19 Ko’s while Vlasov is now 44-3 with 25 Ko’s. On the same card in Chicago, former WBC Cruiserweight Champ Mairis Briedis upped his mark to 26-1 with 18 Ko’s after a 12-round unanimous decision against Noel Mikaelian of Armenia, who falls to 24-2 with 10 Ko’s. Mikaelian may be known to some fans as Noel Gevor. Briedis captured the vacant WBC Diamond Championship with the win and advances to the semifinals of the tournament along with Glowacki.
On the same day in Manchester, England, undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine remained unbeaten at 16-0 with 12 Ko’s when he knocked former champion Tony Bellew of Liverpool out in the seventh round. Usyk is the WBA/WBO/WBC and IBF Champion who may eventually move up to the heavyweight division.
However, he could stay where he is for the time being if former light heavyweight champ Andre Ward comes out of retirement to meet him. Bellew started the fight well, but ran out of gas and retired after the contest with a record of 30-3-1 along with 20 Ko’s.
In one of the year’s most exciting bouts, 36-year-old veteran veteran Jesus Soto Karass improved to 29-13-4 with 18 Ko’s and won for the first time since 2013 when he handed Neeco Macias of California his first defeat. Karass won a majority decision to send send Macias’ record to 17-1 with 10 Ko’s.
The fight could have been held in a phone booth as all of the action took place in the corner of the ring. The boxers combined to throw a world record 3,353 punches in the bout over just 10 rounds in the fight which was held in Indio, California on Nov. 8th
Another candidate for fight of the year took place in El Paso, Texas on Nov. 3rd when WBC Super Featherweight Titleholder Miguel Berchelt of Mexico knocked out his fellow countryman Miguel Roman in the ninth round.
Berchelt upped his record to 35-1 with 31 Ko’s after the slugfest while Roman fell to 60-13 with 47 Ko’s. Berchelt also dropped Roman two times in the sixth round and has now defended his title four times. Also in El Paso, Miguel Marriaga of Colombia improved to 27-3 with 23 Ko’s by stopping Mexico’s Jose Estrella in the fourth round with a body shot after also decking him a round earlier. Estrella now falls to 20-15-1 with 14 Ko’s.
Also on Nov. 3rd, light heavyweight contenders Sullivan Barrera of Cuba and Sean Monaghan of the USA met in Brooklyn, New York. Barrera took a 10-round unanimous decision to improve to 22-2 with 14 Ko’s while Monaghan fell to 29-2 with 17 Ko’s.
On the same card, super middleweight Denis Douglin stopped Saul Roman in the sixth round to move to 22-6 with 13 Ko’s while Saul Roman drops to 43-12 with 35 Ko’s. Douglin floored Roman in the third and fifth rounds before stopping him in the sixth.
The World Boxing Super Series was also in action in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 3rd when former four-division world champion Nonito Donaire of the Philippines rose to 39-5 with 25 Ko’s by stopping WBA Bantamweight Super Titleholder Ryan Burnett of Northern Ireland. Donaire seemed to have the upper hand in the bout, but Burnett couldn’t continue after he suffered a back injury in the fourth round.
With the loss, the former champ Burnett falls to 19-1 with 9 Ko’s while Donaire advances to the semifinals against WBO Bantamweight Champion Zolani Tete of South Africa. Super Lightweight Josh Taylor of Scotland also advanced to the final four after stopping American Ryan Martin in the seventh round to hand him his first loss.
Taylor will now meet IBF Champion Ivan Baranchyk of Russia. Taylor improved to 14-0 with 12 Ko’s while Martin fell to 22-1 with 12 Ko’s.