A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Las Vegas
Manny Pacquiao W12 Timothy Bradley Jr.
Wins a welterweight title
Scores: 118-110, 116-112 (twice)
Records: Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs); Bradley Jr. (31-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: On June 9, 2012, Pacquiao appeared to dominate Bradley in what should have been a lopsided unanimous decision to retain his welterweight world title. Instead, two judges -- the now-infamous Duane Ford and C.J. Ross -- ridiculously and wrongly scored the fight for Bradley, giving him a mega-controversial split decision win and the belt. It was a travesty and one of the worse decisions in boxing history. But two years later the record was set straight when Pacquiao once again dominated Bradley and this time got the right decision by a proper unanimous decision.
A lot had happened to Pacquiao, 35, of the Philippines, and Bradley, 30, of Palm Springs, Calif., since they first met. Pacquiao got knocked out cold in his next fight by rival Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth showdown but returned a year later to easily outpoint Brandon Rios to end his two-fight losing streak. Bradley, meanwhile, was so angry over the treatment that he received after his dubious victory that he felt that he had something to prove. So he went pedal to the metal in his first title defense against Ruslan Provodnikov and wound up absorbing massive damage but winning a decision in the 2013 fight of the year. He followed it with a tactically brilliant dismantling of Marquez to set the stage for the inevitable rematch with Pacquiao.
Bradley promised to go for the knockout and leave no doubt about the result this time. Pacquiao, contending with Bradley's accusations that he had lost his killer instinct and had grown soft, aimed to prove he was still the ferocious fighter who had electrified the sport for much of the past decade.
Bradley did go for the knockout, figuring that he would have a hard time winning another decision after the controversy of the first fight. Pacquiao went for it also, showing the fire was still there. It made for a highly entertaining fight, but one that Pacquiao clearly won. Bradley was hampered by a right calf injury suffered in the first round, but he refused to make excuses after the fight. He was a total class act, giving praise to Pacquiao and his performance and admitting defeat. But he has nothing to be ashamed of. He and Pacquiao both gave their all as the MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd of 15,601 cheered wildly throughout the action-packed fight.
Pacquiao, a southpaw, was extremely effective with his straight left hand. Even though he didn't get the knockout he wanted, Pacquiao rocked Bradley several times and still looked fast with his punches and feet. He definitely hurt Bradley in the sixth round when he backed Bradley into the ropes and unloaded a flurry of punches. He also had a big seventh round, ripping off more than a dozen unanswered blows as Bradley languished on the ropes. It was basically all Pacquiao, although Bradley, with a right side of his face red and swollen from being hit with so many left hands, was still trying.
Pacquiao was on his way to the decision when, with only a few seconds left in the fight, an accidental head-butt opened a bad cut over his left eye. It required 35 stitches after the fight, but surely was easier for Pacquiao to take with a title belt wrapped around his waist once again. HBO will replay the fight Saturday night at 11 ET/PT.
Bradley's future is up in the air, but he surely will be back for another meaningful fight and it won't be a surprise to see him win another world title sooner than later. Pacquiao intends to fight again in the fall and the opponent likely will be his mandatory challenger -- which will be the winner of the May 17 elimination bout between Marquez and former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado. A fifth fight with Marquez would be another big fight and Alvarado would be a fresh opponent for Pacquiao and undoubtedly an exciting fight. Because of the usual politics and a lot of other nonsense, Pacquiao won't be facing fellow titleholder Floyd Mayweather Jr. any time soon, but the PacMan is back in business after this huge victory.
Raymundo Beltran W12 Arash Usmanee
Lightweight
Scores: 118-110, 117-111 (twice)
Records: Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs); Usmanee (20-2-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This was a big win for Beltran, 32, who is from Mexico and lives in Los Angeles. It wasn't because Beltran, the former Manny Pacquiao sparring partner, was facing a big-name opponent. It was because the fight figures to be the final hurdle to his getting a second lightweight world title shot. Beltran had one in September, when he went to Scotland, dropped Ricky Burns, broke his jaw, beat him up and got saddled with a bogus hometown draw.
In his first fight since, Beltran dominated Usmanee, 32, a native of Afghanistan fighting out of Montreal. Usmanee, who took the bout on a week's notice when former two-time junior lightweight titlist Roman "Rocky" Martinez dropped out because of illness, is a good fighter but he could not handle the physicality of Beltran. Usmanee landed a lot of punches, but he has very little power and Beltran walked through it all to roll to the decision.
Although Beltran did not get the decision he deserved against Burns, Terence Crawford did when he went to Scotland and outpointed Burns to win the title March 1. Crawford's first defense is likely to come against Beltran on HBO on either June 28 or July 12, according to Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford and Beltran. Arum said he plans to put the fight on in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is minutes from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Neb., and home to casinos. But Arum also said Beltran would have the peace of mind of neutral judges that both camps would have to approve.
Jessie Vargas W12 Khabib Allakhverdiev
Wins a junior welterweight title
Scores: 117-111, 115-113 (twice)
Records: Vargas (24-0, 9 KOs); Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The judges did not have a good night with this fight as most at ringside saw this as a close, but clear win for Allakhverdiev, the 30-year-old Russian southpaw making the second defense of his secondary title; Danny Garcia has the top title. Even if you had Vargas winning a close fight -- and even that seems crazy -- the 117-111 score is absurd. Vargas, 24, of Las Vegas, did bust up Allakhverdiev's face, which was bloody and cut around both eyes. But Allakhverdiev seemed to control the fight and was very obviously the harder puncher. Vargas, who dropped down from welterweight for the fight, raised swelling under Allakhverdiev's right eye in the third round and it got worse as the fight went on. He eventually had both eyes marked up, but a lot of the damage was caused by accidental head-butts. Allakhverdiev closed strong with a big 12th round in which Vargas did very little, but it was not enough on the scorecards. Allakhverdiev was rightfully upset with the scoring and demanded a rematch, but it's one he is probably not going to get. Not too many would want to see it again anyway because this was a pretty bad fight and probably had many of the HBO PPV viewers taking a bathroom break or looking to refill their beverage.
Bryan Vasquez W12 Jose Felix Jr.
Retains an interim junior lightweight title
Scores: 117-110, 114-113 (twice)
Records: Vasquez (33-1, 17 KOs); Felix Jr. (26-1-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vasquez, 26, of Costa Rica, won a vacant interim 130-pound belt in October via fifth-round technical decision against Rene Gonzalez, Vasquez's second stint with the interim title. He made his first defense against Felix, 21, of Mexico, and it was a rough, physical fight. But Vasquez, the aggressor all the way, seemed to do more than enough to win a wide decision. The pair of 114-113 scorecards are a mystery and it is ridiculous that the only thing that kept what should have been a clear Vasquez victory from being a draw is that referee Robert Byrd docked a point from Felix for kneeing Vasquez in the ninth round. Vasquez outfought Felix the entire fight, one in which both men were rattled more than once from accidental head-butts. Top Rank doesn't promote Felix, but it said it has options on Vasquez's next two fights and would like to match him eventually with contender Diego Magdaleno.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk KO1 Mike Montoya
Light heavyweight
Records: Gvozdyk (1-0, 1 KOs); Montoya (4-3-1, 2 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Gvozdyk, 26, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist from Ukraine, made his professional debut in explosive fashion. He wrecked Montoya, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colo., knocking him silly with five seconds left in the opening round. Gvozdyk, a good pal of Olympic teammate Vasyl Lomachenko, who convinced Top Rank to sign him, raised swelling around Montoya's right eye in the opening seconds of the fight. Gvozdyk pounded Montoya throughout the round until brutally knocking him out with a flush right hand on the chin. Montoya fell very awkwardly and referee Russell Mora immediately called off the fight.
Also on the card, junior lightweight Oscar Valdez (10-0, 9 KOs), 23, a 2012 Mexican Olympian, destroyed Adrian Perez (10-5-1, 1 KO), 33, of Sarasota, Fla., knocking him out with a left hook to the body at 1 minute, 23 seconds of the fourth round.
Southpaw middleweight Esquiva Falcao (2-0, 1 KO), the 24-year-old 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Brazil, was also on the card, winning a shutout decision against Publio Pena (2-2, 1 KO), 31, of Providence, R.I. Two judges had it 60-54 and the third had it 60-53.
Saturday at Esbjerg, Denmark
David Price KO3 Ondrej Pala
Heavyweight
Records: Price (17-2, 15 KOs); Pala (33-5, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Price, 30, of England, was 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and was one of the fastest-rising heavyweight prospects until a disastrous 2013 in which he was knocked out in back-to-back fights by American contender Tony Thompson in upsets. His career in tatters, Price cleaned house. He hired a new trainer (Tommy Brooks) and signed with a new promoter (Sauerland Event). The comeback began January with a first-round knockout against a pathetic opponent. This scheduled eight-round fight was the second bout of Price's rebuilding and it almost turned into another disaster as Price was knocked down barely a minute into the fight as Pala, 29, of the Czech Republic, caught him around the ear with a looping left hand. Price went down to his rear end but seemed OK -- but it was not a good sign given the two previous knockout losses. Price kept his composure, easily won the second round by landing a number of solid right hands and then finished Pala in the third. Price landed a powerful right that dropped Pala about 10 seconds into the third and then landed another flush right hand to the head that dropped him in heap, causing referee Freddy Rafn to call off the fight at 33 seconds without a count.
Also on the card, middleweight contender Andy Lee (32-2, 22 KOs), 29, of Ireland won an eight-round majority decision against Frank Haroche Horta (34-13-5, 13 KOs), 33, of France, who lost his third fight in a row. Lee, a southpaw, won 77-76 on two scorecards and one judge had the fight 76-76 in what clearly not Lee's best night. Lee took the fight when his scheduled April 26 world title fight against Gennady Golovkin was canceled when Golovkin pulled out of the fight after his father died. Lee is due back in action May 17 in Cardiff, Wales on the Lee Selby-Romulo Koasicha undercard.
Friday at Las Vegas
Gilberto Ramirez TKO5 Giovanni Lorenzo
Super middleweight
Records: Ramirez (28-0, 22 KOs); Lorenzo (32-7, 24 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ramirez looks like an outstanding prospect. The Mexican southpaw is just 22, has a lot of charisma, shows good power and has a fan-friendly style. He could be going places. Headlining ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" on the eve of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley rematch, there were a lot of folks on hand to watch him do his thing and he did it very well, taking out the very experienced Lorenzo in fine fashion.
Lorenzo, 33, a New York-based native of the Dominican Republic, is on the backside of a career in which he is 0-3 in middleweight world title and interim title bouts. But he still represented the best opponent Ramirez has faced. Ramirez had no trouble with the former title challenger. Ramirez was super aggressive and displayed a very impressive body attack. He went after the body from the opening round and never let up. Credit Lorenzo for taking as many digging body blows as he did. This could have been over much sooner had Lorenzo not shown a big heart.
In the third round, Ramirez hammered his body, eventually dropping him to a knee. A lot of fighters would have stayed down, but Lorenzo carried on. He went down again from a body shot in the fifth round and moments later was down again from a left hand to the head. Lorenzo was in bad shape and his corner did the right thing by throwing in the towel, prompting referee Jay Nady to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 4 seconds.
Ramirez, who was fighting in the United States for only the second time, is tentatively scheduled to fight his next fight in the U.S. as well. If the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Gennady Golovkin fight is finalized -- it's supposed to be July 19 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. -- Ramirez will be on the HBO PPV undercard, according to Top Rank.
Jesse Hart W8 Samuel Clarkson
Super middleweight
Scores: 80-70 (three times)
Records: Hart (13-0, 10 KOs); Clarkson (10-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Hart, 24, of Philadelphia, was a terrific amateur who just missed making the U.S. Olympic team. He has charisma and an outgoing personality and those around him rave about his work ethic. But he's a work in progress. Although he pitched a shutout against Clarkson, a 23-year-old southpaw from Cedar Hill, Texas, Hart was a bit sloppy and also got caught with some unnecessary punches. Hart, the son of 1970s middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, who works as his trainer, had his best moments in the fourth round. That's when he scored a pair of knockdowns against the awkward Clarkson. Hart dropped him with a right uppercut at the end of a flurry of punches and floored him again moments later with a right-left combination in a fight that was a good learning experience.
Also on the card, southpaw light heavyweight Egor Mekhontsev (3-0, 3 KOs), 2012 Russian Olympic gold medalist, stopped Dwayne Williams (4-2, 1 KO), 30, of Chicago, in the third round.
so yea, Manny should get quite a bit of blame here.
