The undefeated rising super featherweight prospect Toka “T-Nice” Kahn-Clary (18-0-1 NC, 12 KOs) has faced more trials and tribulations by the age of 13 than most individuals face in an entire lifetime, nevertheless with the help of boxing, he has persevered through those difficult challenges and gotten off to an extremely successful start to his professional career.
James Stillerman
Ormond dominated Jimenez, captured the lightweight IBF Intercontinental Belt
Stephen “The Rock” Ormond crushed Marcos Leonardo Jimenez over ten one-side rounds, en route to unanimous decision victory, 100-90 on all three scorecards in the main event. Ormond with the victory, obtained the vacant lightweight IBF intercontinental title and upped his record to 21-2, 11 KOs. He has won four in a row while Jimenez dropped to 21-7, 14 KOs.
Ormond pressed the action and connected on whatever he wanted, especially in the last couple of rounds. He landed several extremely powerful combinations on Jimenez throughout this fight that badly staggered him and it appeared that he would knockout Jimenez, but Jimenez somehow hung in there and didn’t go down. Jimenez deserved a great deal of credit for not getting knocked down from all the punishment that he absorbed from Ormond’s punches. Jimenez; however, was unable to sustain any effective offensive output to turn this fight around.
Kovalev crushed Pascal en route to a 7th round TKO
The undefeated WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight champion of the world Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev promised before the bout to severely punish Jean Pascal and he did just that for seven one-sided rounds after which Pascal’s trainer Freddie Roach mercifully stopped the bout and saved Pascal from taking anymore unnecessary punishment. Kovalev retained his world titles with the seventh round technical knockout victory and improved to 29-0-1, 26 KOs while Pascal dropped to 30-4-1, 17 KOs, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Demetrius Andrade Is Back
Former WBO super welterweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade returned to the ring in October for the first time in 16 months and scored a second round technical knockout against the former South American champion Dario Fabian Pucheta. Andrade kept his undefeated record intact (22-0, 15 KOs) with a dominating performance and with the victory, claimed the vacant WBO and WBA International super welterweight titles.
Tyson Fury – Wladimir Klitschko: Upset Of The Year
Tyson Fury scored the biggest upset of the year as he dethroned Wladimir Klitschko’s dominate ten-year reign as the best fighter in the heavyweight division, en route to a twelve round, unanimous decision by two scores of 115-112 and one score of 116-111, at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, in front of 55,000 mostly pro-Klitschko fans. Fury improved to 25-0, 18 KOs and with the victory, gained the IBO, WBA, IBF, and WBO world title belts. Klitschko dropped to 64-4, 53 KOs and lost for the first time in 23 bouts – a streak that has spanned over eleven and a half years.
Randall Bailey is Back!
Former three-time, two-division world champion Randall “The Knock Out King” Bailey (46-8, 39 KOs) will look to collect another world title with the help of his new promoter, South Korean-based AK Promotions. Bailey’s climb to the top of the welterweight division continued in the right direction on Sunday at the Sunhak Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea, as he scored a devastating seventh-round knockout victory over Shusaku Fujinaka from a powerful left hook. At the time of the stoppage, he was ahead on all three scorecards, 86-84.
Popular New England Fighter: Danny O’Connor
One of the most popular New England pugilists, Danny O’Connor delighted hundreds of loud passionate hometown Boston fans in his last outing with a dominating fifth round technical knockout victory over Chris Gilbert in May. O’Connor knockdown Gilbert five times after which referee, Leo Gerstel stopped the bout with 1:04 left in the round. O’Connor, with the win, improved his record to 26-2, 10 KOs and received the vacant New England welterweight title.
“I’m happy with my performance against Gilbert and I’m especially proud of myself for the way I handled all the challenges that led up to this bout with [Paulie] Malignaggi being hurt [cut over his left eyelid during sparring] and then having to change my opponent on one week notice,” said O’Connor. “I’m still working on getting better each and every day and I’ve a great deal more to accomplish.”
Two Future World Champions: Anthony Joshua and Artur Beterbiev
Two highly-skilled undefeated knockout artists who have positioned themselves to become potential world champions in their respective divisions are heavyweight Anthony Joshua and light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev.
Joshua (13-0, 13 KOs), the orthodox knockout destroyer from Watford, Hertfordshire is seen as an emerging contender in the heavyweight division. He went 7-0 last year with all of his fights ending in a knockout, most of them in the first round. He defeated veteran countrymen Matt Shelton and Michael Sprott, as well as Denis Bakhtov for the WBC international heavyweight title. This year he took out three more opponents, Jason Gavern, Raphael Love, and world title challenger Kevin Johnson all before the third. His opponents have yet to reach the fourth round. At an impressive six feet six inches and approximately 240 pounds, the former 2012 United Kingdom Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist is an ideal size for his division and always displays his fantastic conditioning with great agile footwork, speed, and a commanding jab. He’s ranked second by the WBC, third by the WBO, thirteenth by the WBA, and fourteenth by the IBF.
Tarver and Cunningham Settle for a Draw
In a do or die fight for two older heavyweights looking for one last opportunity at a world title bout, Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver and “USS” Steve Cummingham gave everything they had in a hard fought, competitive twelve round split decision draw. Scores were 115-113 for Cunningham, 115-113 for Tarver, and 114-114. This main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey was part of the Premier Boxing Champions and was broadcast on Spike TV.
Throwback Fighter: Marcus Upshaw
The confident, tenacious, and hard-working orthodox middleweight pugilist Marcus “Arillus” Upshaw (17-13-4, 1NC, 8 KOs) is a firm believer that he’ll be a world champion in the near future.
“My uncle, the late Gene Upshaw, a NFL Hall of Fame offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders always told me that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to, and that is what I aim to do by becoming the best boxer in my weight class,” said Upshaw.
Upshaw’s opportunity to become a world champion continues as he takes on hometown favorite Lanell “KO” Bellows (12-1-1, 7 KOs) this Sunday, June 21st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Upshaw is moving up to the super middleweight division and fighting in his opponents’ backyard for this bout, which he has done throughout his career.