Vazquez dominates Gesta for 12 rounds to retain IBF Lightweight title

12/09/201212/09/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron: On the undercard of the Pacquiao/Marquez IV PPV event, Miguel Vazquez (32-3, 13 KOs) successfully defended his 135 pound title by outpointing previously undefeated contender Mercito Gesta (26-1-1, 14 KOs) for twelve uneventful rounds. The judges at ringside scored the contest 117-111, 119-109, and 118-110, unanimously in favor of the reigning champ.

Throughout every round of the IBF Championship Lightweight contest, the incumbent title holder did a brilliant job of landing his left land and moving away from Gesta’s power punch. He seemed to outbox the tough Filipino prospect with ease while connecting the occasional straight right hand.

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Javier Fortuna decisions Patrick Hyland to win interim WBA Featherweight title

12/09/201212/08/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron: In one of the more highly anticipated preliminary bouts on the Pacaquaio/Marquez IV fight card, knock-out artist Javier Fortuna (21-0, 15 KOs) defeated Patrick Hyland (27-1, 12 KOs) with a surprisingly competitive twelve round unanimous decision. The judges at ringside scored the contest 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113.

The scheduled twelve round fight was for the interim WBA Featherweight Championship, and both men were looking for a sensational showing to attract bigger opportunities against the elite level fighters of the 126 pound weight class.

In the first two stanzas of the 126 pound fight, both men showed their opponent much respect and seemed surprisingly tentative to begin the match. But in the third round, Javier Fortuna began to realize that Patrick Hyland wasn’t planning to let his hands go early and began to open up with sharp straight left hands and right hooks around the tight guard of the cautious Irish fighter.

Although the hard punching Dominican fighter overwhelmingly landed more power shots than his opponent in rounds four and five, nothing seemed to detour Patrick Hyland. Fortuna seemed content with landing the occasional combination, then circling the Irish fighter with lateral movement on both sides of the ring.

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Mikkel Kessler destroys Magee, wins WBA super middleweight strap

09/15/201612/08/2012 ESB

Mikkel Kessler destroys Magee, wins WBA super middleweight strap By Michael Collins,, photo: Wende / Team Sauerland – Using a fierce body attack, Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) chopped down WBA World super middleweight champion Brian Magee (36-5-1, 25 KO’s) in a third round TKO on Saturday night to capture his World Boxing Association 168 pound title at the BOXEN, in Herning, Denmark.

Kessler started off slowly but once he figured out that Magee couldn’t handle it to the body, he dropped him with a nice right hand in the 2nd and then another time in the 3rd round. After the knockdown at the start of the 3rd, the fight was halted because Magee was in no shape to continue fighting.

Kessler landed probing shots in the 1st round as he looked for areas to attack the 37-year-old Magee. Kessler landed some nice jabs and a few single right hands but nothing special. The southpaw Magee charged Kessler and hit him with a few nice shots at the end of the round but for the most part it was all Kessler.

In the 2nd round, Kessler noticed that Magee was wincing when he hit him to the body. He then loaded up with a big right hand to the midsection of Magee that put him down. Kessler then continued to hammer Magee to the body, causing him on two occasions to crouch down in pain but not hitting the canvas.

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A Measured Storm: Fury vs. Johnson

09/15/201612/04/2012 ESB

A Measured Storm: Fury vs. Johnson By Phenyo Molefe: Given Tyson Fury’s previous bouts, recent outbursts and the clear articulation of his goals; one would not be at fault to believe that we were about to witness Tyson unleash punishment on an ‘ill-prepared’ but proven Kevin Johnson. Tyson had to make a statement.

In the opening round, Fury jumped on Johnson with some jabs to the body not giving him sufficient time to find his footing. It looked like we were about to see a new and revised Fury as he presented movement and a variation of punches from all angles. He moved with improved fluidity, comfortably establishing his range and following through with some meaningful combinations.

The second round, begun with the near feverish pace with which Fury had ended the last round. Fuming with a blizzard, setting the jab on a stinger as he pelted Johnson’s body with little restraint. Johnson did have a little success when he pinned Tyson in the corner for a moment or two; however Fury replied with a pivot setting pressure back on Johnson with some telling hooks. He was definitely boxing well and grew in confidence, taking firm control of the bout.

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Austin Trout Shows His Mettle In The Garden As Cotto Falls Victim To The “Canelo Curse”

09/15/201612/02/2012 ESB

Austin Trout Shows His Mettle In The Garden As Cotto Falls Victim To The “Canelo Curse” by Bradley Pearson, photo by Tom Casino / Showtime: A subdued wave of anti-climactic reality clouded the historic Madison Square Garden Arena Saturday night, as the hostile pro-Cotto crowd witnessed what just might have been the sun setting on the career of their favourite son.

Three weight world champion Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) suffered his second consecutive defeat in the hands of spirited underdog Austin Trout, who retained his WBA light middleweight crown- along with his unblemished record. An ageing performance from the proud Puerto Rican gladiator, in which Trout’s (26-0, 14 KO’s) physical advantages appeared too big a task to overcome, punishing Cotto down the stretch of the fight. With the alias “No Doubt”, the American didn’t fold under the lights, repeatedly tagging Cotto with the straight left hand at will, while bullying his smaller opponent on the inside- earning what in the end was, a comfortable points decision. Despite having some early success, Cotto ultimately couldn’t find that extra gear we’ve become so accustomed to seeing; that saw him excel in previous bouts. As the fight matured, the defending champion was able to use his range well, keeping Miguel on the outside, even backing him up at times. Whilst surprisingly wide, the verdict was certainly a fair one- and one that was met with the expected rafters of boo’s from the army of Cotto fans.

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Trout defeats Cotto; Jacobs tops Fitzpatrick; Velez destroys Sanchez II

09/15/201612/01/2012 ESB

Trout defeats Cotto; Jacobs tops Fitzpatrick; Velez destroys Sanchez II By Rob Smith, photo by Tom Casino/Showtime WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) may have ruined Miguel Cotto’s big chance of fighting a huge money mega fight against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by beating Cotto by a decisive 12 round unanimous decision tonight at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York, USA. The final judges’ scores were 117-111, 117-111, 119-109.

Trout might have lost out on a knockout in the 9th round when he hit Cotto with a perfectly legal body shot that had Cotto turning his backing away as if he was quitting. The referee gave Cotto a HUGE break by ruling it was a low blow when in fact it was right on the belt and perfectly legal. Cotto was clearly hurt by the shot and really should have knocked out.

Cotto couldn’t land his big shots during the fight, as he missed over and over again. It just looked like he was too small for the 5’10” Trout. When Cotto did land a nice shot, the crowd would roar with applause. However, this actually worked against Cotto because Trout would turn up the pressure on Cotto. It was this way the entire fight with Cotto landing a rare shot and then having to take 10 shots in return from Trout. Cotto was getting nailed with a lot of jabs, and he didn’t seem to have any way of getting out of the shots other than move around the ring. That’s what Cotto did in the second half of the fight. He was moving constantly and not fighting with the aggression that a challenger should be fighting with.

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Tyson Fury Wins Wide Decision Over Kevin Johnson In Dull Encounter

09/14/201612/01/2012 ESB

Tyson Fury Wins Wide Decision Over Kevin Johnson In Dull Encounter By James Slater: A penny for the thoughts of David Price!

Tonight in Belfast, Tyson Fury retained his unbeaten record in winning a wide yet dull points win over a safety-minded Kevin Johnson. Winning by scores of 119-110, 119-108, 119-108, 24-year-old Fury advanced to 20-0(14) and also moved a step closer to a shot at the WBC heavyweight crown currently held by Vitali Klitschko.

33-year-old Johnson, who promised so much beforehand but failed miserably in the delivery department, is now 28-3-1(13).

There was little action to speak of and tonight’s fight had no standout round. Fury boxed well at times, remaining focused and refusing to go wild at any point. Occasionally switching to southpaw, Fury jabbed well when he used his best weapon. Johnson, appearing to have no real ambition other than to hear the final bell, did get home with the odd jab of his own, as well as the even less frequent right hand.

Soon growing tired of the lack of action (and to be fair, Fury has never been in a stinker before tonight, and the lack of action has to be put firmly on Johnson’s wide shoulders), the crowd began booing in the middle rounds and by the 8th the boos were deafening.

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Joan Guzman: Fractured in his right hand and left knee

12/02/201212/01/2012 ESB

Joan Guzman lost yesterday on November 30th at The BB&T Center his unconquered record against the Russian Khabib Allakhverdiev and fall defeated in the judge’s cards by Technical Decision after 8 rounds. At the moment of the detention of the fight for injuries of the Dominican, the judges had his cards in this way; Michael Pernick 75-76: Nelson Vázquez 76-75: Mark Streisand 75-76.

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Freddie Flintoff Wins – Where Does He Go Next?

09/15/201612/01/2012 ESB

Freddie Flintoff Wins - Where Does He Go Next? by Phil Marshall: No doubt where Flintoff the cricketer would be – in the pub for some time. But exactly what he does next will tell us a lot. If it’s the pub he’s in trouble with his boxing. He’s no Ricky Hatton who in his prime could handle binge drinking and boxing.

If instead this is a new Freddie with a different mindset, and everything about his training says it is, let’s just go with him for the ride.

First, let’s get the negatives out of the way. He was like a booth fighter at the fair many years ago. Except he was the punter up from the audience who fancied his chance. Swinging away while the pro let him have a go. The right hand that first impressed McGuigan needs work. Then more work, Roundhouse, sloppy, nowhere near dangerous enough. But he got in a couple of left jabs that raised hopes especially when he followed up with the right.

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Price destroys 45-year-old Skelton in 2nd round TKO

09/15/201611/30/2012 ESB

Price destroys 45-year-old Skelton in 2nd round TKO By Michael Collins: David Price (15-0, 13 KO’s) successfully defended his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles tonight with a nice 2nd round TKO victory over Mat Skelton (28-7, 23 KO’s) at the Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. Price took his time with the 45-year-old Skelton, but then turned up the heat on the aging fighter in 2nd round after hitting him with a nice body shot that sent Skelton retreating to the ropes.

Price then unleashed an 8-punch flurry that ended with two solid lefts to the body that put Skelton down on his hands and knees on the canvas. Skelton’s corner threw in the towel before the knockdown but the referee failed to see it.

Skelton landed several decent right hands in the opening round after rushing Price in the opening seconds of the round. However, Skelton didn’t have the power or the handspeed to worry the 6’8″ Price, and by the end of the round Skelton was already starting to look tired.

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