Mexico City – April 15, 2005. The purse offer was held today in Mexico City for the mandatory title fight between featherweight world champion Injin Chi of Korea and No. 1 ranked contender Rocky Juarez of the United States. Murad Muhammad of M&M Sports won with a bid of $700,002. Carl Moretti of Main Events bid $402,515.
Upcoming World Championship and Final Elimination Fights:
April 16 – Tokyo, Japan – Bantamweight World Championship
Champion Veeraphol Nakhonluang (47-1-2, 33 KOs, Nakhon Ratchaseema, Thailand) vs
Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC No. 4, 17-2, 5 KOs, Hyogo, Japan)
May 7 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Lightweight World Championship
WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1, 46 KOs, Mexicali, Mexico) vs
WBO champion Diego Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs, Sacramento, California)
May 14 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Welterweight World Championship
Champion Zab Judah (33-2, 24 KOs, Brooklyn, New York) vs
Cosme Rivera (WBC No. 9, 28-7-2, 21 KOs, Huatabampo, Mexico)
Plus Middleweight Final Elimination Bout
Felix Trinidad (WBC No. 1, 42-1, 35 KOs, Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico) vs
Winky Wright (WBC No. 2, 48-3, 25 KOs, St. Petersburg, Florida)
May 21 – Chicago, Illinois – Vacant Light Heavyweight World Championship
Paul Briggs (WBC No. 1, 23-1, 17 KOs, Queensland, Australia) vs
Tomasz Adamek (WBC No. 4, 28-0, 19 KOs, Zywiec, Poland)
Plus Super Welterweight Final Elimination Bout
Ricardo Mayorga (WBC No. 2, 26-5-1, 22 KOs, Managua, Nicaragua) vs
Alex Garcia (WBC No. 15, 23-1, 22 KOs, Tijuana, Mexico)
June 25 – Atlantic City, New Jersey – Super Lightweight World Championship
Champion Arturo Gatti (39-6, 30 KOs, Jersey City, New Jersey) vs
Floyd Mayweather (WBC No. 1, 33-0, 22 KOs, Las Vegas, Nevada)
World Championship Results:
April 2 – Worcester, Massachusetts – Cruiserweight World Championship
Jean-Marc Mormeck (31-2, 21 KOs, Rosny, France) W12 Wayne Braithwaite (21-1, 17 KOs, Brooklyn, New York)
It was a highly-anticipated fight, and Mormeck won by unanimous decision in a tremendous battle. Braithwaite kept a fast pace in the early rounds. He boxed and moved effectively, switched between the right and lefthanded stances, and won three of the first four rounds on two scorecards. But Mormeck constantly pressed forward and rallied in the middle rounds. He won the fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth rounds on all three scorecards, and scored a knockdown in the seventh round, as well. Braithwaite was cut over his left eye by an accidental headbutt in the eighth round, and Braithwaite was penalized one point for holding in the same round. Mormeck boxed and moved in the last three rounds, and won by scores of 114-112, 115-111, 116-110. Dick Flaherty was the referee.
April 4 – Osaka, Japan – Strawweight World Championship
Katsunari Takayama (15-1, 7 KOs, Osaka, Japan) W12 Isaac Bustos (24-7-3, 13 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico)
21-year old Takayama won the world title with a unanimous decision against defending champion Bustos, who was making his first title defense. Bustos fought aggressively, but Takayama frustrated him with movement and consistently outworked him. Takayama started fast and won the first three rounds on all three scorecards, but Bustos rallied in the middle rounds. Takayama finished strongly – he won the last three rounds on one scorecard, and two of the last three on the other two, and won by scores of 117-111, 117-112, 115-113. Vic Drakulich was the referee.
April 9 – El Paso, Texas – Super Featherweight World Championship
Marco Antonio Barrera (60-4, 42 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico) TKO2 Mzonke Fana (22-3, 8 KOs, Cape Town, South Africa)
Barrera made his first defense of the title with an overpowering performance. He staggered Fana late in the first round, and scored a knockdown with a right hand in the second. Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight without a count at 1:48 of the second round.
Note: In the Arce-Hussein fight on March 19 in Las Vegas, Arce was leading 88-82 on all three scorecards when the fight was stopped in the tenth round.