German super-middleweights Arthur Abraham (33-3, 27KO’s) and Robert Stieglitz (41-2, 23KO’s) both scored victories tonight in Germany but the performances couldn’t have been more different. Stieglitz had no problems at all scoring a wide unanimous decision over fellow German Henry Weber (15-1-1, 3KO’s), but Abraham, returning from a loss to Andre Ward in the Super Six, looked less than impressive despite scoring a fifth-round TKO over Argentina’s rugged Pablo Farias (19-2, 11KO’s).

Abraham,31, had lost three of his last four coming into tonight’s fight, so could be forgiven for being a little cautious, but up until the stoppage in the fifth round barely landed a punch. Farias was game and stood in front of Abraham, throwing hooks and body shots, but Abraham’s sporadic wild swings hit thin air.

 Read more...

Amir Khan is now questioning the presence of a 'mysterious' man at ringside

The latest accusations from Amir Khan’s camp about a strange man at ringside who may have had some influence on the scoring of the fight highlight the lengths some people will go to to continue deluding themselves that they were not beaten by a better man. Anyone that watched Khan’s fight with Lamont Peterson that night knows, regardless of scorecard anomalies or points deductions, who deserved to win. And it wasn’t Khan.

To complain so loudly and forcefully for so long following the loss does nothing to improve it, and conversely, will eventually backfire. All of us watching this unfold are becoming more and more shocked by the desperation and delusion that accompanies it. Are we really to believe that an ‘unidentified’ man in a suit at ringside was the reason Khan lost to Lamont Peterson? Or was it more to do with a certain Washington fighter who showed Khan how to fight like a man?

 Read more...

Dirrell looked as if he'd never been away with an easy win over Cunningham

Although neither had fought for around two years Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor looked at very different stages of their comebacks last night at the Marongo Casino in Cabazon, California, despite both men scoring relatively comfortable victories.

Super-middleweight Dirrell (20-1, 14KO’s), with perhaps the tougher test on paper, took no time at all stopping fellow Michigan fighter Darryl Cunningham (24-3, 10KO’s), dropping the 37 year-old twice en route to a second round TKO.

Looking sharp and lean, Dirrell couldn’t miss with his southpaw left and peppered Cunningham throughout. With absolutely nothing coming back from Cunningham it was all a bit easy for Dirrell, who looked as if he’d never been away.

 Read more...

This Friday night sees two fighters coming back from long breaks as former Super Six contenders Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell co-headline a card at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California to be aired live on Showtime. Taylor, not having fought for more than two years, wins the prize for longest inactivity but Dirrell himself hasn’t stepped between the ropes for 21 months so both will be hoping for a smooth transition back into the sport. Luckily for them opponents Jessie Nicklow and Darryl Cunningham appear hand-picked for the occasion.

Dirrell (19-1, 13KO’s) has the tougher test of the two, and that’s to be expected. Although a head injury has kept him out of the ring after suffering a concussion when taking an illegal blow in his winning fight with Arthur Abraham in March 2010, big things are still expected of the Flint, Michigan fighter.

 Read more...

Brook (left) was in complete control of his bout with Galarza

In the chief supporting bout to Ward-Froch at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J the touted English welterweight Kell ‘Special K’ Brook (26-0, 18KO’s) made his long-awaited debut on American soil and looked good breaking down and stopping Luis Galarza (17-3, 13KO’s) in the fifth of their scheduled ten-rounder. Brook, ranked by all the governing bodies, hardly put a foot wrong, dominating his Tennessee-based Puerto Rican opponent from start to finish.

Brook’s manager Eddie Hearn has promised him a World title fight in the new year, and against Galarza looked more than ready to move on to bigger things. Showing fast hands, maturity and good ring awareness, Brook will have impressed all who watched with his controlled demolition job.

 Read more...

Ward (right) controlled Froch from range and in close

After all the trash talk and hype, everybody expected a close, tough fight between Andre Ward (25-0, 13KO’s) and Carl Froch (28-2, 20KO’s) in the final of Showtime’s Super Six super-middleweight tournament at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but it didn’t turn out like that, as Ward romped home on the scorecards with an easy win.

Nottingham, England’s Froch simply couldn’t cope with the speed of the undefeated Californian and failed round after round to land his punches and impose himself. With the victory Ward becomes the unified WBA/WBC champion as well as winner of the inaugural Super Six trophy.

 Read more...

Brian Viloria was perceived as cannon fodder when he entered the ring against Giovanni Segura

Last weekend saw two underdogs overcome pound-for-pound rated opposition to shock and surprise viewers and commentators, and upset the natural order of odds-making and star grooming. Except, in 2011, it seems that plucky underdogs upsetting stars––and stars in the making––was the natural order of the sport.

Despite the accusations of “home cooking,” Washington D.C’s Lamont Peterson turned in the best performance of his career to take two alphabet titles from Bolton, UK’s Amir Khan. On the same night, in a different hemisphere, “Hawaiian Punch” Brian Viloria knocked out the rangy Giovanni Segura in the Philippines to continue a remarkable career rejuvenation.

 Read more...

Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15KO’s) is the new WBA/IBF light-welterweight champion after defeating former holder Amir Khan on a split decision over twelve frantic rounds at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The talking point will undoubtably be the two points that referee Joseph Cooper deducted from Khan for pushing but Peterson still fought the fight of his life and deserves credit.

After the fight Khan was furious with the treatment he received from the referee, saying he was fighting two men but in truth it was Peterson who deserved to win. Showing superhuman strength and determination, Peterson got right in Khan’s face and didn’t give him a second to think, winging in hooks and uppercuts that caught Khan flush all night long.

 Read more...

Khan (left) isn't worried about conceding hometown advantage to Peterson

When Lamont Peterson (29-1-1, 15KO’s) steps into the ring on Saturday night at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C to challenge England’s WBA/IBF light-welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18KO’s) he will do so in front of his own fans in his own city, but will hometown advantage be enough for him to do the unexpected and defeat Khan? The short answer is no, not likely.

Bernard Hopkins has this week been speaking about the benefit of boxing at home, and it is true that having an entire crowd in the corner during a fight can uplift a fighter when he needs it most, but the truth is, the crowd can only do so much. They can’t step into the ring and trade blows with Khan, they can’t lift Peterson up off the canvas when he needs to beat the count, but one thing they can, and often do, is influence the scoring judges at ringside.

 Read more...

Before last Saturday, much had been made about the moral peril that many boxing fans would find themselves in by taking part in the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito rematch. I say taking part because when a fight is imbued with as much ambiguity, nationalistic pride and genuine ill will as this one, the audience becomes an important part of the spectacle.

That audience took in the fight from the comfort of their homes and at local sports bars, on pay per view and via illegal online streams. Some couldn’t find a screen so they took in the details of the fight via he modern equivalent of old time fight radio broadcasts; twitter. A lucky 20,000 mostly-Newyorican crowd packed New York’s Madison Square Garden to see the fight in person. I personally extended a night out well beyond the limits of reason and took in a Japanese broadcast of the fight at 6am CET.

 Read more...

On a busy night of action at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night, it was Brandon ‘Bam Bam’ Rios that stole the show, stopping the tough Englishman John Murray in the eleventh after a hard, gruelling fight. Also in action, Delvin Rodriguez scored a win against old-foe Pawel Wolak, improving on their draw last time out to defeat the New Jersey-based Pole on points.

Rios (right) maintained an element of control throughout

In the chief-supporting bout to the Cotto-Margarito main event, Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 22KO’s) should have been defending his WBA lightweight title for the second time, but failed to make the weight and lost his title on the scales. It didn’t affect his performance however, and looked impressive taking apart John Murray (31-2, 18KO’s) overwhelming and punishing the Manchester-based fighter, forcing him to be saved by the referee in the eleventh round.

 Read more...

Cotto (right) gained sweet revenge over Margarito with a tenth-round TKO victory

In a hotly anticipated grudge match, WBA Jr. middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto retained his belt against Antonio Margarito with a 10^th round TKO when the fight was stopped on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Cotto, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, boxed beautifully and patiently for nine full rounds, sticking and moving, backpedaling and turning Tijuana, Mexico’s Margarito with effective footwork.

Margarito was game throughout the fight, as he tried to repeat his performance in the pairing’s first fight and pin Cotto along the ropes, however Cotto’s skills had improved too much to fall into the same traps he did in 2008.

 Read more...

Moreno (right) controlled Darchinyan with his jab all night long

It’s not often the defending champion goes into a fight as a clear underdog, especially when he’s making his ninth defense, but that’s exactly what happened when WBA bantamweight champion Anselmo ‘Chemito’ Moreno (32-1-1, 11KO’s) stepped into the ring in Anaheim, California last night to face the highly experienced Armenian puncher Vic Darchinyan (37-4-1, 27KO’s). Like a true champion though, Moreno made a mockery of those odds and controlled Darchinyan with beautiful boxing to romp home a clear unanimous-decision winner on the scorecards after twelve completed rounds.

In case anyone hadn’t heard of him before, Moreno made sure he wont be forgotten in a hurry, putting on a great display of boxing to outwit and humiliate Darchinyan. Using good balance and sharp reflexes, Moreno dodged Darchinyan’s crude, wild punches all night long and countered with effective shots of his own.

 Read more...

Abner Mares will feel a form of redemption after the controversial first fight

WBA bantamweight champion Abner Mares (23-0-1, 13KO’s) will feel a sense of redemption after defeating Joseph ‘King Kong’ Agbeko (28-4, 22KO’s) convincingly over twelve rounds last night in their rematch at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in the final of Showtime’s bantamweight tournament. Mares controlled the action throughout with a good jab and fast combinations that Agbeko had no answer to. Unlike the first fight there was no controversy over low blows or knockdowns this time, and Mares was a clear winner on all three cards.

“I’m just happy people can see my true boxing. Without controversy. They saw the real Abner. They did last time too but there was a lot of bad stuff that happened. Now, this is the real Abner and I proved it. I beat him once, now I beat him again, and I’m just happy.”

 Read more...

Povetkin (left) wasn't at his best but still had enough to win

Although not at his best, undefeated Russian WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (23-0, 16KO’s) still had enough to see off American challenger Cedric Boswell (35-2, 26KO’s) tonight, knocking him out in the eighth round of their bout at the at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. Boswell gave a decent enough account of himself and Povetkin didn’t look in top form, but in the end got the job done and that’s all that really matters.

Boswell, at 42, looked fresh for his age and for the first few rounds matched Povetkin for speed. A solid, long jab kept Povetkin thinking but it was the Russian that looked the more aggressive. Throwing hooks and uppercuts, Povetkin tried to penetrate Boswell’s defense but for the most part didn’t really succeed.

 Read more...