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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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Sturm fires a jab between Murray's continually high-held guard

He may consider himself unlucky not to get the win, but Germany’s Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15KO’s) is still the WBA middleweight champion after drawing with English challenger Martin Murray (23-0-1, 10KO’s) over twelve hard-fought rounds at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. Although the undefeated Murray deserves all the credit in the World for stepping up so many levels and doing so well, it did seem as if the champion deserved more from the judges than he got.

At no point during the fight was Sturm truly dominant, and Murray, although inexperienced, kept calm and boxed maturely. Looking by far the bigger man, Sturm soon began bringing his right hand in to play behind his jab and out-muscled Murray at times, but Murray never dropped his hands and took a lot of shots on his gloves and arms. Although Sturm was busier he got a little frustrated at times and Murray took advantage.

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Jorge 'Travieso' Arce becomes a champion in five different weight divisions

It was never easy but Jorge ‘Travieso’ Arce (59-6-2, 45KO’s) is the new WBO bantamweight champion after defeating Indonesia’s Angky Angkotta (25-6, 14KO’s) over twelve hard-fought rounds at the Plaza de Toros Rea in Sinaloa, Mexico. It’s the second time Arce has defeated Angkotta but there was no doubt this time about the winner. Arce is now the first ever Mexican to win World titles in five different divisions.

Unique ring entrances have always been Jorge Arce’s thing, but to serenade the crowd as you make your way into the ring is unique. Nevertheless that’s what Arce did and seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly. He became all business as soon as the first bell rang though and it didn’t take long for the cagey opening to develop into a gruelling fight for both men.

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Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (pictured) made easy work of Kermit Cintron

Although the timing of the stoppage by referee Hector Afu was questionable, there was no doubt who the dominant man was in Saul Alvarez’s TKO of Kermit Cintron at the Monumental Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Mexico tonight. Alvarez, making the third defence of his WBC light-middleweight title, never gave Cintron a chance and went through the gears to put the Puerto Rican challenger on the floor before forcing the finish in the fifth round.

It was a cagey start with neither man wanting to make a mistake, and for the first couple of rounds Cintron, 32, looked as if he could be competitive with the young Mexican, but Alvarez’s punches were crisp and fast. Beginning to bring the right hand in behind his jab, he pushed Cintron on to the back foot and controlled center ring well. It was never going to be enough for the aggressive Alvarez (39-0-1, 29KO’s), and he started turning up the heat.

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Broner becomes one of the sports youngest World champions

Cincinnati’s Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner (22-0, 18KO’s) is the new WBO super-featherweight champion after dominating Argentinian opponent Vicente Martin Rodriguez (34-3-1, 19KO’s), scoring a third round knockout in front of his hometown fans at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

At just 22 Broner becomes one of the youngest champions in the sport and couldn’t hide his delight when the fight was stopped, sinking to the floor in tears. It was an emotional moment for Broner but no less than he deserved after withstanding a frenzied early assault before nailing Rodriguez with a left hook that dropped him like a stone.

“I always dreamed of this day, and I put on a great performance,” said Broner after the fight. “This is my dream. When I started this at 6 years old I told my Dad I’d be a world champion.”

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Grant (left) travelled to Botha's back yard and came out victorious

39-year-old American heavyweight Michael Grant (48-4, 36KO’s) turned back the clock last night, withstanding heavy punches that would have finished many a fighter, coming from behind on the scorecards to defeat South African opponent Frans Botha (48-6-3, 29KO’s) with a dramatic twelfth-round knockout in a battle of veterans.

Botha, fighting in front of his countrymen at the Monte Casino in Johannesburg, South Africa, must have wondered what he had to do after throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Grant for round after round only to find the giant 6’9″ heavyweight still standing right in front of him.

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