With one monster left hook that put Allan Green flat on his back and turned off the lights in Copenhagen, former super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler made a statement and announced his arrival in the light heavyweight division -- even if the weight wasn't exactly a sure sign that he's all-in at 175.
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Weighing 169 pounds on the scales for what was said after to be a 172-pound catchweight bout, Kessler improved to 45-2 with his 34th knockout win in front of his home fans in Denmark. It's certainly not inconceivable that for the right fight, Kessler will just go back to 168 and this feet-wetter at 175 will amount to little in the long run. But he skipped out on a fight that could have netted him a world title at 168 to do this, so it would probably have to be something really big and really well-paying.
23-year-old bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz will get his first chance to impress a larger audience of American fight fans on June 2, and also will be receiving his first world title shot, when he opens Showtime's four-fight card from the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., facing Vusi Malinga for the vacant IBF title.
Santa Cruz, the younger brother of former lightweight contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz, has thus far demolished his opposition, running up a record of 19-0-1 (11 KO), and has a couple of solid, quality wins along the way, too, including victories over tough veteran Jose Lopez and Stephane Jamoye.
His success has, by all accounts, not yet gone to his head. Though he's become an easy favorite of those who have seen him do his work thus far, he's still an unknown to the majority of U.S. fight fans. This will be his first time featured on a major card on American TV, and he's prepared for Malinga (20-3-1, 12 KO) to be a serious challenge.
Gabriel Montoya reports that further analysis of Andre Berto's failed VADA drug test reveals traces of nandrolone so low that it is almost surely a case of contamination, rather than a true attempt to cheat:
Sources have informed me that analysis of Berto's positive tests results for nandrosterone (a metabolic byproduct of nandrolone) revealed "ultra-trace amounts of Nandrolone in the low parts per trillion range and consistent with contamination not intent."
In other words, the amount in his system is so minute [very little] that it is highly unlikely that he intentionally ingested nandrolone but was rather contaminated by food or a supplement.
As Montoya says, this is good news for Berto and his team, but I'm personally not sure how good the news can really be at this point. A lot of folks are simply never going to believe he wasn't intending to cheat, that he wasn't really "juicing," or that this is a mistake which could happen to anyone.
Victor Ortiz has a new opponent for his June 23 date at Staples Center in Los Angeles, as the former welterweight titlist will face Josesito Lopez on Showtime, according to ESPN.com. Ortiz was set to face Andre Berto in a rematch of their thrilling fight from 2011, but Berto tested positive for a steroid last week, scrapping that fight for the second time this year.
Heavyweight contender Chris Arreola will also be added to the June 23 show, making it a triple-header co-promoted by Golden Boy and Goossen Tutor. The scheduled fight between Humberto Soto and Lucas Matthysse is still on, so this a pretty nice card still, even with the loss of a major main event.
Lopez (29-4, 17 KO) hasn't fought since a nip-and-tuck, very debatable loss to Jessie Vargas on the Mayweather-Ortiz undercard last September, but was scheduled to take on Kendall Holt on June 22, which was to headline Friday Night Fights. Holt, however, bailed on the fight when he decided he didn't want to fight outdoors.
The officials have been named for the June 9 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, with a slightly surprising choice at referee and three veteran judges in place.
The referee will be Robert Byrd, a familiar name to boxing fans but unfamiliar in fights of this level, at least not in Nevada. Generally speaking, when Byrd works a world title fight, he travels abroad to do so, as he did a couple of weeks ago when he went to Germany for the Marco Huck vs Ola Afolabi rematch.
As best I can tell, Byrd has never before been the third man in the ring for a fight involving Pacquiao or Bradley. It will be the first time in Manny's last ten fights in the state of Nevada that the referee is someone other than Kenny Bayless, Tony Weeks, or Vic Drakulich. Bradley, of course, has fought just once in the state, when he beat Joel Casamayor in November.
Bad Left Hook's Ryan Bivins was in the house this past Saturday night at Bally's Atlantic City to catch Peltz Boxing's card headlined by junior middleweights Jamaal Davis and Eberto Medina.
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On May 19th, 2012 Peltz Boxing Promotions put on another thrilling night of fights at Bally's Atlantic City with quality undercards and an action packed main event. The card was seven fights deep with all but one going the distance despite knockdowns occurring in three. Some of the higher profiled non-combatants in attendance included rising heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings, unified USBA & NABF cruiserweight champion Garrett Wilson, former two time world cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham, and the world renowned trainer Naazim Richardson. Jennings worked the corners of Louis Robinson and Fred Jenkins Jr. while Richardson worked the corner of Jamaal Davis in the main event (although not as head coaches).
Davis was originally scheduled to fight Harry Joe Yorgey, but Yorgey suffered a shoulder injury roughly three weeks prior. Eberto Medina, who was actually Jamaal's last opponent, replaced Yorgey on two weeks' notice. Like their first fight, one judge ruled it a draw. Fortunately for Davis this time around both of the other judges scored it for him. Medina, now 0-1-1 against Davis, finished the fight feeling like a winner regardless. Records aside, there really were no losers on this night.
We have a new champion, as Hoosier closed with a flourish to claim the Season 11 crown with 251 points. Having saved plenty of doubles & triples for the final week, the latest pick'em titlist declared "2nd place is first loser, Go Big or Go Home," before dropping a huge 68 points to blow away the field.
Second spot went to ekker3 with a very respectable 221.5 points, followed Sweet science in third (for the second season in a row) with 214. The 2011 overall champion ulises solis grabbed fourth with 205, while KidSleez placed fifth with 195.5.
The rest of the overall top ten had EndoEnderson in sixth at 186.5, Radu seventh with 178, Brockman1 eighth at 175.5, Dafs ninth at 175.5 and Sam5001 in tenth with 165.5.
The 68 points posted by Hoosier, was easily good enough to take weekly honors. In second was Vicmatic1 with 43.5, followed RyanSexton in third at 34 and Radu in fourth at 33.5. There was a tie for fifth, with cheetahpants and sp0rtsfan86 both posting 30.5 points. The rest of the weekly top ten had TheMysticalNinja at 29.5, A.F. 27.5, MrAlencon at 26 and indian runner at 25.5.
The top 20 players all received Player of the Year points. Here are the current POTY standings (Season 11 POTY points in brackets)...
The complete overall and weekly standings after the jump...
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr UD-12 Juan Alberto Rosas: Well, this is a legitimizer sort of win for Sanchez, the 21-year-old who lifted the IBF super flyweight title from Rodrigo Guerrero earlier this year. That fight was close, and somewhat controversial. One of the cards (119-109 for Sanchez) was ridiculous, but the win itself wasn't a robbery or anything. This time, he pretty cleanly and clearly outboxed a solid, tough veteran contender, winning on scores of 118-109, 118-109, and 120-107, which I have not seen disputed by anyone. Rosas, 27, had a brief run with the same belt back in 2010. Sanchez has now truly arrived as a super flyweight contender and a top 10 guy in the division, but it's also worth noting that Guerrero's loss to Sanchez now looks much better, and a rematch between the two would be great to see for this summer. Sanchez 14-1-1 (7), Rosas 36-7 (27).
Celaya, Mexico
Denver Cuello KO-2 Ganigan Lopez: Down at 105 and 108, it can be hard to tell what's going to happen. There are always a couple of true standouts, but the guys below that very high level can be susceptible to upsets, and short-term top fighters can come out of nowhere. That didn't happen here, as Cuello put Lopez down in the first round, and put him away at 2:37 of the second. Cuello now is in line for a shot at Kazuto Ioka, who holds the WBC belt at 105, but Ioka must first defeat Akira Yaegashi on June 20, and that's no guarantee. Cuello 31-4-6 (21), Lopez 20-5 (14).
Pharr, Texas
Odlanier Solis UD-12 Konstantin Airich: Solis is still a big fatso, weighing in at 267½ for this one, and wasn't exactly looking "back" in this one, though he did win easily on scores of 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110. Solis, 32, could weigh 300 pounds and pretty easily defeat Airich. He could beat Airich in his sleep. Airich simply is not very good at all, probably best-known for the time his promoter Ahmet Oner rang an early bell for him when Danny Williams was beating the living crap out of him in 2008. He was coming off of a decent win against Ondrej Pala. Solis' dedication to the sport is still worth questioning, but on pure skill, he is still a fringe contender at worst. Solis 18-1 (12), Airich 23-6-2 (17).
Jerry Belmontes UD-8 Ramesis Gil: The 23-year-old Belmontes is a 5'9" super featherweight prospect from Corpus Christi, turning into a bit of a local favorite, and though he's yet to step up his competition, he's got some promise. He's still a long way off from being a contender, but worth keeping tabs for the time being. Gil is a rare guy whose record comes fairly close to being split between wins, losses, and draws. Belmontes 16-0 (5), Gil 7-4-5 (5).
After the Jump: Karim Mayfield, BoxAcademy, Oliver McCall loses in Germany, Maurico Pintor loses his "0," and more.
