RASKIN’S RANTS: Mares, Moreno, Martirosyan, Mikey & More

Published

12 years ago

November 12, 2012

002 Abner Mares vs Anselmo Moreno After that 120-106 card, we have added Dr. James Gen-Kim to our watch list. May his spambox be flooded with offers for Lasik surgery.

I have a very strict rule in place: Whenever 15 live fights air on premium cable in a 26-hour span, I write a “Raskin’s Rants” column. No exceptions. So here goes with a Leo-Santa-Cruz-like non-stop assault of scattered thoughts at the end of a hectic, DVR-space-sapping weekend of boxing:

· Let’s start with the unofficial main event of the weekend, Abner Mares vs. Anselmo Moreno to determine the mandatory challenger to junior feather champ Nonito Donaire (if you take all the alphabet belts out of the equation and simplify things, that’s what this fight was). I scored the fight 115-111 for Mares, and I thought if anything (based upon the Twitterverse’s scoring) I was being a tad Mares-friendly in my judging. Apparently my idea of “Mares-friendly” was a gentlemanly handshake compared to the dry-hump of “Mares-friendly” that was the official scoring. Look, the decision went to the right guy. But just because the right guy got it doesn’t mean a bad scorecard should be swept under the rug, and Dr. James Jen-Kin’s 120-106 in Mares’ favor has to be in the running for the worst scorecard ever. I’m not exaggerating for effect. No individual card in Pacquiao-Bradley or Williams-Lara or anything Gale Van Hoy has ever done was worse than giving Mares every single round. Is Jen-Kin old and incompetent? I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope that's the explanation for his scorecard.

· The worst part of Jen-Kin’s scorecard is that it prevented me from leading with this: I think this was the best all-around performance of Mares’ career. Given the level of opposition, even taking into account the late fade, Mares has never looked better. He might be in the pound-for-pound top 10 now; he’s at least in the discussion.

· In addition to cementing his status as a pound-for-pound candidate, Mares also cemented his status as a dirty fighter. It’s a designation the boxing world has been hesitant to attach to him because he’s a pint-sized, clean-cut pretty boy. His look seems incongruous with the reality that he bends the rules as much as Bernard Hopkins. But that is the reality. Mares’ instinct when he sees an opening for a cheap shot is to take it every time, whether that means firing a low blow, an elbow, or my personal favorite, a blatant straight right hand to the kidney. Yet somehow it was Moreno who suffered a point deduction! Al Bernstein had every right to be apoplectic about that. I haven’t seen Al this bent out of shape since NBC’s Smash went on an extended hiatus.

· A further note on Mares’ dirty tactics and Bernstein’s response to them: I thought Al nailed it during the discussion of low blows when he acknowledged that, yes, Moreno was pulling Mares’ head down, but if you start to throw a punch after your head has been pulled down, you need to adjust your aim. Maybe Mares wasn’t throwing intentional low blows. But at the very least, his attitude was, “I’m going to let this punch fly and I don’t care if it lands somewhere illegal.”

· Meanwhile, huge credit to Moreno for battling back in a fight in which, at points during rounds five and six, it looked like he was going to get stopped. He came up short, but his work over the second half of the fight prevented his stock from dropping.

· As for the weekend’s other controversially scored fight, I’m going to say something that I haven’t really seen anyone else say: The draw between Erislandy Lara and Vanes Martirosyan was an all-out robbery. Lara took Martirosyan to school. I gave Martirosyan one round. I could see giving him two or three. But to give him more than that is to reward ineffective plodding and wild swinging and missing. All night long, Vanes flailed toward his target and Lara picked him off with quick, short, counter right hooks. I hate to use CompuBox stats as a justification or rebuttal of a result, but in this case, they speak to what was happening in the ring. Lara landed 74 punches, Martirosyan just 33. Those numbers reflect the kind of fight it was. One guy was getting a modest amount done offensively, and the other guy was getting nothing done offensively. From the first round, the robbery was in progress, as Lara dictated every single moment of the round—he was quicker, displayed superior defense, and landed more punches (11-3, according to the punch counters)—yet Harold Lederman somehow gave the round to Martirosyan, and so did two of the judges. I refuse to blame Lara for his inability to impress the judges. I blame the judges who either can’t tell what’s landing or don’t care what’s landing.

· With all that said, Dave Moretti did the right thing by scoring the partial ninth round even. If you want to castigate him for giving four of the first eight rounds to Martirosyan, be my guest. But to try to declare a winner in a round that lasts 26 seconds is absurd, and Moretti was the only judge with the common sense to call it a 10-10 round. Frankly, I’m not a fan of the “score the partial round” rule in the first place. Either ditch the rule, modify it so it only applies if at least half the round is completed, or encourage judges to go 10-10 if nothing of consequence happens in the aborted round.

· HBO’s Max Kellerman summed up my feelings about Lara when he told him after the fight, “I haven’t seen you lose yet, but you can’t get the wins!” That was a good line. On the flip side, “kissing your sister”—come on, you’re better than that, Max. (I will say in Max’s defense that it’s a live broadcast and if a cliché is the first thing that comes to mind, sometimes you have to go with it. The same excuse does not apply to writing. I will not name names, but those of you who express yourselves in clichés know who you are.)

· While on the topic of commentators, Lou DiBella was fairly entertaining in his Epix debut. He’s a natural. That said, I must poke two holes in the DiBella-color-analyst experiment. First, I’m surprised someone who’s been around boxing this long so vastly overrates the role of size in a fight (Lou did the same thing when he was on Ring Theory a couple of months ago and insisted Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s size scared him going into the Sergio Martinez fight). And second, the conflict of interest inherent in Lou being an active promoter makes it so that he can’t make this a remotely regular gig. A network like HBO could never use him because other promoters would be outraged. And even in this specific spot on Epix, he inevitably found himself in awkward situations where he had to make decisions as to whether or not to reference fighters in his stable, such as Tor Hamer. DiBella as broadcaster is simply not a sustainable arrangement.

· I’ll have more to say about Wladimir Klitschko and the heavyweight division in another article on another site later this week, but for now, two quick thoughts: First, Wlad’s win over Mariusz Wach was the most entertaining fight either Klitschko brother has been a part of in more than seven years. So, congrats to all involved in Klitschko-Wach, I guess. And second, can we please stop trying to assign the Klitschko brothers (or any other active fighters) a ranking among the all-time greats before their careers are complete? What if that random fifth-round right hand from Wach had kayoed Wladimir? We’d all be re-writing his legacy today. As you may recall if you were watching boxing a little over a decade ago, when Lennox Lewis got flattened by Hasim Rahman everyone with a keyboard or a microphone was tearing Lennox’s legacy apart. Then he won three fights and retired, and now he’s in almost everyone’s all-time heavyweight top 10. To say when Wladimir Klitschko fights that we’re watching one of the 10 greatest heavyweights ever is foolish—just as it would be to declare that he isn’t one of the 10 greatest heavyweights ever. He’s one of the two greatest heavyweights in the game right now. Let’s hold off on any further analysis until after he retires.

· Rough weekend for Wach. First he has to settle for second place in his heavyweight title fight, then he has to settle for third place in the Scariest Face of the Weekend contest, behind the new-look Alfredo Angulo and what’s left of Mickey Rourke.

· I’ve decided that Mikey Garcia is the Boardwalk Empire of boxing. You always feel like greatness is around the corner, but instead what you get is just good enough to keep your interest. There are inevitable slow stretches, and they’re often followed by even slower stretches, and then, just when you’ve started to accept mild disappointment, something spectacular happens. Garcia’s fight with Jonathan Barros gave us what most Garcia fights give us: an explosive ending to a steady, workmanlike performance.

· Anyone else find that “no mas” from Barros a bit peculiar? Either he doesn’t have a whole lot of heart (which I don’t believe is the case) or he was a lot more effed up than he appeared after that hook knocked him down.

· Just came up with a brilliant idea for a terrible movie: A kid with cancer receives Alfredo Angulo’s hair thanks to Locks of Love, and the hair provides special powers and turns the kid into the baddest S.O.B. in the schoolyard. (Well, you know, until he runs into the kid who received Kermit Cintron’s hair.)

· In all seriousness, I didn’t realize how much I missed Angulo until the bell rang on Saturday night. Boxing is much, much better off with “El Perro” around.

· Saturday night confirmed that, whether Showtime provides HBO with any video clips or not, Leo Santa Cruz does indeed deserve a spot on Jim Lampley’s “Gatti List.” He’s right up there near Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado, and Victor Ortiz among the most consistently entertaining fighters on the planet. And I love the fact that Santa Cruz goes about his business with a smile on his face half the time.

· I thought the combination of Mauro Ranallo, Al Bernstein, and Paulie Malignaggi worked much better the second time around. Bernstein was actually given opportunities to speak on occasion this time, and Malignaggi dialed down the screaming considerably. The content of what Malignaggi has to say is undeniably strong; if he can perfect the delivery, he’ll be as good in this role as Antonio Tarver was.

· Having offered that praise, a note of constructive criticism to all of the three-man crews working Saturday, on Showtime, HBO, and Epix: Occasional silence is permitted. The mere sight of two guys punching each other can, for at least a few seconds, qualify as entertainment all by itself.

· I like Nathan Cleverly. But all the Joe Calzaghe comparisons aren’t doing him any favors. And I get why Cleverly would want to fight Bernard Hopkins. But I don’t see the logic in B-Hop wanting to fight him. Why would a 48-year-old (by the time they might fight) future Hall of Famer want to face a good boxer half his age with no name value? Sorry, but I don’t see Hopkins chasing alphabet trinkets at this stage in his career. He wanted Jean Pascal because it was the right style matchup and because it was for a real, lineal championship. Neither of those boxes are checked in the case of Cleverly, and therefore, I don’t for one second believe this fight will happen.

· My personal favorite prospect in boxing: Jesse Magdaleno. (Apologies for the Larry-King-in-USA-Today-like brevity and randomness of that “Rants” entry.)

· It was depressing—but wholly understandable—to see how much less fanfare there was for Friday night’s Olympians’ debut as compared to a similar HBO show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden that I attended in 2000. As for the quality of the matchmaking on this “special” edition of ShoBox, it’s pretty much what you expect for pro debuts. I’m fine with it. But if these guys want to have more set-up fights like these going forward (and they should), let them do it off TV. We don’t need an entire army of Demetrius Andrades clogging up our airwaves.

· The only guy among the five debuting Olympians who really impressed me was Errol Spence. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I fear that Rau’Shee Warren spent four years too many honing an amateur style.

· Gary Russell Jr. is either being horribly mismanaged, or his handlers know something about him that we don’t.

· We have another intriguing weekend of fights awaiting us, and the best of them will be Hernan “Tyson” Marquez vs. Brian Viloria on WealthTV. This is the biggest hurdle left standing between Rios-Alvarado and Fight of the Year honors.

· I was going to pick Johnathon Banks to upset Seth Mitchell this Saturday night. Then I found out it was this Johnathon Banks. Not this one.

· In honor of Veterans Day, I invite you to enjoy this Ring Theory clip in which Bill Dettloff, Tim Starks, and I pay tribute to (alleged) war veteran Norman Stone. If you enjoy this, I encourage you to pony up a few bucks and subscribe to the podcast. It’s what the proud men and women who have served our country in combat would want you to do.

Eric Raskin can be contacted at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRaskin and listen to new episodes of his podcast, Ring Theory, at http://ringtheory.podbean.com.

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Eric Raskin

Weekend Recap and More with the Accent of Heavyweights

Published

3 hours ago

April 7, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Weekend-Recap-and-More-with-Accents-on-Heavyweights

There were a lot of heavyweights in action across the globe this past weekend including six former Olympians. The big fellows added luster to a docket that was deep but included only one world title fight.

The bout that attracted the most eyeballs was the 10-rounder in Manchester between Filip Hrgovic and Joe Joyce. Hrgovic took the match on three weeks’ notice when Dillian Whyte suffered a hand injury in training and was forced to pull out.

Dillian Whyte is rugged but Joe Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren did Joe no favors by rushing Filip Hrgovic into the breach. The Croatian was arguably more skilled than Whyte and had far fewer miles on his odometer. Joyce, who needed a win badly after losing three of his previous four, would find himself in an underdog role.

This was a rematch of sorts. They had fought 12 years ago in London when both were amateurs and Joyce won a split decision in a 5-round fight. Back then, Joyce was 27 years old and Hrgovic only 20. Advantage Joyce. Twelve years later, the age gap favored the Croatian.

In his first fight with California trainer Abel Sanchez in his corner, Hrgovic had more fuel in his tank as the match wended into the late rounds and earned a unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 96-95), advancing his record to 18-1 (14).

It wasn’t long ago that Joe Joyce was in tall cotton. He was undefeated (15-0, 14 KOs) after stopping Joseph Parker and his resume included a stoppage of the supposedly indestructible Daniel Dubois. But since those days, things have gone haywire for the “Juggernaut.” His loss this past Saturday to Hrgovic was his fourth in his last five starts. He battled Derek Chisora on nearly even terms after getting blasted out twice by Zhilei Zhang but his match with Chisora gave further evidence that his punching resistance had deteriorated.

Joe Joyce will be 40 years old in September. He should heed the calls for him to retire. “One thing about boxing, you get to a certain age and this stuff can catch up with you,” says Frank Warren. But in his post-fight press conference, Joyce indicated that he wasn’t done yet. If history is any guide, he will be fed a soft touch or two and then be a steppingstone for one of the sport’s young guns.

The newest member of the young guns fraternity of heavyweights is Delicious Orie (yes, “Delicious” is his real name) who made his pro debut on the Joyce-Hrgovic undercard. Born in Moscow, the son of a Nigerian father and a Russian mother, Orie, 27, earned a college degree in economics before bringing home the gold medal as a super heavyweight at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He was bounced out of the Paris Olympics in the opening round, out-pointed by an Armenian that he had previously beaten.

Orie, who stands six-foot-six, has the physical dimensions of a modern-era heavyweight. His pro debut wasn’t memorable, but he won all four rounds over the Bosnian slug he was pitted against.

Las Vegas

The fight in Las Vegas between former Olympians Richard Torrez Jr and Guido Vianello was a true crossroads fight for Torrez who had an opportunity to cement his status as the best of the current crop of U.S.-born heavyweights (a mantle he inherited by default after aging Deontay Wilder was knocked out by Zhilei Zhang following a lackluster performance against Joseph Parker and Jared Anderson turned in a listless performance against a mediocrity from Europe after getting bombed out by Martin Bakole).

Torrez, fighting in his first 10-rounder after winning all 12 of his previous fights inside the distance, out-worked Vianello to win a comfortable decision (97-92 and 98-91 twice).

Although styles make fights, it’s doubtful that Torrez will ever turn in a listless performance. Against Vianello, noted the prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, he fought with a great sense of urgency. But his fan-friendly, come-forward style masks some obvious shortcomings. At six-foot two, he’s relatively short by today’s standards and will be hard-pressed to defeat a top-shelf opponent who is both bigger and more fluid.

Astana, Kazakhstan

Torrez’s shortcomings were exposed in his two amateur fights with six-foot-seven southpaw Bakhodir Jalolov. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, the Big Uzbek was in action this past Saturday on the undercard of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s homecoming fight with an obscure French-Congolese boxer with the impossible name of Anauel Ngamissengue. (Alimkhanuly successfully defended his IBF and WBO middleweight tiles with a fifth-round stoppage).

Jalolov (15-0, 14 KOs) was extended the distance for the first time in his career by Ukrainian butterball Ihor Shevadzutski who was knocked out in the third round by Martin Bakole in 2023. Jalolov won a lopsided decision (100-89. 97-92, 97-93), but it did not reflect well on him that he had his opponent on the canvas in the third frame but wasn’t able to capitalize.

At age 30, Jalolov is a pup by current heavyweight standards, but one wonders how he will perform against a solid pro after being fed nothing but softies throughout his pro career.

Hughie Fury

Hughie Fury, Tyson’s cousin, has been gradually working his way back into contention after missing all of 2022 and 2023 with injuries and health issues. Early in his career he went 12 in losing efforts with Joeph Parker, Kubrat Pulev, and Alexander Povetkin, but none of his last four bouts were slated for more than eight rounds.

His match this past Friday at London’s venerable York Hall with 39-year-old countryman Dan Garber was a 6-rounder. Fury reportedly entered the fight with a broken right hand, but didn’t need more than his left to defeat Garber (9-4 heading in) who was dismissed in the fifth round with a body punch. In the process, Fury settled an old family score. Their uncles had fought in 1995. It proved to be the last pro fight for John Fury (Tyson’s dad) who was defeated by Dan’s uncle Steve.

Negotiations are reportedly under way for a fight this summer in Galway, Ireland, between Hughie Fury and Dillian Whyte.

Looking Ahead

The next big heavyweight skirmish comes on May 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Efe Ajagba and Martin Bakole tangle underneath Canelo Alvarez’s middleweight title defense against William Scull.

Ajagba has won five straight since losing to Frank Sanchez, most recently winning a split decision over Guido Vianello. Bakole, whose signature win was a blast-out of Jared Anderson, was knocked out in two rounds by Joseph Parker at Riyadh in his last outing, but there were extenuating circumstances. A last-minute replacement for Daniel Dubois, Bakole did not have the benefit of a training camp and wasn’t in fighting shape,

At last glance, the Scottish-Congolese campaigner Bakole was a 9/2 (minus-450) favorite, a price that seems destined to come down.

On June 7, Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) steps up in class to oppose Jarrell Miller (26-1-2) at the soccer stadium in Wardley’s hometown of Ipswich. In his last start in October of last year, Wardley scored a brutal first-round knockout of Frazer Clarke. This was a rematch. In their first meeting earlier that year, they fought a torrid 10-round draw, a match named the British Fight of the Tear by British boxing writers.

Miller last fought in August of last year in Los Angeles, opposing Andy Ruiz. Most in attendance thought that Miller nicked that fight, but the match was ruled a draw. For that contest, Miller was a svelte 305 ½ pounds.

Wardley vs. Miller is being framed as a WBA eliminator. Wardley, fighting on his home turf, opened an 11/5 (minus-220) favorite.

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Results and Recaps from Las Vegas where Richard Torrez Jr Mauled Guido Vianello

Published

1 day ago

April 6, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Results-and-Recaps-from-Las-Vegas-where-Richard-Torrez-Jr-Mauled-Guido-Vianello

LAS VEGAS, NV – In an inelegant but wildly entertaining rumble, Richard Torrez Jr, bullied his way past Guido Vianello. The 10-round heavyweight contest, an appealing match-up between former Olympians, was the featured attraction on a Top Card at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Torrez, the pride of Tulare, California and a 5/2 favorite, promised to show more dimensions to his game, but was the same old frenetic bull-rusher. Torrez likes to dig inside and smother the punches of his opponent who is invariably taller. His chief asset is an engine that never quits.

The early rounds were marred by a lot of wrestling. Referee Tom Taylor, who had a difficult assignment, took a point away from Vianello for holding in round two, a controversial call although it proved to be a moot point.

Vianello, who was coming off an eighth-round stoppage of Russian-Canadian behemoth Arslanbek Makhmudov, wasn’t able to build on that victory and declined to 13-3-1 (11). Torrez, competing in his first scheduled 10-rounder, won by scores of 97-92 and 98-91 twice, improving to 13-0 (11).

Co-Feature

In a tactical fight (translation: no fireworks) Lindolfo Delgado remained undefeated with a 10-round majority decision over Elvis Rodriguez. The scores were 95-95 and 96-94 twice.

Delgado, a 2016 Olympian for Mexico, won over the judges by keeping Rodriguez on his back foot for most of the fight. However, Rodriguez won the most lopsided round of the bout, the ninth, when he hurt the Mexican with a punch that sent him staggering into the ropes.

Delgado, a 3/2 favorite, improved to 23-0 (17). It was the second pro loss for Rodriguez (17-2-1), a 29-year-old Dominican who trains in Los Angeles under Freddie Roach.

Abdullah Mason

Cleveland southpaw Abdullah Mason celebrated his 21^st birthday by winning his first scheduled 10-rounder. Mason (18-0, 16 KOs) scored three knockdowns before the fight was waived off after the sixth frame.

Mason’s opponent, Mexican southpaw Carlos Ornelas (28-5), fought a curious fight. He wasn’t knocked down three times, not exactly; he merely thought it prudent to take a knee and after each occasion he did his best work, if only for a few brief moments.

Ornelas, a late sub for Giovanni Cabrera who had to pull out with an eye injury, was clearly buzzed after the third “knockdown.” The doctor examined him after the sixth round and when Ornelas left his corner with an unsteady gait, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough.

Other Bouts

Featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez, a protégé of Robert Garcia, improved to 14-0 (7) with an 8-round unanimous decision over Australia’s durable but limited Dana Coolwell. The judges had it 80-72, 78-74, and 77-75.

The granite-chinned Coolwell (13-4) was making his second start in a U.S. ring after taking Shu Shu Carrington the distance in an 8-rounder underneath the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson exhibition at the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys.

SoCal bantamweight Steven Navarro, the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year, stepped up in class and scored a fourth-round stoppage of Mexicali’s Juan Esteban Garcia who was winning the fourth round when Navarro (6-0, 5 KOs) reversed the momentum with a flourish, forcing the stoppage at the 2:46 mark.

Junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr (8-0, 6 KOs) polished off Daijon Gonzalez in the second round. Barrera decked Gonzalez with a hard left hook and when Gonzales got to his feet, he was immediately greeted with another devastating punch which forced the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:56 of round two. A 32-year-old campaigner from Davenport, Iowa, Gonzalez brought a 12-5 record but had scored only one win vs. an opponent with a winning record.

Jahi Tucker, a 22-year-old middleweight from Deer Park, Long Island, scores his best win to date, winning a lopsided decision over former British junior middleweight champion Troy Williamson. The scores were 99-89 across the board.

Tucker (14-1-1) scored two knockdowns. The first in the second round was called a slip but overruled on replay. The second, in round eight, was the result of a left hook. Williamson stayed on his feet but the ropes held him up and it was properly scored a knockdown. The Englishman, 34, fell to 20-4-1 in what was his U.S. debut.

In a junior lightweight bour slated for eight rounds, 21-year-old Las Vegas southpaw DJ Zamora, advanced to 16-0 (11 KOs) with a fourth-round stoppage of Tex-Mex campaigner Hugo Alberto Castaneda (15-2-1). The official time was 1:24 of round four.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Filip Hrgovic Defeats Joe Joyce in Manchester

Published

2 days ago

April 5, 2025

David A. Avila

Filip-Hrgovic-Fefeats-Joe-Joe-Joyce-in-Manchester

In a battle to retain heavyweight contender status, Filip Hrgovic out-fought Joe “The Juggernaut” Joyce to win by unanimous decision on Saturday on Queensberry Promotions’ first card on DAZN.

It was a heavyweight brawl.

Croatia’s Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) was the more accurate puncher over England’s Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) in their heavyweight title fight at Manchester, England. Both were coming off losses.

Hrgovic, 32, entered the boxing ring as a replacement for Joyce’s original foe Dillian Whyte. Though short on notice, he worked with Abel Sanchez who formerly trained Joyce. It proved to be a wise move.

From the opening round Hrgovic opened-up with a battering attack, especially with the one-two combination that rocked Joyce repeatedly in the first two rounds. The British fighter known for his rock-hard chin, withstood the challenge.

“He is a beast,” said Hrgovic. “This guy is like steel.”

For the first half of the 10-round heavyweight clash, Hrgovic was the aggressor and the much more accurate puncher. Joyce seemed unsteady on his legs but every round he seemed to gain more stability and confidence.

By midway, Joyce resorted to his juggernaut ways and began to stalk the Croatian fighter whom he defeated in the amateurs a dozen years ago.

Though Joyce had lost by knockout to Zhilei Zhang and was knocked down by Derek Chisora, he was able to remain upright throughout the match with Hrgovic despite some wicked shots.

Just when it seemed Joyce might take over the fight, Hrgovic opened-up with an eight-punch volley in the eighth round that had the British heavyweight reeling. The fight turned around.

Hrgovic seemed to get a second wind and began connecting with left hooks and pinpoint accurate combinations. Joyce tried to fight back but his accuracy was off. The Croatian fighter regained the momentum and never allowed Joyce back in the fight.

After 10 rounds all three judges scored for Hrgovic 97-93, 96-95, 98-92.

“I came to fight on short notice. Thanks to God he gave me strength,” said Hrgovic. “Thanks to Joe for the opportunity.”

The Croatian fighter said he seeks a fight with IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois.

“This guy beat Dubois and I beat him,” said Hrgovic who lost to Dubois a year ago but defeated Joyce who knocked out Dubois when they fought.

Other Bouts

Heavyweight David Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) knocked out Jeamie Tshikeva (8-2, 5 KOs) during a clinch and interference by the referee. It remained a knockout win for Adeleye at 55 seconds of the sixth round. Adeleye becomes the British heavyweight champion.

Super lightweight Jack Rafferty (26-0, 17 KOs) knocked out Cory O’Regan (14-1, 3 KOs) in a punch seemingly delivered during a clinch in the fifth round. The match was stopped at 2:26 of the sixth round.

British Olympian Delicious Orie (1-0) made his pro debut and won by decision over Milos Veletic (3-8) in a heavyweight contest.

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