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Weekend Recap: Garcia, Relikh, and Prograis Bring Home the Bacon
entertaining and when the smoke cleared Mikey Garcia claimed his fourth world title, Kiryl Relikh stood tall, and the star of Regis Prograis shined even brighter,

The 140-pound division took center stage on the second weekend of March with two world title fights and two other matches in the weight class bearing the label of a title eliminator. Overall, the bouts were entertaining and when the smoke cleared Mikey Garcia claimed his fourth world title, Kiryl Relikh stood tall, and the star of Regis Prograis shined even brighter.
FREEMAN COLISEUM, SAN ANTONIO
Mikey Garcia improved to 38-0 (30) and captured the IBF 140-pound title with a unanimous decision over Sergey Lipinets who was making his first defense. A former European kickboxing champion, Lipinets (13-1) did his best work in the middle rounds although Garcia landed the best punch of the fight, a counter left hook that knocked the Kazakhstani to the mat in round seven.
In an upset, Kiryl Relikh claimed the vacant WBA 140-pound title with a clear-cut decision over previously undefeated Rances Barthelemy who was bidding to become the first boxer from Cuba to win world titles in three weight classes. Relikh (22-2, 19 KOs), who threw more than twice as many punches, won 10 of the 12 rounds on two of the scorecards and nine rounds on the other.
This was a rematch. Barthelemey won the first meeting in May of last year, prevailing by margins of 4, 6, and 8 points, tallies that were widely denounced as too wide. There was no controversy tonight as the Belarusian was in control from the get-go. It was the first pro loss for the Las Vegas-based Barthelemy who was 26-0 going in.
Fighting before his hometown fans, hot prospect Mario Barrios, yet another junior welterweight, knocked out Eudy Bernardo (23-3) of the Dominican Republic in the second round with a perfectly placed right hand. This was the second time that Bernardo was on the wrong side of a one-punch knockout. Mason Menard turned the trick in April of 2016. Bernardo appears to have a glass jaw. The steadily improving 22-year-old Barrios (21-0, 13 KOs) has stopped each of his last five opponents.
In an exciting lightweight contest, Ghana’s Richard Commey (26-2, 23 KOs) took a major step toward a rematch with reigning IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. with a sixth round stoppage of previously undefeated Alejandro Luna (22-1) of Bellflower, California. Commey and Easter Jr. fought for the vacant IBF strap in September of 2016 with Commey losing a split decision.
STUB HUB
Fighting in a steady rain, WBO world featherweight champion Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs) overcame a bad cut inside his mouth to upend Scott Quigg (34-2-2) by unanimous decision. A two-time Olympian making his fourth title defense, Valdez won by comfortable margins on the scorecards (117-110, 118-109 twice) but had several anxious moments against his bigger adversary who rarely took a backward step. Quigg came in almost three pounds over the 126-pound limit, so the title was at stake only for Valdez.
Someone’s “O” had to go said ring announcer Michael Buffer before the 10-round junior lightweight contest between 20-0 Andy Vences and 17-0 Erick DeLeon, but Buffer was wrong. The match was scored a draw. The fight was devoid of fireworks but relatively entertaining as the combatants were well-matched.
Alex Saucedo had a more difficult time than expected before putting away Tijuana’s Abner Lopez in the seventh frame of a 10-round junior welterweight contest. Saucedo ate a lot of leather but gave more than he got before ending the contest with a left hook to the liver. An Oklahoma City product who trains with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear, Saucedo advanced to 27-0 (17). Lopez declined to 21-9.
Andy Ruiz, making his first start in 15 months, made short work of Devin Vargas, taking him out in the opening round. Ruiz, who improved to 30-1 (20), came in at a pudgy 260 ½ pounds, giving him a 43-pount weight advantage. The 36-year-old Vargas, once considered a very promising prospect, has lost five of his last eight with all five losses inside the distance.
GAY PAREE
Earlier in the day in Paris, France, WBA junior middleweight champion Brian Castano (15-0, 11 KOs) had all the best of veteran Cedric Vitu (46-3) before stopping him in the final round. The match was live streamed in the United States for free on Richard Schaefer’s Ringstar Sports digital platform.
Castano, a highly decorated amateur, is rated in some quarters the best of the current crop of Argentine fighters. He holds the title vacated by Demetrius Andrade.
DEADWOOD
The best performance of the weekend was turned in by fast rising junior welterweight Regis Prograis who blew away former WBA/IBF 140-pound world titlist Julius Indongo inside two rounds at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino in historic Deadwood, South Dakota. Prograis knocked Indongo off balance with the first two punches that he landed. The Namibian was on the floor four times before referee Ian-John Lewis decided that he had seen enough.
A southpaw, the undefeated (21-0) Prograis has knocked out 14 of his last 15 opponents. The colorful New Orleans native is now a client of Churchill Management, an agency led by Hollywood heavyweights Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, but when it comes to “building his brand” his best assets are his fists. When the pound-for-pound lists are updated, look for his name to appear. Prograis is the real deal.
The chief undercard match was another contest in the 140-pound weight class. The match between transplanted Russians Ivan Baranchyk and Petr Petrov was a one-sided affair. Baranchyk, based in Brooklyn, had too much firepower for the globetrotting Petrov, a late replacement for Sweden’s Anthony Yigit. The end came in round eight. Petrov was being hammered against the ropes when referee Mark Nelson intervened.
The IBF garbed the bout an eliminator, putting the victorious Baranchyk (17-0, 11 KOs) in line to fight the winner of the next day’s contest between Mikey Garcia and Sergey Lipinets. Petrov, a two-time world title challenger, declined to 38-6-2.
In another bout of note, New Zealand heavyweight Junior Fa improved to 14-0 with a messy 8-round majority decision over Detroit’s Craig Lewis (14-2-1), a former National Golden Gloves champion.
OC FAIRGROUNDS
Also on Friday, junior featherweight Azat Hovhannisyan scored a sixth round stoppage over heavily favored Ronnie Rios at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. Hovhannisyan, with Freddie Roach in his corner, scored the biggest win of his young career.
Through the completed rounds of the action-packed fight, the LA-based Armenian was up by one point on one of the cards whereas the other judges had it even. Hovannisyan improved to 14-2 (11). Rios, a former world title challenger who was fighting within a few miles of his home, declined to 29-3.
Alexis Rocha (11-0, 8 KOs), the 20-year-old brother of Rios, salvaged the day for the home folks with a first round stoppage of Tijuana’s Miguel Dumas on the undercard.
Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
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Photo: Amanda Westcott – Showtime Boxing
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Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser

In recent years, there has been lavish praise and extensive criticism regarding Turki Alalshikh’s boxing initiative. Some of it has been warranted and some hasn’t. One issue deserves greater comment.
The judging has been pretty good.
Scoring a fight is subjective, which can open the door to bias, incompetence, and corruption.
Most people in boxing know who the good judges are. But some bad ones keep getting high-profile assignments. Why? Because they shade things toward the house fighter which is where the money lies.
When there’s a bad decision in boxing, almost always it favors the house fighter.
Overall, Turki Alalshikh’s fights have been marked by honest scoring.
Oleksandr Usyk went the distance four times against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Fury-Usyk I and Usyk-Joshua II could legitimately have been scored either way. It was in the Saudi’s financial interest (not to mention the interests of Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn) that Fury and Joshua win those fights. Yet Usyk won all four decisions.
Clearly, Turki Alalshikh wanted Hamzah Sheeraz to defeat Carlos Adames. Yet Adames retained his title when that bout was credibly scored a draw.
The list goes on.
Bad scoring trickles down from the top. Judges know that the monied interests behind a promotion want a certain fighter to win and that their receiving lucrative judging assignments in the future often depends on scoring the fight at hand a certain way.
The judging for Turki Alalshikh’s fights so far seems to have been based on the instruction, “Be fair. Get it right.”
Kudos for that.
****
Six years ago after unifying the four major cruiserweight titles, Oleksandr Usyk was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America as its “Fighter of the Year.” That designation was repeated in 2024 in recognition of his unifying the heavyweight crown.
While in New York to accept his most recent honor, Usyk sat with former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason for an interview that will air in early-June on the nationally syndicated television show Game Time.
Oleksandr came across as thoughtful and likeable during the conversation.
He shared memories of his father: “My father was a military guy. He teach me like a street fight, to work a knife, shooting. I use jujitsu, karate, wrestling, kickboxing. I say, ‘Poppa, what we do this for?’ . . . He says, ‘We prepare’ . . . ‘For what we prepare?’ . . . ‘For life.’”
Usyk won a gold medal in the 201-pound heavyweight division at the 2012 London Olympics. But his father died before Oleksandr could return home and show the medal to him. After Usyk beat Tyson Fury to unify the heavyweight crown, he cried as he proclaimed, “Hey, poppa, we did it.”
“A lot of people in Ukraine who hear that, they cry too,” Oleksandr told Esiason. “Is normal. [Some] people, ‘Hey man! Don’t cry.’ Why not cry? I like to cry.”
Speaking of the size differential between Fury and himself, Usyk noted, “For me, is like a story. David and Goliath. I not afraid because boxing is a sport. Yeah, it’s a guy a little bigger for me. No problem.”
Asked how he would describe his fighting style,” Oleksandr answered, “It’s a wonderful style.”
“Boxing for me is a gentleman’s sport,” he added. “Just respect for my opponents. A lot of people make a show. But if you make a good show and then bad boxing – [with a wave of his hand] PFFFTHF! First in boxing is class and skill; then the show.’
He explained how his training regimen includes holding his breath underwater: “I make like a fight time. Three minutes underwater, one minute rest, twelve rounds. Is hard.”
What’s the longest that Usyk has held his breath underwater?
“My record is 4 minutes 47 seconds.”
The interview closed with Oleksandr appealing directly to the American people to support his Ukrainian homeland in its defense against Russian aggression.
“I’m not political. I’m just [a] man who lives in Ukraine who’s worried for my people.”
And he talked of having brought some Ukrainian soldiers to his fights as guests: “They’re my power, my angels.”
****
Don King has been the subject of an endless stream of anecdotes. Jody Heaps (who spent three decades as a senior creative director and executive producer at Showtime) adds one more to the mix.
“Don had just brought Mike Tyson to Showtime,” Heaps recalls. “We were doing a shoot with Don sitting in a barber chair and he was in a great mood. Toward the end, someone came over to me and said, ‘If Don has the time, could you ask him about his favorite movie scene for a promotion we’re doing.’ So I asked Don what his favorite movie scene was. He told me movies weren’t his thing and said, ‘You tell me. What’s my favorite scene?’
“I talked it over with the crew,” Heaps continues. “Then I suggested the shower scene in Psycho. I figured Don had seen it. Everybody has seen it. But Don told me, ‘I don’t know anything about it. What happens in that scene?’ So I explained that you see Janet Leigh in shower. Then you see a silhouette on the shower curtain. The shower curtain is pulled aside. You see the knife plunging in again and again. And the last thing you see is blood circling down the drain.”
“Don says, ‘Okay; I’ve got it.’ He looks right at the camera and, with incredible drama, starts recreating the scene. Five seconds in, everyone is mesmerized. He takes us through Janet Leigh in the shower, the silhouette on the shower curtain, the knife plunging in again and again, the blood circling down the drain. And at the end, he laughed that loud booming laugh of his and proclaimed, ‘It was a clean kill!’
“There was stunned silence,” Heaps says in closing. “Don made it sound like it was real and he’d been there when it happened.”
****
Like most sports fans, I watched the first round of the NFL draft on April 24. I’ll do the same when the NBA draft is held on June 25. Allow me the following thoughts.
Adam Silver seems like a basketball fan.
Roger Goodell seems like a fan of making money.
Adam Silver looks sincere when he hugs a draftee.
Roger Goodell looks like he wants to take a shower.
Adam Silver comes across as though he has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself.
Roger Goodell comes across as though he doesn’t and can’t.
Adam Silver has James Dolan to deal with and keeps him in line.
Roger Goodell can’t put a lid on Jerry Jones.
Adam Silver is booed in good-natured fashion by fans at the draft.
Roger Goodell is booed with rabid enthusiasm
****
And last; a memory of Turki Alalshikh’s May 2 fight card in Times Square . . .
Security was tight. The police had been instructed to keep pedestrians on the sidewalk moving as they passed the ring enclosure which was blocked from view by a ten-foot-tall fence. Well before the event began, a young man with a video camera planted himself on the sidewalk across the street from the enclosure. A uniformed police officer approached and the following colloquy occurred.
Cop: I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to move.
Young man: I’m with the media.
Cop: And I’m with the New York Police Department. You’ll have to move.
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino

Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino
A jam-packed fight card featuring a world champion, top contenders and knockout artists delivered the action but no knockouts on Saturday in the Los Angeles area.
You can’t have everything.
Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta (8-0, 2 KOs), fresh with a multi-year 360 Boxing Promotion’s contract deal, once again fought and defended the WBO super fly world title and this time against Argentina’s Carla Merino (16-3, 5 KOs) at Commerce Casino.
It was expected to be her toughest test.
Hiruta, who is trained and managed by Manny Robles, showed added poise and a sharp jab that created and established an invisible barrier that Merino could never crack. It was as simple as that.
A sharp right jab from the southpaw Japanese world champion in the opening round gave Merino something to figure out. When the Argentine fighter tried to counter Hiruta was out of range. That distance was a problem that Merino could not solve.
The pink-flame-haired Hiruta looks like an anime figure incapable of violence. But whenever Merino dared unload a combination Hiruta would eagerly pounce on the opportunity. It was clear that the champion’s speed and power was a problem.
For more than a year Hiruta has been training in Southern California and has sparred with numerous styles and situations in the talent-crazy Southern California area. Each time she fights the poise and polish gained from working with a variety of talent and skill partners seems to add more layers to the Japanese fighter’s arsenal.
After six rounds of clear control by Hiruta, the Argentine fighter finally made an assertive move to change the momentum with combination punching. Both exchanged but Hiruta cornered Merino and opened up with a seven-punch barrage.
In the eighth round Merino tried again to force an exchange and again Hiruta opened up with a three-punch combo followed by a four-punch combo. Merino dived inside the attack by the Japanese champion and accidentally butted Hiruta’s head. No serious damage appeared.
Merino tried valiantly to exchange with Hiruta but the strength, speed and agility were too much to overcome in the last two rounds of the fight. Left hand blows by the champion connected solidly several times in the final round.
After 10 rounds all three judges saw Hiruta the winner by decision 98-92 twice and 99-91. The fighter from Tokyo retains the WBO super fly title for the fourth time.
Bohachuk Wins
Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) defeated Mykal Fox (24-5, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision but had problems corralling the much taller fighter after 10 rounds in a super welterweight match.
It was only the second time Bohachuk won by decision.
Fox used movement all 10 rounds that never allowed Bohachuk to plant his feet to deliver his vaunted power. But though Fox had moments, they were not enough to offset the power shots that did land. Two judges scored it 97-93 for the Ukrainian and another had it 98-92
“Good experience for me,” said Bohachuk of Fox’s movement.
King of LA
In a super featherweight match Omar “King of LA” Trinidad (19-0-1, 13 KOs) dominated Nicaragua’s Alexander Espinoza (23-7-3, 8 KOs) but never came close to knocking out the spirited fighter. But did come close to dropping him.
The fighter out of the Boyle Heights area in the boxing hotbed of East L.A. was able to exchange freely with savage uppercuts to the body and head, but Espinoza would not quit. For 10 rounds Trinidad battered away at Espinoza but a knockout win was not possible.
After 10 rounds all three judges favored Trinidad (100-90, 99-91, 98-92) who retains his regional WBC title and his place in the featherweight rankings.
“I’m living the dream,” said Trinidad.
Maywood Fighter Medina on Target
Lupe Medina (10-0, 2 KOs) proved ready for the elite in knocking down world title challenger Maria Santizo (12-6, 6 KOs) and winning by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight match up.
Medina, a model-looking fighter out of Maywood, Calif, accepted a match against Santizo who had fought three times against world titlists including L.A. great Seniesa Estrada. She looked perfectly in her element.
Behind a ramrod jab and solid defense, Medina avoided the big swinging Santizo’s punches while countering accurately. For every home run swing by the Guatemalan fighter Medina would connect with a sharp right or left.
In the fifth round, Santizo opened up with a crisp three-punch combination and Medina opened up with her own four-punch blast that seemed to wobble the veteran fighter. Medina stepped on the gas and fired strategic blows but never left herself open for counters.
Medina didn’t waste time in the sixth round. A crisp one-two staggered Santizo who reeled backward. The referee ruled it a knockdown and Santizo was in trouble. Medina went into attack mode as Santizo pulled every trick she knew to keep from being overrun by the Maywood fighter.
In the last two rounds Medina seemed to look for the perfect shot to end the fight. Santizo kept busy with short shots and stayed away from meaningful exchanges. Medina also might have been gassed from expending so many punches in the prior round.
The two female fighters both seemed to want a knockout in the eighth round. Santizo was wary of Medina’s power and dived in close to smother Medina’s firing zone. Neither woman was able to connect with any significant shots.
After eight rounds all three judges scored in favor of Medina 77-74, 76-75 and 80-71.
It was proof Medina belongs among the top minimumweight fighters.
Other Bouts
In a super welterweight fight Michael Meyers (7-2) defeated Eduardo Diaz (9-4) by unanimous decision in a tough scrap. Mayers proved to be more accurate and was able to withstand a late rally by Diaz.
Abel Mejia (8-0) defeated Antonio Dunton El (6-4-2) by decision after six rounds in a super feather match.
Jocelyn Camarillo (4-0) won by split decision after four rounds versus Qianyue Zhao (0-2) in a light flyweight bout.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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David Allen Bursts Johnny Fisher’s Bubble at the Copper Box

The first meeting between Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, and David Allen, the White Rhino, was an inelegant affair that produced an unpopular decision. Allen put Fisher on the canvas in the fifth frame and dominated the second half of the fight, but two of the judges thought that Fisher nicked it, allowing the “Bull” to keep his undefeated record. That match was staged last December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, underneath Usyk-Fury II.
The 26-year-old Fisher, who has a fervent following, was chalked a 13/5 favorite for the sequel today at London’s Copper Box Arena. At the weigh-in, Allen, who carried 265 pounds, looked as if he had been training at the neighborhood pub.
Through the first four rounds, Fisher fought cautiously, holding tight to his game plan. He worked his jab effectively and it appeared as if the match would go the full “10” with the Romford man winning a comfortable decision. However, in the waning moments of round five, he was a goner, left splattered on the canvas.
This was Fisher’s second trip to the mat. With 30 seconds remaining in the fifth, Allen put him on the deck with a clubbing right hand. Fisher got up swaying on unsteady legs, but referee Marcus McDonnell let the match continue. The coup-de-gras was a crunching left hook.
Fisher, who was 13-0 with 11 KOs heading in, went down face first with his arms extended. The towel flew in from his corner, but that was superfluous. He was out before he hit the canvas.
A high-class journeyman, the 33-year-old David Allen improved to 24-7-2 with his 16th knockout. He promised fireworks – “going toe-to-toe, that’s just the way I’m wired” – and delivered the goods.
Other Bouts of Note
Northampton middleweight Kieron Conway added the BBBofC strap to his existing Commonwealth belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Welsh southpaw Gerome Warburton. It was the third win inside the distance in his last four outings for Conway who improved to 23-3-1 (7 KOs).
Conway trapped Warburton (15-2-2) in a corner, hurt him with a body punch, and followed up with a barrage that forced the referee to intervene as Warburton’s corner tossed in the white flag of surrender. The official time was 1:26 of round four. Warburton’s previous fight was a 6-rounder vs. an opponent who was 8-72-4.
In the penultimate fight on the card, George Liddard, the so-called “Billericay Bomber,” earned a date with Kieron Conway by dismantling Bristol’s Aaron Sutton who was on the canvas three times before his corner pulled him out in the final minute of the fifth frame.
The 22-year-old Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs) was a consensus 12/1 favorite over Sutton who brought a 19-1 record but against tepid opposition. His last three opponents were a combined 16-50-5 at the time that he fought them.
Also
In a bout that wasn’t part of the ESPN slate, Johnny Fisher stablemate John Hedges, a tall cruiserweight, won a comprehensive 10-round decision over Liverpool’s Nathan Quarless. The scores were 99-92, 98-92, and 97-93.
Purportedly 40-4 as an amateur, Hedges advanced his pro ledger to 11-0 (3). It was the second loss in 15 starts for the feather-fisted Quarless, a nephew of 1980s heavyweight gatekeeper Noel Quarless.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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