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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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Undercard Results from the Canelo-Charlo Card in Las Vegas

In a heavyweight battle slated for 10, Frank Sanchez (23-0, 16 KOs) stopped LA trial horse Scott Alexander (17-6-2) after four frames. Alexander’s corner attempted to stop it in the waning seconds of the fourth, but the referee did not see it and the bell rang before the fight was waived off.
Alexander had one big moment. In the opening round, he rocked Sanchez with a short right hand. But from there, it was all Sanchez in a rather messy fight.
A Miami-based Cuban defector, Frank Sanchez came in ranked #3 by the WBO, #4 by the WBC, and #5 by the IBF. His best win came in this building, a comfortable decision over Efe Ajagba in October of 2021. Alexander also fought here. In his previous visit to the T-Mobile, he was knocked out in the opening round by Zhilei Zhang.
Former WBO light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, in his third fight back since ending his retirement, improved to 20-0 (16) with a second-round stoppage of 38-year-old Brazilian Isaac Rodrigues (28-5). Gvozdyk, 36, left the sport after getting beat up by Artur Beterbiev, but got the itch and is pursuing a fight with Dmitry Bivol.
In an 8-round middleweight fight, 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (24-3-1) won a majority decision over Keandre Leatherwood (23-9-1). The judges had it 76-76 and 78-74 twice. Once a highly regarded prospect, Gausha is spinning his wheels. Leatherwood, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, had been stopped four times.
Guadalajara super lightweight Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela advanced to 28-3-1 (17 KOs) with a sixth-round stoppage of overmatched Colombia import Yves Gabriel Solano (15-3). This was redemption of sorts for Valenzuela who lost an unpopular 12-round decision to Montana Love in his last outing inside these walls.
Kazakh super middleweight Bek Nuramaganbat (11-0) continued his fast ascent of the 168-pound ladder with a third-round stoppage of Bola Osundairo. A 30-year-old Chicago-based Nigerian, Osundairo was a 2021 USA National Champion at 178 pounds.
A four-round middleweight contest between Abilikhan Amankul (4-0-1, 4 KOs) and Joeshon James (7-0-2, 4 KOs) ended in a draw. Although he didn’t win, Sacramento’s James continued to exceed expectations. In previous contests he KOed previously undefeated Richard Brewart and fought to a draw with Top Rank signee Javier Martinez. Amankul, a 26-year-old Kazakh, lost a split decision to eventual gold medal winner Hebert Conceicao in the Tokyo Olympics.
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David Avila is ringside. Check back later for his report of the Canelo-Charlo fight and the main supporting bouts.
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Opetaia Demolishes Thompson in London; Wallin Upsets Gassiev in Turkey

In his first defense of his IBF cruiserweight title, Australian southpaw Jai Opetaia demolished overmatched Jordan Thompson in the featured bout of a Matchroom card at London’s Wembley Arena. Opetaia (23-0, 18 KOs) overwhelmed Thompson (15-1) from the opening gun and had the six-foot-six Mancunian on the canvas twice before the match was waived off at the 20-second mark of round four.
An Olympian at the age of 16, Opetaia won the title 15 months ago with a unanimous decision over longtime title-holder Mairis Briedis. Noting that Opetaia broke his jaw in two places early in that contest, prominent Australian sporting journalist Simon Smale called it “one of the bravest, gutsiest, victories in Australian boxing history.”
Following that fight, Opetaia had to eat through a straw for several months. Hence, there were questions about whether his jaw would hold up and whether he would show ring rust in his first title defense. But the towering Thompson, whose nickname is Troublesome, although game, proved to be no trouble whatsoever for Opetaia who would be favored to beat any cruiserweight in the world, no matter the locale.
Opetaia may return to England for his next fight which would be a unification match with Bournemouth’s 18-1 Chris Billam-Smith who captured the WBO version of the 200-pound title in May with a surprisingly one-sided decision over favored Lawrence Okolie. The other cruiserweight title-holders are the well-traveled Badou Jack (WBC) and the French-Armenian boxer Arsen Goulamirian (WBA).
Four female fights were on the undercard including two 10-rounders, both of which were won by the “A side” Englishwomen.
In her first title defense, Ellie Scotney, a 25-year-old Londoner, retained her IBF world super bantamweight title and improved to 8-0 at the expense of 37-year-old Argentine veteran Laura Soledad Griffa (20-9). In a rather monotonous fight, Scotney won every round on two of the scorecards and nine rounds on the other.
Rhiannon Dixon, a 29-year-old southpaw, had a surprisingly easy time with Norwegian veteran Katharina Thanderz, a former world title challenger. Dixon (9-0) won every round on all three cards. Thanderz, who trains in Spain, declined to 16-2.
Wallin-Gassiev
In a 12-round heavyweight fight in Antalya, Turkey, Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) won a split decision over Murat Gassiev (30-2). This was a dull fight. Owing to various issues, Gassiev had answered the bell for only eight rounds in the previous seven years and his vaunted power had deserted him. True, he landed the harder punches, but Wallin, who kept pecking away with his jab, was far busier and won the fight on volume alone. Two of the judges had it 115-113 for the Swede who is 6-0 since going 12 rounds with Tyson Fury. The other judge scored it for Gassiev by a bizarre 117-111.
Opetaia-Thompson photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 254: Canelo vs Jermell Charlo in a Battle of Undisputed Champions

LAS VEGAS-Less than the usual massive crowd gathered for boxing kingpin Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Jermell Charlo in the desert heat outside of the T-Mobile Arena on Friday afternoon. Usually the weigh-ins are slightly bigger for Mexico’s idol.
Is the declining crowd an indicator of Alvarez fans ebbing belief in his abilities?
Still, on Saturday night, two undisputed world champions from differing divisions will collide as Guadalajara, Mexico’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) meets Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena for the super middleweight world championship. PPV.Com will stream the clash of champions.
This year has seen a hyper-speed uptick in champions fighting other champions, perhaps the result of watching their female counterparts Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor produce the biggest fight of 2022. This year several marquee collisions were spawned from lightweights to heavyweights.
Or maybe the pandemic lull created a twitch panic among the elite.
Charlo was one of those who had been sidelined while others like Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Naoya “Monster” Inoue and Canelo Alvarez filled their pockets with cash. And others like Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez gained undisputed glory.
Instead of watching on the sidelines, Charlo decided to make his move for greater glory by attempting to dethrone one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not the kingpin of boxing when it comes to money.
“If I accomplish this massive goal, it will be hard to top,” Charlo said a few weeks ago during his media workout. “I’ll be in the record book with the greats of boxing for a long time.”
Risks brings rewards.
Canelo, long a member of the boxing elite, has held his position as the box office king for many years now by taking the daunting risks throughout his boxing life.
“Jermell is right, I have nothing to prove. But this time I have something to prove to him,” said Alvarez while in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “He never believed in my skills. He’s been calling me out. Now I have an opportunity to show him my skills.”
Undisputed super welterweight will challenge undisputed super middleweight in a two-division jump not often seen, except for Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran and Sugar Shane Mosley. It’s the road taken by those who seek to be great.
Both are 33 but the redhead Alvarez has been fighting professionally since he was 15. That’s a lot of bullets in the chamber he has already used. Charlo has height, speed and the ability to adapt to different styles. Stylistically, it’s a battle that makes even the skeptics take pause.
It all depends on Alvarez’s resiliency. Charlo has ring rust, while Alvarez seemingly has lost the hunger. Whose weakness will prove the greater?
“Now is the time for this fight. We’re in our primes and at our best,” said Charlo. “I wanna shake the doubters off and prove to the world why I”m in this position. There’s a reason I made it this far.”
Alvarez remembers being as hungry as Charlo.
“I never overlook any fighter,” Alvarez said. “I know what he’s going to bring and I’m ready.”
Undercard
Several other notable bouts are included on the pay-per-view card.
Former world titlists and current welterweight contenders Yordenis Ugas (27-5) and Mario Barrios (27-2) battle for an interim title set for 12 rounds.
Super welterweights Jesus Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs) and Erickson Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs) match skills in a match that pits a southpaw veteran against an undefeated southpaw from Arizona. For the past three years Ramos has been moving up the ladder and was last seen pounding out highly-touted Joey Spencer. Can he survive Lubin who nearly toppled Sebastian Fundora?
Doors open at T-Mobile Arena at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.
Lampley is back
Legendary HBO announcer Jim Lampley was hired along with ace reporter Lance Pugmire who will co-host the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus Jermell Charlo showdown via viewer chat live on PPV.com.
It’s the same concept used by Monday Night Football that features former quarterback greats Peyton Manning and Eli Manning in alternative programming.
Lampley returns to boxing after a five-year absence following HBO’s yanking of the popular program that vaulted elite boxing to the top behind the likes of George Foreman, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
The veteran announcer will be live streaming all the action on media platforms before and during the fight action. He was sorely missed by all who follow the sweet science.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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